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 275 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 275 Insights

“God’s healing Voice protects all things today.”

What stands out to me today is, “Join me in hearing.” (1:3) As long as I try to be a separate identity, I will not welcome the Voice for God. God’s Voice teaches me that I am not separate and alone.

Jesus represents the full recognition of our unity in God and so he is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. By joining with him, we share his recognition of oneness. In oneness there can be no loss or harm of any kind. And so we experience the full protection of God’s Love. What greater safety could there be than God’s safety?

I particularly appreciate the practical help which comes from listening to God’s healing Voice: “I need be anxious over nothing. For Your Voice will tell me what to do and where to go; to whom to speak and what to say to him, what thoughts to think, what words to give the world.” (2:2-3)

Holy Spirit, help me to see the Light of truth in all my brothers. Help me to recognize that Light as the Self we all share. I open my mind to Your Word, for I would learn of my safety and my strength, my kindness and my gentleness. With Your help Holy Spirit, I will learn to see that in all my brothers as well. I am grateful for my elder brother’s example of remembering Love and nothing else. And I would join with him in this remembrance. With him I walk in Love. With him I see the face of Christ in everyone. With him I know the Christ in me and I am Home. My heart is filled with joy.

When I quiet my mind of all the ego’s chatter and ask the Holy Spirit to heal my mind, I am very quietly brought to a deeper level of peace. I am brought to a place of stillness and quiet. Here I rest a while.

Here I am brought to the truth that only oneness in God is real. Herein lies my safety. Herein lies the peace of God. Here I see that all the conflict that comes with believing in separated bodies is unnecessary because the appearance of separate bodies is only a dream.

The appearance of separated bodies comes with joining with the ego thought system. The whole thought system is false and therefore not true. The whole thought system could never be in reality. It is just a dream and means nothing.

This is what I learn from my inner Teacher, the Voice for God. I learn that dreams of separation are just dreams and therefore I need not fear them. I need not believe them. With the Voice for God I can understand the difference between what is unreal and what is real. I can let my mind be brought to the truth. I can let my mind rest a while in the truth of oneness. I can let go of all grievances because I now realize that they are not based on reality. Nothing but universal Love can really happen. The rest is dreams. “God’s healing Voice protects all things today.”

This lesson contains such a beautiful prayer. It made my heart sing with joy when I read it. I am going to copy it into my day-timer and read it frequently to protect my peace throughout the day.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 274 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 274 Insights

“Today belongs to Love. Let me not fear.”

Today I would join with the Holy Spirit to be shown the truth behind illusions. Today I would practice opening to the truth. Today I would practice letting all the thoughts of separation be healed by the Holy Spirit in my mind. Today I would practice letting the dream be undone.

Today I would practice letting only the truth of Love be recognized as real. Today I would practice letting go of substitutes for God’s Love. Today I would practice forgiving, or letting them go. I would remember that this is what letting go of fear entails. This is letting Love be itself without trying to put something else in its place.

Today I would practice letting go of duality and remember that only Love’s oneness is the truth. Today I would remember that truth is true and nothing else is true. Today belongs to Love. Let me not hold on to fear. I would let my mind be healed today by the Holy Spirit. Today is a wonderful opportunity to practice remembering that only Love is real.

Today belongs to Love as does every day. It doesn’t seem that way when I look out on a world that seems to be vulnerable and seems to attack. It doesn’t seem that way when the body I call mine malfunctions or the car I am driving is hit by another car. But that is only because I am seeing the ego’s false images in place of the Love that is all that is real.

The images of the ego are indeed fearsome if they are believed to be real. But when we let the Holy Spirit show us what they are in truth, we can only respond with gentle laughter as we dismiss them as meaningless and without effect.

Love cannot be changed. It is eternal and Love is What we all are in truth. Love is the Self we share, the Christ that remains one with Its Source. Fear is simply a sign that I am believing separation to be real. It is this belief that must be undone. It is undone step by step.

Each time I bring each thought of fear, each disturbance of my peace of mind to the Holy Spirit, His Light of truth shows me that what I thought could harm me does not exist. What does not exist can have no effect. Without a cause, fear disappears. With the Holy Spirit’s help I remember today belongs to Love, for there is nothing else.

Today went fine for me, but toward the end of the day (and after two days of traveling) as I was finally going home, I started to feel inexplicably sad. I even started tearing up.

