This lessons that I got the most out of were the last two lessons. In Lesson #19, which is about Miracles and Your Work, I had never considered my job as something I could do or make it into holy work. Before reading Lesson #19, I would just show up to work, do my job, and then got back home. Work was just something I did to earn the money to pay my bills. I work in a grocery store where I am in contact with a lot of people in the community. When I would talk with them, I would do my best with them and offered minimal help. After reading Lesson #19, I have been trying, with some success too, that extending my hand to them as brothers and sisters has had quality to these peoples shopping experience at our store. With other co-workers, I didn’t interact with them much and showed little concern for them. Know I am extending my hand to them as brothers and sisters and have improved relationships with them. For example, an older man in the bakery department seemed to be rude and very distant from me, like he didn’t want to deal with me. After saying hello a few times and asking how he was, I seemed to have gotten through to him and know he is saying hi to me and asking how I am doing. I had never thought of trying to do something like this before. He still has some of that “don’t bother me attitude” but he seems to have lighten up some. Also, I am saying thank you and your welcome to people at work and to people, like my family, outside of work. In the beginning of the lesson, it talks about giving and getting. I was always trying to get stuff, especially my way. Now, I am giving more of myself and it has been working well.
Lesson #20 was also a really great lesson and it hit home with me about the addictions. I bought into the lies of smoking and drinking alcohol. While I continue to smoke, I have given up drinking alcohol. I used alcohol to cope with life whether it was going good or going bad. I drank alcohol as a social lubricate in social settings because I felt it made it easier to talk to females and also help me open up to other people. But looker back on that behavior, I was just buying into lies about alcohol. Alcohol and smoking also made me feel more important than other people because of these lies that are put out by the tobacco and alcohol industries. I also felt peer pressure to use both so I could be seen as socially acceptable. Fortunately, there is a Higher Power that I can surrender to and have that Higher Power can help me with these addictions. In Lesson #20, it mentions shopping as one which I had never considered before but know I now that shopping is an addiction for me because I always have to be buying things that I don’t need and in more quantities that I could ever use.
This course was very helpful and have been using things from other lessons to improve my relationship with my Higher Power and with other people. The information in this course has really helped and has improved relationships in my life.
Rev. Michael S. Barth
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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.
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