Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Reuniting with Our One Self

A dream of judgment came into the mind that God created perfect as Himself. And in that dream was Heaven changed to hell, and God made enemy unto His Son. How can God’s Son awaken from the dream? It is a dream of judgment. So must he judge not, and he will waken. For the dream will seem to last while he is part of it. Judge not, for he who judges will have need of idols, which will hold the judgment off from resting on himself. Nor can he know the Self he has condemned. Judge not, because you make yourself a part of evil dreams, where idols are your “true” identity, and your salvation from the judgment laid in terror and in guilt upon yourself.

Forgiving dreams remind you that you live in safety and have not attacked yourself. So do your childish terrors melt away, and dreams become a sign that you have made a new beginning, not another try to worship idols and to keep attack. Forgiving dreams are kind to everyone who figures in the dream. And so they bring the dreamer full release from dreams of fear. He does not fear his judgment for he has judged no one, nor has sought to be released through judgment from what judgment must impose. And all the while he is remembering what he forgot, when judgment seemed to be the way to save him from its penalty. (A Course in Miracles, T-29.IX.2;3. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)

We judge what seems to be outside ourselves (idols). But because we were created as One Self as God’s Son, when we seem to judge another, we are really judging our One Self. This brings with it fear and guilt. To hide from this fear and guilt, we make up a dream world of forms that can be the target of our judgments. But this does not really free us from guilt because judgment maintains the dream of separation. The key to freedom is letting go of all judgment. One thought of judgment brings with it Self condemnation.

The real world is perceived when forgiveness is complete; when all judgment has been laid down. Today we practice offering all our judgments to the Holy Spirit for His kind and loving correction. He will help us see the truth of the one Self beyond the judgment. With His guidance, we will move to the happy dream of true forgiveness that brings us to the gate of Heaven, reuniting with our one Self.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Joining with the Light in Our Brothers

Be very still an instant. Come without all thought of what you ever learned before, and put aside all images you made. The old will fall away before the new without your opposition or intent. There will be no attack upon the things you thought were precious and in need of care. There will be no assault upon your wish to hear a call that never has been made. Nothing will hurt you in this holy place, to which you come to listen silently and learn the truth of what you really want. No more than this will you be asked to learn. But as you hear it, you will understand you need but come away without the thoughts you did not want, and that were never true.

Forgive your brother all appearances, that are but ancient lessons you have taught yourself about the sinfulness in you. Hear but his call for mercy and release from all the fearful images he holds of what he is and of what you must be. He is afraid to walk with you, and thinks perhaps a bit behind, a bit ahead would be a safer place for him to be. …the journey’s goal… is but to decide to walk with him, so neither leads nor follows. Thus it is a way you go together, not alone. And in this choice is learning’s outcome changed, for Christ has been reborn to both of you. (A Course in Miracles, T-31.II.8:1-9:3,5-7). See also ACIM Text Q & A.

The central theme in the Course is that we need to let go of all our thoughts from the past. This is what forgiveness does. It is never the present that needs to be forgiven. Only Love is now. It is our insistence on holding on to the past that keeps guilt in place and makes sin (separation) seem real. The past is over and can be easily let go if we are willing to let go of our insistence on making separation seem real.

Today we choose a new direction. We choose to lay down our thoughts from the past and open our minds to the vision of Christ. Without the shadows of the past, the brilliance of the Light of Christ in our brothers will shine upon us. It is this Light that joins us with our brothers. The Light in our brother is one with us, exactly the same, for this Light is God’s Love, given equally to all.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting God’s Will as Ours

God’s Will is that you are His Son. By denying this you deny your own will, and therefore do not know what it is. You must ask what God’s Will is in everything, because it is yours. You do not know what it is, but the Holy Spirit remembers it for you. Ask Him, therefore, what God’s Will is for you, and He will tell you yours. It cannot be too often repeated that you do not know [your true will]. Whenever what the Holy Spirit tells you appears to be coercive, it is only because you have not recognized your will.

