February 15, 2022

Lesson 46 –

God is the Love in which I forgive.

Forgiveness is ne of the key ideas the Course uses to change the way we perceive or see the world and ourselves. Forgiveness is, in fact, a change in our perception. It is a healing of our thoughts, a healing of our mind. As we allow the higher Holy Spirit within us to guide our thoughts, we see the change in the way we think to a more correct thought system. This guidance is and always has been within us. However, we at some point blocked it from our awareness. Recent lessons have been teaching us about our holiness and sinlessness. To live in the awareness of our holiness is  simply Love, which is the essence of all reality. When we have difficulty in realizing our holiness, we can rely on forgiveness to guide us back to the awareness of Love. And Gid, or Oneness, is the Love that fuels the change in our thinking that is forgiveness.

God does not forgive because God has never condemned. And there must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary. Forgiveness is the great need of this world, but that is because it is a world of illusions. Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them. As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself.   W-pI.46.1:1-5

Forgiveness is a tool only in the illusion of separation.. It is a tool that is in illusion yet has a holy purpose. We believe so strongly in separation that we have lost all recognition of our real Identity. We have believed with conviction that we are sinful and are thus unholy, forever marred beyond all recognition. But we are not sinful ot unholy. We are as we are created in Oneness. Though we believe we are less than, we cannot undo our true nature. The Love in which we are created is strong and invincible. Once we decide to allow Spirit to guide our perception and lead us to correct thinking, our holiness rises to the surface from its previously hidden barrier. The joy of this recognition is unlimited. We arrive home at last as though we never left. Release yourself from the bonds of the illusion you have so long held as real and true.

Yet although God does not forgive, Their Love is nevertheless the basis of forgiveness. Fear condemns and love forgives. Forgiveness thus undoes what fear has produced, returning the mind to the awareness of God. For this reason, forgiveness can truly be called salvation. It is the means by which illusions disappear.   W-pI.46.2:1-5

Forgiveness is the tool we are given that undoes all that illusion has brought us. It is our salvation, simply the shift in our minds that returns us to the awareness that we are and always are Love. No longer need we be fearful. There is no fear, for fear is not real. It is now time to forgive our mistaken thoughts and allow the Love we are to rise in us, shininng its light for the world to join. Peace is abundant within us and joins with all to manifest the infinite peace of Oneness. So forgive and forgive freely, for it is the means by which all illusions disappear leaving us simply Love.

February 8, 2022

Lesson 39 –

My holiness is my salvation.

Salvation is an idea that can be very challenging. Most religious have some concept of what salvation is and why it is necessary. What if salvation were not necessary? Or, what if salvation is a concept that realigns us with our  innate wholeness? The idea for today, itself, points us to the idea that our holiness is already established within us and that is our salvation. All we really need do is realize we are holy and that makes us aware once again we are already holy and that awareness is our salvation. That’s merely a shift in our thinking, a change of mind about how we see ourselves.

If guilt is hell, what is its opposite? Like the text for which this workbook was written, the ideas used for the exercises are very simple, very clear and totally unambiguous. We are not concerned with intellectual feats nor logical toys. We are dealing only in the very obvious, which has been overlooked in the clouds of complexity in which you think you think.   W-pI.39.1:1-4

This idea may seem very difficult if not impossible. However, it is surely not difficult. The hesitation we may feel in answering is not due to the ambiguity of the question. Do we believe that guilt is hell? If so, we would see at once how direct and simple the message of the Course is and would not need it at all. No one needs practice to gain what is already theirs. We need simply look within to the truth about who we really are and release the mistaken beliefs we hold about ourselves.

Your holiness is the answer to every question that was ever asked, is being asked now, or will be asked in the future. Your holiness means the end of guilt, and therefore the end of hell. Your holiness is the salvation of the world, and your own. How could you to whom your holiness belongs be excluded from it? God does not know unholiness. Can it be He does not know His Son?   W-pI.39.4:1-6

Go easy on yourself. We have spent a lifetime learning and believing what we currently think abut ourselves. The holy purpose of time is to help us unlearn all those mistaken beliefs about ourselves. The more we resist letting them go, the longer it may take, but Spirit holds us in our holiness guiding us every step of the way. Our salvation from this mistaken belief is the recognition of our innate holiness. Nothing is wrong or broken about our real self. Be willing to turn to the holiness that we are and see a changed and healed world rooted in the Oneness of Love and Peace and Joy. This is our natural state of being. This is who we really are.

