Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Our Journey of Awakening

You who hold your brother’s hand also hold mine, for when you joined [in a holy relationship] each other you were not alone. ²Do you believe that I would leave you in the darkness that you agreed to leave with me? ³In your [holy] relationship is this world’s light. ⁴And fear must disappear before you now. ⁵Be tempted not to snatch away the gift of faith you offered to your brother. ⁶You will succeed only in frightening yourself. ⁷The gift is given forever, for God Himself received it. ⁸You cannot take it back. ⁹You have accepted God. ¹⁰The holiness of your relationship is established in Heaven. ¹¹You do not understand what you accepted, but remember that your understanding is not necessary. ¹²All that was necessary was merely the wish to understand. ¹³That wish was the desire to be holy. ¹⁴The Will of God is granted you. ¹⁵For you desire the only thing you ever had, or ever were.

“Each instant that we spend together will teach you that this goal is possible, and will strengthen your desire to reach it. ²And in your desire lies its accomplishment. ³Your desire is now in complete accord with all the power of the Holy Spirit’s Will. ⁴No little, faltering footsteps that you may take can separate your desire from His Will and from His strength. ⁵I hold your hand as surely as you agreed to take your brother’s. ⁶You will not separate, for I stand with you and walk with you in your advance to truth. ⁷And where we go we carry God with us. (A Course in Miracles, T-18.III.4–5. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

Waking up from the dream of separation is a process. It begins with the wish to understand our holy relationship with God — our unity in Him. The dream started with the wish to reject the oneness of Love and replace it with specialness. That wish blotted out the awareness of Love’s presence from our mind. We never lost Love, for God never withdrew His gift to His Son. But by denying Love and favoring specialness, we have accepted a dream of fear and guilt as our reality.

Now we are learning that the wish for specialness brings us only pain and suffering and constant yearning for the Love we have forgotten we are. Our lives seem to be a constant quest for Love. But the ego sends us on meaningless searches for substitutes for Love that cannot satisfy.

We are learning we have a choice. There is another Teacher, given us by God, Whose function is to guide us back to full understanding that we remain Love and nothing else. The setting for these lessons is our relationships. When the relationship is dedicated to joining instead of separating, it becomes holy. This purpose will lead us to full remembrance that we are Love and nothing else.

It is a journey of forgiveness, guided and assisted by the Holy Spirit. Each time we accept His help and release a mistaken belief that divided us, the blessing it brings encourages us to continue. Our journey of awakening grows increasingly happy and peaceful. Love guides our vision, thoughts and actions more and more. The holiness of our relationships is evident when forgiveness is complete. We fully understand that only Love is real. This is our awakening.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Path Home to Peace and Joy

We walk to God. ²Pause and reflect on this. ³Could any way be holier, or more deserving of your effort, of your love and of your full intent? ⁴What way could give you more than everything, or offer less and still content the holy Son of God? ⁵We walk to God. ⁶The truth that walks before us now is one with Him, and leads us to where He has always been. ⁷What way but this could be a path that you would choose instead?

Your feet are safely set upon the road that leads the world to God. ²Look not to ways that seem to lead you elsewhere. ³Dreams are not a worthy guide for you who are God’s Son. ⁴Forget not He has placed His Hand in yours, and given you your brothers in His trust that you are worthy of His trust in you. ⁵He cannot be deceived. ⁶His trust has made your pathway certain and your goal secure. ⁷You will not fail your brothers nor your Self.

And now He asks but that you think of Him a while each day, that He may speak to you and tell you of His Love, reminding you how great His trust; how limitless His Love. ²In your Name and His Own, which are the same, we practice gladly with this thought today

³I will step back and let Him lead the way, for I would walk along the road to Him. (A Course in Miracles, W-155.12–14. See also ACIM Lesson 155 Insights.)

Are we willing to be loved? As long as we identify with the ego, the answer is no. We cannot choose specialness and separation and also recognize the oneness of Love in which we truly dwell.

The price for specialness is a sense of lack of Love, for Love knows no differences. It sees Itself whole and complete in everything everywhere. By choosing specialness we have taught ourselves that illusions of differences are real. We seek for special qualities, circumstances, status and relationships that will give us specialness of value. We believe we have to compete for this specialness. Yet even if we achieve the status we seek, or any forms in the world, they never satisfy our sense of loss of Love that prevails in the dream where Love is not welcome.

We need to change our mind about what we value. We need to let go of the ego’s substitutes for the Love of God. God’s Teacher will help us recognize where true value lies. It is all around us and within us, but we cannot recognize It when we cover It with illusions of specialness.

