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Lesson 321 Father, My Freedom Is In You Alone

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II.  SECTION 11.  What is Creation?

Lesson 321 Father, my freedom is in You alone.

  1. I did not understand what made me free, nor what my freedom is, nor where to look to find it.  Father, I have searched in vain until I heard Your voice directing me.  Now I would guide myself no more.  For I have neither made nor understood the way to find my freedom.  But I trust in You.  You Who endowed me with my freedom as Your holy Son will not be lost to me.  Your Voice directs me and the way to You is opening and clear to me at last.  Father, my freedom is in You alone.  Father, it is my will that I return.
  2. Today we answer for the world, which will be freed along with us.  How glad are we to find our freedom through the certain way our Father has established.  And how sure is all the world’s salvation, when we learn our freedom can be found in God alone.[1]
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Today as we come to our devotional practice, we clear our minds of all that would present itself as Creation.  We set our minds and the world free from the false version of itself.  We stop feeding into its chaos, its competitions, and contradictions.  We stop trying to find our freedom within the very systems of deceit which have ensnared our minds in the first place.  We lay aside all the conflicting advice and meaningless prater.  We quiet our minds.  When we want answers to Creation’s meaning and purpose, we clear the altars of our minds.  It is in the peace and calm where we best hear the Voice for God and His direction. 

Jesus teaches us today that salvation is not an individual choice, but instead each one of us stand for the whole of Creation.  When I make the decision to stand with Christ, when I choose to live for God’s Will be done on earth as it is in heaven, I am not seeking to escape the cursed world by the skin of my teeth and let others behind weeping and gnashing their teeth wishing that they were me!  My awakening wakes the world.  As I am freed from the mad dream, the world comes along with me.  When I no longer can tolerate being separated from God and from my oneness with all of Creation, that tiny little shard of separation yearning and crying out for connection, communication, and certainty stands for all of the separated parts.  The truth of God in me calls to the truth of God in you.  The truth of God in you calls to the truth of God in me.  And freedom rings throughout the world. We lay down our weapons.  We no longer see the spaces between us.  We see Creation anew and have no desire to prey upon it, to lord it over anyone or anything, to mock and make fun, to deny access to anyone.  We forgive the past.  We are no longer the least bit interested in war and murder and destruction.  Dreams of death hold no fascination or hopes of freedom.  When I look at you, I see me!  When you look at me, you see you!  All we desire for ourselves and Creation is healing, reunion, renewal.  Awake from the dark slumber, we can no longer look upon Creation as being outside of ourselves for we recognize ourselves only as whole. 

This is our freedom.  This is God’s Plan.  Salvation for all.  Nobody returns to God alone and without the world.  God awaits our awakening with open arms.  The dreams we dream in separation could mean nothing to Him.  Why would He concern Himself with lies and distortions?  Our freedom lies in being like Him, certain in our love and everlasting devotion to all of Creation. 

[1]A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 321. Foundation of Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 462.

Audio credit: the friar patch @ www.eckiefriar.com

Part II: 11 What Is Creation?

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II.  SECTION 11.  What is Creation?

  1. Creation is the sum of all God’s Thoughts, in numbers infinite, and everywhere without all limit.  Only Love creates, and only like Itself.  There was no time when all that It created was not there.  Nor will there be a time when anything that It created suffers any loss.  Forever and forever are God’s Thoughts exactly as they were and as they are, unchanged through time and after time is done.
  2. God’s Thoughts are given all the power that their own Creator has.  For He would add to Love by its extension.  Thus His Son shares in creation and must therefore share in power to create.  What God has willed to be forever one will still be one when time is over; and will not be changed throughout the course of time, remaining as it was before the thought of time began.
  3. Creation is the opposite of all illusions, for creation is the truth.  Creation is the holy Son of God, for in creation is His Will complete in every aspect, making every part container of the Whole.  Its oneness is forever guaranteed inviolate; forever held within his holy Will, beyond all possibility of harm, of separation, imperfection, and of any spot upon its sinlessness.
  4. We are creation; we are the Sons of God.  We seem to be discrete, and unaware of our eternal unity with Him.  Yet back of all our doubts, past all our fears, there still is certainty.  For Love remains with all Its Thoughts, Its sureness being theirs.  God’s memory is in our holy minds, which know their oneness and their unity with their Creator.  Let our function be only to let this memory return, only to let God’s Will be done on earth, only to be restored to sanity, and to be but as God created us.
  5. Our Father calls to us.  We hear His Voice, and we forgive creation in the Name of its Creator, Holiness Itself, Whose holiness His Own creation shares; Whose holiness is still a part of us.[1]
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The next ten lessons are devoted to remembering Creation – the opposite of all illusions, the counterpoint to separation. and our oneness with God.  As we slowly and carefully read over the introduction to this section of our Course, a sense of the eternal certainty of God and His Creation returns to our consciousness.  A remembrance of who and what we really are and the Oneness in which we experience our beings with God, with one another, and all Creation shines through our groggy awareness. 

