Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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The Ego’s Use of Guilt

No gift of Heaven has been more misunderstood than has forgiveness. It has, in fact, become a scourge; a curse where it was meant to bless, a cruel mockery of grace, a parody upon the holy peace of God. Yet those who have not yet chosen to begin the steps of prayer cannot but use it thus. Forgiveness’ kindness is obscure at first, because salvation is not understood, nor truly sought for. What was meant to heal is used to hurt because forgiveness is not wanted. Guilt becomes salvation, and the remedy appears to be a terrible alternative to life.

Forgiveness-to-destroy will therefore suit the purpose of the world far better than its true objective, and the honest means by which this goal is reached. Forgiveness-to-destroy will overlook no sin, no crime, no guilt that it can seek and find and “love.” Dear to its heart is error, and mistakes loom large and grow and swell within its sight. It carefully picks out all evil things, and overlooks the loving as a plague; a hateful thing of danger and of death. Forgiveness-to-destroy is death, and this it sees in all it looks upon and hates. God’s mercy has become a twisted knife that would destroy the holy Son He loves.

Would you forgive yourself for doing this? Then learn that God has given you the means by which you can return to Him in peace. Do not see error. Do not make it real. Select the loving and forgive the sin by choosing in its place the face of Christ. How otherwise can prayer return to God? He loves His Son. Can you remember Him and hate what He created? You will hate his Father if you hate the Son He loves. For as you see the Son you see yourself, and as you see yourself is God to you. (A Course in Miracles, S-2.I.1-3)

The ego’s purpose for the world is to make separation seem real. Its principal tool to achieve its purpose is judgment, seeing guilt in the world. Guilt must be seen everywhere to make the separation seem to be immutable.

The attraction of the ego to guilt in the world is that it provides a means to project the hidden guilt which comes from believing we have offended God by “successfully” separating from Him. This projection of guilt is seen everywhere, including in God. God is perceived as vengeful, ready to strike us dead or punish us in a whim. Yet the ego is merely seeing itself in this image of God. Likewise the guilt we see in others is just an outward projection or image of our own inner guilt. This inner guilt comes from choosing the ego as our identity.

The ego’s version of forgiveness is to see another as an enemy. Its “forgiveness” does not let go of this hateful image. Rather it puffs itself up with its magnanimous statement of forgiveness while not truly forgiving. This process maintains the “reality” of separation by holding onto guilt. Separation from God, the Source of Life, is the choice for death. Death is the ego’s ultimate image proclaiming separation real. The world’s history is filled with attack and murder in defense of separation.

True forgiveness, guided by the Holy Spirit, recognizes that illusions can do no harm. Despite appearances in the world, we remain united in God’s changeless Love. As we accept the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we learn to see the Love behind the ego’s false images. As these false images are recognized as untrue, they are easily let go. Without the shadows of the ego, the truth of Love’s Light is seen.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Path to True Forgiveness

Forgiveness offers wings to prayer, to make its rising easy and its progress swift. Without its strong support it would be vain to try to rise above prayer’s bottom step, or even to attempt to climb at all. Forgiveness is prayer’s ally; sister in the plan for your salvation. Both must come to hold you up and keep your feet secure; your purpose steadfast and unchangeable. Behold the greatest help that God ordained to be with you until you reach to Him. Illusion’s end will come with this. Unlike the timeless nature of its sister, prayer, forgiveness has an end. For it becomes unneeded when the rising up is done. Yet now it has a purpose beyond which you cannot go, nor have you need to go. Accomplish this and you have been redeemed. Accomplish this and you have been transformed. Accomplish this and you will save the world. (A Course in Miracles, S-2.in.1)

Unforgiveness keeps us locked into the ego’s world of separation. It keeps us locked into fear and guilt, the inevitable consequence of judgment and belief in separation. Without forgiveness our prayers are at best confused because unforgiveness demands guilt in another, which demands guilt in ourselves. We cannot move up the ladder of prayer to the point of true prayer, unencumbered by guilt and judgment, without forgiveness.

Forgiveness is an illusion offered by the Holy Spirit to help us let go of guilt. It is needed only in the illusion that seems to justify guilt. It is the one illusion that leads out of all illusions to the recognition that only Love’s innocence is real. This is the recognition of our Identity as God’s Son, God’s perfect extension of Love.

The entire Course in Miracles is designed to motivate us to be willing to let go of the dream. It brings to our attention the pain we have hidden from ourselves which comes from believing in lovelessness. It describes and offers ways to experience the joy and peace and limitless Love that is our true Nature, our true Self.

