Illusions

The Course says that we (not God) made the world that we see. It is an illusory world, but it does not appear illusory to us. We have “micreated,” but still what we have made cannot have power over us. It is as if to say that a god (Baal), fashioned of gold by the Israelites, has more power over their minds than does the Holy One at that very moment of fashioning tablets on the mountaintop with Moses. It simply isn’t so. We are one with God, and we never leave Him.

This understanding requires the knowledge that All is One. The Thought that is God extends Himself to create all living things. Only if God is mad could a part turn on the whole to destroy it. We have many times tried to turn on the whole and destroy, but to no effect. But God allowed this to happen only in illusion, assuring us that we have not in truth hurt either anybody–ourselves or others. Thus Return becomes possible at any time, although, practically, it may take millions of years for all of us to return.

A million years sounds daunting, but when we realize that we can have the “happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings,” we know that we are not bereft in a hostile world. God needs many hands and feet to do His bidding in His world; he needs us to spread salvation upon the earth.

Let us do our part today, not by proselytizing, but by example.

Live Happy Dreams

“To fragment truth is to destroy it by rendering it meaningless. Orders of reality is a perspective without understanding; a frame of reference for reality to which it cannot really be compared at all.” (ACIM, T-17.I.4)

This is a somewhat obscure quotation with deep meaning about the idea that reality has different layers for us to try to comprehend. We have become so insanely complicated in our egoic trap. Our reality reflects our thinking, because projection makes perception (an ACIM tenet), and so it goes. We think that we will get lost in this complex world of ours, and that is frequently a self-fulfilling prophecy, for we do get lost—lost in world where we don’t give God the primacy that He deserves.

When we try, in our egoic confusion, to separate out layers of the complexity that we only in error think “reality,” we are lost indeed. We are trying to fragment truth, for there are elements of the true even in our confusion. But we don’t separate right; we twist up our minds until we are sometimes ready to scream. What can we do instead? For this is not true reality.
We can step back and reassess. We know that reality is benign, loving, in harmony, and at peace. And, if we stop to think (which we will), the world that we see is often anything but loving and peaceful. We need to simplify what we are perceiving. We need to ask what needs to be cast aside as irrelevant. But don’t get conflicted in doing so, for conflict is a major part of the problem. Just rest in God’s Presence, certain that there is a Rescuer Who will come to our aid.

When we walk further along the pathway, we become less likely to experience such abject confusion. We find that we dream the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (from the Workbook of ACIM), and we live lives that are simply “happier.” When we look back from this vantage point, we will wonder why we fretted and worried so, why we pushed ourselves to achieve in an egoic sense. Much of the past will seem incomprehensible to us. And in knowing a better reality, we will try not to backslide. We will try, as A Course of Love says, to sustain the “elevated Self of form.”

Still Mind / Vision Restored

“Here [God’s justice, pointing to Heaven] all attack and condemnation become meaningless and indefensible.  Perception rests, the mind is still, and light returns again.  Vision is now restored.  What had been lost has now been found.  The peace of God descends on all the world, and we can see.  And we can see!  (M-19.5)”

 

Affirmation:  “May my vision be restored today.”

Reflections:

1 – Light Returns

This passage reflects what we are trying to reach–our way home to God, with separation (as we perceive it) healed.  We do not feel the stress that leads to attack and condemnation.  We do not fret about what our perception shows us.  Our minds are still.  We are quiet.  “Light” returns.  And what is light?  The cleansed perception that we all want.  Until knowledge comes to replace perception, we aim for cleansed perception.  And with cleansed perception comes vision, but not with the body’s eyes.  The type of vision meant is the vision that the Holy Spirit gives, which allows us to “see” accurately and without judgment (only His judgment is relevant).  God’s peace returns to all the world.  And this includes all of our brothers and sisters, a description of what will happen when all have made their way back to God.

2 – Eons, but Take Heart

This is the ideal, and A Course in Miracles talks about this ideal quite a bit.  We should not be disappointed if we do not reach this ideal soon.  It may be eons away, “millions” of years, as Jesus says.  But as long as we are on the right pathway, the Holy Spirit will bring to us “happy dreams.”  These happy dreams presage the coming of Awakening, and the happy dreams must come if we are to awaken quietly, without fear.  Otherwise, we would be terrified by the light.

3 – Happy Dreams

There is a particularly apt passage in the Text in which Jesus says that when the light is turned on in a room where we have been asleep, we may at first fear, be afraid.  We think that the light is something to fear, that it is part of our dream.  But when we fully awaken, we soon realize that the dream we dreamed in our sleep was only an illusion, and we have nothing to fear.  The “happy dreams” of the Holy Spirit are akin to this.  We would be too terrified to welcome Awakening if we were still perceiving attack and condemnation.

