"A miracle is simply a shift in perception from fear to love." With that definition in mind, I am going to be much more conscious of all the miracles I see in my life - and to invite others to share the miracles they see in their own lives. What might we create - and allow - in 2007? This blog highlights the daily lessons from "A Course In Miracles."
God's answer is some form of peace. All pain Is healed; all misery replaced with joy. All prison doors are opened. And all sin Is understood as merely a mistake.
Father, today we will forgive Your world, and let creation be Your Own. We have misunderstood all things. But we have not made sinners of the holy Sons of God. What You created sinless so abides forever and forever. Such are we. And we rejoice to learn that we have made mistakes which have no real effects on us. Sin is impossible, and on this fact forgiveness rests upon a certain base more solid than the shadow world we see. Help us forgive, for we would be redeemed. Help us forgive, for we would be at peace.
Miracles I'm noticing:
I went with my family to church last night and really did notice the distinctions between what I'm studying here and my traditional fundamentalist upbringing. Sin is a big part of that tradition, and that was the part I had the most reaction to. On my way to church, I told myself that I would bring God with me, and that I would participate in the parts that resonated with me, and leave the parts that didn't. I found myself unable to recite the creeds and sing along with some of the hymns that I used to just blindly recite. Everything meant much more to me as I observed and reflected. I realized that I still do appreciate the old Christmas carols and smiled as a young child in the pew across from my family belted them out at the top of her lungs.
I also realized that although I haven't been going to a "church" for the past couple of years, I congregate with my Course group each week, and that has been my opportunity to commune with the Holy Spirit.
I will look forward to beginning again January 1 with my fourth year of this Course and transferring all I'm learning to other parts of my life. I am grateful that I am learning that God's intention is peace and joy - and that all sin is understood as merely a mistake, which can be corrected.
No call to God can be unheard nor left Unanswered. And of this I can be sure; His answer is the one I really want.
You Who remember what I really am alone remember what I really want. You speak for God, and so You speak for me. And what You give me comes from God Himself. Your Voice, my Father, then is mine as well, and all I want is what You offer me, in just the form You choose that it be mine. Let me remember all I do not know, and let my voice be still, remembering. But let me not forget Your Love and care, keeping Your promise to Your Son in my awareness always. Let me not forget myself is nothing, but my Self is all.
Miracles I'm noticing:
This lesson is just so simply profound. There is nothing else I want than what God - through the Holy Spirit - wants for me. I don't need to worry about anything because God only wants what is best for me. The Holy Spirit speaks for God, and so speaks for me. And I know that the Holy Spirit is who I want to speak for me whenever I speak. My job is to be quiet and remember - and to be a conduit for the Holy Spirit.
Today as I prepare to go home to be with my family for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I will remember this lesson. Be quiet and remember. I don't need to get into any squabbles or anything that may come up as I gather with my mother, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew based on the past. We will all create the future we will be living into with the choices we make when we're together now.
Truth answers every call we make to God, Responding first with miracles, and then Returning unto us to be itself.
Forgiveness, truth's reflection, tells me how to offer miracles, and thus escape the prison house in which I think I live. Your holy Son is pointed out to me, first in my brother; then in me. Your Voice instructs me patiently to hear Your Word, and give as I receive. And as I look upon Your Son today, I hear Your Voice instructing me to find the way to You, as You appointed that the way shall be:
"Behold his sinlessness, and be you healed."
Miracles I'm noticing:
Today's lesson is really powerful in its simplicity. I can offer miracles, which means that I can notice everything that God has put in place. Truth is - that's really all I need to know. I can notice God first in my brother if I'm not able to notice Him first in myself. And when I recognize that, there is nothing else I need to worry about because everything will be revealed to me as well.
There is nothing more that needs to be said today. That's the miracle!
Sickness is but another name for sin. Healing is but another name for God. The miracle is thus a call to Him.
Father, You promised You would never fail to answer any call Your Son might make to You. It does not matter where he is, what seems to be his problem, nor what he believes he has become. He is Your Son, and You will answer him. The miracle reflects Your Love, and thus it answers him. Your Name replaces every thought of sin, and who is sinless cannot suffer pain. Your Name gives answer to Your Son, because to call Your Name is but to call his own.
Miracles I'm noticing:
Today's lesson is a great reminder that God is always present and the Holy Spirit will enter at the slightest invitation. Whatever our past, it has no bearing on the future we are living into if we just change our minds in the present. And that present changes constantly. We can always make a new choice.
