Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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How to Reclaim Limitless Happiness

Those who would see the witnesses to truth instead of to illusion merely ask that they might see a purpose in the world that gives it sense and makes it meaningful. Without your special function has this world no meaning for you. Yet it can become a treasure house as rich and limitless as Heaven itself. No instant passes here in which your brother’s holiness cannot be seen, to add a limitless supply [of happiness] to every meager scrap and tiny crumb of happiness that you allot yourself.

Yet every instant can you be reborn, and given life again. [Your brother’s] holiness gives life to you, who cannot die because his sinlessness is known to God; and can no more be sacrificed by you than can the light in you be blotted out because he sees it not. You who would make a sacrifice of life, and make your eyes and ears bear witness to the death of God and of His holy Son, think not that you have power to make of Them what God willed not They be. In Heaven, God’s Son is not imprisoned in a body, nor is sacrificed in solitude to sin. And as he is in Heaven, so must he be eternally and everywhere. He is the same forever. (A Course in Miracles, T-26.I.5;6:1-6. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

The Light we are as God’s Son cannot be extinguished. This same Light is in every brother, for we are all united in God’s Love. The Truth in each of us sees only the Truth in every brother. But judgments based upon past grievances blind us to the presence of Love. As long as we insist on judging, we reinforce the belief that separation is real. True happiness is impossible in a dream of separation because separation denies our unity with the Source of happiness.

We have the means to let go of this denial. We need to forgive our grievances. This is our special function. Everyone seems to have different grievances and judge the world differently. These different judgments lead to conflict, anger and fear.

As we let the Holy Spirit help us heal our fear-based thoughts, we become increasingly aware of the Light of Love in everyone. Eventually we all must come to the point of letting go of the core grievance beneath them all — the ego’s grievance against God for not giving special love. This forgiveness practice is our journey of awakening that leads to limitless happiness and peace that cannot be disturbed. It returns us Home to Heaven.

© 2020, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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How to Bring Light to the World

The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.

My forgiveness is the means by which the light of the world finds expression through me. My forgiveness is the means by which I become aware of the light of the world in me. My for­giveness is the means by which the world is healed, together with myself. Let me, then, forgive the world, that it may be healed along with me.

“Suggestions for specific forms for applying this idea are:

Let peace extend from my mind to yours, [name].
I share the light of the world with you, [name].
Through my forgiveness I can see this as it is. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 82, W-pI.82.1-2. See also ACIM Lesson 82 Insights.)

God’s Love is the Light of the world, and It is What we are. Grievances block this Light from Its expression in the world. We fill the dark shadows cast by our grievances with hallucinations of attack, loss, separation and death. These hallucinations spawn fear and guilt which make a world in which we believe we are vulnerable and weak.

But this dark world we perceive is not real. Nothing that seems to happen in it has any effect whatsoever on the truth that we, the Son of God, are Love and nothing else. Love can neither harm nor be harmed, for It is one and eternally changeless. What God created one with Him shares all His attributes. Our true nature as Love is revealed when we forgive our grievances. Love is the foundation for forgiveness, for Love sees only Its own harmlessness. Love sees only Itself, for nothing but Love exists in truth.

To let this reality dawn upon our minds, we need to practice, moment by moment, being open to the vision of Love that shows us Truth. We remind ourselves often today to ask of Love, “What would You have me think, what would You have me see, what would You have me say, what would You have me do?” Thus will we bring Light to the world.

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The Key to Happiness

My happiness and my function are one.

All things that come from God are one. They come from Oneness, and must be received as one. Fulfilling my function is my happiness because both come from the same Source. And I must learn to recognize what makes me happy, if I would find happiness.

Some useful forms for specific applications of this idea are:

This cannot separate my happiness from my function.
The oneness of my happiness and my function re­mains wholly unaffected by this.
Nothing, including this, can justify the illusion of happiness apart from my function. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 83, W-pI.83:3-4. See also ACIM Lesson 83 Insights.)

Our Source is Love, Which is all that is real. Love eternally extends Itself. Thus our only function is to be Love by joining with the eternal extension of Love from our Source.

As we accept our part in Love’s unlimited extension, we experience God’s joy as our own. The seeming happiness we may experience in the world is like a flickering candle compared to the sun. We welcome the joy of being Love as we let Love guide our thoughts, words and actions. With this guidance, we look past appearances in the world to the Light of Love that never diminishes. It only seems hidden from our awareness while we maintain allegiance to the ego’s denial of Love.

Today we dedicate to fulfilling our true function by asking the Holy Spirit to help us see with the vision of Love. As we relinquish our judgments, which deny Love, Love becomes our motivation and our fulfillment. We are increasingly blessed with happiness and peace. We join with God’s Will for us for perfect happiness.

© 2020, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Accepting the Self Love Created

Love created me like Itself.

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

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

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

When we see ourselves as a body, we are joining with the ego’s grievance against God. We are identifying with an ego idol that stands in the way of our recognition of the Self God created like Himself. Because God is one, it is impossible that He could create something that is separate from Him. Were separation to be accomplished, it would mean the death of God and the elimination of Love.

That is why the ego’s world is loveless. It is time to disconnect from this mistaken identity. We are not the ego nor any of its idols of separation. When we affirm that Love created us like Itself we are returning our allegiance to the truth. We are returning to Love as our Identity.

As we accept our Identity as Love, the images of the world diminish in importance. Increasingly we see beyond them. Our judgments shift from attempts to make separation real to vision that sees beyond the forms to the eternal presence of Love.

