Day 120

For morning and evening review:

(109) I rest in God.

I rest in God today, and let Him work in me and through me, while I rest in Him in quiet and in perfect certainty.

(110) I am as God created me.

I am God's Son. Today I lay aside all sick illusions of myself, and let my Father tell me Who I really am.

On the hour:
I rest in God.

On the half hour:
I am as God created me.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I spent the weekend at a regional Sweet Adeline competition and convention, and I notice that everywhere I go and everything I do is a great opportunity to observe people and situations through the eyes of love instead of fear. "Competition" doesn't seem quite the same to me anymore. As a competitive athlete, I used to see everything as an opportunity to "win" - to be better than someone else. If there are winners, there must be losers as well. But this year I thought of the competition less as a competition and more as a demonstration. I had not competed in a quartet since 2002 until this year, so that gave me an entirely new perspective on a more personal level.

The results were amazing. Although the scores weren't as high as we would have liked in either the quartet or the chorus contests, I was very pleased with the performances I gave in each contest. For me it is all about doing my best and letting the chips fall where they may. That is such a new perspective for me and it was much more fun and relaxing than it used to be when I would get nervous and feel that I had to "beat" someone else. What a terrible analogy!

Singing through the eyes of love instead of fear makes so much more sense to me - in fact, it's almost comical for me to think how I used to be. That's surely a miracle!

Day 119

For morning and evening review:

(107) Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

I am mistaken when I think I can be hurt in any way. I am God's Son, whose Self rests safely in the Mind of God.

(108) To give and to receive are one in truth.

I will forgive all things today, that I may learn how to accept the truth in me, and come to recognize my sinlessness.

On the hour:
Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

On the half hour:
To give and to receive are one in truth.

Day 118

For morning and evening review:

(105) God's peace and joy are mine.

Today I will accept God's peace and joy, in glad exchange for all the substitutes that I have made for happiness and peace.

(106) Let me be still and listen to the truth.

Let my own feeble voice be still, and let me hear the mighty Voice for Truth Itself assure me that I am God's perfect Son.

On the hour:
God's peace and joy are mine.

On the half hour:
Let me be still and listen to the truth.

Day 117

For morning and evening review:

(103) God, being Love, is also happiness.

Let me remember love is happiness, and nothing else brings joy. And so I choose to entertain no substitutes for love.

(104) I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

Love is my heritage, and with it joy. These are the gifts my Father gave to me. I would accept all that is mine in truth.

On the hour:
God, being Love, is also happiness.

On the half hour:
I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I'm in Rochester, Minnesota with my Sweet Adeline chorus and quartet for our regional competition, which begins today. Last night I took my copy of The Secret over to another quartet's room and watched it with them as I help them prepare for the competition. I'm am always so inspired 1) by watching the movie again and 2) by watching and then talking about the movie with others who haven't seen it yet. We really had a great dialogue last night about visualizing their performance, right down to what it feels like coming off the stage tonight.

I remember that everything that seems to happen "to" us is simply a manifestation and a matching of our vibrational energy. It was so fun to be in that room with them last night and experience that again.

Competitions are surely a time where fear could be present. But there really is no competition, there is simply doing the best each of us is capable of and leaving the details to the universe.

That's a miracle in action!

Day 116

For morning and evening review:

(101) God's Will for me is perfect happiness.

God's Will is perfect happiness for me. And I can suffer but from the belief there is another will apart from His.

(102) I share God's Will for happiness for me.

I share my Father's Will for me, His Son. What He has given me is all I want. What He has given me is all there is.

On the hour:
God's Will for me is perfect happiness.

On the half hour:
I share God's Will for happiness for me.

Miracles I'm noticing:

Today's review is pretty straightforward: it's all about what God wants for me, which is perfect happiness; and I don't have to do it alone. Short, sweet, and powerful. As I look for these reminders in the faces of everyone I see today, I will remember that it really is a very simple lesson. If it's not easy, it's because I have placed the barriers in the way.

Simple = we know what to do and how to be. Easy = we've gotten out of the way and are in the flow and are DOING and BEING what we know to do and be. That's the only distinction between those two words.



When I forget, I'm just going to get out my trusty EASY button and remind myself!

Day 115

For morning and evening review:

(99) Salvation is my only function here.

My function here is to forgive the world for all the errors I have made. For thus am I released from them with all the world.

(100) My part is essential to God's plan for salvation.

I am essential to the plan of God for the salvation of the world. For He gave me His plan that I might save the world.

On the hour:
Salvation is my only function here.

On the half hour:
My part is essential to God's plan for salvation.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I love Tuesday nights because that's our Course study group. We always share with each other the miracles we're seeing in our own lives and it's a great validation for each of us and all of us to see how the lessons are helping us see the miracles in our lives. Each of us had something to share, including how we can see the lessons in so many different forms throughout our days because we're now looking for them more deliberately and purposefully. Whether it's mirrors we get from other people or songs on the radio, each of us has something to share that opens the conversation to a more significant level and causes each of us - and all of us - to notice our gratitude and love instead of fear.

I'm eternally grateful for my study group and for all the beautiful stories and amazing support and love I feel from them and for them. Miracles really are everywhere - we just have to open our eyes and see them!

Day 114

For morning and evening review:

(97) I am spirit.

I am the Son of God. No body can contain my spirit, nor impose on me a limitation God created not.

(98) I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.

What can my function be but to accept the Word of God, Who has created me for what I am and will forever be?

On the hour:
I am spirit.

On the half hour:
I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.

Miracles I'm noticing:

As I read through today's review and also the text for today, it becomes very clear that accepting ourselves as we are is accepting God's plan. If we do not believe that we are worthy of the gifts God has given us, then we are stopping or blocking the magnificent abundance that is our birthright. Today's text reminds us that "Only you can deprive yourself of anything." It tells us that the denial of this simple fact takes many forms, and that we must learn to recognize these forms and to oppose them without exception. That means that we cannot blame - others or ourselves - because that would suppose that there is an "out there" and an "in here," when, in reality they are the same thing. If we blame others for anything, we are really blaming ourselves; and we cannot blame ourselves without blaming others. That is why blame must be undone, not seen elsewhere.

This is such a great reminder of how I really am responsible for all the effects in my life - and also for the effects I see in the world. That's a tough thing to realize, especially in light of all the world affairs.

I read a very interesting post from Steve Pavlina this week called "Subjective Reality and Nonviolence" which shed some light on the Virginia Tech episode from this perspective.

Here is the first paragraph of that post:

The perspective of subjective reality says the entire world — i.e. your seemingly objective physical reality — is a projection of your own consciousness. This perspective suggests the only thing you can really change is yourself. If you want to address the issue of violence in the world, you can only do so by turning within. Go to work on the violence within you, and strive to become a person who embodies nonviolence. This translates into a serious personal responsibility, more than is typically experienced with a purely objective world view.

The article points out that we are really responsible for the effects in the world and can begin to change reality by first going within. Since today's lesson reminds us that there is no "out there" and "in here," we can begin to see how this provocative topic can stir up lots of ideas and conversation.

I'm reminded that there is no order of difficulty in miracles - so a miracle can appear to be huge or minute. Understanding and internalizing today's text and Steve Pavlina's message may appear to be huge; but the effects will uncover miracles at every turn. As we become aware of the effects of our inner thoughts on our outer experiences, we can begin to see how choosing love over fear - spirit over ego - inclusion over exclusion - can and does shed light on whatever appears to "just happen" in the world.

Day 113

For morning and evening review:

(95) I am one Self, united with my Creator.

Serenity and perfect peace are mine, because I am one Self, completely whole, at one with all creation and with God.

(96) Salvation comes from my one Self.

From my one Self, Whose knowledge still remains within my mind, I see God's perfect plan for my salvation perfectly fulfilled.