January 25, 2022

Lesson 25 –

I do not know what anything is for.

This lesson comes out of the teaching that we have misperceived everything as we perceived through the lens of the egoic thought system. As we grow and learn, we will remind ourselves that we have developed a habit of misperceiving all that we see. We will gently learn, step by step how to undo this habit of misperceiving and relearn how to perceive correctly. Confusing? It certainly is to our egoic thought system.

Purpose is meaning. Today’s idea explains why nothing you see means anything. You do not know what it is for. Therefore, it is meaningless to you. Everything is for your own best interests. That is what it is for; that is its purpose; that is what it means. It is in recognizing this that your goals become unified. It is in recognizing this that what you see is given meaning.   W-pI.25.1:1-8

Everything we experience and encounter has a purpose. It all has a unified holy purpose designed to lead us back to the recognition of who we really are, our sinlessness and our holiness. Our egoic thought system has directed us to perceive everything otherwise. We believe everything is attacking us and separating us. Yet, it all is actually providing us opportunities to see ourselves and others joined in Oneness and connected in the One Mind. Our journey in this world is to reconnect with the awareness of our true nature, our holiness, our sinlessness, our Oneness. To begin this journey without distance we begin to change the way we perceive ourselves and the world. We begin by starting to understand that what we currently believe and perceive is mistaken. We have made a world that is based on mistaken perceptions and thus a world of illusion. We see the world, but are mistaken about what it means and what its purpose is.

Another way of describing the goals you now perceive is to say that they are all concerned with “personal” interests. Since you have no personal interests, your goals are really concerned with nothing. In cherishing them, therefore, you have no goals at all. And thus you do not know what anything is for.   W-pI.25.3:1-4

We are embarking on a journey to change our perception by first realizing and letting go of the belief that everything we think is real. We start by opening our minds to the idea that we may have perceived mistakenly and then believed those mistaken perceptions as true and factual when they are indeed open to other interpretations. Right now, it may seem incredulous that our believed ideas may have another meaning. For the time being, relax and just be a little willing to be open to another interpretation of what we now believe is truth. Be assured, Spirit is guiding us in this journey. Spirit will guide us in steps we can handle and understand. Take a step away from your thoughts and go to the lesson link above and follow the instructions for practicing this idea. Open your mind and let the lesson sink in, even if you don’t think you understand it.

January 18, 2022

Lesson 18 –

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

When we began this journey with the Course, we believed that our thoughts were ours and ours alone. The thoughts we thought were in our own brain and could not possibly affect anyone else unless we acted on them. We believed we were completely separate, not joined in any way. This idea is a misperception as it is based in a mistaken thought. Certainly, our minds are One, joined in Oneness, the One Mind, yet we still hold onto at least a bit of the idea that our minds are separate. It takes time to unlearn this very prominent idea, yet we have made definite progress in understanding its error.

The idea for today is another step in learning that the thoughts which give rise to what you see are never neutral or unimportant. It also emphasizes the idea that minds are joined, which will be given increasing stress later on.   W-pI.18.1:1-2

We learn step by step. If you don’t feel like you’re there yet or even that none of this makes any sense, don’t worry. We have all the time we need to learn. And, we have help all along the way. We are never alone in this. Spirit is within us to guide us as we allow. And, we have each other to help, too. Our love for each other is one of the keys to this journey. Our minds are joined as we are all joined in the One Mind, sometimes called the Mind of God. This is our home.

Today’s idea does not refer to what you see as much as to how you see it. Therefore, the exercises for today emphasize this aspect of your perception. The three or four practice periods which are recommended should be done as follows: W-pI.18.2:1-3 Check the link above for the instructions.

The passage above reminds us that this lesson is about our perception, howe see the world. We know and have experienced how no two of us see anything that happens in the world the same way. Sometimes we wonder if another person was even at the same event as we were by how they see it. The world is colored by our perception, a lens that filters the world according to our perception of our past experiences. It’s no wonder we each see it differently. We are beginning to learn how our perception determines the world we see and how to begin to correct that perception as guided by Spirit. Let go of the way you have perceived the world for so long and open your mind to a new and different perception of the world. This is the journey the Course is taking us on. It will lead us to a state of peace and joy as we learn to love all Creation as it really is.

January 11, 2022

Lesson 11 –

My meaningless thoughts are showing me
a meaningless world.