The thought that occurs to me while I am reading this introduction is the assurance of wholeness, purity, and innocence that is ours in Creation.  As we are reminded of our oneness with Him, the certainty of His Love shines like a beacon through all doubt and fear, through thoughts of sin and shame, alleviating the curse of vain imaginings and ignorant dealings toward creation. 

Jesus says that our function, indeed our only function, is to remember the Love that beckons to us. To let God’s Will be done on earth, to let all madness be restored to sanity, and to be as God created us.  We remember the truth of the matter!  We offer kindness and goodness when others expect spite and anger.  We laugh instead of cry.  We receive to give again; we give to receive again.  We step into mutuality, into oneness, into that sweet spot where everything and everybody matter because they belong to Him Who made us one!  No longer do we allow the fear of God to cast a shadow on our minds, for we remember His Love.  We remember Who and What He is, and we remember who and what we are! 

Today we answer the call of God.  When we listen to His Voice, we forgive – not just this one and not that one – but all of creation.  We realize the holiness that is still a part of everything and everybody.  Seeing past the contradictions, the opposites, the seeming curses we put upon each separated part, we are made one again.  His light within you calls to me; His light within me calls to you.  At our core we could never be enemies because His light makes us one.  This is the wholeness and holiness of God, and it is our purpose to remember this. 

[1] A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Part II:11, Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992).

Audio credit: the friar patch @ www.eckiefriar.com

Lesson 320 My Father Gives All Power Unto Me

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II.  SECTION 10.  What is the Last Judgment?

Lesson 320 My Father gives all power unto me.

  1. The Son of God is limitless.  There are no limits on his strength, his peace, his joy, nor any attributes his Father gave in his creation.  What he wills with his Creator and Redeemer must be done.  His holy will can never be denied, because his Father shines upon his mind, and lays before it all the strength and love in earth and Heaven.  I am he to whom all this is given.  I am he in whom the power of my Father’s Will abides.
  2. Your will can do all things in me, and then extend to all the world as well through me.  There is no limit on Your Will.  And so all power has been given to Your Son.[1]
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Today is our tenth and last lesson in Part II, Section 10 – What is the Last Judgment?  When all lies and contradictions have faded from our minds – the truth stands alone.  We realize who and what we really are in God.  We stand with Christ, as one in Him we are Sons of God.  We are infinite, because all that He is, we are; all that He has, we have.  God is not a hoarder or a withholder – God shares freely and abundantly and without restraint with all of Creation.  Therefore, the peace of God is ours; the might of God is ours; the joy of God is ours. 

When only truth stands alone in our minds; when we have made the final judgment for God and let every false thing fade away – we can say with no fear, no arrogance, no sense of unworthiness – The Father gives all power unto me.  For our Sonship which was never lost, has been restored to our awareness.  When we know ourselves as God created us, we have no fear of God’s power. 

For God’s power works for us, and never against us.  God’s power can never be misused, stolen, or fall into the wrong hands for it only operates in the realm of wisdom, wholeness and holiness.  God’s power does not hurt; God’s power heals.  God’s power does not go to war; it brings peace.  God’s power does not promote division; it brings oneness and unity.  God’s power holds no contradictions, for truth has no opposite.   God’s power holds no death, no disease, no decay, for it is life everlasting and brings abundance to all. 

