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Study of Text, Chapter 12: VII. Looking Within, P 4. 3-28-16

VII. Looking Within, P4
4 You cannot see the Holy Spirit, but you can see His manifestations. And unless you do, you will not realize He is there. Miracles are His witnesses, and speak for His Presence. What you cannot see becomes real to you only through the witnesses that speak for it. For you can be aware of what you cannot see, and it can become compellingly real to you as its presence becomes manifest through you. Do the Holy Spirit’s work, for you share in His function. As your function in Heaven is creation, so your function on earth is healing. God shares His function with you in Heaven, and the Holy Spirit shares His with you on earth. As long as you believe you have other functions, so long will you need correction. For this belief is the destruction of peace, a goal in direct opposition to the Holy Spirit’s purpose.

Journal
In Heaven my function is Creation, which I share with God. Healing is my function here in time and space. I share this function with the Holy Spirit. So it becomes my work here to clear the way for the Holy Spirit to do His healing work through me. I do this as I allow Him to heal my mind of untrue thoughts. My mind can be very dark if I allow ego thoughts to proliferate, but as I notice these thoughts and ask that they be removed, the mind is light and in this light the Holy Spirit works Its miracles.

As I see His manifestations in my life, He becomes as real to me as the world used to be. It’s funny to see this change. I used to believe in the world and doubt Divinity and now it is completely reversed. I was speaking to someone about miracles this weekend. He sees what I see but interprets it differently. Things that clearly reverse the laws of the world leave him unimpressed. He sees each one as having some “logical” explanation, even if he can’t find that explanation. We see what we want to see.

I suppose that is why we each have to experience the miracles ourselves. I have to open my mind and allow the Holy Spirit to work miracles through me if I want to know the Holy Spirit exists in me. It is not enough that I see someone else believes in miracles or even experiences them.  It must be my experience to be real to me.

I have seen things in my own life that were beyond the laws of the world, physical healings, for instance. But the miracles that astound me and convince me are the healings of my mind. Sometimes it requires time for me to accept and thus allow these healings to be manifested through me, and sometimes it is instantaneous. As they occur more often, I become more convinced and thus more accepting, and the idea of the Holy Spirit, and healing and miracles becomes as dependable and as expected as gravity. Gratitude has become the ocean I swim in daily.

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Study of Text, Chapter 12: VII. Looking Within, P 3. 3-23-16

VII. Looking Within, P 3
3 The Holy Spirit is invisible, but you can see the results of His Presence, and through them you will learn that He is there. What He enables you to do is clearly not of this world, for miracles violate every law of reality as this world judges it. Every law of time and space, of magnitude and mass is transcended, for what the Holy Spirit enables you to do is clearly beyond all of them. Perceiving His results, you will understand where He must be, and finally know what He is.

Journal
When people experience their awakening, they say that they see the world entirely differently.  Fear falls away and they no longer see guilt, but only love.  That is surely a miracle! I have not yet experienced that miracle. However, I have witnessed the results of the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life.

I have experienced pain disappear because the Holy Spirit healed my mind at my request. I have seen injuries heal quickly and without pain, and I am sure it would have been instantaneous if I had been ready for that. I have watched as time slowed down because I needed it to do so and called on Jesus to adjust time for me. I have witnessed anger, fear, and guilt dissolve so completely that I could not remember what they felt like.

I have read about miracles in the lives of others. Anita Moorjani talks about her miraculous experience in Dying to Be Me. It is a well documented story and is the work of the Holy Spirit making clear His presence. Jan Frazier shares her story of fear falling away in such a dramatic way that we cannot miss the miracle of it. I have talked to several people who witnessed the dead returning to life at a workshop given by Nouk Sanchez. And she has shared healing miracles that occurred to her personally.

When our minds are healed we experience the presence of the Holy Spirit and we know that It is real. The Holy Spirit is an invisible power but a very real power, and that power is made manifest in the world through our acceptance of the Atonement. We can’t see gravity, but we know it is there because we stay grounded to the earth. We can’t see love but we know it is real when we look at our children. We don’t see the Holy Spirit, but we know He exists because He enables us to transcend the laws of the world.

The world is an illusion, but it doesn’t seem like an illusion. It feels very real to us. Its laws seem immutable. It may not, in reality, matter what happens in this illusion, it is important, I think, to allow the miracle to express within the illusion. It is in this way we make visible the invisible, and we become convinced that the Holy Spirit in us exists. It is not a miracle that the world changes, the miracle is the change of mind that creates the appearance of change. The change itself is merely the manifestation of the miracle, but it is a powerful effect as it witnesses to the existence of your power being used for healing.

