A Course in Miracles Lesson Insights

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

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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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

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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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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.
Click here to read or listen to this ACIM Workbook Lesson online.

---

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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 350 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 350 Insights

“Miracles mirror God’s eternal Love.
To offer them is to remember Him,
And through His memory to save the world.”

The Son of God was created to be one with God and therefore one with all That Is. Thus, “The Son of God incorporates all things within himself.” The truth is that we are the Son of God and the Son of God is not changed by our weird and wild imaginings.

But if we deny our identity as a Son of God and believe we are something else, then what we perceive will be a world where the Son of God is unrecognized, unknown and unseen. The world our body’s eyes show us is such a world, for it was made to be a place where God could not enter. The world is a judgment against God, representing our rejection of Him as our Creator. That is why if we are to return to awareness of the Son of God as our Self and God as our Creator, we must forgive.

Judgment keeps us feeling separate. Forgiveness opens our minds to the recognition of our oneness with all. Judgment brings conflict. Forgiveness brings peace of mind. Judgment brings depression. Forgiveness welcomes the joy of God and makes it our own.

Father help me to recognize my unforgiving thoughts so that I may bring them to You for help in releasing them. It is through Your strength in me that I am able to forgive. I would accept Your strength today. Into Your hands I commend my Spirit, for I would know once again the joy of my unity in You. Thank You Father for Your holy Son, the Self that I would remember I am.

Focusing on the things of this world as if they were real is a way not to remember God, not to remember everyone’s eternal reality as Love. Being willing to open my mind to receiving miracles lets that memory of changeless Love return.

As we receive the miracles the Holy Spirit brings, we see that nothing other than Love could be real. We see the falsity of the world’s illusions. We see that we are still as God created us. We see God’s Son as one. That is why this lesson says, “Miracles mirror God’s eternal Love.”

The world is a distraction from accepting the truth of God’s oneness. Focusing on a world of separation will not bring me eternal happiness. It is not what I want. It is just a decoy, hiding what is really mine. Today I would not close off my mind to what receiving miracles would bring. Today I would practice opening my mind to the Thoughts of the Holy Spirit.

If I am to awaken to the truth, I need my thoughts purified of all my evaluations and judgments of what is real. I need to be reminded that separate bodies are not God’s Will and therefore are not real. I do not know what anything means on my own. I need to remember that I am not on my own. I need Holy Spirit’s gentle correction of all my perceptions.

Today I would quiet my mind of all the world’s distractions and let my mind open to the truth. As I allow my mind to be changed, the world I see changes, because I now recognize the world I see is coming from my thoughts.

I am willing to give up my belief in what is constantly changing and accept what is eternal. I am willing to return to my true Self and see the true Self of everyone. I am willing to see that there is only one Light and that there is no distance between us.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 349 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 349 Insights

“Today I let Christ’s vision look upon
All things for me and judge them not, but give
Each one a miracle of love instead.”

If I am to awaken to the truth, I must be willing to see through the eyes of Christ. I must be willing to accept and not judge what Christ’s vision shows me. God has given me the gift of Christ’s vision. Today I must make it my highest priority to accept God’s gift. It is Christ’s vision that gives me the miracles that heal my mind. It is Christ’s vision that shows me the truth.

In this world, everyone is busy with shopping for gifts for their friends and family. The biggest gift of all that we could ever receive is Christ’s vision, which is the gift that comes from God.

Today let me be humble enough not to judge Christ’s vision, but to accept it with gratitude. As I am willing to accept Christ’s vision, I receive a steady flow of gifts of miracles of changed perception. Christ’s vision shows me the face of Christ in every brother. Christ’s vision shows me the truth. Today I would be willing to receive the truth and give the truth. It is the greatest gift I could ever receive or ever give. This gift heals all artificial values and returns me Home where I belong.

Christ’s vision sees only innocence because it knows only innocence. Christ’s vision is a holy perception that leads beyond perception. There is no need for vision in Heaven, for what is one has no “other” to see. But in this world where we believe there is something to perceive, we need a vision that will lead us to the recognition of our unity instead of maintaining the illusion of separation. This is the gift of Christ’s vision.

Christ’s vision disregards the forms we look upon and sees only the Love that unites us all. When we join with Christ’s vision, we bring the gift of Love to all we look upon. Perhaps there is a brother who has lost awareness of the Light of Love he is. Christ’s vision sees it for him and offers it to him as a gift of remembrance. If he believes himself unworthy of the gift, he may not accept it, but the gift is held for him to be received when he is willing.

It is not my job to judge whether or not a gift will be accepted and offer it only to those who will accept. It is my job to let Christ vision in me offer the gift of Love equally to all. It is not my job to decide the form in which the gift of Love is given. It is my job to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, Who alone knows the form that will most effectively carry His healing message.

I open my heart to the gift of Love by opening my heart to everyone and everything with equanimity, recognizing what is the same in all. As I open my heart, I feel the joy of recognition, for I recognize the Love in me that is in all my brothers. The Light we share dances in celebration of our unity, for in the recognition of our oneness, we remember our Home.

Today I will give the gift of recognition that Christ’s vision shows me. It is the miracle of Love. And I give thanks for the opportunity to give this gift and receive its blessing.

For a long time I didn’t understand what it meant to have Christ’s vision. I thought it meant that I had to see my chosen image of Christ on my supervisor instead of her own face, or my mom’s face had to be different, or the guy on the freeway. Then I would evaluate my spiritual progress when I couldn’t see those images.

