August 3, 2021

Lesson 215 –

Review of Lesson 195

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

(195) Love is the way I walk in gratitude.

The Holy Spirit is my only Guide. The Holy Spirit walks with me in love. And I give thanks to the Holy Spirit for showing me the way to go.

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.   W-pI.215.1:1-7

“Love is the way I walk in gratitude,” is the lesson we are reviewing. This lesson exudes a sense of grace and peace for me. The world I see is bound to appear better if I approach it with this attitude. What do we have to be grateful for? We look around at the world we think we see and see so much wrong, so much pain. But are we seeing clearly? Or are we seeing the world incorrectly? What guide are we relying on to show us the way?

Our gratitude will pave the way to the One, and shorten our learning time by more than you could ever dream of. Gratitude goes hand in hand with love, and where one is the other must be found. For gratitude is but an aspect of the Love which is the Source of all creation. The One gives thanks to you, the One Child, for being what you are; the One’s Own completion and the Source of love, along with the One. Your gratitude to the One is one with the One’s to you. For love can walk no road except the way of gratitude, and thus we go who walk the way to the One.   W-pI.195.10:1-6

Who or what do we look to for guidance on our journey home? Many times I find myself fighting whatever I encounter that I don’t like. There are challenges. There are road blocks. Rather than being upset or angry, I could change my mind and be grateful for just a moment. Perhaps there’s a message. Perhaps there’s a signpost I need to see to guide my way. My gratitude allows me to relax just enough to allow peace and love to rise within me and adjust my attitude. My mind sees so much better when I relax into gratitude and the grace that comes with it to guide me.

We never have to travel our path alone. Sometimes it may feel very lonely, but that is due to our closed eyes and mind. Spirit always walks beside us ready to take our hand at any moment we become willing to let go of our denial of who we are and who walks beside us. Yes, Spirit walks beside us always, whether or not we are aware of Its presence. Spirit is never judgmental or cross. Spirit simply walks with us knowing who we are and ready to catch us or pick us up when we fall. When we allow our mind to open just a bit, Spirit reminds us of who we are. In that remembrance is the ancient song of love that is so familiar and reminds us of our home in Oneness. Spirit reminds us of who we really are.

Look ahead. Look beyond the path you think you see to the beauty that lies beyond. This is our destination and it’s already around and within us. Walking in gratitude with love brings the awareness that we are already home to our mind. Let us allow ourselves to see that we are all One. Let us remember our true home in Oneness and be grateful. Let it be so, right now.

July 27, 2021

Lesson 208 –

Review of Lesson 188

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

(188) The peace of God is shining in me now.

I will be still, and let the earth be still along with me. And in that stillness we will find the peace of God. It is within my heart, which witnesses to God.

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.   W-pI.208.1:1-7

As I begin to reflect on this review lesson I think, “What else is there to say?” Peace is shining in me now. Yes, I an at peace. I am experiencing the joy of Oneness. I am filled with and surrounded by love. I am whole and complete, limitless and holy. And so we all are; all of Creation. We are perfectly happy. Step into the stillness where there is rest and quiet.

Yet, it slips away from our awareness from time to time. The mistaken perception of our egoic thought system distracts us from what we know to be true about ourselves. But even when our mind is distracted by our egoic thought system, the knowledge of our true holiness and peacefulness is still within our heart and mind. Eckart Tolle teaches that the stillness is there in the spaces between the words. It’s always there. It’s between our thoughts, between our experiences, between the words we speak and listen to. We can listen for the silence between all the din of the world. It’s there if we will simply align with that space that seems so insignificant. That silence and stillness has great power if we will allow ourselves to see and hear it. It is a place of rest and quiet. We need not forcibly get rid of the noise, just set it aside for a moment and rest in God; Oneness. The following passage is from Lesson 188.

