November 9, 2021

Lesson 313 –

Now let a new perception come to me.

It is really that simple. All we need is a new perception. It’s a new way of seeing. Remember the lesson, “I could see this differently.” The world really changes when we accept a new perception. Forgiveness, salvation, healing, miracles; they are all basically a new perception. This is the change we have been seeking. No one else can do it for us. We must be willing to be shown a new perspective. And Spirit is there to guide us. Rather than seeking outside ourselves, look within to the wisdom Spirit is ready to show us. This lesson offers us the following prayer to help us make this shift in thinking, to help us see with new vision.

Creator, there is a vision which beholds all things as sinless, so that fear has gone, and where it was is love invited in. And love will come wherever it is asked. This vision is Your gift. The eyes of Christ look on a world forgiven. In the Christ’s sight are all its sins forgiven, for the Christ sees no sin in anything They look upon. Now let Their true perception come to me, that I may waken from the dream of sin and look within upon my sinlessness, which You have kept completely undefiled upon the altar to Your holy Child, the Self with which I would identify.   W-pII.313.1:1-6

Such a transformation is waiting for us to awaken to. Our holy Self, One with all Creation, is there within us, undefiled and intact. We have denied our true Identity from the moment we chose to believe the idea of separation. But Spirit has held our real Identity for us waiting for the moment we change our mind and return to the awareness of who we really are. All the lessons we have practiced so far have been designed to make our minds ready for the acceptance of our true Self.

Look at your friend. Really look. See them with a new perception. They are One with us. We are One with them. We see our holy Self reflected as we gaze at the Truth Spirit reveals to us. Together we are simply Holiness. Together we are complete, limitless, and whole. All this is revealed in our Oneness. As we look and accept, love rises in us, peace surrounds and comforts us, joy fills us with the grandeur and grace of Holy Oneness. We have arrived at our destination and the journey is complete. Let us rest in this moment as the holy instant lifts us and buoys us. The light of our collective holiness shines bright as it always has, yet now we recognize the light we are.

Let us today behold each other in the sight of Christ. How beautiful we are! How holy and how loving! Friend, come and join with me today. We save the world when we have joined. For in our vision it becomes as holy as the light in us.   W-pII.313.2:1-6

Let it be so!

Novenber2, 2021

Lesson 306 –

The gift of Christ is all I seek today.

We have a gift we have been given. We have always had this gift for it was given us at our creation. This gift is Holy Vision. It is the gift to see clearly. It is the gift to see reality rather than illusion. It is the ability to see beyond the appearance of all we think we see in this world to what is real and true. It enables us to change the lens through which we perceive this world. There is a way to perceive this world with the guidance of Spirit that reveals Heaven in this world right now. The world can be a place of ease and grace if we will just allow ourselves to be open to its revealing. It is a place where only peace, love, and joy exist. It is a place that is our home.

What but Christ’s vision would I use today, when it can offer me a day in which I see a world so like to Heaven that an ancient memory returns to me? Today I can forget the world I made. Today I can go past all fear, and be restored to love and holiness and peace. Today I am redeemed, and born anew into a world of mercy and of care; of loving kindness and the peace of Oneness.   W-pII.306.1:1-4

We have longed for this world Christ’s Vision reveals to us. We have long sought it, but were looking for it where it was not. It has always been within us, within our minds. We did nothing more than deny its existence, blocking it from our awareness with the barriers of our belief in separation. Nothing was ever harmed except our experience. And that is forever changed when we realize we made a mistake in perception. And we can undo that mistake at any moment we choose. Take a moment to pause. Take a breath and turn to look again, willing to see differently. Allow the holiness we are to rise to our awareness. Release the belief that we are less than and limited. Allow the light within us to shine away the darkness we have made simply by blocking our light. Allow the reality of who we are to return to our awareness. How do we begin? This lesson offers this prayer to help us open to the awareness and acceptance of what is already ours.

And so, our Creator, we return to You, remembering we never went away; remembering Your holy gifts to us. In gratitude and thankfulness we come, with empty hands and open hearts and minds, asking but what You give. We cannot make an offering sufficient for Your Child. But in Your Love the gift of Christ is theirs.   W-pII.306.2:1-4

What can it hurt? Take a step of faith that we are much more than we think we are. Allow this Holy Vision to rise in us. We will see that what we desire is right before us waiting for us to open our hearts and minds to what it offers. Here is the peace, love, and joy of Heaven.

October 26, 2021

Lesson 299 –

Eternal holiness abides in me.

