When Feeling Depressed…Attend an ACIM Study Group

I had begun to feel that my posts were taking on a “fake” feel to them of late – hence, the one week plus break from posting. Originally, I’d intended to post something everyday. But, when I had nights where I couldn’t think of something decent to write about, or what I wrote didn’t feel “postable,” I decided that I needed to bring it back to three or four posts a week. When I hit a mini depression, I knew that anything I posted that was positive, wouldn’t be coming from the real me. So, I did the only logical thing – I attended a Course In Miracles Study Group, finally.

Hal Lafler is the teacher of the study group I have always sought to attend here in Phoenix, AZ and the Valley of the Sun. Here is a gentle, humble soul with no shortage of love for others who are (or even aren’t) interested in understanding A Course In Miracles. In his twenty years as a student of the Course, he has developed an intimate understanding of it’s unique voice. The thing that awes me most about Hal is his example. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t worship Hal – most Course students would relate to this. While Hal is a teacher, he is clear that he is a student first. He is clear that he learns just as much from others as others may learn from him. He shuns any labels that might put him at a level higher than those who attend his study groups. He keeps the groups on topic and never shies away from reminding everyone that we are all One and the same.

One of my “issues” is that I want to help people in a major way. I have come to realize that this is just an ego thing. The Course states that God’s teachers are “…anyone that chooses to be one.” It also says that the pupils “…have been assigned to each of God’s teachers.” This was a pretty humbling message for me. If I am to be a teacher, I must accept the pupils who have been assigned to me. No more. If it is one, it is one. That is all I have been assigned.

Admittedly, a part of me has been wondering if I am just wasting my time keeping this blog when such a small number of people are actually reading it. Then I thought about Hal. Here is a man who devotes three evenings a week to teaching the Course. In some years, he has led study groups five days a week. The study group I attended last night had about 14-17 people in attendance. Is he wasting his time? Not for me.

Hal is a rock for me. I have been aware of ACIM for nearly fifteen years now. Yet, I have spent a very small amount of that time actually “working” it. The nice thing is that I don’t have to worry about that. When I complete the course is up to me. In the short Introduction to ACIM, it states, “This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary.” That is a very empowering statement. It is also, in my mind, a very forgiving statement. It basically says that no matter how much time I choose to spend on studying it, I am still going to finish it. No matter what. Can you imagine anything more liberating than that? It is so counter to the sense of urgency that I have encountered in most organized religion.

Which brings me to another point. Hal reminded me that the Course is not a holy book, rather, it is a book of spiritual psychotherapy. I will have to email him to get the exact quote from him. Suffice to say, he does not see it as a religious document at all, rather as a document that is, in and of itself, consistent with all religions on the planet. It may be used in conjunction with all religions without contradiction. Now many people in many religions don’t believe this is true. In fact, they would have their followers believe that the book is the work of the devil. It is understandable that they would feel that way, because it would take so much power away from religions and put it back in the hands of the true Son of God, all of us.