Monthly Archives: December 2019

Lesson 365 This Holy Instant…

31 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Audio credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com

LESSON 361 to 365

This holy instant would I give to You.  Be You in charge.  For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.

  1. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me.  If I need a thought, that will He also give.  And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him.  He is in charge by my request.  And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.[1]
Photo credit: http://www.miraclecenter.org

Three hundred and sixty-five days of training our minds to remember our Loving Father, to recognize that we are not bodies, but everlasting spirits created to be Sons of God.  This past year, dear brothers, we learned how to trust in that which we cannot see with our physical eyes or hear with our physical ears.  This year we have dedicated to seeking God, to devoting a part of each day to changing out minds about who and what we are. 

I love you and I want to thank you for being on this journey with me, for teaching me and humbly, allowing me to teach you.  When I tried to learn this on my own, I failed.  When I learned this with you, it brought me the answers that I have yearned and sought after throughout all six decades of my life!

It has been such an interesting year, brothers.  We have traveled the path outlined in the Course together.  We said we would do each lesson and no matter how we felt about it, that is what we did!  Some days our lessons filled us with joy and wonder and other days our lessons filled us with doubt and suspicion, but we persevered because we answered the same call.  We knew that there was something more.  And the something more, at least for us, was manifested in our Course. 

When I look back over this past year, the main lesson I learned and will take with me throughout the rest of my days in time is the plain, logical, practical  maxim upon which this Course begins:  Nothing real can be threatened; nothing unreal exists.  Herein lies the peace of God.  We can put our trust in this.  We are free of any dogma or philosophy that would drag us into battle, demand sacrifice and bloodshed to defend a cause, and toss us into everlasting torment for our blunders.  We have learned the difference between our egos which would tempt us to identify with our bodies, and our Spirits, which are Sons of God, everlasting and invulnerable, our true Selves.  We have renewed our love and devotion for Jesus as we have renewed our love and devotion for the Sonship of God, the Brotherhood of Christ.  We found our salvation in forgiveness – both in receiving and giving.  We wrapped our minds around concepts which at first befuddled us and gave us pause on our own, and then miraculously were made real in communion with one another.  We were given personal, practical application in the outer world – crammed with its characters and chaos – that matched our daily lessons, and sometimes we got a kick out of it and sometimes we failed to see the humor, but we persevered.   

It has been a year of adventure in the invisible realm – we did not work magic; we did not bring people back from the dead, but yet miracles of forgiveness were performed in our minds and in and through our special relationships transformed through the miracle of forgiveness into pure and innocent love.  Our past no longer hinders our onward journey; our love for our brothers continues to deepen and to lead us to the gate of heaven. 

Today concludes the year 2019.  Let us celebrate our brotherhood together as we ring in the new year!  Let us feast and be merry and fill our hearts, minds, and bellies with goodness and love and gratitude to Christ our fellow Prince, our King, our Savior and Friend. 

Our lessons are concluded for this year by the following, and I have no words to add or insights to bring because it fills me, brimming over with the glory of its message.  Let us continue on our path of Love, returning to our Father, aware of the angels who hover near and about, rooting for us, clapping their hands with glee and happiness at our growing recognition and realization of our goal. 

I love you.  I thank God for you.  Thank you for turning our special relationship into a holy one with me, and with all.   I so look forward to spending the next year steeping ourselves in all that God has for us, extending the miracle of forgiveness, healing, and love. 

