June 2, 2020

Lesson 154 –

I am among the ministers of God.   ACIM W.p1.154

What an amazing idea, being among – or perhaps surrounded by – the ministers of God. I often replace the word “God” with Source or Oneness. As I have grown on my spiritual journey, I have come to understand the idea of God less as a personality out there and more as the joined minds and spirits of all of creation. This is my current view and is likely to change and grow. I also support your understanding of God. We are free to make our own choices on our journey. The diversity of our ideas and growth is such a blessing as I learn from each and every one I come in contact with. Safely, of course. The One Mind – of which we are entirely – is an amazing concept and gift. I resolve to see each and every one of us in the light of our shard holiness and love in Oneness.

We have a function in this world. We share that function with all of creation. Yet, our function appears unique and custom tailored to suit how we and others perceive this world at this moment. May we accept our role, whatever form it takes. Our function’s form is perfectly suited to us and to another. May we be open to Spirit’s guiding – the guidance that is planted deep inside our being at our creation. It is there imbued with our own holiness.

Let us today be neither arrogant nor falsely humble. We have gone beyond such foolishness. We cannot judge ourselves, nor need we do so. These are but attempts to hold decision off, and to delay commitment to our function. It is not our part to judge our worth, nor can we know what role is best for us; what we can do within a larger plan we cannot see in its entirety. Our part is cast in Heaven, not in hell. And what we think is weakness can be strength; what we believe to be our strength is often arrogance.   W-pI.154.1:1-7

May we allow ourselves to learn this lesson for today. We will not recognize what we receive until we give it. We have heard this said a hundred ways, a hundred times, and yet we still don’t believe it. But this is sure; until we believe it, we will receive a thousand miracles and then receive a thousand more. Yet we will not recognize that all we are given we already have. For not the tiniest of blessings has been denied us. What can this mean to us until we have identified with our Source and who we really are in Oneness?

Our lesson for today is stated thus:

I am among the ministers of God, and I am grateful that I have the means by which to recognize that I am free.   W-pI.154.13:1-2

Let me you with this thought from today’s lesson:The world recedes as we light up our minds, and realize these holy words are true. They are the message sent to us today from our Creator. Now we demonstrate how they have changed our minds about ourselves, and what our function is. For as we prove that we accept no will we do not share, our many gifts from our Creator will spring to our sight and leap into our hands, and we will recognize what we received.   W-pI.154.14:1-4

May 26, 2020

Lesson 147 – Review of lessons 133 and 134

My mind holds only what I think with God.

(133) I will not value what is valueless.   W-pI.147.

The Course often asks us what we value and what that value is that we have placed upon it. Is what we value temporary or lasting? Do we see its value clearly? We have the freedom to choose what we value. It’s our choice. But does our choice have real value? There is nothing wrong with the temporary, but we need to recognize its true value. The Course teaches us that there is really only one choice regardless of form. What has value is lasing and what does not last is valueless. Value such as this is not monetary worth. Value in the Course’s sense is about what returns us to the awareness of our wholeness.

Today we list the real criteria by which to test all things you think you want. Unless they meet these sound requirements, they are not worth desiring at all, for they can but replace what offers more. The laws that govern choice you cannot make, no more than you can make alternatives from which to choose. The choosing you can do; indeed, you must. But it is wise to learn the laws you set in motion when you choose, and what alternatives you choose between.   W-pI.133.3:1-5

Look for the guidance Spirit offers. This divine guidance is already within us, even when we don’t recognize it. Our Higher Holy Spirit Self knows what choice we need to make, for all knowledge is already instilled in us. We are holy, we are complete, we are infinite and limitless. As we rest in the essence of our being, the choice we make in what we value becomes natural and what is not natural becomes unimportant. Let your inner Spirit Self be your guide.

 (134) Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.   W-pI.147.2

Do we understand what forgiveness is and what it does? Most of us have a skewed idea of what forgiveness is. We cannot truly forgive if we do not perceive it correctly. Forgiveness is a way to change our mind and recognize truth where we see illusion. One example of forgiveness is shifting our perception of another from separate to One with us. It is crucial for us to see another as they really are for us to see ourselves as we truly are. And the reverse is also true.

