Daily Inspiration for Living A Course in Miracles

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The Way to Heaven

I will not value what is valueless.

You do not ask too much of life, but far too little. When you let your mind be drawn to bodily concerns, to things you buy, to eminence as valued by the world, you ask for sorrow, not for happiness. …There are no satisfactions in the world.

Today we list the real criteria by which to test all things you think you want. …it is wise to learn the laws you set in motion when you choose, and what alternatives you choose between.

Each choice you make brings everything to you or nothing. Therefore, if you learn the tests by which you can distinguish everything from nothing, you will make the better choice.

First, if you choose a thing that will not last forever, what you chose is valueless. A temporary value is without all value. Time can never take away a value that is real.

[Test 2] Next, if you choose to take a thing away from someone else, you will have nothing left. This is because, when you deny his right to everything [God’s changeless Love], you have denied your own.

[Test 3]Your next consideration is the one on which the others rest. Why is the choice you make of value to you? What attracts your mind to it? What purpose does it serve?

He who would still preserve the ego’s goals and serve them as his own makes no mistakes, according to the dictates of [the ego]. This guidance teaches it is error to believe that sins are but mistakes, for who would suffer for his sins if this were so?

[Test 4] If you feel any guilt about your choice, you have allowed the ego’s goals to come between the real alternatives. And thus you do not realize there are but two, and the alternative you think you chose seems fearful, and too dangerous to be the nothingness it actually is.

Heaven itself is reached with empty hands and open minds, which come with nothing to find everything [all of God’s Love] and claim It as their own.” (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 133, W-pI.133.2:1-2,5;3:1,5:5-6:3;7:1-2;10:3-4;11:2-3;13:1. See also ACIM Lesson 133 Insights.)

Everything in the physical world is constantly changing. The physical universe is considered to be at least billions of years old. Yet astronomers know that the source of light from a distant star may no longer exist. Nothing in the physical universe lasts forever.

Because only the oneness of God’s Love is real, anything that is not His Love is unreal and is therefore nothing. If we attempt to keep some of His Love for ourselves alone or to take Love from a brother (judge him as unworthy), we deny Love from ourselves.

The ego belief in separation denies the oneness of Love. Judgment and guilt are the means to make separation seem real. The ego is always trying to justify guilt. Guilt demands punishment, so the ego perceives Love as a threat of punishment rather than the Source of healing that would end all guilt and return us to the awareness of Love’s eternal presence. As we lay down the nothingness of the ego’s belief in separation and open our minds to the Holy Spirit’s lessons in Love, we gain everything. We reach Heaven.

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

Forgiveness is the end of specialness. Only illusions can be forgiven, and then they disappear. Forgiveness is release from all illusions, and that is why it is impossible but partly to forgive. No one who clings to one illusion can see himself as sinless, for he holds one error to himself as lovely still. And so he calls it “unforgivable,” and makes it sin. How can he then give his forgiveness wholly, when he would not receive it for himself? For it is sure he would receive it wholly the instant that he gave it so. And thus his secret guilt would disappear, forgiven by himself.

Whatever form of specialness [separation, differences] you cherish, you have made sin. Inviolate [form] stands, strongly defended with all your puny might against the Will of God. And thus [specialness] stands against yourself; your enemy, not God’s. So does it seem to split you off from God, and make you separate from Him as its defender.

It is not you who are so vulnerable and open to attack that just a word, a little whisper that you do not like, a circumstance that suits you not, or an event that you did not anticipate upsets your world, and hurls it into chaos. Truth is not frail. Illusions leave it perfectly unmoved and undisturbed. But specialness is not the truth in you. It can be thrown off balance by anything. What rests on nothing never can be stable. (A Course in Miracles, T-24.III.1:1-2:4;3:1-6. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)

The perception of a world of form and differences reflects the belief in separation. Form is defined by differences. What is one can have no differences and therefore is formless. Love is one and has no form. It is uniformly the same and given to all equally.

The wish for specialness is the wish for differences. It is therefore a wish to have something other than Love. The only way to “have” special love is to make up illusions of differences. This is the world we experience with the body. Because it is all illusion, we feel vulnerable to change. There is a constant need to protect ourselves from perceived outside forces that would change the special image we have made of ourself. This need for defense is actually a defense against the Will of God. All defenses are an attempt to make separation real and are thus in opposition to the Will of God.

