Course: Doctor of Spirituality (ACIM) of ULC Seminary / Lesson: 1 – Revelation

Hello Loretta and all brothers and sisters of ULC Seminary,

please find attached my thoughts, comments and impressions concerning the first lesson of the Doctor of Spirituality (ACIM) course with ULC Seminary. Thank you very much for the opportunity to study with you and for the time you invest into me and my spiritual growth. The course was a deep blessing to me and a crucial point within my spiritual life. Why? Because for the first time in my spiritual life, and after doing a lot of studies relating to this topic, this course has revealed the true essence of spirituality to me - this in a way if one would use a magnifying glass in order to illuminate this very important topic especially to me. With this impression please find below a description of some main reflections, emotions and thoughts of what happened during my coursework and my prayer visualization. For the first time in my life I fully have recognized, experienced and emotionally understood that God´s true love is the one, true essence of my existence. More over, I understood that this love always was the original intention of God when He created His whole creation (including me) in His likeness. 

During my coursework and my prayer visualization, I experienced a very deep and overwhelming, joyful feeling of God´s love within me, which makes me fully aware of some selfish, worldly-programmed and therefore unnatural leftovers which have been manifested in my current life as a child of God. In my experience, this artificial system of unnatural, artificial programming is designed to remove God´s true love completely. Instead of God´s love it then always implements an unnatural, opposite state and different layers of consciousness into God´s creation which are all cause „fear", e.g.

 

- rejection of God´s truth and other people instead of openness to all creation

- separation or overemphasized individualism instead of oneness and connection to God and His creation

- conflict and chaos instead of peace 

- selfish goal-setting instead of real purpose

- multiple bondages and conformity instead of liberty and freedom of lchoice

- coerced action and artificial functioning instead of voluntariness and inner motivation to act in harmony with natural laws

- utilitarian thinking instead of wisdom

- deception of the mind and soul as well as of others instead of truth and righteousness

- happiness based on circumstances and satisfaction of lusts and desires instead of inner joy

- growth of money and possessions instead of spiritual growth

- status instead of dignity

- death instead of life

As a result, these negative patterns and subconsciously programmed, wrong thought and emotional figures listed above, are some of the main obstacles that prevent me and others from time to time to recognize the full presence of God´s true love within me. 

On the basis of this reflection and perspective I am able to understand and explain better how the concept that "nothing real can be threatened" and "nothing unreal exists" determines what I ask for in prayer. Regarding to these concepts I have adjusted my structure and my focus in prayer. That means that I now pray with stronger emphasis for cleansing and purity from all unreal, unnatural, programmed and therefore imagined/worldly/selfish patterns of my consciousness as well as of this concerning other people. With particular respect to the concept that "nothing unreal exists" I now explicitly ask for a removal of all fears, threats and other defects, because these are the causes of an unnatural state of consciousness and a subsequent false way of life based on this state. In addition to that I pray and ask that nothing would prevent me from giving and receiving true love, unity, peace and harmony from and to all creation. In this context I ask and pray for strength, guidance, wisdom and openness in order to identify, avoid and remove selfish, worldly or even satanic thoughts, temptations and desires which would bring back harmful patterns and fear in my life and the life of others. Furthermore I always ask and pray for unlimited joy, true liberty, true righteousness and lifelong spiritual growth as a result of choosing God´s way, truth and life, this by exercising free will.

What has remained always the same in my prayers is - as a disciple of Jesus Christ - that I ask and pray always with thanks and humbleness to my beloved Father („Abba") in the name of Jesus Christ. This I do so because He is my mediator, my lord, my king, my priest, my light, my savior, my redeemer, my liberator, my judge, my shepherd, my way, my truth and my life. More over in prayer I never ask God for selfish purposes or personal advantages.

Best regards from your brother in Christ

Stefan