4 – Awakening / Enlightenment

Be with us today as we seek Awakening.  We do not prepare the way; that is up to the Holy Spirit.  But we can be attentive to what we say and do, and then we will be more ready than not ready.  But we need to be humble about our part in what we do, because we have very little asked of us.  The vast majority of the work is done effortlessly by the Holy Spirit.  And we can be glad that our part is so small, for we would be sure to mess something up.  The Holy Spirit does not make mistakes, and certainly we do.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I convey to myself and others that it is not a bad thing for each of us, individually, if we, in trying to effect salvation for all, find that eons may pass before all are awakened.  In the meantime, we will either have the happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings, or we will have Awakening (i.e., Enlightenment).  We are meant to lead the way, though we must be careful of this statement, for surely the ego is pleased when we let unselfish motives be attributed to our doing.  We are led by You and the Holy Spirit (or Christ-consciousness) every step of the way.  We would know not what to do unless You were in the background, directing every step.  May we always attribute a good deed to the motivation that You have given to us.  And may we not take credit for what You through us.  By ourselves we could do nothing.  We would mess things up.

Be with me today as I seek to live these words.  May others take nothing unto themselves unless it finds a place in their hearts.

Thank You for this excellent day.  We are at the beginning of the rest of our eternity, and indeed, we know, somehow, because of You, that we will live in eternity.  Eternity is the Now.  And there is no time that is not Now.  May I remember this definition of Now throughout this glorious day.  Thank You for granting me happiness and peace and serenity today.

Amen.

Power, Fame, Money, Physical Pleasure = Meaningful to Body

“It takes great learning both to realize and to accept the fact that the world has nothing to give.  What can the sacrifice of nothing mean?  It cannot mean that you have less because of it.  There is no sacrifice in the world’s terms that does not involve the body.  Think a while about what the world calls sacrifice.  Power, fame, money, physical pleasure; who is the ‘hero’ to whom all these things belong?  Could they mean anything except to a body?  (M-13.2)”

 

Affirmation:  “I need sacrifice nothing.”

Reflections:

1 – The World Has Nothing to Offer

Most of us do not really yet believe that the world has nothing to offer.  We are still that much caught up in the ego.  As long as we are egocentric, we will seek for power, fame, physical pleasure.  But when the ego has withered, at least a little, we will instead seek the intangibles of God–the love, joy, peace, tranquility, calm, quiet.  And we can be happy in this world, so long as we are not chasing rainbows of materialism.  God wants our material needs satisfied also, but if we devote ourselves only to the material, we lose out on so much more.

2 – Happy Dreams the Holy Spirit Brings

And we do find in this world the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (from the Workbook).  The reason for the happy dreams is that we would be too terrified by the sudden appearance of Awakening.  A gentler dream needs to precede Awakening.  And so we are prepared carefully for the great blessing of Awakening.

3 – Patience

It does take great learning to accept these ideas.  And it takes patience to assimilate them.  Teachers must repeat their lessons until they are learned, and Jesus himself has set the precedent for this in the Text, when he said that nothing that we do or make, etc., creates our worth.  Our worth is given us by God.

4 – Heaven on Earth

So do we write off the world and escape into some otherworldly heaven?  I think not.  We can experience heaven on earth, but we have to meet the conditions, which involve an egoless experience.  So long as we are fueled by the ego, we will know vicissitudes of joy and sorrow in an alternating fashion.  And the guilt that the ego would drive us to would be hell indeed.  (Elsewhere the Text affirms that guilt is hell.)

5 – Values Will Change

We seek to enjoy God’s intangibles and to love our brothers and sisters (as well as ourselves, which is necessary for all love to proceed from us).  We do not need to sacrifice anything that is truly good.  Our values will change as we walk farther along the pathway to God.  And we will not seek the inferior values that all too often are present in this world.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I am extremely grateful that, after studying A Course in Miracles for a long time, I can honestly say to You that the pleasures of this world do not mean as much to me as they once did.  I am not above wanting pleasures of this world, but it is more important to me to know Your peace, joy, harmony, and calm.  Thank You for walking with me far enough along the pathway to You that I have made this shift in my values.

May I be understanding if others do not share this concept.  It takes a long while to understand that this world does not really offer anything that is lasting, and only the lasting is the eternity that we all seek, whether we know it or not.  May my walk into eternity today include my brothers and sisters, and may I not make demands upon them that they are not yet ready to accommodate.

Amen.

