Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Making Christ’s Vision Our Priority

Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.

What time but now can truth be recognized? ²The present is the only time there is. ³And so today, this instant, now, we come to look upon what is forever there; not in our sight, but in the eyes of Christ. ⁴He looks past time, and sees eternity as represented there. ⁵He hears the sounds the senseless, busy world engenders, yet He hears them faintly. ⁶For beyond them all He hears the song of Heaven, and the Voice for God more clear, more meaningful, more near.

³Now is the balance righted, and the scale of judgment left to Him Who judges true. ⁴And in His judgment will a world unfold in perfect innocence before your eyes. ⁵Now will you see it with the eyes of Christ.

We will not judge today. ²We will receive but what is given us from judgment made beyond the world. ³Our practicing today becomes our gift of thankfulness for our release from blindness and from misery. ⁴All that we see will but increase our joy, because its holiness reflects our own. ⁵We stand forgiven in the sight of Christ, with all the world forgiven in our own. ⁶We bless the world, as we behold it in the light in which our Savior looks on us, and offer it the freedom given us through His forgiving vision, not our own. (A Course in Miracles, W-164.1;5:3-5;7. See also ACIM Lesson 164 Insights.)

While we seem to be in this world we need to give priority to our inner vision, the vision of Christ. When we have accepted this as our primary way of perceiving in the world, the things of the world will fade into the background. This is how we live in the world while waking up.

Now we give priority to seeing with Christ’s vision. We remember that only Love is real. His vision shows us the innocence of Love in every brother, for Christ does not judge on appearances in the world. As we accept His judgment in place of the judgments we have harbored from the past, we see cause for happiness and peace instead of depression and discord. This priority is how we remember we one with Him Who is our Source.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Opening to the Light of Love

To give and to receive are one in truth.

Vision depends upon today’s idea. ²The light is in it, for it reconciles all seeming opposites. ³And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? ⁴Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. ⁵And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.

True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold. ²It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. ³And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.

This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision, being healed, has power to heal. ²This is the light that brings your peace of mind to other minds, to share it and be glad that they are one with you and with themselves. ³This is the light that heals because it brings single perception, based upon one frame of reference, from which one meaning comes.

Here are both giving and receiving seen as different aspects of one Thought whose truth does not depend on which is seen as first, nor which appears to be in second place. ²Here it is understood that both occur together, that the Thought remain complete. (A Course in Miracles, W-108.1:1–4:2. See also ACIM Lesson 108 Insights.)

When the Course speaks of giving and receiving, it is not about an object or form, which is never real. The only true giving and receiving must be Love, for only Love is real. Whenever we have loving thoughts, we experience Love’s blessing. These thoughts may not be expressed in words, but the blessing is both experienced and extended. As we let Love be the Guide for all our thoughts and actions, we have a joyful life experience. Joy is an aspect of Love.

But if we harbor guilt because of a belief that we have separated from Love, we cannot experience Love’s blessing. Guilt is denial of Light. Forgiveness welcomes Light. It lets go of a belief that darkens our mind. When we identify with the ego, we deny the Light of Love.

But forgiveness of our mistaken identification with the ego dispels the ego’s dark thoughts. We are able to see with true perception, the vision of Christ, and recognize the presence of the Light of Love. Light always dispels darkness. Our denial of Light has no effect whatsoever on the Light. It only hides it from our awareness. Today we choose Christ’s vision which sees truly and brings Light to our experience of the world.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Reclaiming Our Identity as Light of the World

Who is the light of the world except God’s Son? ²This, then, is merely a statement of the truth about yourself. ³It is the opposite of a statement of pride, of arrogance, or of self-deception. ⁴It does not describe the self-concept you have made. ⁵It does not refer to any of the characteristics with which you have endowed your idols. ⁶It refers to you as you were created by God. ⁷It simply states the truth.

