May 25, 2021

Lesson 145 –

My mind holds only what I think with God.
Review of Lessons 129 and 130

We begin our review of these two thoughts framed in a recognition that we hold only those thoughts we think with God. These that we share with God are the only real thoughts we have. All other thoughts are misperceptions and need no longer occupy our minds. The best way to look at this is to relax and release our obsession with any thoughts we are having and rest in the peace that rises within us in this space. The two review lessons are as follows:

(129) Beyond this world there is a world I want.   W-pI.145.1:1
(130) It is impossible to see two worlds.   W-pI.145.2:1

These two lessons refer to the Course’s teachings about the two worlds and which one we choose to see. The world of illusion is what most of us are used to seeing. It is a world that appears to be full of good and evil, contradictions, attack, blame, and wrongdoing. It is a world seen through the lens of our judgement about our past. It seems to be a hard world that we may see as “out to get us.” And none of us see it the same. We even argue about anything and everything we see in this world and what itmeans. Most of the time we see it as unfair, especially to ourselves and those close to us.

There is another world the Course teaches about. This world is referred to as the real world. One might wonder where this “real world” is. It is a world perceived through the lens of a healed mind. It is a world seen through the eyes of holy vision having released the past and looked upon the world with new eyes and new Vision. It is a world perceived through the guidance of Spirit. This “real world” is still a perceived world, a temporal world, but a world perceived correctly. We see and understand this world with love and peace in our mind. It no longer causes us upset, but calls to us for the extension of love and compassion. We see differently when we see through the holy eyes of love. This is what we are shifting to when we practice the Workbook lesson that says  we can choose to see this differently.

It is true that we cannot see both these worlds at the same time. We choose to perceive one or the other. The contrast is too great to hold both visions at one time. It would be too insane and contradictory for us to handle. The question is, do we want the world we think we see? Is this what we really want? I know thus is not the world I want to see. I want to see a better world. I want to see  peace instead of this.

The Course often asks us to look beyond the appearance of things to the truth and reality beyond. It asks us to rise above the battleground of the egoic thought system to be able to see more clearly. This world beyond the one we think we see is the one we really want. It is a world seen through our spirit eyes – through Holy Vision. As we allow ourselves to look with healed vision, we see a new world, a real world, where there is no attack or doubt. There are no blocks to love and peace. There is a deep joy that wells up within us that buoys our spirits in the remembrance of who we really are. No more do we want for anything for we have all we need and all there is. Let go of any lack and limitation you may feel weighed down by. You now see you are whole, complete, and holy. This is your natural being. This is who you really are. And when you forget, remind yourself to look beyond the appearance of less to the sureness of the all beyond. This is home. This is the real world. This is Heaven on earth. Look beyond the appearance of the world you think you see to the real world beyond.

May 18, 2021

Lesson 138 –

Heaven is the decision I must make.

We always have a choice. Every choice we make affects our life in some way. The question is, “What information do we use to make our choices?” It is always wise to make choices that are informed. But are our choices well informed? Our information may be wise or it may be based on incorrect perceptions. And how do we tell the difference? In this lesson, the Course talks about Heaven as a choice. This choice is about the world we see now, not after our bodies die. The Course teaches that Heaven is the real world – the world we see when we look at the world with Holy Vision, free of egoic perception. Heaven is the correct perception of the world seen through forgiving eyes that see the reality of the abundant unconditional love that is the reality of our Identity. It is seen through the eyes of Oneness and Unity.

In this world Heaven is a choice, because here we believe there are alternatives to choose between. We think that all things have an opposite, and what we want we choose. If Heaven exists there must be hell as well, for contradiction is the way we make what we perceive, and what we think is real.   W-pI.138.1:1-3

Sometimes all the choices that appear to be available are overwhelming. There seems to be thousands of choices to choose from. We ask ourselves how we can make a choice when there are so many options. There seems to be so many opposites to choose from. How could there be so many opposites? It is helpful, when this confusion confronts us, to take a step away for a moment and take a deep breath or two. There are not so many real choices as it may seem. Once we step away, we can rest in the stillness of the moment and ask for guidance from Spirit. Spirit is our inner guide that is waiting for us to simply ask and let go of the chaos around our egoic thinking. The right choice, the choice that we really want, is Heaven. It is the choice that will bring us peace and joy. The choice is the acceptance of the recognition that Heaven is the only real choice and it is the choice we realty want.