Our thoughts, the thoughts we align with, are what determines the world we see and experience. This idea can be a difficult one, particularly when we are new to the Course. It can also be challenging at various stages of our learning. Because we have chosen to believe we are separate from any other part of creation, we see the world as a whole bunch of independent parts. We believe that one part can attack another part or that we are at the mercy of events we have no control over. Yet, there is another way we can see the world through the lens of Oneness. This lesson begins with the following passage:

This is the first idea we have had that is related to a major phase of the correction process; the reversal of the thinking of the world. It seems as if the world determines what you perceive. Today’s idea introduces the concept that your thoughts determine the world you see. Be glad indeed to practice the idea in its initial form, for in this idea is your release made sure. The key to forgiveness lies in it.   W-pI.11.1:1-5

The Course is a teaching in how our thinking determines how we perceive the world and ourselves. We have learned and been taught to see the world through the lens of separation. However, that basis of perception is a false basis. As a result we have perceived all we see in error of some level or another. The Course was given to us to help us learn correct perception as guided by the Holy Spirit within us. Yes, we have help in this endeavor. Spirit will never judge or punish us, for our error is simply a misperception, a mistake. Practicing the lessons gradually teaches us to change the way we perceive the world and ourselves, and each other.

Take a look at the lesson guidelines by going to the link for the lesson above. Or, just go to your Course and the Workbook for Students. It outlines how to practice this idea. It is worth trying.  Part of our journey is to learn to forgive. It is key to the transformation of our mind and the transformation of our perception of the world, ourselves, and each other. Reality is all about love, peace, and joy. If we are not experiencing these, we are incorrectly perceiving all we see and think. Are we happy with our lives and the world we think we see? Is it a place we want to be? Reality is all about unconditional love, peace, and joy. If we are not experiencing these, we can begin to change the way we think, change our mind, and begin to see a new vision of the world we see around us. We are in essence love. Peace and joy are our natural state of being. Perhaps by practicing the principles of the Course, we can see a better world, a state of being that recognizes our Oneness with all of Creation and the peace and joy within all of it. Give it a try. Take the chance that good will come of it.

December21, 2021

Lesson 355 –

There is no end to all the peace and joy,
and all the miracles that I will give,
when I accept my Creator’s Word. Why not today?

Endless peace and joy. Giving endless miracles. What a world that would be. But wait, that’s the world that is ours. And, yet, many of us can’t see it. We have no idea it even exists. This blissful world of endless peace and joy, of endless love and miracles, is the real world. It is the world that is within us, yet blocked from our awareness by our belief that we are separate. The fact that we have aligned our mind with our egoic thought system blocks our awareness of who we really are and our true nature and essence..

Why do we do this? It doesn’t really matter. The question we might ask ourselves is, “What are we waiting for?” I know we don’t really like this world of separation we seem to exist in, so we might as well shift our minds to a better existence. We are promised a better way. It is there waiting for us to simply accept its gift. The world we leave behind is really nothing more than a misinterpretation of the world we seem to see. We have the wisdom within us to allow Spirit to reveal truth to us by removing the blocks we have placed in its way. How do we shift our minds? This lesson offers the following prayer/affermation to help us get started. We have been practicing and studying the Course enough to begin to allow spirit to reveal a better way to us now.

Why should I wait, my Creator, for the joy You promised me? For You will keep Your Word You gave Your One Child in exile. I am sure my treasure waits for me, and I need but reach out my hand to find it. Even now my fingers touch it. It is very close. I need not wait an instant more to be at peace forever. It is You I choose, and my Identity along with You. Your One Child would be Themself, and know You as their Source and Creator, and their Love.   W-pII.355.1:1-8

What are we waiting for? Now is the time. There is nothing left to do but accept the reality of who we are as the One Child of Oneness. No more words. Open your eyes and let infinite peace rise from within you. Let it be so.

December 14, 2021

Lesson 348 –

I have no cause for anger or for fear,
For You surround me. And in every need
That I perceive, Your grace suffices me.

Our human egoic mindset holds the idea true that we do not have what we need, that we are lacking. It is a pervasive idea that permeates every corner of our mind. We have become so used to this idea that we can no longer see our abundance and that we are inherently complete. We are created complete with everything we could possibly need. We are created whole and limitless. Yet, our tendency to align our minds with the idea of separation and lack has blocked our awareness of our true nature. We think we are alone and small, yet we are really One with all creation, inseparable from all creation, and lack nothing that is real. We are abundant in reality.

