Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Welcoming the Thought of Love

Salvation is a promise, made by God, that you would find your way to Him at last. ²It cannot but be kept. ³It guarantees that time will have an end, and all the thoughts that have been born in time will end as well. ⁴God’s Word is given every mind which thinks that it has separate thoughts, and will replace these thoughts of conflict with the Thought of peace.

The Thought of peace was given to God’s Son the instant that his mind had thought of war. ²There was no need for such a Thought before, for peace was given without opposite, and merely was. ³But when the mind is split there is a need of healing. ⁴So the Thought that has the power to heal the split became a part of every fragment of the mind that still was one, but failed to recognize its oneness. ⁵Now it did not know itself, and thought its own Identity was lost.

Salvation is undoing in the sense that it does nothing, failing to support the world of dreams and malice. ²Thus it lets illusions go. ³By not supporting them, it merely lets them quietly go down to dust. ⁴And what they hid is now revealed; an altar to the holy Name of God whereon His Word is written, with the gifts of your forgiveness laid before it, and the memory of God not far behind.

Let us come daily to this holy place, and spend a while together. ²Here we share our final dream. ³It is a dream in which there is no sorrow, for it holds a hint of all the glory given us by God. (A Course in Miracles, W-pII.2.1:1–4:3. See also ACIM Lesson 231 Insights.)

Conflict can only occur when the appearance of differences is believed to be real. This belief is the cause of the world we experience.

But Love is one, eternally the same. There is no conflict in this oneness, so it is in a constant state of peace. This is our natural state as well, for we, along with every brother, were created by Love and remain one with It.

We have been given the Thought of Love to help us remember our innate peace. We call on this Thought today to guide us in all our doing. We would see past the appearance of conflicting images. We welcome Love’s Light and happily join with It in every brother. In that Light we bring our brothers with us as we awaken to our Home in Love.

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Accepting the Holy Spirit’s Judgment Sets Us Free

The body is the central figure in the dreaming of the world. ²There is no dream without it, nor does it exist without the dream in which it acts as if it were a person to be seen and be believed. …⁵[The body’s] safety is its main concern. ⁶Its comfort is its guiding rule. ⁷It tries to look for pleasure, and avoid the things that would be hurtful. ⁸Above all, it tries to teach itself its pains and joys are different and can be told apart.

How willing are you to escape effects of all the dreams the world has ever had? ²Is it your wish to let no dream appear to be the cause of what it is you do? …⁴No one asleep and dreaming in the world remembers his attack [wish for specialness] upon himself. ⁵No one believes there really was a time when he knew nothing of a body, and could never have conceived this world as real. ⁶He would have seen at once that these ideas are one illusion, too ridiculous for anything but to be laughed away. ⁷How serious they now appear to be! ⁸And no one can remember when they would have met with laughter and with disbelief. ⁹We can remember this, if we but look directly at their cause. ¹⁰And we will see the grounds for laughter, not a cause for fear.

In gentle laughter does the Holy Spirit perceive the cause, and looks not to effects. …³He bids you bring each terrible effect to Him that you may look together on its foolish cause and laugh with Him a while. ⁴You judge effects, but He has judged their cause. ⁵And by His judgment are effects removed. ⁶Perhaps you come in tears. ⁷But hear Him say, “My brother, holy Son of God, behold your idle dream, in which this could occur.” ⁸And you will leave the holy instant with your laughter and your brother’s joined with His. A Course in Miracles, T-27.VIII.1:1-2,5-8;5:1-2,4-10;9:1,3-8. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

While we believe the dreams of the world are real, we need Help from outside the dream to recognize we are believing in a false idea. We need to let the Holy Spirit be our Interpreter for everything we experience in the dream. We have taught ourselves to interpret the effects we perceive. This habit shields us from looking at the cause of our experience.

But release from the dream will only come when we choose to no longer want to be separate from our brothers in the world. When we accept the Holy Spirit’s interpretation of our perceptions, we will learn that the effects we perceive are based on a belief that could never be true.