There is no limit on the Will of God, and it is God’s Will that the world is saved.  We are used to thinking of power as a physical force that wreaks havoc, but when our spiritual eyes are opened, we know that this is not power, it is weakness.  Any weakling can kill, destroy, or make enemies.  It takes little thought, planning, or effort to take down a human being.  A tiny spider can bring down the strongest man.  It takes power to create, to heal, to love, to save. 

All power has been given us toward this end, and for this end we came.  In the name of Jesus with whom we are one.  Amen. 

[1] A Course In Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 320.  Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 460.

Audio credit: the friar patch @ www.eckiefriar.com

Lesson 319 I Came For The Salvation Of The World

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II. SECTION 10. What is the Last Judgment?

Lesson 319 I came for the salvation of the world.

  1. Here is a thought from which all arrogance has been removed, and only truth remains. For arrogance opposes truth. But when there is no arrogance, the truth will come immediately and fill up the space the ego left unoccupied by lies. Only the ego can be limited, and therefore it must seek for aims which are curtailed and limiting. The ego thinks that what one gains, totality must lose. And yet it is the Will of God I learn that what one gains is given to all.
  2. Father, Your will is total. And the goal, which stems from it, shares its totality. What aim but the salvation of the world could You have given me? And what, but this could be the Will my Self has shared with You?[1]
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The goal of our devotional practice today is to learn that what one gains is given all. This is the Will of God for us to learn that His Will is total.  We do not have to worry about the Will of God, because the Will of God is complete.  It is done.  God’s Will is the salvation of the world, and we are part of God’s Will.  It is not God’s Will that any of Creation will perish, because what God wills and what God creates cannot perish.

When we believe the arrogant lies of the ego, we will fail to recognize the truth of the matter.  We will get caught up in the dream of separation.  We will believe that what we see with our flesh eyes is the truth about Creation.  We will believe in pollution.  We will believe in conflict.  We will believe in murder.  We will believe that some lives matter and others do not.  We will believe that one political party will save us and the other destroy us.  We will believe that God the Creator of all, has made enemies for Himself in which to go to war.  We will believe that if one gains, others must lose.  We will believe that is it okay to take and not return because that is how to grow rich, how to distinguish ourselves, how to make something out of our lives before we die.

When we stand with Christ, we can say with all humility and grace that we came for the salvation of the world.  We did not come here to maintain separateness.  We did not come here to sleep forever in a nightmare fraught with opposites.  We did not come here to make enemies, to fight battles, to withhold love from those who are different from us.  We did not come here to die.  We came for the salvation of the world.  This is God’s Will, and this is our will, for we are one with Him. 

Today recognize God’s Call. He is calling to each one of us to awaken from our stupor. When you awake, I awake, and everyone eventually awakes because we were created in love.  Love calls to its own.  Love has no enemies.  Love gives to one to give to all.  In time, this may seem to be a long, drawn out process, but do not be discouraged or afraid.  The world is saved as we awaken to God’s love and come to understand that God’s truth stands and all else fades away into the nothingness from which it came. 

As our minds and hearts are prepared for the Last Judgment, we realize the only real reason we came to the world is to save it.  How do we save the world?  We awaken from the stupor of all that is not love.  We stand with Christ and become one with Him Who saves us from all contradiction.  When one stands, all stand.  When one is saved, all are saved. If one life matters, all matter.  We have made our final determination – this world holds no truth; God’s world holds the only Truth there is. 

What one gains is given all.  My salvation is your salvation is the salvation of the world.

[1] A Course In Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 319. Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992).  p. 460.

Audio credit: the friar patch at www.eckiefriar.com

Lesson 318 In Me Salvation’s Means and End Are One

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II.  SECTION 10.  What is the Last Judgment?

Lesson 318 In me salvation’s means and end are one.

