Happy Dreams the Holy Spirit Brings

“The purpose of this course is integration. You cannot use it right until you have taken it. As long as your identification either vacillates or is weak, you cannot accept the gift that belongs to you. You are still vacillating between recognizing the gift and throwing it away, or regarding yourself as too weak to accept it. You do not know its healing power.” (ACIM, COA ed., T-1.50.5:1-5)

This is likely a personal reference to Helen and Bill, co-scribes of A Course in Miracles. But we can expand it to know that Jesus is also possibly talking to us as well. Jesus wants us to integrate ACIM into our very souls, and most certainly into our lives. If we don’t accept the gift of ACIM, we will not save ourselves much time. Our way back to God could theoretically take much longer.

Read A Course in Miracles carefully, and, if led to do so, repeatedly. One can get more from each reading, because our mind has expanded to understand more. Reading ACIM will be healing, and I can vouch for that. I fell in love with the channeled writing upon first reading, and I have never in all these years since 1981, strayed too far from another reading.

We do not have to see ourselves as weak. We become strong in the Holy Spirit, the One Who will be our strength as long as needed (and this may be needed for a very long time). Even if the way back for all of us takes millions of years (even longer than the separation, as Jesus says), we can rest in the love that will be ours along the way. Try not to be discouraged by the length of time. Our happy dreams, sent to us by the Holy Spirit, will encourage us that we are making progress, and happy dreams leads easily into Awakening.

Our goal is exalted, to save the world. But not by forcing our opinions upon those who are not ready. We are meant to be examples of right living, not evangelizing those who are not ready.

Pray that we ourselves are ready. Life gets ever better when we follow the wonderful advice in A Course in Miracles.

You Are the Dreamer of the World of Dreams. No Other Cause It Has, nor Ever Will.

1 – Idle Dream

“You are the dreamer of the world of dreams. No other cause it has, nor ever will. Nothing more fearful than an idle dream has terrified God’s Son, and made him think he has lost his innocence, denied his Father, and made war upon himself. (T-27.VII.13)”

We are caught in an idle dream, nothing more. And we can escape. We can have the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings (from the Workbook of A Course in Miracles). That idle dreams have consequences is superbly obvious now. Elsewhere Jesus says that the concept of “idle thoughts” is untrue, that every thought produces form at some level. Now, we cannot understand this, but we know that the forms that our nighttime dreams produce do seem real at the time of nighttime dreaming. Now we are told that idle thoughts are not really idle, that they too produce form. We may soon come to realize that this is how we make our reality, create our reality. We envision what we want (or don’t want), and it becomes our reality.

2 – Cause and Effect / Law of Attraction

This is the concept of cause and effect. This is the concept of the law of attraction. We must begin to guard our thoughts more carefully, lest we fall into the doldrums and see our world fall apart. But there is a way out, and A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love point out that way out. We turn from judging what to do next, or what to think, and we let inner guidance point out the way. There is no better way to proceed than to listen to intuition.

3 – Personal Experience

I remember recognizing intuition first when I was 21 and in the throes of an emotional crisis. My first precognition was intuiting that I ought to take a look at a specific monologue in Shakespeare just before the final exam, while I was in college. I did so, and in a few moments I found myself sitting in a classroom with that monologue staring back at me on the test. I had to identify not only the speaker, but also the context. And if I hadn’t intuited just moments before walking to class that I ought to take a look at the monologue, I would have been up a creek.

4 – Intuition

All of us have had these experiences. As time wore on, I felt such intuitive experiences more and more. There have been times when I have listened to little else. This can lead to some foolish choices.

As Jesus says, “The partial innocent are apt to be quite foolish at times” (from A Course in Miracles).

My best moments have been, though, when I listened to the intuition bubbling up from my interior, even when that intuition bade me say or do something that seemed embarrassing at the time. (Jesus also warns that this will happen, in the Manual.)

5 – Fearful Dream

“So fearful is the dream, so seeming real, he could not waken to reality without the sweat of terror and a scream of mortal fear, unless gentle dream preceded his awaking, and allowed his calmer mind to welcome, not to fear, the Voice That calls with love to waken him; a gentle dream, in which his suffering was healed and where his brother was his friend. (T-27.VII.13)”

What a beautiful passage! Can we not imagine a God who welcomes us gently and with love to Awakening? Can we not all look forward to this experience, however far in the future it may seem to be?

6 – Awakening

Our suffering is healed when we experience Awakening. Even if the body is sick. Our suffering is healed because we know mental clarity, and mental clarity is much to be preferred over bodily health. Many medieval mystics would be considered certifiably mentally ill if alive in our culture today. One need only scan Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism to recognize the truth of this statement. But their culture was different. There is, as Joseph Campbell (The Hero with a Thousand Faces; Mythology to Live By) has pointed out, a fine line between swimming in the waters of the unconscious and being drowned in them. The mystic swims; the mentally ill (all too often) drown. But the waters of the unconscious are the same in both cases. And many people in psychosis are extremely religious.

7 – Change the Dream

“Accept the dream He gave instead of yours. It is not difficult to change a dream when once the dreamer has been recognized. (T-28.VII.14)”

Here is an indication that we play a part in determining just when our Awakening will be. If the dream is changed, if we determine to change it, we will be ready to awaken gently and without terror. Is it really so difficult to change a dream? There are those who can experience lucid nighttime dreaming, in which they determine the course of nighttime dreams. We are in a better position in daytime dreams, the illusion in which we are caught, for we are able to act more freely, are not so buffeted about by the dream.

Affirmation: “I would dream happy dreams today.”

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May my day go well, with dreams that I do not rue. May I follow guidance consistently and therefore have a great flow to my day.

Our desires sometimes get us into trouble. May we wash our desires in the unconscious that You inform, so that life is good and we are contented and happy.

Amen.

House of Illusion vs. House of Truth

“The house of illusion exists within the House of Truth because it is where your brothers and sisters think they are. The house of illusion is not a hell that anyone has been banished to. It can at times be a chosen hell, just as it can at times be a chosen heaven. Choice and the awareness of the power of choice that exists within is all that differentiates one from the other. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Personal Self, 11.13)”

Affirmation: “I would leave behind the house of illusion today.”