Today I realize that anything I see with my physical eyes is an illusion; it is these physical eyes that cause me to see my supervisor different, my mom different, etc. To have Christ’s vision is to liberate everything I see and make no judgment period, no matter how different they look to me, no matter how I perceive the person or situation; that’s an ego trick.

It’s taken me many years to realize that I don’t know what’s best for me. I don’t know what my needs are, but my Father does know and today I trust Him. I trust that all people and all situations in my life today are here to teach me a lesson and the lessons are those that I need to learn to be free of the judgments I have made. My Father has given me the gift of grace and trusts me to trust Him. Thank you, Father.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 348 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 348 Insights

“I have no cause for anger or for fear,
For You surround me. And in every need
That I perceive, Your grace suffices me.”

As I continue the process of returning Home to Love, I must remember the power of my mind. Jesus tells me, “You are much too tolerant of mind wandering.” The dream appears very real to me because of this mind wandering. I am often frightened or angered by the stories I make up in my dream.

If I truly want to awaken, I will take a step back from the dream and I will be willing to observe the dream with Holy Spirit. I will give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to help me see that what made me fearful or what angered me is just a dream. It is just mind wandering. What I see or experience in this world is coming from my own mind. I have created this through mind wandering and I can let it go.

If ever I get frightened or angry, it is important that I practice stepping back and opening my mind to the Thought that heals. If I am willing to become quiet and listen, the Holy Spirit will purify my mind of all false ideas. In truth, I am still as God created me. I am a Thought in the Mind of God. There is nothing to fear. There is no world of separation. There is only perfect peace, perfect safety, perfect joy.

When I scare myself through mind wandering, the fear or anger I experience can become a signal to quiet my mind and return to the peace and safety of the Holy Spirit. It can remind me to let go of making a world of separation real. It can remind me to let go of my belief in what never happened.

The truth is I am surrounded by Love. I am surrounded by perfect safety. I am willing to practice returning to the truth today with my constant Companion. That is my purpose today and every day I think a world of separate bodies is real.

This lesson tells me I am surrounded by God, my Creator. I am surrounded by everlasting Love, perfect safety and perfect sinlessness. Here we see a succinct description of God’s attributes. When I allow myself to remember that God surrounds me and what this means, I am comforted.

As I was thinking about this lesson, my mind wandered to a situation in which I felt impatient and taken advantage of. These thoughts slipped into my mind without me even noticing at first. They were all too familiar. Then I remembered today’s lesson. “I have no cause for anger or for fear. I am surrounded by everlasting Love and perfect safety.”

Immediately I felt myself soften and relax. What seemed to be cause for resentment faded away. I have nothing to fear. I am surrounded by the safety of everlasting Love. Only in a world wholly alien to what I am in truth could there seem to be cause for fear or anger. Let me learn to recognize these thoughts that seem so familiar are truly alien and what is truly natural to my mind is the safety of everlasting Love.

When I believe in a world of harm and loss, I have forgotten I am surrounded by perfect sinlessness. In that forgetting it seems I must build defenses in every direction. Despite all my efforts, these defenses never seem to be enough. There is always some weakness, for belief in separation is the belief in weakness. It is the belief that I have separated from God’s strength.

Yet this can only happen in a dream world. My dreams do not affect reality at all. In this dream world I believe I have a will in opposition to God. Recognizing God’s strength, believing I am in opposition to Him is very frightening. But this is only a dream. The truth is my will is one with God’s Will, exactly the same. I have no cause for anger or for fear. I only have cause for joy and for peace, for I am surrounded by everlasting Love, perfect safety and perfect sinlessness.

Thank You Father for Your grace, which would not let my wild imaginings change the truth. You have held it perfect and pure for me so I may return to the perfect Home You hold for me. I need only recognize that I share my will with Yours. They are one and the same. Thank You for Your gift to me.

I am struck by this message and a place in the Text in Chapter 7. Simply put, grace is the natural state of every Son of God. When he is not in a state of grace, he is out of his natural environment and does not function well. It goes on to say, “A Son of God is happy only when he knows he is with God. This is the only environment in which he will not experience strain, because that is where he belongs. It is also the only environment that is worthy of him, because his own worth is beyond anything he can make.”

This does point out to me that I am much too tolerant of mind wandering. I must be vigilant for the Kingdom of God and I must either choose Love or fear. I must either be on the bus or off the bus. My mind cannot serve two masters. So I have to forgive myself and others as I see our equality and I must also forget what is not Love. The past is over. I am awakening to the Truth and it is this I want.

Too often I have wanted it both ways, a little worldly stuff to prove my worthiness, money, houses, land, jobs, and I see now why I was so strained and so conflicted. Today I ask Holy Spirit to correct all that is not the truth in my mind and ask Him to help me not make illusions real. May I see it a different way.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 347 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 347 Insights

“Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is
The weapon I would use against myself,
To keep the miracle away from me.”

In this lesson, Jesus gives us the basis of every problem and he also gives us the solution. He helps us understand that making judgments on our own is an attack on our Self. Judgment keeps miracles away.

In paragraph 2, Jesus gives us the one alternative that heals all problems. He tells us, “Listen today. Be very still and hear the gentle Voice for God assuring you that He has judged you as the Son He loves.” (2:1) Here we have the answer to every perceived problem. We are asked to be still and listen. We are asked to have an open mind so that the healing Voice of the Holy Spirit can be heard. As we are truly willing to open our mind, we can’t help but allow in the peace of God. When the ego’s voice is stilled, peace is there. The Voice for God is there. As our willingness to accept God’s peace grows, we are very gently led back from our sleeping state. We are very gently led to awaken to the truth.