As I prepare for my Christmas gatherings with family, it will be a transformed time because of my change of mind. I'm looking forward to being together!
There is no end to all the peace and joy, And all the miracles that I will give, When I accept God's Word. Why not today?
Why should I wait, my Father, for the joy you promised me? For You will keep Your Word You gave Your Son in exile. I am sure my treasure waits for me, and I need but reach out my hand to find it. Even now my fingers touch it. It is very close. I need not wait an instant more to be at peace forever. It is You I choose, and my Identity along with You. Your Son would be Himself, and know You as his Father and Creator, and his Love.
Miracles I'm noticing:
Last night I got together with a group of friends - some of whom are studying this course, but mostly it's people from the group studying the book Working With The Law by Raymond Holliwell - and we watched the Louise Hay movie "Heal Your Life." It was wonderful. It was about realizing that maybe what is currently happening in our lives - listening to the voices in our heads and hearing what they are saying and realizing it's negative stuff - isn't working anymore and that it may be time for a change. The movie showed many different people and what was going on in their lives and was wrapped around Louise Hay's life story and how she has worked for 20 years to build Hay House to connect authors and speakers who share the message of changing your thoughts to change your health and your life.
I was just thinking that Louise Hay's message, coupled with today's lesson, is truly a winning combination for taking on the changes we know we want to make in our lives. I really want to get on an exercise program and get into the physical shape I used to be in, but which has been put on hold in my life as I grow my business. Today's lesson says that there is no end to the all the peace and joy and miracles I will GIVE when I accept God's Word. Indeed - why not today?
I never have to worry about being in this alone - I've always got God and Spirit with me (to say nothing about the wonderful friends with whom I study this course, and will be starting again on January 1).
We stand together, Christ and I, in peace And certainty of purpose. And in Him Is His Creator, as He is in me.
My oneness with the Christ establishes me as Your Son, beyond the reach of time, and wholly free of every law but Yours. I have no self except the Christ in me. I have no purpose but His Own. And He is like His Father. Thus must I be one with You as well as Him. For who is Christ except Your Son as You created Him? And what am I except the Christ in me?
Miracles I'm noticing:
Yesterday I worked with a brand new client in a small manufacturing company delivering personal accountability training. This company hasn't had any training before and this is a pretty hefty topic to take on in the first go-round - or so I thought. But they were ready. This was a perfect example - for me - of how people are hungry for deeper meaning and purpose. This training doesn't have anything to do with their specific company, but it's a topic they can use in their work and personal lives. It allows support for the Gandhi quote: "Be the change you wish to see in the world" because it gives them a tool for asking different questions and being personally accountable for the results.
I don't know what will happen at this company in the future, but I think the transformation they began to see yesterday with the 7 people in the class will have some pretty powerful effects. I don't say this because I - ego Jodee - was there, but because everything I've been studying and learning and transforming in myself can't help but become part of the training. So they got some Proctor and they got some Course in Miracles because it's just who I am. And they were ready.
What this shows me is that there are no accidents in any part of my life. I've got stories from every single stage of my own experience that I can share with the participants because I'm seeing the application to what I'm teaching. And the best thing for me is that I get to teach what I most need to learn.
Today's lesson talks about certainty of purpose and the more I do my work, the more certain I am that my mission is to be a conduit for the Holy Spirit, no matter what I'm doing.
I'll be doing this same training today for another new client and am really looking forward to watching what happens with them. I'm guessing that if I get out of the way, I'll see similar results. That's my miracle for today!
My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today Have but one purpose; to be give Christ To use to bless the world with miracles.
Father, I give all that is mine today to Christ, to use in any way that best will serve the purpose that I share with Him. Nothing is mine alone, for He and I have joined in purpose. Thus has learning come almost to its appointed end. A while I work with Him to serve His purpose. Then I lose myself in my Identity, and recognize that Christ is but my Self.
Miracles I'm noticing:
Last night I had the pleasure of meeting with my good college friend Sherri who was in town from Seattle for a meeting. Our getting together has always been amazing because she is the one friend from college who, no matter how much time passes between our visits, we always pick up right where we left off. She is truly a blessing in my life.
Last night, over only one glass of wine(!), we solved all the problems of the world, which, when it came right down to it, was actually quite simple to do. We realized that by changing our own minds, we were actually able to change the world. Of course this is a process that will continue every single day each of us is alive on this earth - and that's the beauty of the conversation we created last night.
Reflecting on our time together, I realize that that is what I love to do most in the world - engage in deep and meaningful conversation with a close and trusted friend (of course, sitting in a cafe in Paris would be a great place to do that, so travel is definitely included in my favorite things to do :) ).