I immediately started the three-step process of turning it over to the Holy Spirit. I tried to think of what the thought was behind the sadness. I thought of a couple of things, but suspected that I had not gotten to the core problem.

I offered what I could to God and asked Him to help me. At first nothing happened, then I felt a strong desire to listen to one of the tapes from the 901 Course that I keep in my car. It didn’t have anything on it that was specifically related to what was going on right now, but I started feeling much better and I realized that I had not taken time to do my lesson this morning and had not paused during the day to center myself.

I just needed to remember who I was and what my purpose is. Sometimes it is just that simple.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 273 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 273 Insights

“The stillness of the peace of God is mine.”

The inner guidance of the Holy Spirit is there for all of us and the way we open to it is by owning what is truly ours. The stillness of the peace of God is truly ours to own and be. Through this peace we are led very gently to an awareness of our true Identity. Being willing to own up to what is truly ours takes a letting go of what is not ours in truth. The ego is not our true identity, even though we may have chosen this thought system for a while. It just makes a false sense of an individual self that could never be.

The Holy Spirit will always show us how to move past disturbances of the mind and return us to the peace of God. Today my job is to open to the peace of God by holding the Holy Spirit’s hand and being willing to be led. I have chosen wrongly and now I would undo that choice. And I would accept Holy Spirit’s help in leading me out of my belief in separation. The stillness of the peace of God is mine.

God gave all of Himself to His extension, His Son. That means His Will is that His Son have His peace. God’s peace is my inheritance. It belongs to me because God Wills that it is mine. Since this is so, I must be worthy of God’s peace.

In this world, disturbances come in many forms. They may be emotional reactions to the words, actions or circumstances I perceive outside of me. They may be my own judgments about what I have said or done. They may appear in the form of misfunctions of body parts, which we call illness. Even minor aches or discomforts are disturbances of God’s peace, and thus can be answered with the statement, “The stillness of the peace of God is mine.”

We are worthy of the stillness of the peace of God, for that is God’s Will. Today I will practice being mindful of my level of peace. Each time I recognize a disturbance in any form, I will remind myself with certainty, “The stillness of the peace of God is mine.” I will know His peace as I remember my deep abiding Love for my Creator.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 272 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 272 Insights

“How can illusions satisfy God’s Son?”

The sentence that stood out to me today is, “I am surrounded by [God’s] Love, forever still, forever gentle and forever safe.” I repeated that statement over and over in my mind to allow myself to open up to the feeling of being surrounded by God’s Love. Gradually I felt myself soften, relaxing into the comfort of Love. In Love there is no conflict, only unity. My heart fills with joy as I feel the gentleness of God’s Love. I am at peace as I rest in the stillness of God’s Love.

His Love overflows in me and I am inspired to embrace all with that Love. There is nothing else I would rather do. There is nothing else that has any meaning. The Love in my heart reaches out and surrounds all that I see. And only Love returns to me. Thus I see the radiant face of Christ everywhere. And yet this joyous feeling that overflows my heart is but a hint of the Heaven God created as my Home.

Holy Spirit, help me to open my heart more to the Love that surrounds me with its stillness, its gentleness and its safety. Help me to look past all illusions as I forgive the dream and accept the reality of God’s gift of Love.

As I work with this lesson, I am led to look at all the substitutes I have made for God’s Love. What illusions do I still crave to cling to? What illusions do I still think would bring me happiness? Today my practice is to mindfully look at the illusions I am still making real in my mind and hand them over to the Holy Spirit to be translated into truth.

That is what forgiveness really means — taking all my illusions to the Holy Spirit to be undone. In today’s lesson, it says, “Today we pass illusions by.” If I am sincerely interested in awakening to my true Identity in the one Christ Mind, I will take this seriously. I will look at the places where I am not passing illusions by and recognize that these are barriers to my return to Love.

Holding onto the symbols of separation — special things, special people, special times and places — is not letting illusions go. This happens only in the unforgiving mind. Today I would take one more step towards true forgiveness. Today I would take one more place where I am making illusions real to the Holy Spirit to receive a transformed perception.

Today I would practice forgiving illusions. In reality they are representative of an unconscious grievance against God.