We are given many processes to facilitate forgiveness and we are shown that the Holy Spirit’s function is to teach us true forgiveness. He is ever-present in our minds, available to assist us to learn to see past the false images of the world to the reality of changeless Love. Let us take the Holy Spirit’s Hand and accept His guidance in our thoughts, words and actions all through the day.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting Our Unity in God’s Love

Now [in true humility] prayer is lifted from the world of things, of bodies, and of gods of every kind, and you can rest in holiness at last. Humility has come to teach you how to understand your glory as God’s Son, and recognize the arrogance of sin. A dream [of separation] has veiled the face of Christ from you. Now can you look upon His sinlessness. High has the ladder risen. You have come almost to Heaven. There is little more to learn before the journey is complete. Now can you say to everyone who comes to join in prayer with you:

I cannot go without you, for you are a part of me.

And so he is in truth. Now can you pray only for what you truly share with him. For you have understood he never left, and you, who seemed alone, are one with him.

The ladder ends with this, for learning is no longer needed. Now you stand before the gate of Heaven, and your brother stands beside you there. The lawns are deep and still, for here the place appointed for the time when you should come has waited long for you. Here will time end forever. At this gate eternity itself will join with you. Prayer has become what it was meant to be, for you have recognized the Christ in you. (A Course in Miracles, S-1.V.3-4)

The ego is arrogant because it is the belief that it has successfully usurped God and made a world that excludes Him, that denies Love. This belief brings guilt with it because it means that we have harmed God with this denial.

True humility disregards the ego’s arrogant claims that separation is real. It recognizes that Christ is in everyone always and we are all united in Christ, God’s one Son. It is in our full acceptance of God as our Father and our one Self as His Son that we reach the top of the ladder of prayer.

Now the arrogance of the ego’s claim to have made another reality has been let go. This is when forgiveness is complete and we join together as one in God’s Love. Now our only prayer is the joyous exchange of Love between Father and Son.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Use of Time That Brings Peace

Prayer is a way to true humility. And here again it rises slowly up, and grows in strength and love and holiness. Let it but leave the ground where it begins to rise to God, and true humility will come at last to grace the mind that thought it was alone and stood against the world. Humility brings peace because it does not claim that you must rule the universe, nor judge all things as you would have them be. All little gods it gladly lays aside, not in resentment, but in honesty and recognition that they do not serve.

Illusions and humility have goals so far apart they cannot coexist, nor share a dwelling place where they can meet. Where one has come the other disappears. The truly humble have no goal but God because they need no idols, and defense no longer serves a purpose. Enemies are useless now, because humility does not oppose. It does not hide in shame because it is content with what it is, knowing creation is the Will of God. [Humility’s] selflessness is Self, and this it sees in every meeting, where it gladly joins with every Son of God, whose purity it recognizes that it shares with him. (S-1.V.1-2)

The recognition that we do not know what anything means is essential to moving up the ladder of prayer. It is our mistaken belief that we are separate and alone that blocks us from accepting our innate unity with the Love that joins us with every brother and our Creator.

Pausing before we act on any perception to ask for the Holy Spirit’s help opens our mind to joining in Love instead of separating. This needs to be a daily practice. It is the only use of time that will bring us peace. It relieves us from the burden of analyzing and evaluating anything in the world.

On our own we can only judge based on past experience. But the past is illusion. Illusions cannot show us the Truth. Only the Truth will bring us peace and happiness because Truth is the Will of God, and Truth is our will as well. Humility opens our mind to inspiration that heals and forgives. It helps us be truly helpful in the present moment.

Today let us practice humbly asking for Christ’s vision to guide us.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Key to True Prayer

Once the need to hold the other as an enemy has been questioned, and the reason for doing so has been recognized if only for an instant, it becomes possible to join in prayer. Enemies do not share a goal. It is in this their enmity is kept. Their separate wishes are their arsenals; their fortresses in hate. The key to rising further still in prayer lies in this simple thought; this change of mind:

We go together, you and I.

Now it is possible to help in prayer, and so reach up yourself. This step begins the quicker ascent, but there are still many lessons to learn. …Even together you may ask for things, and thus set up but an illusion of a goal you share. You may ask together for specifics, and not realize that you are asking for effects without the cause.

Even the joining, then, is not enough, if those who pray together do not ask, before all else, what is the Will of God. From this Cause only [the Will of God] can the answer come in which are all specifics satisfied; all separate wishes unified in one. Prayer for specifics always asks to have the past repeated in some way. What was enjoyed before, or seemed to be; what was another’s and he seemed to love,– all these are but illusions from the past. The aim of prayer is to release the present from its chains of past illusions; to let it be a freely chosen remedy from every choice that stood for a mistake. What prayer can offer now so far exceeds all that you asked before that it is pitiful to be content with less.

You have chosen a newborn chance each time you pray. …Do not restrict your asking. Prayer can bring the peace of God. What time-bound thing can give you more than this…? (A Course in Miracles, S-1.IV.1:3-8;2:1-2,5-6;3;4:1,3-5)

The key to true prayer is to begin by asking, “What is the Will of God?” Because we believe we are in the world of form, we think that the answer we need is a specific form. The form we think would meet our need is based upon our past experience. But this expectation or wish interferes with our openness to accept God’s Will, which is ultimately His peace and Love.

