Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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How to Be Happy

The world’s salvation awaits your forgiveness [seeing the Love beyond the ego’s perceptions], because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions, and thus from all temptation. The Son of God is you.

Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. That is because your function is to be happy by using the means [forgiveness] by which happiness becomes inevitable. There is no other way. Therefore, every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function, you are really choosing whether or not to be happy.

Let us remember this today. Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning and again at night, and all through the day as well. Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering they are all really very simple. Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness. Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make? Let not the form of the decision deceive you. Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content. It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice [between Love and illusion]. That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees. Therefore it is the only choice there is.

Let me forgive and be happy. (, A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 64,W-pI.64.3:3-5:10;6:4. See also ACIM Lesson 64 Insights.)

Our deeply ingrained identification with the body limits our perception to the ego’s domain. The body’s eyes were made to perceive illusions and exclude Reality. Fortunately the Holy Spirit can give the body another purpose. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the body becomes the means to let go of the meaning the ego gives to form.

Through the body we experience fear and guilt. These emotions become signals that we are misperceiving. If we use these signals as reminders to turn to the Holy Spirit for help to see as He sees, we open our minds to true forgiveness. The Holy Spirit will show us the Love beyond the images of separation. As we accept His vision, we experience the joy of remembering the Love we are.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Certainty of God’s Strength in Us

You do not realize what you have done to sabotage the holy peace of God by your defensiveness. For you behold the Son of God as but a victim to attack by fantasies, by dreams, and by illusions he has made; yet helpless in their presence, needful only of defense by still more fantasies, and dreams by which illusions of his safety comfort him.

Defenselessness is strength. It testifies to recognition of the Christ in you.

Today our theme is our defenselessness. We clothe ourselves in it, as we prepare to meet the day. We rise up strong in Christ, and let our weakness disappear, as we remember that His strength abides in us. We will remind ourselves that He remains beside us through the day, and never leaves our weakness unsupported by His strength. We call upon His strength each time we feel the threat of our defenses undermine our certainty of purpose. We will pause a moment, as He tells us, “I am here.” (, A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 153, W-pI.153.5:4-6:2;19. See also ACIM Lesson 153 Insights.)

One of the ego’s chief defenses is to bring fantasies of the past and project them onto the present. Since the past does not really exist, its projected images on the present make Reality unknown to us.

The Christ in us, our true Self, is wholly in the present. As we are willing to let go or forgive the past, we experience the presence and strength of Christ. It has always been with us, but hidden by the ego’s projections. Letting go of the defenses of the past is how we remember our true strength. It is how we remember God is here now and always. In this remembrance, we know our invulnerability, for there is nothing that can assail the strength of God in us.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Identification with Our True Self Brings Freedom

What keeps the world in chains but your beliefs? And what can save the world except your Self? Belief is powerful indeed. The thoughts you hold are mighty, and illusions are as strong in their effects as is the truth.

Yet is salvation easily achieved, for anyone is free to change his mind, and all his thoughts change with it. Now the source of thought has shifted [to your Self], for to change your mind means you have changed the source of all ideas you think or ever thought or yet will think. You free the past from what you thought before. You free the future from all ancient thoughts of seeking what you do not want to find [ego’s goal].

The world is nothing in itself. Your mind must give it meaning. And what you behold upon [the world] are your wishes, acted out so you can look on [your wishes] and think them real.

There is no world apart from what you wish, and herein lies your ultimate release. Change but your mind on what you want to see, and all the world must change accordingly. Ideas leave not their source. (, A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 132, W-pI.132.1:1-4;2;4:1-3;5:1-3. See also ACIM Lesson 132 Insights.)

The world we see is a projection of the ego thought system. We have chosen to see this projection because we have accepted the ego as our identity. This acceptance makes the projected world seem real.

Because the world is projected, it does not seem it is coming from the part of our mind that identifies with the ego. The source of what we see does not seem to be our own mind. All this comes from the wish to be a unique and special identity. Since separation (specialness) could never be real, the projected world we see is not real and does not exist in truth.

There is another Identity that remains united with Its Source. This Identity is our true Self. When we choose to accept this Self as our Identity, the past disappears and takes concern for the future with it. Our Self exists in the timelessness of changeless Love. Nothing else is real.

Realigning our allegiance from the ego to the Self created by God looses the world from the thoughts that made it. Our true Self’s thoughts are of the oneness of Love. We are free from all limitation. We remember Heaven.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Our Sole Purpose Is to Extend Love

In this world, God’s Son comes closest to himself in a holy relationship. There he begins to find the certainty his Father has in him. And there he finds his function of restoring his Father’s laws to what was held outside them, and finding what was lost. Only in time can anything be lost, and never lost forever. So do the parts of God’s Son gradually join in time, and with each joining is the end of time brought nearer. Each miracle of joining is a mighty herald of eternity. No one who has a single purpose, unified and sure, can be afraid. No one who shares his purpose with him can not be one with him.

Each herald of eternity sings of the end of sin and fear. Each speaks in time of what is far beyond it. Two voices raised together call to the hearts of everyone, to let them beat as one. And in that single heartbeat is the unity of love proclaimed and given welcome. Peace to your holy relationship, which has the power to hold the unity of the Son of God together. You give to your brother for everyone, and in your gift is everyone made glad. Forget not Who [Holy Spirit] has given you the gifts you give, and through your not forgetting this, will you remember Who gave the gifts to Him to give to you. (A Course in Miracles, T-20.V.1-2.. See also ACIM Text Made Simple.)