On the hour:
I am one Self, united with my Creator.

On the half hour:
Salvation comes from my one Self.

Miracles I'm noticing:

What I am noticing is that I am not remembering to think about these lessons on the hour and the half hour; however, I am not making myself wrong about that, I am just starting over today. My tendency as a recovering perfectionist is to beat myself up and it's a miracle that I'm choosing love over fear as it relates to me.

Today's TUT was interesting in that regard. It said:

Your name is coming up again, Jodee. Whispered here, gossiped there.

And it's a good thing we don't have tabloids, because your picture would be everywhere. The gist being that your love life is about to take off!

First, you're going to be falling wildly in love with who you already are, becoming an irresistible magnet to others.

Then, as stars are rearranged and connections are made, you're literally going to feel the fire that sparked all creation. Hubba, hubba!

Finally, you're going to bathe forevermore in rays of pure ecstasy.

So... ready for step one?
The Universe

It feels much better to bathe in rays of ecstasy! That's a much more loving way to treat my one Self!

Day 112

For morning and evening review:

(93) Light and joy and peace abide in me.

I am the home of light and joy and peace. I welcome them into the home I share with God, because I am a part of Him.

(94) I am as God created me.

I will remain forever as I was, created by the Changeless like Himself. And I am one with Him, and He with me.

On the hour:
Light and joy and peace abide in me.

On the half hour:
I am as God created me.

Miracles I'm noticing:

These two review lessons really drive home the issue of personal accountability. It is my responsibility to own the light and joy and peace that are in me because that is how God created me. Anything less than total happiness and joy is the result of my own blocks to that light.

I realize how much the world depends on me to do my part in lighting the way. This does not feel heavy to me - it simply means I get to be who God created me as. That's actually a relief - and a miracle!

Day 111

We are now ready for Review III.

During the next few days, we are to devote five minutes twice a day, or longer if we would prefer it, to considering the thoughts that are assigned. Read over the ideas and comments that are given for each day's exercise. And then begin to think about them, while letting our minds relate them our our needs, our seeming problems and all our concerns.

We are to place the ideas within our minds, and let them use them as they choose. Give your mind faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who gave the thoughts to you.

Each day's review assignments - which are suggested to be completed during the first 5 minutes of the day and the 5 minutes before sleep - will conclude with a restatement of the thought to use each hour, and the one to be applied on each half hour as well. Forget them not. The second chance with each of these ideas will bring such large advances that we come from these reviews with learning gains so great we will continue on more solid ground, with firmer footsteps and with stronger faith.

Do not forget how little you have learned.
Do not forget how much you can learn now.
Do not forget your Father's need of you,
As you review these thoughts He gave to you.

Today's Lesson:

For morning and evening review:

(91) Miracles are seen in light.

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

(92) Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.

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

On the hour:
Miracles are seen in light.

On the half hour:
Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I'm very grateful for these practice periods, and for the opportunity to use this time to increase my ability to study and retain these lessons. I am reminded of how very easy this course is if I get out of my ego and into my Spirit. I love how there is no judgment and it is so loving and accepting and committed to my success.

As my business grows, I am challenged daily to play bigger, which involves more cash outlay than I'm used to. As doubt and fear creep in to this bigger arena, I am given more and more opportunities to practice what I'm learning here and am challenged to remember what I Know. When I can listen and allow Spirit to guide me, there are no fears, only Love and confidence that I am living the life I am meant to live.

I am truly blessed and duly grateful!

Day 110

Today's Lesson:

I am as God created me.

This one thought would be enough to save us and the world, if we believed that it is true. Its truth would mean that we have made no changes in ourselves that have reality, nor changed the universe so that what God created was replaced by fear and evil, misery and death. If we remain as God created us fear has no meaning, evil is not real, and misery and death do not exist.

Today's idea is all we need to let complete correction heal our minds, and give us perfect vision that will heal all the mistakes that any mind has made at any time or place. It is enough to heal the past and make the future free. It is enough to let the present be accepted as it is. It is enough to let time be the means for all the world to learn escape from time, and every change that time appears to bring in passing by.

If we remain as God created us, appearances cannot replace the truth, health cannot turn to sickness, nor can death be substitute for life, or fear for love.

The healing power of today's idea is limitless. It is the birthplace of all miracles, the great restorer of the truth to the awareness of the world. Practice today's idea with gratitude. This is the truth that comes to set us free. This is the truth that God has promised us. This is the Word in which all sorrow ends.

For our five-minute practice periods, begin with with this quotation from the text:

I am as God created me. His Son can suffer nothing. And I am His Son.

The with this statement firmly in our minds, we are to try to discover in our minds the Self Who is the holy Son of God Himself.

We are as God created us. Today we are to honor our Self. Let graven images we made to be the Son of God instead of what he is be worshipped not today. Deep in our minds the holy Christ in us is waiting our acknowledgment as us. And we are lost and do not know ourselves while He is unacknowledged and unknown.

Remember Him throughout the day with thankful hearts and loving thoughts for all who meet with us today. Let us declare this truth as often as we can. This is the Word of God that sets us free. This is the key that opens up the gate of Heaven and lets us enter in the peace of God and His eternity.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I know that everything happens for a reason and time means nothing; however, I can't help but think about how my life could have been had I realized and acknowledged today's lesson sooner. I wouldn't be where I am unless I had gone through everything I've gone through, however. I'm just grateful that I am figuring this out now!

Today's text reminds us that the Holy Spirit cannot and will not speak to an unwilling host, because He will not be heard. But if we think like Him every so slightly, the little spark becomes a blazing light and fills our minds so that He becomes our only Guest. Whenever we ask the ego to enter, we lessen His welcome. He will remain, but we have allied ourselves against Him. Whatever journey we choose to take, He will go with us, waiting.

The text also asks us, "Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God? You will accept only whom you invite....The Holy Spirit is there, although He cannot help you without your invitation. And the ego is nothing, whether you invite it or not. Real freedom depends on welcoming reality, and of your guests only the Holy Spirit is real."

This makes things so much clearer and easier to choose. Why wouldn't we choose to be host to God? As we've learned from The Secret, we simply have to notice how we feel. Doesn't it feel better to be host to God than hostage to the ego? Then let's choose that. Choosing love over fear feels so much better than the other way around. And it's so nice to know that even if the ego gets in the way, Spirit doesn't go away. He is still there waiting for the slightest invitation.

Marianne Williamson said, in one of her lectures, that sometimes we may have to "fake it 'til we make it," or act as if we are what we want to be. She says behavior modification is not the same as real transformation, but it helps us along the way. If we can recognize that we aren't being what we really want to be and aren't doing what we really want to do, we can acknowledge for ourselves those times when Spirit does win out over ego and celebrate them. All our Spirit and lightwork is cumulative and it may take some practice to build our spiritual muscles. On the other hand, Yoda tells us that there is no try, there is just do or not do.

So today we can choose. Yoda or Marianne. Either way the true test will be to look back over our shoulder at the end of each day and notice how far we've come. Celebrate that we are as God created us. And look ahead to tomorrow with peace and love and joy. That's the miraculous path I choose.

Day 109

Today's Lesson:

I rest in God.

We ask for rest today, and quietness unshaken by the world's appearances. We ask for peace and stillness, in the midst of all the turmoil born of clashing dreams. We ask for safety and for happiness, although we seem to look on danger and on sorrow. And we have the thought that will answer our asking with what we request.

"I rest in God." This thought will bring to us the rest and quiet, peace and stillness, and the safety and the happiness we seek. "I rest in God." Here is the end of suffering for all the world, and everyone who ever came and yet will come to linger for a while. Here is the thought in which the Son of God is born again, to recognize himself.

"I rest in God." Completely undismayed, this thought will carry us through storms and strife, past misery and pain, past loss and death, and onward to the certainty of God. There is no suffering it cannot heal. There is no problem it cannot solve. And no appearance but will turn to truth before the eyes of us who rest in God.