God is. Love is. If I hold on to anything else, it is a grievance in my mind. True forgiveness is letting go of these grievances. Today I would practice forgiveness and open to the true happiness of God’s one eternal Love. How can illusions satisfy God’s Son? Today I will practice letting go of trying to make something out of nothing.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 271 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 271 Insights

“Christ’s is the vision I will use today.”

This is another lesson emphasizing the power of decision. It reminds me of the lesson which says, “I have a kingdom I must rule.” Everything I experience, everything I perceive is the effect of my choice.

What thought system do I choose to be my guide for seeing? If I choose the ego thought system, I will see guilt, fear, loss and death, though Love, peace and Life surround me. If I choose the Holy Spirit as my Guide, I will see the face of Christ everywhere, for it is there to be seen, always. I will not raise the ego’s veils of substitute images to block my awareness of the Loving Self that I share with all that is.

It is always my choice. It seems incredible that I would choose anything but the Love of God. Yet the fact that I experience fear and conflict tells me that I have chosen against Love. Today I choose the Holy Spirit to guide my vision to show me Christ’s face in all my brothers in a forgiven world. Thus will I remember my Father and His gifts of peace and joy, given me in my creation.

In the section, “What is the Christ?” it is brought home to me that Christ is unified Thought that is in the Mind of God. We all are this unified Thought — one Christ — which is the one Self we share with God, and so we all are only Thought that lies in the Mind of God. That is the only part that is real.

I have been thinking about the fact that I am Thought and only Thought that resides in the Mind of God, which is Love. Seeing the face of Christ in my brother means seeing that my brother is the Thought of Love that still resides in the Mind of Love. This is my job today. This is using Christ’s vision.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 270 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 270 Insights

“I will not use the body’s eyes today.”

We are not being told here to put on a blindfold so that we won’t use the body’s eyes. This is an attempt to cure by changing the effect instead of the cause. It is the same as saying that I won’t watch the news because it upsets me. The news is not the cause of my upset. It is the judgments in my mind about the news that upset me. If I don’t watch the news, the judgments remain and will be triggered by some other event in my life as long as they remain in my mind.

Were I able to hold Christ’s vision unwaveringly, I could watch the news and hold my peace, offering only Love to all I see. There would be no judgment, for I would be seeing a forgiving world, an innocent world, where harm is recognized as impossible. This lesson is leading us to this vision. It is the forgiveness in my mind that makes it possible to see a forgiven world and remember God.

It may be helpful not to watch the news while I work on my forgiveness, letting go of judgments and insistence on holding a separate identity. The more I can maintain peace and be receptive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the more I will be able to see with Christ’s vision. Here is where I change the cause of all conflict or disturbances of any kind. The more I can consistently give all my judgments to the Holy Spirit for Him to purify, the easier it will be for me to look on all things with equanimity. My peace remains undisturbed when I allow the Holy Spirit to be my Guide in all things. Then it will not matter whether I watch the news or not.

Holy Spirit, I seek to walk with You today and let You guide all my doings, all I say and think. With Your help, Christ’s vision will show me all that is real and I will easily disregard the unreal as meaningless. With Your help, I will experience the joy of being God’s Son, united with Love, everywhere and beyond time. Thus will I not see with the body’s eyes, but instead see with the Light of Love and remember my Creator.

Holy Spirit, I take my dreams to you today and let them be brought to the truth. I would not hold on to sick dreams and protect them by continuing to make them appear real in my eyes. I would hand over these dreams with an open mind.

I am willing for these dreams to be translated into Christ’s vision, where all true vision lies. I am willing to remember that all are in Heaven now and have never left. I am willing to remember that only God’s Will is real. I am willing to let go of the ego’s lies. I am willing to let them be washed away in God’s healing Light. I will not use the body’s eyes today to make illusions real.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 269 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 269 Insights

“My sight goes forth to look upon Christ’s face.”

Today I am being invited to look upon a new perception. I’m being invited to open my mind to the Holy Spirit’s perception. I’m being invited to look past my mistaken ideas to the one Christ mind that lies in everyone, behind the false perceptions of the ego identity.

Today I consciously choose to accept that invitation. I consciously choose to step back from my habitual ways of thinking. I consciously choose to open the door to God’s peace which leads the way to see the face of Christ, which alone is true. Today I devote to listening to the Holy Spirit. Today I will practice not deciding what anything means on my own. Today I would follow, I would not lead.