We may have forgotten that we are holy. Our true nature is holiness and this holiness is eternal. It is infallible. It cannot be destroyed or compromised. The most that can happen to it is that we can deny that we are holy and block our awareness of our holiness. Think of that. Our holiness remains rooted in our being, even if we aren’t aware of its existence. It’s there beneath the surface waiting for us to be willing to reawaken to its presence. What or where is our gateway to the recognition of our holiness?

My holiness is far beyond my own ability to understand or know. Yet Source, my Creator, Who created it, acknowledges my holiness as Theirs. Our Will, together, understands it. And Our Will, together, knows that it is so.   W-pII.299.1:1-4

I think the key to understanding our holiness lies in our willingness to relinquish our belief in separation; our belief that we are separate from our Creator, Source, God, and each other. The Course teaches us that Creation’s method is extension. The act of Creation does not cut us off as we cut the umbilical cord when a child is born.  We are eternally connected with all that is.

Think of the times you may have sensed someone’s presence. Think of the times you have known who was calling you without using caller ID. Deepak Chopra calls this synchronicity. If we think about this, we may realize that we have these “premonitions” more regularly that we realize. They are simply a condition of our connectedness, our Oneness playing out in our lives. When the Course says that our holiness is “not of me”, it is referring to our egoic thought system. Our holiness is shared with each other. It is manifested in our joining, in our willingness to recognize our Oneness.

All of Creation is ours. It is embedded in our being along with all others. We need simply to awaken to its presence within us. Oneness is our natural eternal essence. There is nothing wrong with us We have done nothing more that close our eyes to the reality of who we are. We have denied our Identity. Yet we cannot destroy who we are. That remains intact, held safe by Spirit until we are willing to return to the awareness of our true Self. Are you ready to return? Following is a prayer to help us open our minds to the truth about who we are and return home. Each of us has the choice to be willing.

Creator, my holiness is not of me. It is not mine to be destroyed by sin. It is not mine to suffer from attack. Illusions can obscure it, but can not put out its radiance, nor dim its light. It stands forever perfect and untouched. In it are all things healed, for they remain as You created them. And I can know my holiness. For Holiness Itself created me, and I can know my Source because it is Your Will that You be known.   W-pII.299.2:1-8

The time is here. Step out of the illusion and into Holiness and re-find your true Identity.

September 21, 2021

Lesson 264 –

I am surrounded by the Love of God.

We are surrounded by the love of God, the One, Source, Oneness. This is a fact. A given, A reality. Yet, many of us don’t feel this comfort. We’ve been told this is so, but still we don’t feel it in our earthly life. How do we access this feeling, this comfort? What do we need to do? The Course tells us we need do nothing. What? If this is so, why don’t we feel it? Perhaps we are doing too much. Perhaps we are trying too hard. Perhaps it is right in front of us but we don’t see it! This comfort and assurance is absolutely real and available to our awareness if we are willing to see and accept it. This lesson offers us the following prayer to help us open ourselves to this love.

Creator, You stand before me and behind, beside me, in the place I see myself, and everywhere I go. You are in all the things I look upon, the sounds I hear, and every hand that reaches for my own. In You time disappears, and place becomes a meaningless belief. For what surrounds Your One Child and keeps them safe is Love itself. There is no Source but this, and nothing is that does not share Its Holiness; that stands beyond Your one creation, or without the Love which holds all things within itself. Creator, Your One Child is like Yourself. We come to You in Your Own Name today, to be at peace within Your everlasting Love.   W-pII.264.1:1-7

Are we willing to ask? Are we willing to let go of our fear? Our true state of being is all this prayer offers. Our willingness to ask helps us look beyond the appearance of the world we think we see around us to what is real, permanent, and eternal. We are created an extension of our Creator and so we are so like our Creator we are a continuation of our Creator. There is no division. We simply made a mistake in our perception of ourselves and believed there was a separation where none existed. Nothing real is lost. We all are simply love and nothing else. There exists only love in reality. Therefore, we are always and inevitably surrounded by love whether we are aware of it or not.

What do we really desire? What have we really been seeking all our lives? Stepping into this comfort of love all around us is simply opening our mind to the awareness of what is and always has been within us. As we use this prayer to open our awareness to the truth that is within us, we will sense the peace that passes all worldly understanding. Peace, love, and joy will rise within us comforting us and dispelling all fear. We will realize we are complete, whole, and unlimited. We will find the light of holiness shining brightly from the core of our being, one with the core of all being. This is our salvation, saving us from a mistaken world of separation and illusion. This is where we step into the awareness of our Oneness with all that is real and true.

