Over the past two years of dealing with pandemic isolation, I’ve done a lot of thinking and reading.
When I asked myself what were the five most important books (outside of The Bible) I’ve read and truly incorporated into my life, here’s the list:
- A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A COURSE IN MIRACLES by Marianne Williamson
- A Course In Miracles
- What Do You Really Want for Your Children, by Wayne Dyer
- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
- Managing Oneself by Peter Drucker
At the beginning of 2020 I decided to reread A Course in Miracles. In hindsight, it was an inspired choice.
Today I am on my third consecutive go around.
What has become crystal clear is that I must speak out for choosing love.
When I first began teaching three to six-year-olds, I had a five-old-boy who would have 30-minute-long tantrums. His parents were at a loss of what to do. I was, too.
After visiting with a psychologist friend, she recommended a book whose title is long lost.
Inside was an exercise to help you understand the mind and emotional state of a child in a tantrum.
The exercise was unconventional, but created an intense learning moment for me.
The exercise? To act like the child in a tantrum for whatever period of time the child usually had a tantrum.
I sent my daughters off to a friend’s house, set the timer for 30 minutes, and began thrashing, yelling and flailing on my living room floor.
After five minutes, I felt like I was drowning and was exhausted. I thought, “This poor child. He must be horribly frightened with only five minutes of a tantrum.”
I wanted to quit at the five-minute mark, but resolved to go the full thirty minutes. With each minute, my anxiety increased.
After 30 minutes, my heart pounded. I was drenched in perspiration, feeling very much alone, even in this pretend tantrum.
It was then, on my living room floor, that I understood all this child needed was to know he was heard and was loved.
I saw this boy differently. He went from being a classroom disruption to a soul asking for help.
I could listen. I could choose to love him.
Today many of us are angry, scared, struggling against a hysterical hallucination of fear. We are drowning, no one can hear us, and we believe no one is going to save us.
We need a miracle.
A Course in Miracles teaches that a miracle is simply a change in perception.
A miracle is an answer to our prayers to see things differently.
Even in our darkest moments, we can ask to see our situation differently, and we will.
We can ask for a miracle.
Please join me in reading A Return To Love.
Over the next ten weeks I’ll send you an email with the highlights from one of the nine chapters of the book. I’ll also offer some questions for you to contemplate or discuss with others.
Sign up below for A Return to Love Read Along.
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