May 5, 2015

What do we really know? Our world is built on perception, whether correct or mistaken. Is our perception correct? As we journey through the world we live in, we use all of our experiences to perceive the world we think we are in. We think it’s all around us. Every perception is based on some evaluation we have made based on what we have experienced at some point in our life and what we believe about those experiences and about life in general. As we grew older we stopped asking our parents, teachers, friends and others for interpretations and assistance and relied on our own mind to interpret and perceive for us. How can we possibly know we are perceiving correctly? The Course tells us we cannot without guidance!

Do not make the mistake of believing that you understand what you perceive, for its meaning is lost to you. Yet the Holy Spirit has saved its meaning for you, and if you will let Spirit interpret it, Spirit will restore to you what you have thrown away. Yet while you think you know its meaning, you will see no need to ask it of Spirit. ACIM T-11.VIII.2.3-5

It isn’t that we are incapable of understanding or perceiving correctly. Our true mind is one with the One Mind and knows Reality. The problem is that we have chosen to believe we are less than the fullness of who we are. We have lost sight of our wholeness and completeness in Unity with all creation. We have chosen to believe we are separate from Source in an effort to become autonomous and make our own “reality”, our own world on our own terms. The problem with this belief is that it is based in a fundamental error of belief in the possibility that One can ever be separated into parts.

There is an answer to this problem. We are One with our Creator, our Source, and that can never be severed regardless of what we choose to believe. Source created us in complete freedom and gave us the freedom to even choose to believe something mistaken about ourselves. The lessons of the Course give us a way to correctly and gently change our mistaken beliefs. It understands how deeply rooted in our minds these mistaken beliefs have become. These mistaken beliefs comprise the egoic thought system that has kept us from the awareness of who we really are. The entity that still binds us, if we are willing to listen, is the Holy Spirit, the Voice for the One.

We can begin this transformation by letting go of our attachment to our beliefs and our perceptions. Are we willing to allow Spirit to guide us? From the Course:

You do not know the meaning of anything you perceive. Not one thought you hold is wholly true. The recognition of this is your firm beginning. You are not misguided; you have accepted no guide at all. Instruction in perception is your great need, for you understand nothing. Recognize this but do not accept it, for understanding is your inheritance. Perceptions are learned, and you are not without a Teacher. Yet your willingness to learn of your Teacher depends on your willingness to question everything you learned of yourself, for you who learned amiss should not be your own teacher. ACIM T-11.VIII.3.1-8

No one can withhold Truth except from themselves. We are the ones who have misperceived and believed mistaken beliefs. There is no shame or harm in this, for we cannot remove our wholeness and completeness from ourselves. The most we can do is hide it from ourselves and journey through our world unaware of who we really are. We have made up the problem. What do we really want? We have a choice; the problem or the Answer. Decide for the Answer and you will have it, for you will see it as it is, and it is yours already. Simply ask Spirit for guidance and keep your mind tuned to Spirit. We walk this journey together in Oneness whether we recognize it or not. Choose to recognize it.

April 28, 2015

The Course teaches us Reality is eternal. What do we see in our world as we see it? Is it perishable or is it eternal? Is it permanent or is it temporary? I don’t think anything we see with the body’s eyes could ever be called eternal or permanent. No aspect of nature could be called permanent or eternal. Even the tallest most solid mountain is subject to erosion. Wind, water and plant life constantly wear away and break apart the most solid rock we ca imagine. The earth and the universe are incredibly beautiful creations, but even science would agree that they are not eternal. So there must be another world that the Course is referring to when it speaks of the Real world, Reality.