We talked about what I'm learning in this course along with what I'm learning from my Proctor studies and what impacts I'm seeing in my life because of those influences on my business, my audiences, my clients and my friends.
When I read today's lesson, it is my reminder that last night's conversation was no accident - it was the result of who I "be" in the world. The lesson says that when Christ and I have joined in purpose, thus does my learning almost come to an end. I understand that philosophically, but I don't see myself at the end of my learning until my physical life in this incarnation is over (I don't feel anywhere near that!). I do understand the concept of purpose in another light, though. It's no accident that I was drawn to a coaching program four years ago that focused on life purpose. It's also no accident that my work with Bob Proctor focuses on purpose by helping me and my clients concentrate less on the "how" and more on the "why" of their goals. The "why" is the purpose. When I remember that my eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet have but one purpose and that is to bless the world with miracles through Christ, every task and every activity is completely joy-filled.
That awareness (and my awareness of that awareness) is now and forever the greatest miracle I can imagine!
Reflect for yourself this holiday season - in the midst of the hustle and bustle, the year-end project completion, the baking, cooking, partying, etc. - on all the abundance and joy that you enjoyed in 2007 and make up your mind to notice the miracles all around you and waiting for you in 2008!
Judgment and love are opposites. From one Come all the sorrows of the world. But from the other comes the peace of God Himself.
Forgiveness looks on sinlessness alone, and judges not. Through this I come to You. Judgment will bind my eyes and make me blind. Yet love, reflected in forgiveness here, reminds me You have given me a way to find Your peace again. i am redeemed when I elect to follow in this way. You have not left me comfortless. I have within me both the memory of You, and One Who leads me to it. Father, I would hear Your Voice and find Your peace today. for I would love my own Identity, and find in It the memory of You.
Miracles I'm noticing:
Getting to the end of the year makes each lesson that much more self-explanatory. I notice that judgment is probably my greatest lesson, and I realize that judgment really is very ego-driven for many reasons. First of all, if I believe that others are judging me, and my own judgment is merely a defense against that "fact," it would be very egotistical of me to believe that others think about me that much. When I notice myself judging others (and there was a time earlier this year when I noticed that more than I do now, which leads me to believe I'm making progress in this area), I remember that there is no peace for a judgmental mind and really have gotten very good at forgiveness in its place.
The peace of God Himself comes from love. Why would I choose anything but love? That is the miracle - to see everything from love's vantage point as opposed to fear's and judgment's. And it's so much simpler to believe the best from and about everyone!
I am God's Son, complete and healed and whole, shining in the reflection of His Love. In me is His creation sanctified and guaranteed eternal life. In me is love perfected, fear impossible, and joy established without opposite. I am the holy home of God Himself. I am the Heaven where His Love resides. I am His holy Sinlessness Itself, for in my purity abides His Own.
Our use for words is almost over now. Yet in the final days of this one year we gave to God together, you and I, we found a single purpose that we shared. And thus you joined with me, so what I am are you as well. The truth of what we are is not for words to speak of nor describe. Yet we can realize our function here, and words can speak of this and teach it, too, if we exemplify the words in us.
We are the bringers of salvation. We accept our part as saviors of the world, which through our joint forgiveness is redeemed. And this, our gift, is therefore given us. We look on everyone as a brother, and perceive all things as kindly and as good. We do not seek a function that is past the gate of Heaven. Knowledge will return when we have done our part. We are concerned only with giving welcome to the truth.
Ours are the eyes through which Christ's vision sees a world redeemed from every thought of sin. Ours are the ears that hear the Voice for God proclaim the world as sinless. Ours the minds that join together as we bless the world. And from the oneness that we have attained we call to all our brothers, asking them to share our peace and consummate our joy.
We are the holy messengers of God who speak for Him, and carrying His Word to everyone whom He has sent to us, we learn that it is written on our hearts. And thus our minds are changed about the aim for which we came, and which we seek to serve. We bring glad tidings to the Son of God, who thought he suffered. Now is he redeemed. And as he sees the gate of Heaven stand open before him, he will enter in and disappear into the Heart of God.
Today's Lesson:
My sinless brother is my guide to peace. My sinful brother is my guide to pain. And which I choose to see I will behold.
