In Love Was I Created / What Can Frighten Me?

ACIM Workbook Lesson  268 – for Sunday, September 25, 2011

Affirmation:  “Let all things be exactly as they are.”

“Let me not be Your critic, Lord, today, and judge against You.  Let me not attempt to interfere with Your creation, and distort it into sickly forms.  Let me be willing to withdraw my wishes from its unity, and thus to let it be as You created it.  For thus will I be able, too, to recognize my Self as You created me.  In Love was I created, and in Love will I remain forever.  What can frighten me, when I let all things be exactly as they are?  

“Let not our sight be blasphemous today, nor let our ears attend to lying tongues.  Only reality is free of pain.  Only reality is free of loss.  Only reality is wholly safe.  And it is only this we seek today.  (WB429)”

Reflections:

1 – God Is Not to Blame for Suffering

We often blame God when we see suffering in our world.  Jesus says in the Text that nobody has failed to believe at one time or another that God is cruel (a paraphrase).  But God did not “do this” to us!  We did it to ourselves.  This is one of the theological concepts in ACIM that may be hard to wrap our minds around.  But, as Jesus also says, do not let theology delay us; we are here to heal the perceived separation from God, and to do that we have to forgive Him for what He never did.

2 – Considering Our Ambivalent Feelings toward Jesus

We are also likely to have ambivalent thoughts toward Jesus.  Helen Schucman, the co-scribe of ACIM, did so.  Would we be very likely to have it better than she?  Her suffering was very real, but the book that she brought forth has given comfort to many, comfort that she was not usually able to feel.  May we be the lucky ones who benefit from the joy found in studying A Course in Miracles.  May we be healed by our study and the contemplation that the Workbook encourages.  But, most of all, may we be healed in our special-relationships-turned holy.  This latter is our way.  We do not need to spend long hours in contemplation, which Jesus describes as “tedious.”  But a few moments at the beginning and end of the day would be time well spent as we seek to walk a closer pathway with God.

3 – How Long Will We Live in the Real World?

We would have reality, not illusions.  I think that the “reality” meant here is the “real world” also spoken of in ACIM.  Reality is not fearful.  Only our illusions scare us.  If we can come to understand this, we will not be so likely to let the vicissitudes of our daily life upset us.  We will move into reality, perhaps only in snatches, but more and more as time passes.  These are the “glimpses” that revelation gives us; the means to reach the end (Awakening) is given in ACIM.  ACIM says something that appears confusing at the outset.  At one point the Text indicates that the time of experiencing the real world will be brief, and that then God will recognize that we are ready for Awakening, and He will reach down for us (metaphorically).  I speculate in an interpretation that the “briefness” is a way of looking at time that is not ours in normal, day-to-day living.  Eternity is the eternal Now, but we see time in segments.  When viewed against the backdrop of eternity, we may find that many years are considered “brief.”  I offer this interpretation for prayerful consideration, because ACIM does not elaborate in this way.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would not be frightened today, because I would let You and Your Love lead the Way.  How should I doubt that I am safe, even in this world where suffering sometimes seems so ever-present?

May my perceived “suffering” be recognized for the illusion that it is.  May I recognize that I am the recipient of many blessings from You.  And may I here express my gratitude for those blessings.  I need only ask, and I do receive.  The solution is found with the problem.  May I realize that only when I am not flexible enough to follow Your Guide consistently do I get into trouble.  When I remain flexible, I walk a straight line to You.  Thank You for  pointing out the Way.

Amen.

I Do Love God

ACIM Workbook Lesson 225 – for Saturday, August 13, 2011

Affirmation:  “God is my Father, and His Son loves Him.”

“Father, I must return Your Love for me, for giving and receiving are the same, and You have given all Your Love to me.  I must return it, for I want it mine in full awareness, blazing in my mind and keeping it within its kindly light, inviolate, beloved, with fear behind and only peace ahead.  How still the way Your loving Son is led along to You!  (WB404)”

Reflections:

These prayers, in this section of the Workbook, are all meant to lead us gently to a God of love rather than judgment.  The prayers are comforting in the extreme.  The God of A Course in Miracles is like the God of the New Testament, rather than the sometimes vengeful God of the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible).  Jesus’s message is therefore consistent from the New Testament to A Course in Miracles, and even onto A Course of Love (which some view as a sequel to ACIM).