In truth we could never be separate from the Love that is the true Self of our brother and ourselves. We are one Self, the holy Son of God. As we accept this unity as our reality, we awaken from the dream.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Only Meaningful Journey

I am affected only by my thoughts.

It needs but this to let salvation come to all the world. ²For in this single thought is everyone released at last from fear. ³Now has he learned that no one frightens him, and nothing can endanger him. ⁴He has no enemies, and he is safe from all external things. ⁵His thoughts can frighten him, but since these thoughts belong to him alone, he has the power to change them and exchange each fear thought for a happy thought of love. ⁶He crucified himself. ⁷Yet God has planned that His beloved Son will be redeemed.

Your plan is sure, my Father,—only Yours. ²All other plans will fail. ³And I will have thoughts that will frighten me, until I learn that You have given me the only Thought that leads me to salvation. ⁴Mine alone will fail, and lead me nowhere. ⁵But the Thought You gave me promises to lead me home, because it holds Your promise to Your Son. (A Course in Miracles, W-338. See also ACIM Lesson 338 Insights.)

The ego feeds us a constant stream of thoughts based on past memories. These thoughts affect us only when we engage with them, believing they have some meaning. The Course is teaching us that the past is gone and thoughts about the past are thoughts about nothing in truth.

It seems we wander through these thoughts following a meaningless journey leading nowhere. These journeys carry a sense of vulnerability and a need to defend against potential harm. These journeys carry a sense of worthlessness leading us on quests to find worth in some special form that never lasts.

But we can choose a journey that leads to awakening to our true value as part of God’s singular Thought of Love. By the grace of His Love, we have been given a Guide to help us learn to sort out the meaningless from the meaningful, the loveless from the loving.

When we discipline our mind to engage with only loving thoughts, we leave the past behind us. Thoughts of the past lose their appeal. The radiant Light of Love draws us to It. As we consistently give attention to Thoughts of Love, anxiety and fear fade away to be replaced by peace and joy. We remember we are Love and nothing else. We remember we are at Home in the Love of God.

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Seeing Past Our Dark Thoughts to the Light

In your questioning of illusions, ask yourself if it is really sane to perceive what was as now. ⁷If you remember the past as you look upon your brother, you will be unable to perceive the reality that is now.

…the past can cast no shadow to darken the present, unless you are afraid of light. ⁵And only if you are would you choose to bring darkness with you, and by holding it in your mind, see it as a dark cloud that shrouds your brothers and conceals their reality from your sight.

This darkness is in you. ²The Christ as revealed to you now has no past, for He is changeless, and in His changelessness lies your release. ³For if He is as He was created, there is no guilt in Him. ⁴No cloud of guilt has risen to obscure Him, and He stands revealed in everyone you meet because you see Him through Himself. ⁵To be born again is to let the past go, and look without condemnation upon the present. ⁶The cloud that obscures God’s Son to you is the past, and if you would have it past and gone, you must not see it now. ⁷If you see it now in your illusions, it has not gone from you, although it is not there.

The miracle enables you to see your brother without his past, and so perceive him as born again. ²His errors are all past, and by perceiving him without them you are releasing him. ³And since his past is yours, you share in this release. ⁴Let no dark cloud out of your past obscure him from you, for truth lies only in the present, and you will find it if you seek it there. (A Course in Miracles, T-13.VI.1:6-7;2:4–3:7;5:1-4. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

When we are afraid of the oneness of Love, we are afraid of light. The world as we see it was made by the ego to hide from the Light of Love. We see only the ego’s dark shadows made up of images from the past projected on the present to keep us unaware of Love’s presence now.

To awaken to the Love we are, we need to be vigilant to accept the Holy Spirit’s help to see our brothers as the Love they are now, free of projections from the past. With this practice we will see the one Self we share with every brother reflected back to us. As we release our brothers from the past we see in him, we release our own past to know our true Self as we are in every present moment.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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True Vision Brings Peace of Mind

I could see peace instead of this.

The idea for today begins to describe the conditions that prevail in the other way of seeing. ²Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter. ³It must begin with your own thoughts, and then extend outward. ⁴It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of the world arises.

⁴It is your inner world to which the applications of today’s idea should be made.