We don’t see this eternal world, so there must be another world, another Reality we don’t see. If what we are seeing or perceiving is not real, perhaps we can perceive anew or more simply perceive again. What, then, is the world that awaits our perception when we see it? From the Course:

Every loving thought that We ever had is eternal. The loving thoughts our mind perceives in this world are the world’s only reality. They are still perceptions, because we still believe that we are separate. Yet they are eternal because they are loving. And being loving they are like the Creator, and therefore cannot die. The real world can actually be perceived. All that is necessary is a willingness to perceive nothing else. For if we perceive both good and evil, we are accepting both the false and the true and making no distinction between them. ACIM T-11.VII.2.1-7

Reality is simply Love. It is mothing more and nothing less. Love is all there is. Reality is simply loving thoughts. And further, Reality is loving thoughts that are shared. Loving thoughts can certainly be seen as eternal. This is definitely not the world we have come to see as “real.” The world we see has some good in it and some love in it, but never only good and love.

We have chosen to believe we are separate and that we want to create separately from our Source, our Creator rather than co-create with our Source. Thus we made our egoic thought system to support the mistaken idea of personal autonomy. We could never accept any perception of the world that contained no good or love, so our wrong-mindedness adds misperceptions to our world to support our belief in separation. It colors our perception of everything we see and thus distorts our perception of ourselves and the world we see. Since we now believe that both truth and illusion are true, we cannot tell them apart and thus confuse illusion and reality. It is possible, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to perceive only the real world which will lead us to the real Heaven, because it will make us capable of understanding it.

The Course gives us this instruction:

The perception of goodness is not knowledge, but the denial of the opposite of goodness enables us to recognize a condition in which opposites do not exist. And this is the condition of knowledge. Without this awareness we have not met its conditions, and until we do we will not know it is ours already. We have made many ideas that we have placed between ourselves and our Source, and these beliefs are the world as we perceive it. Truth is not absent here, but it is obscure. We do not know the difference between what we have made and what Source created, and so we do not know the difference between what we have made and what we have created. To believe that we can perceive the real world is to believe that we can know ourselves. We can know Source because Source Wills to be known. The real world is all that the Holy Spirit has saved for us out of what we have made, and to perceive only this is salvation, because it is the recognition that reality is only what is true. ACIM T-11.VII.4.1-9

All is possible when we turn our minds to Spirit within us. Love, our true nature, has never left us. We have simply confused it with the layers of illusion we have also believed. The conditions of Reality are within us and Spirit will guide us in setting aside all the mistaken conditions we have added to our minds. Trust the guidance of Spirit and allow the fullness of Reality to well up in your being. You are complete and whole. Be the limitless love that is your Reality.

April 21, 2015

Wakening to redemption is a choice. It is our choice. We either choose to waken to the awareness of who we are or remain in the perceived world of suffering we have dreamed up. To choose to remain in the dream world of suffering is to choose to crucify ourselves. Who would ever want to do such a thing? But we choose to not awaken to the awareness of who we really are by remaining attached to the ideas and thoughts we have made. To align our minds with the egoic thought system is choosing suffering the unawareness of our wholeness, completeness and divine essence. It is denying the truth about who we are.

The freedom to leave behind everything that hurts you and humbles you and frightens you cannot be thrust upon you, but it can be offered you through the grace of the One. And you can accept it by the One’s grace, for the One is gracious to Us, accepting us without question as the One’s Own. ACIM T-11.VI.6.3-4

It is our choice to accept freedom, the freedom of being who we really are. Waking to redemption is waking to the awareness of who we really are and always have been. This wakening is our resurrection.

Our insistence on remaining aligned and attached to our egoic thought system is the single factor that keeps us separated from the awareness of our divine nature. It is actually impossible to be separated from our divine nature. It is also impossible to be aware of our divine nature and aligned with our egoic thought system simultaneously. They are completely incompatible since they each completely contradict the other. This is what is meant by not being able to serve more than one God. We can either align ourselves with truth and reality, or we can align ourselves with illusion and deception. Perceiving ourselves as separate is essentially deceiving ourselves about who we are. It is the ultimate denial of our Self!

