Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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How to Change Our World

The relationship of anger to attack is obvious, but the relationship of anger to fear is not always so apparent. Anger always involves projection of separation, which must ultimately be accepted as one’s own responsibility, rather than being blamed on others. Anger cannot occur unless you believe that you have been attacked, that your attack is justified in return, and that you are in no way responsible for it. Given these three wholly irrational premises, the equally irrational conclusion that a brother is worthy of attack rather than of love must follow. What can be expected from insane premises except an insane conclusion? The way to undo an insane conclusion is to consider the sanity of the premises on which it rests. You cannot be attacked, attack has no justification, and you are responsible for what you believe.

You have been asked to take me as your model for learning, since an extreme example is a particularly helpful learning device. Everyone teaches, and teaches all the time. This is a responsibility you inevitably assume the moment you accept any premise at all, and no one can organize his life without some thought system. Once you have developed a thought system of any kind, you live by it and teach it. Your capacity for allegiance to a thought system may be misplaced, but it is still a form of faith and can be redirected. (A Course in Miracles,T-6.in.1-2. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

In truth we cannot be attacked because our true Self is only Love and Love has no real opposite. But if we believe in the premise that we are separate in a world of separation, everything we perceive conforms to our belief. We see what we believe because our “seeing” is a projection of our belief.

Fortunately beliefs can be changed. Our belief in being separate must be let go and the recognition that we are Love and nothing else must be accepted if we would receive the peace and happiness God wills for us. We cannot look to our perceptions based on separation to find our way out of our mistaken belief. We need to be willing to turn to the Guide given us by our Creator to learn the truth of What we are.

Our inner Teacher sees our mistaken beliefs and projections, but does not believe them. He uses our perceptions to teach us that these perceptions are not real. Through His guidance, we journey on a path of awakening that leads us out of the forest of confusion into the simplicity of Love’s oneness. We need only be willing to consider that our perceptions may be mistaken and open our minds to the Holy Spirit’s reinterpretation. He will show us the changeless Love behind the perceptions of separation. As our beliefs change, the world we perceive changes.

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Identifying with the Oneness of Love

Think not you made the world. Illusions, yes! But what is true in earth and Heaven is beyond your naming. When you call upon a brother, it is to his body that you make appeal. His true Identity is hidden from you by what you believe he really is.

God has no name. And yet His Name becomes the final lesson that all things are one, and at this lesson does all learning end. All names are unified; all space is filled with truth’s reflection. Every gap is closed, and separation healed. The Name of God is the inheritance He gave to those who chose the teaching of the world to take the place of Heaven. In our practicing, our purpose is to let our minds accept what God has given as the answer to the pitiful inheritance you made as fitting tribute to the Son He loves.

Father, our Name is Yours. In It we are united with all living things, and You Who are their one Creator. What we made and call by many different names is but a shadow we have tried to cast across Your Own reality. And we are glad and thankful we were wrong. All our mistakes we give to You, that we may be absolved from all effects our errors seemed to have. And we accept the truth You give, in place of every one of them. Your Name is our salvation and escape from what we made. Your Name unites us in the oneness which is our inheritance and peace. Amen. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 184,W-pI.184.8:1-5;12;15. See also ACIM Lesson 184 Insights.)

A name is a symbol used to define differences. In the oneness of Love, there is no need for a name because there are no differences in what is one. That is why, in truth, God has no name.

But we believe in a world of differences. We dedicate our life to learning and using names for all the differences. Most importantly, we believe the differences we have labeled are real and have meaning. Differences conflict and compete with each other. But because only the oneness of Love is real, these differences must be illusions, and therefore meaningless.

This belief in the reality of differences hides the truth of Love’s oneness that is everywhere. The Name of God is a unifying symbol as we accept His Name as the one Identity we all share. The fact that His Name is our inheritance makes us all one as His Creation. There are no differences in God, so there are no differences in our inheritance.

To accept our inheritance, we need to replace all the labels and identities that we assign to differences in the world with the one Identity given us by God. This means we withdraw our belief in the reality of differences. As we do this, the seeming importance of differences fades and the eternal presence of Love shines forth. We accept the reality of our Identity as Love in place of the made up illusions of differences in the world.

