Reflections 253 to 266
4th April 2024
Do not establish what the form should be that Christ’s forgiveness takes. He knows the way to make of every call a help to you, as you arise in haste to go at last unto your Father’s house. (ACIM, S-2.III.3:1-2)
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Ref: Where could your peace arise but from forgiveness? The Christ in you looks only on the truth, and sees no condemnation that could need forgiveness. (ACIM, T-24.V.3:1-2)
We are having a hard time of it. The world is unforgiving if we make a mistake.
When we tune into the news or read the newspaper, all we see is war and violence. Death is the theme. The media is made by the ego for the ego.
A Course in Miracles has the theme of forgiveness. It is created through the Holy Spirit and spoken to us by Jesus. It is a gentle whisper that wakes us up from the dream of disaster.
The truth of what we are has simply been forgotten. We’ve left Heaven and have ended up in hell.
The near-death experience is another way whereby we can be shown the truth. It’s a journey that takes us to our inner light. It’s the catalyst that ignites our own desire to find the truth.
Our purpose in the world is to awaken to the truth of what we are. This is peace, joy and happiness. Anything less, and we might as well be turning on the television to watch the news.
Susanne Seymoure met Jesus and the angels during her near-death experience at the age of twelve. Susanne remembers the love and humour with which she was treated, and how they took her to Heaven. It was their compassion that allowed her to return, and that remains with her until this day.
254/ The Christ within
5th April 2024
Now can He make your footsteps sure, your words sincere; not with your own sincerity, but with His Own. (ACIM, S-2.III.3:3)
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Ref: Religion is experience; psychotherapy is experience. At the highest levels they become one. Neither is truth itself, but both can lead to truth. (ACIM, P-2.II.2:4-6)
A Course in Miracles takes all the Christian terminology and re-translates it. It puts its own slant on what Jesus Christ taught.
For example, the line at the top of the page is referring to the Christ. Within the context of A Course in Miracles, this is what we are.
There are not eight billion individual bodies, all living their own separate lives. There is just the one Son of God who has never left Heaven. This is the Christ, our one Identity, and this can never change.
All of us appear to change as a body. One day we could be full of life and the next we could be hit by a car and lose everything. Any variation thereof is entirely possible.
Christ never changes. Christ is not a person. Christ is simply the joy of God expressed as Love itself.
A Course in Miracles is not trying to replace religion. It is not trying to be exclusive to anything. It is just asking that we remove the blocks to love’s presence because love is all there is.
We learn to see like Christ, which means seeing like God. We are shown that fear is the cause of all our problems. In fact, to see like Christ or to not see like Christ are the only two choices we have.
Christ abides forever in the Mind of God. Forgiveness takes us back to where we have never left. It is in the healing of the mind that we are able to know the Christ within.
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255/ The Innocent Mind
6th April 2024
Let Him take charge of how you would forgive, and each occasion then will be to you another step to Heaven and to peace. (ACIM, S-2.III.3:4)
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Ref: The “evil” past has nothing to do with God. He did not create it and He does not maintain it. God does not believe in retribution. His Mind does not create that way. (ACIM, T-3.I.3:2-5)
A Course in Miracles tells us that sacrifice is a notion that is totally unknown to God.
God did not sacrifice His Son. Jesus used the crucifixion to show us that the body is absolutely irrelevant. Only spirit lives and the resurrection is proof that this is so.
A Course in Miracles does not refute Christianity. It simply states it as it is: God is Love; God has One Son and we are that Son.
We always live and never die, which means that life should be a celebration and not a curse. Jesus is a symbol of what is innocent, and the innocent mind fully understands what is outlined below.
- Innocence does not sacrifice anything because the innocent mind has everything. Innocence honours everything and this includes all other minds.
- Suffering is a decision made by the mind. The ego demands this suffering, while the Holy Spirit knows only peace. The choice for suffering is always ours.
- Love is in the mind. It is impossible that it can be anywhere else. We find love by not looking externally and, internally, we are learning to be still.
Only purity knows the truth and this is why we heal the mind. Forgiveness is the process that allows the innocent mind to flourish and to be at peace.
7th April 2024
Are you not weary of imprisonment? God did not choose this sorry path for you. (ACIM, S-2.III.4:1-2)
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Ref: No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth. (ACIM, W-131)
A Course in Miracle tells us that the world is meaningless. There is nothing in the world that can ever fulfil us because there is no world. The world is just a projection from the mind.
We are looking for the permanent in the impermanent and for love where there is none. We are fighting a losing battle if we ever expect the world to answer our questions.
The Song of Prayer asks us whether we are weary of imprisonment? The answer, it appears, can only come to us when we are weary of the world.
In fact, A Course in Miracles only falls into our lap when we really have had enough. It knows when we are done with suffering. We are being handed the key that opens the prison door.
