Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Letting the Holy Spirit Resolve Our Problems

This is a year of joy, in which your listening will increase and peace will grow with its increase. ²The power of holiness and the weakness of attack are both being brought into your awareness. …whenever you listened to His interpretation the results have brought you joy. ⁶Would you prefer the results of your interpretation, considering honestly what they have been? ⁷God wills you better. ⁸Could you not look with greater charity on whom God loves with perfect Love?

⁵Today, let us resolve together to accept the joyful tidings that disaster is not real and that reality is not disaster. ⁶Reality is safe and sure, and wholly kind to everyone and everything. ⁷There is no greater love than to accept this and be glad. ⁸For love asks only that you be happy, and will give you everything that makes for happiness.

You have never given any problem to the Holy Spirit He has not solved for you, nor will you ever do so. ²You have never tried to solve anything yourself and been successful. ³Is it not time you brought these facts together and made sense of them? …⁷This year invest in truth, and let it work in peace. ⁸Have faith in Him Who has faith in you. (A Course in Miracles, T-16.II.7:1-2,5-8;8:5–9:3,7-8. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

It is tempting to believe that the Holy Spirit does not know how to solve our problems in the world. How could He know how to fix a car, or how to find a lost item? This doubt can cause us to ignore the best way to resolve every problem.

But the Holy Spirit knows what will bring us peace and happiness, not based on the world’s standards. The core problem in our mind that lies beneath every perceived problem in the world is an unwillingness to forgive. It manifests in our world as confusion, uncertainty, fear and guilt. We need to move past this way of thinking.

We need to practice stepping back throughout every day to welcome the Holy Spirit’s inspiration and guidance. His help manifests in many ways in our world experience. If we let Him help us forgive and heal our fear-based thoughts, we may observe a worrisome noise in our car disappear. A thought will come into our mind for the next step leading us to find a missing item followed by another step or two that brings us to it. Our days are increasingly peaceful and happy. There is much less efforting and the natural flow of Love and joy increases. It’s worth the practice.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Path of Return to Love

The Holy Spirit will never teach you that you are sinful. ²Errors He will correct, but this makes no one fearful. ³You are indeed afraid to look within and see the sin you think is there.

What if you looked within and saw no sin? ²This “fearful” question is one the ego never asks. ³And you who ask it now are threatening the ego’s whole defensive system too seriously for it to bother to pretend it is your friend. ⁴Those who have joined their brothers have detached themselves from their belief that their identity lies in the ego. ⁵A holy relationship is one in which you join with what is part of you in truth. ⁶And your belief in sin [separation] has been already shaken, nor are you now entirely unwilling to look within and see it not.

³Your faith is moving inward, past insanity and on to reason. ⁴And what your reason tells you now the ego would not hear. ⁵The Holy Spirit’s purpose was accepted by the part of your mind [right mind] the ego knows not of. ⁶No more did you. ⁷And yet this part, with which you now identify, is not afraid to look upon itself. ⁸It knows no sin. ⁹How, otherwise, could it have been willing to see the Holy Spirit’s purpose as its own?

This part [of your mind] has seen your brother, and recognized him perfectly since time began. ²And it desired nothing but to join with him and to be free again, as once it was. ³It has been waiting for the birth of freedom; the acceptance of release to come to you. (A Course in Miracles, T-21.IV.1:1-3;3;4:3–5:3. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

One of the early ideas the Course introduces is that we are not the ego. It defines the ego as simply the idea of separating from Love. It denies Love, which is What we are, at one with the Source of all Love. The ego disowns God and thus our true Self, which remains forever with God.

When we believe we are the ego, we believe in a false self symbolized by the body. This is not our real identity. The body is incapable of joining, being unique and separate from all other bodies. Yet despite the ego’s interference, our true Self remains one with every brother.

When we are able to forgive and look upon a brother without judgment, not separate, we make way for a holy relationship. This is how we learn of our true Self, which sees only itself in every brother. Now we welcome him truly as part of us. Conflict disappears and hope of peace is strengthened.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Practice That Heals Our Life

⁶The [Course] curriculum is highly individualized, and all aspects are under the Holy Spirit’s particular care and guidance. ⁷Ask and He will answer. ⁸The responsibility is His, and He alone is fit to assume it. ⁹To do so is His function. ¹⁰To refer the questions to Him is yours.

³To follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance is to let yourself be absolved of guilt. ⁴It is the essence of the Atonement. ⁵It is the core of the curriculum. ⁶The imagined usurping of functions not your own is the basis of fear.