We have nothing to fear from God.  If we are not at first inclined to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to follow His way as the great Communicator from God to us, the Holy Spirit will be patient with us.  We will gradually come to know, as did Helen and Bill, that there is another way, and we will be led to discover, if we are true students of ACIM, that this another way is being abundantly laid out for us in its pages.  We are seeing the means to Awakening, or, as A Course of Love says, Christ-consciousness.

The only way that we can have consistent peace is if we turn to God consistently.  This means moments at the beginning and end of each day, as a minimum, in turning to God through contemplation and communing (prayer).  We are led by this stillness, this time when we are not stressed from the many activities of the day.  In quiet and stillness do we find our way home.  If we do not take the time to devote these moments to God, we will continue to walk the old pathway, led by egoistic thinking.  And we will not be happy, not on any consistent basis.  The “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (a Workbook quotation) will elude us.  We will indeed lead charmed lives when we turn to the Holy Spirit, the Universal Inspiration, as our mentor through life’s tortuous turns.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I wish to have the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings,” knowing that they are the harbinger of consistently viewing the real world, which leads on to Awakening.  The means are spelled out in A Course in Miracles.  Help the revelation to come.  That is entirely up to You, and I know that when I am ready, revelation will come–showing the end, Awakening, to me.

May I consistently spend moments at the beginning and the end of the day with you, in contemplation.  This does not mean that my holy relationship will mean less to me; I will be more likely to fulfill my half of the relationship in a good manner if I have devoted time to You.  Be with me today, again I ask.  Thank You for walking along beside me daily, and carrying me when times get tough.

Amen.

I Am Weary of the World I See

ACIM Workbook Lesson 224 – for Friday, August 12, 2011

Affirmation:  “God is my Father, and He loves His Son.”

“My Name, O Father, still is known to You.  I have forgotten it, and do not know where I am going, who I am, or what it is I do.  Remind me, Father, now, for I am weary of the world I see.  Reveal what You would have me see instead.  (WB403)”

Reflections:

The Text says that when we say, “I do not know who I am,” that we have reached the highest understanding of which we are capable.  We are then open to the Holy Spirit to tell us who we are.  We are no longer depending on ourselves.  We have left behind images of ourselves, as described in the Text.  We must go beyond all images (or personas), if we are to live peaceably in this world.  The images are of the ego, and the ego does not mean us well (an ACIM tenet).

We often are weary of this world.  But it is not up to us to abandon it.  We will not find happiness here, but we can find happiness in the real world (which can be experienced here).  The real world is a world of intangibles (love, hope, joy, consolations from God, etc.), and it is the distinct opposite of the world shown to us by the ego.  Indeed, egoistic notions of the world always end as ashes in our mouth.  We are constantly having our own ego undone by the happenings in this world.  We have paid for our inconstant pleasures by having them turn against us all the time.  If we reflect a bit, we will know that all pleasures of this world have been bought with tears; there is no joy that does not turn into its opposite (an ACIM tenet).  But the real world is different, and here joy is constant.  We may not stay in the real world consistently, but we will see glimpses of its peace and happiness.  And these glimpses will be enough to sustain and keep us on the pathway of salvation.

We ask God, in this passage above, to reveal to us what He would have us see.  We cannot read God’s Mind, but we can imagine what He would have us see.  And A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love tell us the means toward Awakening and Christ-consciousness.  It would behoove us to stay close to our means to true salvation.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would see what You would have me see.  I would, in my mind and spirit, leave this world from time to time to see the world that You will for me.  This real world is my goal.  May my experience of the real world that You will show me come soon.  I thank You for the glimpses that You have already given me.

Help me to love deeply and purely.  May I leave fear behind.  I know that the more love I can give and receive, the closer to You I will come.  May Your Being make Itself known to me today.

Amen.

I Will Be Still An Instant and Go Home

ACIM Workbook Lesson 202 – for Thursday, July 21, 2011

Affirmation:  “I am not a body.  I am free.  For I am still as God created me.”

“I will be still an instant and go home.  (WB388)”

Reflections:

How do we go home?  We just get “still.”  What a revelation to many of us who have spent years running on adrenaline!  This home is not the Other Side, where we “go” when we die.  That is not what is meant at all.  This home is a form of Heaven on earth, a moment when we let ourselves be “stilled,” and we experience the peace of mind that we all crave.  This craving is not a negative, as so many cravings in this world are.  It is the best of experiences, a time when we know that we are safe and that God protects us even in the midst of what might, at times, seem to be terrible tragedies.  We are still and quiet in His love.