With all the Course’s emphasis on teaching that this world is an illusion and that believing in this illusion keeps us from the experience of God’s Love, it seems surprising that it would tell us to ask for an illusion. But there is one illusion that leads us out of all illusions to transcend all what we have made. This illusion is forgiveness.

The illusion of forgiveness is necessary because we believe in the illusion of sin or separation. In Heaven, where there is complete knowledge of oneness, there is no need for forgiveness because there is nothing to forgive. But in the dream world where illusions are thought to be true, we need an illusion of letting them go in order to be free of them.

It is this illusion called forgiveness that opens my sight to see the face of Christ in everything I look upon. It clears the way for me to see the unity of Love that is the holy Son of God, which is me and all my brothers in the oneness of God.

In the dream of the hell of separation, what could I pray for but the means for release from it? And so today I ask the Holy Spirit for the one illusion that sets me free. Thus will the Holy Spirit teach me that everything I look upon is one with me, for we are united as God’s one Son.

The ego does not want to be shown its mistakes. To the ego, a mistake is a sin and cause for guilt. To the Holy Spirit, a mistake is simply cause for correction, which leads to release from guilt. I really do want the Holy Spirit to show me my mistakes for what they are so that I can look beyond them to the kind and radiant face of Christ that is everywhere to be seen. Today I pray, “Holy Spirit, show me my mistakes, for I would look beyond them to remember the joy of being God’s Son.”

Practice, practice, practice. To see my brother’s face is to see Christ’s face. To look with my mind’s eye is to see Christ’s face. Even “just” the practice brings me closer to forgiveness. Close enough to go beyond believing towards being.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 268 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 268 Insights

“Let all things be exactly as they are.”

Probably most of us do not think of ourselves as being God’s critic. Yet if we look at what the world is for, it is clearly a criticism of God’s creation. God, being Love which is one, created only Love, extending Love while still keeping His Creations one with Love. The world is the manifestation of the ego idea of not wanting to share Love equally with all, of wanting specialness. A critic is not satisfied with what it judges.

The ego has judged against God, being unsatisfied with Love being given equally to all. Only Love is real, so the ego seeks to alter reality, replacing Love with specialness. The title of today’s lesson, “Let all things be exactly as they are” is setting the intent to stop seeking to replace Love with substitutes.

In the “What is the body?” section that goes with this lesson, we are told that the body was made to keep us safe from Love. To allow ourselves to experience Love, we must give up our special, unique identity, which the body is used to define. Identifying with the body keeps us separate and holds specialness in place. It could be said that the world was made to show us exactly what everything is not, to show us illusions.

This is why it is so important for us to develop a strong inner communication with the Holy Spirit in our minds so that we learn to trust His vision more than we trust the sight of the body’s eyes. This is the means by which we let go of the ego’s substitutes for the reality of God’s Love, by learning to look past them. We maintain our openness to the Holy Spirit’s vision by staying at peace. Thus will we remember that we were created as Love by Love and learn to see only Love.

Holy Spirit, I dedicate my day to following Your vision, saying what You would have me say, doing what You would have me do. In deep gratitude I would follow only You today.

Am I willing to accept the truth today? Today’s lesson helps me with that practice. As I practice letting all things be exactly as they are, I will remember that all things are safe in Love as Love. Today’s practice helps me remember that I am still Love as God created me. And because Love sees only Love and extends only Love, I will feel safe in Love’s eternal Presence.

What a wonderful opportunity I have today — to accept the truth that only Love is real. Today is a happy day as I practice letting all things be exactly as they are.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 267 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 267 Insights

“My heart is beating in the peace of God.”

This lesson says to me that peace gives my body a new purpose. When I am at peace, I am able to see past behaviors of the body and see the Love that surrounds me everywhere. This is what forgiveness does. It lets go of illusions of separation and sees only the Love that is the reality in all that is.

If I am not at peace, I am in conflict. If I am in conflict, I will use the body to defend and attack. I use the body to see differences and to perceive myself as separate from everything. So it comes down to a simple choice. Do I want to be at peace and thus let go of illusions of differences and separation or do I want to hang on to my individuality, exchanging peace for conflict? Those are my only choices in truth. It always comes down to choosing between reality and illusion. The peace of God is reality. Conflict is illusion.

Judgment keeps conflict in place. Forgiveness releases illusion and opens my mind to recognize that my heart beats in the peace of God. Would I rather be right or happy? When I need to be right, I hang on to my judgments and hold separation firmly in place.

