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The Ego's Version of Love

Exploring A Course in Miracles

Release Date: 10/06/2025

How to Be Truly Wise show art How to Be Truly Wise

Exploring A Course in Miracles

In this Sunday Gathering sermon, Robert Perry explores How to Be Truly Wise, that is, the relationship between innocence and wisdom in A Course in Miracles. He looks at how true wisdom comes from a deeper, clearer way of seeing and considers what it means to let go of the belief in evil and begin to see with the eyes of innocence, where only truth and perfection are recognized. If you’re longing for a more peaceful way of moving through life (especially the times in which we live), this episode is for you. ___________________________ Since 1993, our purpose has been to help with both the...

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A Course in Miracles' Vision of Therapy show art A Course in Miracles' Vision of Therapy

Exploring A Course in Miracles

A Course in Miracles has its own form of psychotherapy—a complete approach to healing the mind rooted in its spiritual thought system. In this conversation, we explore the Course’s approach to therapy, covering: What the Course teaches about psychotherapy Why therapy plays such a central role in its thought system How it compares to approaches like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Why the Course emphasizes changing perception over analyzing the past The role of forgiveness in true psychological healing What a “holy relationship” between therapist and patient really means At...

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Rethinking Disagreement in Spiritual Community show art Rethinking Disagreement in Spiritual Community

Exploring A Course in Miracles

So many of us have learned that, in spiritual community, disagreement is a problem. We’re supposed to be positive. Be loving. Anything else is ego. But what if complete agreement is not actually what love requires? In this Sunday Gathering sermon, we share a message called “Rethinking Disagreement in Spiritual Community,” where we explore a powerful question: Is disagreement really unspiritual—or have we misunderstood what love looks like when something isn’t right? If you’ve ever felt the tension between being loving and being honest, this message is for you. Want to join us for a...

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Christianity Without Hell: A Conversation with Brian Recker show art Christianity Without Hell: A Conversation with Brian Recker

Exploring A Course in Miracles

What if one of Christianity’s core teachings is actually holding people back from love? In this episode of Exploring A Course in Miracles, Emily and Robert Perry sit down with Brian Recker, author of , to explore how the doctrine of hell shapes belief, behavior, and our image of God—and why it undermines a truly love-based spirituality. Brian shares his journey from a fundamentalist upbringing to becoming an evangelical pastor to ultimately questioning the fear-based theology he once preached. Together, they discuss the lingering impact of early religious conditioning, the hidden role hell...

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Where is God in a World Full of Suffering? show art Where is God in a World Full of Suffering?

Exploring A Course in Miracles

Everywhere we look in our world there are so many tragedies it’s easy to ask, “Where is God in all of this?” Does He even know about our suffering and, if He does, why doesn’t He do more? These are the questions that cut right to the heart of our deepest doubts and struggles with religion and spirituality. But this is also where A Course in Miracles can help, because the Course offers a series of teachings that - when you put them together - provide an answer to this long-standing question that actually makes sense. If you’ve ever wondered how a loving God could allow so much pain,...

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Holy Week for ACIM Students show art Holy Week for ACIM Students

Exploring A Course in Miracles

In this episode of Exploring A Course in Miracles, Robert and Emily explore the meaning of Holy Week through the lens of A Course in Miracles. Holy Week marks the final days of Jesus’ life—from his entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, to the crucifixion on Good Friday, to the resurrection on Easter Sunday. It’s a week that didn’t just shape Christianity—it changed the course of human history. But what does it mean for us now? In this conversation, we explore: The deeper spiritual meaning behind the events of Holy Week How A Course in Miracles reinterprets the crucifixion and...

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Black Voices in A Course in Miracles show art Black Voices in A Course in Miracles

Exploring A Course in Miracles

In this episode of Exploring A Course in Miracles, Robert and Emily Perry explore an often overlooked dimension of the Course’s history: the influence of Black voices and Black religious culture. Recorded during Black History Month, this conversation brings forward connections that have rarely been discussed in the Course community. From Helen Schucman’s early spiritual formation in a Harlem Baptist church to the appearance of African American cultural influences within the Course itself, the episode uncovers surprising threads woven into the story of A Course in Miracles. Among the topics...

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

Exploring A Course in Miracles

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...

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Healing Overeating with A Course in Miracles show art Healing Overeating with A Course in Miracles

Exploring A Course in Miracles

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...

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True Empathy in a Wounded World show art True Empathy in a Wounded World

Exploring A Course in Miracles

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...

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More Episodes

Why do so many relationships that begin with such promise end in conflict, disconnection, or despair? In this episode of Exploring A Course in Miracles, Robert and Emily Perry look at the ego’s version of love—a love rooted in self-focus rather than true joining.

Inspired by David Brooks’ New York Times article, “The Wrong Definition of Love,” Emily and Robert unpack how our culture’s shift from shared moral and spiritual frameworks to individualistic, therapeutic ones has shaped our understanding of love. What happens when self-love and self-expression replace devotion, service, and shared purpose? And what can the Course teach us about returning to love as the cure for our self-centeredness and division? 

In this conversation, Robert and Emily explore:

  • How our culture’s definition of love became centered on the self 

  • What A Course in Miracles says about love vs. the ego’s imitation of love 

  • Why the decline of shared values has left us fragmented and isolated 

  • How real love “de-centers” the self and joins us in something larger

This is a profound and timely discussion about rediscovering love as a path out of our collective disconnection.

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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 paperback*, 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 info@circleofa.org.

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.

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