A Course in Miracles teaches us that we are actually more comfortable listening to a voice of fear and guilt within us.
We listen to the tiresome voice of negativity because we know it, we’ve heard it, we prefer it, and we’ve come to trust its “hard-core reality.” It’s the language our culture speaks. It’s embedded in our consciousness. We don’t even think of of this narration as being negative or fearful. It’s normal. Being judgmental, suspicious, or diminishing of our hopes and dreams is often considered wise and prudent. To some extent, this kind of constraint has become our identity. We don’t even believe something else is possible.
When a New Yorker from the West Village moves to the mountains or country, they might find the naked stillness or sound of crickets unnerving. They might find it strangely more comforting to hear an ambulance go by or some window-rattling hip hop music from a passing car stereo. It is what they are accustomed to experiencing. It is what they expect to hear.
Familiarity comforts us, even if it’s a familiarity that no longer serves us. The presence of a sweet and loving voice or a powerful, sweeping sense of good is often times suspicious. It can feel strange or out of control. We haven’t experienced it before.
We actually resist the wisdom and direction of the Voice of Love inside us. Love usually asks us to do the exact opposite thing that the world would counsel us to do. We have been taught by our families and society “how to be safe” or “how to get ahead.” Your guidance may ask you to trust your instincts or do something that would not be advised by others. In an “insane world,” sanity will seem insane.
This week we focus on trusting the Voice of Love MORE than the Voice of Fear inside us.