  1. In me, God’s holy Son, are reconciled all parts of Heaven’s plan to save the world.  What could conflict, when all the parts have but one purpose and one aim?  How could there be a single part that stands alone, or one of more or less importance, than the rest?  I am the means by which God’s Son is saved, because salvation’s purpose is to find the sinlessness that God has placed in me.  I was created as the thing I seek.  I am the goal the world is searching for.  I am God’s Son, His one eternal Love.  I am salvations’ means and end as well.
  2. Let me today, my Father, take the role You offer me in Your request that I accept Atonement for myself.  For thus does what is thereby reconciled in me become as surely reconciled to You. [1]
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Today’s lesson teaches that each part of separation represents the whole of it.  What takes place in my little shard of separateness that is called Eckie, can then symbolize the world.  When God’s plan of salvation is resolved within me, it is resolved for the world for in God’s Kingdom we are one.  If I wake up, you wake up, the world wakes up.  This is the means of salvation and the end of the need for salvation.  In time awakening seems to be a long, gradual, and sometimes painful process.  In reality, it happens in an instant.  The dream is gone when it serves no more purpose.  It has taught us what we need to know about nothingness.  When we have not the slightest interest in it anymore, we are saved from its cycles of decay and death. 

In illusion world we are plagued by a sense of differences.  We meet the nicest people but then we find out upon closer examination that they may lean left while we lean right; they are for while we are against; they may pray to a different concept of God than we do or come from a different social strata that either makes them seem inferior or superior to us but never our equal.  But in today’s lesson, Jesus goes straight to the heart of the matter.  Beyond all those seeming differences, He informs us – each of us have only one purpose and one aim.  We are searching for that which we were created by and for – we are searching for God’s Love.  When our Holy Selves are awakened within us, we stand with Christ, we are one with Christ, we are God’s Love. 

That is why we can say, In me salvation’s means and end are one.  In the time you devote to God today, ask Him to reveal this truth to you.  Accepting Atonement for yourself, means that you have awakened and thus forgiven your dream of sin.  You cherish it no longer.  As we reconcile ourselves with our Holy Self, we are reconciled with God for we are one in Him.  We recognize our oneness with all of Creation and with Christ Who redeems all.  It is a beautiful plan, and one of love, of mercy, and gentle forgiveness.  

We who thought we were split apart and asunder, lonely and adrift, are together and as one.  We are back in the arms of God; we take our place at His table.  In our oneness with Christ – we are the means and the end of salvation.  Let love lead the way! 

[1] A Course In Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 318.  In me salvation’s…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 459.

Audio credit: the friar patch @ www.eckiefriar.com

Lesson 317 I Follow In The Way Appointed Me

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II.  SECTION 10.  What is the Last Judgment?

Lesson 317 I follow in the way appointed me.

  1. I have a special place to fill; a role for me alone.  Salvation waits until I take this part as what I choose to do.  Until I make this choice, I am the slave of time and human destiny.  But when I willingly and gladly go the way my Father’s plan appointed me to go, then will I recognize salvation is already here, already given all my brothers, and already mine was well.
  2. Father, Your way is what I choose today.  Where it would lead me go, I choose to go; what it would have me do I choose to do.  Your way is certain and the end secure.  The memory of You awaits me there.  And all my sorrows end in Your embrace, which You have promised to Your Son, who thought mistakenly that he had wandered from the sure protection of Your loving Arms. [1]
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Our lesson on the last judgment today emphasizes how important making the choice for salvation.  Until we recognize our position here in a state of nothingness, we are enslaved to time and to the fate of all humans.  When we are blinded to our Father’s love, we fail to see Creation as it was created to be.  We keep repeating human history – we keep bringing more children into the world, we keep hoping that there will be a cure for all our diseases, for evil, for aging, and death.  We keep competing with one another, going to war, seeing our brothers as separate from us instead of seeing them as one with us.  As long as we continue to search for our salvation in the physical realm, time quickly passes, our lives are over, and the world keeps repeating its same cycles.

