September 29, 2020

Lesson 274 –

Today belongs to love. Let me not fear.

I would venture to say that we all want our day to be filled with love and peace, the kind of love and peace that allows us to rest and just be. There is nothing needy or cloying or demanding about this attitude. It allows our mind to be still. It recognizes that we are whole and complete. It holds precious the knowledge that we have all we need within us. Isn’t this what we really seek? We keep looking outwardly to the world for this guidance, but it can only be found within us, holy and forever present. This lesson offers us this simple instruction:

A special blessing comes to us today, from the One Who is our Source. Give this day to Oneness, and there will be no fear today, because the day is given unto love.   W-pII.274.2:1-2

This special blessing is ours for eternity, in any situation and wherever we are. The world around us may seem to be in chaos and we may feel buffeted by its chaos. But, we can make another choice even when it seems there is no other. We must be willing, just a little, for this blessing of love and peace is oh so powerful. It raises our mind above the battleground of thoughts disconnected from Love and Oneness to the transcending level of love and peace of mind. We will still be in the midst of the chaotic world, but we will perceive it differently. We will understand that the chaos of the world does not disturb our peace of mind. Only our attachment to the world and separation blocks our own awareness of the peace and love within us. We may choose at any moment we so desire to change our mind and align with the blessing of infinite love and peace Oneness offers us always. When we decide to allow a different perspective to come to our mind, this prayer is offered by this lesson:

Source [Creator], today I would let all things be as You created them, and give Your Holy Child [Me] the honor due their sinlessness; the love of one to another and their Friend. Through this I am redeemed. Through this as well the truth will enter where illusions were, light will replace all darkness, and Your One Holy Child will know they are as You created them.   W-pII.274.1:1-3

As the light of understanding quells all darkness, so does love cast out all fear. Fear cannot exist in the presence of love just as darkness cannot exist in the light. We are beings of light and love. Peace is our natural state of mind. The Course teaches that we are the light of the world. The light of love and peace shine from our being. We simply need to recognize this infinite and divine light. Pure love and peace radiate from that light within us in an infinite supply. This is who we really are, and this is our true home. Receive this blessing of love and peace, for it is already ours.

September 22, 2020

Lesson 267 –

My heart is beating in the peace of God.

The question for this section of lessons addresses, “What is the body?” The Course teaches us that the body is not real, an illusion made to reinforce our belief in separation. Yet, the body can have a holy purpose. It can be a learning device that helps us realize we are not separate at all. Learning to perceive the body correctly helps us perceive the world correctly, too. We can view the world around us and our body through its holy purpose rather than its separation purpose. When we choose to see with holy eyes rather than separation eyes, we see holiness and holy purpose.

Surrounding me is all the life that Source created in Source’s Love. It calls to me in every heartbeat and in every breath; in every action and in every thought. Peace fills my heart, and floods my body with the purpose of forgiveness. Now my mind is healed, and all I need to save the world is given me. Each heartbeat brings me peace; each breath infuses me with strength. I am a messenger of Source, directed by Source’s Voice, sustained by Source in love, and held forever quiet and at peace within Source’s loving Arms. Each heartbeat calls Source’s Name, and every one is answered by Source’s Voice, assuring me I am at home in Source.   W-pII.267.1:1-7

Sometimes we may feel trapped in this world. It may appear that we are at its mercy, a victim of all its circumstances. Connecting with our higher inner Spirit, some call our higher holy Spirit, allow us to see the world and its circumstances beyond their appearances. We always have a choice whether or not to see differently. A fresh look guided by Spirit can often make a big difference in our state of mind. At this time, the world may appear very challenging. Yet, a new understanding, a new interpretation, may help us cope with these challenges. Looking through the eyes of Source will give us the understanding we need or the patience and strength we need to cope. The presence of love and peace within us rises to our hearts and minds as we allow our Oneness to enfold our thinking. This lesson offers this prayer to help us focus:

Let me attend Your Answer, not my own. Source, my heart is beating in the peace the Heart of Love created. It is there and only there that I can be at home.   W-pII.267.2:1-3

Let your heart and mind return home to its awareness in Oneness where all is One. Peace and Love are found here. This is our true home in Heaven while in the world. It is available now just for our willingness to step into the awareness of who we really are. We are One with Source. We are Source. We can stop fighting the world and ourselves and rest in our Source in peace and love. May our beating heart remind us of our holiness and the awareness of who we really are. Let it be so.

September 15, 2020

Lesson 260 –

Let me remember God created me.

Our task in this world and on this journey is to rediscover who w really are. We are to rediscover our holiness. We are to rediscover our true Identity. We are to rediscover our Source and what that Source really is. The knowledge of all this is within us, for it has never left us. All we have done or could possibly do is deny this truth – the truth of our holiness. This denial is not damaging to our Identity. This denial has only the power to block our awareness of our holiness. Our denial is reversed simply by choosing not to deny our true Identity any longer. We may succeed at reversing our denial at times and fail at other times. Our Source does not think less of us at any time for It knows who we really are and that we are still and always One with Source and therefore whole, complete, and holy. It is a matter of remembering.

Now is our Source remembered, and Therein we find our true Identity at last. Holy indeed are we, because our Source can know no sin. And we who are Source’s Children are like each other, and alike to Source.   W-pII.260.2:1-3

We have spent a lifetime practicing and learning the illusion of separation. It is reinforced in our minds time and time again as we move in this world. We aren’t even aware that we are learning to believe ideas that are not real or true. Our egoic thought system has gradually been trained and reinforced to believe in this illusion we call our “identity.” We have participated in its creation and have thus made it seem very real and true. Yet, in this process, we have denied the presence of real love, peace, and joy within and around us. So, we seek outside ourselves for that inside us which we have blocked from our minds.  The journey back to the awareness of who we really are is a journey in our mind and this world. And this world is our learning tool. Every encounter and experience in this world can either reinforce our belief in our denial or be an opportunity to release a mistaken belief and rediscover the truth about who we really are. This lesson suggests this prayer to help us reconnect with the awareness of who we really are.