Nothing has changed anything about who we really are. We simply blocked our awareness of our true Self from our split mind. We made that choice for whatever mistaken reason. And, the fix is to change our mind again and realign our mind with the Mind of Oneness. We have no need for the feelings and misperceptions that block our awareness of our holiness. It is a simple process of letting those ideas and thoughts go and turning to the fact of our holiness and our true nature. We can make that shift any time we decide we are ready. This lesson offers the following prayer/affirmation that will help us make that shift we so desire.

Creator, let me remember You are here, and I am not alone. Surrounding me is everlasting Love. I have no cause for anything except the perfect peace and joy I share with You. What need have I for anger or for fear? Surrounding me is perfect safety. Can I be afraid, when Your eternal promise goes with me? Surrounding me is perfect sinlessness. What can I fear, when You created me in holiness as perfect as Your Own?   W-pII.348.1:1-8

We can choose to recognize our sinlessness at any time. It’s our choice. We can choose to accept it now or wait awhile longer. But, why would anyone want to wait? Our happiness is in aligning our mind with the Mind of Oneness. Our freedom comes as we make that shift. Peace, joy, and love are waiting to rise within us as we allow our minds to open to that holiness that is our truth. The change fills us with grace. It is enough. It is more than enough. It is more than our egoic thought system could ever imagine it to be.

The One’s grace suffices us in everything that They would have us do. And only that we choose to be our will as well as Theirs.   W-pII.348.2:1-2

So choose the will that we share with The One; Oneness. Once we make that choice we will find ourselves home. We will recognize Heaven right here in our lives on this earth. No more need we be afraid or hurt or want for anything. It is our choice; Heaven or the hell of separation. What will your choice be and when will you make this choice?

December 7, 2021

Lesson 341 –

I can attack but my own sinlessness,
And it is only that which keeps me safe..

What keeps us safe? Do we even believe we can be at all safe? The truth is we are safe. We are created whole and all powerful, unable to be harmed in any real way. The reality is we are created One with our Creator. We are inseparable from our Creator. Love is the true essence of our being. We are, in fact, sinless. Our sinlessness cannot be attacked. It cannot be undone. We are stuck with our sinlessness. So why do we deny it? We have chosen to believe that we are not what we really are! This has caused our true sinlessness to be blocked from our awareness.

Yet our Creator holds it safe for us. Spirit within us holds it safe waiting for us to be willing to reawaken to this truth so holy. Are we ready to accept our sinlessness again? Are we willing to awake from the dream of separation in which we have invested our split mind? Our holiness awaits us. Our wholeness and limitlessness await us. Peace of mind, unconditional love, and unprecedented joy await us. Following is a prayer/affirmation this lesson offers us to help us open our minds to accepting our own sinlessness.

Creator, Your One Child is holy. I am  the one on whom You smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your Holiness. How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile, with all Your Love bestowed upon us, living one with You, in Oneness complete; in sinlessness so perfect that the Source of Sinlessness conceives us as Their One Child, a universe of Thought completing Them.   W-pII.341.1:1-3

Wherever we are, it is always our choice. We are always free to choose whether or not to recognize our sinlessness. The question we must ask ourselves is whether we are happy with our lives as they are. When will we be ready to stop attacking ourselves and our sinlessness? Denying our truth is a form of attack on ourselves. I am ready to step into my true home; Heaven on earth. In that place of Oneness I find contentment. I have noticed that despite whatever is going on in the world, I wake each morning with a full heart. I am content and happy. How about you? Each of us can step into this contentment by making a simple choice to stop attacking our own sinlessness. The rest will follow.

Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of the One to us. And in its kind reflection we are saved.   W-pII.341.2:1-2

This is our destiny. This is where we seek to be. Let go of all resistance and let yourself be just there. Be the Oneness you are.

November 30, 2021

Lesson 334 –

Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives.

Did you ever imagine that forgiveness would bring gifts? Well, it’s true.

