"Only What You Have Not Given Can Be Lacking"

A Course in Miracles Perspective on Abundant Thinking

Photo by Joseph Greve on Unsplash

Often, as we go about our day, we may feel that we lack something. Maybe we think we are lacking love, respect, stature in our jobs or professions, power, or autonomy. 

We may believe that we do not have enough money, influence, time, or energy. 

For example, you might enter a meeting at work, aggravated and upset. You don’t want to be there, and you can’t stand your colleagues. You might think the purpose of the meeting is dumb and irrelevant, and you would rather be somewhere else.

Perhaps you are disgruntled or disappointed at a friend or relative. You’ve disagreed and are convinced you are right and justified to attack or blame them. Here, as in the former example, you are angry and, at the core, hurt.

A powerful maxim in A Course in Miracles can be found in the text, chapter 17.

Only what you have not given can be lacking in any situation.

This short sentence is powerful, but upon first reading, it may appear unclear or even counterintuitive to getting “what we want” out of our relationships and the various projects, tasks, or endeavors we take up. 

The Course is focused on how we think because our thinking is the root and foundation for our actions. The above quote calls our attention to our thinking and stresses that what we do not extend with our thoughts will be felt as a lack or absence in our relationships or the situations we are in. Thus, this statement calls for a shift in how we think and is not a call for us to “give” something in the material sense.

A Course in Miracles relates that there are only two emotions: love and fear. Thus, in any situation, if we are not thinking with love or seeking to extend love, we will experience a lack of love. The Course is teaching us that if we condemn, damn, or hate in any situation or relationship, that is what we will feel. In contrast, if we extend love by thinking as God would have us think, we can begin to experience and feel a greater sense of love.

abundance

In the initial example, this might suggest giving up or surrendering thoughts of hate, resistance, and displeasure at colleagues or of attending the meeting. It may mean accepting others as they are and participating in the meeting from the spiritual orientation of doing God’s work in all one says or does. It means asking God to bless others, especially those we dislike or can’t stand. 

In the second example, the maxim may suggest letting go of the grievance. It may suggest focusing on the love in the relationship and its benefits rather than the temporary annoyance. It may mean one stops blaming the other and chooses to see the good therein.

In neither of these examples does this suggest that others are not held accountable for their actions. The loving response is not to be a doormat. The loving perspective and the loving response to others are always grounded or rooted in a love for oneself and an honoring of oneself. Giving love to all and forgiving is not a free pass for allowing others to abuse or take advantage of oneself.

See the earlier post on forgiveness for more on the Course’s powerful interpretation of this concept.  

We extend peace and a peaceful outlook to all because we want peace within our own minds. 

We extend love and a loving outlook because we want to feel love.

The Course calls us to be mindful and vigilant about how we think. It’s a push to become aware and take responsibility for our thinking. 

The more we look at the glass half empty, the greater the likelihood that we will experience emptiness within. The more we look at the glass half full, the greater the possibility that we will experience fullness within. 

How, in your life, can you view the glass as half full? How can you shift your thinking from a deficit/lacking perspective towards a perspective of loving abundance? 

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Have a great week, everyone.