Book Review

When I saw the cover title my first thought was "This must be a joke". I know of so many people who have said "Oh, yes, I know A Course in Miracles, I did it last year but I am now into......" This was incomprehensible to me as I considered if anyone could master it in one lifetime it would have been a remarkable achievement. I could not understand why these people could not see what they had in their hands. If they did, they could never have left it for some other pathway. With the wisdom that comes only with experience and maturity I now realise that not everyone wants to accelerate as fast as the Course would have us go and as such, it is not everybody's pathway, nor should it be.
Notwithstanding this reservation I decided to read the book anyway and was glad that I did. I had met the author last year when he visited our group at Newport, and was quite impressed.

In his preamble in the forward, the author explains that the book is not meant as a substitute for the Course but as a help for those who feel that the language of the Course is too difficult to understand or is too academic to be practical. My own feeling is that those who don't want to understand the material merely use these arguments as an excuse not to study the Course "The ego does not want you to learn this course."

A Course in Miracles is not for everybody and I see little point trying to persuade people to become Course students by convincing arguments. I do see, however that this book has considerable merit in helping people decide if the Course is for them or not. Using well planned charts which contain quizzes, the reader is encouraged to answer most personal questions about their attitude to Course concepts, they probably never have thought about or at least kept well hidden in the deepest recesses of their mind. The idea is that the reader can search his mind privately and honestly answer the questions with complete anonymity. He is asked not to peek at the answers in advance for obvious reasons. He is then encouraged to compare his answers with The Course's approach as the author sees it. This way the reader can see a comparison with his present attitude (and probably the world's) with that of the Course.

Jerry Sears, based in San Diego has worked as an independent 'head hunter' for executives for many years and his knowledge of the Course is extensive having facilitated his own group and attending "hundreds of groups over the years". He puts considerable emphasis on our taking responsibility for everything that seems to happen to us, even child abuse and talks honestly about his own abuse as a child. This was particularly interesting, as the definitive ego question in most discussions on our being willing participants as victims, is "How do you explain the abuse of innocent children?"

This is a book for everybody who loves A Course in Miracles and for all those contemplating starting the Course or as gifts for people who may be interested in this thought system. If they find the thought system impossible to go along with, at least they have found out the Course is not for them and they can seek a pathway that is right for them. Either way they cannot lose.

I loved this little gem:-

"Fundamentalists of any persuasion seem to believe that the Course is too "new age." The "new agers" seem to feel that it is too Jesus oriented. How fortunate we, in the Course, are to be in the middle." From "A Course in Miracles in 5 Minutes"