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Study of Text, C 14: X. The Equality of Miracles, P 7. 7-11-17

X. The Equality of Miracles, P 7
7 The only judgment involved is the Holy Spirit’s one division into two categories; one of love, and the other the call for love. You cannot safely make this division, for you are much too confused either to recognize love, or to believe that everything else is nothing but a call for love. You are too bound to form, and not to content. What you consider content is not content at all. It is merely form, and nothing else. For you do not respond to what a brother really offers you, but only to the particular perception of his offering by which the ego judges it.

Journal

Jesus is being brutally honest here. We really have no basis on which to order our thoughts. We look at a situation or a person and think we know something, and on this shaky understanding, we think we can judge and, therefore, make decisions. We cannot. This is why we have the Holy Spirit in our mind. He will make all judgments for us if we will let Him.

The ego mind rejects this offer out of hand. It is insulted by, and threatened at, the idea of giving up its ineffective but closely guarded right to judge and decide. I have looked at the effects of the ego efforts to order my mind and based on these efforts to make decisions. I see it doesn’t work.

Here is a simple example. When I was still working, I had some fractured relationships with coworkers. I thought the problem was our basic differences. For instance, I felt like one of my coworkers was dishonest and one of those people who would smile to your face and then stab you in the back. She seemed to prove I was right at every turn.

I used to wish she would quit. Then I ordered my thoughts differently by using what I had learned in the Course, and I saw her as confused and tried to forgive her for her actions. When that didn’t work, I gave up judging the situation altogether and asked the Holy Spirit to help me see this differently, though I couldn’t imagine how that could be.

Two things happened. I began to look inward instead of outward and to see in me what I thought was in her. Then I saw that we were both calling for love, and I gave it to us both. I could not have come to that place on my own. I thought the situation was about the relationship between me and a difficult co-worker, but that was just the form. I was so distracted by the form that I didn’t see the content, which was a lack of love.

Fortunately, I am not the ego and I don’t have to believe the ego thoughts in my mind. The one choice I can safely make is to decide between the part of my mind I made and the mind that God created. I happily surrender the job of judging and correcting to the Holy Spirit. He sees past the form the story takes and to the content. He sees that it is love or a call for love and He answers that call on my behalf.

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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 14: X. The Equality of Miracles, P 6. 7-10-17

X. The Equality of Miracles, P 6
6 It will seem difficult for you to learn that you have no basis at all for ordering your thoughts. This lesson the Holy Spirit teaches by giving you the shining examples of miracles to show you that your way of ordering is wrong, but that a better way is offered you. The miracle offers exactly the same response to every call for help. It does not judge the call. It merely recognizes what it is, and answers accordingly. It does not consider which call is louder or greater or more important. You may wonder how you who are still bound to judgment can be asked to do that which requires no judgment of your own. The answer is very simple. The power of God, and not of you, engenders miracles. The miracle itself is but the witness that you have the power of God in you. That is the reason why the miracle gives equal blessing to all who share in it, and that is also why everyone shares in it. The power of God is limitless. And being always maximal, it offers everything to every call from anyone. There is no order of difficulty here. A call for help is given help.

Journal
This paragraph addresses the question of how it is that we can do miracles when we cannot even order our thoughts, and when our efforts to do so limit us. The answer is that the miracles we perform are engendered through the power of God that is in us. In the principles of miracles, we are told that the miracle itself doesn’t matter, and the only thing that does matter is their Source.

In this paragraph, Jesus explains further. The reason for the miracle through us is to show us that we do have the power of God in us. This is a lesson we need to learn, or more accurately stated, a memory we need to recover. When we identify with the ego mind, we lose that memory. We become confused as to what is possible and our part in it. We forget the power of God is in us, and the miracle is the witness to that power.
Because in our confused state, we think we need to establish some kind of order to our thoughts, we would believe we had to make all sorts of judgments before we answered a call for a miracle. We would try to sort our thoughts about it, asking ourselves how the miracle should look, if the person is worthy of the miracle, are they ready for a miracle or would it scare them? Who gets the miracle and to what degree? Is this miracle even possible?

We would get so mired down in our judgments that nothing would ever get done, or what started as an answer to a call for help would become a condemnation of the caller. I’ve watched my thoughts long enough to know this is true. My mind can get all tangled up and confuse the illusion with the truth.

The power of God within us simply answers every call for help with help. It answers all equally; everyone shares in the miracle. God is not confused by our illusions. It does not judge the call. It doesn’t examine it to determine if it is important or how big the miracle would have to be. He doesn’t judge the level of need or the order of difficulty.