Who is my brother but Your holy Son? And if I see him sinful I proclaim myself a sinner, not a Son of God; alone and friendless in a fearful world. Yet this perception is a choice I make, and can relinquish. I can also see my brother sinless, as Your holy Son. And with this choice I see my sinlessness, my everlasting Comforter and Friend beside me, and my way secure and clear. Choose, then, for me, my Father, through Your Voice. For He alone gives judgment in Your Name.
Miracles I'm noticing:
It occurs to me as I write this this morning that my mother must be the person in this lifetime who was sent to teach me the biggest lessons. Last night I talked to her on the phone and, although some of her comments occurred to me in the moment - as they always do - as fear-based and almost rote, I was not affected negatively by them. My mother is the perfect teacher for me to understand and work through fear. I could have counted the number of times she said things like, "Make sure you watch for deer when you drive," and "you know when you get a personalized license plate you have to pay extra for that each year," and her insistence that I watch my pennies and don't spend too much on Christmas presents or food to bring home for the holiday.
Those comments used to really bug me, and even as I started studying this course three years ago, would draw even more attention to the distinction between love and fear. But last night as I noticed myself not getting drawn into her conversation or being combative or resistant, the entire conversation lightened up and she was the one to notice. In fact, she said, as I was laughing at her "watch for deer" reference, that she realized she was nagging, but that what would I do if she didn't? It was a lighter moment than it used to be and I'll bet when I get that, she'll stop doing it. It's all about my mirrors and teachers and, as my friend Tracy says, she's paid well to teach me my lessons.
I also notice that I have far less need to vocalize the lessons I'm learning or the miracles I'm noticing. It's almost becoming second nature to notice miracles, and I forget to record them here. As a speaker and teacher, I suppose it helps to have examples for my audiences, which is why I like to record my "vignettes," as one of my teachers calls them so I don't forget the details. But it's important to me to recognize when it is ego and when it is sharing spirit. I know that many people in the world still want proof and answers and the best way to do that is to share personal stories. But for me that is much more about sharing spirit than recognizing ego (I think). That is the distinction I will be aware of as I move into 2008 and my fourth year of studying this course.
I watched Esther and Jerry Hicks' DVD "The Secret Behind The Secret" last night and I realized that I would like to be as open to Spirit as Esther is. Esther is a channel for the non-physical being Abraham, and the messages Abraham is bringing to us through Esther are wonderful. Esther says that she is able to be this channel because she is able to clear her mind and she doesn't have preconceived notions or roadblocks that would keep Abraham from coming through. That's another intention for 2008 - to be a conduit for the Holy Spirit. I notice that happening on occasion when I speak now, but I'm going to be much more intentional about that in 2008.
In contemplating what I learned from and about Abraham on that DVD last night, I came across this clip from a talk Esther-Abraham gave about the involvement in The Secret and I think it explains very well what we (those of us studying this course and seeking for knowledge and truth through Spirit rather than through ego) are up to. The Secret is really that we are all extensions of Source energy, and in this clip, Abraham says that the producer of the The Secret didn't believe that everyone was ready to hear that. It is similar to what Jerry Hicks mentioned in the DVD about the message from Napoleon Hill in Think And Grow Rich. The information in the original Think And Grow Rich was edited in the 60s because someone didn't think the world was ready to hear about vibration at that time either. But now it's been edited back in because Ross Cornwell (the editor of the version I'm studying) did believe the world was ready to hear it. That is why we study this version.
So here's the clip - and this is certainly a miracle of awareness!
(NOTE: I am posting Sunday's lesson early because I will be in Minneapolis out of email access tomorrow)
Today's Lesson:
Miracles mirror God's eternal Love. To offer them is to remember Him, And through His memory to save the world.
What we forgive becomes a part of us, as we perceive ourselves. The Son of God incorporates all things within himself as You created him. Your memory depends on his forgiveness. What he is, is unaffected by his thoughts. But what he looks upon is their direct result. Therefore, my Father, I would turn to You. Only Your memory will set me free. And only my forgiveness teaches me to let Your memory return to me, and give it to the world in thankfulness.
And as we gather miracles from Him, we will indeed be grateful. For as we remember Him, His Son will be restored to us in the reality of Love.
Miracles I'm noticing:
I will post my thoughts on Monday morning when I get back as they relate to this lesson.
Today I let Christ's vision look upon All things for me and judge them not, but give Each one a miracle of love instead.
So would I liberate all things I see, and give to them the freedom that I seek. For thus do I obey the law of love, and give what I would find and make my own. It will be given me, because I have chosen it as the gift I want to give. Father, Your gifts are mine. Each one that I accept gives me a miracle to give. And giving as I would receive, I learn Your healing miracles belong to me.