Why wait for Heaven? Those who seek the light are merely covering their eyes. The light is in them now. Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all. Light is not of the world, yet you who bear the light in you are alien here as well. The light came with you from your native home, and stayed with you because it is your own. It is the only thing you bring with you from the One Who is your Source. It shines in you because it lights your home, and leads you back to where it came from and you are at home.   W-pI.188.1:1-8

The light of Oneness is within us. This light has always been within us. We did nothing more than place false barriers that have no substance whatsoever between our egoic mind and our One Mind. This beautiful glorious light is there for us to see in the stillness, the space between the words, the space between our thoughts. We can let go of the words, the noise, the thoughts that distract us and seem to drown out everything else. Set it all aside and listen to the Voice for Oneness, Spirit, in the space, in the stillness.  There we find peace and love. There we find the awareness of our holiness and our wholeness. Allow yourself to see the light within and be the light. This is your truth. This is your destiny. Let it be so.

July 20, 2021

Review of Lesson 181

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.

(181) I trust my friends who are one with me.

No one but is my friend. I am blessed with oneness with the universe and God, one Creator of the whole that is my Self, forever One with me.

I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.   W-pI.201.1:1-6

We are all one. We are all one with God. There is no separation. This is what we need to remember. All else will fall into place. All will change with this recognition. We will see the world differently. We will see ourselves and each other differently. Be willing to take a chance and give it a try. Choose again. Th     e Higher Holy Spirit within will guide us when we allow. Take a moment with this thought and rest awhile and find yourself stepping into your limitless freedom and wholeness – Oneness indeed.

July 13, 2021

Lesson 194 –

I place the future in the Hands of God.

One of the things our egoic thought system does is obsess about our past and project it into the future. It tells us how our future will be as bad as, worse than, or incompatible with our past. All it’s interested in doing is make us worry about our future. Well, as with all things, there is another choice. The past is over, he past is gone. The past need not determine our future. Our natural state of being is living in peace and joy from the wealth of love within us. We can change our mind, make another choice, and redirect our thoughts to that abundant love within us.

Today’s idea takes another step toward quick salvation, and a giant stride it is indeed! So great the distance is that it encompasses, it sets you down just short of Heaven, with the goal in sight and obstacles behind. Your foot has reached the lawns that welcome you to Heaven’s gate; the quiet place of peace, where you await with certainty the final step of God. How far are we progressing now from earth! How close are we approaching to our goal! How short the journey still to be pursued!   W-pI.194.1:1-6

When we finally accept today’s idea, we end all anxiety and darkness in our mind. We find the light within us that shines so bright with peace, joy and love that we share with all Creation. We may find ourselves going about our day with a smile on our face and a gentle demeanor in all we do. The act of seeking Spirit’s guidance frees our mind from the worries of our attachment to the past that has so limited us. Here is our freedom. Here is the recognition of who we really are in Oneness.

Release the future. For the past is gone, and what is present, freed from its bequest of grief and misery, of pain and loss, becomes the instant in which time escapes the bondage of illusions where it runs its pitiless, inevitable course. Then is each instant which was slave to time transformed into a holy instant, when the light that was kept hidden in The One’s Child is freed to bless the world. Now are we free, and all our glory shines upon a world made free with us, to share our holiness.   W-pI.194.5:1-4

Here is the key to a transformed life here in this world. The holy instant brings us the awareness of reality and the real world. Here we find a new perception of the world through the lens of forgiveness into holiness. Peace, love, and joy well up from deep within us, dropping the veil from our Vision that hid the real world from our mind. We recognize the truth about who we really are; complete, whole, holy, and free.

Now are we saved indeed. For in The One’s Hands we rest untroubled, sure that only good can come to us. If we forget, we will be gently reassured. If we accept an unforgiving thought, it will be soon replaced by love’s reflection. And if we are tempted to attack, we will appeal to The One Who guards our rest to make the choice for us that leaves temptation far behind. No longer is the world our enemy, for we have chosen that we be its friend.   W-pI.194.9:1-6 Here is our truth.

Here is our peace. Rest in this present moment with your thoughts in the One Mind. All this is simply a choice away. The choice to release the future along with the past and turn our mind to follow the guidance of Spirit within us. Spirit will not let us down. And when we stray, it takes only a simple choice to return.

July 6, 2021

Lesson 187 –

I bless the world because I bless myself.