This morning when I awoke, it was 4:11 a.m.  Too early, I grumbled to myself as I reluctantly got out of bed and fumbled in the dark for my glasses and computer.  Trudging downstairs, one could never mistake from outward appearances alone my resistance to being called out of bed so early in the morning! If I did not know the difference between my holy Self and the flesh self, I could easily mistake my sighs and bleary eyes as indications of my unwilling participation in God’s plan of salvation.  Until I had a few sips of coffee, the joy and gratitude that are always there, were obscured by gravity, grogginess, and grudge. 

Salvation comes with our Last Judgment about the ego world.  This is the only decision that each of us must make. Nobody else can make this decision for us.  We must all come to that place of salvation, when we gladly and willingly say no more to the enchantment, enslavement, and entrapment of human destiny.  When we say no more to separation, we make the last judgment necessary in the separated state.  Now we see past this world and all its ins and outs, ups and downs, and multitude of opposing choices.  We have made the last one judgment that sets us free, that takes the blinders off our eyes, that wakes us from a stupor of madness.  We recognize ego world for what it is, and we have declared it a zero.  We have learned the lessons of what is not forever, what is not love, what we do not want, and what we do not need.  We are no longer content to be a slave of time, fate, unloving relationships, limited resources, and meaningless activity.  Salvation teaches us to be free of all that bound us to decay and death.  We are free of our corpses, so to speak. 

The special part each of us play in this grand scheme is the last special, individual thing we must do in separation.  We must bring our individual separateness back to the fold and become one.  We must do this happily, willingly, and with a full understanding of what we are putting down in order to return to God.  Our Father does not drag us back to His Kingdom by the scruff of our necks, dragging our feet, and hanging on to our lust and lies and perversions.  There is no one in God’s Kingdom who is held captive there, who longs to come back to a world like the one we made here, because we do not get to go until we make the last individual judgment we will ever make – we declare the world nothing in order to accept Everything. 

In your devotional practice today, come to God as a child who has no preconceived notions of who and what God is.  Do not tell God who and what He is; ask Him to show you.  When God reveals Himself to you as Love, do not be afraid.  When God reveals to you how precious and holy you are, how devoted He is to you, how undemanding and merciful, do not be afraid. 

This is a very important message that I give you today, and so I urge you who are reading or listening to this post – be careful which God you pray to for if you pray to the false conception of God you may have in your mind, that false conception of God is a lie of the ego.  It will mislead you, disappoint you, and wreak havoc upon your tender faith.  When we pray to the false ideas of God, we will be led to attack our brothers, despise those who are different from us, and be drawn into ridiculous at best and vicious at worst ideas about sacrifices necessary to appease his anger, wrath, and spite.  Know this:  God is love and you will know His Love when you come to know Him.

Join with me in prayer:

Dear Father, We choose to walk in Your path.  We choose to go where Love leads.  We happily and willingly do our special part in Your plan of salvation today – we make a last judgment upon the separated world and we judge it as nothing.  We made a mistake.  We left Your Kingdom and thought we would make our own.  We chose bodies and egos, Father, but they served only to bring us back to You. We are Your Sons.  Lead us on the certain path which ends in Your eternal Kingdom.  In the name of Jesus, with Whom we are one.  Amen.

[1] A Course In Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 317. Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 459.

Audio credit: the friar patch @ www.eckiefriar.com

Lesson 316 All Gifts I Give My Brothers Are My Own

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II.  SECTION 10.  What is the Last Judgment?

Lesson 316 All gifts I give my brothers are my own.