In this insanely complicated world, Heaven appears to take the form of choice, rather than merely being what it is. Of all the choices you have tried to make this is the simplest, most definitive and prototype of all the rest, the one which settles all decisions. If you could decide the rest, this one remains unsolved. But when you solve this one, the others are resolved with it, for all decisions but conceal this one by taking different forms. Here is the final and the only choice in which is truth accepted or denied.   W-pI.138.6:1-5

We are ready, more than ready to set aside all other choices and consider the choice of Heaven. In making the choice for Heaven, all other problems are resolved. The choice for Heaven aligns our minds with Spirit which aligns with the One Mind of God. The realization that all other choices merely keep us rooted in a world of opposites and confusion, brings us to the realization that Heaven is the only choice that makes any sense and returns us to sanity and a sane world. The choice for Heaven returns us to our right mind and correct perception. The conscious choice of Heaven is as sure as is the ending of the fear of hell, when it is raised from its protective shield of unawareness, and is brought to light. We decide between the clearly seen and the unrecognized.

Make the choice for Heaven now. Don’t change your mind. Because, it is the only choice we ever want.

May 11, 2021

Lesson 131 –

No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.

We cannot fail to find truth if we seek truth. Have we succeeded? If not, what are we seeking? Perhaps what we are actively seeking is not truth and so we fail to find truth. Something to think about. Or, perhaps we are looking in all the wrong places. Perhaps we are looking outside ourselves. Nothing real is outside ourselves. Have we tried looking within? The Course tells us time and time again that what we seek is already within us. We already have it. We may be inadvertently searching for the impermanent when we really want the permanent. Even if we believe the impermanent to be permanent, it is not and will never be permanent. I think all of us really want permanence. We want the truth. We want what is eternal. We want what we already are but don’t realize it yet. What we want is nearer than we realize. We are still free to choose a goal that lies beyond the world and every worldly thought, and one that comes to us from an idea relinquished yet remembered, old yet new; an echo of a heritage forgotten, yet holding everything we really want.

No one remains in hell, for no one can abandon their Creator, nor affect their Creator’s perfect, timeless and unchanging Love. You will find Heaven. Everything you seek but this will fall away. Yet not because it has been taken from you. It will go because you do not want it. You will reach the goal you really want as certainly as the One created you in sinlessness.   W-pI.131.5:1-6

Why wait? What we seek is here today. Heaven remains our one alternative to this strange world we made; its shifting patterns and uncertain goals, its painful pleasures and its tragic joys. Heaven is waiting for us to accept its existence. It is always there in our mind waiting for us to remove the blocks to our awareness of it and allow its peace and joy to rise up in us. This is the Truth we seek. It is ours for the asking. It is waiting for nothing more than our acceptance and willingness. Look for that door, right in front of you. Spirit is ready to show it to us. Be ready.

Put out your hand, and see how easily the door swings open with your one intent to go beyond it. Angels light the way, so that all darkness vanishes, and you are standing in a light so bright and clear that you can understand all things you see. A tiny moment of surprise, perhaps, will make you pause before you realize the world you see before you in the light reflects the truth you knew, and did not quite forget in wandering away in dreams.   W-pI.131.13:1-3

We cannot fail. This is our choice which has been offered us by the One. This is the choice made in light, revealed by Spirit and offering us Truth. Everything we need and want is here. It reveals our holiness, our completeness, our wholeness. We want for nothing here in Heaven, our home on earth. Ask and trust. We are worthy. All this is our inheritance for it is created with us and can never be taken away. Relax. Take a step of faith into the truth you seek. It is wholly yours shared in Oneness with the Creator and all Creation. Say yes, open the door and walk through it into the light of truth.

May 4, 2021

Lesson 124 –

Let me remember I am one with God.

