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Study of Manual for Teachers 7-24-12

7-24-12
2 The body’s eyes are therefore not the means by which the real world can be seen, for the illusions that they look upon must lead to more illusions of reality. And so they do. For everything they see not only will not last, but lends itself to thoughts of sin and guilt. While everything that God created is forever without sin and therefore is forever without guilt.

As I look around I realize that nothing I see, no matter how beautiful or how horrific, is real. If I can see it with my eyes it does not exist. It is something I made up in mind and the only place it exists is in imagination. A thought so vivid I came to believe it is real, and it is me.

What this implies is that there is something real to be “seen” but it is seem differently, not with the body’s eyes that were made to show me my thoughts rather than reality. I wanted to have thoughts about something unreal, something impossible, and I wanted to experience this, so part of that process was to make separate bodies and equip them with eyes that report to me what I imagine. So what I see is not real but it is, rather, what I want to experience as real.

I wonder what is real. I wonder what stands beyond what the eyes can see.  I wonder what the real world is. I wonder what it is like to see without the eyes. I don’t stay with this idea too long because I have enough to do just learning to accept that I don’t “see” now.  I had one of those moments yesterday.

As I was getting ready for work I noticed I felt unhappy, and anxious. I asked Holy Spirit to look with me at my thoughts. I saw a resistance to ending the weekend and going back to work. I allowed that and asked to see more. I became aware of thoughts of my boss. He has been depressed and this affects his decisions and his reactions. His body has been sick and seems to be getting worse and worse. I thought of all the symptoms and wondered about what they might mean.

I had what seemed to be a random thought. I remembered that I am not what I seem and that to know what I am I must ask God. The body and the world will not show me the truth, but only the ego perception of separation. I thought that I was just remembering the idea from yesterday that I will not know the truth about myself by asking the ego. That means don’t look at my body, my relationships, my financial situation and judge what I am by what I see.

Then in a flash I realized this was not a random thought. This was the Holy Spirit’s answer to my dark thoughts. I was looking at my boss and seeing his body and defining him by what my eyes showed me. I had a very clear thought: Don’t ask the ego what he is. Don’t look to his body to define him. He is not that. I laughed at how perfectly the Holy Spirit led me to that answer simply because I asked. I laughed at myself for expecting the body’s eyes to show me the truth. I laughed in joy that all I saw was not real.

I cannot imagine what the real world looks like, but I can become aware that the world I do see is an illusion. This world will always show me sin and guilt because it was made from the idea of sin and guilt, but because it is not real what it shows me is not real. As I am willing to accept this, I can ask to be guided from the illusion to truth.

What I see will continue to report back to me what I ask for. When I got to work my experience with my boss was entirely different than I feared and that is because I was shown a truer way to see. It is not the real world but it is the illusory world reinterpreted. It is a step closer to reality and so it is a happier illusion because it is closer to what God created, and what God created is without sin and guilt.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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study of Manual for Teachers 7-23-12

7-23-11
4. TRUE PERCEPTION - KNOWLEDGE
1 The world you see is an illusion of a world. God did not create it, for what He creates must be eternal as Himself. Yet there is nothing in the world you see that will endure forever. Some things will last in time a little while longer than others. But the time will come when all things visible will have an end. 

The world I see is not real. That is the answer to all the ego separation stories. That is my salvation and my happiness. In the past every time I felt uncertain or uneasy about myself I looked at the story of Myron to see how I was doing. Did I say an unkind thing to someone? Did I forget someone’s birthday and so hurt her feelings? How about all those thoughts in my mind? Are they evil thoughts, unkind thoughts, fearful or guilty thoughts?

The story always gave me proof that I was guilty and had reason to be afraid. After all, the guilty are inevitably punished so I had every reason to live in dread. My life and my mind “proved” to me that I was in trouble. No wonder I felt uneasy and uncertain. I was always waiting for the hammer to fall.

A Course in Miracles tells me over and over that I am innocent. Yet, when I look at the story I see proof that I am guilty. Who will I believe? Will I believe the author of the story, the ego? Or will I believe the author of A Course in Miracles, Jesus. The Course says when we want to know what we are we ask the only thing in the universe that does not know. We ask our story, we ask the ego.

Well, the story is not real. It is transient, a passing thought in the Mind of the sleeping Son on God. I will awaken and the story will have dissolved; only momentarily remembered and then forgotten. The story is not real and proves nothing. Instead of looking to the story to see how I am doing, let me ask One Who Knows. The Holy Spirit will always judge me innocent.

