A Course in Miracles Lesson 5 says something we may read right past. I am never upset for the reason I think.

We are never upset for the reason we think. Never. Not once.

Jesus doesn’t leave it vague either. He names the forms right at the start:

“The upset may seem to be fear, worry, depression, anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy or any number of forms, all of which will be perceived as different.”

All of which will be perceived as different. And then he tells us plainly this isn’t true.

Every one of those is what I call the divine alarm clock going off.

Here’s what I mean. We’re spiritually designed, made in the image and likeness of our Creator. Our mind is the mind of God. Which means we cannot hold a false belief in that mind, give it our attention and our energy, or even leave it running quietly in the background, without feeling upset.

We’re built so that untruth can’t sit comfortably in us.

That’s the good news. That is the REALLY good news.

If we could hold a false thought and feel perfectly fine about it, we’d be stuck in time and space forever. The alarm is mercy. It’s the ring that tells us something false is being given our loyalty right now. We’re upset because we’re investing our precious lifeforce in nothing.

Many of us have been taught to resent the alarm. To be embarrassed by the anxiety, to hide the worry, to call the fear a personal failing. It was never a failing. It was information, arriving right on time.

• The practice in Lesson 5 is simple. Make sentences like these.
• I’m not worried about my finances for the reason I think.
• I’m not worried about my child for the reason I think.
• I’m not afraid about my marriage for the reason I think.
• I’m not anxious about my job for the reason I think.

Say it slowly enough that some part of you actually questions the reason.

Because as soon as we move into fear, we slide into managing and coping. And the next step after managing and coping, for many of us, is self-medication. Something to take the feeling off. Smoking, drinking, exercise, cleaning, shopping, talking on the phone, watching TV, work, whatever the diversion happens to be – it’s all avoidance of the truth.

None of that eliminates the cause. That’s why it has to be repeated so often.

A Course in Miracles gives us the correction directly:

“The correction of fear is your responsibility. When you ask for release from fear, you are implying that it is not. You should ask, instead, for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about.”

Read the request that’s being asked of us there. Not take away the fear. Take away the cause.

And what I love about that is how available it is. We can go right to Jesus and say, please take away the cause. That’s really what we’d like, isn’t it?

We don’t have to DO the healing. We have to BE willing.

That’s the whole assignment. Willingness. The Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of our wrong decision if we allow it.

Let’s be willing to admit the fear is coming from inside the house. Not as a confession, and not as something to feel guilty about. As the most practical admission available to us, because it’s the only one that puts us where the healing actually happens.

If you’d like to stop managing the fear and start dissolving what causes it, join me in Finding Freedom From Fear, where we work at the level of the mind starting on September 21.

The alarm isn’t going off to shame us. It’s going off to wake us.
And we get to decide, every single time it rings, whether we hit the snooze button or finally wake up.

It’s go time. Let’s roll.

TODAY, SUNDAY: The Last 2 Free Classes! Living A Course in Miracles: Release the Worry, Rest in Trust – we have 2 classes today! With Alan Cohen and Jennifer Hadley Worry isn’t natural. It’s a habit, and habits can be dissolved when we’re truly willing. That’s what we’re doing together. It’s FREE, and I’d love to have you with us. Register now at powerofloveministry.net/Release

SEPTEMBER: My Finding Freedom From Fear Bootcamp is 90 days of moving out of coping and into real trust, faith and listening to the higher wisdom, together.  This is my longest running program – popular because it is such a game changer.  Are you up for truly moving past fear?  I only offer this once per year – We start in September!  Click here now to learn more now.

LATEST PODCAST EPISODE: You Don’t Know What Will Make You Happy In this episode, I explore ACIM teachings on happiness, certainty, and trust. I’m just home from an A Course in Miracles gathering in Stony Point, New York, and I opened Lessons 361 to 365 and the Workbook Epilogue and found the one assumption that quietly kept my own answered prayer out of reach for years. I share the surprising truth about what we’re afraid surrender will cost us, the hidden key to certainty, and why worry never runs out of material. If your faith feels shaken, come sit with me.