Until we learn how to be still in the midst of a busy world, we probably will find that ultimate salvation will elude us (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).  We cannot rush about and hurry constantly and find the still, small Voice that encourages us to be filled with God and His love.

This passage emphasizes that only an “instant” is needed.  It is reminiscent of the “holy instant” in which we come to know God, according to A Course in Miracles.  These moments do not have to be infrequent, though they sometimes are.  We can invite holy instants by our demeanor.  We can ask God to fill us with His love at any time.  He waits on our invitation.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would be still today, especially when conflict seems to exist all about me.  I would seek quiet and calm, two happenings that are sometimes difficult to find in our very busy world.  May we all take a moment and invite God early in the day, invite Him to take us by the hand and guide us as we walk in today’s world.

I would like to go home today.  This does not mean that I want to die, but that I want to awaken to the most glorious thoughts and actions in this world.  All are mine to have.  I know that You will this for me, and so I know that I am asking aright.  Thank You.

Amen.

The Gift of God’s Grace

ACIM Workbook Lesson 179 – for Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Affirmation:  “God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

“1.  There is one life, and that I share with God.

“2.  Your grace is given me.  I claim it now.  (WB334)”

Reflections:

We are One with God, oft repeated in this blog.  This goes against some traditional Christian teaching that the earth and all in it are God’s handiwork, and that He stands apart from His handiwork.  But the latest revelations, including A Course in Miracles, does state that God is One with us.  Our life is His; He is experiencing Himself through us.  These ideas are developed at some length by Neale Donale Walsch in his Conversations with God series.

We need only ask for God’s grace to receive it.  He wants to give grace to us.  Grace is the truth of forgiveness, but God does not forgive, because He does not perceive that we have ever sinned (a Text tenet).  God does not need to forgive, but we do.  This is a principal tenet of A Course in Miracles.  When we have traveled far enough along the pathway, we will know that there is actually nothing to forgive, but most of us have not traveled that far yet.

Grace is a great boon that need only to be claimed to be our own.  We will know God’s love for us when we accept the grace that He so willingly holds out to us.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would ask for Your grace today.  This is the mercy that You extend to us all the time, but our eyes are frequently blind to it.  I would not be blind today.  Help me to live always in Your presence.  Give me Your peace, along with the will to follow what You would have me say and do.  Help me to be kind to those whom I encounter.

Your grace is partially a mystery to me, but I know that You can open my eyes to all that You mean by “grace.”  Help me to comprehend more today, with my spirit as well as my mind.  I would not follow the ego’s raucous calls today.

Amen.

God vs. the Holy Spirit

ACIM Workbook Lesson 147 – for Friday, May 27, 2011

Affirmation:  “My mind holds only what I think with God.”

Selected Passage:

“I will not value what is valueless.
“Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.  (WB276)”

Reflections:

Real thoughts are the thoughts that we think with God.  Mistaken thoughts partake of the ego.  In distractions of this world, we may not always discern the difference.  Go within to God, and let Him tell us what to say or do.

There may be some confusion about the difference between God and the Holy Spirit.  Indeed, some students/teachers of ACIM believe that God does not even know about us!  I do not subscribe to this belief, because it is not true to my experience.  God is within, and nothing is without (a Text tenet).  We project the world that we see from within.  If we are at the moment overtaken by the ego, we will project a world that is filled with attack and anger.  If we are in touch with God within, we will project love to the surrounding world, and this love will return to us, multiplied.  The Holy Spirit is the communication link between God and ourselves (a Text tenet).  The Holy Spirit acts as our guidance (an oft-repeated refrain in this blog).  The Holy Spirit was given as the Answer as soon as the idea of separation entered the mind.  The solution is always with the problem (an ACIM tenet).  And God gave His Answer immediately.

We can realize that our own little problems have immediate solutions as well.  Only a distracted mind fails to find the way out of any given maze in which we find ourselves.  We do not wish to value that which has no value, and that includes the egoistic world.  We do need to realize that we are all innocent of sin, and that our mistakes can be easily rectified.  Then we will know the joy that is ours for the asking (and taking).