As we awaken we see that our attack thoughts are just foolish ideas. We do not want to keep them. They do not protect us. They do not protect our brother. They take us in the opposite direction from where we want to go. We allow a lot of time now to be still and listen. Quieting our minds of the ego’s judgment becomes a high priority. We see that it is the answer to every concern, every fear, every form of suffering. We become more willing to rest in God’s healing Light, God’s healing Love. I would practice accepting this miracle today.

In paragraph one, sentences 6-7 it says that the Holy Spirit sees what I see but knows the truth. He looks on pain but understands it is not real. And in His understanding, the pain is healed. When I was in my 20’s, I had a spiritual mentor who saw in me what I was unable to see in myself. I made him into an authority figure in my mind so while I had great respect for him, I also feared him. It seemed that I couldn’t have any secrets. But because he didn’t see the limits on me that I saw, he frequently put me in positions that caused me to stretch and go beyond the box I placed on myself. I believe his compassionate direction helped me grow and establish a foundation upon which I am still building more than 30 years later.

This is a small and limited example of what the Holy Spirit in our mind is ready to do for us in every instant. He does not believe the limits we have placed on ourselves. He recognizes that we believe we suffer and have pain. We feel guilty and lack of Love, but He knows it is not true. In every moment He is ready to help us let these false ideas about ourselves go.

With loving compassion, He looks upon our ideas of limitation and to each one He gently says, “It is not so.” To feel His healing blessing, we need only take each thought of pain and limitation to Him and let Him show us it is not so. That is His healing judgment on all the fearful and limiting images we perceive. Where we see darkness, He shows us the Light behind the false images. Where we perceive lack of Love and guilt, He shows us the Love that shines upon us beyond the imaginary barriers we have built.

The Holy Spirit is our loving Mentor in our mind, ready in every instant to guide us to a kinder and gentler view of the world and therefore of ourselves. Following His kind direction, we walk a path of Light that leads us ever on toward the Home He knows we never really left. Here we find peace. Here the thought of lack and attack is inconceivable. Here is the experience of Love beyond anything we have ever experienced in the dream of separation. Here we remember our unity with our Creator and we are at peace.

There are a couple of things that jump out at me in this lesson — line 2 and 3: “Straighten my mind, my Father. It is sick.” (1:2-3) I often use a similar prayer. I ask the Holy Spirit to heal my thoughts. It is such a simple prayer, but incredibly effective. Sometimes I ask myself if it could really be this simple. Sometimes I ask more than once as I wait on myself to choose peace, But I persist and, with the Holy Spirit’s gentle and patient correction, everything changes.

I also appreciate the reminder to be quiet today and to listen. I need the reminder as Christmas looms closer and time seems to speed up. As I venture into the frantic crowds today, I ask the Holy Spirit to work through me to bring peace to those I touch. Instead of adding to the chaos this season often brings (or rather that we bring to the season), I want to be a blessing.

Beloved Indwelling Spirit, I am willing, this day, to be still and hear that Voice for God You speak of. I have strayed and wandered and gotten lost. And in that wandering, my mind has become sick from all my misperceptions. I am tired, Holy Spirit. Therefore, I surrender this day to you that you may straighten my mind. Though I might not recognize truth today, as I heal I will trust My Father’s will and know that He will use any situation I encounter as part of His plan to lead me back to Him. I am willing to listen today; please speak to me, sing to me Father. I choose to experience the gift of freedom You offer me. Amen.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 346 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 346 Insights

“Today the peace of God envelops me,
And I forget all things except His Love.”

Today I have the opportunity to focus on the reality of God’s peace. I have the opportunity to accept God’s peace as mine. I have the opportunity to extend peace to every brother I encounter or even think of. Today can be a day of being in peace, if I so choose. I would start right now, by going to the Holy Spirit in my mind and asking for the peace of God. I know I always get what I desire in my heart of hearts.

Today I let peace go to the top of my priority list. Whatever I do today, I will practice doing it in peace. I will practice receiving the truth about myself and extending it to every part of my day.

Today I will watch my thoughts. Are these peace producing thoughts? If not, I will remember that these thoughts are of the ego and hand them over to the Holy Spirit to receive a change in perception.

Today I will practice making peace my top priority. Today I would remember the peace of God envelops me. Today I would practice accepting peace and let it guide my way. In this way I will have a happy day, a day of service to the awakening to God’s peace.

When I look at all the things I think about during the day, almost all my thoughts are about things in time. Things to do, things to say, things other people say and do, things that seem to happen in the world, taking care of the body, sheltering it, feeding it, clothing it, maintaining it. The world was made to make time seem real.

This lesson is telling me that when I give my full attention to the peace of God, all this will fade away and what will remain is timeless Love. Only Love is real. There is nothing else. The peace of God is the peace of Love.

How do I forget all things but Love? By forgiving. Forgiving is letting go of all things in time. And ultimately it is letting go of the idea of time, which is just an ego means for making separation seem real.

To know the peace of God envelops me, I need do only one thing: Forgive. Like an earlier lesson says, to every apprehension, every care and every form of suffering, I need only remind myself to forgive and it will disappear. Only Love remains, for only Love is real. I cannot hang on to judgment, blame and guilt and know the peace of God that envelops me. Forgiveness clears away the veil for me to know once again the peace of God.