This is the day of peace. We rest in God, and while the world is torn by winds of hate our rest remains completely undisturbed. Ours is the rest of truth. We call to all to join us in our rest, and they will hear another voice than ours because we gave our voices to God, and now we rest in Him and Him speak through us.

Each hour that we take our rest today, a tired mind is suddenly made glad, a bird with broken wings begins to sing, a stream long dry begins to flow again. The world is born again each time we rest, and hourly remember that we came to bring the peace of God into the world, that it might take rest along with us.

We rest within the peace of God today, quiet and unafraid. Each brother comes to take his rest, and offer it to us. We rest together here, for thus our rest is made complete, and what we give today we have received already. Time is not the guardian of what we give today. We give to those unborn and those passed by, to every Thought of God, and to the Mind in which these Thoughts were born and where they rest. And we remind them of their resting place each time we tell ourselves, "I rest in God."

Miracles I'm noticing:

Today's lesson is a wonderful reminder in the midst of the events taking place this week at Virginia Tech. Thinking of each of the victims - and the gunman - I remember that "I (and each of them) rest in God."

Peace on earth.

Day 108

Today's Lesson:

To give and to receive are one in truth.

True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body's eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.

This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision, being healed, has power to heal. This is the light that brings our peace of mind to other minds, to share it and be glad that they are one with us and with themselves. This is the light that heals because it brings single perception, based upon one frame of reference, from which one meaning comes.

Here are both giving and receiving seen as different aspects of one Thought whose truth does not depend on which is seen as first, nor which appears to be in second place. Here it is understood that both occur together, that the Thought remain complete. And in this understanding is the base on which all opposites are reconciled, because they are perceived from the same frame of reference which unifies this Thought.

To learn that giving and receiving are the same has special usefulness, because it can be tried so easily and seen as true. And when this special case has proved it always works, in every circumstance where it is tried, the thought behind it can be generalized to other areas of doubt and double vision. And from there it will extend, and finally arrive at the one Thought which underlies them all.

To give is to receive. Today we will attempt to offer peace to everyone, and see how quickly peace returns to us. Light is tranquility, and in that peace is vision given us, and we can see.

So, we begin the practice periods with the instruction for today, and say:

To give and to receive are one in truth.
I will receive what I am giving now.

Then close your eyes, and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to everyone, to have it yours. You might, for instance, say:

To everyone I offer quietness.
To everyone I offer peace of mind.
To everyone I offer gentleness.

The very simple lesson for today will teach us much. Effect and cause will be far better understood from this time on, and we will make much faster progress now. Think of the exercises for today as quick advances in your learning, made still faster and more sure each time you say, "To give and to receive are one in truth."

Miracles I'm noticing:

It's difficult to write today and not mention the two big stories that are in the news: the Don Imus firing and the Virginia Tech shooting. Today's lesson gives us great insight into our small part in shifting the focus on each of these events from fear to love.

In addition, I listened to Marianne Williamson's XM radio show yesterday, and she offered insights from her perspective as a student and a teacher of this course.

In first talking about the Imus situation in which he made some awful racial comments on-air about the Rutgers women's basketball team, and was subsequently fired from his job, Marianne says:

I think I have some left-wing credentials, and even a few of them in the area of racial reconciliation. But a left-wing thought police scares me just as much as a right-wing one does, and the idea that anyone -- Al Sharpton or anyone else -- is planning to "purify the air waves" doesn't just offend me; it horrifies me.

All people of good will want a good society, and racial prejudice has no place in one. But the fundamental principle of American governance, guaranteed by the First Amendment, is that we rely upon freedom -- letting people say what they say and think what they think -- as the best way to get us there. You want to get rid of prejudice? Shine the light on it. Don't send it creeping back under its rock.

(from her website)

Shine the light on it. She said, on her radio show yesterday, that she believes that Imus was genuinely sorry for what he said. She believes he should have been suspended, but that he should have had the opportunity to come back on the radio and talk about what he had learned - and give the world the opportunity to talk about the impact of his words and for all of us to learn from it by shining the light on it, not by sending it back to the dark.

Marianne also said something yesterday that is sticking with me. She said that unforgiveness is passive violence. Really makes me think about my part in this situation.

As for the Virginia Tech shooting, that was a topic of our conversation last night following our course study. It is very difficult to talk about a subject like that one without some level of judgment; yet that is what we are learning in this course. The text for yesterday and the day before - the day of the shooting - were "The End of Sickness" and "The Denial of God" and each had a message pertaining to this situation. In "The End of Sickness" we read:

"Sickness and perfection are irreconcilable. If God created you perfect, you are perfect. If you believe you can be sick, you have placed other gods before Him. God is not at war with the god of sickness you made, but you are. He is the symbol of deciding against God, and you are afraid of him because he cannot be reconciled with God's Will. If you attack him, you will make him real to you. But if you refuse to worship him in whatever form he may appear to you, and wherever you think you see him, he will disappear into the nothingness out of which he was made (Chapter 10, IV 1, 3-9)."

This is a very difficult concept to grasp when there is so much sadness around the loss of so many innocent victims. Our human minds may never understand the reasons for these kinds of events. We asked each other last night, "What can I do about situations like this? What about 9/11 and the tsunamis and the murders and the tragedies?" and it is easy to feel helpless.

However, the text goes on to say:

"The miracle is the act of a Son of God who has laid aside all false gods, and calls on his brothers to do likewise. It is an act of faith, because it is the recognition that his brother can do it. It is a call to the Holy Spirit in his mind, a call that is strengthened by joining. Because the miracle worker has heard God's Voice, he strengthens It in a sick brother by weakening his belief in sickness, which he does not share. The power of one mind can shine into another, because all the lamps of God were lit by the same spark. It is everywhere and it is eternal.

"...If you but see the little spark you will learn of the greater light, for the Rays are there unseen. Perceiving the spark will heal, but knowing the light will create. Yet in the returning the little light must be acknowledged first, for the separation was a descent from magnitude to littleness. But the spark is still as pure as the Great Light, because it is the remaining call of creation. Put all your faith in it, and God Himself will answer you (Chapter 10, IV, 7-8)."

And, in thinking about today's lesson I'm reminded of the amazing things Helen Keller accomplished in her lifetime, unable to hear or to see in the physical sense. The first idea from today's lesson as written above ("True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body's eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there."), is a great example of how Helen Keller was able to transcend her physical ailments and make a huge difference in the world.

She was so much more than a blind and deaf woman who learned to communicate, however. Here are some quotes that give me a whole new perspective about her convictions and stand in the world:

The Truth About Helen Keller

Helen Keller: "I have never felt separated from my fellow men by the silent dark," she wrote. "Any sense of isolation is impossible since the doors of my heart were thrown open and the world came in."

"So long as I confine my activities to social service and the blind, they compliment me extravagantly, calling me 'archpriestess of the sightless,' 'wonder woman,' and 'a modern miracle," Helen wrote to her friend Robert LaFollette, an early pacifist who ran for president as a third-party Progressive candidate in 1924. "But when it comes to a discussion of poverty, and I maintain that it is the result of wrong economics - that the industrial system under which we live is at the root of much of the physical deafness and blindness in the world - that is a different matter!"

As I read about Helen Keller and also reflect on current events, I see how my place in the world can be so much more effective if I just step into my own power and be who I was created to be. Studying this course and really taking its lessons to heart, I see that I can make a positive difference in the entire universe by doing my part. Shifting my focus from fear - as would have been automatic three years ago when faced with the two events described earlier - to love as I'm doing now is truly a miracle.