There is a very simple way to find the door to true forgiveness, and perceive it open wide in welcome. When you feel that you are tempted to accuse someone of sin in any form, do not allow your mind to dwell on what you think they did, for that is self-deception. Ask instead, “Would I accuse myself of doing this?”   W-pI.134.9:1-3

The way is already known. The answer is within our holy mind. We are asked to take a step back for just an instant and look within to our true Self. Be open to see a different perspective in the light of truth. Forgiveness is releasing our attachment to perceiving another as separate from us and perceiving the truth of our Oneness. Peace, love and joy are present in this recognition. The Course is teaching us who we really are and forgiveness releases all thoughts that conflict with the truth of who we really are. Sit with these concepts awhile and when you are willing, open your mind to their truth. We needn’t get rid of anything. Rather we take a new look at what is real. It’s not a battle, it’s a shift in thinking. Try it.

May 19, 2020

Lesson 140 –

Only salvation can be said to cure. ACIM W.p1.140

What really ails us? I know I can think of a million answers to this question for me. But  are they true answers? As we study the Course and practice the Lessons, we are asked to set aside our preconceived beliefs and allow Spirit to show us another way of looking at this. The Course teaches us there is only one problem and only one answer to that one problem. In the reality , sickness is of the mind and so the cure is also of the mind. How we see ourselves is the indication of our wellness and correcting how we see ourselves is the salvation that can be the only cure.

They are not healed. They merely had a dream that they were sick, and in the dream they found a magic formula to make them well. Yet they have not awakened from the dream, and so their mind remains exactly as it was before. They have not seen the light that would awaken them and end the dream. What difference does the content of a dream make in reality? One either sleeps or wakens. There is nothing in between.   W-pI.140.2:1-7

The life we live on this planet identifying as a body is like a dream because we do not perceive ourselves correctly. We perceive ourselves as less than whole, less than holy, less than complete. Our true essence is whole, complete, limitless and complete. How could lack and unholiness ever be a part of this? We fell into a deep sleep believing we are alone and separate, denying ourselves the awareness of who we really are. Our perception of ourselves is the illusion the Course keeps referring to as our mistake – our insanity. The purpose of the Course is to help us wake from the dream – this insanity.

Peace be to you who have been cured in Oneness, and not in idle dreams. For cure must come from holiness, and holiness can not be found where sin is cherished. Oneness abides in holy temples. Oneness is barred where sin has entered. Yet there is no place where Oneness is not. And therefore sin can have no home in which to hide from Oneness’ beneficence. There is no place where holiness is not, and nowhere sin and sickness can abide.   W-pI.140.5:1-7

This is the thought that cures. It does not make distinctions among unrealities. Nor does it seek to heal what is not sick. Accept this thought as it is. Release any judgement you may hold about it. Allow the knowing Spirit within you to reveal its truth, for our egoic thought system resists the truth about who we really are. Yet we have everything we need within us to make this shift. Once we decide we are willing to see ourselves whole and holy, a recognition of who we really are will dawn on us. Our true essence will be familiar and we may wonder why we ever abandoned our awareness of it. There is no blame or guilt. The recognition will flood our being with peace and love and joy. Simply accept it wholly.

With nothing in our hands to which we cling, with lifted hearts and listening minds we pray: “Only salvation can be said to cure. Speak to us, Source, that we may be healed.” And we will feel salvation cover us with soft protection, and with peace so deep that no illusion can disturb our minds, nor offer proof to us that it is real. This will we learn today. And we will say our prayer for healing hourly, and take a minute as the hour strikes, to hear the answer to our prayer be given us as we attend in silence and in joy. This is the day when healing comes to us. This is the day when separation ends, and we remember Who we really are.   W-pI.140.12:1-8

It takes just a moment to be willing to change your mind. Stop for an instant and allow yourself to rest in the peace that is within you – the peace you have been searching for somewhere other than within you. It has always been there and always will be there waiting for your choosing. Choose now. Or choose later. Your choice determines your awareness of who you really are and your state of mind. Let it be peace. Let it be love. Let it be joy.

