Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Forgiving Appearances of Differences Brings Peace

What seems to be the second place is first, for all things we perceive are upside down until we listen to the Voice for God. ²It seems that we will gain autonomy but by our striving to be separate, and that our independence from the rest of God’s creation is the way in which salvation is obtained. ³Yet all we find is sickness, suffering and loss and death. ⁴This is not what our Father wills for us, nor is there any second to His Will. ⁵To join with His is but to find our own. ⁶And since our will is His, it is to Him that we must go to recognize our will.

There is no will but Yours. ²And I am glad that nothing I imagine contradicts what You would have me be. ³It is Your Will that I be wholly safe, eternally at peace. ⁴And happily I share that Will which You, my Father, gave as part of me. (A Course in Miracles, W-328.1–2. See also ACIM Lesson 328 Insights.)

We value independence in this world. The ego thinks being separate and unique is how we obtain that independence. Yet the cost of this independence is lack of peace, a sense of vulnerability, fear of loss and harm, and the ultimate separation — death. This is not God’s Will for us. It ignores the law of Love, which is to be eternally united, changeless and at one with all that is real.

We choose Love by choosing Christ’s vision. It sees no separation nor individuality. It forgives all appearances of differences. Christ’s vision sees only the equality of Love Itself, united with all that Is. In this vision, we remember our Father and every brother. We remember our one Self, eternally at peace, eternally one with our Creator.

© 2023, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Bridge That Leads to Love

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. ²It is not necessary to seek for what is true, but it is necessary to seek for what is false. ³Every illusion is one of fear, whatever form it takes. ⁴And the attempt to escape from one illusion into another must fail. ⁵If you seek love outside yourself you can be certain that you perceive hatred within, and are afraid of it. ⁶Yet peace will never come from the illusion of love, but only from its reality.

Recognize this, for it is true, and truth must be recognized if it is to be distinguished from illusion: The special love relationship is an attempt to bring love into separation. ²And, as such, it is nothing more than an attempt to bring love into fear, and make it real in fear.

The bridge that leads to union in yourself must lead to knowledge, for it was built with God beside you, and will lead you straight to Him where your completion rests, wholly compatible with His. ²Every illusion you accept into your mind by judging it to be attainable removes your own sense of completion, and thus denies the Wholeness of your Father. ³Every fantasy, be it of love or hate, deprives you of knowledge for fantasies are the veil behind which truth is hidden. ⁴To lift the veil that seems so dark and heavy, it is only needful to value truth beyond all fantasy, and to be entirely unwilling to settle for illusion in place of truth. (A Course in Miracles, T-16.IV.6:1–7:2;10:1-4. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

In dreams, lies can seem to be true; fantasies can seem real. This world we seem to live in is a dream. It keeps us in its grip by our wish for specialness, which could only seem to be achieved if we are separate identities.

The special relationships we seek in this dream offer a substitute for the real Love that is our nature and our Source. Because we accept this substitute, it stands as a barrier that prevents us from awakening to the Love that unites us with with our Creator and every brother.

To help us awaken from this fearful dream, we have a Guide Whose function is to provide a bridge that leads to our awakening. The practice of asking for His true perception to replace our perceptions in the world will set us free.

True perception recognizes illusions for what they are and overlooks them. It sees our unity with the Love that is in every brother. With Holy Spirit’s vision, our misperceptions are healed. We can make this choice in every moment. We dedicate this day to making this choice, moment by moment.

© 2023, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Finding What We Really Want

I will receive whatever I request.

No one desires pain. ²But he can think that pain is pleasure. ³No one would avoid his happiness. ⁴But he can think that joy is painful, threatening and dangerous. ⁵Everyone will receive what he requests. ⁶But he can be confused indeed about the things he wants; the state he would attain. ⁷What can he then request that he would want when he receives it? ⁸He has asked for what will frighten him, and bring him suffering. ⁹Let us resolve today to ask for what we really want, and only this, that we may spend this day in fearlessness, without confusing pain with joy, or fear with love.

Father, this is Your day. ²It is a day in which I would do nothing by myself, but hear Your Voice in everything I do; requesting only what You offer me, accepting only Thoughts You share with me. (A Course in Miracles, W-339. See also ACIM Lesson 339 Insights.)

Most of us have experienced attaining something we thought we wanted only to have its appeal quickly wane once we obtained it. This lesson is showing us that this is what happens when we choose to think that we are separate and identify with the ego. When we let the ego direct us, it is inevitable that we will in one way or another experience disappointment, fear, sadness and loss.

What the ego wants can never be real. And so it “lives” in a fantasy world. This is our life until we choose to follow the Guide to freedom. We can experience joy beyond anything in this world. We can enjoy peace of mind. We can let ourselves remember the reality of Love’s oneness. In this remembrance we remember we are God’s Son, complete and whole, in need of nothing.

We dedicate today to holding our mind open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We trust that His vision will guide us on the path of return to Love.

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How to Accept God’s Guarantee

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

Today is a day of special dedication. ²We take a stand on but one side today. ³We side with truth and let illusions go.