Reflections:

1 – Change

This passage for today is a reassurance for our sisters and brothers who are not yet emerging from the house of illusion into the brighter world of the House of Truth. We are elsewhere bidden not to rejoin others in this house of illusion, if we have already emerged into the brightness of true reality. Yet the explosions within cue us to the fact that change is underway. We will not long be without our significant others, with us in the House of Truth.

2 – Hell on Earth

We do not wish for anyone a hell on earth, and the house of illusion is sometimes that. It can also be a heaven, as when we dream the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings (from the Workbook of A Course in Miracles). But we are in a more substantial heaven when we have emerged from these illusions. We try to make our elevated Self of form sustainable, and while this is not always a realistic goal, it is realistic to know that we can and do catch glimpses of the real world nearly every day.

3 – Choices

Our choices are open in reality, in the House of Truth. Our choices are restrained in the house of illusion, for our will is imprisoned (from ACIM). An imprisoned will induces discomfort in the extreme, even pain. And we would be free of imprisonment. Let us today resolve to live well, to emerge from illusions into truth.

4 – God’s Will Is Our Real Will

Our choices ought always to be aligned with what God’s will really is, for His will is our real will. This negates the oft-repeated sense that we are being coerced. The Holy Spirit (in ACIM) and the Christ Self (in A Course of Love) do not in any way coerce us. We live a free life, secure in the love of our Father.

5 – Heaven

Let us today live in heaven, whether we are still caught by illusions or whether we have emerged into the light of truth.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would live in the House of Truth today. I would not reenter the house of illusion. And I am actually helping my brothers and sisters more by so doing. I cannot help from within the house of illusion, because my own mind would be caught in illusions again. And I would not have it so.

Be with me as I seek earnestly to live abundantly within the House of Truth. I would leave fear, as an egoic notion, behind. I would enjoy the peace and tranquility that is promised me by you, when I enter the House of Truth. Help me to know only calm and quiet today.

Amen.

All Lessons Are Gifts

“Acceptance of what is, is acceptance that whatever is happening in the present moment is a gift and a lesson. What comes as a lesson may not seem like a gift, but all lessons are gifts. . . .They will not be lessons that you find difficult or distressing if you accept them as lessons and realize that all lessons are gifts. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Personal Self, 10.6)”

Affirmation: “I would accept my lessons as gifts today.”

Reflections:

1 – Everything a Gift

When something good happens, we can readily see this as a blessing and a gift. When something bad happens, we bewail our fate, and sometimes we blame God for the unfortunate occurrence. Yet everything that happens, according to what Jesus channeled in this passage for today, is a lesson that is a gift. Even the bad things.

2 – Scary Things

Does anything ever have to be truly bad? Of course, here on this earth we interpret scary, frightening happenings as bad, and we recoil from them. We think that the world chaos is deplorable. We ask how a loving God could so create, and could so place us in this world. Yet this is not the right question. We have free will, and this free will means that sometimes bad things will happen. This includes illness, for physical bodies partake of the imperfections of our world as well. We never need to blame God for our misfortune.

3 – Dreams

Of course, when we dream the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings (from the Workbook of A Course in Miracles), we see far more blessings as gifts—for the happenings that occur to us are fortunate and blissful. These are easy to accept as being from God’s Hand. Are they always? Yes, for we have aligned ourselves with Him and His will (which always is our own real will as well).

4 – Struggle

Accept gifts today, accept lessons today. The lessons may entail struggle, but we will hone character by struggle. And we will grow thereby.

5 – Grow, Grow

Marianne Williamson often tells a Jewish parable about a blade of grass, always looked over by an angel who says, “Grow, grow.” We can see this parable as applicable to us. God would have us grow. And He does, I believe, send His angels to help us along the way.

6 – Prayer

So may we pray that our lessons be gentle, but may we accept them also if they are harsh. They will be less harsh when we do not have an imprisoned will (from ACIM), the type of will forged by the illusory ego. Turn to the inner Christ/Self, and see if the lessons that we all experience do not immediately seem more benign. And then we can recognize those lessons as the gifts that they are.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would grow today, even if there is struggle. I do not believe that struggle is inevitable. When we align ourselves with You in toto, we walk a smooth path. And that is what I would do today. Be with me to make it so.

I would accept all things that happen as a gift from Your hand. I do know that some things surely happen that are not optimal, that You allow but do not condone. But traditional Christianity often talks about what You “allow,” even when this allowing does not seem good. And surely You do stand aside so that our free will is not violated.

Be with me today as I seek to do Your will, which ever is my own.

Amen.

No Reason to Be Afraid

“The Christ in you has no need to plan. A need to come to know. . .yes. But a need to plan. . .no. The Christ in you needs not for you to choose a lesson plan, but to let life itself be your chosen way of learning. (Treatises of A Course of Love: Treatise on the Nature of Unity and Its Recognition, 10.19)”

Affirmation: “May I do no planning today.”

Reflections:

1 – No Need to Plan

Jesus warns against planning, first, in A Course in Miracles. In a little-known section of ACIM, he indicates that the way to lose one’s way to salvation is to attack, to judge, and to plan against contingencies to come (unless planning has been informed by the Holy Spirit). We can recognize that all three of these–attack, judging, and planning–are defenses against an uncertain future, a future that we don’t want to be uncertain. We are scared.

2 – Fear the Future?

But do we really have to fear the future? If we are dreaming the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings, we will walk a smooth path. And, in A Course of Love, the dreams give way to (at least) glimpses of reality. Mari Perron, who channeled ACOL, believes that in the time of Christ we are no longer living dreams. She believes that we thrust into the real world, as indicated by ACIM as well as the “reality” of ACOL. If so, we really do not need to choose the defense of planning. We do not need to make a lesson plan out of our lives. We just need to live our lives and therein to learn from our lives.