Happy New Year, my brothers, to you and all that you are now and ever will be.  Following is the year’s end message from Jesus transcribed in the 1960s and as pertinent today as it was throughout time, and for everyone…

EPILOGUE

  1. This course is a beginning, not an end.  Your Friend goes with you.  You are not alone.  No one who calls on Him can call in vain.  Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him.  He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you.  He knows the way to solve all problems and resolve all doubts.  His certainty is yours.  You need but ask it of Him and it will be given you.
  2. You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between.  Indeed, your pathway is more certain still.  For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him.  Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need.  His is the Voice for God and also yours.  And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth. 
  3. No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them.  Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead.  He will direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word.  His is the Word that God has given you.  His is the Word you chose to be your own.
  4. And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful followers, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real.  Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good.  Let Him prepare you further.  He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self.  He will continue.  Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end.
  5. The end is certain, and the means as well.  To this we say “Amen.”  You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make.  And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach.  And so we walk with Him from this time on and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction.  Joy attends our way.  For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us.
  6. We trust our ways to Him and say “Amen.”  In peace we will continue in His way and trust all things to Him.  In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do.  He loves God’s Sons, as we would love him.  And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes and love him as He does.  You do not walk alone.  God’s angels hover near and all about.  His Love surrounds you and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.[2] 

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 361-365 This holy instant…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 486

[2] A Course in Miracles.  Workbook for Students. Epilogue…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 487

Lesson 364 This Holy Instant Would I Give To You…A

30 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Audio credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com

LESSON 364

This holy instant would I give to You.  Be You in charge.  For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.

  1. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me.  If I need a thought, that will He also give.  And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him.  He is in charge by my request.  And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.[1]
Photo credit:www.facebook.com

The other night Lover and I watched an episode of The Chef’s Table, which starred Jeong Kwan, a Korean Buddhist monk.  Following the dictates of her own heart, she left her father’s home where it was expected she would carry on the family tradition like her brothers and sisters.  Although she has never worked in restaurants or attended culinary classes, now after years of solitude and devotion, Jeong Kwan travels the world promoting her message of awareness, compassion, and enlightenment through contemplative food preparation. 

For those of us who struggle still with the peculiarity of being “called out,” Jeong’s story was a testimony.  Her story serves as a prototype for how many of us must retreat from the world to find the true Self, which draws its strength, sustenance, and power from the Kingdom within.   

Herein lies the only way in which we can truly identify with what is real about us.  As long as we are engaged in the world, we are of the world, and defined by the world.  We are judged by our appearance, our accomplishments, our gifts, talents, and contributions.  We are also judged by our mistakes, our failings, our bloodlines, our social status.  We find ourselves identifying with how others see us instead of with the real Self which is the Kingdom of God within us.  We chase after love and belonging, fun and freedom, power and control, finding in the world that which only satisfies for a moment.  Estranged from our source, we mistake our drives for meaning, and continue to chase that which does not sustain us.  We think if only we work harder, pray harder, play harder we will satisfy that yearning, and so we weary ourselves with seeking and not finding in the world. 

We can impress one another with our world travels, eat in fine restaurants, make love with princes, sultans, and playboys galore.  We can wear silk robes and gold slippers, bedeck ourselves with diamonds and rubies, entertain ourselves with drama and gossip.  We can stand for causes, promote social change, march in parades, and wear ribbons that call attention to injustice.  We can build fortresses, submarines, electric cars, rockets to the moon – and it will not quell our deepest longings or answer our real question – what is this for? 

Retreating from the world can easily be perceived as defeat.  For Jeon Kwan’s father, concern for his daughter, denied a life rich with husband, children, and the family tradition of farming, was bringing him unrest.  Only by visiting her at the monastery, observing and partaking in the deep contemplative practices of her devotion, could he find peace and consolation and give her his blessing. Much like Jeon Kwan, a full retreat can be the way to honor the call of God, venturing into the wider world only at the Holy Spirit’s leading.  For others, our retreat is found in the holy instants, the moments we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit as we, in our daily practice, ask the Holy Spirit to be in charge.  It is here we find peace; we connect to our Source as we connect with each other, and we are given Everything.

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 361-365 This holy instant…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 486

Lesson 362 This Holy Instant Would I Give To You…

28 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

LESSON 361 to 365

Audio credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com

This holy instant would I give to You.  Be You in charge, for I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.

