Reminiscing
Still thinking back over my ACIM experiences. It’s been just over 22 years now. I first saw the books at a Christmas party in 83. It took me over six months to read the Text. Being a linear thinker it didn’t even occur to me to do otherwise. Start with volume one. Read it through. Then, proceed to volumes two and three. The Course in Miracles was still only available in sets of three hard bound books. The looked impressive too, in rich blue with gold text and a pebbly texture.
That set went to Dianna a few years later when the single volume paperback version came out. I wonder how she and Terry are doing?
Another Diana is the person who most comes to mind when I think of my early years with the Course. Diana Johnson was the unofficial minister to a couple dozen of us who met to share the Course. A natural connector, she and her husband Gerry hosted a Sunday morning get together in their living room. It wasn’t actually ACIM related. We came and sat down, had a few minutes of quiet, if not silence. Diana always had some lovely liturgical or meditative music gently filling the space. After that we simply shared as we felt moved to do so. It resembled a meeting of Friends as much as anything, though there weren’t the noises of children that typically accompany a Quaker meeting.
We shared. There was little advice and that mostly asked for. No body interrupted. Nobody seemed to condemn or approve. We would sit and hold a receptive space for each other. So simple. So supportive.
This was a cornerstone of my life in Salt Lake, until Diana quit her job as a bank chain V.P. to study to become a minister in name as well as in fact. I think it was in 92 that she was ordained in the Episcopal church. She was the heart of our community though and the main person who brought me into ACIM as a community member and not a hermit.
There were others, too many to mention, though Bill, who hosted the formal ACIM study group, where the informal members of Diana’s church actually studied and discussed the Course. Laurie was our hostess for the ACIM meetings but Bill was the thinker of our group. His intellectual and emotional honesty helped a lot in keeping me from becoming a “True Believer.”
Of course, there was Brian, a true believer if there ever was one. And Sue who’s organizational skills kept the Miracle Center, the formal organization that arose out of the efforts of Diana and Ruth, the unexpected outcome of which netted us almost 10K that needed to be spent in the typical non-profit way.
Bruce, ah Bruce. No way to categorize him. He led meditation retreats, in one of which I met Karen, whom I married. His heart stayed with us between his twice yearly visits.
Glade, who consciously lived the Course more thoroughly that I thought possible. Well, that’s enough. Thank you all.
Posted on January 2, 2007 ::
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