It is nearly impossible not to smile when looking at a giggling baby. A chubby face exposing a toothless smile and bright eyes. Our heart is captured.
You don’t have to work very hard to know how a baby feels. They will always let you know. Especially when they are sad.
But what is it that makes babies cry?
We think it has to do with their physical or psychological condition: hungry, diaper needs changing, frightened, or lonely. But those are outward representations of something far more fundamental.
Babies cry for one and only one reason. And it’s the same reason we cry. The choice for the ego.
Our experiences of peace and pain have nothing to do with anything going on in the world, or in our diaper.
Consider this line from Lesson 34 in A Course in Miracles:
It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises.
A consequential corollary to this sentence would be: “It is from your warring mind [ie ego] that a painful perception of the world arises.”
In other words, every negative experience is the result of a choice in our mind. Specifically, the choice for the wrong-mind of the ego. Yet look how quick we are to point the finger elsewhere.
“It’s not my fault.”
Not once, as the course says, do we stop to consider that our mind’s choice is the source of all distress. And so we look all around: at the cruel world, at mean people, at unfortunate circumstances, at our subpar body, and we say, “THAT is the reason I’m not at peace.”
But as the title of Lesson 34 so optimistically notes, “I could see peace instead of this.”
And the key is recognizing our choice for the ego, which we do by looking at all our grievances, our sadness, our worries - but looking with gentleness. Looking with kindness. Looking with a light-heartedness. And then turning to our inner teacher and asking for help to see through the eyes of peace instead of pain.
When we do this, we not only get to the source of why babies (and we) cry - but we now experience a completely different emotion: unconditional joy.
Join me in Thursday’s class where we’ll explore the source of all emotion and learn how we can make the choice that leads to peace. I look forward to seeing you then.