Recognizing the problem

I’m doing my second round of A Course in Miracles and the lesson that really struck a chord with me lately was: “Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.” I immediately recognized the truth of this request. So often we think we know what the problem is, when clearly we don’t because our solutions don’t work!

So what is the problem? What is at the core of the issues we experience in our lives? A Course in Miracles tells us that the root of our distress is the belief in separation. The idea that we are alone, separate from everyone and everything in the universe, including God.

The belief that we are alone in this world is a harmful one. It allows us to foster an “us versus them” mentality. This thinking also fosters a belief in scarcity and permits us to be justified in acting in our own interests regardless of how those actions affect others.
I’ve heard it said that we act in two ways: out of love or out of fear. When we act out of love, we are able to experience peace and contentment. When we act out of fear, we live stressful, unsatisfactory lives. Instead of being able to feel love and compassion for our neighbors, we play victim, experience jealousy and wage wars.

I am finally at a point where I realize how difficult we make our lives when we believe in separateness. It is easy to become depressed, hopeless or just plain pessimistic about our lives. Imagine how different the world would be if we all believed that we were connected, that every living thing is connected! Picture the possibilities!

I imagine a world where we all feel connected to one another to be one where we emphasize co-operation rather than competition. We would look out for one another, even when we’re strangers because it’s simply what we are called to do. Pollution and animal cruelty wouldn’t need to be causes that we need to spend our time and money on because we recognize the importance of taking care of our home and all of its residents. Most importantly, we couldn’t even imagine going to war with one another because we would see it as going to battle with ourselves – a completely ludicrous idea!

Even if we struggle with the concept of being connected to the cast universe, can we really afford not to believe that we are connected to God? If we believe that God created us, then how can we feel separate from our creator? Do we not feel connected to our parents? What about the rest of our family? If we acknowledge that God created the universe, how can all that it includes not be connected?

What really blows my mind about this lesson in A Course in Miracles is that when we recognize the problem (our belief in separateness); we realize it has already been solved! If our belief in separateness is false, then the problems we perceive don’t really exist, do they? They are our own creations; we are doing this to ourselves! When we are able to realize that we are all one, we become empowered. We are one with God and with God all things are possible. So what are you waiting for?