Our journey in this world is to remember who we really are and live from that knowledge. Remembering we are One with God, Source, Creator or Oneness, however we each choose to label It, brings a fresh perspective to our mind. Doing so brings a certain calmness to our being. It allows us to rest and allow the love, peace, and joy of Oneness to rise in us. As we allow this awakening, the appearance of the world around us transforms. It may still be unchanged, yet our perception of it is transformed. We look upon it with compassion and love, and in that light, it is somehow different. It is we who have changed. We can give thanks for our Identity in Oneness. We are home, safe, protection guaranteed in all we do, power and strength available to us in our journey. Everything we touch takes on a shining light that blesses and heals. We go our way rejoicing, with the thought that Oneness goes everywhere with us.

How holy are our minds! And everything we see reflects the holiness within the mind at one with God and with itself. How easily do errors disappear, and death give place to everlasting life. Our shining footprints point the way to truth, for God is our Companion as we walk the world a little while. And those who come to follow us will recognize the way because the light we carry stays behind, yet still remains with us as we walk on.   W-pI.124.2:1-5

Our acceptance of Oneness – the acceptance of who we really are – is our gift to all. The light within us shines brightly to all who are seeking the light within themselves. Our light reflects their inner light so they can see the truth of their own holiness. We also reflect the peace, love, and joy within them, so it is revealed to them when they are ready to see. And the limitless love in which we are created smiles on us and offers us the happiness we give. As we allow our acceptance of being One with our Creator to rise within our mind, we see our awareness of ourselves transformed. We begin to see our wholeness. We begin to see our completeness. We begin to see our limitlessness. We begin to see our holiness. As we see all this within ourselves, we also begin to see the same in each other, recognizing that we are all One with our Creator; that we are all in Oneness.

No miracle can ever be denied to those who know that they are one with God. No thought of theirs but has the power to heal all forms of suffering in anyone, in times gone by and times as yet to come, as easily as in the ones who walk beside them now. Their thoughts are timeless, and apart from distance as apart from time.   W-pI.124.6:1-3

We join in this awareness as we say that we are one with our Creator. In these words we say as well that we are safe and healed; that we can make safe and heal. We have accepted, and we now give. Let the awareness of this peace rise in you today. It brings comfort and understanding. It transforms the appearance of the world. We begin to see the holiness of each other and recognize we are truly joined in Oneness. Remembering our Oneness we find our Home here in Heaven on earth. And whenever this fades, remind ourselves that we are indeed One with God, for Oneness is reality.

April 27, 2021

Lesson 117 –

Review of Lessons 103 and 104

These review lessons center around love ad happiness. Love and happiness are the same, they are interchangeable. When our mind is aligned with real love and peace, we are happy. It doesn’t matter what’We are in our natural element. We are connected with our Creator and each other – in fact all Creation. We are aware of reality and Oneness as our Identity. We have given up blaming and taken responsibility for our thoughts, recognizing which thought system in which they are generated.

(103) Oneness, being Love, is also happiness.

Let me remember love is happiness, and nothing else brings joy. And so I choose to entertain no substitutes for love.   W-pI.117.1:1-3

All we need do is remember. Who and what we are is already within us. Whenever we lose touch with peace and love and happiness, we can simply remember to look within to the truth about who we are. Our being is held in safety by Spirit. Our being cannot be harmed or broken, for we are holy. We are created holy and thus indestructible. Our egpic thought system can place, in our mind, blocks to the awareness of our holiness, but that is as far as it can go. We are forever as we are created and can return to the awareness of that holiness whenever we choose to release our attachment to being less than. It’s a simple change in thought. We always have another choice and can choose again when happiness eludes us.