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Study of Text, Chapter 12, VII. Looking Within, P 2. 3-23-16

VII. Looking Within, P 2
2 Everyone in the world must play his part in its redemption, in order to recognize that the world has been redeemed. You cannot see the invisible. Yet if you see its effects you know it must be there. By perceiving what it does, you recognize its being. And by what it does, you learn what it is. You cannot see your strengths, but you gain confidence in their existence as they enable you to act. And the results of your actions you can see.

Journal
I must play my part in the redemption of the world. My part is essential. I think of it as a vast tapestry that encompasses all of the world. My part in the weaving of this tapestry is very tiny, but if I don’t do it, there will be hole in the tapestry. So that I must do it is not in question. But what is my part? My part is to accept the Atonement for myself.

In this story of Myron that appears as looking at the situations that make up my life here, recognizing that they represent beliefs in my mind. I then allowing the mistaken beliefs to be healed. Sounds simple enough, and it is simple, but there are times when it has felt hard. In fact there are times when I didn’t understand it, and times when it has felt like I couldn’t do it.

But when my faith in myself has faltered, I have believe in Jesus. I believed he gave us the Course as a way to understand and as a carefully planned system to help us accept the Atonement. So I kept going. I kept trying to accept the Atonement, and trusted that it was working even when I felt inadequate to the task. I didn’t see my own strength and had trouble believing in it.

Over time, though, I have experienced the healing that Jesus promised in the Course. Even though it is not complete yet, I see from the results I have experienced so far, that it will be done as he said it would be. So I am gaining certainty in my strength even though that strength is not always apparent. I am gaining certainty because the healing of my mind is the effect of that strength and so it convinces me that what I cannot always see is, indeed, there.

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Study of Text, Chapter 12, VII.Looking Within, P 1. 3-22-16

VII. Looking Within, P 1

1 Miracles demonstrate that learning has occurred under the right guidance, for learning is invisible and what has been learned can be recognized only by its results. Its generalization is demonstrated as you use it in more and more situations. You will recognize that you have learned there is no order of difficulty in miracles when you apply them to all situations. There is no situation to which miracles do not apply, and by applying them to all situations you will gain the real world. For in this holy perception you will be made whole, and the Atonement will radiate from your acceptance of it for yourself to everyone the Holy Spirit sends you for your blessing. In every child of God His blessing lies, and in your blessing of the children of God is His blessing to you.

Journal
The first thing I always have to do when reading about miracles is to separate in my mind the difference between a miracle and a demonstration of a miracle, or the physical manifestation of a miracle. For instance, I have been working on my mind in regards to the body size. I want this body to be smaller. I want to turn around and look into the mirror and see a smaller me. Now that would be a miracle, right?

No. That would simply be the physical manifestation of a miracle. The miracle would be the change in the mind that allowed a change in the world. Here is the miracle I am really looking for. I want to look in the mirror and see a body I use for only one purpose and that is to be the communication device the Holy Spirit needs it to be. I want to see a body that is used only to light the world with love and innocence. Now that would be a miracle, and one I expect!

When I reach my expectation and I use this body only as the vehicle for extending love, will it be a skinny body? How about a pretty body while we are at it? A healthy body, an energetic body? I have noticed a shift in my thoughts about the body as I have continued my practice of miracle minded thinking. I notice that there is still the ego desire to use the body for its own purposes, but I also notice an equal if not greater desire to relinquish the body to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said that he would take the body and the ego if we want him to. He will do this so that we could see their unimportance. This is what I want more than I want to be smaller or prettier or anything else. I want to be free of these ego “wantings.” I want to be free of all that stands between me and my God. I want to be free of this veil that hides the light I am from my own awareness and so keeps me from being the light of the world.

This is the miracle I want. I want to be single-minded in all things, to know only one desire, one purpose, one function. From this miracle all others will flow. I don’t know how this will manifest within the world, and I am ready, perhaps fully ready, to disregard all ego desires for a particular manifestation. I know that I will not be asked to sacrifice, but how that occurs is not something I need to even think about.

I am ready for this, not because I think I am guilty for what the ego mind wants, but because the ego desires distract me from what truly matters to me. As I fully release the body and the ego to Jesus, I become free of anxiety about them. What happens at that point is not my business, and I discover that while this is not complete in me, I am losing interest in directing the miracle. I will for the miracle of a changed mind, and I allow for its manifestation in whatever way it unfolds. And amen to that!

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Study of Text, Chapter 12: VI. The Vision of Christ, P 7. 3-21-16

VI. The Vision of Christ, P 7
7 What is one cannot be perceived as separate, and the denial of the separation is the reinstatement of knowledge. At the altar of God, the holy perception of God’s Son becomes so enlightened that light streams into it, and the spirit of God’s Son shines in the Mind of the Father and becomes one with it. Very gently does God shine upon Himself, loving the extension of Himself that is His Son. The world has no purpose as it blends into the purpose of God. For the real world has slipped quietly into Heaven, where everything eternal in it has always been. There the Redeemer and the redeemed join in perfect love of God and of each other. Heaven is your home, and being in God it must also be in you.