You will want to think about this idea as often as possible today. ²It is the perfect answer to all illusions, and therefore to all temptation. ³It brings all the images you have made about yourself to the truth, and helps you depart in peace, unburdened and certain of your purpose.

As many practice periods as possible should be undertaken today, although each one need not exceed a minute or two. ²They should begin with telling yourself:

³I am the light of the world. ⁴That is my only function. ⁵That is why I am here.

Today’s idea goes far beyond the ego’s petty views of what you are and what your purpose is. …⁵You are the light of the world. ⁶God has built His plan for the salvation of His Son on you. (A Course in Miracles, W-61.1;4:1–5:5;7:1,5-6. See also ACIM Lesson 61 Insights.)

In order to make specialness seem possible, the ego had to make a downsized, limited image of our identity. Only if our identity were limited, would it be possible to have more than other limited identities. The ego populates the world with projected images that seem to be different from our own ego-defined identity. These differences are the basis for specialness, being different from everything else.

The effect of this image making is a world of conflicting images, some seeming to have more value and others less. All these false images hide the Reality of our one Self, the Light of the world. God shared all of His Light, all of His Love with His Son, our Self. To deny God’s gift is arrogant. Believing we are limited to a body is believing we know the truth but God does not.

The antidote to this insane thinking is to accept the fact that we are the Light of the world because we remain at one with our Creator, the Source of all Love. Our function is to extend Love without limit as God has extended it to us. As we remove our self-imposed limits on Love’s extension we experience being the Light of the world.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting Love as Our Identity

Love created me like itself.

²I am in the likeness of my Creator. ³I cannot suffer, I cannot experience loss and I cannot die. ⁴I am not a body. ⁵I would recognize my reality today. ⁶I will worship no idols, nor raise my own self-concept to replace my Self. ⁷I am in the likeness of my Creator. ⁸Love created me like itself.

‘You might find these specific forms helpful in applying the idea:

²Let me not see an illusion of myself in this.
³As I look on this, let me remember my Creator.
⁴My Creator did not create this as I see it. (A Course in Miracles, W-84.1:1–2:4. See also ACIM Lesson 84 Insights.)

We are all innately loving. But if we identify with a separate image that we believe is our self, the Love we are is denied. This image of a separate self needs constant defense because it is not real. So it seems that the world is a place of conflict, lack, loss and attack.

To remember that we were created as changeless Love, by Love, we need to let go of the separate self image as our identity. Forgiveness is the way to remember we are Love and nothing else. We need to remind ourselves frequently that we are not a body and what the body seems to show us cannot be real. This is the first step. It needs to be followed by being willing to let Christ’s vision show us what is real.

This process of letting go of illusion and accepting the reality of Love as our Identity is our journey Home.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Happy Exchange of Fear for Love

The real world holds a counterpart for each unhappy thought reflected in your world; a sure correction for the sights of fear and sounds of battle which your world contains. ²The real world shows a world seen differently, through quiet eyes and with a mind at peace. ³Nothing but rest is there. ⁴There are no cries of pain and sorrow heard, for nothing there remains outside forgiveness. ⁵And the sights are gentle. ⁶Only happy sights and sounds can reach the mind that has forgiven itself.

The real world is the symbol that the dream of sin and guilt is over, and God’s Son no longer sleeps. ²His waking eyes perceive the sure reflection of his Father’s Love; the certain promise that he is redeemed. ³The real world signifies the end of time, for its perception makes time purposeless.

…as we look upon a world forgiven, it is He [God] Who calls to us and comes to take us home, reminding us of our Identity which our forgiveness has restored to us. (A Course in Miracles, W-pII.8.2;4;5:4. See also ACIM Lesson 291 Insights.)

The ego is always angry. It is upset with God because He could not give it more than everything. The world we experience with the ego is a manifestation of its temper tantrum. It does not like the Home God created for His Son so it’s trying to run away from Home. But there is no other place that is real. So the ego has had to make a dream world to satisfy its wish for specialness.