Holy Spirit, I come to You today, my best Friend, Who speaks only truth to me and does not judge; Who sees me as I really am, not as I think I am. Thank You Holy Spirit for not believing in my illusions. Thank You for being my Companion, sheltering me with Your peace, comforting me with Your Love and teaching me of the Self I share with all the world.

Thank You for Your trust in me, which inspires my trust in You. I know I can bring all my thoughts to You and You will help me let go of what is unreal, of what hides the peace of God from my awareness. Thus do You teach me to forget all things but Love and I remember Who I am.

Most Holy Spirit, my Heavenly and Divine Guidance, I, too, thank You for the awareness of Your presence in me. Thank You for believing in me, for loving me when I could not love myself. It is because of Your Love and patience that the light of my own true Self is beginning to shine. And so, together, we share this day in peace, in Oneness, and in Love. Today there is no past and no future; there is only Love and there is only God. Help me, Holy Spirit, to remember that any situation that I may encounter with a brother or in what I perceive as time, will be transformed by Him in Love. Amen.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 345 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 345 Insights

“I offer only miracles today,
For I would have them be returned to me.”

Holy Spirit, I open my mind to You today to receive a healing correction in my perception. My body’s eyes deceive me. They show me the opposite of the truth. I need Your correction to my perception that I might have my thoughts transformed.

You give me the miracle of truth. You remind me that separation could never be real. You help me see beyond illusions to the eternal truth of Love. You help me rise above the battleground. You help me see the battle as merely a false story, a story that comes from belief in separation. You help me see past the story to the truth of our oneness in Love.

Holy Spirit, I would receive these miracles today. I would receive Your peace that I may extend Your peace. I would receive Your Love that I may extend Your Love. What I receive I would give.

Today my practice is to open to Your healing perceptions so that I may give the miracles I receive.

The miracle is the effect of true forgiveness. With true forgiveness, I no longer see my brother as separate and different from me. I see instead the Love that is the One Self we share. With true forgiveness I see the innocence, the face of Christ in my brother.

Since everything I see in this world is a projection from my mind, when I see innocence in my brother, I am recognizing it in myself. I receive the gift of Christ vision, reflected back to me.

Today I would not let little irritations and disturbances linger in my mind. I would take them quickly to my inner Teacher, Who will help me see past the meaningless form that I have misperceived and see instead the wholeness and holiness that is the extension of my Self.

I dedicate this day to being vigilant for peace and taking all interferences to the Holy Spirit to be shined away. I will open my mind to the Holy Spirit’s Light and thus will I be able to offer miracles and have those miracles returned to me.

This lesson offers peace to all seeking hearts and today I accept that peace. I accept the Light that has come to lead me back to my Father. I ask Jesus and the Holy Spirit to show me which miracles to give today and I am open to experience the miracles in the form which I need, which is possibly in a form I least expect.

Holy Spirit, I offer You my willingness today to be guided by You, so that I might rest and in that rest I will experience my Father’s gifts to me. Amen

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 344 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 344 Insights

“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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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 343 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 343 Insights

“I am not asked to make a sacrifice
To find the mercy and the peace of God.”

This lesson is telling us that we must give to know the mercy and the peace of God. This is confusing to the ego, which cannot conceive of giving without sacrifice. The key is in sentences 3 and 4. “You only give. You never take away.” In God, giving cannot mean loss. There can be no “taking away.” Because He gives everything eternally, we as God’s Son, have everything eternally. We cannot lose.

To know that I have everything, I must give everything freely. If I try to hold back, to reserve something for me alone, I have lost awareness that everything is given to all and thus will not know that everything is given to me. So it is not giving that brings experience of loss. It is holding back that makes us feel that loss is possible.

This experience of giving to know that we have everything cannot be found on the level of form. Because every form is finite, if it is given away, it is no longer part of the giver. That is the law of separation, which governs the world of form. But in our holy Mind there is no form, only the Thought of Love.

Love knows no limits. To extend Love is not sacrifice but only gain, for Love is magnified by Its extension. Love does not condemn, and so it is merciful. Love is one and so it has no conflict and brings complete peace. To know the mercy and the peace of God I must give the Love I have been given. Only thus will I know my Self as God created It. Love must be freely given and received.

Today I will continue my practice of bringing all my thoughts in this world to the Holy Spirit for His help in removing all blocks to the free giving and receiving of the mercy and the peace of God.

The sentences that stand out to me in this lesson are, “I, too, must give. And so all things are given unto me forever and forever. As I was created, I remain.” (1:6-8) Love is abstract. Love is not specific. Love is all encompassing. It includes all that is. I was created as nonspecific, universal Love. That is what I received and that is what I must give.

Because Love is not specific, there is no judgment, no evaluation. As I return to my true Identity and learn to accept my true Identity, I open to the abstract, universal Love of God. I recognize that the specific is untrue. And so I learn to let go of specifics so that I may know the Love of God that I am. Love only gives so I, too, must give to be my Self. I was given all and I give all. As I was created, I remain.

Returning to this awareness is my opportunity today. When I get lost in specifics or thinking that specifics are real, I can hand it over and remember that Love is universal. Love is giving all to all. This I would practice accepting and giving today.

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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 342 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 342 Insights

“I let forgiveness rest upon all things,
For thus forgiveness will be given me.”

Forgiveness is letting illusions be recognized as the illusions they are. Forgiveness is the key I hold in my hand. If I want the world I made to still seem real to me, I will not forgive. I will hold on to the illusions. I will hold on to my grievances. I will hold on to the hell I made in order to deny my reality. But holding on to hell causes me great unhappiness and loss of peace. Holding on to hell by making it appear to be real in my mind is attacking myself.