God Wills us all His Love, yet we fear It. We fear God because we believe that He asks us to sacrifice the image we have made of ourself. He does not oppose our wish but simply gives all of His Love without exception. We welcome His gift by forgiving ourselves for making a self-image that opposes God. As we let go of this false image with the Holy Spirit’s help, we experience the joy and peace of God’s Love.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Bringing Love to the World

Ultimately everyone must remember the Will of God, because ultimately everyone must recognize himself. This recognition is the recognition that his will and God’s are one. In the presence of truth, there are no unbelievers and no sacrifices. In the security of reality, fear is totally meaningless. To deny what is can only seem to be fearful. Fear cannot be real without a cause, and God is the only Cause. God is Love and you do want Him. This is your will. Ask for this and you will be answered, because you will be asking only for what belongs to you.

The fact that God is Love does not require belief, but it does require acceptance. It is indeed possible for you to deny facts, although it is impossible for you to change them. If you hold your hands over your eyes, you will not see because you are interfering with the laws of seeing. If you deny love, you will not know [love] because your cooperation is the law of its being. You cannot change laws you did not make, and the laws of happiness were created for you, not by you.

And if you do distort reality you will experience anxiety, depression and ultimately panic, because you are trying to make yourself unreal. When you feel these things, do not try to look beyond yourself for truth, for truth can only be within you. Say, therefore:

Christ is in me, and where He is God must be, for Christ is part of Him. (A Course in Miracles, T-9.I.9;11:5-9;14:4-7. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)

If change is possible, harm is possible. We were created in a changeless Universe of Love. This changelessness guarantees our protection from harm. This is our Home, where we are guaranteed our safety and fear is impossible.

The presence of fear is a sure sign that we believe we are not at Home and are separate from the safety of God’s Love. We believe our will is to be in this loveless place, unprotected by God’s Love. Yet what has no opposite could never exist in Reality. Thus we are blind to the Love that is ours by God’s Will and think we have a will that opposes God’s.

This “will” imagines a world that pictures separation, seeming to make it real. This world could never be in truth. Though we seem to exist in a fearful, changing world, the truth of our unity with God remains within us. It is this Truth within that we must seek if we would free ourselves from the mistaken belief in being separate.

Let us pause frequently today and go within to the peaceful place where our true Self abides. Here we will be reminded that we are safe at Home in Love. Then let us bring this remembrance to the world. From this place we see the Christ in everyone.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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The Gift That Gives Back

What could you want forgiveness cannot give? Do you want peace? Forgiveness offers it. Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep, abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?

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.

Here is the answer! Would you stand outside while all of Heaven waits for you within? Forgive and be forgiven. As you give you will receive.

God wills salvation be received today, and that the intricacies of your dreams no longer hide their nothingness from you. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 122, W-pI.122.1;3:1-2;6:1-4;7:6. See also ACIM Lesson 122 Insights.)

The veil that hides the face of Christ is our belief that we are alone and separate from God and every brother. This sense of separateness perceives a world of separation that cannot see the oneness of Love that is everywhere. Forgiveness is the means for letting go of the false belief in separation.

Separation is maintained by judgment which keeps sense of separation from what is judged. Each time we forgive a judgment, we remove a thread from the veil of separation. We make way for the vision of Christ to show us the oneness of Love that has always been our Home.

When we forgive, we give ourselves a gift that welcomes true Vision. We are healed of false perception and receive God’s gifts of all that is real. Today we accept the Holy Spirit’s help to forgive and be forgiven.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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An Essential Lesson to Awaken

To give is to receive. Today we will attempt to offer peace to everyone, and see how quickly peace returns to us. Light is tranquility, and in that peace is vision given us, and we can see.

So we begin the practice periods with the instruction for today, and say:

To give and to receive are one in truth.
I will receive what I am giving now.

Then close your eyes, and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to everyone, to have it yours. You might, for instance, say:

To everyone I offer quietness.
To everyone I offer peace of mind.
To everyone I offer gentleness.

Say each one slowly and then pause a while, expecting to receive the gift you gave. And it will come to you in the amount in which you gave it. You will find you have exact return, for that is what you asked. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 108, W-pI.108.7:3-9:3. See also ACIM Lesson 108 Insights.)

In the dream world of separation, it is impossible for giving to appear to be the same as receiving. Everything in the dream of separation has limits. It is limited by shape or place or time. This exercise helps us reconnect with the oneness of our true Self. We remain one with God/Love. Love has no limit. It is eternally giving and receiving, for Love gives only to Itself.