As I be the change I wish to see in the world, I do become that which I want to see, and I begin to see more and more of what I wish to see. There is nothing more that is asked of me - but this commitment to see more clearly will have enough impact that I can feel I've had a life well lived. There is no order of difficulty in miracles - so as we each be our part, we will shift the entire consciousness of the planet.

Day 107

Today's Lesson:

Truth will correct all errors in my mind.

Where truth has entered, errors disappear. They are gone because, without belief, they have no life. And so they disappear to nothingness. From dust to dust they come and go, for only truth remains.

Try to remember when there was a time, - perhaps a minute, maybe even less - when nothing came to interrupt your peace; when you were certain you were loved and safe. Then try to picture what it would be like to have that moment be extended to the end of time and to eternity. Then let the sense of quiet that we felt be multiplied a hundred times, and then be multiplied another hundred more.

Now we have a hint, not more than just the faintest idea of the state our minds will rest in when the truth has come. Without illusions there could be no fear, no doubt and no attack. When truth has come all pain is over, for there is no room for transitory thoughts and dead ideas to linger in our minds. Truth occupies our minds completely, liberating us from all beliefs in the ephemeral. They have no place because the truth has come, and they are nowhere. They can not be found, for truth is everywhere forever, now.

When truth has come it does not stay a while, to disappear or change to something else. It does not shift and alter its form, nor come and go and go and come again. It stays exactly as it always was, to be depended on in every need, and trusted with a perfect trust in all the seeming difficulties and the doubts that the appearances the world presents engender.

We do not ask for what we do not have. We merely ask for what belongs to us, that we may recognize it as our own. Today we practice on the happy note of certainty that has been born of truth. The shaky and unsteady footsteps of illusion are not our approach today. We are as certain of success as we are sure we live and hope and breathe and think. We do not doubt we walk with truth today, and count on it to enter into all the exercises that we do this day.

Truth will correct all errors in our minds which tell us we could be apart from Him Who goes with us. We speak to Him today, and make our pledge to let His function be fulfilled through us. To share His function is to share His joy. His confidence is with us, as we say:

Truth will correct all errors in my mind,
And I will rest in Him Who is my Self.

Then let Him lead us gently to the truth, which will envelop us and give us peace so deep and tranquil that we will return to the familiar world reluctantly. And yet we will be glad to look again upon this world. For we will bring with us the promise of the changes which the truth that goes with us will carry to the world. The errors that surround the world will be corrected as we let them be corrected in our minds.

Miracles I'm noticing:

Today's lesson is a great reminder that we have the power to choose truth and peace every day and every minute. As I choose to see the world differently and seek the peace of God which is inside of me, I will see the outer world differently as well. I can think of many examples when the stresses and rush of the daily grind could be alleviated by choosing differently and reminding myself of today's lesson. I can look out the window right now as I'm typing this and see thick fog or I can realize that the fog does not cover up anything - the houses and trees are there whether I can see them or not. I can choose to be upset because the visibility is reduced this morning, or I can trust that my neighbor's house is still there, even though I can't see it.

Today I will remember the peace that I carry with me and choose to see that instead of any stresses that may want to get in the way. As I accept myself as God created me, I will be incapable of suffering. As today's text says, I do not do that because I will be punished otherwise. It is merely because my acknowledgment of my Father is the acknowledgment of myself as I am. My Father created me wholly without sin, wholly without pain and wholly without suffering of any kind. If I deny Him, I bring sin, pain and suffering into my own mind because of the power He gave it. My mind is capable of creating worlds, but it can also deny what it creates because it is free.

Ahhhh ... that's a miracle!

Day 106

Today's Lesson:

Let me be still and listen to the truth.

Today we will be laying aside the ego's voice, however loudly it may seem to call. If we will not accept its petty gifts that give us nothing that we really want; if we will listen with open minds, then we will hear the mighty Voice of truth, quiet in power, strong in stillness, and completely certain in Its messages.

Be not afraid today to circumvent the voices of the world. Walk lightly past their meaningless persuasion. Hear them not. Be still today and listen to the truth. Hear only Him today, and do not wait to reach Him longer. Hear one Voice today.

Thus does salvation start and thus it ends; when everything is ours and everything is given away, it will remain with us forever. And the lesson will have been learned. Today we practice giving, not the way we understand it now, but as it is. Each hour's exercises should begin with this request for our enlightenment:

I will be still and listen to the truth.
What does it mean to give and to receive?

Ask and expect an answer. Our request is one whose answer has been waiting long to be received by us. It will begin the ministry for which we came, and which will free the world from thinking giving is a way to lose. And so the world becomes ready to understand and to receive.

Today the holy Word of God is kept through our receiving it to give away, so we can teach the world what giving means by listening and learning it of Him. Do not forget today to reinforce our choice to hear and to receive the Word by this reminder, given to ourselves as often as is possible today:

Let me be still and listen to the truth.
I am the messenger of God today.
My voice is His, to give what I receive.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I really am beginning to notice how important it is for me to be still and to quiet my busy mind. I have so many things programmed into my brain that just don't work for me when I consider that I'm supposed to be happy and things are supposed to be much easier than they sometimes seem. When I just stop the many voices - voices from the past and voices of authority figures and those who seem to know better than I - I have an opportunity to really listen to what I Know is the truth.

I am the messenger of God, and I am not in this alone. When I remind myself of that, everything is joyful and there is no pressure to be a certain way or to do things a certain way. As we learned from our text last week, when anything threatens our peace of mind, we are to ask ourselves, "Has God changed His Mind about me?" Then accept His decision, for it is indeed changeless, and refuse to change our minds about ourselves. God would never decide against us, because He would be deciding against Himself.

God created us perfect. And His laws work only for our good - there are no other laws beside His. Everything else is merely lawless and therefore chaotic. When I can remember that, I realize how much I'm making up and then treating as the truth. There doesn't have to be so much pressure - in fact, there doesn't have to be any pressure because we can trust in the truth.

How much that will free us up to be who we are supposed to be! I'm currently reading Marcus Buckingham's latest book "Go Put Your Strengths to Work" which is all about doing something with what we know about our individual strengths. It's not enough to know this stuff, we really have to now start being what we know. It's similar to what I'm reading in the course. It's not enough to believe this could be true - I've got to start living the truth and trusting it by being still. All is well and all is perfect. What more miraculous thought is there than that? :)

Day 105

Today's Lesson:

God's peace and joy are mine.

Today we will accept these gifts of God's peace and joy and we will try to understand that these gifts increase as we receive them. They are not like gifts the world can give, in which the giver loses as he gives the gift; the taker being richer by the giver's loss. Those are not gifts, but bargains made with guilt. The truly given gift entails no loss. This implies a limit or an insufficiency.

Those kinds of gifts are a bid for a more valuable return; a loan with interest to be paid in full; a temporary lending, meant to be a pledge of debt to be repaid with more than was received by him who took the gift. This strange distortion of what giving means pervades all levels of the world we see. It strips all meaning from the gifts we give, and leaves us nothing in the ones we take.

A major learning goal of this course is to reverse our view of giving, so we can receive. Giving has become a source of fear, and so we end up avoiding the only means by which we can receive. We need only accept God's peace and joy, and we will learn a different way of looking at a gift. God's gifts will never lessen when they are given away - they only increase.

True giving is creation. It extends the limitless to the unlimited, eternity to timelessness, and love unto itself. It adds to all that is complete already, not in simple terms of adding more, for that implies that is was less before. It adds by letting what cannot contain itself fulfill its aim of giving everything it has away, securing it forever for itself.

Today we are to begin by thinking of those brothers who have been denied by us the peace and joy that are their right under the equal laws of God. Here we denied them to ourselves. And here we must return to claim them as our own.

We are to think of our "enemies" a little while, and tell each one, as he occurs to us:

My brother, peace and joy I offer you,
That I may have God's peace and joy as mine.

