Copyright © 2001-2012 Pauline Edward. All rights reserved.

Shining the Light on awakening

By Carol Howe
Author of Never Forget to Laugh

Written with humor and courageous self-disclosure, Pauline Edward’s Leaving the Desert is a delight. Through sharing her own exploration—her commitment and her doubts—she addresses all the major topics covered in A Course In Miracles with precision and clarity. For new students as well as veterans of the Course, her overview of its purpose and methodology is excellent. Equally as important as the exposition of the Course’s radical subject matter is her  willingness to tell the truth, to reveal her resistance to writing on certain subjects and all the attempts by her ego to subvert her efforts. Her honesty offers reassurance to the reader that everyone encounters some difficulties when the message gets “too close to home” but that, happily, with even divided dedication to its practice, persistence pays valuable dividends in greater peace of mind and certainty that all is well.  

The title derives from a comment in the Urtext (the dictionary definition is “A reconstructed proto-text set up as the basis for variants in extant later texts.”) - in this case, Bill Thetford’s original notes taken down as the Course was being dictated.  The exact quote, inserted abruptly into a conversation Helen Schucman was having with the Voice (the source of the Course material), was “A desert is a desert is desert. You can do anything you want in it, but you cannot change it from what it is. It still lacks water. This is why it is a desert.  The thing to do with a desert is to leave.” This provides an excellent analogy; much available in today’s self-help world extols techniques and methods for improving or fixing our worldly circumstances. The Course, in contrast, is not about providing a formula or X number of steps for getting our way, but for guiding us in reassessing all we have presumed to be true and valid. It’s about asking better questions and being open to the answers, as was the author, and about living with love rather than fear. It is, indeed, about leaving the desert rather than trying to remodel the oasis.

Forsaking the desert with its absence of life-sustaining water—our worldly lives lived with grievances, judgments, and focus on the past—occurs gradually through the habitual practice of true forgiveness, through taking responsibility for all that occurs in our lives. Leaving the Desert emphasizes, correctly, that A Course In Miracles is not a magic bullet that will instantly convert one’s life to bliss but when diligently practiced does allow harmony, certainty of help, and happier relationships to prevail.  

Like many authors, Pauline found that when writing on certain subjects she had to grapple with those very elements still operating in her own ego. The big ones—the subjects of guilt, fear, relationships, and specialness—were perfectly tailored to bring her face to face with her own unfinished business.  Her adroit sprinkling of personal anecdotes enlivens and clarifies her path (and ours) and her honesty about her own learning in these areas allows the book to be a comforting companion to those seeking to engage more artfully with this life-changing practice. You will read this book with a smile of recognition and gratitude.  

Last, as with many substantive books, the reader will very likely choose to highlight, underline, and re-read many parts. I especially recommend Chapter Nine–The Treachery of Specialness–because virtually everyone in the Western world has been raised on a steady diet of  “being different and special is the key to success and being loved.” The Course blows the cover off that idea in no uncertain terms and shows how specialness, for sure,  keeps us lonely and lost in the desert. To her credit, Pauline persevered, wrote of her journey, and by so doing, smoothed the way for her readers, pointing the way clearly and unmistakably back to greener pastures.

Carol Howe – Author of Never Forget To Laugh: Personal Recollections of Bill Thetford, Co-Scribe of A Course In Miracles, Healing the Hurt Behind Addictions and Compulsive Behaviors, and Homeward To An Open Door, Exploring Major Principles of A Course In Miracles. This review appeared in Miracles Magazine, Jan 2011.

Review of Leaving the Desert