Yet, it is easily changed by the miracle of healing our thoughts, the process of healing our minds. All we need do is choose to allow Spirit to guide our choices. Our willingness to do this is the beginning of our journey back to the awareness of who we really are. And if we choose incorrectly, we simply let it go, ask for guidance and choose again. What we gain is the peace of knowing love, joy and happiness already within us. Spirit calls from within us every moment of every day, reminding us of our divine essence. Are we ready to listen? As we begin to waken, we are still aware of the dreams we continue to hang on to. But, the forgetting of these dreams and the awareness of our own divine nature come with the awakening of others to share our awakening.

You will awaken to your own call, for the Call to awake is within you. If the One lives in you, you are awake. Yet you must see the works the One does through you, or you will not perceive that the One has done them unto you. Do not set limits on what you believe the One can do through you, or you will not accept what the One can do for you. Yet it is done already. Give all that you have received and you will know your true Identity and that you have awakened to the awareness of your divine essence. Redemption is recognized only by sharing it. ACIM T-11.VI.9.1-6

Choose now to realign your mind with the One Mind. Be willing to allow Spirit to guide you in your choices. Nothing is more healing. Nothing will bring you more joy. Choose again when your choice is mistaken. You can’t harm yourself. That is guaranteed. Bu you can awaken to the lasting love and joy that is already within you. This is your redemption. This is the resurrection of the awareness of who you are and your divine essence. Be the divine One you truly are.

April 14, 2015

The world we see is determined by our perception. Our experiences are interpreted by our perception. And our perception is guided by our beliefs. Our perceptions and our beliefs go hand in hand. Remember the phrase, “What I believe I will see.” This statement is always true. It doesn’t mean what we believe and see is true, it just means we believe what we think we see is real. Perception is that powerful to our consciousness. The Course begins this section with this:

It is impossible not to believe what you see, but it is equally impossible to see what you do not believe. Perceptions are built up on the basis of experience, and experience leads to beliefs. It is not until beliefs are fixed that perceptions stabilize. In effect, then, what you believe you do see. ACIM T-11.VI.1.12-4

How do we choose to perceive ourselves? What do we really believe about ourselves? Do we believe the truth about who we are or do we believe we are the product of our past experiences? No experience and no perception can change who we really are, but we can only see ourselves through the perception of what we believe about ourselves.

Left to our egoic thought system, which is invested in separation, we see ourselves as lacking, a small individual cog in the wheel of a world we think controls us. We seem to be at its mercy, subject to attack and a victim if all its separate parts. However, when we turn our perception over to the Spirit within us, we tap into a bigger view of ourselves. Spirit guides us in the awareness that we are all One, that we are all whole and complete just the way we are. This vision works two ways. Once we see another whole and complete, we then see ourselves whole and complete. And once we see ourselves whole and complete, we see others whole and complete. Spirit guides our minds in transcending the perception of the world we think we see, seeing beyond its appearances to the truth about our true nature as we are created, whole and complete. This awareness, this transcendence, is the truth we are seeking, yet seeking outside ourselves when it is already within us, there to be seen if we will open our eyes. Our body’s eyes will never see this on their own, but our Spirit Vision will see this when we allow our minds to rise to its Sight. We allow our Vision to awaken and there it is!

We have all we need to rise to the awareness our divine nature. The Course tells us:

Do not underestimate the power of the devotion of your One Self, nor the power the god you worship has over you. For you place yourself at the altar of your god, whether it be the god you made or the God Who created you. That is why your slavery is as complete as your freedom, for you will obey only the god you accept. ACIM T-11.VI.5.1-3

It all comes down to the choices we make about what we believe about ourselves. Do we believe the god of sacrifice and suffering we made and crucify our awareness of who we really are, separating us from the Love of the One we are created by? Or do we believe the Spirit Vision within us showing us the truth of who we really are, resurrecting the awareness of who we really are and transcending the world we thought we were trapped in? The One does not require obedience, for our divine nature is natural. It releases us from the sacrifice of submission and rejoices with us in the gladness of freedom. What more could we possibly want? It is our choice. And the time to make that choice for the gladness of freedom is now.