  1. As every gift my brothers give is mine, so every gift I give belongs to me.  Each one allows a past mistake to go and leave no shadow on the holy mind my Father loves.  His grace is given me in every gift a brother has received throughout all time, and past all times as well.  My treasure house is full, and angels watch its open doors that not one gift is lost, and only more are added.  Let me come to where my treasures are and enter in where I am truly welcome and at home, among the gifts that God has given me.
  2. Father, I would accept Your gifts today.  I do not recognize them.  Yet I trust that You Who gave them will provide the means by which I can behold them, see their worth, and cherish only them as what I want. [1]
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In yesterday’s lesson, we learned that we are blessed abundantly every single moment of each passing day by the gifts of our brothers.  Today, Jesus teaches us that just as we are blessed the gifts of others, so too, are others blessed by the gifts we bring.  Salvation is not a one-man show!  When we come to God, we are made aware of our oneness; we can only know our salvation when we share equally and freely with one another.  We are made aware of the responsibility we bear to not only acknowledge and show appreciation for the gifts that others bring, but to acknowledge and show appreciation for the gifts that we bring. This keeps us from the ego’s tendency to make an idol of one another, to put the responsibility for our salvation (or lack thereof) onto our preachers, priests, gurus, and teachers, to judge and make comparisons, to compete, or to flatter someone’s ego in the name of God.  We do not fall into the trap of false humility and say we have nothing to give, we have no talents and no gifts, let others shine!  All of our gifts belong to all of us with mutuality, with getting to give and giving to get a beautiful field of naturally occurring miracles. 

One of the most compelling features of A Course in Miracles is that it is not a new religion nor does Jesus teach us to separate from the world into an elect group whose enlightened understanding of God will save us while the rest of the world perishes.  Instead Jesus teaches us through a Course presented in such a way as to be impossible to learn by oneself.  We must pray for understanding. We must seek others to help us understand.  Nobody has the perfect understanding on their own.  Whether a beautiful illustration, a spiritual insight, an actionable way of application or illumination, we all have certain gifts to bring to our learning and teaching of the curriculum.  If we do not acknowledge our gifts, if we are too afraid of making a mistake, uncertain of our own understanding, prone to hiding behind a facade of humility, or worse yet, let our past obscure our gifts, we will remain in a state of confusion and uncertainty.  We will be outside the realm of giving to get and getting to give.  In this realm, we will flounder, wondering why we are not experiencing the sense of liberation and awakening that others, who are sharing, claim.  In this state, we will not enjoy holy relationships for holy relationships thrive only on recognizing our ultimate holiness, our true Identity, our gifts that we bring to the table of Love. 

In the realm of the miraculous, our treasure house is always full because every single one of us are giving to get and getting to give.  This loving mutuality is guarded by angels which protect every gift from ever being lost.  In our holy habit of devotion, where we come before our Father with altars which have been swept clear of the ego and all of its lies and illusions, we can feel the presence of those angels, watching over our treasures, urging us to share and share again and not be afraid.  If we make a mistake, there is a beautiful opportunity for holy correction.  Each time we use our gifts of forgiveness and correction, those gifts in turn are given us, leaving no trace of the mistake, but only the loving correction. 

Last year when I first started blogging the workbook lessons, I was plagued with self-doubt and worries about what others would think.  I have not necessarily led a holy life; my journey has taken me down paths that I am not exactly proud to hang up for display!  Many of my relationships look like train wrecks.  I say things that later, I regret.  I put my nose where it does not belong, I shake my finger at others when I should be shaking it at myself, and I make judgments that are unfair and unkind.  There are times the old potty mouth still has its say.  Not unlike many of my relationships, based on limited resources, jealousy, and uncertainty, my walk with God has been fraught with an on and off again switch.  In my own estimation, it is taking me an inordinate amount of time to recognize my real and holy Self that Jesus discusses in the Course. 

And yet, I accept the Father’s gifts today because I trust Him Who gave them to me. I trust the Lord will take my gifts and use them. While fears and doubts about my gifts would keep me outside the realm of love; the gifts I share serve as a means to enter in.  If I write something that is shocking or offensive, if I attack rather than love, if I make a mistake in interpretation or fail to illuminate a lesson properly, I trust in you to forgive me and for God to correct me! 

When we have learned this incredible lesson, when we have applied the concept in our efforts to awaken ourselves and others – I cherish your gifts as mine; you cherish my gifts as yours – now and always – this is our Last Judgment.  We are brought into holy mutuality, an elevated recognition of our oneness with God and with each other; our Sonship with Father God and Brotherhood with Christ, His Son.  Our minds awaken in the dream.  We are no longer enchanted by the illusion of separateness from God and with each other.  Our minds and hearts can now perceive the Real World and we are made ready to see God and be welcomed back into our eternal Kingdom. 