  1. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me.  If I need a thought, that will He also give.  And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him.  He is in charge of my request.  And He will hear and answer me because He speaks for God, my Father, and His holy Son.[1]
Photo credit: http://www.tinybuddha.com

This morning as I devote my time to return to God, I am drawn to repeat our prayer. Giving each word particular attention and focusing my intention on genuinely sharing instants of holiness with the Holy Spirit, I ask Him to be in charge of me.  I want to follow Him instead of going the way of the ego. 

Amid the joys and happiness of the Christmas celebrations, the festive food, and family times, I would be remiss if I did not also share another side to the process of salvation.  The light of Christ has revealed to me long-buried sorrows, shame, and remorse stemming from incidents that happened so long ago that it seems they had burrowed into the dark recesses of my mind.  Crushing my spirit and stubbing out my joy, the ego would use the past to depress me, to repress my true identity in Christ.  However, in Christ, I can quietly observe the distressing memories, let recrimination and remorse go, offering compassion to myself and all involved. 

Practicing the holy instant with the Holy Spirit is a challenge to our ego-identity, which would instead project and blame, condemn and hide rather than face the truth about itself.  Putting the Holy Spirit in charge of our moments in time, we can be certain of the right direction and the peaceful outcome. 

The Holy Spirit takes the ego’s words of reproach and gives us the words of love we need.  The Holy Spirit gives us the forgiving thoughts we need to give our minds the stillness, tranquility, and openness necessary to receive His gifts.  Having asked the Holy Spirit to be in charge, He has heard and answered us – because He is the Voice for God, our Father, and for Jesus Christ, His holy Son. 

This may be the same lesson for yesterday and for tomorrow and the next and the next, however each day we will get something new and fresh from its message!  Let the Holy Spirit teach us, lead us, guide and direct us as we prepare our hearts and minds for the new year.  Have a blessed day.  In Jesus name.  Amen. 

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 361-365 This holy instant…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 486

Final Lessons Introduction – 361-365 This Holy Instant Would I Give to You…

27 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Audio credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com

II. FINAL LESSONS

  1. Our final lessons will be left as free of words as possible.  We use them but at the beginning of our practicing, and only to remind us that we seek to go beyond them.  Let us turn to Him Who leads the way and makes our footsteps sure.  To Him we leave these lessons, as to Him we give our lives henceforth.  For we would not return again to the belief in sin that made the world seem ugly and unsafe, attacking and destroying, dangerous in all its ways, and treacherous beyond the hope of trust and the escape from pain.
  2. His is the only way to find the peace that God has given us.  It is His way that everyone must travel in the end, because it is this ending God Himself appointed.  In the dream of time it seems to be far off.  And yet, in truth, it is already here; already serving us as gracious guidance in the way to go.  Let us together follow in the way that truth points out to us.  And let us be the leaders of our many brothers who are seeking for the way but find it not.
  3. And to this purpose let us dedicate our minds, directing all of our thoughts to serve the function of salvation.  Unto us the aim is given to forgive the world.  It is the goal that God has given us.  It is His ending to the dream we seek, and not our own.  For all that we forgive we will not fail to recognize as part of God Himself.  And thus His memory is given back, completely and complete.
  4. It is our function to remember Him on earth, as it is given us to be His Own completion in reality.  So let us not forget our goal is shared, for it that remembrance which contains the memory of God and points the way to Him and to the Heaven of His peace.  And shall we not forgive our brother, who can offer this to us?  He is the way, the truth and life that shows the way to us.  In him resides salvation, offered us through forgiveness, given unto him.
  5. We will not end this year without the gift our Father promised to His Holy Son.  We are forgiven now.  And we are saved from all the wrath we thought belonged to God, and found it was a dream.  We are restored to sanity, in which we understand that anger is insane, attack is mad, and vengeance merely foolish fantasy.  We have been saved from wrath because we learned we were mistaken.  Nothing more than that.  And is a father angry at his son because he failed to understand the truth?
  6. We come in honesty to God and say we did not understand and ask Him to help us to learn His Lessons, through the Voice of His Own Teacher.  Would He hurt His Son?  Or would He rush to answer him and say, “This is My Son, and all I have is his?”  Be certain He will answer thus, for these are His Own Words to you.  And more than that can no one ever have, for in these Words is all there is, and all that there will be throughout all time and in eternity.[1]
Photo credit: http://www.quotesnsmiles.com

We seek to go beyond words and into reality and knowledge, requiring no symbolism.  As we turn our hearts and minds to God, we dedicate our lives – it is our Father then who leads the way and give us certainty.  We no longer need lessons, we no longer need instruction, we have left the illusions of the world behind to find the peace that God alone can give. 