I would not continue attacking myself today. I would let forgiveness do its healing work. I would let go of what I thought I made real. I would let the Holy Spirit show me its unreality. I would let go of my grievance against oneness. I would not wait again today to receive the gifts forgiveness offers.

Today I would let the Holy Spirit be my constant Companion. I would look at the world I made with the Holy Spirit. I would let the Holy Spirit show me its unreality. “I let forgiveness rest upon all things, for thus forgiveness will be given me.”

Each time I truly forgive, I experience great relief. The world appears brighter. My heart is happy. I walk with lightened footsteps and a smile on my face. I want to extend the joy in my heart to the world. It’s a wonderful high and it’s a high that could last for eternity if I would but let forgiveness cover all I perceive. It seems that it should be easy to be addicted to forgiveness, for nothing else brings the lasting joy it brings.

But to the contrary, it seems I am more addicted to my grievances. It seems insane to make such a choice and in fact the Course is telling me it is insane. It all stems from the desire for specialness, to have a separate and unique identity I can call my own. Were I to let forgiveness be complete, I would recognize my oneness with all things. That unique, separate identity would no longer have value and thus would cease to seem to exist.

It would mean the end of the ego, which the ego perceives as death. When I identify with the ego, the fear of death makes forgiveness repulsive. The ego would rather be in pain and hang on to its grievances than lose its special identity. When the Course asks, “Would you rather be right than happy?” it is asking would I rather keep a separate identity I can call my own or would I prefer to know the joy of God?

Today I will continue bringing all my judgments to the Holy Spirit for His gentle and loving correction. It makes no difference whether I think it is a petty grievance or a major trauma. Anything that seems to make me separate from my brother needs to be forgiven. Only thus will I know my own wholeness, my unity with Love, my innocence. I would walk with the Light of the Holy Spirit beside me and let Him shine away the darkness of false images made to make separation seem real. I would let His Love comfort me and bring me peace. Thus will “I let forgiveness rest upon all things, for thus forgiveness will be given me.”

I cannot express how effective this practice of “bringing all my judgments to the Holy Spirit for His gentle and loving correction” has been for me. I think that the inclusive nature of it is very important. If I find myself being resistant to taking something to the Holy Spirit, I often catch myself thinking this is a little thing, I don’t need to fool with this. I stop and do it anyway because the Course makes it clear that we need to not hold anything back from the Holy Spirit. Sometimes it turns out it was a much bigger deal than I was admitting.

What a beautiful prayer in this lesson. And I do thank you, Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I’ve made. You have gone to great lengths to get these messages of hope to me and for that I am truly grateful. And in that gratitude I commit myself today, this moment, to realize that I hold the key to my happiness.

I ask Holy Spirit to guide me and help me remember this commitment I have made so that I may experience the love and peace You offer me, which has always been Your will. I ask Holy Spirit to help me to forgive, especially myself, for the illusions I have made. I humble myself to You, Holy Spirit, and allow You to lead me past the gate of Heaven. Amen.

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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 341 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 341 Insights

“I can attack but my own sinlessness,
And it is only that which keeps me safe.”

It is my sinlessness, my innocence, my holiness that keeps me safe, because that is what God created. What God created is changeless, remaining one with Him. The Self God created is forever safe.

The sense of vulnerability, the need to defend and attack, cannot come from the Self that knows Its changelessness in God. It can only come from a false image that does not remember the Love and strength it shares with God. So when I feel vulnerable, when I feel attacked or when I feel a need to attack to defend myself, it can only be because I believe I am something other than my Self.

This world is the out-picturing of the belief that I am separate from God. Everywhere I look it shows me vulnerability, conflict, devastation and death. There is not one thing in this world that is not in some way decaying. Some things seem to last a tiny fraction of a second. Others seem to last billions of years. But all are constantly changing and headed toward disintegration. Impermanence is the lesson this world attempts to teach because it represents the opposite of God.

If I want to remember my innocence, if I want to remember the holiness God created me to be, it is useless to look to the world to find it, for the world was made to hide it. By the grace of God, I have within my mind a loving Teacher Who will gently guide me back to the remembrance of my Self as God created It. It is to this inner Teacher that I must turn if I would learn the lesson of my sinlessness. With His help, I will see my innocence reflected back to me from everyone and everything I look upon. I see this through the miracle of forgiveness.

Today I would continue my practice of turning all my judgments over to the Holy Spirit and let Him judge on my behalf. Thus will I learn to recognize the false image of a separate identity for what it is and awaken to my Self in God.

Remembering that I am still as God created me is the same as remembering that I am innocent. I may think that I changed my image from the Self That God created, but this cannot happen in truth. I may think that I am guilty and that I have lost my innocence, but this cannot happen in truth. This is what keeps me safe. Separation from God can happen only in a dream — only in illusions.

Thank God this world could never be true. Thank God we could never be separate and alone. Thank God there is no death. Thank God dreams of insanity, dreams of separation, are simply dreams. Our eternal Reality is eternally safe. Light still remains Light, even if I choose to dream dreams of darkness. I am still Love, even though I may use the power of my mind to make up images that a world of fear is true.

I am so grateful that I cannot change the truth. I am so grateful that I can recognize and then let go of dreams of separation with Holy Spirit. I am so grateful that I am still in the Mind of God and never left.