When I release my judgments to the Holy Spirit, He shows me what is real and what is not. What is recognized as unreal is easily let go and I can accept the reality of God’s Love and peace everywhere.

Holy Spirit, guide my thoughts today. Guide my voice and my hands that I may be your messenger of Love to all I look upon or even think about, for I would remember that my heart is beating in the peace of God.

I always have everything I need to serve God’s Plan for the awakening because everything comes from my one Self. And I cannot separate from my one Self. My one Self always resides in my mind. As I allow my mind to quiet and listen, I am able to feel the peace of God which is always there, waiting for my acceptance.

As I am willing to quiet my mind and listen, I remember that I am safe eternally. I remember that there is only one goal, and that is to awaken from the dream of separation. I remember what matters and what does not matter.

I rest a while in this healing peace. I remember that all that I need to play my part in the salvation of the world is given me. Every answer I need comes from my willingness to accept the peace of God and extend it to everyone equally.

Thank You Holy Spirit for Your ever present Love. I would practice listening to Your Voice all through the day, remembering that I am surrounded by God’s Love. I would remain open to accepting Your peace. I would remember that my heart is beating in the peace of God. Let me attend Your answer, not my own.

© 2003, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 266 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 266 Insights

“My holy Self abides in you, God’s Son.”

We are told that God has filled the world with our saviors. It may not seem like the person who is in our face telling us we did something wrong is our savior. But that is only because we are not using the sight God has given us to see the savior in him. This sight is the key to seeing the saviors that surround us every day. This sight comes with taking the time to allow ourselves to be in peace.

Peace comes to a quiet mind. When our minds are filled with judgment, peace is shut out. It is time to step back from those judgments and remember that it is not our job to judge. It is our job to turn over every perception to the Holy Spirit. He will judge truly, showing us what is real and what is unreal.

Our holy brothers, our saviors, reflect what we see in ourselves. If we look within and see cause for guilt, we will see guilt in our brothers. Seeing that in our brothers can be a message to us that we need to forgive. Our brother then can be a teacher of forgiveness, our savior. We need only recognize his message. In one way or another the message is, “Forgive and you will know you are forgiven.” How blessed we are to be surrounded by messengers of God, bringing us the one message that will free us from the hell of belief in separation.

To receive the blessing, my job is to open my mind to the vision of the Holy Spirit, God’s gift of sight. I need to question everything I think I know and remember I do not know what anything means on my own. With the Holy Spirit as my Guide, I am surrounded by saviors, mighty Friends whose holy message is, “You are part of me. We are one Self, the holy Son of God Himself. We share our Father’s Name. His Love is ours, united in Him. Blessed are we.” Today I would open my heart to this message that I may be free to extend the Love that I am.

Today’s lesson reflects the total thought reversal that the Course sets forth. Today’s lesson reflects the non-dualism that Jesus is guiding us toward. In today’s lesson, we are reminded that we are one Self and not divided up into separate units.

The differences that the body’s eyes see are not true and practicing this lesson helps us remember this. In reality, our brother is our one Self. Remembering this helps us remember that we are included in this one Self. That is why our brothers are our saviors. As we remember this truth for him, we are remembering this truth for ourselves. In this way we let go of our belief in separation. In this way we lay down the ego’s lies. In this way we return to the truth. In this way we return to our true Identity as Love and nothing else.

As we say to each brother we think of or encounter, “My holy Self abides in you, God’s Son,” we are helping our brother and ourselves return Home. We all go Home together, because we are one Self. Today my practice is to remember this.

Fine lesson. It reminds me that if I communicate with the Holy Self in another, the answer is ever certain, being one. What can answer in another vein but an idea of separation in my dreaming mind. I can dream of grandiosity and lofty pleasures, and I can dream of limitation and unworthiness, equally unreal.

Your Holy Self would also abide in me. A son may try to see his future in a father of this world of form, but his Holy Self and mine are one in truth, and awakening can be in the remembering. We all share in Holy Truth, and Love becomes stronger in our lives, being all that is.

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Listen to Lesson 265 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 265 Insights

“Creation’s gentleness is all I see.”

What am I identifying with, the ego’s thought system or the Holy Spirit’s thoughts of Love and gentleness? The ego thought system is riddled with guilt. Guilt always goes hand in hand with belief in separation. Within the ego thought system, guilt is always projected so that it looks like the guilt lies in the outside world. With projection there is always fear. Projection makes the world appear very terrible and laden with guilt.