Who assumes a power that he does not possess is deceiving himself. ²Yet to accept the power given him by God is but to acknowledge his Creator and accept His gifts. ³And His gifts have no limit. ⁴To ask the Holy Spirit to decide for you is simply to accept your true inheritance. ⁵Does this mean that you cannot say anything without consulting Him? ⁶No, indeed! ⁷That would hardly be practical, and it is the practical with which this course is most concerned. ⁸If you have made it a habit to ask for help when and where you can, you can be confident that wisdom will be given you when you need it. ⁹Prepare for this each morning, remember God when you can throughout the day, ask the Holy Spirit’s help when it is feasible to do so, and thank Him for His guidance at night. ¹⁰And your confidence will be well founded indeed. (A Course in Miracles, M-29.2:6-10;3:3-6;5)

This passage gives us an outline for our recommended practice every day. It is not demanded of us but strongly encouraged because of the benefits it offers. The more we follow this practice in our daily living, the more peaceful, loving and happy our life experience will be.

There is no question or difficulty in the world that is too small nor too big for the Holy Spirit to help us with. Any time we experience frustration, impatience or anxiety is a sure sign that we are trying to think or act on our own without the Holy Spirit’s help.

When we believe we are on our own we will always feel weak because we are denying our unity with the power of God. With a sense of weakness, fear is inevitable. As we practice welcoming the Holy Spirit’s help, we feel increasingly safe and loved. We feel God’s strength in us.

We dedicate today to this practice. It’s worth it.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Escape Conflict and Return to Peace

Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here.

Conflict must be resolved. ²It cannot be evaded, set aside, denied, disguised, seen somewhere else, called by another name, or hidden by deceit of any kind, if it would be escaped. ³It must be seen exactly as it is, where it is thought to be, in the reality which has been given it, and with the purpose that the mind accorded it. ⁴For only then are its defenses lifted, and the truth can shine upon it as it disappears.

Father, forgiveness is the light You chose to shine away all conflict and all doubt, and light the way for our return to You. ²No light but this can end our evil dream. ³No light but this can save the world. ⁴For this alone will never fail in anything, being Your gift to Your beloved Son. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 333. See also ACIM Lesson 333 Insights.)

Conflict is essential to maintaining the ego’s control of part of our mind. It maintains the perception of separation that is the core of the ego thought system. The ego had made myriad forms that disguise conflict. Many of them are very appealing and sometimes seem to alleviate our hunger for specialness, the ego’s substitute for Love. Specialness and Love cannot coexist in the mind of God’s Son. Specialness denies Love’s oneness while Love sees only the innocence of its Self in all things.

We have been attracted to the ego and played its games for so long that we believe its game is reality. But its reality depends on our belief, not fact. We have become unable to distinguish between the reality we perceive based on belief and the changeless fact of God’s Love, which needs no belief. Beliefs can change, facts do not. We need to be taught how to recognize beliefs that are hiding the presence of Love. These lessons are the purpose of the Course.

We dedicate today to being open to the Holy Spirit’s lessons, for we would free ourselves from conflict and return to the peace of God, bringing our brothers with us.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Reward of Forgiveness

[God’s plan for your salvation] is not of you, nor need you be concerned with anything except the part that has been given you to learn. ²For He Who knows the rest will see to it without your help. ³But think not that He does not need your part to help Him with the rest. ⁴For in your part lies all of it, without which is no part complete, nor is the whole completed without your part. ⁵The ark of peace is entered two by two,…

You may wonder how you can be at peace when, while you are in time, there is so much that must be done before the way to peace is open. ²Perhaps this seems impossible to you. ³But ask yourself if it is possible that God would have a plan for your salvation that does not work. ⁴Once you accept His plan as the one function that you would fulfill, there will be nothing else the Holy Spirit will not arrange for you without your effort. ⁵He will go before you making straight your path, and leaving in your way no stones to trip on, and no obstacles to bar your way. ⁶Nothing you need will be denied you. ⁷Not one seeming difficulty but will melt away before you reach it. ⁸You need take thought for nothing, careless of everything except the only purpose that you would fulfill. ⁹As that was given you, so will its fulfillment be. ¹⁰God’s guarantee will hold against all obstacles, for it rests on certainty and not contingency. ¹¹It rests on you. ¹²And what can be more certain than a Son of God? (A Course in Miracles, T-20.IV.6:1-5;8. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

The Course says repeatedly, in many ways, that our only meaningful function in this world is to forgive. It is the means by which we free ourselves from the ego’s tyranny of denying Love, our inheritance. Forgiveness peals away the scales of fear and guilt so that Christ’s vision can show us the innocence of Love in every brother and ourselves. Through forgiveness we recognize our brother as part of us. We would no more want to disown our brother than to disown our Self. Yet that is what the ego does.