Journal
Over the last few days the ego has not found very much in my mind to hold onto, because my mind has been very clear. So last night when it found a guilty thought it made the most of it, bringing it to my attention first thing this morning and building on it as I went about my business. Very quickly the ego works to break down all that I have gained, encouraging doubt and uncertainty, inflating the little guilty thought into an unforgivable sin. The ego mind is not my real mind, but it is fully dedicated to separation and never wavers from its intent, and it works diligently to convince me that it is my only self.

But my will is the Will of God and cannot be distorted unless that is my choice. I am under no laws but God’s and cannot be governed by an alien will. Today’s paragraph is a powerful reminder of my true Self. I bring the guilty thought, this nothing of a thought, to the altar, my gift to God. In the light of God I easily ignore the ego interpretation of what this thought means, and accept that I am, with God, the light of the world. In the story the character I dream about gets confused and worries and frets and acts out of fear and guilt. But I am not that. I am the extension of God and I am loved by my Creator.

I stand at the altar this morning, and I surrender self to Him, as I dedicate this day to His Will. And He simply loves me. I am overwhelmed. I am crying. Where is guilt now? What meaning can guilt have in the face of such power and such love? What meaning the world? “Very gently does God shine upon Himself, loving the extension of Himself that is His Son.” And tears turn to laughter as I take this in. I am the extension of God. What influence can the ego mind have over the extension of God?

I had a problem once, for a brief instant of time, and the Father answered that problem. He placed the solution in my mind, next to the problem where I could always find it when I was ready for it. In my imagination I had conceived of a plan to experience myself different than reality.

I saw myself as if I were separate from Love and watched that unfold into an imaginary world of separation. I have remained perfectly safe as I have experienced this strange and impossible world. And all the time the solution remains in my mind waiting for my acceptance. I accept the solution now. I welcome it gladly and as I do so I am awakening from this strange dream. Thank you, God. I love you, God.

© 2016, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 12, VI.The Vision of Christ, P 6. 3-15-16

VI. The Vision of Christ, P 6

6 Every child of God is one in Christ, for his being is in Christ as Christ’s is in God. Christ’s Love for you is His Love for His Father, which He knows because He knows His Father’s Love for Him. When the Holy Spirit has at last led you to Christ at the altar to His Father, perception fuses into knowledge because perception has become so holy that its transfer to holiness is merely its natural extension. Love transfers to love without any interference, for the two are one. As you perceive more and more common elements in all situations, the transfer of training under the Holy Spirit’s guidance increases and becomes generalized. Gradually you learn to apply it to everyone and everything, for its applicability is universal. When this has been accomplished, perception and knowledge have become so similar that they share the unification of the laws of God.

Journal
Jesus says that as I perceive more and more common elements in all situations,, the transfer of training under the Holy Spirit’s guidance increases and becomes more generalized. This is when I start to apply it to everyone and everything. This has already happened for me, though I still resist it for awhile sometimes.

The way I see this generalization on my part is that all things I see with my eyes are really just symbols of what is going on in my mind. All errors I see in my brother are errors I see in my own mind and then project onto my brother. All fearful situations in my life are manifestations of the fear in my mind. I know this is true all the time and in all situations.

The reason perception and knowledge are not closer to becoming one in my mind is that I still resist. It is a kind of passive resistance as I pretend I don’t understand why and how this is all happening “to” me. Once I see what I am doing it never fails to make me laugh. “Fell for it again, ego, but now that I see it, I will not so readily succumb to the old ego story again next time.” And this is how the transfer of training increases and becomes more generalized.

Here is an example. I learn through the Course that my anger is really fear. As I become open to knowing this, more ready to be taught, the Holy Spirit shows me how this works. I see that I was angry with my boss, and I asked Holy Spirit how this was fear.

It sure seemed like he was being a jerk and I had every justification for my anger. Then as I opened my mind I saw the fear in my boss and understood why he was being a jerk. Then I saw the fear in my mind as I saw my feelings of helplessness in the face of his behavior. So it’s true, anger in this case, or rather in both of our cases, was just fear.

Then another time, I was angry with my ex-husband. More than ever I saw his actions and words as being the cause of my anger. I felt completely justified in seeing him guilty of making me angry. But I had been shown something different before, and so I was willing to be shown again.

When I asked what Holy Spirit saw when He looked at this situation, I understood that it was confusion. We were both lost in the darkness of our own thoughts and didn’t know how to get out. We were children who had wandered off to play and stayed out too late. Now it was night and we couldn’t find our way home. We blamed each other for this predicament, because we were afraid and didn’t know what to do.