We can step back from our perceptions by remembering that what the body’s eyes show us is not real. With a quiet mind we welcome the Holy Spirit’s true perception which shows us the Love we are. We remember that we walk with God.

To do this we need to pay attention to the Holy Spirit and accept His vision to know God is with us in all things, always. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we will see beyond appearances in a brother to the Love he is. In that recognition we join with Him as we remember we are one in God’s Love. This is a path that leads to peace and joy, for it leads us Home to God.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Turning an Upset into a Gift

The centrality of open-mindedness, perhaps the last of the attributes the teacher of God acquires, is easily understood when its relation to forgiveness is recognized. ²Open-mindedness comes with lack of judgment. ³As judgment shuts the mind against God’s Teacher, so open-mindedness invites Him to come in. ⁴As condemnation judges the Son of God as evil, so open-mindedness permits him to be judged by the Voice for God on His behalf. ⁵As the projection of guilt upon him would send him to hell, so open-mindedness lets Christ’s image be extended to him. ⁶Only the open-minded can be at peace, for they alone see reason for it.

How do the open-minded forgive? ²They have let go all things that would prevent forgiveness. ³They have in truth abandoned the world, and let it be restored to them in newness and in joy so glorious they could never have conceived of such a change. ⁴Nothing is now as it was formerly. ⁵Nothing but sparkles now which seemed so dull and lifeless before. ⁶And above all are all things welcoming, for threat is gone. ⁷No clouds remain to hide the face of Christ.

⁶It is the function of God’s teachers to bring true learning to the world. ⁷Properly speaking it is unlearning that they bring, for that is “true learning” in the world. ⁸It is given to the teachers of God to bring the glad tidings of complete forgiveness to the world. ⁹Blessed indeed are they, for they are the bringers of salvation. (A Course in Miracles, M-4.X.1:1–2:7;3:6-9)

The ego’s chief defense against God’s Love is judgment. It closes the mind against the Thought of Love, which does not condemn. The opening lessons in the workbook begin the process of opening our minds to consider the possibility that there might be another way of perceiving the world. This is essential if we are to unlearn the ego thought system we have embraced.

The Course curriculum systematically introduces thoughts that help us welcome a new way of seeing—the vision of Christ. The last thing the ego wants is for us to be truly happy. The only thing the Holy Spirit wants is for us to remember God’s joy, given us in our Creation. This remembrance is our salvation, for it frees us from the ego’s denial of our true Identity.

Whenever anything disturbs our peace of mind, it is a signal that we have closed our mind against the truth. Truth sees no need to condemn nor defend. It sees only the eternal, changeless Love of God as our Identity. The awareness of a disturbance in our mind becomes a gift we give ourselves if we use it to step back and ask the Holy Spirit to help us see differently. With an open mind we will learn that, in truth, there is no cause for any threat to our peace of mind.

As we welcome the Holy Spirit’s lessons, our happiness and peace increase. We welcome God’s gifts and accept them as our own. We free ourselves to be as God created us.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Learning to Accept the Love We Are

It can be but myself I crucify.

When this is firmly understood and kept in full awareness, you will not attempt to harm yourself, nor make your body slave to vengeance. ²You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. ³You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. ⁴And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed.

³For once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. ⁴You cannot then believe that fear is caused without.

²If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and pursuit. ³Nor need you hide in terror from the deadly fear of God [that] projection hides behind.

²When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split.

²Yet in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes. ³For fear of God has disappeared. ⁴And you can call on Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son. ⁵Pray that the instant may be soon,—today. ⁶Step back from fear, and make advance to love.

²When the fear of God is gone, there are no obstacles that still remain between you and the holy peace of God. (A Course in Miracles, W-196.1;8:3-4;9:2-3;10:2;11:2-6;12:2. See also ACIM Lesson 196 Insights.)

The world we see is the projection of what we believe we are. If we identify with the ego, we believe we are God’s enemy for we have rejected the gift of all His Love. The ego judges and believes retaliation is justified. God does not retaliate because He knows separation from Him is impossible. Love does not condemn. Separation can only seem to occur in dreams.

To learn this lesson we need to open our minds to the Teacher God gave us to remind us of His Love. As we welcome the Holy Spirit’s help by turning over all our perceptions to Him for His loving correction, we learn to recognize our projections as meaningless and having no effect. This practice, diligently applied throughout the day, leads to a life of increasing happiness and peace. Where once we saw adversaries, we see a brother who shares the Love we are. This practice is our journey of awakening.

