EP1: WELCOME TO UNDERSTANDING THE LANGUAGE OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES PODCAST!

This is the first episode, in Series 1 of "UNDERSTANDING THE LANGUAGE OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES PODCAST (UTLOACIM Podcast)". 

So... first, I'd like to thank you for dropping by and welcome you to the podcast! 

This is episode is probably the longest as the rest will be on average about 9 to 12 minutes... however listen to it all the way through to the end to learn why I created the podcast... share how it might be of help to you... and let you know what you can expect to hear from me each week. 

Listen to EP1 & EP2 as this will provide the context to determine if this resonates with you. And if you feel so led... please subscribe so you'll be notified about each week's Episode. 

Welcome again and I'd love to have you join me each week!

Peace & Blessings,
Rev. Jennifer

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

You are listening to the podcast for learning the language of a Course in miracles so you can understand the meaning, embody the message, and live the teachings as a way of life. Welcome to the very first episode of this podcast. I'm your host, Reverend Jennifer Mcwe, creator of this podcast and the Course in Miracles Practice coach for taking those who are studying the course from inspiration to application. So this is the place to be for students of a course in miracles who are having difficulty putting the teachings into practice. If you're not a course in Miracle student and you stumbled upon this podcast by accident, or you're hereby invitation either out of courtesy, curiosity, interest, or three, as Oprah would say, what I know for sure is that this is also the place for you to be. And here's why I'm saying this. A course in Miracle Speeches that no one is where he is by accident. That wherever you find yourself, it's exactly where you need to be. And a Course in Miracles wasn't written for a body or a group of people out there who are known as or called or labeled course In Miracle students, rather, people become students of a course in miracles after hearing or learning about it or encountering it in some way and feel that what they hear resonates with them on some level, and it resonates at such a deep level that they feel naturally drawn or called to explore it further. And they do so by studying the course and become students. That was the way I came to a Course in Miracles. I first heard about the Course in Miracles from Dr. Wayne Dyer. He was being interviewed by Anthony Robbins, and I still don't remember how the topic or the subject came up, but what he said was, and he didn't say very much, and it of course in miracles was also something very new to him at the time, because what he said was that he had learned about this body of work called the Course in Miracles, and that there was a lot of speculation around it as to the source and who had written it and whether it was channeled material, et cetera. But he said what he did know is that people who studied what the course taught and practiced the teachings and the principles they claim to experience more peace and happiness in their lives. And even though the title sounds religious, and I wasn't religious then, nor am I now, as a matter of fact, I had long since Left Religion Behind and was, as a matter of fact, having been baptized and raised Catholic was trying to successfully sever my Catholic roots. Um, something about what I heard struck me, and it wasn't just that it got my attention, it was, it felt as if a switch had been flipped or a door had clicked open. And I felt drawn in intrigued. And I would love to say that, you know, I picked up right away and went down and got a copy of the book, but I didn't. As a matter of fact, I did not hear much about it again or think much of it again until that year at Christmas. It must have been around June of that year that I had heard Dr. Wayne Die talk about a Course in Miracles. And the Christmas of that year, a friend of mine gifted me a copy of Marion Williamson's Irre Return to Love. And for those of you who don't know, Marion Williamson with her book, return to Love, brought a course in Miracles mainstream. Until then, it was only a small group of people who were even aware of a course in Miracles and an even smaller group who practiced. So a co. How I found out how I learned about the content and the message of a Course in Miracles was through Marion Williamson's book. And her book was not only responsible for bringing the course in is mainstream, but bringing a lot of people to a course in Americas. And I was among one of those people. So after reading a book, I actually went down to a local metaphysical bookstore and there was a copy of the Course in Miracles on the Shelf, dark blue, very hard cover, gold writing on the outside, complete with onion skin on the inside, looking like a souped up version of the Bible. And intimidating as all heck naturally, I left it on the shelf. I did, I did not buy it. I did not pick it up. I guess I wasn't ready<laugh>, like I said, it, it was a bit intimidating at first, but I guess I just wasn't ready, but no word of a lie, almost a year to the day that I had gone down and looked at the book and left the bookstore, I was watching Oprah. Yes, I was a big Oprah fan back in the day. That was her heyday. And her guest that day was Ian La Vanzant. And Ila shared a quote and then referenced it as coming from a Course in Miracles. And I