Your reference to the “Oasis of Friendship” and the “water of life” reminds of this passage from the Course, which I quoted before:

The Thought of Goddess surrounds your little kingdom, waiting at the barrier you built to come inside and shine upon the barren ground. See how life springs up everywhere! The desert becomes a garden, green and deep and quiet, offering rest to those who lost their way and wander in the dust. Give them a place of refuge, prepared by love for them where once a desert was. And everyone you welcome will bring love with her from Heaven for you. They enter one by one into this holy place, but they will not depart as they had come, alone. The love they brought with them will stay with them, as it will stay with you. And under its beneficence your little garden will expand, and reach out to everyone who thirsts for living water, but has grown too weary to go on alone.

(T:18:VII:9). Thanks for being here.

It also shows me one, who also like me, found that the indivdual struggle will always be a struggle when it’s individual. It’s through connection and mutuality I have come to know that we thrive and win our ways into the deeply sacred ways of human being, those small Edens given us by Mother’s grace.

The Oasis of Friendship and Connection seems to me the place where the water of life runs unabated to my lips when I am thirsty. *smile* Through my connections with other, I live most truly and gracefully.

Thank you.

The “needs” we feel for money, jobs, for material security of every kind, are simply part of that illusion, and we lose our way when we believe that those are the things we need to worry about, instead of focusing on being as loving as we can possibly be, for ourselves, as well as others, in every decision we make. Part of that illusion is that we live in a world of lack, that there is only so much to go around, and that I lose when I give to you, when the truth is that there is only One of us, and that, when I give to you, I am giving to myself as well. Thus, the fear that, by helping those who need help, we are limiting our own prosperity and well-being is the most pernicious sort of illusion, because it is only our One Self that we harm when we deny anyone the love that we all need, whether that love comes in the form of food stamps, jobs, hugs, or just our loving presence. For you see, the illusion that the world we perceive is real is so entrenched that many of us can only recognize love when it comes in such material forms. Because our most important commandment is to share love, we have to do that in ways that those who do not recognize the Love that we are can appreciate. If that comes in the form of “welfare,” so be it, because we all gain when any one of us feels more secure, less fearful, more joy and peace in her life, and no one loses.

The fear that, by helping others, materially or otherwise, we end up with less than we had before, leads to a constant battle between our urge to compassion and the demand that others be responsible for themselves and not ask for my help. And that fear, that battle, is a false one because it is based on the illusion that we live in a world of lack, instead of abundance, and that our material needs must take precedence over striving to live the Truth that we are One with Goddess and each other and that by giving Love, by being loving in whatever way is best seen as loving by another person, we can only gain.

I do not believe in a world of lack, that somehow I lose when others gain. Instead, I know that, the more love, joy and peace there is in this world, the more loving, joyous and peaceful my own life is. It fills my heart and nourishes my soul when I have the opportunity to be loving to another, so that is what I seek each day.

Lest you think that I believe myself to be some perfect being, I too struggle every day with fear of my own financial insecurity, of being alone and unloved, and all the other insecurities that we all suffer from, from time to time. Thankfully, though, the Course has given me tools that allow me to not be controlled by my fear and be loving instead. To do that I remind myself that,

“Nothing real can be threatened.
“Nothing unreal exists.

“Therein lies the peace of God.”

(Text, Introduction, 2:2-4.) And then I pray for a miracle, for a change in my perception. I ask Goddess to allow me to see the situation I am in, whatever it is, differently, to help me see the Love of Goddess everywhere I look, in myself and all those I encounter. And then I allow myself to choose again; I choose to be directed by Love and not controlled by my fear. So, I ask, what would Love do? What is the most loving thing I can do for myself and others in this situation? Then, I wait until I receive the guidance I have asked for and follow that to the best of my ability. And, sometimes, I wander from that path, but I know that all I need do is ask again to be guided by Love, instead of fear, then continue on living in Love the best that I can each moment.

Blessings,
Abby

P.S. The short answer to your question of “who wrote the Course,” is Jesus. That is an answer that many people will not accept and one that I still struggle with. Fortunately, I have learned that it isn’t necessary to believe in Jesus’ authorship to know the Truth of what the Course teaches and to be blessed by the transformations it has brought to my life. The long answer to how the Course came to be is much more complicated, and instructive, but also unnecessary to learning the lessons it has to teach. That story is for another place, not here, not now.

My dear Abby, I could never hate you, or toss your friendship away. I hope you feel the same about me. To me, you are one of the most loving people I’ve met. I just ask that you offer me what you wrote about in this blog…unconditional love. I feel you misunderstood what I was trying to say in my blog…perhaps I’m not that good at explaining myself sometimes. Or, maybe, it’s just that we have fundamental disagreements about the role of government and personal responsibility. I’m not afraid to debate that…I do it all the time in my offline life. As you probably have noticed, I don’t normally dive into politics, etc. Lately I have. It just never seems to make any difference…nobody’s mind is ever changed, even after debate…or so it seems…lol. We all can be so hardheaded sometimes.

Out of curiosity…who wrote the “Course?”

Love you always…I promise. Suzi