Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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Let Me Be Still and Listen to the Truth

Mary:  This morning I was guided to read ACIM Lesson 106: Let me be still and listen to the truth. I was reminded that the answer to every concern lies within, not without. The Holy Spirit is always in my mind, guiding me to the truth, when I am willing to welcome the Holy Spirit’s healing perspective.

I know that I am opening to the Holy Spirit when I receive Its gentle gift of peace. I let peace wash through my mind, cleansing it of all meaningless thoughts. I rest a while with the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit, there are no problems. There is only eternal peace. Joined with Holy Spirit, I know that all is well and that nothing can really happen to change God’s one Son. Joined with Holy Spirit, there is only oneness.

I receive the quiet gentle message that it would be helpful to step back and rest a while with Holy Spirit often today. I see that it would be very beneficial to rest a while and to allow myself to become aware of the truth of Love’s presence everywhere as I rest and am willing to receive the truth today. I am filled with a sense of gratitude that God goes with me wherever I go. Today I am willing to practice letting go and letting the awareness of What Is return to my mind.

Robert:  Lesson 106 talks about listening for and receiving the Word of God. Today I have a new understanding of what this means. Remembering that the Course says words are but symbols of symbols, it helped me to understand that the Word of God is not necessarily an English word or words that come into my mind or that I hear. It’s a symbol, and symbols can come in many forms in the dream. When I am willing and receptive, the symbols will come in a form that’s helpful for me. God’s Voice (another symbol) will communicate to me in a way that I can receive it according to my willingness.

So the Word of God may come as a feeling. It may be as simple as a deepening sense of peace or a growing sense of joy. It may come as an image in my mind, a picture that helps me open more fully to God’s Love and peace. It may be an inner sense of knowing without words or images. Now when I listen for the Word of God, I will lay aside expectations for how It may come. I need only rest with an open mind and heart and I will receive God’s Word in every now moment. And I will know I am blessed as a Son of God.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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I Love the Truth Beyond the Images of the World

Robert:  I love the world. This is the only thought that can be in my mind when I am Identified with the one Self we all share. It does not mean that I love the forms and images of the world. It means that I love the truth beyond the images because it is the truth that is shared with all. Today I would see this truth in every moment and love the world and thus know my Self.

Mary:  Today is a day of practice in remembering that I rest in God. Today I will practice remembering that I am still as God created me and that nothing has really happened to change God’s one Son.

In order to remember this, I must allow an opening in my mind to receive God’s gift of peace and everlasting happiness. This peace and happiness does not change like the stories of the world.

I am in Holy Spirit’s school and the lesson for today is to practice opening my mind to receive the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace and Love and joy. It is my willingness that allows these gifts to be received. Today is a day of practice in receiving the truth.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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With Forgiveness, Love Dawns Upon My Mind of Itself

Robert:  It’s helpful to observe the words I use. They can be clues to my beliefs and attitudes. I just observed myself saying that I have to get something. I immediately laughed at myself because I recognized that I believed my happiness depended upon having some form.

This is what the ego always teaches. Since it is the idea of separation and lack, it always teaches that happiness comes from somehow filling that perceived lack. It doesn’t tell us that the lack is an illusion, that we already have everything of value, given us by God. Instead the ego teaches that its illusionary substitutes for what God gave us are what we should seek. Yet when we seek these substitutes, we do not realize that we are seeking for what we have denied by choosing illusions instead of the reality of Love.

There is no substitute for Love. There is nothing but Love. Believing in separation and searching for illusions to fill the emptiness that comes with believing in separation can never succeed. Success comes only when what is searched for is looked for where it can be found. Thus if I really want to be happy, I need to let illusions go. In other words I need to forgive the false images I have put in place as a barrier against Love. With forgiveness, Love dawns upon my mind of Itself. There is really nothing else I really want.

Words that give me a clue that I am looking to the world to fill my need for Love include: if only; I wish I had; I have to; I need to; I can’t. These are a few clues that I can use to alert me that I am looking to find Love where it cannot be found. I need to take that thought to the Holy Spirit and ask His help to see the Love that is already mine because it is God’s Will. This practice will help me see past the form to the forgiven world, the real world. And I will return to the full awareness of the Love I have always been.

Holy Spirit through Mary:  Let go of efforting. Let go of deciding anything on your own. Let go of thinking you are on your own. Remember you have a constant Companion Who will decide for you if you allow It. Hand the reigns over. Let yourself be carried. You need not try to figure it out on your own. You need not try to figure out on your own what will make you safe or what will help you have enough of what you think you need.

Let your mind quiet of all the ego chatter. Rest a while with Me. Receive My gift of peace. Really let yourself receive it. Receive its calmness and gentleness and sense of having everything you need in the moment. Receive the happiness that comes with it and the knowing that everything is in perfect order. Bring all your worries and concerns to this place of inner peace and let them disappear in its soft embrace.