(104) I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

Love is my heritage, and with it joy. These are the gifts my Creator gave to me. I would accept all that is mine in truth.   W-pI.117.2:1-4

Love, Peace and Joy are our heritage. They are ours. Happiness is ours for the accepting. This may go against everything we’ve been taught before. But, it’s time to awaken from our dream of separation. The dream of separation does not serve us. It serves a made up purpose that has no purpose at all! It serves only to block our awareness of the reality of who we really are. Allow these ideas to settle in your mind. Allow them to dissolve the blocks to the awareness of your true Self in Love, Peace, and Joy. We are Holy. We are created Holy. We are One in Oneness. Let go of the misery that’s been our norm for so long and step into Love. Step into Joy. Step into Peace. Oneness is where we belong and is our Home. Happiness is the condition of Oneness. Be that Oneness and find yourself in the happiness of Heaven on earth. This is where we belong.

April 20, 2021

Lesson 110 –

I am as God created me.

Are we ready to believe that “we are as God created us” is true? This is the Course summed up in one brief sentence. When we accept this idea wholly as truth, nothing else is left. When we accept this idea we find ourselves in the happiest dream possible. The world is seen differently through the eyes of Holy Vision. The real world has made its transformation. We fully understand what we see. We are filled with love and peace and rest in Oneness. There is no more strife in us, no more doubt. We are in the Holy Instant, the collapse of time.

Today’s idea is therefore all you need to let complete correction heal your mind, and give you perfect vision that will heal all the mistakes that any mind has made at any time or place. It is enough to heal the past and make the future free. It is enough to let the present be accepted as it is. It is enough to let time be the means for all the world to learn escape from time, and every change that time appears to bring in passing by.   W-pI.110.2:1-4

As we remain as the One created us, appearances cannot replace truth, health cannot turn to sickness, nor can death be substituted for life, or fear for love. None of this occurred. Redemption lights the world, freeing us from the past to which we were so attached. This one thought undoes and frees us from all the past. The present quietly extends into a timeless future. There has been no separation of our mind from Oneness, no split between our mind and other minds. We are simply unified as we have always been.

The healing power of today’s idea is limitless. It is the birthplace of all miracles, the great restorer of the truth to the awareness of the world. Practice today’s idea with gratitude. 4 This is the truth that comes to set you free. This is the truth that the One has promised you. This is the Word in which all sorrow ends.  W-pI.110.5:1-6

This is the Truth that sets us free from the illusion we made. It sets us free from all limitation. It sets us free from all brokenness, from all inadequateness. The awareness of our wholeness, our completeness, our worthiness fills our mind with love, joy, and peace. This is who we really are. We realize our connectedness with the One and all Creation. Oneness returns as our identity. Open your heart. Open your mind. All that is holy and good is there within all of us waiting to be remembered. Let this Oneness be so for you and for me; for all.

April 13, 2021

Lesson 103 –

God, being Love, is also happiness.

What do we feel right now? Happiness? Love? Joy? Perhaps we’re not quite there right now. Maybe we’re feeling fear. Maybe we’re feeling limited, broken, or inadequate – maybe even lost. These feelings are common, particularly for those who have denied their natural state of being. When the world tells us we are unhappy and seems to throw even more unhappiness at us, we feel the burden. And every circumstance we find ourselves in seems to emphasize some aspect of misery. Under these circumstances we most certainly feel less than happy even when we find some little glimmer of happiness peeking out behind some corner we can’t quite see. Perhaps we can stop a moment and have another look.

Happiness is an attribute of love. It cannot be apart from it. Nor can it be experienced where love is not. Love has no limits, being everywhere. And therefore joy is everywhere as well. Yet can the mind deny that this is so, believing there are gaps in love where sin can enter, bringing pain instead of joy. This strange belief would limit happiness by redefining love as limited, and introducing opposition in what has no limit and no opposite.   W-pI.103.1:1-7

If we are One with God as the Course teaches, that tells us something about our true nature. Just entertain the thought that God is Love and happiness for a moment. Just holding that idea in our mind may help us see ourselves a bit differently. We have become so accustomed to considering ourselves limited and inadequate – yes, sinful – that we have trouble seeing ourselves any better. The truth is we are as holy as God for we are One with God. How could we be anything less than holy when we are One with God. Perhaps it is time we consider a change in how we perceive ourselves and each other. Perhaps it’s time to consider a correction to our perception of ourselves.

