“Today’s idea will eventually overcome completely the sense of loneliness and abandonment all the separated ones experience. Depression is an inevitable consequence of separation. So are anxiety, worry, a deep sense of helplessness, misery, suffering and intense fear of loss.” ACIM, Workbook page 63, Lesson 41.

A deep sense of helplessness and intense fear of loss is something we all experience at times; some of us are aware of these feelings, and others experience them at the sub-conscious level. This is why depression is such a common ailment. This could also be the reason why so many youngsters turn to drugs and excessive alcohol consumption; they are trying to blot out feelings of helplessness, anxiety, misery, etc., which all stem from the inherent meaninglessness of life on earth. Whilst many of the things in our lives do give us meaning and are happy distractions for a while, as we go about our daily activities, at a deeper level we are all aware that everything is transient and subject to change.

Lesson 41 explains that our troubles stem from feeling separated from our Source. If we remembered that we are, in fact, still at one with God and with all of humanity, we would not feel lonely, abandoned, depressed, vulnerable, fearful or anxious. God goes with us wherever we go for the simple reason that we are still joined with Him, and always have been; we have just forgotten. The ego has created a veil between the illusory world (which it created) and Heaven. As a result, we are suffering from collective amnesia.

It is explained numerous times in A Course in Miracles that God continually extends love to all of His creations. The ego, on the other hand, blocks the extension of love and, instead, it projects its fears and guilt outwards onto others. This is done for selfish reasons; projecting negative emotions onto others makes one feel better about oneself. But the trouble is it doesn’t make us feel better. “The Kingdom is forever extending because it is in the Mind of God. You do not know your joy because you do not know your own Self-fullness. Exclude any part of the Kingdom from yourself and you are not whole. A split mind cannot perceive its fullness, and needs the miracle of its wholeness to dawn upon it and heal it.” ACIM, Text, p.132.

So, when we awaken from the dream, heal our split mind and become aware of the illusory nature of our world, we will realise that God does go with us wherever we go, and He has never left us. This is the way to become joyful and peaceful and is the remedy for depression, anxiety and, above all, for feelings of vulnerability. We arevulnerable in the illusory world of chaos and confusion. But if we remember that we have the power of God within us, and that we have never left our Source, we can overcome all the negative emotions induced by the fear and guilt of the ego.

It is interesting to note that we are all really like fish out of water living in the world of the ego because it is not our natural environment. “Grace is the natural state of every Son of God. When he is not in a state of grace, he is out of his natural environment and does not function well. Everything he does becomes a strain, because he was not created for the environment that he has made. He therefore cannot adapt to it, nor can he adapt it to him. There is no point in trying. A Son of God is happy only when he knows he is with God. That is the only environment in which he will not experience strain, because that is where he belongs…” ACIM, Text, p. 136. In other words, we are told that there is no point in trying to find joy and happiness in the world of the ego, where we do not really belong.

So many people are trying to find out what their divine purpose is in life; trying to do what they are really supposed to be doing in order to achieve liberation from this world, and to help others do the same. This is because at some level we do remember our Source. We realise that the only way to be truly happy on earth is to fulfil the function that God has given us. “…To fulfil the Will of God perfectly is the only joy and peace that can be fully known, because it is the only function that can be fully experienced. When this is accomplished, then, there is no other experience. Yet the wish for other experience will block its accomplishment, because God’s Will cannot be forced upon you, being an experience of total willingness. The Holy Spirit understands how to teach this, but you do not. That is why you need Him, and why God gave Him to you. Only His teaching will release your will to God’s, uniting it with His power and glory and establishing them as yours….” ACIM, Text, p. 142.

We can see from this passage that if we focus on the distractions of this world, to the exclusion of all else, instead of trying to fulfil God’s function, we will not be able to access the help of the Holy Spirit. This means we will simply perpetuate the illusion, and live cyclical lives of birth, death and reincarnation. But if we remember Lesson 41, “God goes with me wherever I go,” and are aware that we do have an important function to fulfil, i.e. a divine purpose, then we stand a good chance of achieving liberation. But we need to call upon the Holy Spirit for guidance.

A side effect of fulfilling one’s divine purpose is an immense feeling of inner peace and joy – the perfect antidote to depression.