April 28, 2020

Lesson 119 – Review of lessons 107 and 108

Truth will correct all errors in my mind. (107)

2 I am mistaken when I think I can be hurt in any way. 3 I am God’s Child, whose Self rests safely in the Mind of God.   W-pI.119.1.1-3

Truth is a light that shines within our mind and heart. It is always present, never wavering, never dimming. It shines with a brilliance that cannot be disguised. The only action our mind can take against Truth is to block it from our awareness by distracting us with petty bits of unreality. We are Truth. This is a fact. Our willingness to see it is what allows us to be aware of it. Truth knows our wholeness, our completeness, our holiness – who we really are. Truth knows who we really are cannot be destroyed or diminished. The thought that we are less than whole and complete is the thought that needs correcting. And Truth will shine its light on any thought of “less than” and render it powerless. For Truth is all powerful – it joins all of us and all of Creation in Oneness. When we align our thoughts with Truth, any untrue thought fades into nothingness. The correction of error is that simple. We are mistaken when we believe we can be diminished. We are all equally and totally holy. We may act otherwise at times, but the Truth about us is unchangeable. The question for us is, “Am I willing to open my mind to the correction Truth brings to my awareness?” The Course reminds us many times that just a little willingness is all that is needed to correct our mistaken thoughts. Perhaps we can be willing to grant ourselves this gift.

To give and to receive are one in truth. (108)

2 I will forgive all things today, that I may learn how to accept the truth in me, and come to recognize my sinlessness.   W-pI.119.2.1-2

When we choose to be willing to  align ourselves with Oneness, we open a door for our Higher Holy Spirit Self to help us see clearly with Spirit Vision. In Oneness, all is shared by and with all. Nothing is divided. There is no part that is mine or anyone else’s. All of everything is everyone’s. This is not about the physical or the temporary. It is not about the temporal world we seem to exist in for a time. It is about Reality and all that is real. The Course asks us to look beyond the appearance of what we think we see to what is real.

Vision depends upon today’s idea. The light is in it, for it reconciles all seeming opposites. And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.   W-pI.108.1:1-5

Our happiness lies in this correction. The realization of our Truth brings contentedness with ourselves. Peace, Love, and Joy rise within our mind as we rest in the realization of our Oneness. The uneven existence of the world fades as we learn to look beyond the appearance of events and experiences in the world. As we perceive the world from an awareness of our Oneness, our thoughts about the world shift, allowing us to observe from a mindset of peace and understanding. Forgiveness allows us to ease up on ourselves just a little and allow a transformation of our thoughts to manifest a new attitude in our minds. Peace of mind is the result, and that is really what we are seeking. Let Truth bring that peace to your mind and you will find a happiness you forgot was within you.

April 21, 2020

Lesson 112 – Review of lessons 93 and 94

Light and joy and peace abide in me.   (93)

2 I am the home of light and joy and peace. 3 I welcome them into the home I share with God, because I am a part of God.   W-pI.112.1.1-3

I am reminded as I welcome this lesson review of who I really am. I am the light of the world. I am peace and joy. I am all of this even when I don’t believe it. My Higher Holy Spirit Self holds the memory of this until I am willing to believe and accept it again. It never goes away. T never stops being true. When I don’t see it within me, I have only blocked it from my sight and from my mind. It will remain blocked until I am willing to see it again. My feelings will alert me if I am willing to let them alert me. When I don’t feel peace, at any time I can choose to be peace again as I allow peace to rise in me again. At any time, I can stop, and look within to my Guide and refocus my thoughts. My real thoughts are peaceful, even n a world of chaos.

I am as God created me.  (94)

2 I will remain forever as I was, created by the Changeless like Oneself. 3 And I am one with the Changeless [God], and the Changeless [God] with me.   W-pI.112.2.1-3

This review lesson, as the previous, reminds me I am holy, I am complete, I am whole and I am limitless, as I was created. Nothing can take that away from me, even when I choose to block it from my awareness. I am changeless because I am One with the Changeless. Oneness means there is no and never was any separation. Separation is nothing more than a misguided belief that can do nothing more than block my holiness from my awareness. Even in the midst of a pandemic in this world I can be assured that my holiness is intact. No matter what condition my body experiences I this world, I am still whole in the formless world of Spirit and Oneness that is reality. I will operate in the world of form as I am guided by the holiness within me, for I am here only to be truly helpful. I am content to be right where I am, for I have a purpose for being here if I am willing to see that purpose through my own Spirit eyes. May I be willing to see and be the light, peace and joy that ae instilled in me at my creation.

