Be Helpful

These are challenging times. The world seems to be crying out for help in countless forms, and many of us feel compelled to respond. But there's a profound distinction I'd like to explore with you: we can either be helpful or we can be helpful.

This is more than just some slight verb repartee.

In the first instance, "being helpful" is something we do; an action taken, a service rendered. The second refers to our essential nature - a state of presence from which helpfulness inherently flows.

When we try to be helpful, we're operating from a framework of separation. There's a "me" over here who has identified something that needs fixing, and there's a "you" over there who needs help. This seemingly benevolent stance actually reinforces the very illusion that A Course in Miracles identifies as the source of all suffering: the belief in separation.

Our attempts to help often come from a place of judgment. We believe we know what is best and can thus clearly identify where, and how, help is needed.

But what if our perspective is wrong?

"Every loving thought is true. Everything else is an appeal for healing and help, regardless of the form it takes."

Shifting attention from me-identification into the silent presence of peace transports us into the sacred realm of true helpfulness. From this condition of beingness, we no longer need to figure out how to be helpful. Helpfulness naturally ensues.

Far from a passive approach, actions spontaneously emerge through our words, our hands, our resources. But now there's no longer a "me" doing something for "you." Rather, love is uniting with love, flowing in a way that serves the highest good for everyone involved. Acts arising from this state of pure awareness are more powerful, more precisely targeted, and more genuinely helpful than any ego-driven attempt to fix something.

Join me in Thursday's class where we'll explore practices for shifting from "doing helpfulness" to "being helpful" and discover how this subtle shift can transform not only our actions but the world around us. I look forward to seeing you then.