We have learned that giving and receiving are the same. We also know that in order to give we must already have what we give. This lesson has an interesting twist to it.  It says we bless the world because we bless ourselves. How can this be? In Oneness, all that is, is ours. We all have everything. Abundance is prevalent in reality so we can never lack. The world seen through the lens of the egoic thought system appears limited. It appears that in order to give we take away from ourselves. However, Truth tells us that giving increases what we possess.

To understand this, think about ideas. We must have an idea before we can share it. And when we give that idea to another, they now have that idea and so do we still have it. So, if we are to save the world, we first accept salvation for ourselves. The proof that salvation is ours is in seeing the miracles it brings to everyone we offer them to. Here is the idea of giving clarified and given meaning. Now we perceive that by giving is our store multiplied. In this way we protect what we value by giving it away. But do no become attached to any form of what is given. It is the thought, the act, of giving and blessing that is real and lasting. And as we give, the blessing increases  by extension without limit. What joy there is in this.

Give gladly. You can only gain thereby. The thought remains, and grows in strength as it is reinforced by giving. Thoughts extend as they are shared, for they can not be lost. There is no giver and receiver in the sense the world conceives of them. There is a giver who retains; another who will give as well. And both must gain in this exchange, for each will have the thought in form most helpful to them. What they seem to lose is always something they will value less than what will surely be returned to them.   W-pI.187.5:1-8

Understanding the blessing of giving and receiving ends all sacrifice. For when we give in this way, we give up nothing real. All that is meaningful remains ours even as we give it away so generously – even with abandon. In this gesture is the end of sacrifice realized. Nothing of any real value can possibly be sacrificed.

See the lilies that another offers us laid upon our altar, with the ones we offer them beside them. The illusion of fear diminishes to nothingness before the purity that we see here. The appearance of form vanishes and what is left is a blessedness we recognize and cannot deny. Now we are one in thought. We stand together in Oneness, our one Self Whose innocence has joined us all. And as we look within, we see the purity of Heaven shine in our reflection of perfect Love.

Now are we blessed, and now we bless the world. What we have looked upon we would extend, for we would see it everywhere. We would behold it shining with the grace of The One in everyone. We would not have it be withheld from anything we look upon. And to ensure this holy sight is ours, we offer it to everything we see. For where we see it, it will be returned to us in form of lilies we can lay upon our altar, making it a home for Innocence Itself, Who dwells in us and offers us Their Holiness as ours.   W-pI.187.11:1-6

June 30, 2021

Lesson 180 –

Review of Lessons 169 and 170

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

(169) By grace I live. 2 By grace I am released.   W-pI.180.1:1

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

(170) There is no cruelty in God and none in me.   W-pI.180.2:1

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

The Course reminds us again and aga that we are created by God and therefore are like God. It also says we are extensions of God rather than separate beings. Creation is extension because a creation cannot leave its Creator. Think about that for a moment and the ramifications that realization brings to light. And yet we try to separate ourselves and cause ourselves unhappiness. And since God is Love, we are also Love.

There is a way to live by grace in this world. The world may not seem to offer grace, but that is a mistaken perception. When we choose to live in the grace of Spirit, we will experience grace in the world around us. All that grace is our release from the difficulties of the world. We may still need to deal with the difficulties, but we will approach them with a new vision and attitude. They will not be so heavy and daunting. Forgiveness is the theme that runs through our transformation to grace. It loosens the limits we have put on ourselves and frees our mind to see and believe who we really are. This transformation is the grace of dance as we move to our true place in reality. Let go of all the burdens that weigh you down and soar in the grace of Spirit.

Be grateful to return, as you were glad to go an instant, and accept the gifts that grace provided you. You carry them back to yourself. And revelation stands not far behind. Its coming is ensured. We ask for grace, and for experience that comes from grace. We welcome the release it offers everyone. We do not ask for the unaskable. We do not look beyond what grace can give. For this we can give in the grace that has been given us.   W-pI.169.14:1-9

Yes, the world will transform in our minds. The cruelty we think we see will fade from our awareness. We will view a world without the fear we have held for so long. A deep understanding will rise in us. What is unreal will fade and the Love and Peace of reality will rise in its place. The choice is ours. Every moment of every day we make choices that guide our view of the world. Be still a moment and consider the choice before you. It’s a choice between unreality and reality. Unreality will fade away and die, but reality is eternal. What choice would you desire?