April 7, 2015

We are whole, complete, and divine. This is our true nature. When we align our thoughts and perception with this true nature without exception, we are aligning our minds with the One Mind and true perception. In this state of being we allow all perception to be guided by our one true thought system, the One Mind. We find that all thoughts lead to joy, love, and peace. And we experience the divine nature of who we really are. No mistake we make can possibly change the reality of our true nature. No thought, no matter how real we believe it to be, can alter the truth of our divine nature. Our freedom and our happiness is in our allegiance to our true nature and our true Mind. Love, joy and happiness flow from the freedom of living in the awareness of who we really are.

We fall out of awareness of who we really are when we begin to limit our perception. Selective perception is the process of limiting our perception. Our egoic thought system is so involved with “protecting” us from our thoughts it dramatically limits the thoughts we bring to our awareness. Yet, many of the thoughts it allows to rise to our awareness are misperceptions and selective at that. Our egoic way of thinking allows only the thoughts we are used to from past experiences and lessons to rise to the surface of our awareness. This is our “thought dispatcher” we have been training all our life. However, we have a better dispatcher already within us in Spirit. This dispatcher is our Higher Holy Spirit Self, our true Identity, though we can think if as a holy friend to help guide us. The Course reminds us again and again to rely on Spirit to guide our thoughts. Spirit knows the exact right thing we need at each and every moment. Spirit will guider our perception as we allow It to. We have nothing to fear since nothing unreal can harm us because nothing unreal even exists except in our separated minds.

Every moment of every day we are reminded of our wholeness, our completeness and our divine nature. We need simply look to Spirit for guidance in all we think. Every encounter is a chance to see more clearly. Every experience is a chance to shift our perception and allow a more correct perception to enter our minds. This section ends with this lovely passage:

Every one you meet becomes a witness for the One Mind or for the egoic thought system, depending on what you perceive in them. Everyone convinces you of what you want to perceive, and of the reality of the state of mind you have chosen for your vigilance. Everything you perceive is a witness to the thought system you want to be true. Every One has the power to release you, if you choose to be free. You cannot accept false witness of them unless you have evoked false witnesses against them. If they speak not of Oneness to you, you spoke not of Oneness to them. You hear but your own voice, and if Oneness speaks through you, you will hear the One. ACIM T-11.V.18.1-7

Release your mind from the chains of the egoic thought system and separation and enter the freedom of completeness, wholeness and the divine nature that wells up within you. Be the reality of who you really are and dwell in the Realm of Heaven as you see each other dwelling there, too. The healed mind is the recognition of the Whole Mind we always are.

March 31, 2015

The egoic thought system, which we aligned our minds with as we chose to believe we are separate, allows our minds to experience a plethora of varied emotions through our perception. However, it minimizes any fear that comes to our awareness. It will allow us to feel shallow, inadequate, distant, limited, or anything else that keeps us distracted from the awareness of who we really are. It avoids any recognition about what may really be going on in our minds. From the Course:

Your recognition that whatever seems to separate you from the One is only fear, regardless of the form it takes and quite apart from how the egoic thought system wants you to experience it, is therefore the basic ego threat. Its dream of autonomy is shaken to its foundation by this awareness. For though you may countenance a false idea of independence, you will not accept the cost of fear if you recognize it. ACIM T-11.V.10.1-3

Once we recognize the cost of aligning our minds with the egoic thought system and fear we no longer want the trappings of the separation state of mind. We want to return to the awareness of our wholeness and completeness and our divine nature. Awareness of who we really are comes flooding into our consciousness as we allow the illusion of fear to drop away. Fear is really the last thing we want, for it is our nature to dwell in happiness.