God simply recognizes the call and answers it. God’s power is limitless, His answer certain. It’s very simple: A call for help is given help. This power is in us and, therefore, this is true for all of us. Through the power of God within us, we can answer all calls for help where the call is given, with no other consideration. We are, through the power of God within us, miracle workers.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 14: IX. TheEquality of Miracles, P 5. 7-7-17

X. The Equality of Miracles, P 5
5 The result is a weaving, changing pattern that never rests and is never still. It shifts unceasingly across the mirror of your mind, and the reflections of Heaven last but a moment and grow dim, as darkness blots them out. Where there was light, darkness removes it in an instant, and alternating patterns of light and darkness sweep constantly across your mind. The little sanity that still remains is held together by a sense of order that you establish. Yet the very fact that you can do this, and bring any order into chaos shows you that you are not an ego, and that more than an ego must be in you. For the ego is chaos, and if it were all of you, no order at all would be possible. Yet though the order you impose upon your mind limits the ego, it also limits you. To order is to judge, and to arrange by judgment. Therefore it is not your function, but the Holy Spirit’s.

Journal

I have become very aware of the changing patterns of my thoughts. It makes me tired just to think about it. But I have also noticed that it is not as chaotic in my mind as it used to be. And the change is not the result of me getting better at managing the chaos. It has happened because I have allowed the Holy Spirit to judge for me and to remove much of what is not true and not real. When the dark thoughts are gone, there is not so much to block the light.

What is left in my mind that still shifts and changes and leaves me uneasy in its unpredictability, is some form of fear for my children. I also notice the belief that I am not worthy and not loveable. These things show up as stories in my life so I know the beliefs are in my mind. But each time I see them in whatever form they take, I turn them over to the Holy Spirit. I look forward to one day soon having a clear mind. I visualize a serene and clear blue sky without a dark cloud to mar its perfect stillness.

I decide this is what I want, and I give the Holy Spirit the ok to work in my mind to bring it about. Judging and healing are His purviews, not mine. I am through trying to make life better and am ready to wake up from this insanity altogether. Holy Spirit, please heal my mind, and help me wake up from the dream of separation that has held my attention for so long, and has hidden my true nature from me. I am ready to remember God and to remember Self.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 14: IX. The Equality of Miracles, P 4. 7-5-17

X. The Equality of Miracles, P 4
4 Perhaps you have been aware of lack of competition among your thoughts, which even though they may conflict, can occur together and in great numbers. You may indeed be so used to this that it causes you little surprise. Yet you are also used to classifying some of your thoughts as more important, larger or better, wiser, or more productive and valuable than others. This is true of the thoughts that cross the mind of those who think they live apart. For some are reflections of Heaven, while others are motivated by the ego, which but seems to think.

Journal

It is obvious to me now that this is true. I am sure that before I started becoming mindful of my thoughts, I never noticed this. I never noticed what an insane jumble my thoughts were, how contradictory, how perfectly useless many were. I judged my thoughts and categorized them, but I accepted them all because they were in my mind. I thought of them as mine and believed they defined me.

Lately, what I notice is that the ego thoughts are fewer and the God thoughts occur more than they ever did before. I think of love, of peace, of happiness. I think kind thoughts. I think of healing and atonement, and salvation. I think of gratitude toward God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, toward my angels, and my brothers and sisters.

I think of freedom. I think of awakening to the peace of God. I think of undoing the ego and letting my thoughts be corrected. I think of decisions made continuously and remember that I want to make them with the Holy Spirit and not the ego. I think about how the pain I feel cannot be real and must only be in my mind, and that the body is not creative and so cannot make itself sick. I think of fear thoughts as unnecessary, just as guilt thoughts are unnecessary and unreal.

I think how all things in my life are there by my invitation and that I can change my mind when I don’t want them there anymore. I remember often that the thoughts I think with God are the only real thoughts in my mind. I think how I can release the other thoughts and then disregard the ego mind’s desire to entice me to them again. I think how powerful my thoughts are and how anxious I am to keep only those thoughts that are true. I think how holy my mind is and how motivated I am to have it purified of all things ego.

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Study of Text, C 14: X. The Equality of Miracles, P 2. 6-30-17

X. The Equality of Miracles, P 2

2 In Heaven reality is shared and not reflected. By sharing its reflection here, its truth becomes the only perception the Son of God accepts. And thus, remembrance of his Father dawns on him, and he can no longer be satisfied with anything but his own reality. You on earth have no conception of limitlessness, for the world you seem to live in is a world of limits. In this world, it is not true that anything without order of difficulty can occur. The miracle, therefore, has a unique function, and is motivated by a unique Teacher Who brings the laws of another world to this one. The miracle is the one thing you can do that transcends order, being based not on differences but on equality.

Journal
The laws of the world are different than the laws of God. The laws of the world bind us and limit us. They put in place orders of difficulty. But there is a way to overcome the laws of the world. We do this through miracles. Jesus says that the miracle is the one thing you can do that transcends order, being based not on differences but on equality. Through miracles that we do, we teach ourselves that all is equal and in this learning, we begin to remember who we are.