As I learn to let go of the ego thought system, or forgive, the projection changes. As the ego thought system is gently laid down, the Love of God is all there is to see. The Love of God is all there is to feel. The Love of God is all there is to be. Creation’s gentleness is all I see.

What I see shows me where I am in letting go of the ego. Focusing on the ego’s in “others” shows me that I am still coming from the ego mind. As I practice daily letting those fearful images go, what lies behind these barriers to Love will show up. What has always been true will show up. The Love of God will be seen once again.

If I see anything other than Love, I still have forgiveness work to do. I am still holding on to a barrier to Love and letting that barrier go is the only answer that will work. Let my practice be today to recognize every barrier to Love and let it go. This is true forgiveness.

Today’s lesson is telling me that everything I fear is in my mind alone. To believe otherwise is self deception. The world of itself is wholly neutral. It has no meaning of its own, like a blank projection screen. All the meaning I see in the world, I give it. What I think I see is direct feedback, showing me what I believe. If I identify with the ego’s idea that separation is real, the world will reflect back to me all the effects that belief in separation brings: fear, guilt, attack, loss and death. But if I identify with the thoughts I share with God, with the unity of Love, the world will reflect back to me creation’s gentleness.

What I perceive is always my choice. I am never the victim of someone else’s behavior. But if I identify with the body, which is the ego’s mechanism for making separation seem real, I will always feel that if I’m not a victim right now, I may become a victim in any moment. Weakness and vulnerability are my condition. I must be constantly on alert to defend against seen and unseen forces, whose hidden or not so hidden agenda is to bring about my end.

This the ego believes. The frailty of the body “proves” that the Son of God has been taken from his Creator, overpowered and no longer shares God’s eternity. Thankfully, the body is a dream. It is not who I am, nor who anyone is. As I remember that I am still as God created me, that His Thoughts are my Thoughts and I am not a body, I will see creation’s gentleness.

The sentence that really spoke to me this morning was, “Focusing on the ego’s in “others” shows me that I am still coming from the ego mind.”

I need those landmarks to let me know where I am because sometimes I think I have released something and what I have really done is hide it from myself. I get the same ill effects, I just don’t see what is causing it. I can’t ask for healing if I am in denial about the problem and refusing to see it.

On the road this morning I was stopped to allow a funeral procession of cars to pass. I started to remember what that procession feels like when one is in the line. The thought and the sadness just faded before it took hold. Only the words of today’s lesson remained. And it just felt so right to offer this idea as a blessing for my brothers as their cars passed by me.

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• • Lesson Index
Listen to Lesson 264 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 264 Insights

“I am surrounded by the Love of God.”

Salvation’s prayer is being willing to remember the truth. Salvation’s prayer is being willing to remember that everything is still as Love created it. We are still like God, no matter what dreams we dream. We are still in Heaven and have never left. We are surrounded by the Love of God.

When fearful dreams come, we can learn to step back and not place our belief in them. We can learn to return to the truth that we are indeed surrounded by the Love of God. We cannot be harmed. We are safe, because we are still as God created us.

Dreams of separation are pretend. They are foolish children’s games. Salvation’s prayer reminds us to let them go. When we let go of childish dreams, the truth that we still are in Heaven will return to our mind.

In truth we never left God. We never left Love. We only dreamed we did and dreams are not real. We can relax now. We are safe in Love’s peaceful Arms. We now allow ourselves to be carried as we relinquish making decisions on our own. We quit taking the dream so seriously. We lighten up and allow Love to replace our fears. We allow peace to restore the awareness of Love’s presence Which is everywhere because Love is all there is. Today I will allow myself to remember the truth that only Love is real.

Today’s lesson is very comforting to me. I can never be without Love. I can deny Its presence and thus experience lack of Love, but Love still surrounds me and is in me. My denial does not change It. Denial only makes me unaware of It. If I experience fear, all that is happening is that I am denying the presence of Love.

I find it helpful to remind myself whenever I do not feel at peace that I am surrounded by the Love of God. Sometimes I have to repeat this over and over, but when I do, I eventually feel a shift. Peace returns. Once again I welcome the Holy Spirit’s vision. What appeared to be a threat is now overlooked. I recognize that the Love I am cannot be threatened.

