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After
Enlightenment — 16 Articles About
by Rev. Tony Ponticello
Click title below to order |
"Rev. Tony, a leading force in the A Course In Miracles community for decades, presents his thought provoking articles about applying Course philosophy to a complex world. Practical and hopeful, his words are helpful as we search to find inner peace in chaotic times." — Marianne Williamson — author: A Return To Love, A Woman's Worth, and The Age Of Miracles
"Like facets of a diamond that all open to the heart of a jewel, each chapter of After Enlightenment sheds clarity on a different aspect of life on earth through the lens of miracle consciousness. ... Tony’s articles struck me as unusually engaging, real, and refreshingly practical. ... Tony is unpretentiously believable and he proves that the Course changes lives for the better." – Alan Cohen – author: The Dragon Doesn't Live Here Anymore, I Had It All The Time and A Deep Breath Of Life"
The Sin Versus Error Distinction
Written by Rev. Tony Ponticello Sunday, 30 November 2008 12:00
On November 30, 2008, Rev. Tony Ponticello addressed the congregation at the Community Miracles Center in San Francisco, CA. What follows is a lightly edited transcription of that lecture.
Fundamentalist Christianity has an expression that you hear bantered around a lot. The expression is, “We love the sinner, but hate the sin.” It is frequently used when referring to homosexuals. Fundamentalists would have us know that they do not hate homosexuals. Christians love all people, but it’s the sin of homosexuality that they hate. The expression is used for other things, but it certainly comes out every time some issue of gay rights comes up.
I heard it recently when the Proposition 8 issue was being voted on. That was not a great day for gay rights, because the passing of Proposition 8 meant that the California state constitution has now been amended to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman. This prevents any gay couple from getting married in California. It also created a very interesting distinction, because a large number of gay couples did get married in the short period of time when it was legal. Now we have these legally married gay couples, but there will be no new gay married couples unless more legal action is taken. Other legal action is in the works.
However, I’m not here to talk about legal action. I’m here to talk about sin and error.
The Healing Of God's Son
Written by Rev. Marci Benson Friday, 31 October 2008 12:00
On Sunday, July 20, Rev. Marci Benson addressed the congregation at the Community Miracles Center in San Francisco, CA. What follows is a lightly edited transcription of that lecture.
Well hello everyone, or as my husband Mo would say, “Hi family.” First I want to thank the Community Miracles Center for asking me. It is an honor and privilege to be asked to speak. And it’s not even all that terrifying, just a teeny bit.
What I get from Tony is he always brings what is going on in his life in the current moment into his talks and I think that works really well. I always receive the message well from Tony when he does that so I am going to try to do that same thing. So today I am going to talk about sickness and about healing because that’s what’s going on for me right now. There are really two levels of sickness, there is the body level, the worldly level, and that is the one that we get all consumed with, and there’s the A Course In Miracles level, that says it’s all in my mind. The world’s view of sickness is that it takes place in the body and that I need some kind of external solution to fix it, and I believe that I am a body so I seek external solutions for my illness. That is a normal human thing to do.
Greater Things
Written by Rev. Tony Ponticello Sunday, 31 August 2008 12:00
On Sunday, August 24, 2008, Rev. Tony Ponticello addressed the congregation at the Community Miracles Center in San Francisco, California. Before he spoke the congregation had sung the song, “Secret Love.” Just before they sang, Rev. Tony said that someday he would tell everybody about the significance of this song. “Secret Love” was sung by Doris Day in the movie *Calamity Jane* that was released in 1953. The song begins with the line, “Once I had secret love.” The CMC has changed a few of the lyrics of this song to make it about our secret love of God. When the song says, “Now I shout it from the highest hill,” the congregation is referring to their love of God. What follows is a lightly edited transcription of that lecture.
Good morning everybody. Thank you all for being here. Today’s lecture is “Greater Things.” The idea came to me this week. I was thinking of the very popular Bible quote from the gospel of John, “Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do he shall also do and greater works than those he shall do” (John 14.12) This is when Jesus is comforting the disciples by telling them that they will do all the things that he has done. They will do even greater things than he did.
The Scheme Within The Dream
Written by Rev. Larry Bedini Friday, 31 October 2008 12:00
On Sunday, October 12, Rev. Larry Bedini addressed the congregation at the Community Miracles Center in San Francisco, CA. What follows is a lightly edited transcription of that lecture.
After the wonderful party that Rev. Peter and Rev. Vincent gave last night, Rev. Tony and Christine and I went to Rev. Rudy’s birthday bash at a nightclub on Broadway. Rev. Tony and Christine drove me home by 11 and I started working on this talk. As it turned out, I finished by 4:30 a.m. this morning. I set the alarm for 8 o’clock and thought, “Oh, dear God. Let me wake up, please.” I was all excited about this talk because it’s a beautiful adventure I was on, and have been on for many years. This is something that is so timely. Well, when isn’t it timely, actually? (laughter) It just appears to be more timely now than any other time. But, I want you to come on this adventure with me because it’s an exciting one. And, it’s an adventure from which we can all learn. Come with me and let’s travel it together.
Now, after rounding up the usual suspects, (you’ve all seen the movie Casablanca) and conducting a very intricate and lengthy investigation, I discovered that there is a scheme going on within the dream; this dream called life. As I closed the files on this case, I arrived at the following conclusion, based upon the following evidence: A Course In Miracles says, “If you cannot hear the Voice for God, it is because you do not choose to listen. That you listen to the voice of your ego is demonstrated by your attitudes, your feelings and your behavior. Yet this is what you want. This is what you are fighting to keep, and what you are vigilant to save. Your mind is filled with schemes to save the face of your ego, and you do not seek the face of Christ. The glass in which the ego seeks to see its face is dark indeed. How can it maintain the trick of its existence except with mirrors? But where you look to find yourself is up to you.” (T.4.IV.1-8) Interesting that the Course uses the word, “schemes,” one time. I thought of the title of this talk before I knew that word was in the book. I thought, “Surely, it would never use a word like that.” I was wrong!