My friends, join with me in this today. This is salvation’s prayer. Must we not join in what will save the world, along with us?   W-pII.264.2:1-3

The time is now! What are we waiting for?

September 14, 2021

Lesson 257 –

Let me remember what my purpose is.

Our focus is very important to our state of mind and even our happiness. What are you focused on today? Is that focus creating peace in our mind? The Course asks us to be vigilant for Spirit’s guidance. If we allow ourselves to be open minded and receptive to Spirit’s guidance, we will be guided in a way that creates peace and joy in our lives. What is our real purpose while we believe we are separate; while we have forgotten or denied who we really are? In all things, our goal, our purpose is to return to the awareness of who we really are. It is the return to the awareness of our wholeness, our completeness, our freedom, and our holiness. As we return to this awareness, we remember that we are One with each other and our Creator – Oneness.

When we become disconnected with our true nature, we become confused and disoriented. We don’t know which way to turn or how to make choices. Perhaps we have remembered we can make another choice but don’t know how to make that choice a good one.

Perhaps we have even accepted contradicting goals which may seem appropriate but take us in opposite directions. The resulting feeling is of confusion and upset. We know that a feeling of confusion or upset is an indication that something is amiss in our perception and thinking. When we are thinking with correct perception, in alignment with Spirit, we experience peace and calmness. Our feelings are an indication of where our mind is and what thought system we are aligned with. The egoic thought system never allows us to be quite at peace. It must keep us just out of balance so we can’t quite feel the Peace of Oneness within us. What is your state of mind right now? Are you feeling peace, joy and love? Maybe something less?

If I forget my goal I can be but confused, unsure of what I am, and thus conflicted in my actions. No one can serve contradicting goals and serve them well. Nor can they function without deep distress and great depression. Let us therefore be determined to remember what we want today, that we may unify our thoughts and actions meaningfully, and achieve only what Source would have us do this day.   W-pII.257.1:1-4

How do we begin to make this shift we want so much? Why are we not experiencing our true state of being? How do we right this imbalance? Though we have no need to do anything for we are already and always have been whole, we are given a tool to help us shift our awareness. We always have the option to forgive ourselves and others. Forgiveness is simply shifting our perception of ourselves and others. It is being willing to see ourselves and others as we really are, whole, complete, and holy. Our true Self is without limitation. We are eternal. We are whole and complete just as we already are and always have been. It is a matter of waning to awake from our dream of separation and step into the awareness of the Oneness of who we really are.

This lesson gives us this prayer to help us ask for the guidance to make this shift. Here is the peace we have been searching for that has always been within us. It is time to ask Spirit to guide us to our awakening.

Creator, forgiveness is Your chosen means for our salvation. Let us not forget today that we can have no will but Yours. And thus our purpose must be Yours as well, if we would reach the peace You will for us.   W-pII.257.2:1-3

September 7, 2021

Lesson 250 –

Let me not see myself as limited.

When we perceive ourselves through the lens of the egoic thought system we tend to see ourselves as limited. We seem never to have enough and perhaps feel we are always losing ground. This is the controlling perception the egoic thought system keeps us trapped in until we realize it is all an illusion. We always have the option to see ourselves differently. We have the option to choose to see ourselves as One with all of Creation, sharing all with all. And the all of Creation is unlimited and eternally extending. How do we begin to shift our thoughts to awaken to this unlimited view?

Let me behold the One Child of God today, and witness to their glory. Let me not try to obscure the holy light in them, and see their strength diminished and reduced to frailty; nor perceive the lacks in them with which I would attack their sovereignty.   W-pII.250.1:1-2

We can begin by allowing ourselves to see ourselves and each other differently. The Course has taught us that we are each other’s savior when we begin to allow Spirit to teach us to see each other as we really are. That is, to see each other as holy, whole, and complete in Oneness with all that is real. What a gift it is to see another bathed in the holy light of truth, radiating the love, peace, and joy of their wholeness and holiness. As we let go of our attachment to the idea of our sinfulness and lack, we allow our own holy light within to shine for all to see and recognize the holy light shining from others. As we open to the guidance of Spirit we can refrain from our attempts to obscure the reality of who we each really are and let our own and their holy light shine brightly illuminating our minds with all this holiness.