Allow this one correction to be placed within your mind each waking hour today. 2 Then welcome all the happiness it brings as truth replaces fear, and joy becomes what you expect to take the place of pain. 3 God, being Love, it will be given you. 4 Bolster this expectation frequently throughout the day, and quiet all your fears with this assurance,   kind and wholly true:  W-pI.103.3:1-4

This is not a daunting task. We do not have to do this alone. We have all we need within us to make this shift. But it’s even easier than that because Spirit within us will do the heavy lifting. Spirit asks us to be just a little willing to allow this transformation to begin. Just realize we are One with God, so we are Love, as God is. Therefore, we are happiness just as God is happiness. This transformation is simply a return to our own awareness of who we really are. God never saw us any other way, even though we have been taught and believed otherwise. Today, right now, let’s take that step and make the correction in our thought that God is not love or happiness. Be \open to the correction. A shift will come gently flowing and rising up within us and a seemingly new world will appear around us. I think we’re ready, so let go and let it be so.

April 6, 2021

Lesson 96 –

Salvation comes from my one Self.

Looking at the term “one Self,” what does that mean? It seems to say that we are each the source of our salvation. That seems to be a daunting statement that places a great responsibility on our shoulders. I think it has a different meaning, one that indicates a freer less burdensome responsibility. The term Self indicates the holy by its capitalization. Our one Self is all of us as One, no separation. It also includes Source. I tend to like and use the term Oneness. The Course teaches us we are all One, impossible to pull apart or separate. When we realize our unity we are all powerful and have no need to fear as there is nothing to fear. All that is real is holy and loving. Are we willing to accept this idea?

The fact that truth and illusion can not be reconciled, no matter how you try, what means you use and where you see the problem, must be accepted if you would be saved. Until you have accepted this, you will attempt an endless list of goals you cannot reach; a senseless series of expenditures of time and effort, hopefulness and doubt, each one as futile as the one before, and failing as the next one surely will.   W-pI.96.2:1-2

Realigning our mind with who we really are is where we begin our transformation. Once we begin to accept our connectedness we begin to see ourselves differently. Our eyes are opened a step at a time guided by Spirit’s wisdom in knowing what we can handle at any given time. The problems we see in the world and in our physical life have a deeper meaning than that which appears to us and so has a deeper solution. Relying on our egoic thought system for any solution does not address the root problem at all, only the symptoms. We need to allow Spirit to guide us to our higher Self to see more clearly in any and all situations.

Spirit makes use of mind as means to find its Self expression. And the mind which serves the spirit is at peace and filled with joy. Its power comes from spirit, and it is fulfilling happily its function here. Yet mind can also see itself divorced from spirit, and perceive itself within a body it confuses with itself. Without its function then it has no peace, and happiness is alien to its thoughts.   W-pI.96.4:1-5

We ultimately cannot fail to return to the awareness of who we really are. We are programmed for success. Only the denial of our holiness and our real Self can get in the way and can do no more than block our awareness of Self. We are holy. We are complete. We have all we ever need if we will allow our higher holy Self to come forward in our mind. Be just a little willing to accept Spirit’s guidance in opening a whole new transformational perception of what we see. This opening of our vision is salvation. It is the miracle we are seeking. It is our journey home.

Your Self knows that you cannot fail today. Perhaps your mind remains uncertain yet a little while. Be not dismayed by this. The joy your Self experiences It will save for you, and it will yet be yours in full awareness. Every time you spend five minutes of the hour seeking the One Who joins your mind and Self, you offer Them another treasure to be kept for you.   W-pI.96.11:1-5

When you feel frantic or disturbed, stop a moment. Rest your mind. Allow yourself to request Spirit’s guidance. This is Spirit’s purpose – to help us realign our mind with our One Self – Oneness. This is where the holy and the world intersect. In this moment is the holy instant present. In this instant all is well, all is provided, no need is unfilled. This is salvation where it can be realized – in the present moment, now. Be in the now. It reveals great power and peace.

March 30, 2021

Lesson 89 –

Review lessons 77 & 78

(77) I am entitled to miracles.

