Questioner: I have been studying the Course for a few years. It has

taken me from a place of loss to a very happy, healthy, wealthy,

place. But something has come up which is disturbing. Maybe you

could help me.  Jesus seems to say, romance and sex pleasure, it is time to let

that go. It just doesn't seem right because I really like girls.

This isn't a Course that wants to take away the little bit that we

have is it?

David:

Yes, it reminds me of when I was in South America. I was in a group

of all women and there was one man there and he fell out of the

circle we were all sitting in onto his knees in front of all the

women and said, "What about sex?"  That is

a good question. What I will say is this. The ego is the belief in

lack in the mind. It is like a prism and when light comes into a

prism and it splinters into all those colors, similarly when the

miracle impulse comes in, beaming into your mind, it goes through the

filter of the ego. Since the ego is the belief in lack the impulse

comes out on the surface of consciousness, when the mind is still

believing in the ego, as what Jesus calls "…a distorted miracle

impulse."

In other words, it really is a call Home to God. That is when you

have a craving, when you feel an attraction to a woman, when you feel

lust, or call it whatever you want, it is really God calling. Think

of it as God dialing your number and saying, "Come home. It is time

to come home, time to go on the highway to heaven." When that

light, when that bright light, that miracle impulse, comes through

the ego, which is the belief in lack, it comes out on the surface of

consciousness as a craving. That is why all appetites involve

getting. It doesn't really matter whether you are hungry, you are

thirsty, you are horny, you are hot, you are cold, you are restless:

it comes out in many different ways.

Actually, when Jesus dictated the Course, the first text from the

shorthand notes, the Urtext, says "sexual impulses are distorted

miracle impulses". Then Jesus decided to have Helen go back and

change "sexual" to "physical" because He was simply being more

general. Like I was saying, when you are hungry, when you are

thirsty, or any time you crave something in this world, it is because

you believe in the ego, which is lack. You are simply following what

seems to be a need or a desire.

The Holy Spirit is such a gentle presence, He says, "I know you

believe in lack. That's okay." We have a Course here with a

workbook and mind training program to work on this thing. Nothing

will be taken away from you (in the sense) that you need to

experience miracles. [You just need to learn to listen and follow.]

You need to call so and so, hug so and so, comfort the person, wipe

their tears, be a translucent instrument for God's love. The more

that you do that, the more you get filled up within from your miracle

impulses. You are going to be a miracle worker.

We've had examples throughout history. Some of you know of Saint

Francis. St. Francis and his band of merry men took the vow of

celibacy. You might have seen the beautiful movie, "Brother Sun,

Sister Moon" where Giacondo is having these lustful thoughts for a

woman and St Francis hears him say "I can't do it, I'll ruin

everything." St. Francis says essentially that everyone is trying

to open up and love God to their capacity. And If celibacy feels

like a distraction to loving God, then be fruitful and

multiply. "But with a wife"… Francis says as he goes off.

In other words, you need to trust the Holy Spirit for everything.

The Holy Spirit is not going to give you a pathway that seems like

deprivation and sacrifice, because you will quit listening to the

Holy Spirit if you start feeling that. It would be like, "I don't

want to feel like St. John of the Cross. What am I going to do, Dark

Night of the Soul? What do I have to go through?" You have to be

given a carefully developed curriculum, step by step, to build your

confidence in miracle working. What Jesus says in the Course is

that "all real pleasure comes from doing God's Will."

As we open up to what that is, we grow in confidence. We grow in

spirit. People can look at my life and say, he trusted the Holy

Spirit. No job, no girlfriend, no money in your bank account to call

your own, no house, no car to call your own, how does that feel? I

can honestly tell you that when you are in a state of joy there is no

feeling of sacrifice of anything. And what is joy going to cost you?

It will cost you nothing of real value. But you have to let the Holy

Spirit convince you. I had to let the Holy Spirit convince me.

There are no set rules. It is not like the church. There are

no "dos" and "don'ts." There are no guidelines, no what is a sin and

what is not a sin. You will be guided by the Holy Spirit for the

situation where your mind is at. That guidance is just for you.

There is no standard answer that is like a rigid moralistic thing

where you have to do this or that.

I worked with a couple once who were having sexual problems. The

wife was studying a Course in Miracles and her libido was going way

down. The husband was Jewish and was telling her that they were

supposed to have sex and he wanted it at least three times a week and

wanted it on Monday night and Thursday afternoon and Saturday night,

and she was saying no way.

Basically, I worked with them to say: "How about if we can work at a

common goal of being spontaneous. You see, how about if you can join

together and try to tune in to one another so that you can receive

spontaneous prompts and try to practice that instead of saying one

should change or the other should change."

It seems our time for this session is coming to an end. Thank you so

much for coming. God Bless You.