Source, I did not make myself, although in my insanity I thought I did. Yet, as Your Thought, I have not left my Source, remaining part of Who created me. Your Child, my Source, calls on You today. Let me remember You created me. Let me remember my Identity. And let my sinlessness arise again before Christ’s vision, through which I would look upon all others and myself today.   W-pII.260.1:1-5

This shift in the awareness of who we really are begins with a willingness to be open to the revealing of our true nature. The holiness within us has not forgotten that we are holy. It has simply waited for our mind to give it an opportunity to reveal it to us. Our holiness will not force itself upon us, for that would result in extreme insanity. So it waits for us to open our mind enough to allow it to rise in our awareness. There is no need to be forceful or violent in this process. Peace, love, and joy wait for our willingness to allow them to rise from within us. In this way do we reawaken to the awareness of who we really are. We return to the knowledge that we are still One with our Source and each other as we flow into the awareness that we are Oneness.

September 8, 2020

Lesson 256 –

My Self is ruler of the universe.

This lesson is in a section of the Workbook for Students titled “What Is Sin?” One might ask what sin has to do with being ruler of the universe. Sin is nothing more than a mistaken idea or belief. Belief in sin is an illusion that blocks our mind from the awareness of our holiness – the awareness of who we really are. Sin can do no harm in the real world, for sin is not real. However, it can do harm to our peace of mind while we believe it. The Course puts it this way:

The way to Oneness is through forgiveness here. There is no other way. If sin had not been cherished by the mind, what need would there have been to find the way to where you are? Who would still be uncertain? Who could be unsure of who they are? And who would yet remain asleep, in heavy clouds of doubt about the holiness of those whom Oneness created sinless? Here we can but dream. But we can dream we have forgiven those in whom all sin remains impossible, and it is this we choose to dream today. Oneness is our goal; forgiveness is the means by which our minds return to Oneness at last.   W-pII.256.1:1-9

The return to the awareness of our Oneness with all Creation is our purpose. The world is our classroom and our learning device to realize our return. We can’t harm our real Self, but we all really want to step into the awareness of our real Self and the world that awareness brings to our holy sight and mind. As we begin to forgive ourselves and others, we begin to see the world differently. We recognize the hurt we and others feel due to our belief in sin and pain. And thus see beyond pain to the holiness, peace and love that has always been within us.

In this way is our true Self ruler of the universe. Ruler of the universe does not mean controlling others, but controlling our awareness of who we really are and thus how we see the world. Is it really this simple? Yes, but our desire to continue to believe we are “sinful” has the power to block our awareness of what is and always has been real. In the story of the Garden of Eden, eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil – the tree of illusion or duality – changed and blocked our awareness of who we really are. All attempts to rule or control the universe from that perspective are doomed to failure. We are trying to rule with lies. I think we all know how that turns out. The joy of this method is that no one need change anything except their own perception. I am responsible for my mind’s alignment and you are responsible for your mind’s alignment. The result is peace of mind. So, here is the prayer the Course gives us to help us see the way:

And so, our Creator, would we come to You in Your appointed way. We have no goal except to hear Your Voice, and find the way Your sacred Word has pointed out to us   W-pII.256.2:1-2

Even in this world of chaos, we can stand with our mind firmly planted in Heaven surrounded and filled with peace and love. It  really is our choice. We need only to let go of our belief in and attachment to the illusion of sin. We then realize our true role as ruler of the universe.

September 1, 2020

Lesson 246 –

To love my Creator is to love the One Child.

This group of lessons addresses the question, “What is the world?” The Course has taught us that the world is an illusion – it is not real. Yet, the Course also teaches that the world, though an illusion, has a purpose on our spiritual journey. The world is where we are presented with situations designed to teach us lessons. These lessons include learning to recognize who we really are, who those we journey with really are, that we are all One, and that we are complete, holy, whole and loved. We are to return to the awareness of who we really are. We are to relearn to love unconditionally and that giving and receiving love are the same. As we love our Creator, we also love each other and ourselves as we are all joined in Oneness. There is no “other” in reality. The text of this lesson tells us this:

Let me not think that I can find the way to Oneness, if I have hatred in my heart. Let me not try to hurt the Creator’s One Child, and think that I can know their Creator or my Self. Let me not fail to recognize myself, and still believe that my awareness can contain my Creator, or my mind conceive of all the love my Creator has for me, and all the love which I return to my Creator [Oneness].   W-pII.246.1:1-3

There is a way for us to find our journey home to the awareness of who we really are. It is part of a divine plan that can take any form, but a form that is unique for each of us. Every one we meet, every situation we find ourselves in has a purpose in our journey if we will allow ourselves to recognize it. We might ask ourselves a simple question when we are faced with a challenging situation or person. “How can I see this differently?” We tend to jump to conclusions when we find ourselves challenged. Yet, we have everything we need to handle whatever is facing us. Take a step away to look at it differently. Let your mind open to other possibilities through the lens of love. There are other possibilities and choices when we allow ourselves to be open to them. The Course gives us this prayer:

I will accept the way You choose for me to come to You, my Creator. For in that will I succeed, because it is Your Will. And I would recognize that what You will is what I will as well, and only that. And so I choose to love Your One Child. Amen.   W-pII.246.2:1-5

You see, as we are One with our Creator and each other, we cannot have divided wills. What we really want for ourselves is also what the Creator wants for us. And it’s Love and more Love. The endless supply of abundant unconditional Love. Ask, open your spirit eyes [your mind] and you will see.