As I have become more and more willing to accept His judgment, I see the insanity of believing in anything that is not God. God is not guilt, or fear or anger. God is not depression or sadness. He is not cruelty or sickness, suffering or death. God is not pain. I am created as an extension of God, in God, part of God. I cannot be anything God is not. I accept that simple truth and turn my face from the ego judgment. Why would I believe in an illusion? Why would I believe the flimsy proof of an illusory story over the certainty of God?

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 7-22-12

7-22-12
8 How lovely does the world become in just that single instant when you see the truth about yourself reflected there. Now you are sinless and behold your sinlessnss. Now you are holy and perceive it so. And now the mind returns to its Creator; the joining of the Father and the Son, the Unity of unities that stands behind all joining but beyond them all. God is not seen but only understood. His Son is not attacked but recognized. 

As I let go of the belief in guilt, fear begins to fall away. In the absence of fear and guilt, I see the world as perfect in every way. Even the things that used to be painful to view are seen as perfect. They are perfect reflections of an unlimited creation of an unlimited God. It is in those reflections, the wars and atrocities, the murders and rapes and all manner of separation thoughts that we see the folly of believing in separation, and begin to choose differently.

Horror is seen only through the filter of the separation belief. The killing of people at random as happened in Colorado when seen in this way is frightening. Suddenly people become afraid to go to the movies. Movies provide security during the Batman showing. Others express their fear as anger and insist on the right to arm themselves before they attend the movie. Parents become afraid to bring their children out.  People look suspiciously at each other.

Separation breeds more separation until we decide enough is enough and living in fear is not living at all. When that decision is reached, and sometimes it is unconscious, the way out of fear is provided. A book shows up, the awakening person finds a Mooji video on You Tube, or meets someone who studies A Course in Miracles or some other path to peace. As each of us becomes ready the path to God is made clear, each step laid before us in perfect timing.

Disasters, man-made or natural, seem like disasters only to those who are still confused, who still believe that they are the story they watch.  If I believe in the world and my existence within it, I will of course, believe I am in danger. If I believe in the guilt that resides deep in the mind, I will expect punishment and so will be fearful of everything. I see that someone in Colorado lost his tenuous hold on sanity and I will begin to build my defenses; I will provide protection for the body, and look within my own mind for proof that I am not like that person.

When I heard the news of the killings in Colorado, I watched my mind for thoughts about it. I didn’t feel afraid. I didn’t feel a need to defend against this kind of thing. I noticed the thought that maybe others will copy this man’s actions and maybe it would be safer to watch it on DVD. Then I laughed at that thought as I recognized it for what it was. I felt no anger at the shooter. He is me. He is another aspect of the mind that forgot what it was and is now trying to remember.

I feel compassion for those involved because I know what it feels like to believe I am a body, to identify with that body and that story so completely that I don’t remember anything else. I know what it is to become confused about reality even when I began to awaken. I am not sorry for the appearance of death because it is not real. The body is not real so what is it that could die? But I do feel for those who believe this. The belief in fear and death is very painful.

I wondered if I would remain so clear if this had hit closer to home, if it were my loved one who was killed. Of course I don’t know but I think that it would be impossible for me to become permanently confused again, though I still momentarily return to wrong-minded thinking. I notice when this happens and ask Holy Spirit for healing, but it doesn’t feel personal.

Yesterday I felt oddly out of sorts in the afternoon. I allowed the feelings. I watched it happen and watched my thoughts, and when I noticed I was suddenly feeling tense I saw I was resisting the feelings. I asked the Holy Spirit what was going on and if there was a way to be with these feelings and not take them seriously.

It was fascinating. Like reading an excellent book that elicits feelings but of course it’s just a book so the feelings are not real, and they dissipate as soon as you put the book down and become interested in something else. I saw that the feelings were a problem for me only as I began to think I should not be feeling them.

The discomfort came from judging myself for having the feelings. Judgment caused guilt and guilt caused fear. All of this was quickly undone as soon as Holy Spirit showed me this.  When I let these ideas go, I no longer cared if the feelings were there or not. When I asked Holy Spirit for a better way to be with this, I had the thought to do a guided meditation. Afterwards, the feelings were completely gone. I have to laugh about that. It was like with the meditation I was emptying my cache, and now the whole program worked more smoothly.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 7-21-12

7-21-12
7 There are no wishes now for wishes change. Even the wished-for can become unwelcome. That must be so because the ego cannot be at peace. But Will is constant, as the gift of God. And what He gives is always like Himself. This is the purpose of the face of Christ. It is the gift of God to save His Son. But look on this and you have been forgiven.