just had this clear thought, this, I don't know, knowing that, you know, I think you need to go down and get a copy of that book. And so sure enough, I did. I immediately went down to the bookstore and there was that loan copy on the shelf again, I'm pretty sure it was the same copy that I'd left the year before because they were not jumping off the shelves back then. I mean, they're not jumping off the shelves now, but they're being taken down, taken off the shelves with greater frequency. So I picked it up, brought it home, bought it,<laugh>, brought it home, and of course it sat in my bookshelf for another two years before I actually picked it up, opened it. And I haven't put it down since this was almost 20 years ago. And over the course of those years, I can't tell you how many core students, fellow core students I have heard, share similar stories of their journey to the course of hearing about it, feeling a resonance and feeling drawn or called to practice, to study and practice. And so this is why I say for those of you who are not course and miracle students and are here today, that this is the place also for you to be. Because what you hear today or hearing me talk about a course today, will give you the opportunity to see if it resonates with you on any level. And if it doesn't, it'll give you the opportunity or at least allow you to rule out the possibility of a Course in Miracles as a path for you. So as the course says, wherever you find yourself, it's exactly where you need to be. So in this first episode, I'm gonna be talking a bit about a Course in Miracles. So at least if you're hearing about it for the first time or you're not very familiar with it, you will have a lot more information about it than I did when I heard about it for the first time. So you'll be making a choice or a decision, you, you'll be able to make a more informed choice or decision. I'll also be talking about the language of a Course in Miracles, which is the subject or the topic of this podcast. Um, plus if you should you decide to stay on or to continue listening, I'll share with you what you can expect week after week from this podcast. So what is a Course in Miracles? A Course in Miracles really combines psychology and Christian terminology to create a form of spiritual psychotherapy that helps you to shift your perception of yourself, the world, what is taking place in and as your life and in the world in such a way that you are able to feel safe, empowered, and at peace as you go about your life in the world and even when, or especially when you're faced with circumstances, conditions, or even other people for that matter that seem to threaten you. This shift in perception that allows you to experience this feeling of safety and, and peace is what a course refers to as the miracle and the means by which the course teaches you experience that miracle or you're able to make that shift. And experience miracles is what the course calls forgiveness or true forgiveness. So the study of a Course in Miracles, the study and practice of a Course in miracles can be said to be the study and practice of forgiveness or the understanding study and practice of forgiveness. Um, a Course in Miracles is described as self-study. Now, there are two ways you can look at this and, but the most important one is, or the main one, the main reason why it's described as self-study, it's because it is designed as a course. If you were to look at any formal traditional class or course that's offered, there will be a text. You'll be given exercises or assignments to practice what you're learning from the text, which the text usually includes the basic subject matter, everything you, you need to know about it, how it works, what it's about, what it does. You'll be given assignments and te and exercises to practice. And there'll be a teacher who will be answering your questions and giving you general summary, summary or information about the different topics and subjects. Well, a Course in Miracles is designed exactly like a course. There is a text section, which again includes the main ideas and the teachings. There is the workbook for students, which consists of 365 lessons that you are to do one a day over the course of a year. And there is the smallest section, which is the Manual for teachers, which is done in a question and answer format. So you'll have, for example, the question like, what is forgiveness? And there will be about a page or two or so giving you a summarized version of what forgiveness is. And then of course, you can go further look it up in the text to understand it further. Now, when the course was originally published, it was published in three separate sections. There was a text separately, the Bardi, the workbook for students and the Manual for Teachers. And there were also two additional pamphlets that came afterwards. The Song of Prayer and Psychotherapy, purpose, process and Practice, they were all separate. The second edition included all three of the first books, the text, the workbook, and the Manual for Teachers. The pamphlets were separate. And the third edition, I believe now includes everything. And by the way, it's soft covers. So it's much less intimidating<laugh> than when I had my experience. And by the way, I had purchased this second edition, it was still in hardcover then, then Now what what matters about the idea that the course is self-study? It's not that you have to study it by yourself, but it's simply designed so that if you don't have