The projection of the ego makes it appear as if God’s Will is outside yourself, and therefore not yours. In this interpretation it seems possible for God’s Will and yours to conflict. God, then, may seem to demand of you what you do not want to give, and thus deprive you of what you want. Would God, Who wants only your will, be capable of this? Your will is His life, which He has given to you. Even in time you cannot live apart from Him. Sleep is not death. What He created can sleep, but cannot die. Immortality is His Will for His Son, and His Son’s will for himself. God’s Son cannot will death for himself because his Father is life, and His Son is like Him. Creation is your will because it is His. (A Course in Miracles, T-11.I.8:3-9:11. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)

The fear of God is the fear of Love. The fear of God is the fear of our Self because our Self is one with God and shares His Will. While we identify with an image of our self that is separate from God, our will is unknown to us. And so we go about mindlessly searching for meaning and fulfillment in a world where it cannot be found.

This is why we must ask of God’s Voice, “What is God’s Will for me?” This is actually asking, “What is my will?” The ego thought system is only an empty wish to be different and therefore in conflict with God. This could only seem to occur in imagination. Thankfully God has given us His Voice to lead us to the recognition of our will which we share with Him.

Today we practice asking the Holy Spirit in everything, “What is God’s Will for me?” This is the path to happiness, peace and eternal life.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Learning to Treasure Truth

God’s Will does not oppose. It merely is. It is not God you have imprisoned in your plan to lose your Self. He does not know about a plan so alien to His Will. There was a need He did not understand, to which He gave an Answer [the Holy Spirit]. That is all. And you who have this Answer given you have need no more of anything but this.

Now do we live, for now we cannot die. The wish for death is answered, and the sight that looked upon it now has been replaced by vision which perceives that you are not what you pretend to be. One walks with you Who gently answers all your fears with this one merciful reply, “It is not so.” He points to all the gifts you have each time the thought of poverty oppresses you, and speaks of His Companionship when you perceive yourself as lonely and afraid.

Yet He reminds you still of one thing more you had forgotten. For His touch on you has made you like Himself. The gifts you have are not for you alone. What He has come to offer you, you now must learn to give. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 167, W-pI.167.10:1-12:4. See also ACIM Lesson 167 Insights.)

It is our belief in the reality of our bodies and the world that makes us feel lonely, lacking, fearful and guilty. Yet the Holy Spirit in our minds looks on what we see and teaches us, “It is not so.” The resistance we feel to learning this lesson comes from the belief that we would lose everything we treasure. But what we treasure is really nothing, just illusions. We need to treasure the truth instead of the denial of truth, which is the ego.

We have a kind and loving Teacher with infinite patience, always ready to help us learn to recognize what is true and what is false. As we recognize the false, we naturally let it go. No one hangs on to nothing when it is recognized as such.

We can return to the Life we live in God and know His gifts of Love and joy and peace by being vigilant to receive Holy Spirit’s lessons in freedom. We know that we have learned the lessons by sharing them with our brothers.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Following the Guide to Forgiveness

Forgiveness is the only thing that stands for truth in the illusions of the world. It sees their nothingness, and looks straight through the thousand forms in which they may appear. It looks on lies, but it is not deceived. It does not heed the self-accusing shrieks of sinners mad with guilt. It looks on them with quiet eyes, and merely says to them, “My brother, what you think is not the truth.

Forgiveness must be practiced, for the world cannot perceive its meaning, nor provide a guide to teach you its beneficence. There is no thought in all the world that leads to any understanding of the laws [forgiveness] follows, nor the Thought that it reflects. [Forgiveness] is as alien to the world as is your own reality. And yet it joins your mind with the reality in you.

Today we practice true forgiveness, that the time of joining be no more delayed. For we would meet with our reality in freedom and in peace. Our practicing becomes the footsteps lighting up the way for all our brothers, who will follow us to the reality we share with them. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 134, W-pI.134.7;13:1-14:3. See also ACIM Lesson 134 Insights.)

To truly forgive, we need a Guide Who is not of this world. This Guide is always on call in our mind. But we do need to ask this Guide for help. Otherwise, we are mindlessly following the denial of truth, the ego, out of habit. The ego’s seeming existence depends on us believing its guidance.

The Holy Spirit is not deceived by the ego’s seemingly endless illusions it tries to make us believe are real. If we are willing, the Holy Spirit will help us see through the lies of the ego. As we practice bringing all our thoughts to Him to shine the Light of Truth upon them, we will learn to recognize what is truly Real and what is an illusion. As we recognize that appearances are not real, we will disregard them and the Light of Love will shine back to us, reminding us of what is true in us.