So much of what I have read in the Course seemed confusing and difficult to understand, and even as understanding began to come it felt impossible to live it. Now it all seems so simple and self-evident that I know it was never hard or confusing, it was just something I did not want. I believed for so long in my guilt that I did not dare face God. And of course if I believe I am guilty, I must see everyone else as guilty as well. I certainly can’t stand before God the only guilty one there.

I have wished for a world to hide myself. I have wished for many separate ones to hide among. I have wished for someplace to project my guilt when it became too much for me to look at. I have wished for a multitude of distractions so I would not have to remember what I gave up. I got all I wished for but now I discover the wished-for is unwelcome. It did not protect me or give me peace. It was so variable and unstable that it was completely undependable.

I am ready to recognize the Will of God as all that I want. The individual will was not only unacceptable,  it could never be true. No matter how I used it, or how many wishes were fulfilled it was just an illusion and so the effects are illusions. Nothing that did not come directly from God can exist. I exist because God created me and so I come directly from Him. I am an extension of God. Because this is true, there is nothing about me that can be anything other than God.

Do I feel guilty? This cannot be. I could be guilty only if guilt came to me at my creation. I could be guilty only if God were guilty and passed that on to me. Do I feel shameful or fearful? Only if God were ashamed and afraid. Otherwise, those feelings must be imagined. They cannot be real. I cannot be what God is not. Am I in pain? Only in my imagination. I can make a painful experience but I cannot actually be in pain. When belief in pain is withdrawn, the experience of pain becomes impossible.

As I let go of the absurd beliefs that define me as less than God, I let go of them for myself and for all my brothers and sisters. If I cannot find guilt in myself, I will not be able to find it in anyone else either. If I cannot believe in guilt, then I will see only innocence. I will look at my brother and see the face of innocence, the face of Christ, and that will be a reflection of my alignment with the Will of God. I will know that I and everyone else are exactly as we were created. Nothing happened. There is no sin for which to be forgiven. Now I know myself as forgiven.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers7-20-12

7-20-12
6 God’s Will is all there is. We can but go from nothingness to everything; from hell to Heaven. Is this a journey? No, not in truth, for truth goes nowhere. But illusions shift from place to place; from time to time. The final step is also but a shift. As a perception it is part unreal. And yet this part will vanish. What remains is peace eternal and the Will of God.
The Course tries to make it clear to us that there is nothing for us to do and nowhere to go. There is only God. There is only God’s Will. There is only Heaven. I have spent years of study and practice. I have sought out teachers who could help me on my way. I have read lots of books and written two. Did all of this get me closer to God? Only in the sense that it helped me want to be closer to God. It could not get me to God because I am already there. The only thing that needs to change is the mind.

Shift is such a perfect word for what happens. I experience a shift in my thinking, a shift in my beliefs, a shift in my experience, a shift in my willingness. I think of it or express it as moving forward, but there is no forward to move to. I just shift in my understanding. And how do I do that? I just decide to. I accept what is being told to me. I believe.

Jesus says that I am innocent and so is everyone else. He’s pretty clear about that. He says it often and in many ways. No one is guilty of anything because nothing actually happens. We dream things. We dream stories with drama and impossible situations, like there being more than one of us and there being hate and fear, attack and defense. Just dreams. So the Holy Spirit answers our dreams by giving us another dream. This dream is forgiveness which undoes the other dreams. Ha ha ha. How perfect is that?

I forgive the idea that I could ever be guilty. Obviously that is not possible. God created me like Himself so I could only be guilty if He were. If I cannot be guilty, neither can you. There. We are forgiven. There is no reason to feel guilty and no reason to condemn. As guilt falls away there is nothing but Love. There is Heaven. There is God. How delightful! We didn’t have to do anything to get this, just stop believing the impossible.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers7-19-12

7-19-20
5 Forgiveness is a symbol, too, but as the symbol of His Will alone it cannot be divided. And so the unity that it reflects becomes His Will. It is the only thing still in the world in part, and yet the bridge to Heaven.
The work conference I am attending is coming to an end today. I have been attending this conference every year for the last 16 years. I told a co-worker that I think this year’s conference is the easiest ever. Even though I enjoy the conferences, usually by the time it’s over I am exhausted and very ready to leave. I am tired of talking to people, and smiling at everyone all the time. This year that hasn’t happened.

I think that the reason this year is different is because I remembered my purpose, and in remembering my purpose a lot of other stuff fell away. I didn’t smile because I had to, but because I wanted to. I felt happy so I smiled. I talked to people with a genuine interest and so it didn’t feel like a burden. All of this has been true for me in the past, but it was only partly true. Behind every smile was a different goal than love.