This is the way that everyone will travel eventually, because God would never lose his Creation or abandon His Sons.  While we are in time, our everlasting spirits cocooned in flesh and blood bodies, our return to God may seem to be a far off, future event, but in timelessness it has already happened.  Our journey is finished; we are complete in God as God is complete in us.

For those of us who have this certainty, we are called to blaze a trail, to be teachers, to lead others who have opened their eyes to the triviality of the world made of ego; the nothingness of separation, the cyclical nature of chaos, fear, and dismay.  God will send to us those who are ready for this path.  It is not the only path to God, but it is a good one, for it teaches us that sinlessness and purity is our God-given nature and promotes the true meaning of salvation as being delivered from false identity in the ego made manifest in flesh and finding our real Identity in Christ, as God’s Son.  This is a beautiful clarification that soothes and heals the wounded spirits of many followers of Christ who, caught up in traditional dogmas, engage in practices that make them beggars and grovelers before the throne of God.

Today we are asked to devote our minds and direct our thoughts to serve the function of salvation.  As Sons of God, we are called to forgive the world gone astray and, in this way, be free of it.  As long as we hold grudges, partake in vengeances, cherish our wounds, and hold tight to the world’s sorrows, we keep the sad cycle of separation spinning in time.  God has given us a holy function; so it is not impossible.  We are not called to hang on a cross or go out and badger people to get saved.  We are called to forgive.  We stop participating in the fear, hatred, sorrow, and shame.  This is the ending to the illusion of madness, for when we forgive it, we will recognize the incredible – God Himself reveals Himself to us in all His glory.

The world we made would have us forget God, to exchange Christ for Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and our particular church or religious denomination.  Yet Christ returns in us to complete Himself through us.  Christ returns to us is through our brothers – for we all point the way to the truth and the life which lights the way to God.  It is in each other we find salvation through forgiveness.  To return to God, we must forgive one another for in this way we save ourselves. 

When we started our studies, we thought it was God’s wrath in which we sought to save ourselves.  However, we learned through our study this year, that our Loving Father has no wrath.  We find the wrath of God was all part of the dream of separation – we know now that anger is silly, attack makes no sense, and vengeance is stupid.  We have been saved from madness because we learned it was all a mistake and nothing more.  What loving father could hold a bad dream against his beloved son?  What loving father would torment his son forever for a basic lack of understanding, for going down a wrong path, for choosing unwisely?  What kind of God, we asked ourselves, would demand our blood and sacrifice and tell us to annihilate our enemies? We know now a primitive and unholy people made up a primitive and unholy God.  Jesus came to establish Himself in our hearts, to set up His Kingdom, to restore our memory of our Creator, our Father, our Sonship.  He, Who turned the water into wine, turns our dreary separation into jubilant reunion as we find our Selves through Him.   

All that God has, He bestows upon us.  These are His Own Words to us.  In these Words, is all there is in time and throughout eternity.  We are His and He is ours.  Let us take the remaining five days of 2019 and meditate upon this holy prayer, as we ask the Holy Spirit to direct us each morning and evening:

LESSON 361 to 365

This holy instant would I give to You.  Be You in charge.  For I would follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace.

  1. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me.  If I need a thought, that will He also give.  And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him.  He is in charge of my request.  And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son. [2]

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Final Lessons, Introduction…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 485-486.

