Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Our Vocation as a Teacher of God

The teachers of God appear to share the illusion of separation, but because of what they use the body for, they do not believe in the illusion despite appearances.

The central lesson is always this; that what you use the body for it will become to you. Use it for sin or for attack, which is the same as sin, and you will see it as sinful. Because it is sinful it is weak, and being weak, it suffers and it dies. Use [the body] to bring the Word of God to those who have it not, and the body becomes holy.

Oneness and sickness cannot coexist. God’s teachers choose to look on dreams a while. It is a conscious choice. For they have learned that all choices are made consciously, with full awareness of their consequences. The dream says otherwise, but who would put his faith in dreams once they are recognized for what they are? Awareness of dreaming is the real function of God’s teachers. They watch the dream figures come and go, shift and change, suffer and die. Yet they are not deceived by what they see. They recognize that to behold a dream figure as sick and separate is no more real than to regard it as healthy and beautiful. Unity alone is not a thing of dreams. And it is this God’s teachers acknowledge as behind the dream, beyond all seeming and yet surely theirs. (A Course in Miracles, M-12.4:4-5:4;6)

The Course tells us to ask of everything, “What is this for?” The body’s eyes see only perceptions of a world of separation. How we interpret those perceptions is determined by the purpose we give them. If we follow the ego’s beliefs, these perceptions will bring with them a sense of uncertainty, incompletion, guilt and fear. This suits the ego’s purpose, for it reinforces the belief that separation is real. That is the purpose for all the ego’s interpretations.

If we would be a teacher of God in the world, we must follow a different lead—the Holy Spirit. His interpretations of every perception can be summarized in two words: Real, unreal. He interprets the unreal as a call for Love. He sees only Love as real. When we accept the Holy Spirit’s interpretations, we will live in Love. The calls for Love are answered from our true Self with Love which joins with the unity of Love.

Our life in the world becomes peaceful, joyous and loving as we let the Holy Spirit help us see all things through the eyes of Love. We join with the Holy Spirit’s purpose to bring Love to the world by forgiving misperceptions to reveal Love’s presence everywhere, always. With the dedication to this practice we serve as teachers of God. It is the only vocation that will bring us fulfillment, for it is dedication to truth.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Healing Our Unforgiving Thoughts

An unforgiving thought is one which makes a judgment that it will not raise to doubt, although it is not true. The mind is closed, and will not be released.

In frantic action [the unforgiving thought] pursues its goal, twisting and overturning what it sees as inter­fering with its chosen path.

Forgiveness, on the other hand, is still, and quietly does noth­ing. …It merely looks, and waits, and judges not. …he who would forgive himself must learn to welcome truth exactly as it is.

Do nothing, then, and let forgiveness show you what to do, through Him Who is your Guide, your Savior and Protector, strong in hope, and certain of your ultimate success. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 1, W-pII.1.2:1-2;3:2;4:1,3,5;5:1. See also ACIM Lesson 221 Insights.)

The events in Washington DC on January 6th, 2021, are a dramatic demonstration of unforgiving thoughts in action. The actors in the drama were convinced that they were acting on true perceptions to protect what they valued and to keep themselves safe.

The ego would love to focus on their errors and guilt for what they “did.” But that is the ego’s slight of hand to trick us into ignoring our own unforgiving thoughts. We may believe we would never join in such riotous behavior.

But when we believe someone has insulted us or we have done something to harm another, we are acting on the same unforgiving thought. We are harboring a belief that we are unwilling to question and bring to the Light of Love. We are insisting that separation is real and harm is possible. If our peace is disturbed at all, our unforgiving thoughts are denying the presence of Love in our mind.

On our own, we cannot forgive, for our belief that we are separate blocks our awareness of Love’s unity. We need to ask the Holy Spirit for His help to forgive the thoughts we hold which stand between our self and the awareness of our true Self that is God’s Son—complete, whole, loved and loving.

Today let’s join in the dedication to welcoming the Holy Spirit’s correction for our unforgiving thoughts. With His help we will join with our brothers to lead the way back to the Heaven of God’s Love.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Seeing Our True Self in Our Brothers

The face of Christ has to be seen before the memory of God can return. The reason is obvious. Seeing the face of Christ involves perception. No one can look on knowledge. But the face of Christ is the great symbol of forgiveness. It is salvation. It is the symbol of the real world. Whoever looks on this no longer sees the world. He is as near to Heaven as is possible outside the gate. Yet from this gate it is no more than just a step inside. It is the final step. And this we leave to God.