Let us decide to stop attacking ourselves and each other, for that is what we do when we obscure their holy light. It is impossible to extinguish anyone’s holy light, but we can hide it or deny its existence. Yet, despite our efforts, this beautiful light persists undiminished. It waits for us to be willing to recognize it and free it from our limiting thoughts. The light finds the tiniest little crack to shine through and remind us it is there waiting for our release. Make a choice to recognize the Holiness, Oneness, and Unity of all Creation. As we let go and recognize our Oneness, we are freed from the bonds of our mistaken perceptions. We begin to recognize that we are really joined with each other. We begin to feel the completeness of the love, peace, and joy we all share in Oneness. Are we ready? This lesson offers the following prayer to help us open our minds to the light of this truth. It is gentle yet quite powerful to take this step.

They are Your One Child, my Creator. And today I would behold their gentleness instead of my illusions. They are what I am, and as I see them so I see myself. Today I would see truly, that this day I may at last identify with them.   W-pII.250.2:1-4

August 31, 2021

Lesson 243 –

Today I will judge nothing that occurs.

Perhaps today I can release my tendency to label everything that occurs “good”, “OK”, or “bad.” Everything that occurs just happens. I don’t need to invest in each and every occurrence. When I invest and judge I am perceiving something as separate from me. Everything I think about these occurrences is one of my thoughts that I project on that occurrence. I can let go of any need I feel to control a world that is beyond my control. But, I can control my own thoughts. And when my thoughts are mistaken, I can change them. I can accept Spirit’s guidance in how I [perceive the world’s occurrences.

I will be honest with myself today. I will not think that I already know what must remain beyond my present grasp. I will not think I understand the whole from bits of my perception, which are all that I can see. Today I recognize that this is so. And so I am relieved of judgments that I cannot make. Thus do I free myself and what I look upon, to be in peace as Source created us.   W-pII.243.1:1-5

What do we feel as we look upon the world’s occurrences? If we do not feel peace within, we are using our egoic thought system to perceive them. We have the opportunity to change the source of our thoughts to our One Mind to which Spirit will guide us. One Mind is our natural state of being. We share Mind with Source and all of Creation, all that is real and holy and eternal.

In this shift we find our freedom. We find release from the stress and turmoil in which the world seems to engage us. Wouldn’t we rather experience a world of love, peace, and joy? Believe it or not, it is our choice to experience just that. This experience is there lying just beyond the chaotic world we think we see. The only block to our awareness is a mist, a fog, a veil we have allowed our egoic thought system to place between our mind, our perception and reality. The reality of creation is holy, filled with love and joy and peace. We can begin to step into the awareness of this reality by accepting the higher guidance of our higher Mind and Spirit as we allow the holy shift in our perception. The appearance of the world will change and our actions in it will be revealed. Let go of all judgement and set up the conditions that will let this shift happen. This lesson gives us this prayer to help us whenever we need to re-shift our thoughts or realign our thought system.

Source, today I leave creation free to be itself. I honor all its parts, in which I am included. We are one because each part contains Your memory, and truth must shine in all of us as one.   W-pII.243.2:1-3

August 24, 2021

Lesson 236 –

I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.

What is this mind we must rule? Haven’t we been learning to surrender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Yes, but opening our mind to Spirit is our choice and it is our responsibility to keep our mind attuned to Spirit’s guidance. The Course gives us so much info about changing our mind and following the guidance we receive. But we must be vigilant for this guidance. We must keep the door open. We need to be aware of which thought system we are aligning with; the egoic thought system or our One Mind. We must seek the blocks to our awareness and release them to allow ourselves to rise into our Oneness consciousness.

I have a realm I must rule. At times, it does not seem I am its ruler at all. It seems to triumph over me, and tell me what to think, and what to do and feel. And yet it has been given me to serve whatever purpose I perceive in it. My mind can only serve. Today I give its service to the Holy Spirit to employ as It sees fit. I thus direct my mind, which I alone can rule. And thus I set it free to do the Will of Source.   W-pII.236.1:1-8

It often seems that we are at the mercy of the world we live in. It appears to happen beyond our control and we are left to deal with the outcomes. Sure, sometimes there are good and happy outcomes. But, the happenings of the world seem beyond our control. The Course teaches us that this world is an illusion. We must consider that the world we think we see is a construct of our perception and rooted in our beliefs about our past that we project on the world. We can choose to see the world differently. We can also see the world more clearly by allowing Spirit to guide our perception of the world and its happenings. Otherwise, without Spirit’s guidance, our perception of the world is guided by our egoic thought system rooted in the belief we are all separate and separate from Source

In this manner, we can choose to allow our egoic thought system to rule our mind and thus the world, or we can turn our mind to Spirit’s guidance and rule our mind through the guidance of Spirit. We rule our mind by aligning our thoughts with the holy guidance of the Spirit of love and peace within us. This choice is always under our control. The choice is between love and fear. It’s a choice between ruling our mind and allowing egoic separation to rule our mind. A choice between our own holy power and helplessness.

