WOULD YOU REALLY LIKE TO READ SOME HEAVY-DUTY MATERIAL (LIKE ACIM) BUT NEED A LITTLE READING ENCOURAGEMENT?
I don’t like to start off a post on a negative note about myself, but I’m thinking it could be helpful to others who secretly regard themselves as not very good readers.
I had an extremely difficult childhood with diseases, neglect and sabotage. My parents were contacted re. my sub-standard reading and I was put into a special remedial class. That went nowhere because quite frankly nobody cared.
I managed to somehow graduate from high school and come to the big city where I realized my deficit was interfering with my normal daily activities, especially socially: I just didn’t like to read – but oh how I wished I did. So I decided to take just one college course, just to see if I could handle it. It was an English course and I struggled very much. But I aced it!!! You can’t imagine how exhilarated I felt with that accomplishment!!! I had done it on my own with only God’s help.
I began to take more and more courses all the while struggling with my reading and wishing it were more of a joy in and of itself, but that never happened. I finally became content with the knowledge that the reward for reading – for me – was when I finished and had all that knowledge swimming in my consciousness! That was good enough for me. I kept taking more and more college courses until I earned a bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D., but that’s not the point of this message.
I suspect that there are a lot of people out there who really don’t like to read, especially technical or inspirational material. They love to see short colorful memes or perhaps a few conjoined paragraphs, but don’t like to have their attention span challenged! My message here is this “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE MISSING!” The sheer ecstasy of overcoming the bugaboo of an aversion to reading is phenomenal!!! The rewards are astronomical!!! A whole new world opens up to you. It’s true that the new world opens up a bit by listening to pre-recorded material; but, in the case of something you really want or need to internalize, it doesn’t come close.
● Some years later I embarked on a thorough study of A COURSE IN MIRACLES and you can bet that those study skills that I had gleaned earlier came in very handy – especially in ‘doing’ its LESSONS!
Over the years I’ve probably listened to A Course in Miracles on tape as a refresher for thousands of hours: it made me feel sooo good! But I’ll never forget a guy I knew about 24 years ago who had been listening to it on cassettes. I happened to mention to him that Jesus was the author and Helen Schucman acted as “scribe,” taking dictation from Him. He didn’t have a clue what I was talking about although it was included in the tapes! He never “got it” just from listening even though Jesus as author was mentioned extensively. He also never even “got it” that A Course in Miracles is a COURSE and the 365 lessons at the end of the book were a Course requirement! I’ve enjoyed listening to ACIM over the past 24 years; but owing to its profound importance, my listening has only been as a review.

I hope y’all will take this in the Spirit (!) it’s intended. As a review of material as weighty as A COURSE in Miracles … I studied it thoroughly for 5 years, spending 1-4 days on each of the 365 lessons. I marked up my book each time I read it with a different color and wrote copious notes in margins, etc. I prayed and meditated over each and every lesson until it became a part of me. I spent many many hours every single day with the text part of the COURSE. I was thrilled that I could understand it as much as I did and I attribute that to having studied Joel Goldsmith’s teaching ever since I was first able to read. So for me, listening to Joel and Herb is a kind of reinforcement, as ACIM would be. I used to listen to ACIM on cassette tapes and then MDs… But my point in this diatribe is that since it’s a Course, I don’t know if just listening will serve you well enough.

Christ is merely another
name for the creation,
for Christ is the Son of God.
The Second Coming of Christ
means nothing more than the
end of the ego’s rule and the
healing of the mind. I was
created like you in the first,
and I have called you to join
with me in the second.
ACIM

~ Gary Renard
The Disappearance of
The Universe

…In any state apart from
Heaven life is illusion. At
best it seems like life;
at worst, like death. Yet
both are judgments on
what is not life, equal in
their inaccuracy and lack
of meaning. Life not in
Heaven is impossible,
and what is not in Heaven
is not anywhere.
ACIM

~ GARY RENARD
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF
THE UNIVERSE

…Preoccupations with problems
set up to be incapable of solution
are favorite ego devices for impeding
learning progress. In all these
diversionary tactics, however, the
one question that is never asked
by those who pursue them is, “What
for?”This is the question that you
must learn to ask in connection with
everything. What is the purpose?
Whatever it is, it will direct your
efforts automatically.

GARY: The purpose should be forgiveness

~ Gary Renard
The Disappearance of the Universe