Journey Without Distance

"I will arise now and go to my Father..." Luke 15:18

In perhaps Jesus' most famous parable, he shared a story about a directionally challenged young man who followed his sense guidance only to end up far from home and miserable.  The prodigal was certain he would find his joy in the world. He followed his desire for a better life, convinced that it could be found somewhere out in the world.  In the end, when he hit the skids, he realized his navigation error: what he longed for was not in the world but back home.

We can all relate to this story because, at least spiritually, we've discovered the errancy of our guidance.  Many of us come to ourselves and realize that we've been looking for our happiness in all the wrong places, in all the wrong faces.  Because this world is such a powerful opiate that dulls our spiritual sense of direction, it is a tough dysfunction to correct. Under the influence of this illusory world, we are convinced that something or someone will give us what we need.  When the quest does not pay off, we usually convince our self that a new something or someone is what we need.  Yet, no matter how many times we set out to find peace or fulfillment or love in the world, our journey is doomed to failure. It can be no other way.  The reason we can't find fulfillment in life is not because we're not looking but because our perspective is backwards.  Our understanding of cause and effect is upside down.  In our confusion, we think the source of our well-being is outside ourselves.

A valid spiritual solution is one that reverses our mistaken guidance and turns us in the direction of our true home, where our needs can truly be met. When we reverse our thinking and turn our attention from the world that constantly changes, to the eternal self (the indwelling spirit) we find fulfillment that is unwavering and unconditional.

This reversal of worldly thinking is the teaching of A Course In Miracles, which I've referenced in many of my Sunday talks. This Sunday we begin a  series of lessons based upon the themes and teachings of A Course In Miracles. A.C.I.M. has been called a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy and a modern day interpretation of the teachings of Jesus. *A.C.I.M. has many parallels with Unity's philosophy and teachings and we will look at how its teachings can help us turn our lives around, call off the search in the world and return us to our home in God.