I will step back and let Him lead the way – Susan Dugan and Bruce Rawles converse

In this YouTube video, Susan Dugan and Bruce Rawles read a portion of “I will step back and let Him lead the way.” (ACIM, W-155) from the text of A Course In Miracles. We conversed about how – over time – developing trust in the Inner Kindness Teacher that ACIM refers to as Holy Spirit – we are able to recover more quickly in our daily moment-to-moment forgiveness classrooms from egoic sabotage attempts by seeing the sameness we all share. We’re ALL held by that loving presence, and capable of watching the illusion from that gentle place in our mind to see the seeming predicament of our common humanity and our common solution – true forgiveness. This practice of trusting our Eternal Guide helps us use the decision-making faculty in our mind (that we all have) to more quickly choose against the ego (that we all have) and instead identify with our appointed friend, Holy Spirit (that we all have) … and ultimately are.

This deepening trust – listening to the mental safety and clarity in our mind with increasing alacrity and frequency – doesn’t preclude what the world would consider unfortunate or unpleasant situations, but it does mean that with practice we’re able to more quickly drop the ego’s divisive, debilitating, depressing, deceptive and destructive misinterpretations of those situations and events in our surreal world of space and time. We’re asked to ignore our (ego) intentions but instead trust our willingness to question those crazy (yet popular) misinterpretations of our neutral sensory data … and that willingness is sufficient, as we progress from a little willingness to ultimately abundant willingness:

“Trust not your good intentions. ²They are not enough. ³But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter. ⁴Concentrate only on this, and be not disturbed that shadows surround it. ⁵That is why you came. ⁶If you could come without them you would not need the holy instant. ⁷Come to it not in arrogance, assuming that you must achieve the state its coming brings with it. ⁸The miracle of the holy instant lies in your willingness to let it be what it is. ⁹And in your willingness for this lies also your acceptance of yourself as you were meant to be.” (ACIM, T-18.IV.2:1-9)

Because we have committed to the little willingness to follow Holy Spirit (a.k.a. the Course’s non-dual Jesus), we are assured that our way out of the hell we made up is assured:

“You cannot fail because your will is His.” (ACIM, W-69.7:4)

Also, ego is always 100% insane, and Holy Spirit is always 100% sane, so it’s unrealistic to expect ego to be less insane when we “throw the switch” to the ego position, but when we switch back to Holy Spirit more frequently, our average sanity increases over time.

The Course uses the word presence (or variations) 109 times, so it is obvious that we’re being led gently, patiently, and persistently to allow not sabotage peace by looking without condemning thoughts at our egos (and those we’ve projected onto others). To do that, we develop trust in that profound peaceful presence in our sane mind and become more and more comfortable with that Inclusive Identity we share with everyone; the presence we all deeply know at some level in our mind is our only hope; the Course’s equivalent of a pure non-dual version of Obi-Wan Kenobi that knows how to help us forgive illusions without fail.

Here are a few examples of the presence in our mind we’re asking ourselves (in our saner moments) to trust, identify with, and ultimately become:

“The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. ⁷It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance.” (ACIM, T-in.1:6-7)

“I have said that awe is inappropriate in connection with the Sons of God, because you should not experience awe in the presence of your equals. ³However, it was also emphasized that awe is proper in the Presence of your Creator.” (ACIM, T-1.VII.5:2-3)

“How can you teach someone the value of something he has deliberately thrown away? ²He must have thrown it away because he did not value it. ³You can only show him how miserable he is without it, and slowly bring it nearer so he can learn how his misery lessens as he approaches it. ⁴This teaches him to associate his misery with its absence, and the opposite of misery with its presence. ⁵It gradually becomes desirable as he changes his mind about its worth. ⁶I am teaching you to associate misery with the ego and joy with the spirit. ⁷You have taught yourself the opposite. ⁸You are still free to choose, but can you really want the rewards of the ego in the presence of the rewards of God?” (ACIM, T-4.VI.5:1-8)

Here is the paragraph we read and commented on during this relatively brief conversation:

“There is a way of living in the world that is not here, although it seems to be. You do not change appearance, though you smile more frequently. Your forehead is serene; your eyes are quiet. And the ones who walk the world as you do recognize their own. Yet those who have not yet perceived the way will recognize you also, and believe that you are like them, as you were before.” (ACIM, W-155.1:1-5)

(This video was recorded on October 6, 2022.)

Here is a new release from the Foundation for A Course In Miracles online store that we recommend:

“The Mind’s the Thing” available as an mp3 audio as well as an audio CD.

Here is an update about Gloria Wapnick’s recent passing from the Foundation for Inner Peace Facebook page:

“It’s with heartfelt love we inform you of the death of Gloria Wapnick on October 5, 2022. She died peacefully at home, and her family will hold a private service. Gloria and her husband, Dr. Kenneth Wapnick, established the Foundation for A Course in Miracles (FACIM) in 1983 and together taught the principles of the Course to hundreds of students.

The Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) and FACIM worked together on the second and third editions of “A Course in Miracles” and collaborated on the translation of the Course into other languages. FIP handled the administration and supervision, while FACIM carried out the training of translators. Since Ken’s passing in 2013, FIP has led the translation process while FACIM, under Gloria Wapnick’s leadership, carried out its new mission: to preserve Ken’s extensive body of work and make it available to students around the world.

We are profoundly and forever grateful for Ken’s and Gloria’s legacy, their kindness, extraordinary vision, and unconditional devotion to the teachings of A Course in Miracles.

If you have questions or comments about this video, prior videos in this ACIM-related video series, or other Course-related topics, please email them via the ACIMblog.com contact form. Susan and Bruce will review and try to respond to questions and suggestions for future conversations. We look forward to extending the conversation with you!

If you are interested in Susan’s excellent weekly Tuesday evening classes based on the teachings of Kenneth Wapnick, you can contact her here.

Here are some prior ACIM-related conversations with Susan Dugan and Bruce Rawles.