As we let Love in, we express It in the world with kindness, helpfulness, willingness to offer Love’s blessing instead of the ego’s condemnation. We become God’s messengers of Love to help heal the loveless world. We are increasingly joyful as joining in Love becomes our primary dedication.

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How to Learn What Everything Is For

Any thought system that confuses God and the body must be insane.

The body is the ego’s home by its own election. It is the only identification with which the ego feels safe, since the body’s vulnerability is its own best argument that you cannot be of God.

…the one question that is never asked by those who pursue [problems] is, “What for?” This is the question that you must learn to ask in connection with everything. What is the purpose? Whatever it is, it will direct your efforts automatically. When you make a decision of purpose, then, you have made a decision about your future effort; a decision that will remain in effect unless you change your mind.

Only your allegiance to it gives the ego any power over you. …The ego is nothing more than a part of your belief about yourself. Your other [real] life has continued without interruption, and has been and always will be totally unaffected by your attempts to dissociate it. (A Course in Miracles, T-4.V.3:1;4:1-2;6:7-11; VI.1:2,6-7. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

The ego’s primary purpose is to deny Love’s oneness, i.e. deny God. Since this is an insane purpose, the ego needs to constantly defend itself. It uses the body’s vulnerability to “prove” that we are not eternal. Death is its ultimate proof. Only our allegiance to the ego makes the body and its inevitable end seem real.

But we can change our allegiance. The practice of asking the Holy Spirit of everything, “What is this for?” opens the door to the return of sanity to our mind. The world seems to present an endless stream of problems. Many seem out of our reach to resolve. Some we think we can solve on our own, especially the “little” ones. But the Course teaches that there is no difficulty in miracles; there is only one problem—believing in separation.

The more we are vigilant to what everything is for, the faster our mind will return to the peace and joy of its Home in Love. We need to not reserve some problems for us to solve on our own. This only prolongs our allegiance to the ego. It cannot resolve any problem because it is the source of all problems.

The Holy Spirit is our unbreakable link with the Love that dissolves all apparent problems. Let us join today in a dedication to following Love’s lead moment by moment.

© 2020, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Returning to the Safety of Love

…[defense] gives illu­sions full reality, and then attempts to handle them as real. It adds illusions to illusions, thus making correction doubly diffi­cult. And it is this you do when you attempt to plan the future, activate the past, or organize the present as you wish.

Defend the body and you have attacked your mind. …And you will impose upon the body all the pain that comes from the conception of the mind as limited and fragile, and apart from other minds and separate from its Source.

These are the thoughts in need of healing, and the body will respond with health when they have been corrected and re­placed with truth. This is the body’s only real defense.

A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans that it receives through listening to wisdom that is not its own. It waits until it has been taught what should be done, and then proceeds to do it. It does not depend upon itself for anything except its adequacy to fulfill the plans assigned to it. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 135, W-pI.135.1:2-4;9:1,4;10:1-2;11:1-4. See also ACIM Lesson 135 Insights.)

It is tempting to believe that our past experiences have taught us what to do to protect ourselves from harm and provide for our needs. This is the arrogance of the ego. It ego teaches that the past has meaning. The past does not exist in truth. The Holy Spirit knows that reality lies only in the eternal present.

The problem with the ego’s plans is that they are based on misperceptions from the past, ignoring the Reality in the present. The best it can do to plan for the future is to make up stories built upon mistaken memories of the past. Such plans cannot possibly lead us to safety in the presence of Love’s oneness.

Yet we have a Guide Who recognizes our misperceptions but has vision that sees beyond our limited perception in the world. He can see the effects of our thoughts and actions on all the world. His sole motive is to return our awareness to the oneness of Love which is shared with all. This is why we need to be vigilant in our practice to follow the Holy Spirit’s plans for us, not our own. The ego’s plans only increase fear. The Holy Spirit’s plans return us to the safety of Love.

© 2020, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Christ’s Answer to Our Calls for Love

Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.

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

…Christ gives you His sight and hears for you, and answers in your name the Call He hears!

Now is the balance righted, and the scale of judgment left to Him Who judges true. And in His judgment will a world unfold in perfect innocence before your eyes. Now will you see it with the eyes of Christ. Now is its transformation clear to you. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 164, W-pI.164.1;3:1;5:3-5. See also ACIM Lesson 164 Insights.)

The world seems to need our constant judgment to decide what is true or false, safe or dangerous, innocent or guilty. We believe this is necessary to protect ourselves. Yet this practice protects only the ego and the substitute identity we have accepted as our own. Only this false identity is vulnerable and needs constant protection to maintain its seeming existence. This habit denies Love and makes peace and lasting happiness impossible.

It is time to start a new practice. We can practice pausing frequently to remind ourselves that this world we perceive is not our reality. Then ask the Holy Spirit to show us Christ’s vision Which sees only the eternal present where our true Self abides. As we give this vision first place in our mind, the ego’s false images fade into the background.

With Christ’s vision, the Light of Love dispels the ego’s dark shadows. As we accept Christ’s true judgment more fully, Love fills our heart and we experience the blessing of seeing Love as the truth in every brother. The perception of guilt is replaced by the vision of innocence. The thought of harm is replaced by the recognition that harm to our true Self is impossible. Love, peace and joy are our predominant experience. Let us join together in the practice of welcoming Christ’s vision.

© 2020, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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