[2] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 361-365 This holy instant…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 486

Lesson 360 Peace Be To Me, The Holy Son of God…

26 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Audio credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com

II.  SECTION 14. What am I?

Lesson 360 Peace be to me, the holy Son of God.  Peace to my brother, who is one with me.  Let all the world be blessed with peace through us.

  1. Father, it is Your peace that I would give, receiving it of You.  I am Your Son, forever just as You created me, for the Great Rays remain forever still and undisturbed within me. I would reach to them in silence and in certainty, for nowhere else can certainty be found.  Peace be to me and peace to all the world.  In holiness were we created, and in holiness do we remain.  Your Son is like to You in perfect sinlessness.  And with this thought we gladly say, “Amen.”[1]
Photo credit: http://www.loishermann.com

This morning, sipping coffee and leaning back in our recliners, Lover and I reminisced about the past 23 Christmases we spent together.  We spoke of the peace that God has given us through His Son, Jesus.  This year like every year, we did our best to keep Christ at the center of our Christmas celebrations. 

We had the joy of attending a candlelight service with dear friends.  We enjoyed a Christmas breakfast and opening presents at the home of our son.  We spoke on the telephone and through text to our daughters and their families exchanging recipes, gratitude, and love.  Friends and loved ones brought us cheer.  The house filled with the aromas from the delicious Christmas feast.  The decorations cast a charming twinkle here and there.  There was not one glitch in the peace, the calm, the quiet, the love. 

It is the peace of God that we would give to each other, and to you, dear brothers.  Perhaps it makes you uncomfortable still, but we are the Great Rays that our Course speaks of – we remain as God created us – forever still and undisturbed by what only appears to be our reality here.  Herein lies our certainty, our reality.  There are sorrows which we have no more need to carry!  When we no longer identify with sin, we no longer hold mistakes against ourselves or others.  There is a peace and calm and quiet that soothes our soul and abstracts our many blunders into models for correction. The Course has taught us throughout this year that there is nothing we can do in the flesh that would change our true identity.  We are God’s holy sons, made in His Likeness, in perfect sinlessness.   

As we near the end of our year together in the Course, let us gladly say a big “Amen,” and know that we are still as God created us!

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 360 Peace be to me…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 484.

Lesson 359 God’s Answer Is Some Form of Peace

25 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

II.  SECTION 14. What am I?

Lesson 359 God’s answer is some form of peace.  All pain is healed; all misery replaced with joy.  All prison doors are opened.  And all sin is understood as merely a mistake.

  1. Father, today we will forgive Your world, and let creation be Your Own.  We have misunderstood all things.  But we have not made sinners of the holy Sons of God.  What You created sinless so abides forever and forever.  Such are we.  And we rejoice to learn that we have made mistakes which have no real effects on us.  Sin is impossible, and on this fact forgiveness rests upon a certain base more solid than the shadow world we see.  Help us forgive, for we would be redeemed.  Help us forgive, for we would be at peace.[1]
Photo credit: http://www.chaseoaks.org

Christ has come!  In Christ we are healed.  Our hope eternal, He transforms our darkened minds with His mind full of light and truth.  We make sinners no more of God’s holy Sons.  God’s Sons are condemned no longer for our mistakes do not define us.  We are as God created us, pure and innocent and eternal. 

We rejoice in Christmas for with the coming of Christ, we accept our Sonship, we remember who we are and what we are.  This shadow world can no longer tempt us to see ourselves as flesh and blood, caught up in cycles of violence and abuse, blame and condemnation.  We forgive the world the separation, the illusion, the unnecessary drama, conflict, and despair.  We choose God’s World when we forgive this world.  We are redeemed!  We are at peace.   

May the love and joy and peace of Christmas fill our hearts today!

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 359 God’s answer is some…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 484.

Lesson 358 No Call To God Can Be Unheard Nor Left Unanswered. And Of This I Can Be Sure; His Answer Is The One I Want.

24 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

II.  SECTION 14. What am I?

Lesson 358 No call to God can be unheard nor left unanswered.  And of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want.