Sometimes I look around me at all the images that seem to fill my world — trees and buildings, cars and people walking about — and remind myself, “I am surrounded by the Love of God.” I feel Its safety washing over me. I see the Love beyond the image of a tree or of a coworker. Judgment falls away. I gain a glimpse of the sameness we share, which is the Love of God.

As I walk in this remembrance that I am surrounded by the Love of God, I walk in gratitude and joy. I am serene and peace is my companion. Ego images may act out fear, but I know my safety cannot be disturbed. This is what comes when I remember I am surrounded by the love and peace of God.

I experienced seeing the love beyond the image today. As this happened to me, I noticed a reciprocal response from the person involved even though he had no idea what was going on with me (at least not on a conscious level).

What I am experiencing over and over is that how I feel is effecting other people. I am seeing that my feelings and my thoughts are stronger and have more effect than what I say.

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Listen to Lesson 263 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 263 Insights

“My holy vision sees all things as pure.”

Holy Spirit, let me see the innocence that comes with seeing through the eyes of Christ. Let me see the purity of Spirit that lies behind every form of separation in this world. Let me remember the truth that only God’s creation is real.

Let me let go of thinking that I am outside of Heaven. Let me let go of insane dreams of separation. Let me release all blame and guilt, sorrow and suffering, pain and death. These thoughts are not worthy of my belief. Help me to let them go. These dreams do not mean anything. Help me let go of making the error real.

Holy Spirit, you know what is best for me on my journey of return to Heaven. You know that I never left. I open my mind to You and follow Your lead. Teach me the simple path of return. The path gets simpler as I pay attention to Your words, to Your insight. I would listen today and be guided to seeing through the eyes of Christ.

This lesson is reminding me to not pay attention to appearances. Appearances are not reality. They are veils over reality that shift and change, depending upon what is projected upon them. They represent the beliefs I hold in my mind as true. Thus appearances are feedback that shows me my beliefs. Any appearance of limitation, lack or loss is simply showing me that I believe in limitation, lack and loss. With the Holy Spirit’s help, I can learn to look beyond these appearances to the reality of pure Love everywhere.

If it appears that someone is angry or destructive, my job is to recognize that this does not represent who they are. With this recognition I can step back and let the Holy Spirit in my mind guide my vision so that I might see as Christ sees.

I do not need to love the appearance. I need to love the reality beyond the appearance, for only Love is real. It may be that the appearance is showing that the ‘other’ person does not believe they are Love.

As I can respond in a way of Love, guided by the Holy Spirit in my mind, I can remember the truth about them. And in that remembering, I teach myself the same lesson. Thus will I learn that I am not a body. I am free. I am still as God created me. This is what Christ vision shows me about me and everyone. My holy vision sees all things as pure.

I appreciate what you wrote above. The line that jumped out at me was, “I do not need to love the appearance. I need to love the reality beyond the appearance…” Someone I love is treating herself in a way that is not loving. I have been sad about this and anxious as well. I was focused on the actions; the appearance. I will keep my focus on the reality beyond the appearance instead, and that will open my mind to Holy Spirit’s guidance.

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Listen to Lesson 262 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 262 Insights

“Let me perceive no differences today.”

Today’s lesson is the practice of looking beyond the body to our oneness in God, which is always there. Today’s lesson is the practice of seeing what is always the same and what is eternally true. Today’s lesson is the practice of seeing past the ego. Today’s lesson is about accepting the peace that comes with remembering unity. Today’s lesson is about focusing on only what is true.

Differences are always of the ego. Different bodies with separate minds is not what is true. Let me perceive no differences today. In this way I accept the peace of God.

Differences are the basis for all conflict. There can be no conflict between what is the same. We are told that the Holy Spirit sees the world we see but does not believe it. He knows it is unreal and He is in our minds to teach us to recognize the unreality of the world we think is so real. As we learn to accept His vision, we will still see the forms of the world, but learn to disregard them as meaningless. Thus we will look past the forms to see the Love that is the same in all things everywhere.

With the recognition of Love comes peace, for peace is an attribute of Love. As we learn to recognize the unreality of form, conflict disappears. We are able to see beyond the form and if the form appears to be acting out lack of Love, we can recognize it as a call for Love. We will naturally respond to this call with Love. Now we become God’s ministers, bringing His healing Light to our brothers.