3 – Learn through Life

So we are to learn through life itself. Actually, has not this always been the case? Many spiritual writings, though not all, believe that we are in a school room on earth. Psychic writers have said this as well. (Notably, Neale Donald Walsch in Conversations with God does not see the earth as a school room.) Whether or not we are actually in school is not a question with which we need to preoccupy ourselves. We do not need to let theology delay us, for all of us will never agree on theological points.

4 – Next Step

We do need the universal experience, though, and that is life itself. We do not give up planning entirely, if we have to catch a plane, for example (as detailed by Eckhart Tolle in a CD entitled “Even the Sun Will Die”). But we do not make sweeping generalizations about our life’s course. The next step is really what we need to know. And that next step will enter our minds unfailingly when we ask for guidance, either from the Holy Spirit (if one is following A Course in Miracles) or the Self/Christ (if one is following A Course of Love).

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would realize today that my fears have always been ungrounded. What I need to know comes to me in the moment, not from extensive defensive planning. I do not have to be afraid of anything. Even if the worst that I contemplate comes to pass, You are here for me. And that is all that I really need to know.

Be with me today as I seek to leave social anxieties behind. And all other anxieties as well.

There is no reason to be afraid. May I never lose sight of this truth.

Amen

Re-Experiencing What Has Shaped Your Life

“The first opportunities for the art of thought to be applied relate to memory in terms of your experience here.  In other words they will relate to the re-experiencing of all that you believe has shaped your life.  These opportunities are but the forerunners of new learning.  They are but opportunities to replace illusion with the truth so that the truth of who you are is all that remains.  (The Treatises of A Course of Love:  Treatise on the Art of Thought, 3.1)”

Affirmation:  “I would know the truth of who I am.”

Reflections:

1 – Meaning of Passage?

This is a particularly obtuse passage.  What does it mean to know the “truth of who you are”?  We can only guess until this knowledge becomes our own.  Basically, it is a coming home, a return to our roots.  We know that we are finding the right pathway when we are serene and at peace throughout more and more of our day.  This perfect calm and quiet are the way that we are intended to be, the way that God would have us interact with our world.  Then we are truly in the spirit of the truth of who we are.

2 – Illusions

We have been lost in illusions for eons, and illusions (i.e., dreams) do not die easily.  We will at first not be able to distinguish illusions from the truth, so accustomed are we to illusions.  But we will come to understand when our way becomes clearer.  We are not actually, here, experiencing the happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings (from the Workbook of A Course in Miracles).  We have gone beyond this, because we are having glimpses of enlightenment or Christ-consciousness.  After all, we are no longer in the time of the Holy Spirit, but in the time of Christ.  We have passed innumerable hurdles to get where we are today.

3 – Perfect?

A Course of Love has helped tremendously.  We know that we are not perfect, but we also know that we do not need to be perfect.  Jesus stands at the end of the pathway to correct all mistakes (errors) that we could not rectify (a tenet from A Course in Miracles).  We simply assess our thoughts and behavior, choosing what to keep and what to discard.  And then it is done.  (These tenets are from A Course of Love.)  We have been told that we are The Accomplished.  But this is not an egotistical thing.  It is simply the next step in our evolution.

4 – Awakening

Glimpses of Awakening are very important.  They are our assurance that we are staying true to the path of God, and that the penultimate will eventually happen:  We will know Christ-consciousness.  Be grateful for those glimpses when they come, and then take back to everyday life the message of these epiphanies.  Life will change as we change.  Life will get better, even when there are challenges that would have derailed us awhile ago.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would choose to have a good day, a day with, if You wish, glimpses of enlightenment.  This is not an idle thought, but a heartfelt wish.  Help me to follow Your pathway and to experience the best that You would choose for me today.

Awakening does not mean that I have to be perfect, because who could see Awakening if perfection were a stipulation?  But Jesus will help correct errors in me, and I look to him for this guidance in eliminating, without ego, the things that I do that are wrong.

Be with all of us who are seekers today.  I know that You would have us cease incessantly seeking, but this wish dies hard in me.  I would turn aside from seeking today.  You have shown the way, the way that is my personal pathway.  And I thank You for it.

Amen.

Letting Go of Mind in Favor of Heart

“Letting go of what your mind would tell you in favor of what your heart already knows is but the purpose of this Course.  (A Course of Love, 16.11)”

Affirmation:  “Let go of the mind and welcome the heart’s knowledge.”

Reflections:

1 – Proof

Why do we need to turn to our hearts, increasingly?  Our minds, informed by weakened (but not absent) egos, demand proof for God that no mind can ever have.  Even those of us who think that we have an “intellectual” faith are misguided.  No mind can understand God.  But our hearts can, for our hearts know in a sense that defies explanation, while the mind craves for explanation.

2 – Purpose of ACOL

Herein, in this passage, Jesus defines the purpose of A Course of Love.  He knows that we have dislodged the ego by studying, first, A Course in Miracles, but we may not yet have understood what is to replace the ego.  It is the Self, the Christ, in all of us, and we do know enough, through our hearts, to let this miracle take place.  We do not, though, know the hour nor the day, and that is as it should be.  God Himself makes the determination for our Awakening, our Christ-consciousness, when we are ready, and He alone can tell when we are ready.

3 – Dreams

A Course in Miracles say that we will not be terrified by the light coming on, for we will have been prepared by happy dreams that the Holy Spirit brings (from the ACIM Workbook).  Jesus says that otherwise we would awake with a scream of mortal terror, so accustomed we are to our dreams in this world.  But we do not have to fear.  God will find a way to awaken us gently, and to replace all of our dreams of terror with happy dreams, and then with Awakening.

4 – Awakening and Christ-Consciousness

Awakening and Christ-consciousness seem to be equated (the former from ACIM, the latter from ACOL).  In the meantime, for those of us who await, we can reach out to our brothers and sisters, and we can, under the guidance of Jesus and his helpers, reach a better state of mind and heart, one that will welcome a new day.  When we have been healed, we will be in a position to heal others.  An unhealed healer cannot heal (from ACIM); it is an oxymoron.