Photo credit: http://www.youtube.com
  1. You Who remember what I really am alone remember what I really want. You speak for God, and so You speak for me.  And what You give me comes from God Himself.  Your Voice, my Father, then is mine as well, and all I want is what You offer me, in just the form You choose that it be mine.  Let me remember all I do not know, and let my voice be still, remembering.  But let me not forget Your Love and care, keeping Your promise to Your Son in my awareness always.  Let me not forget myself is nothing, but my Self is all.[1]

Today we pray the prayer of the humble shepherds, the Kings from the East, the beggar, and the thief.  We pray the prayer of Christmas for we have found no joy in the world without God; we have found no peace and no comfort.  In the Voice for God and in the voice of our true Selves, we acknowledge that all we want can be found in what God gives us and in the form that He chooses to be ours.  We lay down the treasures of this world to take up the treasure of Christ.  We ask for remembrance – we remember but we want to quiet this voice, the distractions of what is temporal and unreal, and remember only that which is real and from our loving Father. 

Help us, Lord, to remember always Your Love and Care!  Let Your promise to Your Son, be our awareness always.  Without You this self is nothing: a shadow, a wisp of smoke, a morsel of meat and bone and gristle.  With You, we become the spirit of Christmas; Christ becomes us as we become Christ, bringing tidings of comfort and joy to all! 

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 358 No call to God can…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 483.

Lesson 357 Truth Answers Every Call We Make To God, Responding First With Miracles, And Then Returning Unto Us To Be Itself

23 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Audio credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com

II.  What is Forgiveness?

SECTION 14. What am I?

Lesson 357 Truth answers every call we make to God, responding first with miracles, and then returning unto us to be itself.

  1. Forgiveness, truth’s reflection, tells me how to offer miracles, and thus escape the prison house in which I think I live.  Your holy Son is pointed out to me, first in my brother, then in me.  Your Voice instructs me patiently to hear Your Word and give as I receive.  And as I look upon Your Son today, I hear Your Voice instructing me to find the way to You, as You appointed that the way shall be:

“Behold his sinlessness, and be you healed.”[1]

Photo credit: http://www.fineartamerica.com

When we respond to the Sonship with forgiveness, we are reflecting truth.  This truth is the miracle we offer.  This is the miracle we give to one another:  We make mistakes, my brother, but we do not sin.  I will forgive your mistakes my brother, for I have need of you to forgive mine.  You and I, together and apart, have mistakenly identified with that which would lift itself against God.  Hence, we have jailed ourselves in a hellish dream of sin, shame, and guilt. 

This time together in our study has made our Sonship real in our hearts and minds – when we see the Son of God in one another, we see the Son of God in ourselves.  In this holy perception, we are healed of all that would obscure our brotherhood, unity, and wholeness.  In this holy perception we seek the truth and our call is answered.  The miracle is our seeking and our call.  The very act of seeking and calling changes our perception; the truth of who and what we are returns to our awareness.  Never again can we make the mistake of thinking we are bodies, egos, doomed to hatred, violence, war, and death. 

When I behold you sinless, I am healed; when you behold me sinless, you are healed.  We put down judgment and condemnation; we embrace one another in the everlasting, holy instant that sets us free.  Our call to God, the miracle, is always followed by faith and trust, joy and peace, health and wholeness.  Unity is restored.  No longer splintered or shattered, in oneness we are as certain as God.

In these two days before we wake to celebrate the birth of Christ, let His truth return to our awareness, reminding one another of who we are in Christ – the perfect Sons of God. 

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 357 Truth answers every call…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 483.

Lesson 356 Sickness Is But Another Name For Sin. Healing Is But Another Name For God. The Miracle Is Thus A Call To Him.

22 Sunday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Audio credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com

II.  SECTION 14. What am I?

Lesson 356 Sickness is but another name for sin.  Healing is but another name for God.  The miracle is thus a call for Him.