Our Father knows our needs. He gives us grace to meet them all. And so we trust in Him to send us miracles to bless the world, and heal our minds as we return to Him.
Miracles I'm noticing:
It occurs to me as I type this lesson that if I'm in the space and awareness to be studying this course and interpreting it here, that just that very fact - if I really apply what I'm learning - keeps me from harm and provides me comfort and assurance that allows my vibration to remain high. There's a scientific element to the spirituality I feel. I obey the law of love, which corresponds to the book my Friday master mind is reading, "Working With the Law" by Raymond Holliwell. There he defines eleven principles he calls laws, which, in the book, are synonyms for God.
Our Father knows our needs and will give us grace to meet them all. What is there to fear? That space of vibration gives us a much different outcome in our lives and allows us to attract very different energy to us than if we were bound to a constant state of fear and doubt and worry.
So today I'm again grateful for the awareness that allows me to see each day as a miracle - and to see and experience many more miracles than I remember to write here. They really are everywhere!
I have no cause for anger or for fear, For You surround me. And in every need That I perceive, Your grace suffices me.
Father, let me remember You are here, and I am not alone. Surrounding me is everlasting Love. I have no cause for anything except the perfect peace and joy I share with You. What need have I for anger or for fear? Surrounding me is perfect safety. Can I be afraid, when Your eternal promise goes with me? Surrounding me is perfect sinlessness. What can I fear, when You created me in holiness as perfect as Your Own?
God's grace suffices us in everything that He would have us do. And only that we choose to be our will as well as His.
Miracles I'm noticing:
The first thing I wanted to do after reading this lesson was look up the word "grace" in the glossary from A Course in Miracles. So here is what it says:
Grace
Root meaning: A pure blessing or a state of pure blessing, given by God, which makes no demand on the receiver, which the receiver must do nothing to contribute to or earn.
Christian: An undeserved gift from God that saves or sanctifies us.
ACIM: 1. The heavenly state in which everything is freely given us and there are no difficulties, struggles, guilts, or burdens. 2. The salvation that we receive in the holy instant. 3. The act of God reaching down and giving us the revelation of His Presence, either a) in the form of a temporary experience of divine union, or b) in the form of the final step, in which He permanently awakens us to Heaven.
Something I've been hearing recently reminds me of the course's first definition of grace above. I heard someone say recently that he believes there has to be struggle and guilt because without the fear of God people will do the wrong thing and we need to have that guilt to keep us on the straight and narrow. I really don't agree with that, and maybe it's because I've been studying this course. I don't believe that we need external forces to keep us in check. I believe our ego believes that, and when we can stop identifying with our ego and allow Spirit to guide us, I believe we will experience the grace of God as defined here.
I don't choose my behaviors because if I don't I'll be punished. I choose my behaviors because I am made in the image and likeness of God and I see that in every human being and that calls me to act in a certain way, even though my ego wants to judge and condemn. I am eternally grateful for the awareness which has led me to this course and to the wonderful people who continue to come into my space through my work. I really do have no cause for anger or fear and that awareness is today's miracle!
Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is The weapon I would use against myself, To keep the miracle away from me.
Father, I want what goes against my will, and do not want what is my will to have. Straighten my mind, my Father. It is sick. But You have offered freedom, and I choose to claim Your gift today. And so I give all judgment to the One You gave to me to judge for me. He sees what I behold, and yet He knows the truth. He looks on pain, and yet He understands it is not real, and in His understanding it is healed. He gives the miracles my dreams would hide from my awareness. Let Him judge today. I do not know my will, but He is sure it is Your Own. And He will speak for me, and call Your miracles to come to me.
Listen today. Be very still, and hear the gentle Voice for God assuring you that He had judged you as the Son He loves.
Miracles I'm noticing:
There is a theme of peace and quiet running through the recent lessons, and I am beginning to understand more and more what one teacher I've been working with means when she talks about how our minds spin ... and also about our monkey mind. My ego is running my subconscious and as I get quiet, I realize that the thoughts that seem to take over automatically have not been from my Higher Self, but from the ego. It's really great to notice that I can tell the difference now and I'm noticing that those ego thoughts are not as prevalent as they used to be.
As I become more aware, it is really fun to notice that when I'm not really paying attention and then suddenly am aware of my thoughts, there are times now when I don't recognize the ego. I'm aware that the Holy Spirit - my Higher Self - is coming through those ego thoughts. I was going to say that the H.S. is beginning to reprogram the ego's subconscious, but I don't think that's how it works. The H.S. is the default - that's what is there and always has been there - it is the ego that has reprogrammed the original subconscious, so I think it's more a matter of remembering than reprogramming.