5 – Wait Patiently

Be with us today as we wait patiently in this imperfect world.  We made this world, and it is one of seeming separation.  We would not live this way.  We would join with others in unity as One, and in relationship to the many, and we will know the better way that Jesus seeks to point out to us in ACIM and ACOL.  May we study well, and reach our Awakening/Christ-consciousness sooner rather than later.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me to listen to my heart today.  When disappointments come, help me to take them in stride.  When difficulties arise, help me to resolve them.  When all seems lost, help me to realize that You are always there, showing me the way.

Be with me as I listen to my heart today.  I am weary of ego-inspired goals, and I would be done with all such foolishness.  Let my heart guide me today, with Your help.

Thank You.

Amen.

An Ecstasy of Unspeakable Joy

“To continue to identify love incorrectly is to continue to live in hell.  As much as highs and lows of intense feeling are sought by some to be avoided, it is in the in between of passionless living that hell is solidified and becomes quite real.  You can label joy heaven and pain hell and seek the middle ground for your reality thinking there are more than these two choices.  A life of little joy and little pain is seen as a successful life, for a life of joy is seen as nothing more than a daydream, a life of pain a nightmare.  (A Course of Love, 2.7)”

Affirmation:  “I choose a life of joy.”

Reflections:

1 – Give Up the Drama of Hell

This passage discusses the drama that all of us, to one extent or another, need to give up.  We do not need a middle way, a way of muted feelings.  But we do need to give up the drama of hell.  We do not need a passionless living, because this is the real hell.  But we need to choose, again and again, the high ecstasy of joy in daily life.  That is the only way that we can be happy.

2 – Life without the Ego

A life of joy is not a daydream, though here (in this passage) we hear that we think a life of joy is a daydream.  We can truly know lasting joy, when our attitudes are straightened out and we are on the pathway home.  We need to let the ego wither away, and in A Course of Love, we find that we are well on the way to reaching that epitome.  Life without the ego (as defined by Jesus) is a glorious gift.  And it is builds upon the “happy dreams the Holy Sprit brings,” as defined in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles.  Now we are living more fully from our depths, or, if you will, our higher Self, the Christ in us.  This is Christ-consciousness, and this blessing will be present intermittently until it is made a sustainable state.  Nobody, according to ACOL, has sustained Christ-consciousness as a steady state always–yet.

3 – What is “Success”?

We would not have a life of little joy and little pain, and call this a “successful life.”  This will never do.  We are meant for better than this, we as children of God.  Let us ask Him today what He would have us do to live the best life that He can envision for us.  And let us trust that, in the silence, He will speak to us of unspeakable joys that await.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

When we live a day of contentment, we know joy.  But when we live a day of ecstasy, we touch heaven.  We would not choose a passionless life, and a passionless life is not the same as a life devoid of drama.  The two may sound similar, but they differ, and we would eliminate the meaningless drama without dropping passion from our lives.

Be with me as I seek to do this, to drop the drama but to keep the passion.  I would know the ecstasy of a life led according to Your dictates.  There is no better way to live, and I ask You to help me find this blessing today.

Thank You.

Amen.

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.

Accord Mercy

 

ACIM Workbook Lesson 191 – for Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Affirmation:  “I am the holy Son of God Himself.”

“You who perceive yourself as weak and frail, with futile hopes and devastated dreams, born but to die, to weep and suffer pain, hear this:  All power is given unto you in earth and Heaven.  There is nothing that you cannot do.  You play the game of death, of being helpless, pitifully tied to dissolution in a world which shows no mercy to you.  Yet when you accord it mercy, will its mercy shine on you.  (WB364)”

Reflections:

1 – No Longer an “Imprisoned Will”

“Mercy” is not often mentioned in ACIM, though it is frequently taken for granted.  In today’s passage, we see our way to happiness.  We see our way out of an “imprisoned will” (quotation from ACIM).  We learn that we have been writing scripts that we live out, and in which we find ourselves lonely and in dire straits.

2 – Choose Happy Dreams

This does not have to be.  We can as easily choose happy dreams, “the happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (from the Workbook).  We are the scriptwriters, and our ego writes sad and demoralizing scripts.  We need not cooperate with this game any longer.  And “game” is what it is.  We need to play better, and A Course in Miracles shows us how.

3 – The ACIM Ideal Mode

“There is nothing that you cannot do.”  This sentence sounds patently false, but it is simply, from my interpretation, an instance of when ACIM is to be lived in the “ideal” mode.  In the best of all possible worlds, we would seek guidance frequently, and we would ask for those things that are appropriate for ourselves.  This will not lead to “pie in the sky” thinking or doing.  This will lead to sanest good sense.  We will ask what we are suited for, not for those wisps of melody that are not our “song.”  We all know intuitively when we are praying for a blessing that is not the right blessing, not the blessing that God would bestow on us.  We need only look within, in simple honesty, to recognize when we are in an internal fight with God for what we want that He does not think is in our best interests.  Would we pray for something that will bring us ill, under these conditions?

4 – Let Go and Let God

Let go and let God, as we have often read.  Let Him direct our prayers through the medium of the Holy Spirit.  Then we will add our thoughts and actions, and we will find the silver lining in our daily lives for which we have often wished.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would not see myself today in any sense as weak or frail.  You are always here for me, and You know what I can do.  You will guide me through the Holy Spirit.  Thank You for the confidence that You have placed in me.

Let me open to Your will.  May I recognize that Your Will and my will are actually identical.  May my day go smoothly, in Your grace.

Amen.

Enjoying Comfort in Living

ACIM Workbook Lesson 90 – for Saturday, March 31, 2012

 

Affirmation:  “Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.”

Selected Passage:

“The problem is a grievance; the solution is a miracle.  And I invite the solution to come to me through my forgiveness of the grievance, and my welcome of the miracle that takes its place.  (WB155)”

Reflections:

This lesson builds on the one for yesterday.  Yes, all problems are forms of grievances, or we would not perceive them as problems at all.  Our problems can be solved, and solved this very day.  Sometimes the best solution is internal, and no external matter has to change at all for the blessing to come down upon us.