This helps us prepare to recognize God's gifts to us, and lets our minds be free of all that would prevent us from succeeding today. Now we are ready to accept the gift of peace and joy that God has given us. Now we are ready to experience the joy and peace we have denied ourselves. Now we can say, "God's peace and joy are mine," for we have given what we would receive.

Miracles I'm noticing:

There are so many! I just got back from my radio show, which is why today's lesson is posted later than usual. The theme of the show today was "Life is Good!" and I played some great songs that I hadn't heard before I got up early this morning to plan the show and download the music. Among my new favorite songs are: "Life is Good" by James Taylor's brother Livingston Taylor and "Life Has Been Good to Me" written by Randy Newman for the musical "Faust." I got up early to find those songs (like 3:30 a.m.) but didn't listen as closely to them when I downloaded them as when I played them on the air and they're very inspiring. They help me remember that I can choose peace and joy - and every day, every hour, every minute I can make a different (and better) choice.

On my way home I was listening to Oprah's third interview with Esther Hicks on XM radio. What a great message that was! Esther was talking about vibrational energy and that the world isn't ready to hear that term yet. She said that is why she was edited out of the original Secret movie. She then went out to tell a story about how Napoleon Hill, who wrote "Think and Grow Rich" in 1937 also talked about vibrational energy in the original manuscript, but it, too, had to be edited. Now that original version is available - maybe we are starting to be ready to hear more about vibration.

It reminds me of Marcus Buckingham's newest book "Now Put Your Strengths to Work" in which he talks about how disappointed he is that despite all the work he's done in the past 10 years to help people and organizations focus on their strengths, the percentage of engaged employees is actually going down. Maybe that's a good thing, if we consider that we may be on the brink of not just TALKING about these things but actually being called to ACTING on them.

For me it will begin with today's lesson. I know I want to practice letting my mind be free of anything that would prevent success - would block the peace and joy that are mine.

Life is good - that is a fact. We need simply to get rid of the blocks to seeing that. Today in Fargo the sky is bright blue and the clouds are nowhere in sight. That's like knowing that there are no blocks to God's peace and joy. When the clouds come into the sky, that doesn't mean the sun isn't shining - it just means we have to look at it differently.

Miracles abound!

Day 104

Today's Lesson:

I seek but what belongs to me in truth.

Today we continue with the thought that joy and peace are our right because of what we are. They come to us from God, Who cannot fail to give us what He will. However, we must be ready to receive His gifts. We cannot receive these gifts of joy and peace if we have received the gifts we made instead.

Today's lesson will help us remove all meaningless and self-made gifts which we have placed upon the holy altar where God's gifts belong. We can choose to have His gifts now, and know, in choosing them in place of what we have made, we will unite our will with God's, and recognize the same as being one.

As we practice during our five minutes each hour today, we are to lay aside the conflicts of the world that offer other gifts and other goals made of illusions. We can do this by simply recognizing that His Will is done already, and that joy and peace belong to us as His eternal gifts. We can use this reminder throughout the day:

I seek but what belongs to me in truth.
God's gifts of joy and peace are all I want.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I'm reminded today of how often we seek for external "stuff" to make us happy. We live so often in the "if only" mindset that we forget to be grateful for what we already have. I remember a note from the Universe in the daily e-mail that said one way to be happy is to give what you most want. I love that - it reminds me that if I want something and I'm able to give it, I've already got it. If I want appreciation, I need only to give it and I'll see that I already have it - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to give it to someone else. As I seek outside myself for "stuff" to make me happy, I might find that I can simply choose happiness over whatever I'm seeking, because happiness, joy and peace are already mine.

Cool!

Day 103

Today's Lesson:

God, being Love, is also happiness.

Happiness is an attribute of love. It cannot be apart from it. Nor can happiness be experienced where love is not. Love has no limits, being everywhere. And therefore joy is everywhere as well. Still our minds deny that this is so, believing there are gaps in love where sin can enter, bringing pain instead of joy. This strange belief would limit happiness by redefining love as limited, and introducing opposition in what has no limit and no opposite.

Fear then gets associated with love, and we begin to believe more in what we have made than in what is real. This is the basic error we will correct with today's lesson. We can tell ourselves

God, being Love, is also happiness.
To fear Him is to be afraid of joy.

As we allow this one correction to be placed within our minds each hour today, we will be able to welcome all the happiness it brings as truth replaces fear, and joy becomes what we expect to take the place of pain.

We might add to the above thought:

I cannot fail, because I seek the truth.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I often ask audiences to think for themselves what, specifically, they are afraid of. This is one of those questions - like "what do you want?" that seems to have an easy answer, but once you really think about it, it's not so easy. Last December in one of my sessions, I asked the group if they would share what they had talked about in their pairs dialogue. One woman said she was afraid of success. She was in sales, and had quotas set for her. She was afraid to achieve her goals because she knew they would just raise the quotas once she met them, and she knew she would have worked that hard to achieve it, just to have it raised again. So she kept coming in just under the quota so it wouldn't get raised, but she never really felt that she had accomplished anything.

One other woman in the class said that her definition of success was much different. She viewed success as joy and happiness and fulfillment in her life. I asked the first woman if that definition of success changed her relationship with it - was she still afraid of success? And she admitted that she wasn't - in fact she would seek that out. A simple shift in the way we perceive something can give us very different results.

That reminds me of today's lesson. We tell ourselves that "it's too good to be true," or "there's no such thing as a free lunch," or "you can't get something for nothing," and we set out on a road of cynicism and resignation - all so we can be right.

Where might you be giving up the right to be happy in order to be right? If we seek the truth, we cannot fail, because God is love and God is happiness. They are not mutually exclusive!

Day 102

Today's Lesson:

I share God's Will for happiness for me.

The old belief we had that suffering buys us something we want has been shaken now, at least enough to let us question and, and to suspect it really makes no sense. It is not gone yet, but it lacks the roots that once secured it tightly to the dark and hidden secret places of our minds.

Today we will realize that pain is purposeless, without a cause and with no power to accomplish anything. It offer nothing, and does not exist. We have been slave to nothing. Today we are free to join the happy Will of God.

We cannot fail to find that happiness when we learn it is our choice, and that we share God's Will. Our only function here is happiness. We have no need to be less loving to God's Son than He Whose Love created him as loving as Himself. Besides our hourly five-minute rests, we are to pause frequently today, to tell ourselves that we have now accepted happiness as our one function, and to be sure that we are joining with God's Will in doing this.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I'm thinking today about the constitution which guarantees us inalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But it never guarantees that we will find that happiness - it only guarantees us the pursuit. Maybe that's our problem. We are on a constant hunt for this elusive happiness. Today's lesson tells us that this is our choice and if we're not happy it's because we believe our suffering buys us what we really want. So the second problem we face is deciding for ourselves once and for all what it is we really want.

That is always a tough question for people. If we were asked what we really want, most people would eventually come up with something, but it would probably be "stuff." We really do believe that "stuff" will make us happy. I know I've been raised to believe that we need to suffer in this lifetime because we will get our reward in heaven.

Today's lesson says that happiness can be our choice right here, right now. That's the premise of my book The 100% Factor. We can choose to expand our capacity which is right now today, or we can remain hopeful of reaching our potential, which is someday in the future, but not right now. Choosing happiness each morning can and does give us a completely different experience of our time on earth. Are we physical beings on this planet or are we spiritual beings have a physical experience? I choose that one.

Day 101

Today's Lesson:

God's Will for me is perfect happiness.

Today we will continue with the theme of happiness. This is a key idea for understanding what salvation means. We still believe it asks for suffering as penance for our "sins." This is not so. Yet we must think it so while we believe that sin is real, and that God's Son can sin.