²Search your mind for fear thoughts, anxiety-provoking situations, “offending” personalities or events, or anything else about which you are harboring unloving thoughts.

…whenever you feel your peace of mind is threatened in any way.… the exercise should take this form:

⁴I could see peace in this situation instead of what I now see in it. (A Course in Miracles, W-34.1;2:4;3:2;5:1,3-4. See also ACIM Lesson 34 Insights.)

Form is sacrosanct to the ego. Its focus is always on arranging forms to protect it or bring some approved condition. If these conditions are met, the ego calls it happiness. But this “happiness” never lasts because the forms have no real content and in truth, form does not matter.

Only Love matters. Where there is not Love, the form has no content. A perceived world with empty forms is unstable, unreliable and fosters anxiety, fear and depression. The Holy Spirit offers another way of seeing that leads to peace and lasting happiness. His vision shows us the presence of Love that is eternal. This world only seems to hide it because we have accepted the ego as our guide.

Today we choose the Holy Spirit’s vision, which will always show us the solid foundation upon which peace of mind stands. The peace of God is ours now and forever.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Finding the Solution to Every Problem

The temptation to regard problems as many is the temptation to keep the problem of separation unsolved. ²The world seems to present you with a vast number of problems, each requiring a different answer. ³This perception places you in a position in which your problem solving must be inadequate, and failure is inevitable.

No one could solve all the problems the world appears to hold. ²They seem to be on so many levels, in such varying forms and with such varied content, that they confront you with an impossible situation. ³Dismay and depression are inevitable as you regard them.

All this complexity is but a desperate attempt not to recognize the problem, and therefore not to let it be resolved. ²If you could recognize that your only problem is separation, no matter what form it takes, you could accept the answer because you would see its relevance. ³Perceiving the underlying constancy in all the problems that seem to confront you, you would understand that you have the means to solve them all. ⁴And you would use the means, because you recognize the problem.

Be not deceived by the form of problems today. ²Whenever any difficulty seems to rise, tell yourself quickly:

³Let me recognize this problem so it can be solved.

⁴Then try to suspend all judgment about what the problem is. ⁵If possible, close your eyes for a moment and ask what it is. ⁶You will be heard and you will be answered. (A Course in Miracles, W-79.4:1–5:3;6;10. See also ACIM Lesson 79 Insights.)

Here we have a practice that can set us free from the ego’s limitations. We have the answer now. It is only our unwillingness that keeps us from accepting the solution to every problem we think we have. But we can learn to recognize the actual problem and let be resolved with the Holy Spirit’s help.

Let us join in a shared commitment to accept the answer to every problem. It is key to the experience of a peaceful and happy day. If we are willing to accept the Holy Spirit’s help with every problem, we will be inspired with solutions in forms that bring us peace.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Satisfying Our Hunger for Love

You are my goal, my Father. Only You.

Where would I go but Heaven? ²What could be a substitute for happiness? ³What gift could I prefer before the peace of God? ⁴What treasure would I seek and find and keep that can compare with my Identity? ⁵And would I rather live with fear than love?

You are my goal, my Father. ²What but You could I desire to have? ³What way but that which leads to You could I desire to walk? ⁴And what except the memory of You could signify to me the end of dreams and futile substitutions for the truth? ⁵You are my only goal. ⁶Your Son would be as You created him. ⁷What way but this could I expect to recognize my Self, and be at one with my Identity? (A Course in Miracles, W-287. See also ACIM Lesson 287 Insights.)

Everyone in the world is hungry for Love. Under the ego’s direction we are led on fruitless searches, looking for Love in all the wrong places. The ego’s goal is always to avoid Love, for the full acceptance of Love’s oneness would be its end.

We are hungry because we want to return to awareness of our true Self. We want to return to our Source. We want to return to Love, our true Identity.

Today we call upon the Holy Spirit, Whose mission is to lead us Home to Love. His vision shows us the presence of Love beyond the ego’s decoys that are lifeless substitutes for Love. By following the Holy Spirit, we awaken to the Love we are; our hunger is satisfied.

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