Affirmation:  “Let me recognize my problems have been solved.”

Selected Passage:

“I do not see the problem and the answer as simultaneous in their occurrence.  That is because I do not yet realize that God has placed the answer together with the problem, so that they cannot be separated by time.  The Holy Spirit will teach me this, if I will let Him.  And I will understand it is impossible that I could have a problem which has not been solved already.  (WB155)”

Reflections:

This passage may sound utopian, too unrealistic to be believed.  But there are many things in ACIM that sound too good to be true.  Be patient a bit, and study, and see how the Holy Spirit brings the happy dreams (an ACIM tenet).  We think our problems are real, but we live in illusion, and therefore no problem at all is truly “real.”  A careful study of the passage selected for today will prove to be comforting in the extreme.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would have a comforting day today, and to have this comforting day, all that is needed is to turn to You.  You will replace my grievances with the forgiveness that I need to give all, and then this becomes the miracle that I need.  I need Your miracles, and I thank You for so generously offering them to me.

Be with us today as we go about our world.  I know that the real world is something different from the illusions that I look upon.  I would clear my mind and spirit of illusions, and let my heart take over to provide solutions to all that I view as problems.  Be with me today, in Your comfort.

Amen.

Nightmares

“[Miracles] thus atone for your errors by freeing you from your nightmares. By releasing your mind from the imprisonment of your illusions, they restore your sanity.  (T5)”

Affirmation:  “I would be free of nightmares.”

 

Reflections:

1 – Sanity

The restoration of our sanity is the great need of all humankind.  It is not sanity as perceived by the world, but sanity as perceived by the Awakening.  Miracles will bring this great event closer in time.

2 – What Does “Insane” Mean?

We are not all locked up in our insanity, but we live at large in the world.  Some who are certifiably “mentally ill” may have a deeper awareness of the real world than any of us who are supposed to be mentally healthy.  It is not a coincidence that much of the delusion of the mentally ill has to do with religious convictions.  They are living closer to reality, but they have drowned in the light.  As Joseph Campbell said, the insane are drowning, while the mystic is swimming in the same waters.

3 – Made Mad by Guilt

We have indeed been lost in nightmares.  We have been made mad by guilt (a Course concept).  Happy dreams will arrive as soon as we let the miracles replace our madness.  And the real world, according to the Course, will arrive soon afterwards.  Then it is only a brief moment in time before God Himself will take the last step, the Awakening.  This is not something that we can effect ourselves.

4 – Nightmares and Illusions

“Nightmares” and “illusions” are linked in this passage.  May we reach toward the promise of sanity in the real world when we give up our illusions, and, with them, our nightmares.  Fear will subside, and in calm and quiet we will live in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

5 – The Real World

Nowhere in A Course in Miracles is the “real world” concisely defined.  We are simply told that its presence will be brief, and then we will be awakened by God.  Time (an illusion anyway) is not measured in eternity the same way that it is measured on earth.  And so we really have no guidance in ACIM about how long we will perceive the real world.  Let us hope that the real world will come soon to us, and may we remove all blocks to love’s awareness that keeps it from us (paraphrases from ACIM).

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would live today as sanely as it is possible for me, caught in this world, to live.  I would not scare myself with my own fears.  I would seek guidance of the Holy Spirit about my goings and comings.  I would not try to direct my life, for I cannot judge aright.  But my Guide can judge aright, and it is to Him that I will turn today.

Help me to keep these resolutions.  Thank You.

Amen.

A Sick Mind

“If you let your mind harbor attack thoughts, yield to judgment or make plans against uncertainties to come, you have again misplaced yourself, and made a bodily identity which will attack the body, for the mind is sick.  (WB260)”

Affirmation:  “no attack thoughts, no judgment, and no unguided plans”

 

Reflections:

1 – Important Passage

This is a very important passage, but easy to overlook in all of the many important passages in the Course.  If the pathway has become easier, and then suddenly or even gradually turns to darkness, here is the answer.

2 – Personal Experience

About seven years ago, I got away from A Course in Miracles.  I was at the same time under a great deal of stress, as were my significant others.  Getting away from ACIM was a very, very big mistake.  I found myself doing all the things that this passage (above) warns against.  When I, once again, after a lapse of some months, returned to ACIM, my life smoothed out, and I also discovered this passage (which I had overlooked).  The passage spoke to me now.  And it speaks still.  It has become one of my favorite passages, along with the clear explanation of why we fall away from our pathway.

3 – When the Way Is Difficult

So if the way seems rough, here is the answer.  Even times spent in happy dreams can turn to madness again if we harbor attack, if we judge, or if we make plans against uncertainties.
4 – Planning

Perhaps only the first two seem pivotal:  attacking and judging.  Planning is not often seen as deplorable, but it means that we are defending against the future.  And defense, according to the Course, is not encouraged.  It is, indeed, actively warned against.

5 – Three Prohibitions

Three prohibitions:  attacking, judging, planning against uncertainties to come.  The Course puts this warning in amidst many other great passages, but this one alone will go a long way toward explaining any falling away from the truth in our lives.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Today I would stay in the flow dictated by the Holy Spirit.  I long to stay in the flow always, but sometimes I slip.  But today I ask that You help me to stay on the pathway to You:  no attacks, no judgments, no planning that is not prompted by my Guide.  Be with me today as I seek to turn on a dime (as I so often say).

I sometimes plan my day in the morning, almost without thinking.  And then I become overwhelmed.  This is not what You would will for me.  You would have me take each hour as it comes, careful of nothing, knowing that You are always there for me.  And when I am stressed, I may contemplate verbal attack, even if I say nothing.  This is not Your way either.  Thoughts make form at some level, and I would not have thoughts that would attack my brothers and sisters.  Keep me calm, if You would, and therefore less prone to be tempted to attack.  And judging happens almost without awareness when I am frustrated by another’s actions, when the other does not fulfill the plan that I have set out for that individual.  This too is a lamentable way to live.

