To gain the most from A Course in Miracles Lesson Insights, we recommend
that you read the corresponding lesson in the Workbook of the Second or
Third Edition of A Course in Miracles published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
“Today I learn the law of love; that what
I give my brother is my gift to me.”
The Course is very clear that the world we see is a projection from our own minds. Thus the “brother” that I see out in the world represents what I think of myself. Some brothers I seem to like. Others seem to anger me or make me afraid. They all represent aspects of what I think I am. There is one Son. But because I believe in separation, I see God’s one Son in many images, projected from my mind, starting with the body I call me.
Because I have so completely bought into the thought system of separation, the Holy Spirit leads me from where I think I am to the gates of Heaven. Thus He starts with teaching me to forgive that ‘other’ brother, who seems not to be me. Each time I truly forgive a brother, I feel the blessing of release. I walk with a lighter step and so I experience the law of Love. I thought I gave my brother a gift of forgiveness, yet simultaneously I was blessed by the gift.
As I experience this more and more, I become more motivated to practice forgiveness because I want the blessing of peace and happiness that comes with it. Gradually it dawns upon me that what I give my brother is a gift to me.
Sometimes it looks like my brother’s behavior changes and I may attribute the blessing I feel to his changed behavior. But once again I remember all that I see is a projection from my own mind. And so my brother’s changed behavior is just another form, reflecting the change in my own mind. Perhaps his behavior doesn’t seem to change. But with forgiveness in my heart, his behavior has no effect on me. The love in my heart continues to embrace him because it sees past behavior to the face of Christ.
With the Holy Spirit’s help, I learn to see Christ’s face more and more and that face of innocence teaches me of my own innocence. Gradually I learn to see every brother as my savior, offering me the opportunity to see my own innocence. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I walk with my brother to the gates of Heaven. Here I recognize my brother as my Self. And in the recognition of that unity, form fades away and we are united once again in the Heaven that is our Home. And I give thanks.
The law of Love is the law of unity, the law of oneness. The law of oneness remains unchangeable. This is the ultimate lesson that we are here to learn. We can’t turn what is one into many separate individuals. We can’t do the impossible.
Forgiveness means letting go of trying to do the impossible. Forgiveness means letting illusions go. As we forgive our brother, we learn to see the face of Christ where once we saw a separate individual. As we learn to practice forgiveness with every brother, we learn to see the same face of Christ in every brother. Thus our illusions are undone.
Through forgiveness, we learn to overlook what never happened. We learn to see past illusions of separation to the one truth that can never change. The face of Christ that I see in my brother shows me that nothing has changed. My brother is only Love and remains eternally changeless for Love is eternal.
Seeing the face of Christ in my brother heals my mind. Seeing the face of Christ in my brother reminds me that the separation never happened. Love cannot change into something it is not. Each time I see the face of Christ in a brother, I take one more step towards healing my projections of separation. As I give I receive.
Today is another day of practice with opening my mind to what is forever true. The face of Christ is all there is to see. The hand of Christ is all there is to hold. There is no journey but to walk with Him. Today I will practice letting my mind be healed of all thoughts of separation.
The brother I see out in the world represents what I think of myself. If I’m totally honest with myself, I’ve noticed the people I have the hardest time accepting have characteristics I dislike in myself. I don’t claim them or want to own them so I attempt to get rid of them by projecting them onto someone else. But no matter how much I try to avoid or run away from these people in my life, they still keep showing up in my face. They just show up in different form or they play a different role.
As I practice forgiveness because I’m tired of running, I begin to see the Christ in these people, which reminds me of the Christ in me. My brothers and I do have the same characteristics, but they are of innocence, of perfection, of guiltlessness. If I see anything other than this, it is my own distorted perception.
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