Prayer:

Dear Mother/Father,

May I turn to You, within me, often today.  May I also turn to You that I perceive as being “without,” meaning my brothers and sisters, as well as this world in which we live–whether we are living in illusion or in the real world at the moment of noticing.  Be with me constantly.  I need You.

Thank You for the guidance that comes to me throughout the day.  Forgive me for my confusion about what that guidance really is.  I confuse myself.  And I would not confuse myself today.

Amen.

The Real World

ACIM Workbook Lesson 145 – for Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Affirmation:  “My mind holds only what I think with God.”

Selected Passage:

“Beyond this world there is a world I want.
“It is impossible to see two worlds.  (WB275)”

Reflections:

The world “beyond” is the real world, as termed by A Course in Miracles.  We cannot live in this world of the ego at the same time that we live in the real world.  They are mutually exclusive.  It is good for us to invite the real world by the actions that we take on a daily, and even hourly, basis.  If we live on an adrenaline rush (as Marianne Williamson has described), then we will be far from living in the real world.  As Marianne says, we are addicted to this adrenaline rush.  Our fast-paced world has seemed to require that we so live.

But do we really have to live in a rush?  Years ago, when I was in graduate school. I sensed the words, “There is time for all that is needful.”  And there was.  Previous to “hearing” these words with an inner ear, I was quite apprehensive about being able to get all my work done creditably.  But as I repeated this sentence to myself over and over, I knew its truth.  And my work went well.

In a work life also, there is time for all that is needful.  And living more slowly will invite the real world.  Then experiences of the real world will, in turn, invite moments of Awakening.  Eckhart Tolle says quite a bit about the truth that experiences of Awakening first come in snatches, to be made permanent later on.  We will not necessarily have to wait long.  Shakti Gawain also says this in her writing.  There are multiple writings now available to lead us Home, but we need never to lose sight of “our” way, A Course in Miracles.

Prayer:

Dear Mother/Father,

I would live in the real world today, as much of today as I can forgive fully and experience joy and peace and love.  I know something of living in the real world, but I am not consistent in my experiencing of true Reality.  I would become more consistent today.

Thank You for leading me by the hand into the real world.  You have done so repeatedly.  Now it is up to me to give myself over to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to make this new state of being a constant state.

Amen.

The Happy Dreams the Holy Spirit Brings

ACIM Workbook Lesson 140 – for Friday, May 20. 2011

Affirmation:  “Only salvation can be said to cure.”

Selected Passage:

“The happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings are different from the dreaming of the world, where one can merely dream he is awake.  The dreams forgiveness lets the mind perceive do not induce another form of sleep, so that the dreamer dreams another dream.  His happy dreams are heralds of the dawn of truth upon the mind.  They lead from sleep to gentle waking, so that dreams are gone.  And thus they cure for all eternity.  (WB270)”

Reflections:

1 – This Favorite Passage

This is a favorite passage of long-time students/teachers of A Course in Miracles.  An oft-repeated refrain, the phrase “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” is a herald of what is meant for us in this sometimes difficult and troubling world.  It is possible to live this happy dream, and for years, before the happy dreams lead gently into the Awakening (or Enlightenment).  It would be best, though, to commune with God about the Awakening, and not to remain satisfied with simply happy dreams.  We do not wish to prolong dreams of any kind, because dreams are illusion, and ACIM would have us move into reality.  What this actually means may remain obscure to us until we reach Awakening.  We know (not perceive) in a flash of time the meaning of those things that have eluded us.  Earlier, though, we may have flashes of insight that do not last.  Jesus speaks in the Text of revelation that reveals the end to us, but to get there the means are needed.  In this same passage, he says that the means are being carefully explained to us (i.e., in ACIM).

2 – From A Course of Love

A Course of Love, viewed by some as a sequel to ACIM, asks us to stop seeking endlessly.  We have sought for so long that this may be hard for us.  We think that there is always something else that we need to learn.  But once we have studied ACIM, and perhaps read A Course of Love, we know what we need to know.  We are ready for God to reach now and lift us up.  We can ask that He do so soon.  We can rest in patience until that glorious moment arrives.

3 – The Mind Is Quiet

Do not underestimate the importance of the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings.  They quiet out mind so that we will welcome Awakening.  We are told in the Manual that without this preparation, we would be too frightened and maybe even depressed to welcome Awakening.  If we have lived for illness, for example, to have a sudden healing would perhaps not be in our best interests.  So healing has to wait, to protect our very existence.  (Jesus says that some, faced with a sudden healing, might even try to destroy themselves.)  But having lived through the happy dreams, we will be ready when God is.  May that day come soon for all of us.