Happy Dreams the Holy Spirit Brings

“God’s teachers choose to look on dreams a while.  It is a conscious choice.  For they have learned that all choices are made consciously, with full awareness of their consequences.  The dream says otherwise, but who would put his faith in dreams once they are recognized for what they are?  Awareness of dreaming is the real function of God’s teachers.  (M-12.6)”

Affirmation:  “awareness of dreaming”

Reflections:

1 – The Degree of Insanity

We dream, but our progress back to God is either pleasant or unpleasant, depending on our degree of insanity in the dream.

2 – We Dream

To say “we dream” is to mean that are in an illusion, not the real world.  We live with an imprisoned will when we are caught by the ego, and all of us have experienced the bad times of the ego.  When we follow its guidance, we know pain and suffering.  We may know heights of joy, but these are eclipsed by an equal number of low points (a paraphrase from ACIM).  We would not choose to live a labile life, when we know better how to live.

3 – “Happy Dreams the Holy Spirit Brings”

The better way is to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Who changes the kind of thinking that we do.  We start attracting a better life, the “dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (from the Workbook).  And we know a quiet peace that heretofore may have been unwelcome to ourselves.  In fact, in ACIM we learn that being “perfectly calm and quiet” all the time is to be expected as we reach home.

3 – The Real World = A Condition of Mind

The real world is not easily identified, but it is the condition of mind that we enjoy when we are almost ready gor Awakening, when God Himself metaphorically reaches down and lifts us up.  We know happiness, which ACIM says is our function.

4 – Insane World

When we know that we are dreaming in an insane world, we will not be upset by what we see.  We will know that it is all illusion.  We will empathize with our brothers and sisters who are caught in pain, but we will  not overdo our sympathy, lest we contribute to making pain part of their self-image (a paraphrase from ACIM).

5 – Have a Better Day

Let us be aware of dreaming today.  And, with that, a better day is set before us.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would have a better day today, ever better, day by day.  Thank You for the many blessings conferred upon me so recently.  When I am unsure of what to do, I just need to listen to guidance.  And the Answer will come, unfailingly, into my mind.  A Course in Miracles promises this; You promise this.  The Holy Spirit fulfills His role splendidly.

Be with me today in my dream of what life can offer.  May I know the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings.  And may I move ever closer to Awakening, an Awakening that will be sustained.

Thank You.

Amen.

Happy Dreams the Holy Spirit Brings

ACIM Workbook Lesson 87 – for Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Affirmation:  “I will there be light.”

Selected Passage:

“I will use the power of my will today.  It is not my will to grope about in darkness, fearful of shadows and afraid of things unseen and unreal.  Light shall be my guide today.  I will follow it where it leads me, and I will look only on what it shows me.  This day I will experience the peace of true perception.  (WB152)”

Reflections:

True perception is a gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift that gives us happy dreams.  And true perception can and does lead ultimately to knowledge.  We can use the power of our will to will today that we see in light.  This is a metaphorical way of speaking, but its intent is clear to even very early students of A Course in Miracles.  We know when we are groping in darkness, in the negative emotions, and we would change all of that to sometimes much more positive.  ACIM will teach us how to make that change.

Affirmation:  “There is no will but God’s.”

Selected Passage:

“I am safe today because there is no will but God’s.  I can become afraid only when I believe there is another will.  I try to attack only when I am afraid, and only when I try to attack can I believe that my eternal safety is threatened.  Today I will recognize that all this has not occurred.  I am safe because there is no will but God’s.  (WB152)”

Reflections:

One does attack only when one is afraid.  Knowing this, how can we not forgive ourselves and our brothers and sisters?  Attack is the misguided way that we ask for help.  It is the opposite of giving help.  And we must give help, sometimes in very subtle ways, if we would know the best way to live.  If an overt display of help would not be well-received by someone who is attacking us, let us back off.  But we can give what we are led by guidance to give.  And sometimes we can simply wait for a better moment to make our gift to ourselves as well as to others.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would ask for an easy day today.  Perhaps this is not a realistic prayer, but it is one that feels right to me now.  I need some solace, some happy dreams.  I am on the verge of experiencing too much stress.  May my perceptions change so that I am at peace.  May You walk with me throughout this day, and may I be conscious of Your presence.

This time I am afraid of my own reactions.  Being stressed puts me at odds with Your peace, and I would not be at odds with Your peace.  Help me to lie low today as I regain my equilibrium.  This day I devote to You.  This day I will seek, in as many moments as I can, Your peace above my ego-oriented propensity to be right.

Keep me from knit-picking.  I would be tolerant of all whom I encounter.  I would seek for their happiness every bit as much as I seek for mine.  Give me Your guidance as I seek to maneuver through the mines of an uncertain world.