And I would have none of these lamentable ways today.  I would speak kindly to my brothers and sisters, I would not judge any of their words or deeds, and I would not look ahead to plan anything that does not appear in the flow that the Holy Spirit gives me.

Help me to realize that, with Your help, all in my day will be easy.  Thank You.

Amen.

Isolation, Deprivation, and Lack

“A major contribution of miracles is their strength in releasing you from your false sense of isolation, deprivation, and lack.  (T6)”

Affirmation:  “I wish the strength that comes from miracles.”

Reflections:

1 – The Oscillating Nature of Life

All too often our experience in the world, over the course of our lifetime, is not good.  We know some “happy” times, but these are balanced by dark times.  A Course in Miracles indicates that this oscillating nature of life is to be expected.  The sustainability of peace and joy does not come suddenly, unless revelation reveals the end to us.  And this revelation may not make Awakening sustainable.  In the beginning, it is likely that the glimpses will not last, but they will prepare us for what will last, when that time comes.  As long as we caught by the ego, we will know a movement forward, followed by a movement backward.  If we think about this, we will realize why it is true.  We have not been fully prepared, though the means are being carefully explained to us by Jesus in ACIM (from the Text).

2 – Miracles End the Oscillations

The “expected” nature of oscillations will happen until we come under the benign grace of miracles.  We then no longer feel so alone and lacking.  Jesus notes that this sense of isolation is a “false” sense, as we are indeed surrounded by the grace of Heaven.  Jesus promises that he will be with us when we ask.  He also mentions “Teachers of teachers” (M64) who help us when the need is there.  (And is there ever a time when the need is not there?)

3 – Ask for Miracles

We can ask for miracles and they will be ours.  All too often even advanced students/teachers of ACIM forget that “asking” is necessary.  We think, erroneously, that all should be given us without this humble plea.  But “ask and yet shall receive” (from the New Testament) is still the concept of ACIM.  This is the reassurance of Jesus, when he walked the earth, and, now, when he channeled ACIM.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I ask for miracles today, in my own life as well as the others whom I encounter, plus the readers of this blog.  May we not oscillate from dark to light and back again.  May we know the stasis of peace and serenity always.

If the day seems to turn dark, may I know that this is an illusion.  Regardless of how difficult the outward circumstances appear, it is my dream.  May I invite instead the dreams that the Holy Spirit brings.  And may You be there to comfort me as I walk through this sometimes troubled world.  I know that projection makes perception, and I would project aright today, so that I might perceive aright.

Thank You for Your felt presence.  This means more to me than anything else, especially on days that are difficult.   Be with my loved ones today, and that includes people I have not even met.

Amen.

Nightmares

“[Miracles] thus atone for your errors by freeing you from your nightmares. By releasing your mind from the imprisonment of your illusions, they restore your sanity.  (T5)”

Affirmation:  “May miracles restore my sanity.

Reflections:

1 – The Return of Sanity

The restoration of our sanity is the great need of all humankind.  It is not sanity as perceived by the world (which is a concept in emotional disturbance), but sanity as perceived by the Awakening.  We are indicated in A Course in Miracles to be living with a mad mind, and that includes all of us who have not yet walked the full pathway back to God.  Along the way, we probably will experience glimpses of Awakening, but they will not last beyond even a few moments, a few weeks, or a few months.  A Course of Love, which some view as a sequel to ACIM, indicates that we are to sustain, physical form, our acceptance of Atonement, which will lead to Awakening.  Nowhere in either set of volumes is Awakening fully defined, but we can surmise that it is the state of Enlightenment, which many other religions have championed as well.  It is less noted in traditional Christianity, which tends to stop with a specific moment of the experience of being “saved.”  There is some emphasis in moving onward to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and this is the way of ACIM.  Miracles will bring these great events closer in time.

2 – Lost in Nightmares

We have indeed been lost in nightmares.  We have been made mad by guilt (an ACIM concept).  Happy dreams will arrive as soon as we let the miracles replace our madness.  And the real world, according to ACIM, will arrive soon afterwards.  Then it is only a brief moment in time before God Himself will take the last step, the Awakening.  This is not something that we can effect ourselves.

3 – Time for God and Ourselves

It is wise always to remember that God’s time and our time are not identical, and so we do not know (because it is not said in ACIM) what “soon” really means.  How long to we await the Awakening after we have recognized that we are seeing the “real world.”  Even the “real world” is not defined precisely in ACIM, but I have interpreted this boon as a time in which we experience the loving attributes of salvation:  love, joy, peace, tranquility, serenity, happiness, forgiveness of ourselves and others.

4 – Nightmares and Illusions

“Nightmares” and “illusions” are linked in this passage.  May we reach toward the promise of sanity in the real world when we give up our illusions, and, with them, our nightmares.  Fear will subside, and in calm and quiet we will live in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  This guidance will continue until after Awakening, called “Christ-consciousness” is A Course of Love.  We are then to know internally of the way in which we are to travel.  The time of Christ follows the time of the Holy Spirit (according to A Course of Love).  This is a natural transition, but not one for which all of us ready.  We must be patient, and, until the time of learning is over, listen to our guidance from our Guide, and then we will be swept up in the knowledge that our real Self, the Christ within, will give us.  (These are tenets from A Course of Love.)

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would live in the real world today.  I would no longer be lost in illusions.  I ask for the blessing of the return of sanity, in the sense that A Course in Miracles means.  Virtually all of us have been lost in madness.  Some have had fleeting glimpses of the Awakening, but few have sustained the Awakening.  I do realize that this is a blessing that You will offer all of us when we are ready.  And I ask for my Guide to tell me what to think, say, and do today that will prepare me for this blessing.

Be with me if I get discouraged.  Life does not have to be difficult, even when outward circumstances seem so.  You are there to comfort and to sustain us.

May I never forget this.  May I never forget to turn to You.

Amen.

Sleeping Death or Happy Wakening

“The choice is yours to make between a sleeping death and dreams of evil or a happy wakening and joy of life. (T583)”

Affirmation:  “I choose a happy wakening.”