My goal was to keep customers and make new ones. It was to make an impression. It was to convince people that they should be my customer. Sure, I hoped that it would work out good for them and would make a genuine effort to assure that it would, but mostly, I wanted them to see things my way and stay, or be, my customer.

This goal required a great deal of energy as I tried to meet the expectations of each different person, to be what they wanted to see in me. It was tiring because it had nothing to do with love and everything to do with neediness. Not only was I feeling needy which is in opposition to my true nature, but I was using my brother (with little regard to his interests) to fill those needs. No wonder I felt disheartened by the end of those conferences.

This year I had one goal. I wanted to be the love that I am. I wanted to be a channel for that love to be expressed in whatever way would be most helpful. This gave all 1500 of us at the conference a single shared interest. They may or may not be aware of this interest, but in their Heart they all want the same thing; to be loving and loved.

If they did not know they shared this interest and they thought they wanted something else to come of the relationship, that was ok. I didn’t need them to know. I didn’t need anything from them and that was freeing. It is not possible to be disappointed if you have no expectations. With no expectations, everything that happens is perfect.

This didn’t mean I had no thoughts that opposed this goal, but it means I had no opposing thoughts that I was interested in. And even if one of those thoughts caught my attention briefly, I just turned it over to Holy Spirit to be purified and so let it go rather than judging myself for it. This is forgiveness. It is recognizing that nothing that is not God is true, so there is nothing to forgive. 

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers7-19-12

7-18-12
4 The face of Christ has to be seen before the memory of God can return. The reason is obvious. Seeing the face of Christ involves perception. No one can look on knowledge. But the face of Christ is the great symbol of forgiveness. It is salvation. It is the symbol of the real world. Whoever looks on this no longer sees the world. He is as near to Heaven as is possible outside the gate. Yet from this gate it is no more than just a step inside. It is the final step. And this we leave to God.

I am not sure what it means to see the face of Christ. If it means that we see everyone as innocent, I have experienced this and more and more often. I still see with ego at times, but this is changing. If it means I see light where there was once form, then I have not yet had this experience.

I am still at the work conference and still watching my mind. Yesterday my prayer was to remember my purpose all day long. I asked Holy Spirit to show me how God would have love each person I meet during the day.  As the day wore on and hundreds of people came by my booth, I forgot about the prayer, but Holy Spirit did not.

I had many loving encounters and while I did not think much about them at the time, now that I review the day I see that they were different than they might have been in the past. My attention was fully given to the one in front of me. When I asked about them, I listened and cared. Even if our encounter was brief, my smile and handshake was sincere. I mentioned to someone that this was the best conference yet, and I am sure that it is my joy in serving my true purpose that makes it feel so.

I ran into my chief competitor and a fleeting thought crossed my mind, more of a feeling and I watched it, but I also noticed it held no appeal. I just didn’t care about that, didn’t have interest in seeing an enemy in my brother. I ran into a man who used to be a customer. I used to hate seeing him because every time I did, I felt like a failure and inwardly winced at the mistakes I made with his account. This time I looked up and saw him and smiled and he smiled back. We had a long conversation and then later he came by to talk some more.

I have been trying to get a new customer and at first all went very well, then suddenly he quit taking my calls. This had really bothered me at the time and I would go over and over in my mind what I could have done differently and worried over what it meant. I felt resentment because of the way he acted and thought how rude he was. When I saw him all of that history went briefly through my mind, but I just couldn’t care. I don’t mean I knew I shouldn’t care and so I suppressed my feelings or hid from my thoughts; I just didn’t care.

I treated him like none of that mattered because it didn’t. Before the day was out he was smiling at me, and seeking eye contact. It is so easy to heal a relationship when the desire is pure. I don’t care whether he ever buys from me. I don’t care if he avoids me. I don’t care if he doesn’t like me. I don’t need anything from him, and in that holy place, all is healed and I am glad for his presence. Is that seeing the face of Christ, I wonder.

The night ended late and usually I am exhausted by that time, dead on my feet. But last night I was just tired and ready to go to bed. I do not doubt that the stress of seeing my brothers as enemies and plotting strategies of defense is what wore me out in the past. A simple prayer, truly meant, made all the difference in the world. Those were just a few of the encounters I had and some of them, while not appearing unusual on the surface, were truly miraculous in the sense that grievances were laid aside and love was exchanged. And only my desire was asked of me, the miracle did the rest. Thank you, thank you, God.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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