Now is the time to let go of what could never be true. Now is the time to forgive God. Now is the time to step back and follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will lead me to what is eternally true as I practice quieting my mind to receive the truth today.

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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 340 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 340 Insights

“I can be free of suffering today.”

Today I can awaken in Heaven, at Home in my Creator. This brings up a lot of questions from the ego. “What’s special about today? Why not yesterday? Why not five years ago? Why did I have to wait so long? What if it doesn’t happen today?” These simply highlight the emphasis the ego places on the seeming reality of time. In truth, today is no different than any other day. In the eternal now I am free of all suffering. If I’m not experiencing this, then I am choosing against it today.

This lesson reminds me of the movie “Groundhog Day,” in which the main character experiences the same day over and over until he learns its lesson. That is what we are all doing. Every day that we do not experience the serenity, joy and Love of God, we haven’t learned the lesson the day has for us. “We were born for this day” means from the day we were born, the only meaningful goal for us is to let go of our attachment and belief in separation and accept God’s Will for us that we be with Him in Heaven.

Each day we simply repeat the same mistake of believing that we have separated from God. Each day we have the opportunity to make another choice. In truth there only is now, the holy instant in which we remember our Source and our Self, which remains forever one with Its Creator. Today I can accept that every day offers me that same choice, that same opportunity. “I can be free of suffering today.”

Suffering only comes with belief in the false ideas of the ego. Suffering only comes with belief that we are what we could never be in truth. Suffering comes with belief that we have separated from our one Identity in God, which is what the Course calls belief in sin. With belief in sin, or that we really separated, comes guilt and with guilt comes fear of God’s reprisal. Release from suffering comes with release from these false ideas.

Forgiveness means seeing the dream’s unreality and letting go of what never was. Forgiveness means letting go of illusions of separation. In Lesson 193, paragraph 13, Jesus tells us to repeat this often, “I will forgive and this will disappear. To every apprehension, every care, and every form of suffering, repeat these selfsame words. And then you hold the key that opens Heaven’s gate, and brings the Love of God the Father down to earth at last, to raise it up to Heaven.”

It is only holding on to the false ideas of separation that holds the suffering in place. As we are willing to open to the healing perceptions of the Holy Spirit, we are brought to the awareness that the illusions of separation found in this world are not true. An opposite to God could never be true. Time and space could never be true.

As we continue to practice forgiveness with every form of suffering that we find ourselves believing in, we eventually let go of all our false beliefs. We awaken to the truth. We see that all these dreams never really happened. All these dreams of separate individuals, different and alone, are just dreams found within the ego thought system.

As we forgive, we no longer are attracted to make these forms of separation real. We let them go. We awaken to the fact that we are still as God created us. We did not and could not change our reality as an extension of God’s Love. We are still safe in God because we are an eternal Thought in the Mind of God and nothing else.

Letting go of illusions of separation is a lifetime process. Each day we have the opportunity to release ourselves from the bondage of belief in the ego thoughts of separation. Each day we have the opportunity to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, Who leads us Home. The Holy Spirit shows us we never left Heaven. We just dreamed a dream of separation and suffering.

Today is a day of practice of letting my mind be healed today.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 339 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 339 Insights

“I will receive whatever I request.”

God created us joyful, because He created us like Himself. So if we are not experiencing supreme joy, then in some way we are avoiding it or denying it. This seems ludicrous. Ask anyone if they want to be happy and they will answer, “Of course!.” But do we really know what will make us happy? This whole world is the effect of a mistaken idea of what will make us happy.

The ego is the idea that specialness, having more than the Everything God gave us, will make us happy. What the ego does not tell us is that to have this specialness, we must deny our Source and cut ourselves off from It, therefore cutting ourselves off from the Source of real joy. In place of God’s joy, the ego offers illusions of happiness. But because they are illusions, they are really nothing.

Beneath the surface of the world of special illusions lies intense guilt because we believe we hurt God by separating ourselves from Him. Because of this guilt we believe we are unworthy of happiness. Even in periods when we seem to be happy, we are sure it cannot last.

We think we want independence. We want to be “in charge of our destiny.” But the price of this independence is the loss of awareness of our oneness with Love, our Source and our strength. So declaring our independence, we wander the world, feeling weak, alone and lacking Love. This is indeed being confused about the things we want and the state we would attain.

This is why it is so important for us to dedicate each day to do nothing by ourselves, but to hear His Voice in everything we do and accepting only the Thoughts of Love God shares with us. Thus will we spend the day in fearlessness, because we will receive what we really want.

In the Text, Jesus tells us we always choose between two thought systems — the ego’s or the Holy Spirit’s. He tells us we will receive the effects of what we choose.

The ego is the choice for separation, limitation, guilt and pain. It is the choice to be something other than an extension of God’s Love.

With choosing the Holy Spirit comes the undoing of the dream. When we choose the Holy Spirit, we are willing to let go of the false identity that we mistakenly made. With the Holy Spirit, forgiveness becomes our only function. As we learn to think with Holy Spirit, we are brought to see innocence instead of guilt. We are brought to see oneness instead of separation. We are brought to feel God’s peace because we are letting go of the conflict that separation brings.

With the Holy Spirit, we no longer believe in bodies. We no longer believe in death. We recognize that there is only eternal life and that eternal life is changeless. With Holy Spirit, the body’s only purpose now is for awakening from the dream. “I will receive whatever I request.”

This lesson reminds me that I do have the power to change my thinking. It is up to me. Nothing is happening to me without my request. It is encouraging and, at the same time, an awesome responsibility to know that I have the power to change my life. The feeling of powerlessness, the repetition of powerlessness, that I had been taught, no longer holds true. And I don’t choose alone!