In one of her lectures Marianne Williamson talks about how sometimes behavior modification is the way we need to work back to Spirit because we "fake it 'til we make it" so we can get used to that "new" way of seeing the world. She says we may not have gotten to the point yet where we don't think those negative thoughts, but at least we can notice that we aren't saying what we're thinking when we think those thoughts, and that's progress.
My other teacher, Isis, says that we really can make up our minds to totally eliminate the ego if that's what we really want. It does take some concerted effort. She says there is no need for the baby steps if we just make up our minds. But I find that being aware of my progress does help me and I am noticing a big difference in my mind, even if people around me don't notice as much (I've been a good faker so people don't always notice my progress).
What I've noticed most for myself is my own authenticity and I think those closest to me notice that, too, because they were the ones to bear the me that came out when the guard came down. It's like when teachers tell parents that their young children are angels at school and the parents are shocked because they are devils at home. That's how I think I've been at times, and that's the progress I can measure.
So if we eliminate judgment - one area I'm still noticing that rears its ugly head at times - then we can eliminate anger. Let's give our judgment - and our anger - to the Holy Spirit so we don't have to worry about that anymore. When we are still and listen, we notice that the Holy Spirit has done the judging for us, and we have been judged as a Son of God. It doesn't get any better than that!
Today the peace of God envelops me, And I forget all things except His Love.
Father, I wake today with miracles correcting my perception of all things. And so begins the day I share with You as I will share eternity, for time has stepped aside today. I do not seek the things of time, and so I will not look upon them. What I seek today transcends all laws of time and things perceived in time. I would forget all things except Your Love. I would abide in You, and know no laws except Your law of love. And I would find the peace which You created for Your Son, forgetting all the foolish toys I made as I behold Your glory and my own.
And when the evening comes today, we will remember nothing but the peace of God. For we will learn today what peace is ours, when we forget all things except God's Love.
Miracles I'm noticing:
What a wonderful lesson for today! Despite everything that happens today, at the end of the day I need only remember the peace of God. What a great way to start every day! There is no need to dwell on anything but God's Love and, really, that is all that is true anyway - everything else is just a story I made up, like the toys I made and believe to be real.
I have read and studied this course so many times over the past three years and sometimes it's funny how it seems to be the first time I've read some of this. Today's lesson makes so much sense to me - it's crazy how my ego tries to hold on to the "reality" it has made.
So no matter what happens today, I will feel the peace of God and remember that only that is real and true.
I offer only miracles today, For I would have them be returned to me.
Father, a miracle reflects Your gifts to me, Your Son. And every one I give returns to me, reminding me the law of love is universal. Even here, it takes a form which can be recognized and seen to work. The miracles I give are given back in just the form I need to help me with the problems I perceive. Father, in Heaven it is different, for there, there are no needs. But here on earth, the miracle is closer to Your gifts than any other git that I can give. Then let me give this gift alone today, which, born of true forgiveness, lights the way that I must travel to remember You.
Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light has come to offer miracles to bless the tired world. It will find rest today, for we will offer what we have received.
Miracles I'm noticing:
Just reading today's lesson is a great reminder that when we have problems, it is a great opportunity to replace them with miracles. We would not recognize the miracles if we only had miracles in this life on earth. It is the contrast from the times we are in need that allow us to see the miracles.
I'm finding that as I go through this course for the third time (looking forward to beginning Year 4 on January 1!), miracles become much more common for me - and I realize that I may be overlooking many of them as I hope to report them to you here. It's just become a way of life for me this past few months. I don't really notice the down times as much as I used to, maybe because there aren't as many of them. Or maybe the down times are just on a higher level now, so the mid-point between the highs and lows is raised.
This is a wonderful time of year with all the holiday festivities to remember that it is as blessed to receive as to give, and those of us who are studying this course seem to be getting much better at the giving while we still have some progress to make in the receiving end. That's why I'm excited to join my good friends - and fellow course students - Darcy and Sheila on Thursday for the latest Grateful Goddess gathering where they will be talking about Giving and Receiving. Check out their website for some great holiday gifts. Order today in time for Christmas and you'll be giving a wonderful gift that will return to you many fold.
I got Gratitude Journals for my sister, mom and niece and I'll put the first entry in as I reflect on the gratitude I feel for them in my life.