Our salvation is in the recognition that fear is all that separates us from Oneness and the awareness of who we really are. Fear is the “dynamic” of the egoic thought system that keeps us from this awareness. It has no real power. It just appears to have power because we believe it does. As a result we essentially deny ourselves and thus become afraid of ourselves. In this mistaken way of thinking we simply don’t recognize ourselves in the illusion we perceive. We appear incomplete and lacking to ourselves for we aren’t seeing all of ourselves.

There is nothing real that isn’t dependent on all of reality. All that is real is interdependent. Nothing can appear whole until we look at all as interconnected and unified. The Couse tells us this:

The One is as dependent on you as you are on the One, because the One’s Autonomy encompasses yours, and is therefore incomplete without it. You can only establish your autonomy by identifying with the One, and fulfilling your function as it exists in truth. The egoic thought system believes that to accomplish its goal is happiness. But it is given you to know that the One’s function is yours, and happiness cannot be found apart from Your joint Will. Recognize only that the egoic thought system’s goal, which you have pursued so diligently, has merely brought you fear, and it becomes difficult to maintain that fear is happiness.                  ACIM T-11.V.12.1-5

What is real is One. It is interdependent and interconnected. No one part of reality can or does function without the Whole. Any idea that any part can be autonomous is merely mistaken. We may have convinced ourselves that we can operate autonomously in this world. The truth is autonomy separate from the whole is impossible. Our true function is our joint Will with all of Creation. Set aside the egoic thought system and its identification with separation and allow the Wholeness of Oneness to fill your being and align with the One Mind. This is the Realm of Heaven filled with the Love of Oneness. This is true happiness. This is who we all really are.

February 22, 2011

Do we have hindrances in our lives on our journey? We certainly seem to. They take many forms; seem large or small, high or low, deep or shallow, and impossible or easy. If we are honest, most of these hindrances seem large to us, for we cling to thee idea that miracles are not all the same. The Course is all about teaching us that miracles are all the same, there is no order of difficulty in miracles. See the very beginning of the text. We have many opportunities and ways to learn this. In fact, our whole life is about learning this one lesson.

Every moment of our life presents us with a choice. There choices take many forms, but in every choice is the choice to mover toward Oneness or to move toward separation. Our desire is for Oneness. It is the essence of who we really are. It cannot /be taken away from us or left behind. But we can look away from Oneness and think we are separate. It is an idea made up in our mind and believed. The act of believing this mistaken thought makes it seem real to, it gives the idea power.

All the hindrances we seem to have on our journey may seem different and of differing magnitude. But they are, in actuality, all very small, even tiny. We have made them what they seem to us by our belief that they are as we think we see them. And we think we lose something dealing with these hindrances. But it is impossible for us to lose anything real. Even the loss of time is meaningless for it is but an instant in eternity and meaningless to our Teacher. Since we believe in time, why do we waste it going nowhere when we can use it for the higher purpose of returning to the awareness of who we really are?

The road to Heaven’s gate, the awareness of who we really are, is not difficult. Nothing we undertake with our eyes, ears, and mind set on this certain purpose with high resolve and happy confidence, holding the hand of each One, and keeping step to the Song of Heaven is difficult to do. There is only one road we can take. It is the road to Heaven. But it is our choice which way we go; toward Heaven or away from it. It is hard to wander down the road that goes nowhere with no purpose. But it is easy to take the hand of Spirit and let Spirit guide us in the direction of Heaven and the awareness of our wholeness. Choose to take the high road, the easy road, whatever you may call it and join in the song of Heaven.

March 24, 2015

We are looking at Section V of Chapter 11, The “Dynamics” of the Ego. Yet the Course goes on to tell us, When we look at the ego, then, we are not considering dynamics but delusions. ACIM T-11.V.4.1. The ego has no substance, for it is an illusion. In working with the Course we have a tendency to make the ego a personality, a thing that does this and that to us. It may certainly appear that way. However, the ego is not an entity. It is an idea entirely of our own making. I like to refer to this idea as our egoic thought system. I am the one who has made up this way of thinking and believed that it is actually real. I also know that I can choose to change the way I think when it fails me. I think the idea of the egoic thought system is much less daunting than the idea of an ego. Many tend to blame the ego as an entity outside themselves. This method doesn’t really help me take responsibility for my mind’s state of being. We may be making errors in our perception, but we can’t harm our true identity no matter how mistaken our thought system is.