Today I choose Holy Spirit’s interpretation of my life choices and my life. I am as God created me and nothing can alter that! My choice is to be happy and peaceful and extend that to all I meet today!

When I look back on my life, I can see that I have always gotten what I wanted, or shall I say what I thought I wanted. Most of the these things have turned out to be dead ends and or not what I wanted after all.

As a result of this, I used to go through life feeling lost, wandering, looking for that “thing” that would fill the void in my heart. And today, rather than to see my past as wasted time, I see these dead ends as blessings. I see it as a kind of “process by elimination” because it is these dead ends that have lead me to God. They have lead me to the point where the only thing I value today is my peace of mind.

Today I resolve to ask for peace, for this is what I know I want, and I want only this. When I ask for peace, nothing outside of me changes, even if I encounter a situation that causes me conflict, I try to remember that it’s just an opportunity for me to go within and change my mind, not the situation, and I get back to being at peace.

Sometimes I wonder if I know what the meaning of Love is. But when I’m in a peaceful state of mind, I place myself in a position to be more open to receive what Love is in truth.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 338 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 338 Insights

“I am affected only by my thoughts.”

Today’s lesson is one of empowerment. It reclaims our power over all that we experience. With that power we are free to choose the peace and joy and Love of God instead of the darkness and emptiness of the ego.

The ego’s very existence depends on our believing that we are not responsible for what we see or think, that we are at the mercy of outside forces to the point of death. The ego needs us to believe that we are powerless before all these forces. At best we can make meager defenses that can temporarily hold off their advance, but ultimately we will succumb in death, which the ego tells us is ‘proof’ that we have ‘lived.’ But this is not life. It’s a cruel hoax, which substitutes for the tranquility and joy of the Life we share with God.

As I can accept that “I am affected only by my thoughts,” the ego ceases to have control. I become free to choose the happy thoughts of Love I share with God instead of the frightening thoughts of guilt the ego offers. I have long believed the ego’s lies without questioning them. And so I must practice day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute, bringing all my thoughts to the Holy Spirit. I must ask Him with an open mind, “What does this mean? I do not know.”

This is how I will learn that I am truly affected only by my thoughts. This is how I will learn that I have a choice so that I can choose again. This is how I will learn that indeed I am God’s beloved Son, along with all my brothers. It is our unity in Him that keeps me safe, invulnerable, tranquil, in quiet joy and perfect Love. It is this I seek to remember today.

If I ever feel sad, depressed, anxious or fearful, it is only because of my thoughts. If I feel happy, enthusiastic and full of joy, it is because of my thoughts. My thoughts are the cause of everything I experience. The thoughts I hold in my mind are what gives meaning to everything I see and experience.

With Holy Spirit, I am now in the process of retraining my mind to think differently. I am learning to watch my thoughts and ask myself often, “With the thoughts I am thinking now, am I joining with the ego or am I joining with the Holy Spirit?”

With ego thoughts, I am perceiving the world as real. I think I am separate and alone and think others are separate and distinct from me. The ego thinking always looks for distinguishing differences. It looks to put all the guilt I am holding inside onto something or someone outside of me. The ego is attracted to thoughts of conflict, blame and judgment.

The Holy Spirit’s thoughts always lead me to peace and seeing the truth behind every separate form I see in this world. The Holy Spirit does not make this world real, but helps me see past this world of separation to the real world of unity. The Holy Spirit changes my perceptions to look past bodily behavior to the one Light that never changes. The Holy Spirit moves past time and space to what is eternally true. The Holy Spirit brings me to the holy instant, where all is one Mind.

As I go through my day, it is important that I remember the truth that “I am affected only by my thoughts.” It is important for me to take whatever thoughts are in my mind to the Holy Spirit to be purified and cleansed of all false ideas. If I want to be truly happy, I will do this on an ongoing basis all through the day. I will choose the Holy Spirit as my constant Companion and remember not to decide what anything means on my own based on my past learning.

I know too much to go back to the old ways of thinking. On page 22 of the Text it says, “Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit.” I am at the stage where I would rather be happy than right. When I open to the Holy Spirit’s healing perceptions, I am led to forgive the thoughts that I thought were true. I am led to the experience of peace, joy and happiness. “I am affected only by my thoughts.”

What a beautiful lesson. He tells me that I will have thoughts that will frighten me, and I do. But He is in that place of quiet, patiently waiting for me to go there, and I do, but unfortunately sometimes only after I become frightened, and He gently and lovingly reminds me that this is not the way it has to be.

He tells me that it is my own plans that frighten me in the first place and that His plan is sure. And my heart tells me this is true, because He has never failed me before. My mind was in conflict this morning and I asked Holy Spirit to talk to me and He just did, in this lesson.

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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 337 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 337 Insights

“My sinlessness protects me from all harm.”

The Course defines Atonement as perfect Love. It also calls It the undoing. God created the Self we share as perfect Love. Thus when we accept Atonement, we accept our Self. If we weren’t rejecting Love, there would be no need for Atonement, no need for undoing false perceptions. But to experience Atonement, to experience perfect Love, we need to undo our denial of It.

That is why forgiveness is central to the Course. Forgiveness is the undoing of the denial of Love, our Self. When I judge someone, that person represents my denial of Love. It is this I must take to the Holy Spirit and let Him help me see the Love behind the behavior and to answer the call for Love with Love.