Each time in my life when I have brought my anger to the Holy Spirit and asked for a different interpretation, He has shown me the fear. Eventually, looking for the fear became second nature, and now I do it all the time. It is so much easier to forgive frightened children than to face down angry enemies. It was easy to forgive my ex-husband when I realized he was just acting out of his fear. I know how that feels.

I do this with all of the Holy Spirit’s lessons. I practice what He would have me do until I begin to see His lesson in every circumstance. I practice the solution until the solution becomes obvious and I practice the solution until it becomes something I want more than the problem. I learn to trust even in those circumstances that seem obscure, because I now believe in the solution and I believe it always works. I have achieved transfer of learning.

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Study of Text, Chapter 12: VI. The Vision of Christ, P 5. 3-15-16

VI. The Vision of Christ, P 5
5 When you have seen this real world, as you will surely do, you will remember us. Yet you must learn the cost of sleeping, and refuse to pay it. Only then will you decide to awaken. And then the real world will spring to your sight, for Christ has never slept. He is waiting to be seen, for He has never lost sight of you. He looks quietly on the real world, which He would share with you because He knows of the Father’s Love for Him. And knowing this, He would give you what is yours. In perfect peace He waits for you at His Father’s altar, holding out the Father’s Love to you in the quiet light of the Holy Spirit’s blessing. For the Holy Spirit will lead everyone home to his Father, where Christ waits as His Self.

Journal
I can wake up and see the real world, Jesus says, but first I must learn what it is costing me to remain in the dream, and then, as he says, refuse to pay it. I am now fully aware of that cost. It includes sadness and fear and guilt.  In the dream I instead of being joyful, I am depressed. Instead of being satisfied and complete, I am empty and searching, always searching. Instead of seeing love everywhere I look, I see enemies and the need to defend myself. I am always looking for someone to blame, always trying solutions that never really work.

So I am fully aware of the cost of sleeping and dreaming of separation. I also know how to back out of this dream and I have begun to wake up. I see an enemy and I ask the Holy Spirit who it is in front of me. I am told that it is Christ, and I ask to see him. According to my willingness to step back from my own personal judgments, I see something holy and am forever changed. Never again is reality as obscured as it was before. I just keep doing this with every false picture. The joy and peace that I experience is strong motivation to continue.

Sometimes it feels like it is slow going and that I will never do this. I cannot even imagine why I would still prefer to keep this little ego idea intact knowing what I know. If I don’t understand why I want the little self, how will I ever be free of it? Then I start to think I really do want the self, and maybe this is all a trick by God to get me close enough to punish me and snatch my self away from me. Ha ha. This is the ego mind asking these questions and applying its twisted logic to something it can’t understand. The ego figures if you can’t beat them, join them, so it studies the Course along with me, “trying” to help. Not interested!

Here has what has helped me to get on course and to stay there with as few side trips into ego land as possible. I have one purpose and that is the peace of God. Every time I notice that I have taken up a different goal than the peace of God, I stop myself and remember… one goal, one purpose, one function. I want the peace of God because that is a peace that cannot be undone. Nothing can touch the peace of God.

I know this is true because I have experienced this. I have been in the midst of great personal loss and have remained in perfect peace, untouched by that loss. The same for strife. I have experienced the idea that someone wants to attack me and known that the result of this attack would change things, and still my peace remained untouched. The peace of God is independent of what seems to be happening in the world.

And I have also turned my back on that peace and submerged myself in the drama of the moment. This happens as soon as I forget my one goal, and take up another. I am doing my job and enjoying my customers and the fellowship of my co-workers, then I will hear some words, or have some thoughts and suddenly I am on alert. Is that an attack, I wonder? I mentally begin my preparations for battle.

Now I have another goal and that is to defend myself. And just like that, I have sold the peace of God. But hey, I’m back in charge. I’m my “self” again. I know what to do here, I’ve learned a lot about attack and defense in my 67 years of practice. I feel comfortable in that old role as I suit up for the fight. I also feel anxious and afraid and flooded with memories of past experiences that often turned out badly.

These days I pretty quickly change my mind. That peace of God stuff is something else, very compelling. I miss it even though I have given it away myself. I miss it right away. Thank God, very literally, for the Holy Spirit Who waits patiently in my mind for me to come to my senses and ask for His help. The peace of God is mine as soon as that is all I want. It doesn’t take long for me to remember that it really is all I want.

I don’t know how much longer I am going to fall for the ego desire for self-sufficiency and drama, but I know what to do about it and I will do it. The peace of God is my only goal even when I forget and think that I have another goal as well. 

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