that, you don't need the formal teacher classroom setting in order to study the course. And I believe it's made that way partially to make it user friendly so that anyone can study the course wherever they are, because you have the guidance of the manual as the teacher, you have the workbook exercises for practice and you have to text the study. But the other way of looking at the course as being self-study is that it is really the study of a course, really the the study of the self. And that is the Capital S self. It's really about understanding the truth about who we are. And it is when we make this shift and recognize our true self, that is how we we become able to shift our perception and feel empowered and feel safe and be at peace. Now, the reason why I share with you about the course being self-study is because most of us as core students, begin studying the course as a self-study process by ourselves. I know for me, this is how I began, and this is what has led by the way to me creating this podcast for learning or becoming aware of the necessity to learn and understand the teachings of a course in miracles with the language of a Course in Miracles study, I began studying the course alone. And primarily because at that time there were no course in miracles study groups in my area. Like I said, it was not very common. And I used to find it so frustrating because it's not that the courses use as complicated language, and it was in English<laugh>. And I mean, I can read, I'm, I'm thinking of a certain political figure who says, you know, I can read, I know a lot of words. I mean, I can read, I understand the English language very well, I'm a voracious reader, but I would be so frustrated when I would find myself reading a certain line or passage from the course over and over again only to find myself thinking, I know what it says, but what does it mean?<laugh>, I just couldn't understand why, why can I understand the words? And so I went, literally went on a search and I started looking around for books and commentaries and perhaps teachers and maybe advanced students who had, you know, written about the course. And I looked for audio cassettes and lectures and things like that. And I, and I found some great material. I found one, one of the things I really appreciated was that a lot of the writing usually pulled together the main teachings, the central teachings of the course in one place, as opposed to having it, you know, spread out over the 600 plus pages of the text and trying to figure out what are the key points. There were certain teachers and advanced students and leaders in the course who sort of pulled everything together and, and sort of gave you the courses, principles of the courses, main ideas at a glance. And that was great. I also loved some of the commentaries that were given, especially based on the daily workbook lessons where people shared how they were able to use the courses teachings to transform a situation in which they were not at peace or one, and where they were, they needed a healing or something like that. But what I found to be missing, I still didn't find any one book or course or person who gave a clear indication as to how do you go about making that shift in your mind, that change in your thinking, so that when you read something that the course is saying, you don't find a discrepancy between what it's saying and what it is you're thinking or feeling. Let, let me give you an idea of what I mean. For example, there was a, a lesson in the course that says, I am, as God created me. Now, if you are looking at yourself and identifying with who you are as the body, the person, the face that you see, when you look in the mirror, it is very difficult to, or it's not consistent to, uh, fully accept that you are as God created you, that you remain as God created you. If you not only literally see yourself changing sometimes, but you know, from the moment you were born, you have been changing physically, emotionally, mentally, and you will continue to change until the way, until the day you die. So it's not consistent. And so what it feels like, what it felt like to me is that in order to accept what the course was teaching, you literally had to be in denial sometimes because in order for me to accept that the person I see in the mirror and the person I know is my body, that it will continue to change and grow to change and not be the same as the day I came into this world, so to speak, and to accept it. That, to think that that's me, and that is the same me that is as God created me. I have to be in denial that either one of those isn't true. And so this, this was a conflict and I couldn't understand, you know, how do you, how do you make that shift? Or there's certain things that the, that the course is asking you to perhaps forgive or to overlook something that another has done to you. But how can you do that in total honesty if you are really seeing this person as having done something to you? And so I, I couldn't understand, you know, how, how was I supposed to look at this in order for me to see it with congruity? So like I said, I went looking and, um, and I found that was, that was missing. And I used to find that very frustrating. I also found that when I shared this with fellow core students, they too shared having similar experiences. And if you have been a course in Miracle student for any length of time, and you're honest with yourself, you'll have to admit that you two have had the same experience of feeling or