Relationships have been the most difficult part of ACIM for me to grasp. Especially since we, in America, have so many traditional ideas about how relationships are supposed to be. The eventual goal is to find that one person and be married. Right? However, to be painfully honest, the more I see those close to me in marriages, the more afraid I am of such a prospect. It looks like such a fear-laden struggle sometimes and it is no wonder to me that the divorce rate in the U.S. is right about half. I'm not against the idea of marriage. I'm for the idea of taking a closer look at the purpose of partnering up with one person for life.

         I'm on a quest to understand ACIM's concept of relationships and to practice in it my life. When I was in San Diego over the summer for a conference, I had the chance to ask Dr. Gerald Jampolsky a question. I was not sure what I wanted to ask but it came out as something along the lines of "What the heck is a special relationship versus a holy relationship and how do I avoid specialness"? Even Dr. Jampolsky took a minute to either think or maybe appreciate my struggle. Smiling, he answered that all relationships contain specialness and that it also helps to try and keep neediness at bay. An interesting thing that happened after that is that at least a dozen people from the conference pulled me aside to either thank me for my question or offer their advice. I felt like my question was unorganized and not expressed all that well, yet I was being thanked by random people. This gave me the impression that I'm not alone in my struggle to understand relationships in the light of ACIM.

         Dr. Jon Mundy came to Omaha so I took another opportunity to ask a respected ACIM teacher how I can avoid the special relationship. He responded that all relationships are special, but present an opportunity to heal. This was not new to me but still eye-opening because I had the idea that I was on a quest to find a holy relationship, and that any sort of specialness would be unacceptable. Dr. Mundy helped me see that I won't get around this specialness, or in other words the struggles will be unavoidable but not insurmountable. 

         I understand now that...   

You will remember I have said to You to pay close attention to Me and likened My words to walking along a precipice in complete darkness (yes, the ego dream). You need Guidance every instant!
And so You listen!

And what do You get but freedom from all fear, that false evidence appearing real. And, thus, giving You a sense of the most Loving protection.

And what could protect You but Our Father and the Voice that speaks for Him:
Myself and the Holy Spirit, for Truth is
- is Divinity All One.

It is quite necessary that I speak to You of Freedom as Your world gets more and more oppressive.
And if You are not healed,
how can You then give any healing?

What does Freedom mean to You but the opportunity to do as You please.
And yet that is not true Freedom unless
what You please is what pleases God as well.
And this is difficult as the ego and God
have far different senses of pleasure.

And most Every One is run by ego.

Pleasure for God is His natural Be-ing Good and doing Good for all Creation:
for Every One of His wonderful Ideas;
while the ego concentrates on getting what it considers to be good for it. And for it, alone.
Thus has fear become intertwined with good;
for once it is gotten, it must be protected.

Freedom means You do not sit in front of an electronic box, guided by what comes from the television, the 'greatest' invention for mind control since slicing bread was invented.₁

So, what is Freedom? You just heard James Earl Jones quote₂ Me saying: "I am not come to bring peace, but a sword!" What is that all about?
Am I here 2000 years trying to bring
"peace on earth, goodwill to man"? I am not!

Ego likes nothing better than to make earth pleasing so You won't have incentive to wake up to Heaven. (Notice that I said "wake up" not die!)
This is really extremely important,
as You All think Heaven comes with dying!

Clever must the ego be, for its survival depends on its control of You. And when ego is running You, then where is Your Freedom?

You can see how cruel is human slavery, one Brother to Another, yet blind are You to the fact that earth is far, far, crueler bondage still, for You've lost Heaven's Freedom, Your real Home.

And so I stay with You, teaching,
(as well as preaching!) until You have Your Freedom.

1 He is referring to the morphine-like substance in bread: gluteomorphs which raise endorphins, 'feel-good' hormones.  They also block the immune-system.

2 James Earl Jones reading the Bible on CD's.  Gospel of Matthew.