Thank You for being there for me.

Amen.

Knowledge of the Divine Order

“A miracle is a correction introduced into false thinking by me.  It acts as a catalyst, breaking up erroneous perception and reorganizing it properly.  This places you under the Atonement principle, where perception is healed.  Until this has occurred, knowledge of the Divine Order is impossible.  (T5)”

Affirmation:  “May my perception be healed.”

Reflections:

1 – Definition of the Miracle

This is one definition of the miracle offered by Jesus.  The wording of this passage is straight-forward, but may be difficult to understand on first reading.  Do not fret, at this point, in trying to understand.  The remainder of A Course in Miracles will let these principles be examined so that we can come to an understanding.

2 – Miracles, Atonement, and Perception

Jesus links the miracle with Atonement.  In addition, he says that our perception will be healed.  These two aspects of the miracle make it completely desirable.

3 – Perception and Knowledge

“Perception” and “knowledge” are different, and only the second (knowledge) is actually accurate.  We “know” when we have walked the way of Atonement.  Before that, our perception is frequently informed by the ego, and we see and live in difficult circumstances.  Only the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (from the Workbook) can save us from ourselves.  These happy dreams will calm us, and prepare us for the Awakening.  ACIM says that we would be too fearful to welcome Awakening without the preparation through happy dreams from the Holy Spirit.

4 – Healed Perception

When our perception is healed, we will not look out on the same world, because projection makes perception (a tenet from ACIM).  Our lives will work better in this new world (called by ACIM the “real world”), and we will live in calm and quiet.  This indeed is what miracles hold out for us.  What a blessing!

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would do the miracles today that You prompt me to do.  Jesus says that he will guide us.  I would not try to choose any miracle to do, because surely that would be misguided.

Be with me as my perception is cleansed.  May I look out on a world that my projection has healed, because I wish to see the real world.  Be with me to make this possible.

I would follow the guidance of my Guide throughout the day.  Make me flexible enough to do that.

Thank You.

Amen.

Murderers in Dreams

“A brother separated from yourself, an ancient enemy, a murderer who stalks you in the night and plots your death, yet plans that it be lingering and slow; of this you dream.  Yet underneath this dream is yet another, in which you become the murderer, the secret enemy, the scavenger and the destroyer of your brother and the world alike. (T584)”

Affirmation:  “I would not choose ‘murder’ today.”

Reflections:

1 – Nightmares in an Illusory World

These are the deplorable dreams that we dream in an illusory world.  This is why the world seems so hard.  We think that both our brother and ourselves are “murderers.”   We have nightmares, and this passage details one of the worst.  We blame ourselves for these nightmares that we live in our illusory world.  We think that we mean our brother and sister ill.  And that God will not forgive us.

2 – The Ego Speaks Nonsense

But all of this is simply the nonsense taught to us by the ego.  The ego is a part of our belief about ourselves (from the Text), but we are not doomed to remain in that part.  We can drop the belief that the ego does anything good, because it never does.  And when life moves to undo the ego, we suffer, for we often feel humiliated by false pride.  We must leave behind the ego, let it wither away, if we are to have peace and joy consistently.  No joy brought by the ego exists that was not paid for by tears (an ACIM tenet).  But we would weep no more; we would find joy in our spirits, and the way to that joy is to see the ultimate equality of all our brothers and sisters with ourselves.  We will all eventually share the gifts of God.  Presently, some know more, but this is not a lasting condition.  All will eventually share everything.  We are meant to share.  That is why we learn through our relationships–special turned holy.  We need to realize that our brothers and sisters are not meant to be held apart from ourselves, with us thinking that we are “better” in any way.  This is not the pathway that A Course in Miracles would lead us down.

3 – Bring on the Holy Spirit’s Happy Dreams

Until we leave these evil dreams behind, we will be immune to the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings.  (WB270)”  May we leave these evil dreams behind soon.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would dream happy dreams today.  I would not project from my ego anything that would be disturbing to experience in this illusory world.  I do have that power, that is, my real Self does.  But my personal self does not have this much control.  And so often I find myself lost in my personal self, a self that still is sometimes in the control of an ego that has not yet withered away.

I know that when I ask for happy dreams, I find myself experiencing a much happier world.  The Holy Spirit does seem to listen and to respond, though I do not read this specifically in A  Course in Miracles.  But the Holy Spirit is Your Voice, and Your Guide for me, and I thank You today for making this so.

May the day be met with courage and resiliency.  May I know Your peace in the midst of every busy doing on which You send me.

Amen.