We do not need to preach to him or correct him or try to make him change at all, for these would be attempts at changing the effect of error instead of changing the cause. We simply answer the call for Love with Love. The error is believing there is lack of Love. Love is always the answer. In this world of apparent differences, the means of extending Love, the form it takes, will vary according to what is most helpful. Of ourselves, we cannot know the form, for of ourselves alone, we cannot Love. Love is the recognition that we are not alone.

By joining with Holy Spirit and letting Him guide us in the way in which to offer Love in this world, we join with the Love in our brothers. Thus we can be truly helpful. It is what is the same in all of us that joins us together. What is the same is Love and nothing else. Holy Spirit help me to see what is the same in everyone and everything today.

This is a perfect lesson for me today. I have been struggling with feelings directed toward an individual. It always seems harder for me to release anger and resentment when it is the other person’s “fault.” I have tried turning it over to Holy Spirit and just keep taking it back.

It was very helpful for me to read the above comments today. I was not thinking of her actions as a call for love and was not thinking that I needed to respond with love. Just as I was wondering how I was supposed to do that, I read the above paragraph reminding me that it is not my job to know the form love needs to take in this instance. That made me feel relieved.

I also needed to be reminded not to preach or correct or try to change her at all. I am certain that is why I was having so much trouble releasing this. On top of everything else, I was feeling resentful because I needed to fix this and didn’t know how. Again, knowing that this is not my job, I feel relieved.

Now I feel like I can easily respond to her need for love with love and trust the Holy Spirit to guide me in the form in which it is most needed. Now that I think of it this way, I cannot imagine responding to her need for love with anything but love! Thanks so much for the timely reminder.

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Listen to Lesson 261 Insights

ACIM Workbook Lesson 261 Insights

“God is my refuge and security.”

Either I will think I live in a body or I will remember that I live in God. When I place my sense of security in the body to make me safe, I will be in fear. When I place my sense of trust and security in God, I will be in peace. It is my choice. Where will I place my trust today? Do I think I need to provide for myself on my own or will I be willing to remember that the only real Life I live is the Life I live in God?

The way I remember the Life I live in God is by being willing to recognize the ego mind when I am not at peace and open to the truth with the Holy Spirit. I have closed my mind to the truth and now it is time to open those doors, remove those barriers to Love which hide the truth. I hold the key in my hand. By letting my mind quiet, I will receive whatever I need in the present moment to heal my mind.

I will receive a different way to view the world. I will receive a new perspective on what I see through the body’s eyes. I will be taught how to look past bodies to the one Christ Spirit that is the truth of every brother. I will be taught how to lay down the ego’s fearful lies and scarcity and danger. I will be taught that true Love is sharing all of God’s Love with everyone equally.

I will feel encompassed in peace. I will feel the fruits of living in God. I will feel the peace, Love and joy of God. I will feel Love’s safety and know that it is eternal. It does not come and go. Today I would remember that “God is my refuge and security.”

It is interesting to observe the many ways the ego attempts to offer substitutes for God’s refuge and security. Any time I judge someone’s behavior, I am believing that my safety somehow lies in that person having different behavior. There is a belief that if I could somehow fix things in the world I perceive outside of me, I will feel safe. If I have the right relationship, I will feel safe. If my ‘significant other’ would just not do that one annoying thing, I would feel safe. If the boss were not so insensitive, I would be happy. If I had a new car, I would be happy.

The list of things outside me that seem as though they could bring me happiness is endless as long as I believe the world of separate bodies has any value. Today’s lesson is reminding me where my true refuge and security lie. All the things in the world are just decoy’s, illusions of safety that offer nothing real or lasting.

Holy Spirit, help me to recognize the false substitutes for what they are so that I can let them go. In letting them go I open my mind to remembering that God is my refuge and security.

This is a good lesson for all of us. When I find myself getting too caught up in something or someone, I now say to myself: “Oh wait, I don’t have to do that anymore.”

Another favorite saying of mine is: “I don’t need to muck around in someone else’s garden,” or “Oops, that’s God’s garden and He certainly doesn’t need my input.” I just remind myself it’s none of my business.

I think a good time to practice this is on the freeway when there’s an accident and I want to slow down and take a good look. Well guess what, it’s NONE of my business and so I just say a little prayer for that person and keeping watching the traffic in front of me.

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