April 14, 2020

Lesson 105

God’s peace and joy are mine. ACIM W.pI.105

Sunday was Easter. Easter is a time of resurrection, liberation, transcendence and awakening. It symbolizes our return to the awareness of who we really are. It is the return to the awareness of our holiness, wholeness, abundance and completeness. It is our return to the awareness of our Oneness, the end of our mistaken thought of separation. In this awareness is the realization that God’s peace and joy are ours as they have always been.

God’s peace and joy are yours. Today we will accept them, knowing they belong to us. And we will try to understand these gifts increase as we receive them. They are not like to the gifts the world can give, in which the giver loses as they give the gift; the taker is the richer by their loss. Such are not gifts, but bargains made with guilt. The truly given gift entails no loss. It is impossible that one can gain because another loses. This implies a limit and an insufficiency.   W-pI.105.1:1-8

This is a new concept of giving to us. We have believed that we must achieve peace and joy from God through some means, some deed or action. Nothing could be further from the truth. Peace and joy, and love are freely given us in our creation. They never go away and we can never corrupt them. They are inseparable from our being and are infused in every essence of our identity. We can awaken to the awareness of all this simply by being willing to see and share in our Oneness. Our being is fluent. Our being flows freely through all of Oneness and thus all of Creation. The freer we allow these gifts to flow, the more aware we are of their presence and abundance within us.

As Heaven’s peace and joy intensify when you accept them as God’s gift to you, so does the joy of your Creator grow when you accept your Creator’s joy and peace as yours. True giving is creation. It extends the limitless to the unlimited, eternity to timelessness, and love unto itself. It adds to all that is complete already, not in simple terms of adding more, for that implies that it was less before. It adds by letting what cannot contain itself fulfill its aim of giving everything it has away, securing it forever for itself.   W-pI.105.4:1-5

Every encounter in this world is an opportunity to practice this lesson – an opportunity to extend, share peace and joy and love. Each one is an opportunity to remember we are One, ending the idea of separation. If another seems to tempt you to deny God’s gift to them, see it as another chance to let yourself receive the gifts of God as yours. Then bless this One thankfully, and say:

My friend, peace and joy I offer you,
That I may have God’s peace and joy as mine.   W-pI.105.9:6

Peace and joy are our natural condition. Think of a world where peace and joy are the norm. When we can’t feel peace and joy, no matter what the world is showing us, we can make a choice to see differently and ask Spirit to show us another interpretation. What we need is within us. It always has been. Make the choice to accept peace and joy, always abundant within you, and offer it to another. The miracle is there for the sharing.

April 7, 2020

Lesson 98

I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation. ACIM W.pI.98

Do we have a part in God’s plan for salvation? The word “salvation” can sometimes trigger some old thoughts. Do I really need to be saved? Am I that damaged? Those old thoughts rear their ugly heads from time to time. The Course gives a different way to look at salvation. There is nothing in reality we need salvation from. Yet, we are attached to a mistaken idea about ourselves (and each other) that does need changing. God’s plan for salvation is a plan to help us return to the awareness of who we really are. To return to being the whole, complete, loving and peaceful state that we really are. We have done nothing more than block our own awareness of our holiness and wholeness by believing we are something different – something less than. This “something different” is the belief we are separate from God and each other – that we are not connected. Are we willing to dedicate ourselves to something new and certain?

Today is a day of special dedication. We take a stand on but one side today. We side with truth and let illusions go. We will not vacillate between the two, but take a firm position with the One. We dedicate ourselves to truth today, and to salvation as God planned it be. We will not argue it is something else. We will not seek for it where it is not. In gladness we accept it as it is, and take the part assigned to us by God.   W-pI.98.1:1-8

How happy to be certain! All our doubts we lay aside today, and take our stand with certainty of purpose, and with thanks that doubt is gone and surety has come. We have a mighty purpose to fulfill, and have been given everything we need with which to reach the goal. Not one mistake stands in our way. For we have been absolved from errors. All our sins are washed away by realizing they were but mistakes.   W-pI.98.2:1-6

God’s plan for salvation is simply the process of changing our minds. It is a process of releasing the thoughts about ourselves that are mistaken and accepting the truth about who we really are. Th Course teaches us we are One with our Source and that we can never be anything else. We are created incorruptible. How could we be anything but the perfect being we are created? The thoughts we identified with once we believed we were separate are changeable. These thoughts are made by our egoic thought system which is invested in our belief in separation – our belief in illusion. Spirit dwells within us waiting for us to allow It to show us a different way – a different perception of ourselves.

