September 25, 2012

Do we think darkness exists? We can only answer that question for ourselves. But the Course tells us darkness is an illusion. Darkness doesn’t exist. Escaping from it is simply realizing that darkness doesn’t exist. Perhaps we think to ourselves, “Easier said than done.” This is not something we need do alone. We have all the resources of Spirit at our disposal if we are willing to recognize them. God has given us everything. It is ours because we are created One with God. We are extensions of God, not separate creations. We begin the path of recognizing this and opening our minds to the awareness of our connection with God and Spirit.

We recognized earlier that we are Spirit. This is the essence of our being. The road to this awareness begins by recognizing that the darkness we perceive is basically fear. All that is not real is basically fear. Fear forms in our mind when we forget we are experiencing love. It is amazing that the simple process of forgetting we are the essence of love can blot out the awareness of that fact. But when we turn our perception away from who we really are, we blot it out with the fear we feel because we don’t recognize who we are at that moment. So we begin to make something up, that we are a separate being. And so we look for a purpose.

Darkness is merely a lack of light. We all know that a dark room is transformed by bringing light into that room. Immediately the darkness fades away. The same is true of the awareness of our divinity, our spirit essence. The moment we turn and recognize the Divinity we really are, all other thoughts of who or what we think we are fade away in the light of Spirit and Love. The abundance that is ours through our creation, our Oneness with God, is limitless. We always have whatever we need in any situation to do what we need to do and extend the miracle we need to extend. Every miracle is guided by Spirit. We are never alone in doing miracles. Miracles come from Love and we are Love. The awareness of Love at the core of all we see, experience, and do is our connection to the awareness of who we really are.

Entering into this awareness of our divinity and love is the mindset where we are in communication with God. In this state of communication we flow with grace through all we are involved in. We may not flow so gracefully at first, but as we let Spirit guide us and move and think in this world from an awareness of Love, we will feel the arms of Spirit lift our minds to a new perception and understanding. We will begin to see and perceive with the eyes of Spirit. We will hear the Voice for God speaking to us reminding us of who we really are and extending the abundance of Love through us. Let go as you are willing and be led to that next step. You will be blessed with the peace, love, and joy that is already yours.

September 18, 2012

The power to work miracles belongs to each and every one of us. There is no question about this ability. But we do need to be ready and willing to work miracles. Spirit will provide the opportunities, but we must be willing to step up and do our part. We may be unsure at first and lack the conviction that we are able. Doing miracles will bring about the conviction that comes from accomplishment and practice. The ability is our potential. The achievement is its expression. And the Atonement, which is our natural profession, is our purpose. This is what our journey is all about, returning to the awareness of who we really are.

Performing miracles may sound daunting, but it’s really not. We have grown to believe that miracles are huge magical feats that defy all we know. We start by recognizing that we are one of God’s creations. It’s such a simple start. God’s creations are wholly lovable and wholly loving, so this is how we must begin t think of ourselves in our hearts because that is who and what we are. Just being willing to entertain this though brings us so far on our journey. This shift in our idea about who we are is forgiveness. As we realize we are Spirit we extend that same idea (forgiveness) to others in return. We are releasing ourselves and each other from the prisons of our thoughts and beliefs. Miracles are the way minds that serve Spirit unite with each other and all creation. We begin to see that we are all One in the realm of God.

As we place ourselves in the hands of Spirit, ever listening for Spirit’s guidance in all we do, we will find we need not spend needless effort to work miracles for we are in constant communication with Spirit. We don’t need to worry about results or whether we’ve done it right, for we are not alone in our guided actions. We may or may not see any results immediately or over time. Spirit directs the miracles we do and orchestrates their perfect outcome. We are released from all the worry about “doing” and results. We just do and release the outcome. We are blessed with spirit, for that is who we are.