Prayer:

Dear Mother/Father,

Thank You for the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit has brought to me.  They have indeed made my dream of this life a far grander version of dreaming than anything that I knew when I was much younger and did not have the gift of ACIM.  I would not stay stuck in dreams, though, because there is a time to move even beyond “happy dreams,” on into reality.  And I know that only You make this determination, this time when the time is right.  

I do pray that this time of the real world come quickly.  The Awakening is needed by all of us, before pain and suffering make our living in a difficult world even worst, especially for those who have not seen the light that You have brought to all who will listen.  May I reach out to my brothers and sisters, those who are ready, with Your message of the real world today.

Amen.

Innocence Within

ACIM Workbook Lesson 111 – for Thursday, April 21, 2011

Affirmation:  “Miracles are seen in light.”

Selected Passage:

“I cannot see in darkness.  Let the light of holiness and truth light up my mind, and let me see the innocence within.  (WB204)”

Reflections:

We are entitled to miracles.   The early pages of the Text assure us that when miracles do not occur, something has gone wrong.  Miracles are our birthright.  And Jesus assures us that he is in charge of miracles, because he knows the readiness of us, as well as the readiness of our brothers and sisters.

It may still be hard for us to understand how we can be innocent, when we know the mistakes (formerly called “sins”) that we have made.  But we live in illusion, or maya (as the Eastern religions call it).  We have not in reality done the awful deeds that we perceive that we have done.  Our real Self has not changed in separation.  Separation from God is the little self, the part that embraced the ego–a tiny, mad idea about which we forgot to laugh (paraphrased from the Text).  If we can actually entertain the idea that we are innocent, that we have not lost our innocence, but have only been lost in dreams, then we will come to understand.  And we will want to correct the mistakes that we have made.  “Sin” would continue to be attractive, but ACIM assures us that what we call sin is only a mistake.

When we do not look into the light (metaphorically), we see in darkness, and we are lost, sometimes in dreams that turn into nightmares.  We cannot truly see reality when we are in such a state.  Let us today resolve to see only in light, which is the positive spin that we can put on our movement toward salvation in the ACIM sense, the movement toward Awakening, or enlightenment.

Affirmation:  “Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.”

Selected Passage:

“I see through strength, the gift of God to me.  My weakness is the dark His gift dispels, by giving me His strength to take its place.  (WB204)”

Reflections:

We often do not feel strong.  We may, in fact, feel especially weak when we turn to God in total surrender.  This total surrender is not meant to keep us weak, though; it is only the first step in finding a new strength through our surrender.

ACIM does not say much about surrender to God.  But I think that it is assumed.  We are told to commune with God, and we are told to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Both call for a surrender that we may not have made often.  And this surrender may need to be repeated throughout our lives.

We know that we are strong through God’s grace.  Again we see in the selected passage (above) the importance of the metaphor of light; in this case, the opposite is chosen:  the dark.  We do not want to stay in the dark.  So let us let God speak to us today.  Let us find His way for us.  We will then be the strong individuals that He intends us to be.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me to live through this day in awareness that I am living in an illusion that is this world.  The only thing that is real in it is that which is intangible–loving, kind, peaceful projections that make up reality as You view it.  This understanding sometimes evades me when I am caught by the world’s dilemmas.  I would not be caught today.

Please give me Your strength today.  I know that You intend for me to be a strong individual, strong in love for You, strong in love for my brothers and sisters, and strong in love for this beautiful earth.  May today be a day of special blessing, as I live the way that You intend for me to live.

Amen.

Safe and Healed and Whole

ACIM Workbook Lesson 97 – for Thursday, April 7, 2011

Affirmation:  “I am spirit.”

Selected Passage:

“Spirit am I, a holy Son of God, free of all limits, safe and healed and whole, free to forgive, and free to save the world. (WB173)”

Reflections:

This is another of the many, many reassuring passage in A Course in Miracles.  It is lyrical in description.  Here we are defined as spirit, not as mind at all.  When we recognize that spirit has the upper hand, we will be more ready to stop trying to “make it” in this world.  This world has no joy to give; only the real world, granted by God as we near the ultimate Awakening, has that power to give joy.