When I disapprove of someone’s behavior, I may tell myself, “I would never do that.” This is one of the tricks of the ego. It encourages us to look at form (behavior) and disregard content.

As I learn to take these judgments to the Holy Spirit, I learn to see the common content. Always in some way the behavior represents a belief in separation and the lack and loss that seem to come with it. If I see someone as needy or demanding or manipulative or any of myriad labels I might apply, they all cover a basic sense of loss, which the behavior is trying to rectify. The behavior is trying to solve the problem on the level of form, where it cannot be solved. When I judge the behavior, I am thinking that changing the behavior will solve the problem, which is also trying to solve the problem at the level of form, where it cannot be solved.

As I learn to recognize the problem is a sense of lack that comes from believing in separation from Love, then I can take that problem to the Holy Spirit and ask for help to recognize that I am the Love that I seem to have lost. And in that seemingly “other” person, I can answer the behavior, the call for Love, with Love. Thus I teach myself that I am Love and that Love is always the answer.

The problem is the belief in separation from Love. The answer is the acceptance of my Self, perfect Love. That is Atonement. That is accepting my Self as the Son God loves. That is seeing that I am joined with all my brothers in that one Self that is the Son God loves.

Today, Holy Spirit, help me not to be fooled by behavior. Help me to see my unity with all in the one Self that is God’s beloved Son. Thus will I let my sinlessness protect me from all harm.

If I think I can be harmed in any way, I have forgotten my Self. I have forgotten my Identity as an extension of God’s Love and am dreaming of being the opposite of what I truly am. Building defenses against harm is not the answer. Letting go of the false dream of separation is the answer.

Taking all thoughts of harm to the Holy Spirit to be undone is how I let go of these thoughts. I recognize they are unreal and harm is impossible. Dreams of being on a distant shore are not reality. Dreams of bodies are not reality.

Today I would practice accepting Atonement for myself. Today I would let the Holy Spirit show me the difference between what is real and what is unreal. I would let my mind be healed today.

The lesson says that I must accept Atonement for myself and nothing more. Because forgiveness is central to the course, acceptance of Atonement begins with me (or where I am spiritually at the moment).

I’ve shared before that I notice I can be much more forgiving (or let up) on others when I forgive (or let up) on myself first. That makes sense to me because when I perceive that someone says something mean to me or does something to hurt me, it’s always when I’m not in a peaceful state of mind. It’s always when my self-esteem is low or I’m feeling insecure about myself.

When I’m in a spiritual state of mind, I really do feel protected from all harm. It’s kind of like an invisible shield protecting me, but not from the world or from bad things attacking me (form). In other words, it’s not like bad things are coming in from the outside, it’s like good things are going out from the inside. It’s like my true Self is shining and I experience nothing but light around me. And it is in these moments that I can say “Father my dream is ended now.” Amen

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Listen to Lesson 336 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 336 Insights

“Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined.”

This lesson is making it explicitly clear that peace of mind can only be found by looking within. No amount of looking to external circumstances will bring me peace. The ego tells us that if we just have the right relationship or live in the right house or have the right job or if our coworkers behaved differently, then we could be at peace. This lesson is telling us not only that we won’t find peace there, but to find peace we must forgive. That means we need to let go of our judgments about relationships, coworkers, jobs and houses.

Perceptions can serve a helpful purpose in this world if we turn them over to the Holy Spirit for Him to use for His purpose. He will use perception to teach us to learn to look beyond it. He will help us learn to let go of judgment, for it is judgment that keeps us feeling separate and alone. This forgiveness is done in quiet because the Holy Spirit’s vision is received in quiet.

Conflict is a symptom of judgment. When we experience tension, discomfort, frustration, resentment, even a minor irritation, it is a sign that we need to return to peace, return to the quiet place in our mind and receive the Holy Spirit’s vision. He will show us what unifies us, the Love that lies beyond the seemingly separate forms. He will show us the innocence.

Today I will be mindful of my thoughts and feelings, being alert to any disturbance of my peace of mind. I commit to taking each disturbance to the Holy Spirit. He will take it willingly, for He has a grand gift to give me in return. He offers me the peace of God. I need but give Him my thoughts of judgment, my calls for Love, and He will answer by showing me the Love that God placed in my heart, my Self. “Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined.”

Everything I see with the body’s eyes is a distortion of the truth. What I see through the body’s eyes is separation — individuality, differences, each thing separate and alone. What I see through the body’s eyes is not the truth. Believing in these distortions comes with joining with the ego. I have joined with the ego and have thought that the distortions were real.

I am now in the process of awakening to the truth. I do this through joining with the Holy Spirit in my mind. It is the Holy Spirit That shows me that the distortions are unreal. It is with the Holy Spirit that I learn to see past bodies to recognize that we all come from the one Mind and we have not left that mind. It is the Holy Spirit That brings me to the altar of truth.

By remembering that I do not know what anything means on my own, I am then open to Holy Spirit’s gentle correction. I am then open to the new perception. The Holy Spirit shows me where I have been thinking wrongly and returns my mind to oneness. The Holy Spirit reminds me that separate bodies with separate minds could never be real. The Holy Spirit reminds me that these images are just hallucinations coming from the ego thought system.

The Holy Spirit shows me how to unplug from the ego thought system. The Holy Spirit shows me how to not take it so seriously. The Holy Spirit shows me how to be truly helpful in every situation where I am led. The Holy Spirit is my constant Companion, helping me awaken to the truth when I lose my way. The Holy Spirit leads me to the peace of God.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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