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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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Study of Text, Chapter 12: VI. The Vision of Christ, P 4. 3-14-16

VI. The Vision of Christ, P 4

4 Correction is for all who cannot see. To open the eyes of the blind is the Holy Spirit’s mission, for He knows that they have not lost their vision, but merely sleep. He would awaken them from the sleep of forgetting to the remembering of God. Christ’s eyes are open, and He will look upon whatever you see with love if you accept His vision as yours. The Holy Spirit keeps the vision of Christ for every Son of God who sleeps. In His sight the Son of God is perfect, and He longs to share His vision with you. He will show you the real world because God gave you Heaven. Through Him your Father calls His Son to remember. The awakening of His Son begins with his investment in the real world, and by this he will learn to re-invest in himself. For reality is one with the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit blesses the real world in Their Name.

Journal
Christ will look on what I see with love, and this will be the real world. My eyes will be opened to the truth and how glorious it will be to see my illusion transformed! This is not hard because nothing needs to change, really. My eyes are closed in sleep and I dream of conflict, of anger and fear and guilt. I am being awakened ever so gently, by one who knows me and loves me.

Christ is awake and He sees the real world, and will share that vision with me. But for me to see it, I must become convinced that what I see now is not reality, then I must become convinced that I don’t have to see it anymore and that I don’t want to see it.  Until I believe this, I will keep my eyes closed and continue to dream.

I am ready to wake up, though. That is why the Course is in my life and why I do the work asked of me. I look at my story and realize it is a reflection of the beliefs I am holding in my mind. I ask the Holy Spirit what it all means and He judges it as all simply not true. It is not true. I am not vulnerable. I am not a victim. I am not sad or afraid. The world is not a threat. No people are attacking me, and I don’t want to attack them.

That is the simple truth. I mostly believe it now, because I am no longer in a deep sleep. I am rousing from my long slumber. But I still am not fully awake, and so I continue to dream and sometimes to become confused about the dreams and believe in them. Some ideas still attract me, and some stories still scare me. But I continue to look with Holy Spirit and my sleep becomes lighter, reality closer. God so loves me that through the Holy Spirit He blesses the world I made, and the ego world is transformed right before my eyes.

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Study of Text, Chapter 12: VI. The Vision of Christ, P 3. 3-10-16

VI. The Vision of Christ, P 3
3 You do not want the world. The only thing of value in it is whatever part of it you look upon with love. This gives it the only reality it will ever have. Its value is not in itself, but yours is in you. As self-value comes from self-extension, so does the perception of self-value come from the extension of loving thoughts outward. Make the world real unto yourself, for the real world is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and so it belongs to you.

Journal
Jesus is making a clear distinction between the world as we typically see it, and the real world, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. When I see someone as an enemy, my competition at work or the woman who rushed to grab the parking space I was clearly moving toward, I see the world I made. If I am angry at something done to me or to anyone else; if I am afraid of something happening in the world, terrorists or thieves, then I am looking at the world I made with the ego.

As I begin to ask the Holy Spirit to heal my mind of these ego thoughts, I extend love instead of hate and fear, and I start to see the real world. That is how it is a gift of the Holy Spirit, it is as He heals my mind that I see the world differently.  What I see of the ego world is not real and not there. It is a picture of my beliefs, but not of reality.

Is the real world, real? Does it exist outside my mind? I think I understand that the only value the world has, and its only reality is the love in which I look upon it. It is the love that I extend that has value and that is real.  Before I know reality, I will know the real world. It is like a step I take, a stop I make, on the way home.

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