Teachings of Christ Mind

^5.1 In order for you to more fully understand the life that this Course calls you to, we must also talk of another aspect of being called. While we have concluded that when you listen to your heart, you hear and are able to respond to the one call, this does not mean that this one call has but one request to make of you, as in a call to be a minister, nor that it will come in but one form, as in a call to action. We have talked heretofore about a calling you feel from within, as if you are listening to a new voice that would reveal your talents and desires to you. This type of calling comes as a light shone into the darkness and is revelatory in nature. Other calls will come as announcements, signs, or even as seeming demands. All call you to the present where response is able to be given. All call you “back” to who you are.

^5.2 Again let me stress the present-moment nature of being called. A call is, at its most basic level, a means of communication. If you are not listening, you will not hear the calls that are meant for you. If you are looking only for a specific type of call, you will miss many unlearning and learning opportunities. Thus recognition of the different calls that may now be heard is necessary.

^5.3 The call that comes in the form of an announcement is the call that carries with it no ambiguity. The certainty of an announcement can alert you that it is time to act. This might be considered the highest form of call, the call from the already accomplished to the already accomplished. Such a call signals an end to learning from the lessons of the past and a beginning of learning from the new. This Course itself is such a call, an announcement of your readiness for the new. This is the all-encompassing call and is not about specifics. Because it is not about specifics you may find yourself still wondering what to do. Thus you must be aware of the calls that assist you in knowing what to do.

^5.4 These calls you may think of as signs. Like literal signposts along a roadway, they alert you to turn your attention in a particular direction.

^5.5 Calls that seem to come in the form of demands are often calls that come to you from within the teaching and learning ground of relationships. You may be literally “called to account” for certain attitudes or behaviors. You may also be called upon to call others to account for their attitudes or behaviors.

^5.6 These last two calls, the call that appears in the form of a sign and the call that comes in the form of a demand, are about specifics in a way that the call that comes as an announcement is not. They represent the remnants of learning from the past, the final breaking of old patterns. They may seem to signal difficult times, but they are times that must be gotten through and lessons that need to be allowed to pass through you.

^5.7 Until you have fully integrated the truth that giving and receiving are one, you will not fully believe that needs are not lacks. Until you have fully integrated the truth that giving and receiving are one, you will not realize that dependency is a matter of the interdependency of all that exists in relationship. Thus, all the calls that come to you in the form of signs or demands will be calls that assist you in integrating this learning and making it one with who you are. These lessons will bring who you are into focus within your mind through the vehicle of your heart.