The choice you make today is certain. For you look for the last time upon this bit of carven stone you made, and call it god no longer. You have reached this place before, but you have chosen that this cruel god remain with you in still another form. And so the fear of God returned with you. This time you leave it there. And you return to a new world, unburdened by its weight; beheld not in its sightless eyes, but in the vision that your choice restored to you.   W-pI.170.11:1-6

Make the rational choice. It’s the one you really want. Our true Identity is realized in that choice. Our Oneness with all Creation is revealed in that choice. Peace, Love, and Joy rise in our awareness as we allow this shift to reveal our true nature. We truly are complete and whole, limitless and free, in the realization of our holiness. Make this choice now.

June 22, 2021

Lesson 173 –

Review of Lessons 155 and 156

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

(155) I will step back and let God lead the way.   W-pI.173.1:1

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

(156) I walk with God in perfect holiness.   W-pI.173.2:1

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

We are entering another review of recent lessons on our journey. This group of lessons has been encouraging us to open to the holy relationship we have with Source, with Oneness. These lessons have taught us that peace is ours, it’s already within us. It has taught us we are holy. It has taught us about our communication with Source, God. All of this is ours for the allowing. We simply need to be willing to allow the opening of our mind to the One Mind. This is the way to what we want so badly but don’t see how to get there. The journey appears to be difficult, but is much easier when we surrender to what is and allow Spirit to guide our steps.

We now review again. This time we are ready to give more effort and more time to what we undertake. We recognize we are preparing for another phase of understanding. We would take this step completely, that we may go on again more certain, more sincere, with faith upheld more surely. Our footsteps have not been unwavering, and doubts have made us walk uncertainly and slowly on the road this course sets forth. But now we hasten on, for we approach a greater certainty, a firmer purpose and a surer goal.   W-pI.rV.in.1:1-6

This review is framed in the idea that God, Source, is Love and therefore so are we. All we do and experience is imbued with Love. We can never be apart from Love no matter what we do. We can block our awareness of it by denying it, but we can t change it. We can change how we see ourselves by opening our minds to the love within us that we are. We can also change how others see us by being the example of love in this world. When we allow this shift in perception to happen, the world around us is seen and understood differently. Just think what could be possible if we chose to live through the lens of love.

Our mind can be very big distraction to us, wanting to control every little detail we come upon. We  can release our need to control and allow Spirit to lead our way. When we step back and let God lead the way, we open to new horizons and new ways of understanding. Love and peace are woven through all these new perceptions. They bring us comfort. They bring us peace of mind. They show us there is another way of seeing everything. This is what our journey is for, to see a world through the eyes of holiness and recognize the holiness that is all around us.

As we get accustomed to being led by Spirit, we realize we are actually walking side by side with Spirit in perfect holiness. It is suddenly natural and we are at perfect ease with our own holiness, our own completeness and our true being. We are simply laying aside the blocks to our awareness of who we really are. It becomes obvious how silly these blocks were and that they had no real substance at all. Yet we believed them to be real and substantial. As we practice these lessons and review, allow all attachment to limiting thoughts fall away and step into the light of perfect love in which we are created. We find ourselves progressing on our journey home to the awareness of who we really are. We are love just as God is because we are created One with God and cannot be separated from God.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

June 15, 2021

Lesson 166 –

I am entrusted with the gifts of God.

All things are given you. God’s trust in you is limitless. God knows You. God gives without exception, holding nothing back that can contribute to your happiness. And yet, unless your will is one with God’s, God’s gifts are not received. But what would make you think there is another will than God’s?   W-pI.166.1:1-6

We have been given everything. What a statement this is. It testifies to the perfection of our creation. Yet, our denial of who we really are blocks to our awareness of this truth. This series of lessons is such a beautiful series that speaks to our holiness. It speaks to all that we are created to be. Yet we have believed that we are much less than we really are. It is a mistaken belief. It is a mistaken denial. We have made a habit of believing that our will is separate from God’s. We have believed that we are less than our creation and thus sinful and unworthy of all that God has given us. This belief is a result of our attachment to our past and the perceptions we have believed about all of our past. We have looked on our world with unseeing eyes that cannot understand the truth about ourselves and the world we think we see. Yet we have holy Vision with which we can see reality if we will simply allow ourselves to allow Spirit to show us what is real.