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Replacing Fantasy with Truth

²Truth has no meaning in illusion. ³The frame of reference for its meaning must be [truth] itself. ⁴When you try to bring truth to illusions, you are trying to make illusions real, and keep them by justifying your belief in them. ⁵But to give illusions to truth is to enable truth to teach that the illusions are unreal, and thus enable you to escape from them. ⁶Reserve not one idea aside from truth, or you establish orders of reality that must imprison you. ⁷There is no order in reality, because everything there is true.

Be willing, then, to give all you have held outside the truth to Him Who knows the truth, and in Whom all is brought to truth. ²Salvation from separation would be complete, or will not be at all. ³Be not concerned with anything except your willingness to have this be accomplished. ⁴He will accomplish it; not you. ⁵But forget not this: When you become disturbed and lose your peace of mind because another is attempting to solve his problems through fantasy, you are refusing to forgive yourself for just this same attempt. ⁶And you are holding both of you away from truth and from salvation. ⁷As you forgive him, you restore to truth what was denied by both of you. ⁸And you will see forgiveness where you have given it. (A Course in Miracles, T-17.I.5:2–6:8. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

While we believe that specialness is what we want, we look for satisfaction of our wish in forms in the world. We want a circumstance to be a certain way. We want a person to behave or say what we want them to.

This wish is a fantasy starting with the fantasy that specialness is possible. We wish for forms we believe will make us happy. Yet these forms can only be fantasy. Love is one and has no form. We need to accept the Love we are and join in the unlimited extension of that Love. This will bring us the joy that is an aspect of God’s gift of His Love.

When we perceive a brother is acting badly in our judgment, we are judging his fantasy. Yet our belief in his fantasy reflects our own fantasy that specialness will get us what we want. When we learn to recognize our fantasy reflected back to us from our brothers, we can use this recognition as an opportunity to forgive ourselves.

We need only be willing to give this perception to the Holy Spirit for His healing. He will bring the truth to us which will dispel our misperception. With His help, we recognize the fantasy for what it is and welcome the truth of Love’s reality.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Recognizing Our True Treasure

Let us be still an instant, and forget all things we ever learned, all thoughts we had, and every preconception that we hold of what things mean and what their purpose is. ²Let us remember not our own ideas of what the world is for. ³We do not know. ⁴Let every image held of everyone be loosened from our minds and swept away.

Be innocent of judgment, unaware of any thoughts of evil or of good that ever crossed your mind of anyone. ²Now do you know him not. ³But you are free to learn of him, and learn of him anew. ⁴Now is he born again to you, and you are born again to him, without the past that sentenced him to die, and you with him. ⁵Now is he free to live as you are free, because an ancient learning passed away, and left a place for truth to be reborn. (A Course in Miracles, T-31.I.12–13. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

The most important lesson we need to learn is that, on our own, we do not know what anything means. There is great resistance to this thought because it seems to threaten everything we value. To help us learn this lesson, the Course shows us in many different ways that what we think is so important and valuable does not give us what we really want. In truth, all we really want is God’s Love. This is our treasure. But nothing in the world can give us the Love we seek.

If we are willing to let the Holy Spirit help us let go of our mistaken values, we will awaken to a treasure so beautiful and bright that nothing in the world comes close to it. Today we say: “Holy Spirit, I open my mind to You. Help me to recognize the valueless so I can make way to receive the Love I yearn for. I want to remember the Self God created as His Son, at one with Him in Love. I want the peace of God. I am grateful for Your help to recognize my true Treasure.”

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Relaxing into Our Safety in God

Let me perceive no differences today.

Father, You have one Son. ²And it is he that I would look upon today. ³He is Your one creation. ⁴Why should I perceive a thousand forms in what remains as one? ⁵Why should I give this one a thousand names, when only one suffices? ⁶For Your Son must bear Your Name, for You created him. ⁷Let me not see him as a stranger to his Father, nor as stranger to myself. ⁸For he is part of me and I of him, and we are part of You Who are our Source, eternally united in Your Love; eternally the holy Son of God.

We who are one would recognize this day the truth about ourselves. ²We would come home, and rest in unity. ³For there is peace, and nowhere else can peace be sought and found. (A Course in Miracles, W-262. See also ACIM Lesson 262 Insights.)

All our anxiety, depression, sickness and guilt come from perception of differences. This perception denies the oneness of Love in which we live and have our being.

Today we accept with gratitude God’s gift of all of His Love, which keeps us eternally united with Him. In Him we find our peace and our joy. He is What we are as His one Son. Nothing can divide the indivisible, Love’s oneness.

We can relax now in the remembrance of our safety in our Home with God. We are loved without limit and rest in His peace.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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