Today we take the Holy Spirit’s Hand. We let Him guide our way and show us the truth behind all appearances. As we accept His vision, our hearts are filled with peace and we walk with lightened steps toward the full remembrance that only Love is real.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Path to the Certainty of Love

The Holy Spirit teaches one lesson, and applies it to all individuals in all situations. Being conflict-free, He maximizes all efforts and all results. By teaching the power of the Kingdom of God Himself, He teaches you that all power is yours. Its application does not matter. It is always maximal. Your vigilance does not establish [the power of the Kingdom] as yours, but it does enable you to use it always and in all ways. When I said “I am with you always,” I meant it literally. I am not absent to anyone in any situation. Because I am always with you, you are the way, the truth and the life. You did not make this power, any more than I did. It was created to be shared, and therefore cannot be meaningfully perceived as belonging to anyone at the expense of another.

Your right mind sees only brothers, because it sees only in its own light.

God has lit your mind Himself, and keeps your mind lit by His light because His light is what your mind is. This is totally beyond question, and when you question it you are answered. The Answer merely undoes the question by establishing the fact that to question reality is to question meaninglessly. That is why the Holy Spirit never questions. His sole function is to undo the questionable and thus lead to certainty. The certain are perfectly calm, because they are not in doubt. They do not raise questions, because nothing questionable enters their minds. This holds them in perfect serenity, because this is what they share, knowing what they are. (A Course in Miracles, T-7.III.1:1-11;4:10-5:8. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)

The world we experience as a body is a world of limits. This is because differences, or specialness, are defined by limits. Perceiving ourselves as existing within these limits makes the power of God unknown to us. We still have all of God’s power in us, but we cannot use it creatively while we believe we are separate.

The Holy Spirit is in our minds with the purpose of helping us let go of the false idea that we could be without any of God’s power. We cannot know God’s power while we see our brother as different or separate from ourselves. As we are willing to offer all our thoughts and perceptions to the Holy Spirit with willingness to let Him show us what is true, the false idea of separation and differences is undone.

To heal and know the power of God in us, we need to be vigilant about bringing our thoughts to the Holy Spirit to be corrected. Following the Holy Spirit’s lead moment by moment is the path that leads us to the certainty of God’s Love.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Awakening to Heaven’s Joy

Forgiveness is the end of specialness. Only illusions can be forgiven, and then they disappear. Forgiveness is release from all illusions, and that is why it is impossible but partly to forgive. No one who clings to one illusion can see himself as sinless, for he holds one error to himself as lovely still. And so he calls it “unforgivable,” and makes it sin. How can he then give his forgiveness wholly, when he would not receive it for himself? For it is sure he would receive it wholly the instant that he gave it so. And thus his secret guilt would disappear, forgiven by himself.

It is not you who are so vulnerable and open to attack that just a word, a little whisper that you do not like, a circumstance that suits you not, or an event that you did not anticipate upsets your world, and hurls it into chaos. Truth is not frail. Illusions leave it perfectly unmoved and undisturbed. But specialness is not the truth in you. It [specialness] can be thrown off balance by anything. What rests on nothing never can be stable. However large and overblown it seems to be, it still must rock and turn and whirl about with every breeze.

The special ones are all asleep, surrounded by a world of loveliness they do not see. Freedom and peace and joy stand there, beside the bier on which they sleep, and call them to come forth and waken from their dream of death. …Open your eyes a little; see the savior [your brother] God gave to you that you might look on him, and give him back his birthright. It is yours. (A Course in Miracles, T-24.III.1;3;7:1-2,7. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)

The wish for specialness, to have something that is ours alone, is the basis for all conflict, fear and guilt in the world. To keep something that is ours alone, we must defend it. Believing we have something that is ours alone brings guilt with it. We treasure it but also realize that we are depriving our brothers of this treasure.

The changelessness of God’s Love given equally to all makes conflict impossible. There is nothing to defend. Everyone has all that is. We are united as one in God’s Love. To know this Love we must let go of the wish to keep something for ourselves alone. We must forgive this wish, for in the forgiving we clear away the barrier that hides the eternal Love of God from our awareness. This is how we waken from the dream of specialness to the joy of Heaven.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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