We can leave this dream behind by forgiving—letting go of—the insane wish to have more than everything. Because we have identified with the ego, we need the help of the Holy Spirit to wake up from the dream. Our part of waking up is to offer all our perceptions to Him to be exchanged for Christ’s vision. With this happy exchange the shadows of the ego’s denial are dispelled and we see past its meaningless images to the eternal presence of Love.

Today we happily welcome Christ’s vision.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Gift of a Peaceful Mind

This world you seem to live in is not home to you. ²And somewhere in your mind you know that this is true.

We speak today for everyone who walks this world, for he is not at home. ²He goes uncertainly about in endless search, seeking in darkness what he cannot find; not recognizing what it is he seeks. ³A thousand homes he makes, yet none contents his restless mind. ⁴He does not understand he builds in vain. ⁵The home he seeks can not be made by him. ⁶There is no substitute for Heaven. ⁷All he ever made was hell.

When you are still an instant, when the world recedes from you, when valueless ideas cease to have value in your restless mind, then will you hear His Voice.

Take time today to lay aside your shield which profits nothing, and lay down the spear and sword you raised against an enemy without existence.

You have not lost your innocence. ²It is for this you yearn. ³This is your heart’s desire. ⁴This is the voice you hear, and this the call which cannot be denied. …⁸And now the way is open, and the journey has an end in sight at last. ⁹Be still an instant and go home with Him, and be at peace a while. (A Course in Miracles, W-182.1:1-2;3;8:1;11:1;12:1-4,8-9. See also ACIM Lesson 182 Insights.)

The ego and the body, its chosen home, seem to exist in this world. But our true Self is not at home in this world. While we identify with the ego, there is an underlying feeling that we are aliens here in a world that is not our Home. We yearn to return to our Home in the changelessness of God’s Love.

Just as the alien in the movie “E.T.” needed help to communicate with his source, we need help to restore our communication with our Creator. We access this Help by stepping back from the values of the world and letting our mind be still. In this stillness, our communication is restored. The Holy Spirit helps us see beyond the alien world to the Love we never left in truth. We “phone home” by welcoming the Holy Spirit’s Voice accepting peace in our mind.

Today we remind ourselves frequently to be still and listen. We want to remember our innocence as Love we are. We want to be at peace. We want to join with God’s joy in the eternal extension of Love.

© 2022, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Remembering the Love God Gave Us

I love You, Father, and I love Your Son.

My gratitude permits my love to be accepted without fear. And thus am I restored to my reality at last. All that intruded on my holy sight forgiveness takes away. And I draw near the end of senseless journeys, mad careers and artificial values. I accept instead what God establishes as mine, sure that in that alone I will be saved; sure that I go through fear to meet my Love.

Father, I come to You today, because I would not follow any way but Yours. You are beside me. Certain is Your way. And I am grateful for Your holy gifts of certain sanctuary, and escape from everything that would obscure my love for God my Father and His holy Son. (A Course in Miracles, W-pII.298. See also ACIM Lesson 298 Insights.)

The Course tells us “Love is the way I walk in gratitude” (Lesson 195) And “…Love cannot be far behind a grateful heart.” (M-23.4:6)

The ego is the manifestation of lack of gratitude for God’s gifts. What is not appreciated is rejected. Our engagement with the ego thought system brings with it ingratitude for God’s Creation, which is our true Self. Perception is selective, accepting only what is valued. The world of the ego does not value Love, so it is a loveless state of mind.

The Course is teaching us that all we truly want is to remember the Love God gave us in our Creation. Our belief in a loveless world has not changed the fact that we are the Love that we seem not to have. Perception of lovelessness brings fear with it. Though it is disguised in many forms, our underlying fear is of the Love of God.

Forgiveness clears away our mistaken beliefs, our artificial values that hide the Love we are from our awareness. Today we dedicate to frequently remind ourselves of God’s Love for us and express our gratitude for His eternal gift that remains the truth of What we are. What we value most is that we are safe in the Heart of God.

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