But first, we have to see that it is not really about getting anywhere. Time does not exist. All we have to do is to find the present moment and allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
The ego is like an out-of-control horse that will not stop. Thoughts are continuously stampeding over the Holy Spirit in our minds. The world we see is a reflection of our complete insanity.
The key is to bring our non-peace to the peace, so that all insanity just disappears into the clarity.
Light then replaces darkness as the ego slips away, and truth becomes known by the illumined mind.
We cannot fail because Heaven is here already. Nothing else exists except the endless peace of God.
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257/ The Myth of Sin
8th April 2024
What you have chosen still can be undone, for prayer is merciful and God is just. His is a justice He can understand, but you cannot as yet. (ACIM, S-2.III.4:3-4)
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Ref: Forgiveness is this world’s equivalent of Heaven’s justice. It translates the world of sin into a simple world, where justice can be reflected from beyond the gate behind which total lack of limits lies. (ACIM, T-26.IV.1:1-2)
A Course in Miracles tells us that we have done nothing that needs forgiveness. We are completely innocent of anything that requires exoneration.
We might feel sinful but we are not guilty of sin. The belief in sin is causing us the deepest pain.
Everything we do is simply to hide this belief in sin. We feel obliged to keep it buried. Sin establishes our guilt and chains us to the body.
The whole point of A Course in Miracles is to see the face of Christ instead of sin. It is to see all that is perfect instead of all that is imperfect. Forgiveness is the process that allows this to happen.
The face of Christ is the symbol of our innocence. It shows us that this is what we are, and that God’s Love is shining everywhere.
We know ourselves as wholly loving instead of wholly hateful. The mind is light instead of dark.
Everything has become an experience and not a judgement. We’re seeing everything as the Holy Spirit sees it, and this means it is complete, perfect and endlessly pure.
The myth of sin is the foundation for the ego’s whole thought system. It crucifies us. It is what keeps us from hearing of the song of prayer.
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258/ True Prayer
9th April 2024
Still will He give the means to you to learn of Him, and know at last that condemnation is not real and makes illusions in its evil name. (ACIM, S-2.III.4:5)
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Ref: A one-to-one relationship is not One Relationship. Yet it is the means of return; the way God chose for the return of His Son. (ACIM, P-3.II.4:6-7)
The Song of Prayer is a song of thanks. A Course in Miracles tells us it is giving thanks for what we are, and what we are is the holy Son of God
True prayer, then, is a joining. It is the instant flow of love between the Creator and the created. It is a flow that never stops, and our only problem is that we think it has.
Relationships are the way to resume this flow. And, although a relationship might appear to be between two bodies, it is only the mind that chooses which way the relationship is going to go.
When the ego looks at the relationship, it will always be asking for something. The ego expects to have its needs met. Only when it gets what it wants can the ego ever be happy.
If the Holy Spirit is listened to, then peace is a pre-requisite. A quiet mind sees the Source of love within the relationship as a whole. Nothing can oppose the love since love has no opposition.
And our thoughts within the relationship become our prayer. How we think is the life we want.
The Holy Spirit is the only means whereby we can return to total peace. The Holy Spirit knows exactly what we are. We are God’s Son and only a dream means we think we’re not.
When we fully awaken, we become One with the only Relationship there is. This is true prayer. It is the flow of love between the Father and the Son.
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259/ What Is really Real
10th April 2024
And yet it matters not the form that dreams may seem to take. Illusions are untrue. (ACIM, S-2.III.4:6-7)
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Ref: Do you not want to know your own Identity? Would you not happily exchange your doubts for certainty? Would you not willingly be free of misery, and learn again of joy? (ACIM, T-20.VIII.2:1-3)
A Course in Miracles tells us that everything is ours but for the asking. We have all we need, which is the peace of God. If we feel that we are lacking, it is only because we made it so.
Our thoughts become our reality. We make the world through our thoughts. The world is, in fact, an hallucination and is simply projected from the mind.
It is only in another person that we can see beyond the hallucination. In this context, then, bodies are irrelevant. What vision does is to allow us to see beyond the body.
A Course in Miracles trains our minds to see love instead of fear. We become aware of light instead of darkness. This means that all that prevents vision has to rise up and be healed.
The Holy Spirit, which is love, works through our vision; the ego, which is fear, looks through the body’s eyes. Vision knows the formless and fear sees the form.
Vision blesses and eyes condemn. One shows shows us truth, the other establishes the hallucination.
It is forgiveness that changes our perception. We are changing our minds about what we see. A forgiven world is one of love and the unforgiven world is one of fear.
When we truly change our beliefs, the hallucination we see will simply be gone. And, when the hallucination finally stops, what is really real just takes its place.