If sin is real, then punishment is just and cannot be escaped. If that is the case, then salvation can only be purchased through suffering. If sin is real, then happiness must be an illusion, for they cannot both be true. If sin is real, salvation must be pain. Pain is the cost of sin, and suffering can never be escaped, if sin is real. Salvation must be feared, for it will kill, but slowly. Its wrath is boundless, merciless, but wholly just.

Who would seek out such savage punishment? In this case, who would not flee salvation, and attempt in every way he can to drown the Voice which offers it to him? Why would he try to listen and accept Its offering? If sin is real, its offering is death, and is given in cruel form to match the vicious wishes in which sin is born. If sin is real, salvation has become our bitter enemy, the curse of God upon us who have crucified His Son.

We need the practice periods today. The exercises teach us that sin is not real, and all that we believe must come from sin will never happen, for it has no cause. We must accept Atonement with an open mind, which cherishes no lingering belief that we have made a devil of God's Son. There is no sin. We practice with this thought as often as we can today, because it is the basis for today's idea.

God's Will for us is perfect happiness because there is no sin, and suffering is causeless. Joy is just, and pain is but the sign we have misunderstood ourselves. Fear not the Will of God. But turn to it in confidence that it will set us free from all the consequences sin has wrought in our feverish imaginations.

Miracles I'm noticing:

Our minds always seem to fill any voids with negative. We've been conditioned, from the time we are little, to believe that whenever we get called into an office we are in trouble. Whenever someone doesn't return a greeting in the hallway at work, they must be mad at us. If we don't know the outcome of an event, we immediately imagine the worst. We are great at catastrophizing!

Yet how often does the worst happen? We have spent all of our energy being fatalistic when today's lesson tells us that sin isn't even real. We don't have to worry about being punished and can free up our energy to be creative, which is what our natural state would call us to be.

I had a very serendipitous encounter yesterday as I delivered the closing keynote for a banking conference in Bismarck. Brooke Stephens, the opening keynote speaker, who I didn't get a chance to hear, needed a ride back to Fargo (a 2 1/2 hour drive) where she would be catching her plane back home to Brooklyn today. I offered to drive her and met a new friend.

Despite the fact that we were driving through a blizzard most of the way, the drive seemed to fly by as I learned all about her life and her career - and got a much more personal view of this woman who has been on CNN, Bloomberg TV and even on a soap opera than I ever would have gotten if I hadn't met her. We even connected on a deeply spiritual level as we shared our paths in that realm. She is an author, and will be publishing three novels in the near future in addition to her most recent book Wealth Happens One Day At A Time. The advice and information she shared with me was relevant to my own life on so many levels - I know for certain there are no coincidences.

In addition to my visit with Brooke, I also learned a lot about myself at our Course gathering last night as everyone shared the miracles that are happening in their own lives. Since we began our studies with this group in January, four people have left their jobs and are following their hearts and either starting their own companies or finding deeper fulfillment in their current careers by really living what we're learning. I saw for myself last night that I have been playing too small, and do want to step my career up a few notches. Instead of letting my ego speak last night as I heard all the wonderful things people are seeing for themselves ("they're doing so much more than I am, why can't I be as fabulous as they are"), I felt genuine love and happiness for them and realize that we are all connected and will all benefit from happiness over ego-driven fear or resentment or jealousy.

So as I choose happiness over being right, I realize that God's Will for me is perfect happiness and I can let go of the notion of sin. What a miracle that is in my entire life!

Day 100

Today's Lesson:

My part is essential to God's plan for salvation.

God's will for us is perfect happiness. Why should we choose to go against His Will? Our part completes our Father's plan. This part is as essential to His plan as to our happiness. Others will see their own function in our shining faces, and hear God calling to them in our happy laughs.

We are essential to God's plan. We will not let ourselves be sad today. If we do, we fail to take the part that is essential to God's plan, as well as to our vision. Sadness is a sign that we would play other parts, instead of what has been assigned to us by God.

God asks us to be happy, so the world can see how much he loves us, and wills no sorrow rises to abate our joy; no fear besets us to disturb our peace. We bring God's happiness to all we look upon; His peace to everyone who looks on us and sees His message in our happy faces.

Our only part is to be happy. This is all that is asked of us or anyone who wants to take his place among God's messengers. We have been wrong in our belief that sacrifice is asked. We are God's messengers today. And we must find what He would have us give. It is our Self Who calls to us today. And it is Him we answer, every time we tell ourselves we are essential to God's plan for the salvation of the world.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I love today's lesson because it shows how very simple this course really is. Simple, yes, but not always easy. Or so we tell ourselves. But our natural state is growth and joy; if we are not joyful it is because we have put obstacles in the way of that joy.

As you may know, we are in the midst of a cold snap here in North Dakota that won't seem to let go. We had an out-and-out blizzard last Tuesday and were left with lots of snow that is not going away very fast. Yesterday they were predicting more snow for today. It's tough to watch the poor robins peck away at the frozen ground, confused as we all are with the temperatures and the calendar in direct conflict.

Yesterday I went to Target to pick up a few things. The sky was bright blue and the sun was shining and, unless you were outside you'd never know that it wasn't as warm as it looked. So as I was checking out, the cashier asked me how I was. I told her I was terrific and it was hard not to be on such a bright sunny day. She said, "yeah, but do you know what they're saying about tomorrow?" Before she even had a chance to finish her sentence, I stopped her and say, "Yes, but I'm not going there. Look outside today. It's beautiful. I pick my weather and I choose to see the sun every day, no matter what." She said, "well, I'm going to choose that, too." And we laughed and I went on my way. It was that simple - and that easy. I chose happiness over gloom, which I'm sure changed her outlook as well. It's not snowing today although the sky is white and the wind is blowing. But even though I can't see it, I know the sun is shining above those clouds. And that's the weather I pick, and take with me.

My part is essential to God's plan for salvation, and I can choose happiness every single time.

What are you noticing in your own life when you choose happiness? Where are you seeing the ripples from the pebble you're dropping? Make a deliberate attempt today to spread some happiness. Ask someone when you greet them, "What's good?" and really listen for their answer.

I guarantee that will make a difference - and what's that if it's not a miracle? :)

Day 99

Today's Lesson:

Salvation is my only function here.

Today's idea reminds us that our illusions that something is wrong and needs to be corrected are not real. This produces a conflict within us between what is (we are perfect and have no need for correction) and what could never be (we are "sinful and unclean").

The mind that sees illusions thinks them real. They have existence in that they are thoughts. And yet they are not real, because the mind that thinks these thoughts is separate from God.

The Holy Spirit holds the plan of God exactly as it was received of Him within the Mind of God and in our own. It is apart from time in that its Source is timeless. But it operates in time because we believe time is real. No matter what we think, the Holy Spirit knows that God is Love, and our unreal thoughts are not His Will.

Salvation and forgiveness are our function, with the One to Whom the plan was given. As we repeat today's lesson to ourselves, we are to try to perceive the strength in what we say, for these are words in which our freedom lies. The world of pain is not God's Will. We need only forgive ourselves and remember that the Holy Spirit will replace all our mistaken thoughts. Forgive any thoughts which oppose the truth of our completion, unity and peace. We have no function that is not of God.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I'm reminded today of a class I attended last fall where the topic was the Law of Attraction. We were talking about how you attract into your space everything that seems to happen "to" you by the energy of your thoughts. It might not be the exact outcome you are thinking of, but the energy of your thoughts will match the energy of the outcome.

One young woman had recently suffered the murder of one of her friends. She was struggling with how she had attracted that to her. The teacher was very clear to distinguish for this woman that it was not her fault that her friend had been killed. She did not attract that specific incident in any way. Her belief system was such that she believed that there were some things in the world that were "bad" and "bad" things happen to people. The teacher said that she may have attracted into her space people to whom "bad" things had to happen, but she in no way "caused" that tragedy.

