Today’s Prayer to Passage will be from the book “A Course in Miracles” scribed by Helen Schucman.

January’s one-month inquiry into “A Course in Miracles” continues. Thank you for being here and being a part of this with me.

Today I pray, “Dear God, Today is Monday. For me, today is ‘back to work’ day. Really, I have to ask, WHAT IS NEXT? Amen.”

Following my prayer, I held the closed book in my hands and opened it to reveal this passage on page 543:

You can lose sight of oneness, but can not make sacrifice of its reality. Nor can you lose what you would sacrifice, nor keep the Holy Spirit from His task of showing you that it has not been lost. Hear, then, the song your brother sings to you, and let the world recede, and take the rest his witness offers on behalf of peace. But judge him not, for you will hear no song of liberation for yourself, nor see what is given him to witness to, that you may see it and rejoice with him. Make not his holiness a sacrifice to your belief in sin. You sacrifice your innocence with his, and die each time you see in him a sin deserving death.”
—A COURSE IN MIRACLES

What is so precious to me at this time in my life is my growing relationship with my younger brother, who is third in the birth order of myself and my three siblings. He and I were physically and emotionally abused in our childhood, which differs from my other two siblings. And my brother and I are now left in adulthood to discover how we may offer our resources of wisdom from those experiences. We may have become overtaken in the abuse, as oftentimes, childhood trauma does permeate adulthood in unhealthy ways. However, what I find most fascinating is that both he and I are seeking depth and fairness. Consciousness of empathy is a great first step. It is in knowing that we may reexamine our present behaviors as shadow aspects of a deep empathy for pain and abuse not brought into the light, that we may no longer be unfair, but just and compassionate and honoring. It is an essence of, “Be kind to everyone. You do not know what they are really dealing with.” that we may express here in present adulthood.

And today, at the beginning of my workweek, there is no better time to place this essence of empathy and compassion into action. I know that daily life can seem mundane, stressful, or uncertain. I know that others may be experiencing secret traumas behind closed doors. On my Monday, today, I may move forward with a shared experience of my younger brother who has different perspectives than I do. It is not our differences that pull us back into the shadows of slow death that I am to honor; I know my brother by his love, brought to light in a renegotiated agreement with life.
Together, we sing this love song in harmony.