Vicious Dream Figures

“. . .[Y]ou would not react at all to figures in a dream you knew that you were dreaming.  Let them be as hateful and as vicious as they may, they could have no effect on you unless you failed to recognize it is your dream. (T588)”

Affirmation:  “I am living a dream.”

Reflections:

1 – An Insane World

This is the solution to individuals who, in our opinion, treat us badly.  It leads easily to forgiveness.  It suggests to me that we can call these lamentable actions “insanity,” and then let it go at that.  Over time, we may find that calling bad words or actions from another just “insanity” will help to initiate our own sanity, our own living in the real world.  At such times of forgiveness, when we are truly living ACIM, we recognize that there is really nothing to forgive.  But most of us have not reached this pinnacle yet.  We still need to have the gesture of forgiveness, as much for ourselves as for the other(s) involved.

2 – An Illusion

Of course, there are times that we will react first, and then, maybe much later, remember this passage from A Course in Miracles.  It is hard to recognize that the “reality” that we see all around us is not really real, especially if things happen in that reality that hurt us.

3 – Patience

May we have patience with ourselves when we fail.  There will be times when we do not handle an attack from another in the best way.  We will retaliate, only to recognize later that we have acted amiss.  Then we need to retrace our steps, and make amends.  But first we need to recognize our own frailty, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide our minds ever more carefully.

4 – Resist Attack

ACIM suggests the remedy in these two sentences in the passage, above.  May we incorporate this passage so firmly in our minds that we are able to resist striking out verbally (or any other way).

5 – It Is Our Own Dream

We are in a dream that we ourselves made up.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would remember today that I live in a dream, and so if someone attacks me for any reason, I can know that I had something to do with finding myself in that situation.  Attack can be forgiven as a call for help.  Help me to have the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” today.  I would thank You repeatedly through the day for the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who will take me back home to You.

May I resist responding in attack.  Give me the forbearance to refrain from retaliating.  May my emotions remain calm, as well as joyous, and may Your presence keep me serene.

I love this life that You have immersed me in, and I thank You everyday for my many blessings.  Even though it is a dream, it is a good dream, and only with Awakening will I progress farther along the pathway to You.  May Awakening come sooner rather than later.

Amen.

Mind Wandering

“You are much too tolerant of mind wandering, and are passively condoning your mind’s miscreations” (T29).

Affirmation:  “I would keep my mind on track today.”

Reflections:

1 – Mind Wandering

This quotation appears early in the Text, in a section designed to help us to overcome fear.  The “miscreations” happen all too frequently when we let our mind wander over our day, our lives, and especially our futures.  Jesus bids us at this point to ask if our choice is in accord with his.  If it is, there will be no fear.

2 – Miscreations Are from the Ego

The miscreations are the things in our world that we “make” from the mind slant of the ego.  We live in misery, alleviated only from time to time, when we let the ego rule.  The ego in this sense is not quite what Freud defined.  It is a part of our understanding of ourselves, and it is regularly leading us away from God to the self-centered impulses of which we are all aware.  The stronger the ego, the more undone it will become as time passes.  This leads directly to an inferiority complex, because we are constantly brought up short to realize that we are not the center of the world, after all.  The ego champions  the illusions in this world, and it, as a part of our belief about ourselves, does not wish us well.  The ego sense that there is another part of us that is opposed to it; this brings up the matter of the Holy Spirit.  Love does not directly fight fear; it simply characterizes fear as untruth.  When we are in a loving state of mind, we are letting the real world speak to us, the world that God created with us in mind.  We do have moments when the ego is not noticeable to us, regardless of how far we still have to walk along the pathway home.

3 – Try to Settle the Mind

This teaching is one of the more difficult to apply in daily life.  Our minds jump around so much that settling the mind down, even in prayer, is difficult.  Cultivating relaxation prior to prayer can be very helpful.

4 – Jesus Is Near

This passage highlights the closeness of Jesus to our lives.  We can even imagine that he holds our hand as we walk along life’s pathway.  This is not idle fantasy, according to the Course (WB120).

5 – Keep the Mind Still

Nobody who has not awakened (meaning the vast majority of us) can eliminate fear entirely.  But following the teachings of the Course, especially passages such as the one cited above, can go a long way toward giving us the peace that we crave.  Try to keep the mind still, and let the Holy Spirit speak.  Over time, if we are patient and practice willingly and often, this stillness in our mind will virtually eliminate “mind wandering.”