What I remember most about this incident was how comforting it was to that woman to realize that she need only understand that nothing is "good" or "bad" - it is our judgment that says one thing or the other. Today we learn that salvation and forgiveness are the same - they both imply that something has gone wrong or something needs to be saved from, forgiven for; something amiss that need correction; something apart from the Will of God. They seem to say that we believe something could be "bad" in the world and need to forgive.

What if there were no "right" or "wrong," "good" or "bad," there was just what works and what doesn't? How might we get back to remembering that all is well and nothing needs forgiving because it just is?

It reminds me of a song one of the quartets in our region sings called "It Is Well With My Soul." This quartet sang this song at our chorus show a couple of weeks ago. If you're not familiar with it, it is an old hymn written by Horatio Spafford in the 1800s. Here are some of the words:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to know,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

This hymn was writ­ten af­ter two ma­jor trau­mas in Spaf­ford’s life. The first was the great Chi­ca­go Fire of Oc­to­ber 1871, which ru­ined him fi­nan­cial­ly (he had been a weal­thy bus­i­ness­man). Short­ly af­ter, while cross­ing the At­lan­tic, all four of Spaf­ford’s daugh­ters died in a col­li­sion with an­o­ther ship. Spaf­ford’s wife Anna sur­vived and sent him the now fa­mous tel­e­gram, “Saved alone.” Sev­er­al weeks lat­er, as Spaf­ford’s own ship passed near the spot where his daugh­ters died, the Ho­ly Spir­it in­spired these words. They speak to the eter­nal hope that all be­liev­ers have, no mat­ter what pain and grief be­fall them on earth (From answers.com).

This reminds me that no matter what happens in the time and space and illusion that is this world, salvation or forgiveness is my only function here. It is not for me to correct or to complain or to bemoan my fate. It is only to forgive - myself and others - for my perception of "right" and "wrong." What a great place to be!

Day 98

Today's Lesson:

I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.

Today we dedicate ourselves to truth, and to salvation as God planned it to be. In gladness we accept it as it is, and take the part assigned to us by God. All our doubts we lay aside today, and take our stand with certainty of purpose, and with thanks that doubt is gone and surety has come. All our sins are washed away by realizing they were but mistakes.

When we are guiltless we have no fear, because we are safe and recognize our safety. We rest in quiet certainty that we will do what it is given us to do.

Today's lesson guarantees us our full release from pain of every kind, and joy the world does not contain. We can exchange a little of our time for peace of mind and certainty of purpose, with the promise of complete success. And since time has no meaning, we are being asked for nothing in return for everything. It is a bargain we cannot lose.

All we need to do is give God five minutes and He will accept our words and give them back to us all bright with faith and confidence so strong and steady they will light the world with hope and gladness.

Miracles I'm noticing:

As I realize my part in lighting the world, it becomes much easier to simply let go of my own "stuff" that keeps me stuck where I am. Today's lesson shows us that as we accept our part in God's plan for salvation, we really do have a huge effect on the world. This kind of supports the Law of Attraction - what we think about we bring about. If we are worried and believe we are sinful, we will allow guilt to guide our lives. But today's lesson tells us that the guiltless have no fear because they know they are safe. I choose not to let guilt rule my life anymore and that has had a huge effect on my ability to live my own purpose. I really do see that others are more attracted to me when I am concentrating on and being LOVE rather than when I let my thoughts and energy be stifled by FEAR. It's easy to notice how others respond when I send loving energy their way. Whether it's a cashier at the gas station or the mail delivery person - sending love returns love. That's a miracle for sure.

A Little Bit About The Resurrection

Today is Easter, and I'd like to take a minute and remind myself about the Resurrection. Where this Holy Week spends time on Thursday and Friday talking about death and crucifixion, today is all about rebirth, reawakening and resurrection.

This is from the Course in Miracles Manual for Teachers and shows us what Easter is really all about.

Very simply, the resurrection is the overcoming or surmounting of death. It is a change of mind about the meaning of the world. It is the acceptance of the Holy Spirit's interpretation of the world's purpose; the acceptance of the Atonement for oneself. It is the end of dreams of misery, and the glad awareness of the Holy Spirit's final dream. It is the recognition of the gifts of God.

The resurrection is the denial of death, being the assertion of life. Thus is all the thinking of the world reversed entirely. Life is now recognized as salvation, and pain and misery of any kind perceived as hell. Love is no longer feared, but gladly welcomed.

As long as any mind remains possessed of evil dreams, the thought of hell is real. God's teachers have the goal of wakening the minds of those asleep, and seeing there the vision of Christ's face to take the place of what they dream. The thought of murder is replaced with blessing. Judgment is laid by, and given Him Whose function judgment is. And in His Final Judgment is restored the truth about the holy Son of God. He is redeemed, for he has heard God's Word and understood its meaning. He is free because he let God's Voice proclaim the truth. And all he sought before to crucify are resurrected with him, by his side, as he prepares with them to meet his God.

Happy Resurrection Day!

Day 97

Today's Lesson:

I am spirit.

Today's idea very simply states the truth. Practicing it today will bring our minds from conflict to the quiet fields of peace. It is what it is.

The minutes we give to practicing today's lesson are multiplied over and over, for the miracle makes use of time, but is not ruled by it. We are the spirit in whose mind abides the miracle in which all time stands still; the miracle in which a minute spent in using these ideas becomes a time that has no limit and that has no end.

The Holy Spirit will be glad to take five minutes of each hour from our hands and carry them around this aching world where pain and misery appear to rule. He will not overlook one open mind that will accept the healing gifts they bring, and He will lay them everywhere He knows they will be welcome. And they will increase in healing power each time someone accepts them as his thoughts, and uses them to heal.

As we begin the practice periods today, we can say this:

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

As we offer these practice periods today, listen for God's assurance every time we speak the words He offers us, and let Him tell our minds that they are true.

Miracles I'm noticing:

Today's lesson reminds me that there really is no place for negativity in my world. Whenever I sense a "yeah, but ..." in my mind, it's a pretty good sign that I am holding on to an ego thought, and, the ego has a need to be right. I'm reminded of people who will dispute positive news on TV or those who look for the worst in every situation. But of course my ego would think of "those" people - because then my ego can be right about NOT thinking that way. Noticing how I used to be and acknowledging in my own mind the gratitude I have for seeing things in a new way allows me to get beyond the initial hierarchy that automatically comes up.

In one of her lectures, Marianne Williamson talks about the progress we can begin to notice as we practice A Course in Miracles. She says sometimes we have to act our way into being, in other words, we start to notice when we are being negative, for example, and we stop saying what we are thinking. We may still be thinking it, but at least we're not saying it. Pretty soon, if we keep practicing, we'll stop thinking it altogether. That's how this course is cumulative - like the effects of meditation. The Holy Spirit will never force us to think a certain way, that would be taking away our free will. However, He will enter at the slightest invitation and, as today's lesson tells us, the minutes we give are multiplied over and over.

I notice this all the time in my own life. I notice how people are attracted to me when I'm positive and enthusiastic and, if they're not attracted to me when I'm positive and enthusiastic, I can check to see whether there is any ego involved on my part. If not, I can send a silent blessing to them and go on. After all, they are simply showing me a part of myself I either have or haven't forgiven. The difference is in my reaction to them. If I'm upset by someone else, it's just a reminder to me to forgive myself for whatever caused that reaction in me. If I'm not upset, it's a chance for me to be grateful for who I'm becoming.

The Bigger Small Talk Summit is progressing, and today's lesson shows me that as I recognize for myself that I am spirit, free of all limits, I am free to save the world. That allows me to play bigger, stepping into the spirit that is me. That miracle allows much bigger things to happen with the summit, and attracts resources and people that can help in a bigger context. That's certainly a miracle! I'm also reminded that it's the journey, not the destination, so I'm fully enjoying the ride toward whatever the summit ends up being. I've had a blast getting to know Mike Sansone and Pam Thomas, and even got a chance to talk with Suzanne Whang - I'd say that's already a miracle!

