When Truth Softens You

There is a particular kind of courage required to stand alone when everyone around you believes you are wrong.

But there may be an even greater spiritual challenge:

Can you remain humble when you believe the world is finally discovering you were right?

That question became the unexpected centerpiece of a recent Healing Projections Through Current Events class.

We began with Anthony Fauci.

We watched clips from congressional questioning in which Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment. We revisited some of the intense messaging surrounding COVID and vaccination. We listened to people who refused the vaccines describe feeling vindicated, and to public figures reconsidering some of the judgments they had made about those who chose differently.

For some people who resisted vaccination mandates, the current moment feels like vindication.

After years of being called selfish, ignorant, irresponsible, or worse, the temptation to say—

"See? I told you so."

—can be enormous.

And that's precisely where the spiritual classroom begins.

Because the ego doesn't care which side of the pendulum we're standing on.

It only wants us swinging on the pendulum.

When the Ego Changes Costumes

During COVID, fear was everywhere.

Fear of illness.

Fear of death.

Fear of making the wrong decision.

Fear of losing jobs.

Fear of losing relationships.

Fear of being rejected by our communities.

Some followed authorities because they believed that was the wisest course.

Others felt strongly guided not to.

And many who chose differently from the prevailing narrative experienced ridicule, damaged relationships, exclusion, and sometimes financial consequences.

But now the pendulum is swinging.

More people are questioning the blanket instruction to "trust the science," questioning institutional authority, and reconsidering how much power they gave to voices outside themselves.

For an ACIM student, that creates an extraordinary classroom.

Because A Course in Miracles gives us a radical lesson:

"I am under no laws but God's."

— ACIM, Lesson 76

This does not mean doctors are bad.

It does not mean expertise has no value.

It does not mean our intuition makes us infallible.

It means that ultimately, our peace cannot depend upon an external authority telling us what is true.

We are learning to develop such an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit that we become increasingly willing to listen within.

Sometimes that will mean walking with the crowd.

Sometimes it will mean walking alone.

But here's the catch:

Listening to God when everyone thinks you're wrong is only the first test.

The second may be harder.

What happens when you believe events have proven you right?

The Second Test

The ego is remarkably adaptable.

When fear stops working, it simply changes costumes.

Yesterday it whispered:

"You'd better do what everyone else is doing."

Today it may whisper:

"See? You were smarter than everyone else."

Same ego.

Same separation.

Different costume.

The Holy Spirit says neither.

The Holy Spirit simply invites us to keep listening.

To keep forgiving.

To keep loving.

To keep becoming more Christ-like.

Because the purpose of following inner guidance was never to accumulate evidence that we were right.

It was to discover that God's Voice is trustworthy.

Then Something Beautiful Happened

During our class, one of my longtime students, Lisa, was processing what she felt as she watched the congressional questioning.

Part of her wanted honesty.

Accountability.

Truth.

And there is nothing wrong with desiring honesty.

But I asked her to notice which part of her mind was demanding it.

Was she seeking honesty in service to Love?

Or was the ego demanding that someone admit wrongdoing so that guilt could be assigned?

As she explored the difference, something happened right before our eyes.

Lisa said:

"I had more of a tense body... I could feel that was the ego wanting to demand honesty so I could be right. Versus when you said honesty in service to Love, and I just got a little softer."

I just got a little softer.

There it was.

The miracle.

She hadn't received new information.

No external circumstance had changed.

No one had apologized.

No verdict had been announced.

She changed teachers.

And her body knew it.

The tension released.

The demand softened.

Gentleness entered.

That is what A Course in Miracles calls a shift in perception.

And that is what I call becoming Christ-like.

Are We Awakening—or Becoming Christ-like?

We hear a great deal in spiritual communities about awakening.

Enlightenment.

Higher consciousness.

Ascension.

But I don't hear nearly as much about something that matters deeply to me:

Becoming Christ-like.

Two thousand years later, we still speak about Jesus the Christ.

Why?

Not because He won every argument.

Not because everyone agreed with Him.

Not because the authorities eventually admitted He had been right.

We remember Jesus because He demonstrated what Love looks like when it encounters fear.

Gentleness.

Patience.

Trust.

Honesty.

Tolerance.

Defenselessness.

Faithfulness.

Open-mindedness.

These are among the Characteristics of God's Teachers described in ACIM's Manual for Teachers.

They aren't merely admirable spiritual qualities.

They are the characteristics of an emerging Christ.

Perhaps instead of continually asking:

"Am I awakening?"

we might begin asking:

"Am I becoming more Christ-like?"

Jesus Didn't Return for Vindication

Think about Peter.

Peter denied Jesus three times.

Imagine Jesus returning after the resurrection and saying:

"Well, Peter... who's right now?"