Yes, the world we seem to see before us now with all its trials and chaos is a world of our own making. It is a world we have perceived incorrectly. There is another way to see the world around us. We can let go of our attachment to everything we have deduced and believed about it and see again with fresh eyes – with Holy Vision. Creation is all about Love. There is nothing else that is real about Creation. It is filled with peace and joy. Creation reflects itself in a happy world – the Course calls it a happy dream. We are created One with God and thus share God’s will as our own. It is not imposed on us as we might believe, but comes from within us in a place that is loving and peaceful. This is the Grace and the Grandeur of our reality. It is eternal and cannot ever be removed. If we don’t see it, we have blocked our own awareness of it with our belief that we are less than holy and whole. And Spirit answers any doubt we might hold about our Creation and our true nature.

Yet God reminds you still of one thing more you had forgotten. For God’s touch on you has made you like Godself. The gifts you have are not for you alone. What God has come to offer you, you now must learn to give. This is the lesson that God’s giving holds, for God has saved you from the solitude you sought to make in which to hide from God. God has reminded you of all the gifts that God has given you. God speaks as well of what becomes your will when you accept these gifts, and recognize they are your own.   W-pI.166.12:1-7

We are not doomed to this world of chaos. We may not understand, but we made this world through our perception void of Spirit’s interpretation. We always have another choice. We can choose to see differently. We can choose to see peace instead of whatever we think we see now. We never have to do it alone. The instant we choose to allow Spirt to guide our thoughts we experience a shift in the world. There is another way to see the world. It looks beyond the appearance of the world we think we see to a different reality of perception that lies beyond. We are lifted above the chaos to a place where we can see clearly. This is one of the gifts we receive.

The gifts are yours, entrusted to your care, to give to all who chose the lonely road you have escaped. They do not understand they but pursue their wishes. It is you who teach them now. For you have learned of Christ there is another way for them to walk. Teach them by showing them the happiness that comes to those who feel the touch of Christ, and recognize God’s gifts. Let sorrow not tempt you to be unfaithful to your trust.   W-pI.166.13:1-6

Accept the gifts that are ours to remember. They have always been ours, even though we chose to block them from our awareness. We simply choose again to see they have always been there within us. This is our awakening This is our healing. This is the return to the awareness of who we really are and the gifts with which we have been entrusted.

June 8, 2021

Lesson 159 –

I give the miracles I have received.

The Course has taught us that giving and receiving are the same. This is so because we are all One. We are One in Spirit. Even though we appear to be separate in this world, we are all joined in the Mind of God. Everything is shared. What I have is yours and what you have is mine. When we share something real, it never leaves us, but is increased by

our sharing it. This is the abundance of reality. When I accept this fact, I can relax into the peace that flows from deep within all of us. You can choose this, too. Essentially the act of giving – or sharing – is receiving. This is the blessing in itself.

You understand that you are healed when you give healing. You accept forgiveness as accomplished in yourself when you forgive. You recognize another as yourself, and thus do you perceive that you are whole. There is no miracle you cannot give, for all are given you. Receive them now by opening the storehouse of your mind where they are laid, and giving them away.   W-pI.159.2:1-5

Holy Vision is a miracle. It shows us a different perception of the world we see. Our egoic perception views the world through a dark and clouded glass. This glass shows us a dark and twisted world in broken parts where chaos reigns. This is nothing more than a mistaken perception, but it is all we can see until we allow our Holy Vision to rise in us. Holy Vision reflects eternal love in this world. This Holy Vision pictures Heaven, for it sees a world so like to Heaven that what God created perfect can be mirrored there. The real world pictures Heaven’s innocence.