The egoic thought system is merely a thought system we have made up and believed real that walls or cages off a part of our mind to separate it from the One Mind. It’s an effort to make us unique from our Creator. What this idea ends up doing is limiting us in many, many, ways. We are created like our Creator; limitless, complete, and whole. And we remain limitless, complete, and whole no matter what thought system we may choose to align with. But our creative power allows us to block our awareness of our true nature and being by aligning with a thought system that is mistaken. Even though all the power of our true Self is coursing through us, we can’t see it when we choose to believe we are separate from that Oneness. The question to ask ourselves is “Who and what do I believe I am?” Looking within and examining our thoughts will reveal a great deal if we are willing to ask with an open mind and listen to Spirit’s guidance.

We are asked to look at every idea that comes into our mind. Examine it without prejudice. Do not judge any idea unworthy of bringing to the light of Spirit. The Course tells us:

Every idea has a purpose, and its purpose is always the natural outcome of what it is. Everything that stems from the egoic thought system is the natural outcome of its central belief, and the way to undo its results is merely to recognize that their source is not natural, being out of accord with your true nature. ACIM T-11.V.5.1-2

Our natural state is free. Our natural state flows freely from a deep knowing within us. Peace, Love, and Joy flow from this natural state of mind. It is effortless, because it is natural. Let the walls of your egoic thought system evaporate before your very mind as you soar free in the awareness of who you really are. The world we think we see transforms into the Realm of Heaven on earth as we allow ourselves to align our minds with the One Mind. Don’t be afraid to look at your thoughts and you beliefs, for there is nothing to fear. We are Love and nothing less.

March 17, 2015

We are often reluctant to look at ourselves. Perhaps we are especially reluctant to look at our thoughts. And when we do…..it’s not pretty. The Course teaches us that we must look at ourselves and our thoughts. It asks us to look at them honestly and without fear. It asks us to take a step back from our thoughts and observe them. We can also go a step deeper in this process and observe the thought system with which we are aligning our minds. We can do this without fear, for we have learned that nothing real can be threatened. There is no need to shrink from illusions for they cannot possibly be dangerous. We are ready to look closely at the egoic thought system because together we have the lamp that will dispel it. And, since we realize we don’t want it we must be ready to dispel it. As we take this step together we can look beyond this mistaken thought system to truth.

Healing is the removal of all that stands in the way of knowledge. Nothing stands in the way of knowledge except our thoughts of separation. So healing is of the mind and it comes from changing how we think, changing our thought system. This is not such an ominous task since the thought system we want is already ours and we are already a part of it; the One Mind. We simply change our allegiance from the egoic thought system we made to the Mind of the One in which we are created. The only way we can correct this mistake is to look at it directly without protecting it. There is nothing to fear, as the light we share gently dispels all that is not real.

We begin the process of undoing this confusion by dispelling darkness with the light we shine together. The Course instructs us:

Let us begin this lesson in “ego dynamics” by understanding that the term itself does not mean anything. It contains the very contradiction in terms that makes it meaningless. “Dynamics” implies the power to do something, and the whole separation fallacy lies in the belief that the ego has the power to do anything. The ego is fearful to you because you believe this. Yet the truth is very simple:

All power is of the One.

What is not of he One has no power to do anything.

ACIM T-11.V.3.1-7

The realization is that we have given the egoic thought system all that power it appears to have simply by believing in it. Last week we discussed the lesson that only we can deprive ourselves of anything. In this way we have deprived ourselves of our creative power and turned it over to the egoic thought system we made that is not even real.