Nowhere in ACIM is the real world fully explained.  That may well be because we are not ready to understand.  The real world comes to us by revelation, and elsewhere we learn that revelation may occasionally reveal the end to us, but to get there the means are needed (a Text tenet).  And the means are being carefully explained to us (another Text tenet).  Our study and learning are not wasted time; we will find out way back to God, the God that in truth we never left.  We only think that we have been separated, because we have not communicated with our Creator.  We are told elsewhere that God is lonely when His channels to his created beings are blocked.  And He knows that we sleep, and He would awaken us.

To be “free of all limits” we must first not have an imprisoned will, imprisoned by our allegiance to the ego.  Straying from God is not without limits.  Miscreation is not without limits.  Sooner or later we know that the pain is too great, and we ask for help.  This is the beginning of our return Home.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would return Home today, Home to the real world–the world that You created, not the one that my projections made in illusion.  May I know safety today.  May nothing come to interfere with my joy.

Thank you for being there for me when I call in desperation.  You always answer prayer, though I am not always aware of what You are telling me.  Sometimes my ego has me enthralled.  May I leave the ego and its faulty thinkng behind today.  May I know the Holy Spirit’s peace.

Amen.

May the Real World Rise before My Eyes

ACIM Workbook Lesson 54 – for Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Affirmation:  “I have no neutral thoughts.”

Selected Passage:

“As the world I see arises from my thinking errors, so will the real world rise before my eyes as I let my errors be corrected.  (WB88)”

Reflections:

Many times we know the best thing to do, but we are fallible, and still tied to the ego, and we don’t follow our own best instincts.  These best instincts are instilled in us by the Holy Spirit, and we will make ourselves a Heaven on earth, even, when we let the real world rise before our eyes.  This means that we pray for guidance, and we pray for the will to follow that guidance.  Then all is well.

Affirmation:  “I see no neutral things.”

Selected Passage:

“Let me look on the world I see as the representation of my own state of mind.  I know that my state of mind can change.  And so I also know the world I see can change as well.  (WB88)”

Reflections:

We would have the world as we see it actually change.  We would accord illusions the tiny interest that they merit, but we would recognize that we are projecting.  We would not let our state of mind go negative, or the world that we see will go negative as well.

Affirmation:  “I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.”

Selected Passage:

“I can. . .call upon my real thoughts, which share everything with everyone.  As my thoughts of separation call to the separation thoughts of others, so my real thoughts awaken the real thoughts in them.  And the world my real thoughts show me will dawn on their sight as well as mine.  (WB88)”

Reflections:

This passage calls us to make a difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters.  We would make a difference today.  Help us to call upon our real thoughts–the loving ones–to help lead everyone to a better world, the real world.

Affirmation:  “I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.”

Selected Passage:

“I am alone in nothing.  Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe.  A Son of God cannot think or speak or act in vain.  He cannot be alone in anything.  It is therefore in my power to change every mind along with mine, for mine is the power of God.  (WB89)”

Reflections:

We do not have private thoughts, however much we might think that we do or hope that we do.  Our thoughts reach outward to others, even when we do not say anything that will tip our hand.

Affirmation:  “I am determined to see.”

Selected Passage:

“I would look upon the real world, and let it teach me that my will and the Will of God are one.  (WB89)”

Reflections:

May we see the real world, the loving world, today.  It is a great blessing to know that our real will and the Will of God are identical–not similar, but identical.  He is within us, and we would learn much from turning to God whenever any question arises in our minds.  We need simply to ask the question, internally, and then words of answer will pour into our minds.  Of course, we cannot be sure of our infallibility in such cases, but if the Answer is benign, we can be assured that it is quite likely that we are receiving guidance.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May the real world rise before my eyes today.  I am not awakened on a sustained basis, because the ego has not given  up the fight for control of my mind and heart.  But the ego is weakened in me; I no longer accord its temper tantrums much effect, and so I thank You that some of Your teaching is showing me the real world.  May I see a loving, peaceful expanse of this world unfold before my eyes today.  May I be at Home in You.

Thank You, dear God, for Your manifold blessings to me.  Even when I think times are tough, I know that it has been said that at those times You are “carrying” me.  May I enjoy Your company today.  May I be aware of Your presence throughout the day.  And may the real world come into view.

Amen.