Day 96

Today's Lesson:

Salvation comes from my one Self.

The Truth is we are all one Self, even though we see ourselves as two: good and evil, loving and hating, mind and body. We know this isn't working, and have sought many solutions. There is a solution, but we haven't tried it yet. Because we keep being upset and frustrated, we keep getting more of what we don't want. We must begin to accept the fact that truth and illusion cannot be reconciled if we want to be saved. Until we accept this, we will attempt an endless list of goals we cannot reach and will continue to fail and waste a lot of time and effort.

We cannot solve the problems we have the the same mindset that created the problems. The self we made can never be our real Self, nor can our Self be split in two and still be what It is and must forever be. A mind (Spirit) and a body (ego) cannot both exist and we need to stop attempting to reconcile the two, for one denies the other can be real. We are fighting a losing battle. If we are body, our mind is gone from our self-concept, for it has no place in which it could really be part of us. If we are spirit, then the body must be meaningless to our reality.

Mind apart from Spirit cannot think. It has denied its Source of strength, and sees itself as helpless, limited and weak. Salvation cannot make illusions real, nor solve a problem that does not exist. Salvation is a thought we share with God, because His Voice accepted it for us and answered in our names that it was done.

In our practice periods today, we are to attempt to find this thought, whose presence in our minds is guaranteed by Him Who speaks to us from our one Self. Our hourly five-minute practicing will be a search for Him within our minds. Begin with saying this:

Salvation comes from my one Self. Its Thoughts are mine to use.

Then seek Its Thoughts, and claim them as our own. These are our own real thoughts we have denied. If we succeed, the thoughts that come to us will tell us we are saved, and that our minds have found the function that they sought to lose. Our Self knows that we cannot fail today. Maybe we are still uncertain. Let us not be dismayed at this. Let us tell our frantic minds that salvation comes from our one Self. Each time we remember that today, we lay another treasure in our growing store. And all of it is given to everyone who asks for it, and will accept the gift.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I spoke last night to a wonderful group of employees, some of whom were apparently not too keep on having to give up an evening of their own for this "work thing." I can't say I blame them. But together we co-created the evening, and shared stories about capacity and the past and communication and effectiveness and ecstatic engagement - and we discovered that if we are committed to dialogue instead of discussion in our lives, we will reap amazing rewards. I learned last night that everything I am learning from this course is applicable to my entire life, including my work. I really do see that when I can give up the ego, Spirit is right there to fill in those gaps, and I become more like a channel for the words of the Spirit, which is my Salvation.

I shared with them last night a couple of things that I've read in Conversations With God - and also here in the course. We talked about how it works to see the world in black and white, right and wrong, good and bad. What if there were no such thing as right and wrong, good and bad, and only what works and what doesn't? How would that change our communication? That goes right along with what today's lesson is telling us. How is it working to have a split mind? If we're honest, we see that there must be a better way.

I'm noticing that, sometimes without even trying, I am allowing Spirit a larger opening in my life. It's becoming much more natural to notice - to listen - and then to allow. That is my 2007 mantra and I can see how it doesn't always have to be a conscious thought anymore. Even though I may not practice the lessons as much as I'd like - I still forget the 5 minutes an hour - Spirit is still working. I don't have to beat myself up about not being perfect. The practice of connecting with Spirit is cumulative and every little bit counts.

Now that's a miracle!

Day 95

Today's Lesson:

I am one Self, united with my Creator.

Today's idea really sheds new light on the concept of acceptance of ourselves. If we are one with God, then change is impossible. We do not accept this, and we fail to realize it must be so, only because we believe that we have changed ourselves already. We see our true selves as ugly, vicious, sinful, and so we believe we have to change in order to be accepted. However, our one Self - our TRUE Self - is and always has been united with our Creator.

We are starting now to understand the importance of taking five minutes at the beginning of the day to practice the daily ideas. We must understand by now how difficult it still might be to quiet our busy minds - which should show us how important is is that we train our minds in a new way.

So, because we might still find it difficult to be still for extended periods of time, we might consider frequent but shorter practice periods. If we don't make an effort to remember each daily lesson at various times during the day, we notice how difficult it is to keep the lesson in mind. This will become a habit as we commit to the practice.

Regardless of how disciplined we find ourselves in this practice, the Holy Spirit will answer our slightest call. If we are determined - for the next week, for example - to be willing to forgive ourselves for our lapses in diligence, we will notice that we are then enabled to overlook it instead of to dwell on our weakness. When we fail to comply with the requirements of this course, it is simply a mistake and calls for correction. These lapses are simply efforts of our ego to keep us unaware of our Self.

It will be helpful to remind ourselves whenever we think of it today and this week, today's lesson: I am one Self. It will also do us well to attempt to feel the meaning that these words convey.

We are one Self, united and secure in light and joy and peace. We are in perfect harmony with all there is, and all that there will be. We are complete and healed and whole.

Our little part in remembering the lesson today will bring happiness to all the world. Heaven looks to us in confidence that we will try today. To everyone we meet today, be sure to give the promise of today's idea and tell him this:

You are one Self with me, united with our Creator in this Self. I honor you because of What I am, and What He is, Who loves us both as One.

Miracles I'm noticing:

Today's idea reminds me of what I've learned from The Secret - what we dwell on we bring about in our lives. To notice that we are not being as diligent in our daily practice as we might want to be and to beat ourselves up about what we are NOT doing is to bring more attention to what we don't want. I love that today's lesson reminds us that this is simply a mistake and needs correction - not punishment. We just start again.

Yesterday I conducted a day-long training session for a group. The session was on personal accountability, and for some reason yesterday we really touched a deeper part of ourselves than I can remember happening in previous classes. People talked to me during breaks about their spouses and their children and how we might use this information to build our relationships outside of the work situation where the training was being conducted. As I see myself - as the facilitator - take the information to a new level for myself, I see that I invite others to do the same. The effects are evident in the level of conversation participants are drawn to during the breaks. I'm committed that they will take the information into their entire lives and stand for new conversations that start with each of us - not by pointing a finger at what someone else is or isn't doing. As each of us makes a commitment to start with ourselves, we notice that others are more compelled to join us than if we told them what they "should" do.

That's certainly a powerful miracle!

Day 94

Today's Lesson:

I am as God created me.

This one idea - when we really take it in - will render the ego silent and will restore our sanity by getting rid of all the false thoughts that have occupied our minds for so long. If we are as God created us, we must be strong and light must be in us. Darkness cannot obscure the glory of God's Son. We stand in light, strong in the sinlessness in which we were created, and in which we will remain throughout eternity.

During our practice periods today we are to try to reach the Son of God which is within us. This is the Self that never sinned, and never made an image to replace reality. This is the Self that knows no fear, nor could conceive of loss or suffering or death.

The only thing we have to do to reach this goal is to lay all idols and self-images aside; go past all the attributes we have ascribed to ourselves and wait in silent expectancy for the truth. God has promised that it will be revealed to all who ask for it. We cannot fail because He cannot fail.

Miracles I'm noticing:

We had our second conference call for the Summit for Bigger Small Talk and Suzanne Whang joined us. She is very inspiring! She is actually going to be learning under Michael Beckwith (from The Secret) and is VERY dedicated to making the world a better place. Her inspiration really reminded me that I am as God created me - and if I don't step into that power, it's like denying what God created me to be. As I become more aware of the distinction between my ego and my spirit, it becomes much easier to choose spirit over ego. When I notice how I feel, it becomes more and more obvious that spirit feels better than ego, because that is how God created me. Anything else goes against who I am.

Being able to show my true colors in situations like our conference call today were reinforcements to me that playing big is much better for me than playing small. That's surely a miracle!