Today, ask the Lord to reveal this truth to you.  Pray for the Last Judgment for there is nothing to fear.  Recognize your role in the return of Christ and the Last Judgment and commit yourself to the awakening.  Join with me and with all your holy brothers who wash away our mistakes by placing our trust in the tender kindness and everlasting mercy of our loving Father who awaits our return! 

[1] A Course In Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 316.  Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 458.

Audio credit: the friar patch @ www.eckiefriar.com

Lesson 315 All Gifts My Brothers Give Belong To Me

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II.  SECTION 10.  What is the Last Judgment?

Lesson 315 All gifts my brothers give belong to me.

  1. Each day a thousand treasures come to me with every passing moment.  I am blessed with gifts throughout the day, in value far beyond all things of which I can conceive.  A brother smiles upon another, and my heart is gladdened.  Someone speaks a word of gratitude or mercy, and my mind receives this gift and takes it as its own.  And everyone who finds the way to God becomes my savior, pointing out the way to me, and giving me his certainty that what he learned is surely mine as well.
  2. I thank You, Father, for the many gifts that come to me today and every day from every Son of God.  My brothers are unlimited in all their gifts to me.  Now may I offer them my thankfulness, that gratitude to them may lead me on to my Creator and His memory. [1]
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Yesterday as we gathered together to start our meeting off with a little road trip and breakfast, I was called upon to offer thanks for our food.  It is my privilege to thank God for our sustenance even while we are in separation.  Today especially as we were about to eat our crispy bacon and fried egg muffins, my heart was lifted in gratitude for my brothers who are on the path to God, supporting rather than mocking or impeding my way!  However as soon as I ended the prayer of thanks and blessing, I remembered the animals, the plants, and the people whose lives contributed to the tasty concoction set before us.  Lately I have been including this thought into my words of thanksgiving for our meals and would encourage others to do the same.  As we recognize the hundreds, if not thousands, of other creatures who have worked together to bring food to our plates, our separate egos are humbled of their grandiose ideas of independence.  The same can be said as we sit in front of our computers to begin our daily work, as we get in our vehicles to take us where we need to go, as we pick up our shovels and rakes to work in our gardens, as we cook and clean, sleep and dress…Every day and in every way we are blessed beyond measure by the contributions of others. 

As our egos lose hold upon our minds and our minds are awakened to Truth, appreciation for the God of Everything fills our minds and hearts with happy gratitude.   A sense of brotherhood, the bounty of Creation, and most of all the Love of God envelope us with happiness.  Christ has returned in you and in me, as we find our way to reunion with God, learning and teaching simultaneously the certainty of God.  Each passing moment we fill each other’s cup whether a well-placed text or phone call, a scheduled or impromptu meeting, a distant prayer, a loving thought, a book, a blog post, a tender illumination or startling application. As we learn to recognize and trust the thousand joys that overflow our treasure chests, our minds are further awakened, our perception is cleaner and keener, we are reminded of God and our place in His Kingdom.  We experience the wonder, the joy, the oneness of Creation.

When we are awakened to reality, the ego’s enchantment and substitutes for reality no longer entice us!  We make our last judgment upon the separated world – when we make our final declaration of liberation from all that has no value that which has all value stands alone.  The fake world disappears without a fight, with no bloodshed, with no sorrow.  Happy good riddance to be remembered and sorted through no more! 

Dear Heavenly Father, today our hearts are lifted in thankfulness for the insights, the support, the encouragement, and joy that come to us each day from Creation.  Our fellow creatures continue to bless us with treasures that fill our mind, our heart, our belly with that which sustains us on the otherwise lonely path that leads to You.  Their contributions keep coming, supporting our efforts, enlightening our mind, casting light so we can find our way! We take this time to thank our fellows, to state our recognition for their gifts to us.  It is when we recognize their gifts that we move toward You, for You have created us as one.  In the name of Jesus, with whom we are one.  Amen. 

[1] A Course In Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 315. Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 458.

Audio credit: the friar patch @ www.eckiefriar.com