We are holy by default – actually by our creation. Perhaps it’s time to reset our minds to their “default” settings. When our computers or our apps get muddy because we have made so many custom settings it may be time to wipe the slate clean and start all over with the “default” settings. Our default settings are holiness, completeness, and wholeness. Inner peace and love come from our alignment with these genuine characteristics of our true natural being. When we stray into egoic thinking, we tend to align with our grievances about life disconnected from Oneness.  We can exchange our alignment with these grievances by choosing the miracle of a change in alignment – a change in thinking – to something different. The Course gives us this way of affirming this change.

I am entitled to miracles because I am under no laws but Oneness’. Oneness’ laws release me from all grievances, and replace them with miracles. And I would accept the miracles in place of the grievances, which are but illusions that hide the miracles beyond. Now I would accept only what the laws of Oneness entitle me to have, that I may use it on behalf of the function Oneness has given me.   W-pI.89.1:2-5

Miracles are shifts in thinking to thoughts more in alignment with Oneness and holiness. How to make this shift? Look to Spirit for guidance. Be just a little willing to be guided in more correct thinking. Once we open our minds to a little willingness, we will find this alignment much easier than we thought. We will also find a sense of deep peace and love as we allow ourselves to return to our natural way of thinking.

(78) Let miracles replace all grievances.

Once we begin to believe we are entitled to miracles, we have opened the door to their presence in our life. We needn’t make great effort to make thus shift. We simply need to let down our resistance to good and happiness in our lives. The miracles have always been available to us except that we denied their availability by blocking them from our awareness. Spirit’s will for us is united with our own true higher will in being peace and love, reflecting that in our lives. Again, the Course gives us instruction on actually making thus shift.

By this idea do I unite my will with the Holy Spirit’s, and perceive them as one. By this idea do I accept my release from hell. By this idea do I express my willingness to have all my illusions be replaced with truth, according to Oneness’ plan for my salvation. I would make no exceptions and no substitutes. I want all of Heaven and only Heaven, as Oneness wills me to have.   W-pI.89.3:2-6

Relax any resistance for a moment and allow Spirit to speak to you, guiding your thoughts to acceptance of this idea and miracles. This mindset, no matter what the condition of the world, brings a new perspective to our minds. We feel peace in our hearts and minds. And we feel the warmth of love flowing around and through us. It is a love that cannot be contained and is thus shared. Let miracles take the place of grievances. The change will be miraculous as we begin to see beyond the appearance of the world around us to the holiness beyond that cannot be undone.

March 23, 2021

Lesson 82 –

Review Lessons 63& 64

The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.                     W-pI.82.1:1 (63)

My forgiveness is the means by which the light of the world finds expression through me. My forgiveness is the means by which I become aware of the light of the world in me. My forgiveness is the means by which the world is healed, together with myself. Let me, then, forgive the world, that it may be healed along with me.   W-pI.82.1:2-5

We are the light of the world. The Course has told us this. For this to return to our awareness, we are asked to forgive. We are asked to allow an attitude of forgiveness to be our mindset. Forgiveness is a change, a shift, in how we see ourselves and everything in Creation. Forgiveness is to look beyond our egoic perception of separateness to the vision Spirit reveals of our innocence, or holiness, and our wholeness – our true nature as we are created. This is the way all that is real about Creation is healed, expressed, and brought to our awareness. In the light of Truth we are aware of our Oneness.

Let me not forget my function.   W-pI.82.3:1 (64)

I would not forget my function, because I would remember my Self. I cannot fulfill my function if I forget it. And unless I fulfill my function, I will not experience the joy that God intends for me.   W-pI.82.3:2-4

u

 Our function in this world is to allow all this awareness to be in our consciousness so we may exhibit this holy vision and share it with all the world, not so much in words, but in our actions, thoughts, and attitudes. The only way love and peace are hidden from us is by our denial of our function and forgiveness. As we let go of all the mistaken ideas we have been attached to over our lifetime, we open the ability of the light we are to shine with a brilliance we have only imagined until we choose to be forgiveness and the channel that dissolves the barriers blocking the light that shines within each and every one of us. Choose forgiveness and be that light right now.