[Forgiveness] is the only thing still in the world in part, and yet the bridge to Heaven.

How lovely does the world become in just that single instant when you see the truth about yourself reflected there. Now you are sinless and behold your sinlessness. Now you are holy and perceive it so. And now the mind returns to its Creator; the joining of the Father and the Son, the Unity of unities that stands behind all joining but beyond them all. God is not seen but only understood. His Son is not attacked but recognized. (A Course in Miracles, C-3.4;5:3;8)

Projection makes perception. Everything we perceive in the world is a projection of our beliefs about what is true. When we believe we are a body, separate and alone, we perceive a world of separation. Our belief in the false idea of separation makes the truth of our reality in the oneness of Love invisible. Reality is hidden behind our false perceptions.

Without the Holy Spirit, Whose purpose is to help us forgive our false beliefs, we would have condemned ourselves to hell—eternal lovelessness. God willed that this not be so. His gift of the Holy Spirit placed in our mind provides the means to escape from the hell of lovelessness.

The acknowledgement that the world we see is our own projection reflects to us the need to forgive. If we are willing to let the Holy Spirit help us forgive, every mistaken perception is a potential gift that offers freedom from fear. We need only be willing to give our perception to the Holy Spirit and accept His corrected perception in its place. This is our journey of awakening from the world.

The Holy Spirit’s perception shows us the face of Christ. It shows us the truth of Love’s unity with every brother. It looks beyond the mask of fear made by the ego to Love’s eternal presence.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Light of Love Is Here Now

I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.

Today is a day of special dedication. We take a stand on but one side today. We side with truth and let illusions go.

We have a mighty purpose to fulfill, and have been given everything we need with which to reach the goal. Not one mistake stands in our way. For we have been absolved from errors. All our sins are washed away by realizing they were but mistakes.

The guiltless have no fear, for they are safe and recognize their safety. They do not appeal to magic, nor invent escapes from fancied threats without reality. They rest in quiet certainty that they will do what it is given them to do. They do not doubt their own ability because they know their function will be filled completely in the perfect time and place.

Here is an offer guaranteeing you your full release from pain of every kind, and joy the world does not contain. You can exchange a little of your time for peace of mind and certainty of purpose, with the promise of complete success. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 98, W-pI.98.1:1-3;2:3-3:4;6:1-2. See also ACIM Lesson 98 Insights.)

Do we want to experience a life in which Love prevails, free of fear and guilt? This is the Life God gave us as His Son. It is ours to claim now. We claim It by accepting our part in God’s plan for salvation.

Our part is very simple, but requires vigilant practice. We have spent eons teaching ourselves that separation is real. This belief blocks our awareness from recognizing the eternal presence of Love.

Our part in God’s plan for our salvation is to forgive our mistaken beliefs. We do our part in His plan by welcoming the Holy Spirit’s reinterpretation of our perceptions in the world. The simple practice is to offer all our perceptions to the Holy Spirit for His loving correction.

Every perception offers us the opportunity to exchange illusion for truth. As we practice this, we learn that the core of every illusion or false perception is to recognize the difference between the unreal and the true. Consistent practice accelerates our awakening as our acceptance of Reality generalizes. We apply it more often to our perceptions of illusion and quickly release them. This practice saves eons of time as we accept more and more that the Light of Love has come.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Answer to All Perceived Problems

You who believed that God’s Last Judgment would condemn the world to hell along with you, accept this holy truth: God’s Judgment is the gift of the Correction He bestowed on all your errors, freeing you from them, and all effects they ever seemed to have. To fear God’s saving grace is but to fear complete release from suffering, return to peace, security and happiness, and union with your own Identity.

Be not afraid of love. For it alone can heal all sorrow, wipe away all tears, and gently waken from his dream of pain the Son whom God acknowledges as His.

This is God’s Final Judgment: “You are still My holy Son, for­ever innocent, forever loving and forever loved, as limitless as your Creator, and completely changeless and forever pure. Therefore awaken and return to Me. I am your Father and you are My Son.”Be not afraid of love. For it alone can heal all sorrow, wipe away all tears, and gently waken from his dream of pain the Son whom God acknowledges as His.” (A Course in Miracles Workbook question 10, W-pII.10.3;4:2-3;5. See also ACIM Lesson 311 Insights.)