They [the guiltless – our brothers and sisters] will be with us; all who took the stand we take today will gladly offer us all that they learned and every gain they made. Those still uncertain, too, will join with us, and, borrowing our certainty, will make it stronger still. While those as yet unborn will hear the call we heard, and answer it when they have come to make their choice again. We do not choose but for ourselves today.   W-pI.98.4:1-4

Once you are willing, set aside all earthly tasks, all little thoughts and limited ideas, and spend a happy time again with the One, your Creator. Reaffirm your decision once more that you accept your part in God’s plan for salvation. This choice is not just God’s, for we made this choice with our Creator. We – in Oneness – made this choice when we co-created this plan of salvation the instant we chose to think we were separate. Return to the awareness of who you really are, for this is truly who you really are. Return home today, for it is your destiny.

March 31, 2020

Lesson 91:

Miracles are seen in light. ACIM W.pI.91

I love the concept of light. It is especially important in the Course. The Course reminds us that we are light. The fact that we are light cannot be changed – it cannot be harmed. Nothing can extinguish the light that we are. Yes, we can make decisions that obscure our light from our consciousness, but it can never ever be extinguished. And it is in our willingness to see the light we are that miracles occur. As we have discussed before, miracles are a shift in thought – a change of mind. The shift in thought is a change in how we think about ourselves and others. We have become accustomed to thinking of ourselves as lees than. We have believed our thoughts that value us as limited, broken, incomplete and un-whole, just to name a few. We have been practicing and developing these thoughts for most of our lives until we make a decision to look at ourselves differently – in a new light.

It is important to remember that miracles and vision necessarily go together. This needs repeating, and frequent repeating. It is a central idea in your new thought system, and the perception that it produces. The miracle is always there. Its presence is not caused by your vision; its absence is not the result of your failure to see. It is only your awareness of miracles that is affected. You will see them in the light; you will not see them in the dark.   W-pI.91.1.1-7

What is our state of mind at any given time? Our state of mind has everything to do with our spiritual vision. When our state of mind is in darkness – a denial of the light within us – we “see” through a veil of separation which distorts our perception. It doesn’t change who we are, but denies us the clarity of real vision that reveals who we really are to ourselves. It also hides the miracles within us from our awareness. The freedom of our innate wholeness, completeness and holiness is blocked from our awareness when we choose to align our thoughts and beliefs with darkness and limitation. The miracle within our mind is the sight of our holiness – of our wholeness. These qualities are within us eternally, yet appear to have disappeared simply because we have denied them by believing something contrary.

To be told that what you do not see is there sounds like insanity. It is very difficult to become convinced that it is insanity not to see what is there, and to see what is not there instead. You do not doubt that the body’s eyes can see. You do not doubt the images they show you are reality. Your faith lies in the darkness, not the light. How can this be reversed? For you it is impossible, but you are not alone in this.   W-pI.91.3.1-7

Does changing your mind about who you really are seem daunting or impossible? It is if we try to do it through our own egoic thought system. Our egoic thought system is limited and supports the belief in lack and limitation. Yet, we don’t need to even attempt this shift alone. What we need we already have and are. We are already holy and whole and complete. We are already One with the One, Source or Oneness. We are the Holy Spirit helper to which we can turn to guide our thoughts to what is real. Once we begin to allow ourselves to see ourselves and each other in the light of holiness, we will recognize the truth about who we really are. We will begin to recognize our holiness, completeness and wholeness. This light is the Great Rays that shine from Oneness and bathe us in the light of peace and love. All that is not real and true fades gently into nothing in this light. This is the light we are. We can and will allow this light to rise and shine from within us and join with the light rising and shining within each other. Be willing, even just a little willing, to believe this light is within you. That’s all you need do to begin to reveal the miracles within you.