Peace to everyone at what could be a stressful time of year. Stop and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of this glorious and joyous time, and try to check your guilt and busyness at the door - just for one day. As you feel peace in your own life, you will be able to give it away. Notice what that does for the people in your life. And that's the miracle we can all give this holiday season!
Let there be peace on earth - and let it begin with me!
Today I learn the law of love; that what I give my brother is my gift to me.
This is Your law, my Father, not my own. I have not understood what giving means, and thought to save what I desired for myself alone. And as I looked upon the treasure that I thought I had, I found an empty place where nothing ever was or is or will be. Who can share a dream? And what can an illusion offer me? Yet he whom I forgive will give me gifts beyond the worth of anything on earth. Let my forgiven brothers fill my store with Heaven's treasures, which alone are real. Thus is the law of love fulfilled. And thus Your Son arises and returns to You.
How near we are to one another, as we go to God. How near is He to us. How close the ending of the dream of sin, and the redemption of the Son of God.
Miracles I'm noticing:
As we get close to the end of this year and I reflect on my learning from this past year of studying this course, I can really see my progress toward living today's lesson. I had a minor meltdown yesterday - I reacted to a comment someone made in a way I wish I hadn't and that episode, while not something I'm proud of, really showed me my progress. As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized what that was about - my reaction was showing me how my comments may cause someone else to react because I've said similar things to what the person said who set me off. I immediately forgave myself and the other person, and I'm not dwelling on it - the only reason I even remembered it now is so I could tell about the miracle, which was seeing that entire episode in love instead of in fear.
So that's what I noticed today. I trust that as I encounter each situation today, I will use what I'm learning and get back what I give my brother in love.
I am not asked to make a sacrifice To find the mercy and the peace of God.
The end of suffering can not be loss. The gift of everything can be but gain. You only give. You never take away. And You created me to be like You, so sacrifice becomes impossible for me as well as You. I, too, must give. And so all things are given unto me forever and forever. As I was created I remain. Your Son can make no sacrifice, for he must be complete, having the function of completing You. I am complete because I am Your Son. I cannot lose, for I can only give, and everything is mine eternally.
The mercy and the peace of God are free. Salvation has no cost. It is a gift that must be freely given and received. And it is this that we would learn today.
Miracles I'm noticing:
My old paradigm tells me - over and over again - that sacrifice means giving up something I really want which will leave me wanting. But today's lesson reminds me that there is only giving - no taking away and leaving without. I think part of the challenge with really getting this lesson is my belief that it is better to give than to receive, which leaves me always feeling I need to give, and to shrug off others' attempts to give to me. But what I realize is that I am depriving others of the opportunity to give when I don't learn to receive gratefully. The gift of salvation is freely given AND received.
What a great time of year to be reminded of this lesson! Enjoy the holidays instead of dreading the hassles and the headaches. It really can be the most wonderful time of the year if we just make up our minds in that way.
I let forgiveness rest upon all things, For thus forgiveness will be given me.
I thank You, Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I made. I ti s not real. And You have given me the means to prove its unreality to me. The key is in my hand, and I have reached the door beyond which lies the end of dreams. I stand before the gate of Heaven, wondering if I should enter in and be at home. Let me not wait again today. Let me forgive all things, and let creation be as You would have it be and as it is. Let me remember that I am Your Son, and opening the door at last, forget illusions in the blazing light of truth, as memory of You returns to me.
Brother, forgive me now. I come to you to take you home with me. And as we go, the world goes with us on our way to God.
Miracles I'm noticing:
A good friend of mine who just had a baby 2 months ago was informed by her husband that he wants a divorce. It's in times like this that I realize how much this course has meant and continues to mean to me. As I consider today's lesson and my friend's situation, I see that the best way for her to begin to live her own life is to forgive him. That way forgiveness will be given to her. I realize how difficult it must be to see that right now, and her anger and bitterness and upset are what she needs to feel right now. But I'm holding space for her as she figures things out for herself and her new baby.
Today's lesson tells us that we can make the decision to walk through the gate of Heaven right now without delay. We can choose to let creation be as God has it be without trying to make it be something else. And with that choice comes forgiveness and freedom.
Choose that today and see how your outlook on life will change from hell to Heaven. That recognition is the miracle for today!
A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all. It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false. It undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception, nor exceed the function of forgiveness. Thus it stays within time's limits. Yet it paves the way for the return of timelessness and love's awakening, for fear must slip away under the gentle remedy it brings.