Reflections:

1 – Our Real Goal

This is the choice that is placed before us in the A Course in Miracles:  dreams of evil or joy of life.  The contrast could not be more stark.  If we learn ACIM, we will dismiss our sleeping death and instead, eventually, know a happy wakening.  Surely this is a goal that all of us would choose.

2 – How Do We Choose the Goal?

Perhaps the goal seems too hard.  How do we make this choice?  We may indeed make it a long time before the Awakening happens to us.  Elsewhere we are told that if the way seems long, to be content.  We are on the pathway.  What more could we want?  It is said in the Text that the separation seemed to occur over millions of years, and that the return of all of us will take a similarly long period of time, maybe even longer.  These statement seem disheartening.  But Jesus does not leave us in dejection.  He knows that we have turned the corner now; we have chosen to walk the pathway back home.  If the way seems long, at least we know that the joyous ending is assured.

3 – The “Sleeping Death”

It is hard to hear,  and perhaps we think we have wasted our lives, when we hear of a “sleeping death.”  Yet this is exactly what the ego has brought us to.  We have had our moments of joy, but they were bought at a grave price when brought to us by the ego.

4 – The Joy of Life

The joy of life comes when we let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit.  We must listen to the promptings of our spirit, and let the guidance from deep within lead us forward.  Then, we can hope, the happy wakening will not be far behind.  And life gets better as we approach the happy wakening, because we are dreaming soothing dreams, the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (from the Workbook).  We would not be awakened without this preparation, because we would be afraid of it.  Jesus guides us the gentle way, when wakening is welcomed, not feared.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me today to find a joyous life and to turn aside from what is called a “sleeping death.”  Be with me throughout the day as I make the choice that will bring Awakening to me on a sustainable basis, not simply in snatches.  Thank You for Your promise that You will rescue me as soon as I am ready, that You will “reach down” and “lift me up” to Awakening.  Help me to wait for You patiently.

All of us here need You, and perhaps those of us who recognize our need are at an advantage.  But help us to help all of our brothers and sisters who have not learned that our real need is at home in You.  May we let the ego wither away.  May we let drama in our lives just disappear.  I would not live drama today, but I would ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit at all points that I remember.  Help me to remember today.

Amen.

You Never Hate Your Brother for His Sins, but Only for Your Own

“Learn this, and learn it well, for it is here delay of happiness is shortened by a span of time you cannot realize.  You never hate your brother for his sins, but only for your own.  Whatever form his sins appear to take, it but obscures the fact that you believe them to be yours, and therefore meriting a ‘just’ attack. (T651)”

Affirmation:  “I would not hate my brother for my ‘sins.'”

Reflections:

1 – “Only for Your Own”

“. . .[O]nly for your own.”  This statement will go a very long way toward eliminating judging in our little world.  If we can believe that we are looking within (unconsciously), and then looking outward, seeing that same secret sin in others that we think is within ourselves, we will have a moment of recognition that will be illuminating.  It is always ourselves that we are seeing.  We blame our brothers and sisters for the thoughts or actions that we ourselves would be prone to have or make.

2 – Especially Helpful Truth

This truth is especially helpful within the family, our significant other (our “brother,” in the terminology of the A Course in Miracles), or “brothers” in our circle of friends.

3 – Avoid Judging

Avoiding judgment is very important to learning the ACIM.  If we fail at this juncture, we are likely to fall away from the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings, (WB270)” and darkness will close upon us once again.

4 – Judgment Does Not Keep Us Safe

How do we avoid judgment when we have been taught in this world that judgment keeps us safe?  We think that we made a place of safety for ourselves, but it is not so.  We think that defending ourselves against presumed attacks will help us to walk a smoother pathway.  It is not so.  We cannot know all the facts in any given situation, and that is why ACIM counsels leaving all judgment to the Holy Spirit (who does know all the facts).  We avoid judgment by a concerted decision to do so, recognizing that we will not always refrain, and knowing that forgiveness is called for when we have judged without considering the full ramifications of what we are doing.  We go within, perhaps by distancing ourselves from the source of trouble, and we seek God’s solace.  Then we are in a much better position to reenter the world with a clear conscience, one that has reaffirmed that judgment is not the way that we wish to go.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would join with my brother today, my most significant other, and I would not judge him in any way.  I would long for the time that we live harmoniously, just as harmoniously as, blessedly, we are living today.  May I forgive myself when I misstep.  And may I forgive him.  Thank You for being there for me as I find my way through the maze of relationship in our insane world.  I would live in the real world more and more, and I would ask You to help me do the things that are up to me to do.  But I would lean on the Holy Spirit as my Guide, until the time that Christ-consciousness as enveloped me on a sustained basis.

Be with us in safety today.  So often I have longed to be safe.  And, even though this world is insane, I know now that I can be safe in it, for I have You in me.  May the dream that I project not turn nasty.  May my innermost feelings reflect the best that You would choose for me.

Thank You for this good day.  I choose intimacy and happiness over being right all the time.  I choose to be happy rather than right, as A Course in Miracles implies that I should.

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.

Feeling Abandoned

ACIM Workbook Lesson 279 – for Thursday, October 6, 2011

Affirmation:  “Creation’s freedom promises my own.”

“The end of dreams is promised me, because God’s Son is not abandoned by His Love.  Only in dreams is there a time when he appears to be in prison, and awaits a future freedom, if it be at all.  Yet in reality his dreams are gone, with truth established in their place.  And now is freedom his already.

“I will accept Your promises today, and give my faith to them.  My Father loves the Son Whom He created as His Own.  Would You withhold the gifts You gave to me?  (WB436)”

Reflections:

1 – We Are in the Eternal

In the present our dreams are gone.  This is the eternal present, the eternal Now (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).  We will get past even the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit gives” (a quotation from the Workbook), and know the real world that God will grant us to see when we are ready.  Only He knows the place and the hour.  But we can pray that our experience of the real world comes soon.

2 – See the World with Vision

In reality, our dreams are gone.  The world will look different because we will see with vision, with new eyes.  We know that this blessing is on the way when we have seen little edges of light around familiar objects.  Real vision is coming.  It may take a long time, but time itself is an illusion, and so this truly does not matter.  The end is sure, now that we have started of the pathway.  (These are paraphrases from ACIM.)