It is our responsibility to let our perception change as Spirit guides it. We live in a world of perception for the time being on this journey. As we allow Spirit to change our perception step by step we awaken to the truth about who we really are. Our experience alters realizing more and more peace, love, and joy no matter what situation we are in at any given moment. We learn that we are love, we are experiencing love, and we are extending love to ourselves and to each other. Here in this mind-set of miracle mindedness we find the Heaven we have so sought after. And we find we have always been there and not realized we were where we were journeying to. Heaven on earth is right here in this true state of mind. Let it be so.

September 11, 2012

Atonement is an awareness that all minds are one with the One Mind, the Mind of God. This is our natural state of mind. Our journey in this world of perceived separation is a journey in perception back to the awareness of who we really are, an inseparable element of the Whole. Our Creator has provided us with all the assistance we need to make this journey easier if we are willing to let ourselves be guided in correcting the errors in perception we have made along our way. Our judgment and decision making has been clouded by our perception mistakes and those mistakes have led to more mistakes in our perception. The mistakes are merely perceptive ones and therefore have no substance. But they do keep us from being aware of our divinity and the Truth about who we really are.

We have been given a guide to lead us back to the awareness of who we really are. We have also been given the choice as to whether or not we listen to and accept the guidance of this guide. The guide appears in many forms. It is the narrator, seen as Jesus by Helen, the scribe of the Course. It is the Holy Spirit, the Voice for God, the Comforter, the eyes of Spirit or Vision. It is also seen in each other as the Christ within or the Sonship. At any point in our journey all these forms of this guide are with us, presenting us with choices, waiting for us to ask for direction in anything we think or do.

Miracles bring about and right us on our journey to Atonement and the awareness of who we really are. Miracles are directed by our guide. The opportunities are presented to us and when we are willing we act on them. We may make mistakes in even this along the way. But our guide is with us to filter out the mistakes we make, as we try. In this way these miracles bring the highest benefit to any one or more of us. We may or may not see the effect in the world of any particular miracle we perform, but we will be changed by it. We do the miracle to ourselves and our guide. Its effect in others is divinely guided by Spirit. We need not fear that we may make an error if we release it to our guide.

Though we have forgotten our True Identity for this short while, we have never left it. We have only lost our awareness of it. We are relearning to connect with Spirit. The Course tells us to remember the following:

Spirit is in a state of grace forever.                   

Our reality is only Spirit.                   

Therefore we are in a state of grace forever.

Remembering this in all we do will make obvious the right choice, making it inevitable. In recognizing this Truth we release each other and thus ourselves from all the limitations we have placed on each other in our self perceived world. Let the transformation come about in your mind and Heave ad earth will no longer appear separate. We will perceive and see Heaven on earth as we allow it to be so.

September 4, 2012

As we finish discussing the Principles of Miracles we move on to learning how to open to them in our daily lives. Miracles shift our perception. Miracles happen at the level of the separated mind which thinks it is separate from the Mind of God. Because the separated mind thinks it is separate from the Mind of God, it is not aware of direct communication between God and God’s Creation, us. Miracles help shift our perception to raise our level of awareness and open us to more direct and open communication with God through the Voice for God, Spirit.

This section of the Course helps us understand the difference between horizontal communication with each other and vertical communication with God. Horizontal communication is between us and our brothers and sisters. Miracles help raise the quality of that communication with each other by raising our awareness of who we really are. What results, if we are willing, is the expression and extension of love between us in this temporal world of form. Revelation induces temporary direct communication between God and God’s Creation, us. This is vertical communication, communication between a state of Oneness and a state of separation. Miracles induce a state of mind that enables vertical communication. We may call these communications collapses of time or holy instants. They shift us temporarily into a state of bliss where we have been immersed in the awareness of who we really are.

Since we are at the beginning of the Course, it speaks to us as ones who are only aware of their identity as bodies or the separate identities we made up. When we go back and read these early sections again they have deeper meaning for us now. Our willingness to see and perceive differently has grown. We are open to new understanding. And we continue to expand our awareness of who we really are. We make this journey together. Each of us is in exactly the right place to take the next step or make the next leap. What we do is a reflection of what we believe about ourselves. Let’s join together and take that next step as One.