A lot of people are upset about the results of the U.S. presidential election. There are those that are feeling sad, depressed, and outraged. Those dark feelings are a mismatch to our right as spiritual beings to enjoy deep inner peace independent of external events.
Let’s take a look at how we might reframe the election in light of several key lessons from A Course in Miracles, the goal of which is healing of the mind and heart.
1. All things are lessons God would have me learn. (Lesson 193) Every experience sheds light on whether we are viewing life through the lens of fear or the lens of love. All unpleasant emotions are the offspring of fear, pleasant emotions the result of love. If you are upset about anything, you have filtered it through a fear interpretation. Such moments are calls to re-view the situation and choose a more empowering interpretation. If you reframed the election result from a viewpoint of trust, well-being, and connection to your spiritual Source, how would you be seeing it differently?
2. Fear is not justified in any form. (Lesson 240) Whenever we feel afraid, we are making up an untrue story and living in it as if is so. At every moment we are the author of the story we experience. Fear about Donald Trump or any other person is never justified. He does not have power over your happiness. Only you have that power. If you believe anyone outside you controls your consciousness, you have misattributed that power. Such a situation is a call for you to take back the power you have misplaced, and return it to your self, where it belongs.
3. I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt. (Lesson 284) While it appears that the election was between two candidates, it is more fundamentally your internal election between the thoughts you choose to dwell on. People in leadership positions may make political decisions, but only you can make the spiritual decisions that affect the quality of your life. With every thought you are electing the leader of your mind. If you focus on anyone else you don’t like, they are becoming the leader of your mind. When you hold a judgment against someone, you are a jailer who must sit at the door of the cell to which you have consigned them, so you are in jail with them. When you release them from your upset, you release yourself.
4. I could see peace instead of this. (Lesson 34) If you are waiting for Donald Trump to complete his term of office before you can be peaceful, you have set yourself up for four years distancing yourself from happiness. What a waste of your life! ACIM asks, “Why wait for heaven?” The happiness you seek is available to you now, if you are willing to choose it. Heaven is not just a place you go to after you die. It is a state of consciousness you choose while you live.
5. I rule my mind, which I alone must rule. (Lesson 236) You are the President of Your Life, regardless of who sits in public office. When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” he brilliantly answered, “My kingdom is not of this world.” So it is for all of us. As spiritual beings, the earth is not our home. We are just visiting this planet. Meanwhile we occupy a kingdom that far transcends the world. When we realize that the kingdom is within us, we cease to identify with the kingdoms that exist in the world.
6. I am under no Laws but God’s. (Lesson 76) People make all kinds of rules, some of which match universal law, and many of which don’t. Ultimately the laws of God supersede all human institutions. The laws of God are based on love, forgiveness, healing, well-being, prosperity, rewarding relationships, and unbreakable wholeness. Even while human laws run their course, God’s laws remain in effect. When you are aligned with God’s laws, all the benefits of those laws accrue to you, regardless of the current law of the land.
7. Salvation of the world depends on me. (Lesson 186) This idea runs far deeper than parading with a placard or proselytizing people to join your religion. It means that the world you see depends on the thoughts with which you are viewing it. If you see an unsafe, dangerous world, that is your choice of perception. You can also choose to see a safe, empowering world. Saving the world is not a political act. It is an act of consciousness. A Course in Miracles tells us, “Seek not to change the world, but choose instead to change your thoughts about the world.”
You don’t have be A Course in Miracles student to reap the benefits of these lessons. They are universal healing principles easily applied to any practical situation. If you are upset about the election, or happy about it, you can use these dynamic ideas to find your way back to inner peace, the only office worth inhabiting.
Thank you to Alan Cohen for this piece
More of Alan’s insightful and uplifting work can be found at;
https://www.alancohen.com/