The reward for forgiving our brother and ourselves is our awakening to the certainty of our place in the Heart of God. We remember we are eternally safe. We welcome the Holy Spirit’s guidance knowing He leads us straight Home to Love where we rest in perfect peace and overflow with the joy of Loving.

Today we welcome the Holy Spirit’s help to see our brothers sinless and learn of our own innocence.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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A Lesson in the Value of Following

I merely follow, for I would not lead.

Father, You are the One Who gave the plan for my salvation to me. ²You have set the way I am to go, the role to take, and every step in my appointed path. ³I cannot lose the way. ⁴I can but choose to wander off a while, and then return. ⁵Your loving Voice will always call me back, and guide my feet aright. ⁶My brothers all can follow in the way I lead them. ⁷Yet I merely follow in the way to You, as You direct me and would have me go.

So let us follow One Who knows the way. ²We need not tarry, and we cannot stray except an instant from His loving Hand. ³We walk together, for we follow Him. ⁴And it is He Who makes the ending sure, and guarantees a safe returning home. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 324. See also ACIM Lesson 324 Insights.)

Today I had an experience that demonstrates the importance of stepping back and letting Holy Spirit lead the way. Yesterday we were at our new house, not yet moved in. I misplaced my computer last night. This morning when I came to the house, my computer was not where I expected to find it.

I shifted into my old habit of trying to figure out where I might have left it. I searched in every place I could think of without success. This is typical of what happens when we follow the ego’s directions. The ego always wants us to search and not find.

Finally I was willing to step back and let Holy Spirit lead. Mary and I joined together to go to Spirit and open to His lead. After that dedication, I was reminded of an app I could use on my phone to locate the computer. It showed that it was in the house somewhere. This helped calm the fear that somehow it had gotten into someone else’s hands. Mary was then inspired to look in a place where I had not looked before, though I had looked past it several times. There was the computer at the foot of the stairs near the front door.

In our joining, with willingness to be led, our perceived problem was resolved. This is yet another demonstration reminding me to follow Holy Spirit at all times. If I had stepped back at the beginning instead of relying on my own limited thinking, I would have saved time and would have been free of the anxiety that came with searching while believing I was alone.

We are never alone. The Holy Spirit is with us and available 24/7. We must simply get out of our own way and choose to follow His lead. With that willingness, our life experience is more peaceful, happy and loving. Each time we remember to follow reinforces the lesson that the Holy Spirit is the only Guide Who can lead us back Home to God.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Joy of Joining in God’s Love

…God’s teachers are wholly gentle. ²They need the strength of gentleness, for it is in this that the function of salvation becomes easy.

Joy is the inevitable result of gentleness [lack of judgment]. ²Gentleness means that fear is now impossible, and what could come to interfere with joy? ³The open hands of gentleness are always filled. ⁴The gentle have no pain. ⁵They cannot suffer. ⁶Why would they not be joyous? ⁷They are sure they are beloved and must be safe. ⁸Joy goes with gentleness as surely as grief attends attack. ⁹God’s teachers trust in Him. ¹⁰And they are sure His Teacher goes before them, making sure no harm can come to them. ¹¹They hold His gifts and follow in His way, because God’s Voice directs them in all things. ¹²Joy is their song of thanks. ¹³And Christ looks down on them in thanks as well. ¹⁴His need of them [who follow in His way] is just as great as theirs of Him. ¹⁵How joyous it is to share the purpose of salvation! (A Course in Miracles, M-4.IV.2:1-2;V)

If we want to live a life of joy, there is only one thing we must do. We must follow the Holy Spirit in everything we do, say and think. This seems difficult to do only because of our divided allegiance. Part of our mind still believes the ego offers something we want, some form of specialness that will make us happy. But if we are willing to follow the Holy Spirit, His lessons will show us that the ego offers nothing we want. All we really need is God’s Love; there is nothing else except in fantasy.

Through the practice of following Holy Spirit, the appeal of fantasies fades and the joy of joining in God’s Love lightens our mind. Our gratitude strengthens our willingness to follow Him and decide nothing on our own.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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