6 – Try Praying Aloud

I have found that praying aloud, when alone, is helpful in keeping the mind and heart on track.  We are led to keep a coherent monologue going.  But, of course, prayer is listening as well, and it would be good to enjoy silence and ask God what He wants us to know.  We may then experience an inner knowing that gives us the next right step to make in our day.  We may feel calmer and even happier.  Communion with God is always meant to be peaceful endeavor, though a prayer that comes from struggling with some issue is heard as well.   We need to go with our natural inclinations, as long as they do not hurt another individual.  Mind wandering, believe it or not, can become a thing of the past.

Prayer:

 Dear Father/Mother,

 I would follow my own advice today and pray aloud whenever I am alone.  I thank You that You are inside of me, and that my projections from an ego-oriented mind may “make” a world, but that these miscreations are not real.  May I come to “know” as opposed to “perceive.”  May I see as You would have me see.

 I thank You that Jesus is near.  I do not understand how he can reach out to all of us, but there are many things that I cannot comprehend.  I do have the willingness to step out in regard to this belief.  And thank You for the fact that Jesus holds my hand today as I go about the sometimes meaningless things that I do.  Guide me to do the meaningful things.

 Thank You.

 Amen.

I Let Forgiveness Rest upon All Things

ACIM Workbook Lesson 342 – for Thursday, December 8, 2011

Affirmation:  “I let forgiveness rest upon all things,
        For thus forgiveness will be given me.”

“The key is in my hand, and I have reached the door beyond which lies the end of dreams.  I stand before the gate of Heaven,, wondering if I should enter in and be at home.  (WB474)”

Reflections:

1 – Paving the Way to Awakening

This passage paves the way to Awakening, a way paved first by our forgiveness of ourselves as well as our brothers and sisters.  But we are “wondering if I should enter in and be at home.”  This last sentence highlights the fact that the time of Awakening, while entirely God’s choice, is not untouched by our own dedication to forgiveness:  “The key is in my hand.”  When we reach beyond the door, we have gone beyond dreams, even the happy ones brought to us in preparation by the Holy Spirit.

2 -Forgiveness = Path to Salvation

When we forgive all things, then is forgiveness given to us.  God, it is said in the Text, does not forgive, because He has never condemned.  But the forgiveness required by this world is a function that we ourselves assume when we embark on the path to salvation.

3 – It Is Necessary to Go On

The affirmation and the passage chosen for today are working in tandem.  We forgive, the key is in our hand, and then we stop–wondering if we should go on.  It is necessary to go on.  We have been prepared by the Holy Spirit’s happy dreams not to be scared by the experience of Awakening.  Without that careful preparation, we would be terrified when confronted and thrown into Awakening.  God is too loving to have us enter a new state while tied to the old one.  We loosen the ties gently and easily, and walk into the sunlight with God.

4 – Why Are Happy Dreams Not Enough?

Sometimes, when the dreams are especially happy, we may think that this is “enough.”  Why go on when we don’t know what lies beyond the door?  But there is a definite reason why we need to go beyond the door.  It is our next reasonable step.  Once we have moved beyond the door, there is no turning back–if Awakening is sustained.  Prior to his sustainability, we may know glimpses of Awakening that do not last.  These have been brought to us by revelation, but to get to the end of the road, we need to have the means explained to us (Text tenets).  And A Course in Miracles is doing just that.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I need to key in today to the fact that forgiveness of my brothers and sisters is an absolutely mandatory next step for me.  I must make forgiveness total, and I must revisit shadows of unforgiveness that rear their heads.  We can always be a little more loving, a little more kind, a little more forgiving.  May all of us join in this common endeavor for salvation.

I would know today that You lead the way always.  Your Guide, the Holy Spirit, gently and easily maps out a daily walk, on which are found the people whom I need to meet, just for this day.  Help me to remember always that there are no coincidence in your universe.  We need to see the people whom You have led us to see.  May I be flexible enough to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit throughout each hour of this day.

Be with me as I start a new day.  May I realize that this day is the beginning of the rest of my life, and may I be careful to thank You for the many blessings that lie around me.  May today be good in all respects, keeping my understanding of Your vision before always.

Amen.

I Was Born into This World but to Achieve This Day

ACIM Workbook Lesson 340 – for Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Affirmation:  “I can be free of suffering today.”

“Father, I thank You for today, and for the freedom I am certain it will bring.  This day is holy, for today Your Son will be redeemed.  His suffering is done.  For he will hear Your Voice directing him to find Christ’s vision through forgiveness, and be free forever from all suffering.  Thanks for today, my Father.  I was born into this world but to achieve this day, and what it holds in joy and freedom for Your holy Son and for the world he made, which is released along with him today.  (WB472)”

Reflections:

1 – A Holy Day

This is a holy day, according to our lesson from the Workbook.  It promises that, through our forgiveness of ourselves and our brothers and sisters, we will live in a personal world from which suffering is absent.  Note that this does not say that we will never experience pain, but we know from the Text that pain is not necessary.  We do not have to learn through pain; rewards as a way to learn are more lasting.