Christ’s vision is the miracle in which all miracles are born. It is their source, remaining with each miracle you give, and yet remaining yours. It is the bond by which the giver and receiver are united in extension here on earth, as they are one in Heaven. Christ beholds no sin in anyone. And in Christ’s sight the sinless are as one. Their holiness was given by Source and Itself.   W-pI.159.4:1-5

Holy vision is the bridge between the two worlds. We can safely trust its power to carry us from this world into another made holy by forgiveness. Things which seem quite solid here are merely shadows there; transparent, faintly seen, at times forgotten. What appeared solid can never again obscure the light that shines beyond them. Holiness has been restored to vision, and we, who were unable to see, can see.

The miracle we ultimately seek is the return to the awareness of who we really are. When we do return to this awareness, all doubt vanishes. We see the world transformed into the Home we recognize and we return joyfully knowing we are whole and complete, having all we need or could ever want. We can choose to accept the gift of Vision whenever we are ready. Aren’t you ready now?

Christ’s vision is the holy ground in which the lilies of forgiveness set their roots. This is their home. They can be brought from here back to the world, but they can never grow in its unnourishing and shallow soil. They need the light and warmth and kindly care Christ’s charity provides. They need the love with which Christ looks on them. And they become Christ’s messengers, who give as they received.   W-pI.159.8:1-6

Accept this gift of Vision. We are worthy of this gift. This gift is already ours and was given us at our creation. Only our denial of who we really are blocks it from our awareness. Open you Holy Eyes and receive as the circle of giving and receiving brings you the sight of the real world in which our Home lies. It is time. Choose again.

June 1, 2021

Lesson 152 –

The power of decision is my own.

This lesson begins with the words “No one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision.” It says the same thing about pain and more. The decision is ours to make. We will make the decision, it’s a matter of what and when. The decision this comes down to is the decision whether or not to see truth. We have gotten used to perceiving the world around us from the perspective of separation. The world seems convoluted and conflicted. We have projected so much unreality on the world that we have forgotten we even have another choice. We have forgotten we have the power to choose – always. We have forgotten how big the change can be as a result of our choice.

You may believe that this position is extreme, and too inclusive to be true. Yet can truth have exceptions? If you have the gift of everything, can loss be real? Can pain be part of peace, or grief of joy? Can fear and sickness enter in a mind where love and perfect holiness abide? Truth must be all-inclusive, if it be the truth at all. Accept no opposites and no exceptions, for to do so is to contradict the truth entirely.   W-pI.152.2:1-7

Truth is all that is real. Seems like a “duh” statement, but we tend to dismiss it’s power and it’s all-encompassing nature. Nothing can prevail against the truth for truth is invincible. The truth is true, and nothing else is true. Have we accepted this yet? Perhaps the first part is a no-brainer, but we must also accept the second part to realize the extent of what truth really is. Accept the whole ruth and step into a new perception of the world around us. This perception is the salvation the Course talks about. This is the real world, the perception of Heaven on earth. The salvation is seeing the world around us through new eyes. The veil of separation is lifted from our eyes and we see clearly. We rise above the battleground of chaos to recognition of unity of all creation in Oneness. This is our home now.

This is the simplest of distinctions, yet the most obscure. But not because it is a difficult distinction to perceive. It is concealed behind a vast array of choices that do not appear to be entirely your own. And thus the truth appears to have some aspects that belie consistency, but do not seem to be but contradictions introduced by you.   W-pI.152.4:1-4

It really is strange that we made up our perception of the world we think we see when we are , in reality, the essence of truth. There is nothing about our true nature that is destructible or even changeable. We are holy. We are as we are created. For we are One with the Creator and thus inseparable in any way. Perhaps this is difficult to see. Take a step and allow a little willingness to see differently rise in your mind. Are you willing to let go of just a little of the pain? This lesson asks us to try the following:

Let us today be truly humble, and accept what we have made as what it is. The power of decision is our own. Decide but to accept your rightful place as co-creator of the universe, and all you think you made will disappear. What rises to awareness then will be all that there ever was, eternally as it is now. And it will take the place of self-deceptions made but to usurp the altar to the Creator and the Creation – Us.   W-pI.152.8:1-5

Be patient. Be quiet. Look within and rest in the peace within. Wait in silence, giving up all self-deceptions, as we humbly ask our Self that the Creator reveal Itself to us. The One Who never left us will rise again to our awareness, grateful to restore Our home to Oneness, as it was meant to be.