😂

That would have been the ego's version of resurrection!

But Jesus didn't return to collect apologies.

He restored relationship.

He loved.

He invited.

He gave Peter another opportunity to remember who he was.

Christ does not need vindication.

Christ knows what He is.

And perhaps that is what we're being asked to learn.

What Role Is Everyone Playing?

There is another part of this teaching that has become increasingly important to me.

We are all playing roles that were scripted before we appeared to incarnate.

Some souls awaken us through their kindness.

Some through their courage.

Some through their mistakes.

Some through circumstances that expose our deepest fears.

And some may play roles that cause enormous numbers of people to question everything they previously believed.

So rather than asking only:

"Who was the villain?"

we can move above the battleground and ask:

"What did this role invite humanity to learn?"

Look at what happened during COVID.

People questioned their careers.

Their lifestyles.

Their relationships.

Their governments.

Their medical systems.

Their spiritual communities.

Their religions.

Their assumptions about authority.

And ultimately, many began asking a far more important question:

Whose voice am I listening to?

I don't have to know what another soul's role is for.

A Course in Miracles reminds me repeatedly:

I do not know what anything is for.

But I can ask the Holy Spirit to help me use everything I encounter for awakening.

Even Fauci.

Even COVID.

Even the person I have made into an enemy.

When viewed through the ego, these become opportunities for blame.

When given to the Holy Spirit, they become classrooms.

Truth Doesn't Prove Who Is Right

This is where the teaching became crystal clear for me.

Truth doesn't prove who is right.

Truth reveals who is becoming Christ-like.

If what I call truth makes me cruel...

If it makes me arrogant...

If it makes me enjoy another person's humiliation...

If it makes me demand that someone suffer because I suffered...

I may want to pause before congratulating myself for having found Truth.

Because Truth, as God created it, cannot lead me away from Love.

What happens instead when Truth makes us gentler?

What happens when it makes us more compassionate toward the people who were afraid?

Toward the people who made different choices?

Toward those who shamed us?

Toward those who may now regret decisions they made?

And yes...

even toward those we believe participated in deception?

That is where Christ begins appearing in the world.

Not somewhere in the clouds.

Through us.

Integration in Daily Life

You don't need a congressional hearing to practice this.

Simply ask yourself:

Where am I waiting to be vindicated?

Maybe it's with your spouse.

Your child.

A sibling.

A friend.

A coworker.

Perhaps you've been thinking:

"Someday they're going to realize I was right."

Notice what happens inside you.

Does the thought tighten you?

Can you give that desire for vindication to the Holy Spirit?

And then ask:

"How would Love see this?"

You may notice something remarkable.

Your shoulders relax.

Your breathing changes.

Your heart opens.

You get...

a little softer.

That's not weakness.

That's the miracle.

Lainaism

"The world celebrates being proven right.

Christ celebrates becoming more loving.

If truth hardens your heart, the ego has claimed another victory.

If truth softens your heart, Christ is remembering Himself through you."

A Gentle Invitation

Every week in the Awareness Academy, we practice something far deeper than learning A Course in Miracles.

Together, we practice becoming the living demonstration of its message.

We laugh.

We question.

We catch our egos.

We forgive.

We soften.

And little by little, we discover that the Second Coming isn't merely an event we're waiting for.

It is the Christ awakening within us.

The Characteristics of God's Teachers give us a beautiful portrait of what that emerging Christ looks like:

Trust.

Honesty.

Tolerance.

Gentleness.

Joy.

Defenselessness.

Generosity.

Patience.

Faithfulness.

Open-mindedness.

If your heart resonates with this message and you're ready for a deeper exploration of what it means to embody these characteristics—not merely understand them intellectually—I would love to welcome you into the Awareness Academy.

Come practice with us as we become more Christ-like...

one gentle miracle at a time.

Closing Transmission

Beloved,

You do not need the world to admit that you were right.

You do not need anyone to apologize before you can be free.

You do not need history to vindicate you.

You need only become still enough to hear the Voice that has never stopped speaking within you.

And when you hear It...

follow.

When others misunderstand...

remain faithful.

When circumstances change...

remain humble.

When truth is revealed...

remain gentle.

Every soul you encounter is playing a role in your classroom.

Bless them for it.

And when you notice that you no longer need your brother to be wrong and punished in order for you to be right...

when the clenched fist opens...

when the shoulders drop...

when the heart becomes just a little softer...

recognize what has happened.

The miracle has occurred.

Christ has not arrived from somewhere else.

Christ has been revealed in you.

And perhaps the greatest miracle isn't discovering that you were right.

Perhaps the greatest miracle is discovering that, because of Love...

you no longer need to be.

With Love,