2 – A Pipe Dream?

Does this seem to us to be pipe dream?  Perhaps.  Certainly we need only turn on the radio and catch the news broadcast, or read the world news on the web or in a newspaper, to know that all is decidedly not well in this world.  But we can look at these things, and make one judgment in line with the Holy Spirit:  This that I see is unreal (from ACIM).  Then we are made ready to project another way from our inner world.  We can project an experience for ourselves that does not hold suffering, even if it should, from time to time, hold pain.  In this world we are not to be without limitations (an ACIM tenet), but we will be given the grace to rise above them.

3 – Project Good Dreams

Let us focus on this prayer to God.  We learn through following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who wills only good for us.  And when we follow that guidance, we are well on our pathway back to God.  We do not make our own misery.  We have moved beyond that vale of tears.  We learn to depend on guidance for all aspects of our lives, and following what the Voice for God says, we project only good dreams.  We accept life in all its fullness, even when pain is present, and so we do not add our lamentable rejection of that pain, making it suffering (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would not get lost in pipe dreams today, but I would choose good dreams today and everyday.  Help me to realize anew that this wish is in line with Your desires for me.  And we will all know good dreams, happy dreams, until You reach down, metaphorically, and make this day the time that I am awakened by You.  I would wish for You to come sooner rather than later.  But I will be content to remain securely within Your timing.

May all of us project happy dreams.  Thank You for granting me the will to follow the Holy Spirit, and thereby to do my part in following Your will.  I would be flexible today, secure in Your love, ready to do Your bidding instantaneously.  Be with me so that this wish becomes a reality.

Thank You.

Amen.

My Sinlessness Protects Me from All Harm

ACIM Workbook Lesson 337 – for Saturday, December 3, 2011

Affirmation:  “My sinlessness protects me from all harm.”

“My sinlessness ensures me perfect peace, eternal safety, everlasting love, freedom forever from all thought of loss; complete deliverance from suffering.  And only happiness can be my state, for only happiness is given me.  (WB471)”

Reflections:

1 – Do We Want to Be Happy?

Do we want to be happy?  Is this a worthy goal, even above “saving the world,” as we sometimes have been taught?  In A Course in Miracles, happiness is sometimes seen as our function, and when this is assimilated, we know the truth of all that forgiveness holds out for us.  The passage for today offers many glorious promises, including the challenging concept of complete deliverance from suffering.  Part of this promise can come from the fact that what we project is coming from a purity within that has been recognized.  We will not project suffering when we are in our right minds.  That most of us, still, are not in our right minds explains succinctly why there is so much suffering still being experienced.  We may, until Awakening, know pain; but we need not have this escalate into suffering (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).

2 – Madness

We can ask today for the perfect peace, eternal safety, everlasting love, freedom from loss, as well as deliverance from suffering.  Do not be surprised if our prayers are answered, if only temporarily.  Until revelation reveals the end to us on a sustainable basis, we will drift in and out of madness.  And when we are consumed by madness, we will think amiss and project amiss.  Ask today to be free of the oscillations that bring suffering upon us.  Be sure that we are asking in God’s Will.

3 – ACIM‘s Beautiful Language

A good way to invite this blessing is to study A Course in Miracles whenever upset.  The words themselves are poetry (expressed in iambic pentameter, Shakespeare’s verse form), and the beauty of the language will carry us far along into a different state of mind, a state further removed from insanity.

4 – “Happy Dreams the Holy Spirit Brings”

If we would know happiness today, we must give up all that stands in the way.  And when we realize that we are actually sinless, we will be free, however temporarily, of the insanity that has been holding us back.  Our illusions will take on the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (a quotation from the Workbook), and then, before we know it, God Himself will act to pull down Awakening upon us.  Then there is no need to look back.  Our reality is wholly in line with God’s Will.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would spend awhile today reading A Course in Miracles.  I would revel in its beautiful language.  Help me today to know the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings.  You have shown them to me, over and over again.  Thank You.  Help me to feel Your Presence and Your happiness again today.

Help me to realize that happiness is not an inferior goal.  I would do more for others if I am happy, because I will not be so preoccupied with any neurosis.  And Jesus can heal neurosis.  His words in ACIM prove this to me.  Thank You again.

Amen.

My Body = Wholly Neutral

ACIM Workbook Lesson 294 – for Friday, October 21, 2011

Affirmation:  “My body is a wholly neutral thing.”