Forgiveness brings us the gift of freedom. Forgiveness releases us from all the baggage we carry with us. It releases us from blame, guilt, regret, anxiety,and so much more that weighs our mind down. It takes a great deal of effort to carry all that baggage around with us. And it all distracts us from our true nature; from the peace, love, and joy within us. All that baggage is based on misperceptions and mistaken thoughts. We have chosen to believe that a whole slew of illusions are true and that we need to get rid of them one by one, and by doing so we remain attached to these unreal thoughts. It’s time to release them and turn to the grace that is real. Turn to the unconditional love that is reality. And, it’s available to us right now, no waiting unless we choose to put it off.

I will not wait another day to find the treasures that my Creator offers me. Illusions are all vain, and dreams are gone even while they are woven out of thoughts that rest on false perceptions. Let me not accept such meager gifts again today. My Creator’s Voice is offering the peace of Oneness to all who hear and choose to follow. This is my choice today. And so I go to find the treasures my creator has given me.   W-pII.334.1:1-6

We have been letting the Course teach us new ideas; peaceful and loving ideas. We have been learning to allow Spirit to guide our perception and our thoughts in a miraculous shift in our thinking. Perhaps, over the last year, we have been practicing the lessons the Workbook for Students offers us. We are nearing the end of those lessons and are ready to make the shift in thinking we have been preparing for. Perhaps we have already glimpsed the happiness Oneness offers us. It’s all within us. It is our rightful choice to see that this bliss is already in us waiting for us to recognize it is already ours. If we need a little help, this lesson offers the following prayer to help us make this change.

I seek but the eternal. For Your One Child can be content with nothing less than this. What, then, can be their solace but what You are offering to their bewildered mind and frightened heart, to give them certainty and bring them peace? Today I would behold my friend sinless. This Your Will for me, for so will I behold my sinlessness.   W-pII.334.2:1-5

What is true and real is eternal. Eternal Oneness is what we are offered. Even so, it is already ours and always has been. Yet we deny it again and again. Release all that is false and rest in the peace of our reality. No more need we be anxious and scared. Peace, love, and joy are our inheritance. Claim it now.

November 23, 2021

Lesson 327 –

I need but call and You will answer me.

We are not in this alone. Sometimes we can feel very alone and abandoned in this life. We forget that we are all connected, that we are one with each other and our Source. We get so caught up in the challenges we seem to be facing we can’t seem to see beyond those challenges. Then we feel forlorn and forsaken. This isolation is never true in reality. When we align our mind with the egoic thought system and separation, we block our awareness of our connection with all that is and our Oneness. Though we are always one, we can’t seem to find any sense of Oneness in our life. What do we then do?

This lesson reminds us that we can always call on our Creator and the reality of our Oneness for help and guidance. Sometimes it’s just a simple shift in our thinking – a realignment of our mind with our true Mind that is one with the Mind of Source. Sometimes it takes a little more practice at accepting the truth of who we really are. We often deny or lose sight of our own true nature, our holiness, our wholeness, our completeness, and our limitlessness. We are the One Holy Child of the One, and that can never be changed. Our salvation is the shift in our awareness from what we are not to what we truly are. In all this we are supported with Divine support.

I am not asked to take salvation on the basis of an unsupported faith. For The One has promised They will hear my call, and answer me Themself. Let me but learn from my experience that this is true, and faith in The One must surely come to me. This is the faith that will endure, and take me farther and still farther on the road that leads to Oneness. For thus I will be sure that The One has not abandoned me and loves me still, awaiting but my call to give me all the help I need to come to Oneness.   W-pII.327.1:1-5

The Course is given us to teach us we are not alone and that we are supported. The support available to us is infinite and eternal. This support is all powerful and with us 24/7 – always. It rises in us simply at our asking. We are asked to be vigilant for this guidance within us. And, when we lose sight of it within us, we need simply look to another and find what we are looking for reflected back to us. We all share this purpose in our Oneness. When it becomes still difficult to see, we are asked to look beyond the appearance of what we think we see to the reality beyond the world’s appearance at any given moment. Having difficulty with this? This lesson offers this prayer to help us make this shift in our awareness.

Creator, I thank You that Your promises will never fail in my experience, if I but test them out. Let me attempt therefore to try them, and to judge them not. Your Word is one with You. You give the means whereby conviction comes, and surety of Your abiding Love is gained at last.   W-pII.327.2:1-4

We have all the assistance there is in the universe if we will just accept Spirit’s guidance. Accepting this guidance will lead us to a state of mind that fills us with the peace, love, and joy of Oneness. Nothing need change in this world for us to realign our thought system with the Mind of Oneness. It is ours for the acceptance of a truly supported faith.