3 – The Gift of the Real World

The gift of the real world would not be withheld by God.  The prayer for today counsels this.  May we wait in expectation, not beset by preoccupations that only scatter our consciousness.  May we wait for God to act, and may we know that He would choose for us to listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him act in us, to bring about our readiness.  We do not have to do a lot, only a “little willingness” (a Text quotation) is required.  The Holy Spirit accomplishes the vast majority of the change that we wish to see in ourselves.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I long to see the real world on a sustainable basis.  May my dreams of this illusory world stay happy, and edge into reality.  I long for the vision that only You can give.  May my eyes see with real vision today.

Be with me as I do the small part that the Holy Spirit requires of me.  I know that His part is much larger than mine, and that this is a blessing.  I would only choose amiss, without His guidance.  Be with me today as I seek to follow Your Voice, Your Universal Inspiration, throughout any temptations of the day.

Amen.

How Can Illusions Satisfy God’s Son?

ACIM Workbook Lesson  272 – for Thursday, September 29, 2011

Affirmation:  “How can illusions satisfy God’s Son?”

“Father, the truth belongs to me.  My home is set in heaven by Your Will and mine.  Can dreams content me?  Can illusions bring me happiness?  What but Your memory can satisfy Your son?  I will accept no less than You have given me.  I am surrounded by Your Love, forever still, forever gentle and forever safe.  God’s Son must be as You created him.  (WB432)”

Reflections:

1 – Happy Dreams Will Not Long Satisfy

We will not long be satisfied with the happy dreams that precede Awakening, because we will during that time become aware, through studying A Course in Miracles, that these dreams are illusion.  We will become increasingly impatient to walk the whole pathway back to God.

2 – Can Return to God Be Hurried?

But perhaps the process can’t be hurried.  Maybe there is a reason that we are still caught in illusions.  In ACIM, we are told that in order to teach salvation, we must know what one must be saved from.  This refers most probably to our interactions with our brothers and sisters.  We must know what they are experiencing, and sometimes this means, especially with our intimate relationships, that we will experience the struggles with them.

3 – No Accidents in Salvation

This is not an accident; there are no accidents in salvation (an ACIM tenet).  We cannot but be at the right place at the right time.  And we have chosen all that happens to us.  This is not a “blame the victim” mentality, because we have not, as our little selves, made this choice to suffer.  Our higher Self makes these choices, and we are not often privy to that greater knowledge that the higher Self has.  So we get frustrated with the slowness of response, a slowness for which we may blame God.

4 – God Does Not Punish

He is not really to blame.  God does not punish, a mistake that may linger however long we have been on the pathway home, and however long we have studied ACIM.  We react as small children in relationship to God.  But God does not spank a child any more than he “spanks” us.  For a parent to say, in punishment, “This hurts me more than it hurts you,” is not to speak as God would speak.  We need to ask that our minds be freed of all such interpretations, for all are falsehoods.

5 – We Create Our Own Reality

We create our own reality.  ACIM proclaims it true.  We may actually choose the pain out of a lack of understanding that learning through pain is temporary at best, and that learning through rewards is the only lasting way (ACIM paraphrases).  May we ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit to walk a peaceful pathway back to the remembrance of God.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

May I create a happy reality today.  I do not wish to long lost in dreams, but I do realize that perhaps returning to You is not on my timetable.  Be with me as I seek to do Your bidding today.  May I be there for my brothers and sisters who, like me, want to rush toward all that salvation holds out for us.  But keep me from impatience.  Let me find my way to You exactly at the time that You decree.

Thank You for guiding me all the days of my life.  I wish to have happy dreams, as long as I am lost in dreams.  May they prepare me, as You desire, for a happy Awakening that hold no fear for me.  May my brothers and sisters have the same peaceful Awakening.

Thank You for leading me by the hand through this world that mystifies me so.

Amen.

I Will Not Use the Body’s Eyes Today

ACIM Workbook Lesson  270 – for Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Affirmation:  “I will not use the body’s eyes today.”

“How glorious and gracious is this world!  Yet how much more will I perceive in it than sight can give.  The world forgiven signifies Your Son acknowledges his Father, lets his dreams be brought to truth, and waits expectantly the one remaining instant more of time which ends forever, as Your memory returns to him.  (WB430)”

Reflections:

1 – May We Perceive the World Anew

This prayer is an insightful explanation of what will transpire when we perceive the world as we are meant to perceive it.  Our sight of the world, what our eyes light upon, is not all that will change.  We are acknowledging our relationship to God, our Father, and we are bringing our dreams (our illusions) to truth.  The final phrase in the prayer indicates the time of Awakening, as we “remember” God.  Nobody who has yet to experience this great blessing can truly understand all that its promise holds out to us.

2 – “The Happy Dreams the Holy Spirit Brings”

We do express gratitude for a world seen anew, even when we are seeing it in the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (a quotation from the Workbook).  With a grateful heart, much that troubles us currently will just fall away.  Even if times are tough, our hearts will sing with praise, a praise that helps us, as well as others with whom we come in contact, more than God needs to hear it.  Jesus says in the Text that we hardly need to tell God how “wonderful” He is; God has no ego with which to accept such praise.  But we need to feel the attitude of gratefulness and praise.  We are more helped than even our brothers and sisters.

3 – May We See the World with New Eyes

May we walk today a pathway of peace.  May we see the world with new eyes.  Let us pray for that blessing.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I would see the world anew today.  Nothing has to change for this change to be effected.  Only You know how this is done, but I know that it is Your Will that I do see anew.  Thank You.

I would be grateful for my many blessings.  All too often I focus on the few things that are wrong, ignoring the many that are right.  I would change that today; I would see only what is right and let what is wrong just wither away from lack of attention.  We can indeed make the world that we see, even while You create the real world for us to see shortly.  

Thank You for always being here for me.  Help me to aid my brothers and sisters in their “journey without distance” today.

Amen.