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Between 1948 and 1975 American newspaper readers were treated daily to a comic strip named Pogo, written and drawn by Walt Kelly. In our digital age we’ve forgotten how important newspapers were, and how when we had them in our hands we inevitably turned to the back to open “the funnies,” or the comic pages. Many comics frequently found ways to make political, and satirical comments in the midst of their cartoons. This was especially true of Pogo who was an opossum who lived with his animal friends in the Okefenokee Swamp (a huge swamp spanning the Georgia / Florida border). Arguably Pogo’s most famous meme was, “We have met the enemy and he is us” which was Pogo’s way of saying in 1970 and 1971 that we had only ourselves to blame for environmental pollution. This meme kept going through my mind recently as I watched the world switch from one external enemy threat to the next: Covid19, Russian Ukraine war, record high gasoline prices, current and coming food shortages, record high inflation, etc. As different people and groups scramble to point the finger of blame at different people and groups, this teaching from ACIM kept cycling through my mind, "The secret of salvation is but this: that you are doing this unto yourself. No matter what the form of the attack, this still is true." (OrEd.Tx.27.86) In other words, the same thing Pogo made famous over 50 years ago is echoed in ACIM, and can be applied to all the current problems of the world. 26 min. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE

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Dear Miracle Worker,

The other day I used Super Glue to fix something – and it didn’t go well. The pieces were small, the glue is runny, and I was in a hurry. Too soon I realized a piece I glued first was preventing others from lining up. Worse, my fingers were stuck together.

Getting Super Glue on your fingers is usually no big deal. But this was next level. My thumb and forefinger were stuck together in a permanent a-ok sign. I tried pulling them apart, but that was going to hurt – a lot! I googled it. Soap and warm water? Nope. Margarine or olive oil? Nope. And then I saw it! My big, sharp kitchen knife. You know when you use a knife to cut through the clear tape on a package? That was my idea.

Carefully I pulled my fingers apart and then really, really gently started sawing between them with the big knife – half expecting to cut off my finger tip. But I didn’t!! It worked!! My fingers were free!

What does that have to do with the Course? A friend said you can go to the Course with any problem, open it to any page and find something right on point. And right after the glue episode I noticed how many times we are told to go slowly in our practice. "The world trains for reliance on one's judgment as the criterion for maturity and strength. Our curriculum trains for the relinquishment of judgment as the necessary condition of salvation." (OrEd.Mn.9.2)

My big hurry didn’t fix what was broken. My rush to start gluing was a rush to judgment without pausing for guidance. And my glued fingers were like the mess that results. Who knew there could be so much wisdom in Super Glue?

(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #342, June 21 2022)

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The idea that a powerful psychosis can capture the minds of a mass of society is called “mass formation,” or sometimes (inaccurately) “mass formation psychosis.” When allowed to proceed, mass formation causes people to do crazy, destructive, and violent things that are obviously not in their own interests. This has gone on repeatedly in our world with Nazi Germany always being a prime example of the dire consequences that can happen if mass formation is not effectively stopped. While learning about this I (Rev. Tony) obviously saw that this is the condition that almost all are under in regards to the physical world and it being inhabited by seemingly separate people. It is a mass formation of a colossal scale. "This is an insane world, and do not underestimate the actual extent of its insanity. There is no area of your perception that it has not touched." (OrEd.Tx.13.50) It causes us to do crazy things, destructive things, and violent things which are not in our best interests – like sickness, death, and war for example. Let’s explore mass formation and how we can apply this theory – and more importantly – it’s solution to the world illusion. 32 min. SUBSCRIBE & SHARE

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Dear Miracle Worker,

ACIM is so easy that there are times I simply refuse to do it. Refusing Spirit’s guidance is so ignorant and so insane that shame and guilt keeps me from returning. I have to admit that I still want “my way” in the dream. That’s what causes my insane decision for more insanity. But Spirit is never completely shut out. I’m still receiving guidance! It’s just quieter. That means I didn’t really choose insanity.

“Let Him be judge of what you are, for He has certainty in which there is no doubt …. Let Him be judge as well of everything that seems to happen to you in this world. … Let Him evaluate each thought that comes to mind, remove the elements of dreams, and give them back to you as clean ideas that do not contradict the Will of God.” (OrEd.WkBk.151.8.10.13)

Wait. What?! You mean that’s all I have to do? Just be willing? Just be willing to see things differently? Just be willing to hear the guidance? Just be willing to hear the Voice for God? What the heck! I forgot! I completely forgot! I’ve been rolling around in my ego garbage thinking there was more to do in order to return to God! There’s a part in the Course that says we’re apt to be personally insulted that we are not asked to do more. Hilarious when you really think about it! To do more is to interfere!

The Course says how to do it, “And we lift our hearts in true humility.” (OrEd.WkBk.152.10) Another part of the Course says to forget everything including this Course and come empty handed unto God. Easy! We can all do this. Let’s not let our mesmerizing stories stop or delay us. No shame and no guilt need stay with us anymore.

(originally appeared in Miracles Weekly #341, June 14 2022)

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