Have you ever done a beautiful handing-over White Light meditation, and five seconds later heard a voice in your head say, No! It’s not working!

I have. I could say I’ve experienced that once, but I’ve experienced it many times.

The ego’s voice gets frantic. You see? It’s not happening! God’s not here for me! I’ve been abandoned! I’m on my own! I can’t wait for the Holy Spirit, I’ve got to take action now! I’m sinking, I’m failing, and I can’t just sit around and wait for God to help me. This is insane!

A Course in Miracles tells us why it shows up so fast:
“The ego always speaks first. It is capricious and does not mean its maker well.” (T-6.IV.1:2-3)

The delusion is that the ego is trying to protect us. That’s the line it keeps feeding us. It isn’t protecting us at all.

So here’s what I do. I literally turn, in my mind, and face the ego, and I say:

“Ego, I hear you, but you are no longer in charge.”

Sometimes I go a little further. “You had your chance. It didn’t work. We’re not doing that anymore, so shhhhhh! Watch and learn. Watch and learn.”

And I’ve found that, more and more, my ego thoughts get quieter, and quieter, and quieter.

We don’t have to fight the ego or be afraid of it. ACIM reminds us what it actually is:
“The ego is nothing more than a part of your belief about yourself.” (T-4.VI.1:6)

A belief can be questioned.
A belief can be released.
A belief isn’t real or true.  It’s false.  It’s empty.
We answer it with Love and firmness, we’re letting all the energy out.

It helps to ask for clarity, too. “Holy Spirit, make it really clear to me, please, that any time I choose the ego, I’m prolonging my suffering, and I don’t wish to do that anymore. Help me to understand it. Help me to comprehend it. I’d like to really get it. I am willing.”

Then we demonstrate our willingness and our vigilance in a moment-by-moment practice. When we’re feeling like we’d like to blame somebody, we just go, “Yeah, I’m not going to do that now. I see there’s another choice.”

If you’d like to practice this with support, join us in Finding Freedom From Fear, where we learn to hear the ego without handing it the keys.  We’re just getting started and it would be great to have you with us.

The ego may speak first, but it doesn’t get the last word.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE: Time Doesn’t Heal – Trust Does. In this episode of A Course in Miracles: Walking the Talk, Living the Love, I explore the ACIM line a friend brings up in every conversation. Have you forgiven and prayed, and still feel the hurt hanging on? After a Labor Day retreat, I turn to Chapter 26, Section VIII and uncover what ACIM calls our one remaining problem. I share the surprising flaw in a comfort most of us lean on, the fear hiding beneath it, and what a dog and a slice of chocolate cake taught me. The answer may surprise you.