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Awakening from Our Limited World View

You are as God created you. The sounds of this world are still, the sights of this world disappear, and all the thoughts that this world ever held are wiped away forever by this one idea. Here is salvation accomplished. Here is sanity restored.

If you remain as God created you, you must be strong and light must be in you. He Who ensured your sinlessness must be the guarantee of strength and light as well. You are as God created you.

Today we will again devote the first five minutes of each waking hour to the attempt to feel the truth in you. Begin these times of searching with these words:

I am as God created me.
I am His Son eternally.

Now try to reach the Son of God in you. This is the Self that never sinned, nor made an image to replace reality. This is the Self that never left Its home in God to walk the world uncertainly. This is the Self that knows no fear, nor could conceive of loss or suffering or death. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 94,W-pI.94.1:2-5;2:2-4;3. See also ACIM Lesson 94 Insights.)

Our true Self is what God created. It shares all of God’s attributes, for It remains united with Its Source. This is why we are still as God created us. God does not change, so the Self that remains united with Him cannot change.

The self that we believe we are in the world denies our unity with God. Thus it seems that we are different, loveless, capable of harm and being harmed. This belief makes us feel we are guilty for the harm we think we have done and fearful of retaliation. But this belief in what we are is a false image and could never be true.

As we remind ourselves that we remain as God created us, His Son eternally, we loosen the belief in the false image of a limited, loveless self. We open the door to the recognition that God’s strength and Light is ours. Our belief in the false self fades as the Light of our true Self shines brighter in our mind. Today’s practice leads us on the path of awakening to our true Self.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting Our Unity with Love

Seek and find His message in the holy instant, where all illusions are forgiven. From there the miracle extends to bless everyone and to resolve all problems, be they perceived as great or small, possible or impossible. There is nothing that will not give place to Him and to His Majesty. To join in close relationship with Him is to accept relationships as real, and through their reality to give over all illusions for the reality of your relationship with God. Praise be to your relationship with Him and to no other. The truth lies there and nowhere else. You choose this or nothing.

Forgive us our illusions, Father, and help us to accept our true relationship with You, in which there are no illusions, and where none can ever enter. Our holiness is Yours. What can there be in us that needs forgiveness when Yours is perfect? The sleep of forgetfulness is only the unwillingness to remember Your forgiveness and Your Love. Let us not wander into temptation, for the temptation of the Son of God is not Your Will. And let us receive only what You have given, and accept but this into the minds which You created and which You love. Amen. (A Course in Miracles,T-16.VII.11-12. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

The dream of a world of separation is an attempt to limit Love. Since Love cannot be limited, this dream is the denial of Love.

To wake up from the dream, we need to let go of (forgive) the belief in separation and accept our true relationship with God. In truth, we remain united with our Creator. All His Love, His joy and His peace are ours. This relationship can never be broken because it is the Law of Love.

In every moment we choose between the “gifts” of the ego, which are meaningless, empty forms (illusions), and God’s eternal gifts of all that is real. We choose between nothing and everything. The temptation to believe the world offers something of value is strong because we have taught ourselves that the dream is real. Now it is time to turn to God’s Teacher within for help to see past the meaningless illusions and accept our unity with Love.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Understanding True Forgiveness

You do not understand forgiveness. …[Forgiveness as you perceive it] is not what God intended it to be for you.

Salvation is a better gift than this. And true forgiveness, as the means by which it is attained, must heal the mind that gives, for giving is receiving.

Give fifteen minutes twice today to the attempt to understand today’s idea [All that I give is given to myself]. It is the thought by which forgiveness takes its proper place in your priorities. It is the thought that will release your mind from every bar to what forgiveness means, and let you realize its worth to you.

In silence, close your eyes upon the world that does not understand forgiveness, and seek sanctuary in the quiet place where thoughts are changed and false beliefs laid by. Repeat today’s idea, and ask for help in understanding what it really means. Be willing to be taught. Be glad to hear the Voice of truth and healing speak to you, and you will understand the words He speaks, and recognize He speaks your words to you. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 126,W-pI.126.6:1,6;7:4-5;9;10. See also ACIM Lesson 126 Insights.)

The ego’s presence in our mind depends upon our belief that we are separate and alone and that what we give to an “other” no longer remains with us. This can only seem to be true in a dream world of separate forms.