Our joy is, however, that we can just as simply change our mind and align our mind with the One Mind, the Mind that creates us. We begin by realizing that we remain One with our Creator and with each other, all the Creator’s creations. We return to the awareness of who we really are. In this awareness our mind realigns itself with the One Mind. As light shines away darkness, so does the egoic thought system fade in the presence of Oneness. All that we are and all our creations are welcomed in Oneness and so we return to the awareness of the joy, peace and love that we truly are. We rejoice in our joining with all our sisters and brothers in this awareness. We find that we are already what we had been seeking. Now we are truly Heaven on earth. Look honestly at yourself and return to the awareness of what you had deprived yourself of. It never left you. Let it be so.

March 10, 2015

Our peace lies in its limitlessness. There is more than enough to go around. In fact there is no end to our peace. Our function is to share it with each other. Since we are all One, it is our function to share our peace with all. This may sound at first like a daunting, if not impossible, task, but nothing could be further from the truth. When we rest in the awareness of our true Identity, our true Self, it is easy and natural for we are in alignment with our One Mind. We have let go of the perception that we are something other than what we really are and bask in the knowledge that we are whole and complete, One with our Creator and all Creation, as we are created. But when we limit the peace we share, for whatever reason, we raise a block in our minds that blocks the full awareness of who we really are and the limitlessness of our peace. It’s a simple principle; when we perceive our peace as limited, we hold back in our willingness to share it. Once we embark on this thought system that believes peace is limited, we can’t see that we are all One and that we all share limitless peace because we try to divide up what cannot be divided.

Peace is real and thus cannot be divided up or separated into portions. This is the beginning of the egoic thought system. This is the origin of the mistaken idea we are separate from our Source and each other. The result is that in our minds we cut off our brothers and sisters from the divine light and peace that is ours. Would we really do this if we were thinking correctly? We would not do this if we realize that we darken only our own mind and block ourselves from the awareness of our own peace and light. Yet, as we bring another back into peace and light by sharing it, so do we return to the awareness of our divine light and peace. This is the law of the One for the protection of our wholeness and divine Identity. Our wholeness is always with us whether or not we are aware of it, unchangeable and unable to be damaged. No matter how far we have wandered on our journey of separation, our wholeness and divine nature are always with us, even when we have blocked them from our awareness.

The Course teaches us:

Only you can deprive yourself of anything. Do not oppose this realization, for it is truly the beginning of the dawn of light. Remember also that the denial of this simple fact takes many forms, and these you must learn to recognize and to oppose steadfastly, without exception. This is a crucial step in the reawakening. The beginning phases of this reversal are often quite painful, for as blame is withdrawn from without, there is a strong tendency to harbor it within. It is difficult at first to realize that this is exactly the same thing, for there is no distinction between within and without. ACIM T-11.IV.4.1-6

The responsibility of this mistake in perception is ours. No one else can be responsible no matter how it may appear, for our perception is ours and is perceived in our own mind we believe to be separate. In a like way, when we blame another for our deprivation, we are blaming ourselves, and we cannot blame ourselves without blaming them. It’s a vicious circle we get caught up in. Though we are responsible for our misperception, the wages of misperception are not death, they are simply the appearance of misery and loneliness in our world.

Our purpose then is to shift our perception, seeing ourselves and each other as we really are, whole and complete and divine as we are created. We accomplish this by sharing miracles with another. The miracle of sharing limitless light and peace with another brings the awareness that we also are that limitless light and peace that we share in Oneness and Unity. The blocks to our awareness of who we are begin to drop away and fade into nothingness. This is the journey without distance on which the Course takes us. Spirit is within us to guide us every step of the way. Ask and it is given you. Be patient. Keep your eyes on the Light within you. It is the same light you see in another. Join with them in Spirit and feel it shine away all misery and loneliness. Step into the Realm of Heaven on earth. This is your real Home.