Let this feeling of peace stay with you all through the day. Let the gentle inner knowing that comes with receiving peace guide your ways. Let receiving peace and extending peace be your only goal today.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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God’s Will for Me Is Perfect Happiness

Robert:  I feel supremely blessed to know that God’s Will for me is perfect happiness. I am grateful that I have been shown the means to accept perfect happiness, to accept God’s Will for me. In this world I have only one function, and that is to loose the world from all I thought it was. I need only forgive myself for making up stories that it could be possible to have a will apart from God. I am grateful that in truth, this could never be. I am grateful that God does not change His mind about me. He knows me as Love and that will never change.

So today my job, my function, is to practice seeing each moment as an opportunity to see Love and nothing else. With this practice I am on the way to perfect happiness.

Holy Spirit through Mary:  Let go of your idea about time. Your real life is in the eternal, not in time. The life you live in time is an illusion. As you practice letting go and letting God, part of that practice is letting go of your belief in time. Watch your thoughts today. Are they reflecting a belief in time or timelessness? Are they reflecting the ego’s thought system or the Holy Spirit’s?

Watch, observe, and when these thoughts come up, hand them over to the Holy Spirit where they will be undone. They will be replaced by the Holy Spirit with the truth about you and everyone you see in the dream of separate bodies. The Holy Spirit will lift the veil and show you the truth. The Holy Spirit will show you that nothing can happen to change God’s one Son. Nothing but Love’s Oneness could ever be true. And then rest a while in gratitude with the Holy Spirit. Your job now is to receive the truth and extend the truth. You job now is to let go and let God.

Holy Spirit through Sharyn:  Letting go is nothing more than offering every single thought, situation or circumstance to Me. It is like bringing it to me on a platter. Thing of thanksgiving, when you prepare food for your loved ones and you bring it to them on a platter. That is what you do for Me. I know how much you love me. Therefore, when you bring Me your platter and give it to Me to heal everything, I will return it to you healed with Love.

Every situation or circumstance is perfectly planned for your healing. The timing is perfect, not matter what you think. And after it is all done you say many times, “Oh, Holy Spirit knew what was best and knew the perfect time.” You have said this over and over. Now please accept it for every single situation, circumstance or thought that you have from now on. And please bring it to Me on the platter and I will be very grateful to serve everything back to you healed, complete and perfect for you. I love you. Amen

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Who Do I Choose As My Companion Today?

Robert:  In every moment I have a choice of who I choose as my companion. When I choose the ego, I experience lack and loss, guilt and fear. When I choose Holy Spirit, I experience peace, happiness, Love and safety.

Lesson 156 tells us that we make this choice a thousand times a day. Because I have unconsciously and habitually chosen the ego as my companion, I now need to be vigilant and mindful of my thoughts. I need to be aware if my present thought is one of Love or fear, peace or conflict. If I notice any lack of peace, I need to take that thought to the Holy Spirit and choose Him as my companion. He will shine the Light of Love on that thought. In that Light, the illusion will be recognized as what it is and easily dismissed.

With the “economic crisis” that is the major topic of discussion and news in the U.S., this is a time to heighten our vigilance to choose our mighty Companion, Who reminds us in each moment that all of God’s abundance is ours. God’s Son cannot be harmed, for he remains eternally as Love created him.

My heart is filled with gratitude that a mighty Companion walks with me Who’s strength is mine and with His help I can walk the world certain of my safety.

Mary: Today as I quiet my mind and listen, I am reminded to choose peace. By choosing peace, I am inviting the Holy Spirit in. As I relax and let go even more, the feeling of peace gets even stronger. With it comes a sense of well being and a confidence that everything is alright. I know everything I need to know when I choose peace. Choosing peace is the same as choosing the Holy Spirit instead of the ego. When I truly choose to join with the Holy Spirit, peace always comes easily because that is Holy Spirit’s gift.

As peace fills my mind, the ego’s worries disappear. I remember that I am being carried. I am reminded that I am in the Mind of God and cannot leave. I am reminded that I am safe in Heaven now and for eternity. I am reminded that time is just an illusion and that letting go of my belief in time happens naturally as I continue to choose peace and leave out the welcome mat for a correction of my perception by the Holy Spirit. Today I will continue my practice of letting peace lead the way.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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To Forgive Is To Make Happy

Robert:  The Course says that to heal is to make happy. Since forgiveness is healing, it could be said that to forgive is to make happy. To the ego, some offenses are more unforgivable than others. But what’s really going on is that for some offenses, I’d rather be right than happy. Since the Son of God cannot be anything other than Love, if I take offense, it cannot be the Son of God that offends me. I can only be offended by an image that I have substituted for the Son of God. And that image I made up.