I remind myself often that anything that comes from love is a miracle. That is where I focus my attention. I am as loving as I can be at this time. I act from love as often as I am able. This keeps me miracle-ready and allows the miracle to flow through me naturally. Sometimes I don’t even realize that I performed a miracle. Maybe lots of times this is true. Sometimes I see the effect of the miracle and I am humbled by it. I am devoted to this practice, and to my brothers and sisters.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, C 14: X. The Equality of Miracles, P 1. 6-27-17

X. The Equality of Miracles, P 1
1 When no perception stands between God and His creations, or between His children and their own, the knowledge of creation must continue forever. The reflections you accept into the mirror of your mind in time but bring eternity nearer or farther. But eternity itself is beyond all time. Reach out of time and touch it, with the help of its reflection in you. And you will turn from time to holiness, as surely as the reflection of holiness calls everyone to lay all guilt aside. Reflect the peace of Heaven here, and bring this world to Heaven. For the reflection of truth draws everyone to truth, and as they enter into it they leave all reflections behind.

Journal
Eternity, Creation is forever and is untouched by anything not creation. Time is not part of it, ego is not part of it, the world we know is not part of it, and guilt is not part of it. I love the image in my mind of something that is always present and never changing. How different that is from the experience of life in time where nothing is stable and dependable, where everything holds its share of guilt and fear is as normal as breathing.

Right here, right now, I can experience a bit of Heaven, a taste of eternity. I make that possible as I realize that my mind is a mirror that reflects my thoughts. If I entertain thoughts of guilt and fear, my mind will reflect guilt and fear and that is the life I will experience. As I choose not to focus on untrue thoughts and to let them go to the Holy Spirit instead, the true thoughts in my mind rise up in my awareness. My mind will reflect love and peace and joy, and that will be the life I experience.

This is the way that I will reflect the peace of Heaven here, and bring this world to Heaven. In so doing, I will draw others to me, those who are ready to join me in this task. The result is that we will all accept the truest possible perception and thus make ourselves ready to leave all reflections behind as we return to God as one.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Posted by Rev. Myron Jones.

Study of Text, C 14: IX. The Reflection of Holiness, P 8. 6-26-17

IX. The Reflection of Holiness, P 8
8 The response of holiness to any form of error is always the same. There is no contradiction in what holiness calls forth. Its one response is healing, without regard for what is brought to it. Those who have learned to offer only healing, because of the reflection of holiness in them, are ready at last for Heaven. There, holiness is not a reflection, but rather the actual condition of what was but reflected to them here. God is no image, and His creations, as part of Him, hold Him in them in truth. They do not merely reflect truth, for they are truth.

Journal
Here is the image that came to my mind when I read this. I think I have sinned, that there is darkness in my mind and I feel tainted by it. I have a whole story about how bad I am and if anyone heard the story, they, too, would know that I am evil. Maybe I was disloyal and hurt someone I loved. Maybe I stole or treated someone with disdain. Maybe I judged someone and gossiped about them and they were deeply hurt by my actions. Maybe I murdered someone.

There are so many stories to represent the guilt and fear in our minds. But whatever it is I have done, I am tired of suffering for it and I go to the Holy Spirit with my sad little story. I see myself standing before an altar where I place my story in the hopes of forgiveness. The room is suddenly filled with the most beautiful light, brilliant and warm.

It exudes love and that love wraps me in its embrace and I am healed. For a moment, I feel cheated. The Holy Spirit didn’t even look at my story, carefully constructed, sometimes over years of gathering proof to make my sin apparent. But the love of God has healed my heart and soon I forget all about my transgression. I am clean and whole and perfect as I was created. I will gladly look within to find all darkness so that I can return to this healing room until there is only light in my mind.

Then I go back into the world of time and I bring with me the desire for everyone to be healed. I look at my friend who thinks he has sinned and who carries the burden of his story with a heaviness and a darkness that he thinks is permanent. I’m not interested in the story. It is irrelevant to healing. I just know who he is. I remember him in all his glory and perfection. This is the way I pray for him, and this is the way he is healed.

How am I able to do this? I am as God created me. I remember that I am even if I don’t yet always act like it, or even feel it. But I accept that it is true, and if it is true for me, it is true for this friend of mine as well. All I have to do is know what is true in the face of what he believes about himself. It isn’t really even hard. If he thought he was blind, but I could see that he only had his eyes closed, would it be hard to know that he could see just fine in spite of his belief?

It is that easy to know the truth of someone and so heal them as the Holy Spirit heals us. I may not yet be able to hold onto the truth of what we are all the time, but I can do it sometimes and when I do, I heal as the Holy Spirit heals. And if I experience doubt and uncertainty, then the healer is unhealed and I return to the Holy Spirit for correction, because he is never uncertain of me.

© 2017, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.