  1. Father, You promised You would never fail to answer any call Your Son might make to You.  It does not matter where he is, what seems to be his problem, nor what he believes he has become.  He is Your Son, and You will answer him.  The miracle reflects Your Love, and thus it answers him.  Your Name replaces every thought of sin, and who is sinless cannot suffer pain.  Your Name gives answer to Your Son, because to call Your Name is but to call his own.[1]
Photo credit: http://www.naturallivingfamily.com

We call upon our Father who promises to never fail us – to take every call, to leave us not in despair, suffering and alone.  This year as we studied the Course together, we learned that God loves us and is not complete without us, just as we are never complete without Him.   We are Sons of God – Christ is being formed in us as we make our return to God.  We are delivered of the ego, and the name of God, the Sonship of God replaces every thought of sin, guilt, and shame. 

Jesus tells us that we who are sinless cannot suffer pain; that pain is suffered only when we believe in sin, condemnation, partiality, and judgment.  Separated from God we are at the mercy of the cruel ego which seeks to hold us accountable for every mistake. When we remember God, we remember who we really are.  When we identify with our Sonship, we recognize that we are spirit, everlasting and invulnerable, we are free of the limitations and suffering of the ego and flesh. 

In our prayer, we remind ourselves that healing is not a miracle; healing is an attribute of our Father.  We are healed as we draw close to God; we are changed as we call upon Him.  We experience God through the holy encounter, through accepting the atonement, finding our Identity in Christ. This is the miracle.  Healing and sinlessness are the natural outcomes of our return to God.  Let us call upon Him!

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 356 Sickness is but another name…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 482.

Lesson 355 There Is No End To All The Peace And Joy, And All The Miracles That I Will Give, When I Accept God’s Word. Why Not Today?

21 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by in ACIM

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

,

Audio credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com Lesson 355

II.  SECTION 14. What am I?

Lesson 355.  There is no end to all the peace and joy and all the miracles that I will give, when I accept God’s Word.  Why not today?

  1. Why should I wait, my Father, for the joy You promised me?  For You will keep Your Word You gave Your Son in exile.  I am sure my treasure waits for me, and I need but reach out my hand to find it.  Even now my fingers touch it.  It is very close.  I need not wait an instant more to be at peace forever.  It is You I choose, and my Identity along with You.  Your Son would be Himself, and know You as his Father and Creator, and his Love.[1]
Photo credit: http://www.eckiefriar.com The Nativity

In today’s prayer, we cry out to God and say, We will wait no longer!  We are ready for the joy Your promised us, Father.  We may be in exile – caught up in the body and in a thought system dominated by ego, survival, and limitations but we are at Home in You.  Our treasure is within where You breathed Your life and formed Your image, and all we must do is choose You in order to choose us. 

In that Kingdom and with that identity there are miracles that we give to one another that nothing in the world can begin to imitate.  Our sorrows for our shortcomings and failures are erased and corrected, instead of bringing sadness and separation, betrayal and meanness to our fellows, we bring tidings of comfort and joy.  We bring the richness of warmth, brotherhood, and healing.  We give life, not death.  Laughter replaces our tears and sadness.  Love corrects all forms of fear and hatred, disease and destruction.  We can not do this with our egos, we can only do this when we accept the Word of God.

Accepting the Word of God does not mean that we accept a particular holy book or manual, a doctrine or a man-made dogma.  Accepting the Word of God means that we accept the Expression of God.  When we use words, when we speak, we express.  We accept the word of God when we express God through our words, thoughts, and deeds.  We are not ashamed to speak of His love, His Fatherhood, the ways in which God draws us to Him. 

Let us not allow fear to keep us from using our words for God.  Let us share our holy encounters, for in sharing we empower others to seek, to learn, to share – this is the miracle which reflects God’s Love, the joy of His constant companionship; the Light which guides our path. 

This Christmas season we can accept God’s Word by sharing the joy of Jesus’ birth.  As we decorate our homes and prepare our feasts, wrap our presents, and partake in our traditions – quietly, calmly, assertively we keep Christ at the center of Christmas. 

[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 355 There is no end…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 482.