ACIM & Spiritual Bypassing: The Difference Between Forgiveness and Denial (Sunday Gathering Sermon)

In this sermon, Emily Perry explores the difference between true forgiveness and spiritual denial. When Course ideas like "this world is an illusion" or "there is nothing to forgive" are used casually, they can sound like avoidance—or even cruelty—in the face of real suffering. So how do we hold the Course's lofty metaphysics without bypassing pain, suppressing emotions, or dismissing injustice? Drawing on key passages from the Text and Workbook, Emily offers a practical three-stage framework that is an invitation into a mature, grounded spirituality: one that looks directly at what hurts, refuses to camp in it, and opens to the Holy Spirit's genuine healing. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links  

Overeating and food addiction are often hidden struggles—wrapped in shame, secrecy, and the exhausting cycle of "this will fix it" followed by guilt. Drawing on restored material from Helen Schucman's notes in the Complete and Annotated Edition of A Course in Miracles, Robert and Emily Perry explore the one powerful passage in the Course that directly mentions overeating—and what it reveals about the "scarcity fallacy." This episode is for anyone who has ever felt stuck, ashamed, or alone around food—and for anyone facing any form of addiction. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links  

In a time when empathy is increasingly being framed as a weakness—even a danger—this sermon asks a deeper question: what happens to us when we stop listening to one another's pain? Drawing on current cultural trends and the teachings of A Course in Miracles, Emily Perry explores the difference between conventional empathy, which often bonds us through shared suffering, and what the Course calls true empathy—a way of relating that does not join in pain but instead recognizes and strengthens the truth in one another. True empathy invites us to step aside and allow the Holy Spirit to relate through us, offering a form of compassion that heals without binding us to the past. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links

In this episode of Exploring A Course in Miracles, Robert and Emily Perry explore one of the Course's most challenging and liberating teachings: love without sacrifice. Drawing especially from Chapter 15 of the Text, this conversation looks at how many of our relationships are quietly shaped by what the Course calls demands for sacrifice. We often believe that love means giving things up for one another—but according to the Course, this pattern can lead to resentment, guilt, hidden anger, and a cycle that keeps both people trapped. Together, Emily and Robert unpack: How we unconsciously equate love with sacrifice Why sacrifice inevitably breeds resentment and guilt How guilt becomes the hidden currency in our relationships Why we demand that others not leave us—and what that costs us How this dynamic shows up in real relationships, including a moving story from the Circle community The Course's radical alternative: releasing others from our demands so that both can be free The episode closes with a powerful practice from A Course in Miracles for releasing loved ones from our demands and stepping into relationships grounded in forgiveness rather than control. If you've ever felt burdened by your relationships—or sensed that something called "love" didn't actually feel very loving—this conversation offers a deeply hopeful way forward. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links

In this Sunday Gathering sermon, "Choosing Love in Violent Times," Emily Perry draws on Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Birth of a New Age" sermon and A Course in Miracles to explore how love, forgiveness, and nonviolence can become powerful tools for personal and social transformation. This message reflects on King's call to reject bitterness, choose redemption over retaliation, and help bring forth a new world grounded in courage, spiritual maturity, and love. We hope you'll plan to join us for our next Sunday Gathering. Access is included with a Course Companions membership. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links  

In this Sunday Gathering sermon, Emily Perry explores how A Course in Miracles understands grief and loss and what it offers us when the pain feels overwhelming. Drawing on lived experience, psychological research, and the Course's teachings, Emily examines why grief often comes in waves, how grief differs from depression, why healing does not come from "moving on" but from integrating a new reality, and the Course's radical idea that grief arises not from loss itself but from how loss is interpreted. If you are grieving, walking alongside someone who is, or simply seeking a deeper spiritual understanding of loss, this sermon offers a perspective rooted in the assurance that love is never truly lost. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links  

In this episode of Exploring A Course in Miracles, Emily & Robert Perry sit down with New York Times bestselling author and Sirius XM host John Fugelsang to explore his insightful new book, Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds*.  John has spent years unpacking how the teachings of Jesus have been distorted by Christian nationalism—and why reclaiming Jesus' message of love, justice, and human dignity is more urgent than ever. Along the way, there is a reflection on the surprising overlap between John's biblical insights and the message of A Course in Miracles—especially the emphasis on refusing to meet hatred with more hatred. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links  

As a new year approaches, many of us feel a deep longing for a true fresh start—not just a change in circumstances, but a real release from the past. In this sermon, given on December 28, we explore a powerful and often overlooked teaching from A Course in Miracles: how entering the holy instant can give birth to a year of genuine joy and freedom. Drawing from the final sections of Chapter 15, this talk reframes Christmas and the New Year as the "time of Christ"—a time not only for reflection, but for profound inner change. At the heart of this change is a radical idea: that freedom comes from releasing others from our hidden demands for sacrifice. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links  

In this conversation about Jesus's First Instructions on How to Live A Course in Miracles, Robert and Emily go back to the earliest days of the dictation of A Course in Miracles, when Jesus was first speaking to Helen Schucman and laying out—right from the start—how this Course was meant to be lived. The night before Helen heard the words, "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes," and in the weeks immediately afterward, Jesus gave direct guidance. He described what to do, how to approach this path, and how to live it—before the Course even fully took shape. In this episode you'll hear: What Jesus said to Helen and Bill in the earliest dictation How those instructions frame the entire Course Why the beginning matters for how the Course is lived today If you've ever wondered whether there's something essential in the way the Course was introduced—something that still matters for students now—this conversation is for you. ✨ Continue the Journey with Course Companions If this teaching resonated and you feel called to truly live A Course in Miracles in the new year, we invite you to join Course Companions. Course Companions is our guided membership designed to support a year of living the Course, with: • Ongoing teachings from Robert & Emily Perry • Structured spiritual practice and application  • A supportive, miracle-minded community  👉 Learn more and join here: coursecompanions.com ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links

A Course in Miracles invites us to imagine a year unlike any we've lived before—one devoted to genuine spiritual change. In this webinar, Robert Perry explores five Course teachings about the new year and what it means to, as the Course says, "make this year different." Together, these teachings offer a clear and practical vision for dedicating the year to higher goals—and for actually living them. ✨ Continue the Journey with Course Companions If this teaching resonated and you feel called to truly live A Course in Miracles in the new year, we invite you to join Course Companions. Course Companions is our guided membership designed to support a year of living the Course, with: • Ongoing teachings from Robert & Emily Perry • Structured spiritual practice and application  • A supportive, miracle-minded community  👉 Learn more and join here: coursecompanions.com ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the theory and practical application of A Course in Miracles. We are the publisher of the Complete and Annotated Edition of the Course (known as the "CE"), which is available as a revised hardcover*, ebook*, and via Audible. Our work grows out of our commitment to be as faithful as possible to what A Course in Miracles says, years of dedication to walking this path ourselves, and a desire to see the Course's purpose realized in the lives of students and in the world. You are invited to download the free ACIM CE App to read, search, or listen to the Course wherever you are in the world, by following the instructions at https://acimce.app/ Whether you are new to ACIM or you've been a student for many years, you are welcome to join our online community and learning platform to access a vast collection of resources designed to help you understand and apply Course teachings in everyday life: https://community.circleofa.org/ To submit a question or suggest a topic for a future podcast episode, please email [email protected]. If you enjoyed this podcast, please consider subscribing and leaving a review, as this will help us reach other listeners. You are also welcome to make a donation to help support our work at circleofa.org/donate. *Amazon affiliate links