thinking, I know what it says, but what does it mean? And so I was in this bit of a flux or struggle for some time until I discovered Dr. Ken Watnick. And the, if you're a core student, you probably know of Dr. Ken Watnick. And what's, what was wonderful about that is that Dr. Ken Watnick is an amazing teacher of a course in Miracles. He, first of all, he was a very close friend of Helen's. He was one of the few people on Helen's very small inner circle with whom she shared the Urex or the original manuscript of a Course in Miracles. And Ken Watnick was also responsible for editing the texts before it was published, and very instrumental in getting the course published. But he also has a clear understanding, a deep understanding of the message, the psychology and the, the metaphysics of a course in miracles. And on top of that, he has a way of relating and sharing and teaching The course is very abstract, metaphysical principles in a very relatable way, and very often with a lot of humor. He, he had this great dry sense of humor and, but he just made something that could be very dry and not an easy read and not an easy practice, just very relatable and a lot less intimidating. But what was key for me about Dr. Ken Watnick that helped to turn things around, end my struggle and literally bring me some peace, was his deep commitment, his understanding, his deep understanding, first of all, and even deeper commitment to honoring the metaphysics of a course in miracles. Now, I'm not gonna say much more about metaphysics today because interesting enough, this is where, you know, people tend to kind of metaphorically start backing out of the room because metaphysics is usually associated with psychic phenomena. However, this is going to be the subject of next week's episode. I'll be discussing the metaphysical framework of a Course in Miracles. And so if you'd like to know more about it then and get the the truth about it, you'll listen in, consider it. Look at it as an look at this as an ethical bribe, right? We'll both gain something, but not at the expense of each other and not at the expense of anyone else, but the medi, basically, in essence, the metaphysical perspective or framework upon which the course rests really is about looking at everything from the perspective of being an idea. So when a course talks about, let's say, when the course talks about you, the you, that remains as God created you, it is not talking about the you that you see in the mirror. It is talking about the idea that is you from the perspective of the course. And so when you read the course, we are to read the course from a metaphorical perspective, not literal. In other words, you take, you look at the words, you look past the ordinary, generally accepted meaning of the word, and you look beyond to get an understanding of the deeper meaning of the word, the idea that the word represents. And this is how you'll get to understand what the course is really saying. So that was a major radical shift for me, and it made a big difference and literally propelled me from, you know, that place of being stuck and struggle and feeling like I had to be in denial, or that the course wasn't really true as it claimed to me. And to really helping me experience a sense of peace and joy and deeper understanding. And in turn, learning how to actually apply what the course was teaching so that I can experience the, the peace and healing that that I was seeking and the miracles, so to speak, that the course promised. And then I began sharing it with my students and clients in my counseling and coaching practices, brought it in there. And more recently, I, I wrote a book entitled True Forgiveness, which in essence, as the title suggests, is about the basic foundational practices or teachings of a course in miracles that will lead you to pr, understand and practice true forgiveness so that you can make that shift, experience, that shift in your perception, and then in turn, experience the miracles that the course promises. And of course, this is now what leads me to want to share about this in the form of this podcast with those of you or a wider audience, or those of you who might either be still struggling to practice the course, the course's teachings to, or to apply the course's teachings or to get a better understanding of what it is the course is saying. So should you decide to continue listening, what I'll be doing each week or what you can expect to hear, I'll be selecting one of those key or central words, ideas, lessons, or teachings from the course. And I'll be going beyond the surface level, generally accepted understanding and discussing it from the metaphorical perspective or the perspective of the course in miracles. And so this way you'll get to have a clearer understanding of what the course is really saying. And in so doing, you understand how to apply it more specifically on a practical level and to the circumstances of your life. So that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. Tune in next week to hear about the metaphysical framework of a Course in Miracles. And by the way, that framework, that is the foundation for understanding the language of the course. So you wanna be here. If you'd like to learn how to do that, please leave me a comment below. I would love to know your thoughts. And if you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and invite your friends to listen in. Until then, have a great week and see you on the podcast next Wednesday. Bye-bye.