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January-April, 2024

Returning to Our One Self, United with Our Creator

by Revs. Robert and Mary Stoelting, Founders of Pathways of Light

Early in the Course we learned that we rejected the fact that God created us as one with Himself because we wanted to be special, separate, unique and alone. We wanted to make decisions on our own and believe that the direction of our own creation is up to us.

In Chapter 2, section I of the Course we learn about the origins of our belief in separation. Jesus tells us, “These related distortions represent a picture of what actually occurred in the separation, or the “detour into fear.” None of this existed before the separation, nor does it actually exist now. Everything God created is like Him.” (T-2.I.2:1-3)

Over our years of joining to study the Text and practice the daily Lessons of A Course in Miracles, we have come to understand that on our own, we know nothing. We are learning that God gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us return to the truth that we still are in the one Mind of God as as He created us.

In the Manual for Teachers Jesus tells us, “[Trust in the Holy Spirit] is the foundation on which [God’s teachers’] ability to fulfill their function rests. Perception is the result of learning. In fact, perception is learning, because cause and effect are never separated. The teachers of God have trust in the world, because they have learned it is not governed by the laws the world made up. It is governed by a power that is in them but not of them. It is this power that keeps all things safe. It is through this power that the teachers of God look on a forgiven world.

“When this power [Trust in the Holy Spirit] has once been experienced, it is impossible to trust one’s own petty strength again. Who would attempt to fly with the tiny wings of a sparrow when the mighty power of an eagle has been given him? And who would place his faith in the shabby offerings of the ego when the gifts of God are laid before him?” (M-4.I.1:1–2:3)

The Holy Spirit, when we are willing to listen, brings us to the real world. The real world is governed by the laws of Love. It is the power of Love that keeps us safe because harm is impossible in Love’s oneness. This is the world we see when we forgive our wish for specialness.

As long as we perceive ourselves as an individual, different from others, we are unaware of the real world. But we have the Holy Spirit in our mind to teach us how to transform this perception into the recognition of the Love in which we live. As we accept the Love we are, we release Its power to know our unity with all in Love. We see past forms to see everyone as one with our one Self.

In Text, Chapter 18 Jesus tells us why we all go Home together:

“You and your brother are coming home together, after a long and meaningless journey that you undertook apart, and that led nowhere. You have found your brother, and you will light each other’s way. And from this light will the Great Rays extend back into darkness and forward unto God, to shine away the past and so make room for His eternal Presence, in which everything is radiant in the light.” (ACIM, T-18.III.8:5-7)

Walking to God with All Our Brothers

In Workbook, Lesson 288, we receive an important prayer titled, “Let me forget my brother’s past today.”

“Forgive me, then, today. And you will know you have forgiven me if you behold your brother in the light of holiness. He cannot be less holy than can I, and you can not be holier than he.”

When we accept our Self, which God created as His Son, we will not see our brothers as separate from us. We, along with all our brothers, are one Self, united in the Love of God. This is why no one can reach Heaven while they believe they are alone. The concept of “alone” is an ego construct, which it maintains in order to perceive specialness. By definition, to be special is to be different, to be set apart.

Forgiveness is the means to undo the wish for specialness. It opens our mind to recognize the Love we share with every brother within God’s Love. The recognition that we are one Self awakens us to awareness of our Home in Love.

As we learn to use our perception of a brother as an opportunity to let Christ’s vision reveal his innocence, we free ourselves from the ego thought system. We recognize that we are not alone. The acceptance of our brothers as one with us brings us joy. We walk to God, holding our brother’s hand in the unity of Love.

As we continue our daily practice with Holy Spirit we are reminded that everyone in this world is seeking for Love. If we follow the ego as our guide, we wander in the wilderness where love cannot be found. But if we take the Hand of God to lead us, we are led Home to eternal Love.

We have been dreaming of a loveless world. But we have been given the means to awaken from the dream. Now we are on a pilgrimage that will return us home to Love. When we let Him lead the way, He speaks to us through the Truth in our brothers. As we see them truly, we see our one Self, united in the Love that created us. We are no longer deceived by appearances in the dream. We see the path ahead that leads us, together, to our Home in Love.

We will close with a helpful poem from Pathways of Light Course 915: Being a Messenger of Innocence and Unity:

Finding My Brother’s Innocence and Unity

With this key to freedom, I free myself and my brother. As I find my brother’s innocence and unity, I find my way Home.

© 2023, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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