A miracle contains the gift of grace, for it is given and received as one. And thus it illustrates the law of truth the world does not obey, because it fails entirely to understand its ways. A miracle inverts perception which was upside down before, and thus it ends the strange distortions that were manifest. Now is perception open to the truth. Now is forgiveness seen as justified.
Forgiveness is the home of miracles. The eyes of Christ deliver them to all they look upon in mercy and in love. Perception stands corrected in His sight, and what was meant to curse has come to bless. Each lily of forgiveness offers all the world the silent miracle of love. And each is laid before the Word of God, upon the universal altar to Creator and creation in the light of perfect purity and endless joy.
The miracle is taken first on faith, because to ask for it implies the mind has been made ready to conceive of what it cannot see and does not understand. Yet faith will bring its witnesses to show that what it rested on is really there. And thus the miracle will justify your faith in it, and show it rested on a world more real than what you saw before; a world redeemed from what you thought was there.
Miracles fall like drops of healing rain from Heaven on a dry and dusty world, where starved and thirsty creatures come to die. Now they have water. Now the world is green. And everywhere the signs of life spring up, to show that what is born can never die, for what has life has immortality.
Today's Lesson:
I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me safe.
Father, Your Son is holy. I am he on whom You smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your Holiness. How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile, with all Your Love bestowed upon us, living one with You, in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete; in sinlessness so perfect that the Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a universe of Thought completing Him.
Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God to us. And in its kind reflection we are saved.
Miracles I'm noticing:
First of all, I love section 13 above. It's so simple to understand miracles as already here in our world to quench our thirst right here today. We just need to open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to see what is right in front of us. Miracles are everywhere, and always have been - we maybe just haven't been awake to see them. So WAKE UP, everyone!
Yesterday I spoke at the Twin Cities Council for Quality in Minneapolis. The group was smaller than I expected - I was told there would be 75, and I'm guessing about 40 were there. But it was a great group. You know how sometimes it feels like everything is just "on" and you're on a roll? That's how I felt yesterday. I was talking about setting goals for 2008 and why resolutions usually seem to fall flat - because we're not setting resolutions we're passionate about. I did a small amount of subtle selling because I wasn't getting paid for this speech, so I thought I could get some advertising in. Afterwards one person told me she was very impressed with my blend of "selling" and "telling" so that was good.
But the most interesting comment came from one gentleman who stopped by to tell me that everything I said was biblically based. I took that as a compliment, and told him that people really do recognize universal Truth.
That was pretty cool, because I've never been blatant about the spiritual dimension about which I speak. I flashed back to a time a few years ago when my speaking mentor, Bob Ash, said the same thing to me, long before I really "got" that. Call it what you will - biblical, spiritual - it doesn't matter to me. I realized that as I was typing today's lesson. I used to get really defensive whenever I would hear someone speak of God or the Bible or anything religious because I was raised in such a fundamental home that I was turned off by those things.
I realize now that that wasn't God's fault. I shouldn't take out on Him the interpretations of people around me. I sense that He has always been waiting around for me to "get it" and now He's smiling as I speak to corporate audiences all over about goal setting and thinking and results and outcomes, when really He's there guiding what I say, making sure I don't say anything to turn anyone off the way I've been turned off.
That awareness - and recognition by that man in the audience - is my miracle for today!
Father, I thank You for today, and for the freedom I am certain it will bring. This day is holy, for today Your Son will be redeemed. His suffering is done. For he will hear Your Voice directing him to find Christ's vision through forgiveness, and be free forever from all suffering. Thanks for today, my Father. I was born into this world but to achieve this day, and what it holds in joy and freedom for Your holy Son and for the world he made, which is released along with him today.
Be glad today! Be glad! There is no room for anything but joy and thanks today. Our Father has redeemed His Son this day. Not one of us but will be saved today. Not one who will remain in fear, and none the Father will not gather to Himself, awake in Heaven in the Heart of Love.
Miracles I'm noticing:
What a powerful lesson today! I'm in Minneapolis getting ready to speak for members of the Twin Cities Council for Quality and today's lesson really frees me up to just be a conduit for the Holy Spirit. What a joy! There is no room for anything but joy and thanks!
How would the world look if every day all of us would get up, put our feet on the floor, and think, "I was born into this world but to achieve this day, and what it holds in joy and freedom"? The world can - and does - look that way when each of us decides to see it only through those eyes. In that way the world does change. It's up to each of us.
I'm reminded of a song from John Denver and the Muppets - here it is. It's in Every One Of US!!
Conversations With God
The Four Agreements
A Course in Miracles
The Disappearance of the Universe
A Return to Love