This is why an early lesson in the Workbook asks us to remind ourselves that we do not know what anything means. This practice opens our mind to consider that the answer to our need may not be in the form we think it should be. This openness prepares us to forgive — to let go of the past and welcome a newborn present that reflects God’s peace and Love in the world we perceive.

To ask, “How would my true Self see this? How would Love respond in this situation? How would the Holy Spirit perceive this? What would Jesus do?” is to ask to know the Will of God. These are ways to open our hearts and minds to His Will. It will be reflected in a specific answer in our dream of separation. This answer will always bless everyone involved and extend to every brother everywhere. For this answer comes from joining in the oneness of Love. We have taken a step up the ladder of prayer.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Recognizing Opportunities to Heal Guilt

It is not easy to realize that prayers for things, for status, for human love, for external “gifts” of any kind, are always made to set up jailers and to hide from guilt. These things are used for goals that substitute for God, and therefore distort the purpose of prayer. The desire for them is the prayer. One need not ask explicitly. The goal of God is lost in the quest for lesser goals of any kind, and prayer becomes requests for enemies. The power of prayer can be quite clearly recognized even in this. No one who wants an enemy will fail to find one. But just as surely will he lose the only true goal that is given him. Think of the cost, and understand it well. All other goals are at the cost of God. (A Course in Miracles, S-1.III.6)

Yearning to find a special relationship, a special job or status is a prayer to maintain separation. The desire for anything external to our mind is a denial of our oneness with the Love of God. We also have many prayers we are unaware of that come from the unconscious guilt we carry from the belief we did harm some time in the “past.” This unconscious guilt, under the direction of the ego, seeks to find something external on which to project the guilt.

This makes the pain of guilt tolerable and leaves it hidden from our awareness. This is why we perceive enemies in our world, people we dislike, even those who seem to do bodily harm. We look for these images in order to project our hidden guilt upon them. They become our “saviors” because they seem to assuage the pain of our hidden guilt. The problem is our hidden guilt remains. We will continue to be in pain and perceive justification for guilt in others until we recognize, at least to some degree, that what we really want is peace. Judgment, projecting guilt, never brings peace.

The desire of our true Self is always to join with the Love in every brother, which is one with our true Self. This means that we need to learn how to open our mind to our true Self’s desire. We need to learn that the one whom we judge is offering us an opportunity to recognize our hidden guilt.

The Holy Spirit will guide us to a new way of seeing that lets go of the projection of guilt to reveal the presence of Love that is true of everyone and everywhere. This is a prayer for release from guilt. It is a prayer to forgive and see the innocence of Love. This prayer releases us from mistaken guilt and leads us back to the acceptance of the Love we have always been.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Escape from the Prison of Guilt

Guilt must be given up, and not concealed. Nor can this be done without some pain, and a glimpse of the merciful nature of this step may for some time be followed by a deep retreat into fear. For fear’s defenses are fearful in themselves, and when they are recognized they bring their fear with them. Yet what advantage has an illusion of escape ever brought a prisoner? His real escape from guilt can lie only in the recognition that the guilt has gone. And how can this be recognized as long as he hides it in another, and does not see it as his own [belief in guilt]? Fear of escape makes it difficult to welcome freedom, and to make a jailer of an enemy seems to be safety. How, then, can he be released without an insane fear for yourself? You have made of him your salvation and your escape from guilt. Your investment in this escape is heavy, and your fear of letting it go is strong.

Stand still an instant, now, and think what you have done [chose to believe you are separate from Love]. Do not forget that it is you who did it, and who can therefore let it go. Hold out your hand. This enemy [your brother] has come to bless you. Take his blessing, and feel how your heart is lifted and your fear released. Do not hold on to [guilt], nor [project it] onto him. He is a Son of God, along with you. He is no jailer, but a messenger of Christ. Be this to him, that you may see him thus [as Christ’s messenger]. (A Course in Miracles, S-1.III.4-5)

The ego is the belief in being separate from Love. Inherent with this belief is guilt for the perceived attack on Love. The pain of this guilt is intolerable. So the ego made a dream of separate images that could be used to project the guilt onto. This does not release the guilt. It only makes the cause appear to be outside of us. Yet the ego’s guilt is maintained by this scheme because it is impossible to perceive guilt without believing in guilt. This belief is driven into the unconscious, hiding it from our awareness.

Properly perceived, every brother we judge offers us a gift that will release us from guilt’s imprisonment. As we let the Holy Spirit help us see the truth in our brother, he becomes a messenger of Christ. Instead of reflecting guilt back to us through our judgment, this messenger of Christ reflects back to us the Christ that is the truth in us.

This practice replaces the ego’s purpose of the world to maintain guilt through projection with the Holy Spirit’s purpose to recognize the belief in guilt and let it go. As we let guilt go, we join in the oneness of Christ with our brother and together we are freed from the guilt that imprisoned us. This is our journey of awakening to Love.

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