“My body, Father, cannot be Your Son.  And what is not created cannot be sinful nor sinless; neither good nor bad.  Let me, then, use this dream to help Your plan that we awaken from all dreams we made.  (WB445)”

Reflections:

1 – We Made the Physical

We made the body and the rest of the physical world.  This is part of the theology of A Course in Miracles, but we do  not understand this assertion.  We cannot, while still in this world.  We make, but God creates.  And only what is created is real.  Only what is created is lasting.

2 – Dreams

We also made the dream in which we find ourselves lost.  We would awaken from this dream, sooner rather than later.   We begin to awaken from the dream that we made when we accept the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (from the Workbook).  We are eased in our minds, so that we do not fear Awakening.

3 – The World Is Illusion

The world that we see is illusion, or maya (in Eastern terminology).  So nothing that happens in illusion is real, and it is on this solid foundation that forgiveness becomes real.  If nothing real has happened when our brother or sister acts against us, then forgiveness is the only sane response.  It protects our minds, and it protects our brothers and sisters.  We and they are issuing a call for help, and forgiveness offers this help as a first step.

4 – Vanities of the Body

We put too much emphasis upon the body.  It is true that in this world, it is wise to be neat and clean in appearance, but usually we go far beyond this practical necessity.  We adorn the body with meaningless trinkets of gold and silver, bracelets that are meaningless, watches that are gold and diamonds, rings that sparkle with the false value of wealth.  Why do we do this?  It is our own self image that is at fault.  We think, from the ego, that we are not worthy unless we adorn ourselves.

5 – The Elaborate Frame that Surrounds Illusion

This picture is described in the Text as an elaborate frame that covers a tiny picture of an illusion, where nothing really is.  The real picture is framed with a slim frame, and it shows off the picture framed in light, the reality in which we ought to be found.  These images in ACIM are powerful indeed, and they carry messages that we can spread to greater meanings in other parts of this illusory world.  Nobody needs to live long in illusion.  Ask for the real world, and glimpses, at least, will be given us.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would not look to any elaborate frame that masks the illusion that it frames.  I would see reality instead.  May I invite the happy dreams from the Holy Spirit, knowing that these are precursors to Awakening.  May I understand, intuitively, what is meant by the assertion that we ourselves made this world.  It is not real, for only what God created is real.

Help me to walk in the light, the light of reality which is framed by a slim frame–a frame seen in light.  May these images–the elaborate frame surrounding nothing, and the light frame offering a picture of reality–tease my mind out of thought today.  May I come to recognize the real world when I see its glimpses, and I feel its peace and joy.

Thank You for always being here for me.  I ask for many things, but You and Your Presence are all that I really need.

Amen.

The Real World

ACIM Workbook Lesson 293 – for Thursday, October 20, 2011

Affirmation:  “All fear is past and only love is here.”

“Father, let not Your holy world escape my sight today.  Nor let my ears be deaf to all the hymns of gratitude the world is singing underneath the sounds of fear.  There is a real world which the present holds safe from all past mistakes.  And I would see only this world before my eyes today.  (WB445)”

Reflections:

1 – How Long Will We See the Real World?

We would see the real world.  A Course in Miracles is not specific about what this means.  We are told that the real world will arise before our eyes, and then God will act swiftly to reach down and lift us up to Awakening.  Time, though, is not measured our way.  We may see the real world for awhile before we are awakened.

2 – What Is the Real World Like?

The real world is a world of peace, serenity, calm, and tranquility.  A place of love.  No ego intrudes on this idyllic scene.  We are almost at home.  We have been dreaming the happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings (a Workbook tenet), and we are relaxed enough to welcome, not to fear, Awakening.  The Holy Spirit has brought us this far so that we will not be terrified by the experience of Awakening.  We are ready.

3 – Let Us Ask to See the Real World Today

Ask today to see the real world.  I don’t think we will be disappointed.  We may see glimpses of the real world many times before the vision is sustained (an ACIM tenet).  The Holy Spirit prepares us; we do not have to make elaborate plans to prepare ourselves (an ACIM tenet).  Let the Holy Spirit guide today to the reality that God wants us to see.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I ask, simply, to see glimpses of the real world today.  If there is anything that I need to do to sustain this awareness, please, may my Guide, the Holy Spirit, let me know what to do.  May my world today be brightened by this prayer.  And may I realize that I am ;praying in line with Your wishes for me.  If I am not yet ready, help me to be patient.

I would see love today.  If this is the love brought by happy dreams, then let me be content.  But I would pray for the real world itself, the world beyond the dreams brought by the Holy Spirit.  May today be a blessed day in my life.  Thank You for listening to my prayer.

Amen.