³We have a mighty purpose to fulfill, and have been given everything we need with which to reach the goal. ⁴Not one mistake stands in our way. ⁵For we have been absolved from errors. ⁶All our sins are washed away by realizing they were but mistakes.

The guiltless have no fear, for they are safe and recognize their safety. ²They do not appeal to magic, nor invent escapes from fancied threats without reality. ³They rest in quiet certainty that they will do what it is given them to do. ⁴They 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. ²You 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, W-98.1:1-3;2:3–3:4;6:1-2. See also ACIM Lesson 98 Insights.)

Our Father guarantees our perfect safety, freedom from pain and joy beyond this world. Only our identification with the body, the wish for specialness, stands between us and this experience. We have a function to fulfill: To recognize that what we thought was sin was only a mistake. As we let the Holy Spirit help us heal our mistaken beliefs, we free ourselves to accept God’s gifts.

We fulfill our function as we accept the Holy Spirit’s true perception in place of our misperceptions. We open our minds to this recognition by reminding ourselves that we do not know what anything is for or what it means.

As we accept that only Love is real, we dismiss the meanings we have given anything and accept the Holy Spirit’s vision that shows us Love’s reality. This is how we accept God’s guarantee.

© 2023, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Reversing Our Denial of God’s Love

Father, my freedom is in You alone.

I did not understand what made me free, nor what my freedom is, nor where to look to find it. ²Father, I have searched in vain until I heard Your Voice directing me. ³Now I would guide myself no more. ⁴For I have neither made nor understood the way to find my freedom. ⁵But I trust in You. ⁶You Who endowed me with my freedom as Your holy Son will not be lost to me. ⁷Your Voice directs me, and the way to You is opening and clear to me at last. ⁸Father, my freedom is in You alone. ⁹Father, it is my will that I return.

Today we answer for the world, which will be freed along with us. ²How glad are we to find our freedom through the certain way our Father has established. ³And how sure is all the world’s salvation, when we learn our freedom can be found in God alone. (A Course in Miracles, W-321. See also ACIM Lesson 321 Insights.)

The body is a limit, made to show us a world of limitation. It all represents the denial of Love’s oneness. To be truly free is to know that we are Love and nothing else. It is to join in the eternal flow of Love extending to Itself. This is why our only true freedom can be found in our acceptance of our union with God.

We have been given the Holy Spirit to help us wake up from the hellish dream that denies Love. We are grateful to accept the Holy Spirit’s help to recognize the images of the dream as meaningless and powerless.

In our acceptance of this, the world is healed, along with ourselves. We see a world of Love. We are grateful for God’s blessing.

© 2023, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Miracle Corrects Our Perception

A miracle is a correction. ²It does not create, nor really change at all. ³It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false. ⁴It undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception, nor exceed the function of forgiveness. ⁵Thus [a miracle] stays within time’s limits. ⁶Yet it paves the way for the return of timelessness and love’s awakening, for fear must slip away under the gentle remedy it brings.

³A miracle inverts perception which was upside down before, and thus it ends the strange distortions that were manifest. ⁴Now is perception open to the truth. ⁵Now is forgiveness seen as justified.

Forgiveness is the home of miracles. ²The eyes of Christ deliver them to all they look upon in mercy and in love. ³Perception stands corrected in His sight, and what was meant to curse has come to bless. ⁴Each lily of forgiveness offers all the world the silent miracle of love. (A Course in Miracles, W-pII.13.1;2:3-5;3:1-4)

While we are invested in our belief in separation, our perceptions are so distorted that we cannot see the truth of Love’s presence. These distortions justify our fear and anger; our sense of loss and feelings of guilt.

The miracle clears the distortion. The reality of Love’s presence becomes clear. In this clarity, forgiveness is justified because we recognize our misperceptions are only errors. With the clarity that the miracle brings, the error is corrected. In this clarity we see that nothing has harmed or changed God’s Son. He remains Love and nothing else in His eternal union with His Creator.

We ask the Holy Spirit for His vision to help us experience the miracle that makes way for true forgiveness.

© 2023, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting God’s Answer to Our Call

Sickness is but another name for sin.
Healing is but another name for God.
The miracle is thus a call to Him.

Father, You promised You would never fail to answer any call Your Son might make to You. ²It does not matter where he is, what seems to be his problem, nor what he believes he has become. ³He is Your Son, and You will answer him. ⁴The miracle reflects Your Love, and thus it answers him. ⁵Your Name replaces every thought of sin, and who is sinless cannot suffer pain. ⁶Your Name gives answer to Your Son, because to call Your Name is but to call his own. (W-356)

Our only problem is our wish for specialness, which could only seem to occur in a world separate from God. Such a world could never be real so we can only experience it in dreams. In the dream we forget our eternal unity with our Father. Awakening means remembering that we remain His Son, at one with Him.

Our thoughts of separation are calls for Love. Our Father answers our calls for Love in every moment. While we believe the dream is real, we do not hear our Father’s answer. By the grace of God, we have the Holy Spirit in our mind, Who can translate God’s Answer into forms we can understand.

He helps us recognize our misperceptions and provides true perception in their place. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we forgive our misperceptions and welcome the Love we have been denying. We let our mind be healed. We remember God and our true Self, His Son.

© 2023, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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