But minds are joined and cannot be separate. They only seem separate in dreams of separation, which can never be true. If minds are joined, what is given remains with the giver, for it has not left the mind of the giver. Only thoughts that accept the reality of Love’s oneness can be joined. It is this fact that becomes clear as we accept the idea that giving and receiving are the same. Because they are, true forgiveness is justified.

This is why it is essential that we understand that all we give is given to ourselves. Because forms are unreal, giving a form has no effect in truth. True forgiveness is a thought in the mind that removes a barrier to Love. It frees our brother and ourselves simultaneously because the thought has not left the mind that gave it.

Today we will go to the quiet place within and ask for help to understand that all we give is given to our Self.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Receiving the Vision of a Forgiven World

Christ’s vision is a miracle. It comes from far beyond itself, for it reflects eternal love and the rebirth of love which never dies, but has been kept obscure. Christ’s vision pictures Heaven, for it sees a world so like to Heaven that what God created perfect can be mirrored there. The darkened glass the world presents can show but twisted images in broken parts. 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 His sight the sinless are as one. Their holiness was given by His Father and Himself.

Behold the store of miracles set out for you to give. Are you not worth the gift, when God appointed it be given you? Judge not God’s Son, but follow in the way He has established. Christ has dreamed the dream of a forgiven world. It is His gift, whereby a sweet transition can be made from death to life; from hopelessness to hope. Let us an instant dream with Him. His dream awakens us to truth. His vision gives the means for a return to our unlost and everlasting sanctity in God. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 159,W-pI.159.3;4;10. See also ACIM Lesson 159 Insights.)

Christ’s dream of a forgiven world is a dream that sees only innocence. It is the recognition that only Love is real. All thoughts and images that are not expressions of Love are disregarded as meaningless. We accept Christ’s vision by bringing our perceptions to the Christ within, with willingness to exchange them for Christ’s vision.

This means we are willing to relinquish our judgments. We remember that of ourself alone, we do not know what anything means. We are willing to consider another way of seeing. As we accept Christ’s vision, the dark shadows of separation, guilt and fear fade away. What seemed to be a need for defense is transformed into the recognition of a call for Love. The Love of our true Self answers that call with joy and we learn that we are Love. The vision of a forgiven world becomes clearer. We practice this today.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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From Belief in Death to Acceptance of Life

Death is the symbol of the fear of God. His Love is blotted out in the idea, which holds [Love] from awareness like a shield held up to obscure the sun. The grimness of the symbol is enough to show [death] cannot coexist with God.

The “reality” of death is firmly rooted in the belief that God’s Son is a body. And if God created bodies, death would indeed be real. But God would not be loving.

Without the idea of death there is no world. All dreams will end with this one. This is salvation’s final goal; the end of all illusions. And in death are all illusions born.

Teacher of God, your one assignment could be stated thus: Accept no compromise in which death plays a part. Do not believe in cruelty, nor let attack conceal the truth from you. What seems to die has but been misperceived and carried to illusion. Now it becomes your task to let the illusion be carried to the truth. Be steadfast but in this; be not deceived by the “reality” of any changing form. Truth neither moves nor wavers nor sinks down to death and dissolution. And what is the end of death? Nothing but this; the realization that the Son of God is guiltless now and forever. Nothing but this. But do not let yourself forget it is not less than this. (A Course in Miracles,M-27.3:1-3;5:1-3;6:3-6;7:1-10)

The Course says in many ways that if anything changes, it is not real, for Love is changeless. In the world death is the ultimate indicator of change. So death must be unreal. If we look honestly at all the forms in the world, it is obvious that they all are representations of death. Nothing is changeless in the world. Everything starts to age and decay the moment it is made. Not even the hardest rock is immune to change.

Our belief in this makes the existence of a loving, changeless Creator and His changeless Creation seem farfetched and impossible to believe. This is why the Course’s goal is the complete reversal of our thought system from our belief in death to acceptance that we remain only changeless Love as Love created us. The moment we chose to believe in separation (death) we were given the Teacher to guide us back to the remembrance of our true Self, God’s loving extension of Himself.

The Love we are was never lost. It is only hidden by our belief that separation and death are real. The daily moment-by-moment practice of letting Holy Spirit show us the truth of changeless Love beyond all our perceptions will set us free. The illusion of fear and death fades away as we accept the Light of Love that is eternally present. Today we remember to choose the Holy Spirit as our Guide.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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