What is your choice today, and tomorrow, and the next day? We are offered this prayer to help us make our choice whenever we are ready. Are you ready?

Source, my mind is open to Your Thoughts, and closed today to every thought but Yours. I rule my mind, and offer it to You. Accept my gift, for it is Yours to me.   W-pII.236.2:1-3

August 17, 2021

Lesson 229 –

Love, which created me, is what I am.

This group of lessons speaks to the question, “What is forgiveness?” Forgiveness is letting go of our misperceptions of ourselves and others and recognizing that we are all holy, that we are all whole. We are created by Love, for Source is Love and only Love. We are an extension of our Creator – Source – and therefore are Love. The Course tells us that Love creates only Love and nothing else. In fact, it is impossible to create anything but Love. This lesson points us toward the recognition that we are Love and can be nothing else.

I seek my own Identity, and find It in these words: “Love, which created me, is what I am.” Now need I seek no more. Love has prevailed. So still It waited for my coming home, that I will turn away no longer from the holy face of Christ. And what I look upon attests the truth of the Identity I sought to lose, but which my Creator has kept safe for me.   W-pII.229.1:1-5

Our true Identity is and always has been. It cannot be changed or altered. It remains holy as it has always been. We may have lost sight of our Identity or even denied it. But our true Identity can never be changed. Reawakening to the awareness of our true Identity is called forgiveness – the shift in thought from a mistaken idea to the recognition of what is true. Forgiveness is simple and quiet, a simple recognition.

Forgiveness, on the other hand, is still, and quietly does nothing. It offends no aspect of reality, nor seeks to twist it to appearances it likes. It merely looks, and waits, and judges not. One who would not forgive must judge, for they must justify their failure to forgive. But one who would forgive themselves must learn to welcome truth exactly as it is.   W-pII.1.4:1-5

Take a moment to be still and look within. In this quiet the Truth will become apparent. Love is recognized as it rises in our mind. Peace also rises in our awareness. This holy instant of stillness is all we need to step into this awareness of our true Identity. The lesson offers this prayer to help us make this shift.

Creator, my thanks to You for what I am; for keeping my Identity untouched and sinless, in the midst of all the thoughts of sin my foolish mind made up. And thanks to You for saving me from them. Amen.   W-pII.229.2:1-3

August 10, 2021

Lesson 222 –

God is with me. I live and move in God.

We have reached a point in the Workbook Lessons when we start releasing the need for words. We have spent the first part of this year we have given to practicing and learning the principles of the Course. We have opened our minds just a little to begin to allow a shift in the way we think. We have learned that we can see the world differently. We have learned that the world appears differently to our egoic thought system than its reality. Er have learned to look beyond the appearance of everything we tink we see to the truth and reality beyond.

We are never alone. We ma feel alone at times, but there is One who always walks with us whether or not we see their prescence. Our Creator has given us the Holy Spirit to walk with us in this world of separation. And in the real world, the One who created us always walks with us, moving and loving with us. Once we become aware of that Presence through Spirit, we feel this Presence live and move with us, always present. When we allow ourselves to feel this Presence, we experience peace and love. We experience a joy so deep we could never have imagined. We feel the Oneness of this Presence and its Oneness with all Creation which we recognize as our true and rightful home.

God is with me. God is my Source of life, the life within, the air I breathe, the food by which I am sustained, the water which renews and cleanses me. God is my home, wherein I live and move; the Spirit which directs my actions, offers me Its Thoughts, and guarantees my safety from all pain. God covers me with kindness and with care, and holds in love the Child God shines upon, who also shines on God. How still is the one who knows the truth of what God speaks today!   W-pII.222.1:1-5

We have truly come home. We feel less of a need for words as we begin to experience direct communication with our Source. We find ourselves communing in Oneness with the holiness we already are and always have been. We find the life within us that is eternal and unstoppable. We are sustained, we are renewed, and we are cleansed of any illusions of unworthiness we have identified with in our past. All that is past no longer needs any consideration for it is no longer. As we open ourselves to the truth about ourselves, we are transformed and restored to the holy One we are, complete, limitless and whole. Let all the barriers to the awareness of who we really are go. They have no power to hold us unless we give them that power. Release it. Let it go. Allow the happiness of reality to rise within and buoy the joy that is ours. Step into the joy of living as One.