We can rejoice in the fact that no matter what we believe we have done in the world, God knows us as perfect Love, at one with Him. We have not changed the Son God created as an extension of His eternal Love. Our dream of a loveless world where separation seems real has had no effect on the truth. We are still as God created us.

We have convinced ourselves that separation is real. But God has given us the Holy Spirit as His Correction for this erroneous belief. He brings us the vision of Love that reveals the truth beyond appearances in the world. The path that leads us Home to God is lit with the Light of Love by the Holy Spirit in our mind.

The more we practice stepping back from our perceptions in the world and asking the Holy Spirit for His perception instead, the faster we awaken from the dream of fear and guilt. The Answer to all our perceived problems is in our mind now. We choose It today.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Learning to Let Love Guide Our Thoughts

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. You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed.

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

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

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

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

When 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 Workbook Lesson 196, W-pI.196.1;8:3-4;9:2-3;10:2;11:2-6;12:2. See also ACIM Lesson 196 Insights.)

When we believe we are a body, we are attacking the Self God created one with Him. We are trying to limit the extension of His Love. Since Love is all that is real, this limit can only seem to be real in a dream in which we believe we have successfully separated from God. This is our Self crucifixion.

This dream has no effect on Reality. But to free ourselves from our self-imposed limitation, we need to learn to change our thoughts about the world and our identity. We are not a body and this dream of a world is nothing more than a projection of the belief that the body and separation are real. This belief is the cause of all our fear.

A belief is nothing more than a thought, and thoughts can be changed. This change happens when we change their source. While we identify with the ego, our thoughts stem from the ego’s denial of Love.

But we can choose another Source, the Holy Spirit. He knows that only Love is real because He is an extension of God’s Thought. As our inner Teacher, His mission is to teach us to remember the one Thought we share with God. It is the opposite of the ego’s thoughts. Holy Spirit’s Thoughts extend Love. They bring with them a vision that sees the oneness of Love everywhere. Fear is dispelled, for Love only blesses.

Today we choose to let go of the ego’s denial of Love and to accept the Holy Spirit’s lessons in Love’s oneness.

© 2021, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Finding Our True Value in God

It takes great learning both to realize and to accept the fact that the world has nothing to give. …There is no sacrifice in the world’s terms that does not involve the body. Think a while about what the world calls sacrifice. Power, fame, money, physical pleasure; who is the “hero” to whom all these things belong? Could they mean anything except to a body? Yet a body cannot evaluate. By seeking after such things the mind associates itself with the body, obscuring its Identity and losing sight of what it really is.

Once this confusion [of the mind with the body] has occurred, it becomes impossible for the mind to understand that all the “pleasures” of the world are nothing.

God’s teachers can have no regret on giving up the pleasures of the world. Is it a sacrifice to give up pain? Does an adult resent the giving up of children’s toys? Does one whose vision has already glimpsed the face of Christ look back with longing on a slaughter house? No one who has escaped the world and all its ills looks back on it with condemnation. Yet he must rejoice that he is free of all the sacrifice its values would demand of him. …Who in his sane mind chooses nothing as a substitute for everything?

Decide for God, and everything is given you at no cost at all. (A Course in Miracles, M-13.2:1,4-9;3:1;4:1-6,10;8:2)

Our belief that our body is our identity is the cause of our resistance to accepting the idea that the world is an illusion. If we accept the idea that we are not a body, it seems to leave us with nothing. And so we must be carefully taught that beyond the body we believe is our identity is our true Identity, which is so magnificent, so inclusive that it contains all of God. Our Identity includes all His Love, His joy and peace.

The Course takes us gently by the hand and shows us that what we have valued so highly is like the light of a firefly compared to the Sun. In truth the body and the world offer us nothing of value. Our true value is God’s Love.

Every moment of every day we choose between our false identity as a body and our Identity as God’s Son. We choose between a “life” of uncertainty, limitation, lack, loss, fear and guilt or the Life we live in God’s Love, limitless, all encompassing and eternal.

The teaching of the Course is to help us make the decision to be free from the sacrifice of Love the world demands of us. Only our mistaken beliefs stand as a barrier to our awakening to Love. We decide for Love by letting the Holy Spirit show us the truth in place of our misperceptions. Today we will step back and let Him lead the way.

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