To know the Love we are, we cannot limit It in any way, for that would be attempting to change Love. When we try to do this, we lose awareness of what Love is. We cannot give Love to some and not to others and know Love. By practicing offering the attributes of Love to others, such as gentleness, kindness and peace, we learn by experience that what we offer comes back to us. This is an essential lesson that teaches us of our oneness in Love.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Hearing the Voice for God

It is quite possible to listen to God’s Voice all through the day without interrupting your regular activities in any way. The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not. It is the other part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys the world’s laws. It is this part that is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain.

The part that is listening to the Voice for God is calm, always at rest and wholly certain. It is really the only part there is. The other part is a wild illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind. Try today not to listen to it. Try to identify with the part of your mind where stillness and peace reign forever. Try to hear God’s Voice call to you lovingly, reminding you that your Creator has not forgotten His Son.”

Listen in deep silence. Be very still and open your mind. Go past all the raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover your real thoughts and obscure your eternal link with God. Sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond the frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world. You do not live here. We are trying to reach your real home. We are trying to reach the place where you are truly welcome. We are trying to reach God. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 49, W-pI.49.1-2;4. See also ACIM Lesson 49 Insights.)

It is the mistaken belief that we know what anything means on our own that shuts out the Voice for God. We think we know what everything means, and if we are uncertain, we look to our past for clues to what meaning there might be. This practice keeps us firmly embedded in the illusion of separation. It prevents the Voice of God from entering our awareness. His Voice is heard in the present, free of the past, certain in the reality of the present moment.

To find the peace of God and hear His loving Voice, we must be willing to relinquish our own interpretations of the world. We must be willing to accept the possibility that our interpretations may be wrong. This is why the early lessons emphasize that we do not know what anything means. We are never upset for the reason we think.

As we open our minds to the possibility of a different interpretation, our willingness to hear God’s Voice increases. Our attachments to our thoughts in the world soften. We can let these thoughts pass by more easily so that our minds settle into the quiet, calm place within, where God’s Voice is heard. Here we find the true meaning that lies behind the illusions of the world. Here we find God’s peace. We find our Home.

© 2018, Pathways of Light. http://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Forgiving Our Mistaken Beliefs

There is a place in you where this whole world has been forgotten; where no memory of sin and of illusion lingers still. There is a place in you which time has left, and echoes of eternity are heard. There is a resting place so still no sound except a hymn to Heaven rises up to gladden God the Father and the Son. Where Both abide are They remembered, Both. And where They are is Heaven and is peace.

Think not that you can change Their dwelling place. For your Identity abides in Them [God and His Son], and where They are, forever must you be. The changelessness of Heaven is in you, so deep within that nothing in this world but passes by, unnoticed and unseen. The still infinity of endless peace surrounds you gently in its soft embrace, so strong and quiet, tranquil in the might of its Creator, nothing can intrude upon the sacred Son of God within.

Nothing is asked of you but to accept the changeless and eternal that abide in [God’s Son (all our brothers)], for your Identity is there. The peace in you can but be found in [every brother]. And every thought of love you offer him but brings you nearer to your wakening to peace eternal and to endless joy. A Course in Miracles, (T-29.V.11-2;3:3-5. See also ACIM Text Q & A.)

In the illusion of separation, God’s Son appears as many. But this appearance does not change the underlying fact that God’s Son is one, united with his Creator. When we choose to believe in a separate identity, we are blind to the reality of our true Identity in God, though it is still in us. Awareness of our one Identity in God is hidden by layers of illusions that we have taught ourselves are real. Time, bodies, images of a physical world are all illusions we have taught ourselves to believe are real.

By the grace of God we cannot make our illusions real, though we can believe they are real. It is these mistaken beliefs that must be undone for us to awaken from the dream and remember that the peace and joy of God are our own.

We let go of mistaken beliefs through forgiveness, directed by the Holy Spirit in our minds. The Course does not demand surrender. But it does teach us how to recognize the pain and suffering we experience in the illusion as unnecessary. It offers us the comfort of the Truth of Love’s oneness as the alternative to illusions. We experience discomfort only because we are believing in an illusion.

As we accept that we may have been wrong about what we believe, we become receptive to the Holy Spirit’s loving correction. The practice of asking Holy Spirit to guide all our seeing and to accept His interpretation of our perceptions frees us from mistaken beliefs that blind us to the truth that we are God’s Son dwelling in His peace and joy. This is the practice of forgiving ourselves for believing in what could never be true.

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