God is one and His Son is one with Him. How, then, can God’s Son have parts? In truth He cannot. But the Son can believe that He is apart from His Creator. This belief does not change Reality but leads to the experience of the illusion of lack of Love. It is this illusion that must be healed. The gift the Holy Spirit offers all of God’s Sons is the oneness of God’s Love.

As we learn to let go of judgments that separate us from our brothers, we begin to see the Love in them that has never changed. The Holy Spirit’s vision is given us to see the Love in every brother. As we accept this vision, judgments are forgiven and we learn our sole purpose is to extend Love and nothing else. This is the blessing of the holy instant.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Opening to the Experience of God’s Love and Peace

This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.

It does not seem to me that I can choose to have but peace today. And yet, my God assures me that His Son is like Himself. Let me this day have faith in Him Who says I am God’s Son. And let the peace I choose be mine today bear witness to the truth of what He says. God’s Son can have no cares, and must remain forever in the peace of Heaven. In His Name, I give today to finding what my Father wills for me, accepting it as mine, and giving it to all my Father’s Sons, along with me.

And so, my Father, would I pass this day with You. Your Son has not forgotten You. The peace You gave him still is in his mind, and it is there I choose to spend today. (, A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 255,W-pII.255. See also ACIM Lesson 255 Insights.)

If we experience anything but perfect peace, we must be identifying with the ego’s false image of being separate from God and His peace. Any disturbance to our peace is a red flag that warns us we have chosen to believe in a false self-image. It is this false image that must be let go through forgiveness.

True forgiveness needs the help of the Holy Spirit Who recognizes our mistaken identification but knows it is not real. Our willingness to receive the Holy Spirit’s help, God’s Word, is essential for us to clear away the barriers to experience God’s peace and Love as ours. Every judgment stands between the truth of What we are and our awareness of It.

We dedicate today and every day to the practice of opening our minds to the Holy Spirit’s loving lessons that remind us we are God’s Son, innocent, loving and wholly at peace.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Releasing Fear and Remembering Heaven

Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.

Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake, and shine on me throughout the day today. Let every minute be a time in which I dwell with You. And let me not forget my hourly thanksgiving that You have remained with me, and always will be there to hear my call to You and answer me. As evening comes, let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love. And let me sleep sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son.

This is as every day should be. Today, practice the end of fear. Have faith in Him Who is your Father. Trust all things to Him. Let Him reveal all things to you, and be you undismayed because you are His Son. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 232, W-pII.232. See also ACIM Lesson 232 Insights.)

The ego is the denial of our unity with our Creator. When we identify with the ego, we exclude the awareness of God’s presence in our mind. He remains ever present, but we need to ask for His presence only because we have denied it is there. This request is the antidote for our mistaken belief in being separate.

As we express our acknowledgement of God’s presence in our mind, we welcome His Love, peace and joy. All this is already given us and every brother as His one Son. But a gift that is not welcomed is not received. Today we welcome God’s gifts that we would fear no more and remember we are in Heaven now.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Plan That Guarantees Happiness and Peace

You may not realize that the ego has set up a plan for salvation in opposition to God’s. It is this plan in which you believe. Since it is the opposite of God’s, you also believe that to accept God’s plan in place of the ego’s is to be damned.

The ego’s plan for salvation centers around holding grievances. It maintains that, if someone else spoke or acted differently, if some external circumstance or event were changed, you would be saved [happy]. Thus, the source of salvation is constantly perceived as outside yourself. Each grievance you hold is a declaration, and an assertion in which you believe, that says, “If this were different, I would be saved.” The change of mind necessary for salvation is thus demanded of everyone and everything except yourself.

According to this insane plan, any perceived source of salvation is acceptable provided that it will not work.

God’s plan for salvation works simply because, by following His direction, you seek for salvation where it is. But if you are to succeed, as God promises you will, you must be willing to seek there only.

Ask [God] very specifically:

What would You have me do?
Where would You have me go?
What would You have me say, and to whom?

…let Him tell you what needs to be done by you in His plan for your salvation. He will answer in proportion to your willingness to hear His Voice. Refuse not to hear. (, A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 71,W-pI.71.1:1-3;2;3:2;5:1-2;9:2-8. See also ACIM Lesson 71 Insights.)

Every grievance is an ego defense against accepting our oneness with the Love of God. The ego believes correctly that if we accepted God’s Love wholeheartedly, it would be the end of the ego. This is intolerable to the ego so it offers its own plan to make us feel happy and safe. Yet this substitute plan is part of its defense. The ego’s plan will always direct us on a search to find peace and happiness where it cannot be found. It disguises its uselessness by offering us another form to search for when we realize our search has been unsuccessful.

Fortunately God offers us a plan that will work. It is a plan of forgiveness, letting go of our attempts to put the means for salvation outside of us. It is our mind that needs healing. It is here that we must change or let go of our wish to have an identity separate from our Creator, from Love.

Let us join together in the practice of listening to the Voice of Love within that will teach us of our unity and safety in God’s changeless Love.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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