It works like this. I make up an image and substitute it for the Son of God. I decide what that image will do, how it behaves, what it represents to me. Then I forget that I made that image and it appears that the image is independent of my thinking. Yet it only reflects what I want to believe is true. The choice to make an image comes from the choice to be separate. So now it appears that I am the victim of an outer image because I have denied and hidden from my awareness that the image is simply a projection of my wish to be separate and my attempt to make separation appear to be real.

Because I want separation, that image cannot be forgiven. To forgive that image would be an admission that I am mistaken about what I am. And I would rather not be mistaken so I hang on to my judgment and unhappiness. Clearly this is an insane choice. But what else could it be since it comes from the insane wish to be separate from Love, to not be my Self? The choice to forgive is the choice to accept my Self as What I am. This is why forgiveness is the lynchpin of awakening.

Today I would practice looking past appearances to see the Love that is everywhere and that I am. I do this by taking each fearful or judgmental thought to the Holy Spirit and opening my mind and heart to His gentle correction. He will show me the meaninglessness of the image and it will fade away, revealing the brilliance of the Light of Love that is always there. This practice will bring me a day of joy, for love and joy always come together, being attributes of the Self I am.

Mary:  This morning, as I begin my day, I spend time in quiet listening.

What I receive is a reminder to place my trust in God instead of the ego.

I receive a reminder to let go of the past and the future.

I receive a reminder to continuously step back throughout the day and receive Holy Spirit’s gentle correction of all the ego thoughts that pass through my mind.

I receive a gentle reminder to accept the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace and to soak in the healing waters of God’s peace frequently today.

I receive a gentle reminder that I am not a body. I am free, for I am still as God created me. I also receive a gentle reminder that this is the truth about every brother that I see or even think of.

I am willing to continue to receive Holy Spirit’s gentle reminders as I go through my day because I want to wake up more than anything else. I want to remember the truth and this little willingness will be all that I need to receive those gentle corrections throughout the day and every day.

I am in such great gratitude that I have this Help, because I know I cannot do it on my own.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Projection Makes Perception

Mary and Robert:  Yesterday Rick Herranz asked for help with understanding, “projection makes perception.” On the “Text Made Simple” section of the Pathways of Light web site, you will find the following explanation. It refers to the “What It Says” section of the ACIM Preface found on pages x through xiii. The following is that explanation.

What does projection makes perception mean and how does forgiveness help?

Paragraph 6 introduces the idea that projection makes perception. This idea is central to understanding how forgiveness frees us from the world of perception. Because our perception is a projection that is coming from our own mind, we have complete control over what we perceive. We change what we perceive by changing our minds (forgiveness).

The process of projection is concisely described in three sentences in Workbook Lesson 325.1:1-3.  “What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I want. From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges valuable, and therefore seeks to find. These images are then projected outward, looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as one’s own.”
 
Back in the preface it goes on to describe what happens to our perception when we change our minds from the insane wishes of the ego to forgiveness, which sees a gentle world of mercy and kindness.

In paragraph 6 we also get a very clear description of how the Course defines forgiveness. The following two sentences provide an important foundation for what the Course is all about and how we can free ourselves from the chains of false perception: “As we learn to recognize our perceptual errors, we also learn to look past them or ‘forgive.’ At the same time we are forgiving ourselves, looking past our distorted self-concept to the Self That God created in us and as us.” It is with the help of our inner Teacher, the Holy Spirit, that we learn to recognize our perceptual errors. ACIM is one teaching aid the Holy Spirit has made for us to use in this learning process.

In other places in the Course Jesus describes forgiveness as seeing that what we made is not real, overlooking what never happened, and being willing to see past separation to oneness. An especially helpful definition of forgiveness is found in the Workbook, Lesson 122. In paragraph 3 it states, “Forgiveness lets the veil be lifted up that hides the face of Christ from those who look with unforgiving eyes upon the world. It lets you recognize the Son of God, and clears your memory of all dead thoughts so that remembrance of your Father can arise across the threshold of your mind.” It is also helpful to refer to, “What is forgiveness?” on page 401 of the Workbook (W-pII.1.)

Holy Spirit through Sharyn:  All is well in your perfect world when you choose to see perfection. It is your choice. Whatever you choose to see is what you have to offer the world. If you are looking at angry thoughts or resentments or judgments of others, that is exactly what you think of yourself and that is exactly what you are offering the world.

When your thoughts are of love, kindness and, “what can I do to serve?” your world reflects back to you the beauty, the Love of God and forgiveness. When you look at everyone and everything with forgiveness in your heart and mind, you will see nothing but Love. For when you are forgiving someone for their mistaken actions or their mistaken projections that you think are directed at you, you are looking at them as Jesus would.

With forgiveness in your heart you know perfectly well that you cannot forgive and hold grudges or judge at the same time. It is impossible. Therefore you are always making the choice. You are asking yourself always, “Am I going to look at this situation with loving eyes and forgiveness in my heart? Or am I going to judge this person and fall farther away from God?” Who in their right minded thinking would want to walk farther away from God? Amen.

© 2008, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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