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260/ Waking to the Light
11th April 2024
God’s Will is truth, and you are one with Him in Will and purpose. Here all dreams are done. (ACIM, S-2.III.4:8-9)
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Ref: Only you can limit your creative power, but God wills to release it. He no more wills you to deprive yourself of your creations than He wills to deprive Himself of His. (ACIM, T-7.IX.1:1-2)
A Course in Miracles tells us that the Holy Spirit always guides us because our joy is His. The Holy Spirit is as real to us as the sun is to the sky on a cloud-free day.
The Holy Spirit speaks for the Kingdom of God, which is pure joy. Joy is what we are because, collectively, we are all the one Son of God.
As stated above, God’s Will is truth and, if we limit ourselves in any way, we are withholding the truth that is at our very core. What is limitless is being limited.
Peace is with us always and we just have to find it. This is the essence of any spiritual practice and it is why we look up to those who have found it. We want to copy what others have achieved.
The near-death experience also demonstrates that we can experience peace. It is a reminder that we are not alone. We are all in this together and, together, we are all returning back to being One.
What we are is God’s Son, masquerading as courageous beings waking up to the light.
Kelly Sammy had her near-death experience due to suicide in 2008. However, after crossing over to the other side, she found that she was loved unconditionally. In fact, she felt more boundless and alive than she had ever done. When she came back, she was euphoric and changed in every way.
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261/ Situation and Problem
12th April 2024
“What should I do for him, Your holy Son?” should be the only thing you ever ask when help is needed and forgiveness sought. The form the seeking takes you need not judge. (ACIM, S-2.III.5:1-2)
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Ref: The goal of truth requires faith. Faith is implicit in the acceptance of the Holy Spirit’s purpose, and this faith is all-inclusive. Where the goal of truth is set, there faith must be. (ACIM, T-17.VI.6:1-3)
The ego sees every situation as fragmented and never perceives the problem as a whole. The Holy Spirit sees every situation as a whole and any problem we have is because we don’t know love.
If someone insults us, the ego perceives it as an assault and wants to get revenge. The Holy Spirit always sees it differently. An attack is a call for help and the response is always one of forgiveness.
A Course in Miracles tells us that all problems are merely mistakes. Just as someone stumbling might need a helping hand, so do all conflicts have to be resolved through the love in our minds.
The mind is split between the ego and the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit transforms all that the ego throws at us into healing. This is how disconnection become connection and fear becomes love.
All we have to do is to nurture the faith that this will happen. We have to fully believe that the Holy Spirit is real. We have to trust in the formless over-and-above anything that appears to have form.
The ego hates this, but it is only as we train our minds that we begin to see the ego as a lie. The ego relates to our little self; the ego is the body. Neither our little self nor the body are really real at all.
Instead, we are holy and we are spirit. This is our true Self and we need to trust that this is so.
The situation and the problem are always in the same place. This is in the mind. It requires faith to believe in our Identity totally and it requires amnesia not to remember it at all.
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262/ Only Perfection
13th April 2024
And let it not be you who sets the form in which forgiveness comes to save God’s Son. The light of Christ in him is his release, and it is this that answers to his call. (ACIM, S-2.III.5:3-4)
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Ref: Healing is freedom. For it demonstrates that dreams will not prevail against the truth. (ACIM, W-137.8:1-2)
A Course in Miracles tells us that true forgiveness shines away all sin. The real world then arises to replace the one we made.
Our minds are healed. The split has gone and only peace is here.
Everything is completely as it is, not as we might want it to be. Dreams have disappeared and reality has taken its place.
The light of Christ shines everywhere we look. No veil can obscure what we are. Heaven has returned to our awareness and nothing withholds the light of a thousand stars.
Love is all there is. Fear has disappeared into the illusion from which it came. The only thing that matters is the Will of God.
We remember God’s Purpose. We know exactly what we are. The song of prayer becomes a joy because this is what we share.
We are the one Son of God. We are the Self that has no opposite. We are the Christ that is loved by eternity. We are the light that has no end.
When we are healed we become instruments of healing. We know the truth. Clarity returns as all doubt disappears. Certainty prevails and what we see is only perfection.
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263/ Become the Ocean
14th April 2024
Forgive him as the Christ decides you should, and be His eyes through which you look on him, and speak for Him as well. He knows the need; the question and the answer. He will say exactly what to do, in words that you can understand and you can also use. (ACIM, S-2.III.5:5-7)
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Ref: One wholly egoless therapist could heal the world without a word, merely by being there. No one need see him or talk to him or even know of his existence. His simple Presence is enough to heal. (ACIM, P-2.III.3:7-9)
When we let go of the ego, we become our Self. It’s as if the incessant barking of a dog has stopped and only silence remains.
Within that silence, there is a joy and a humility, a wonder and an endless love.
A full awakening, then, is when the background noise stops. It’s as if it was never there. A mind that is liberated is not going to yearn for an annoyance that never seemed to go away.
Without the static that arises from a radio, the song will always shine. It’s as if a curtain is being opened and the light comes flooding in. The minds is becoming enlightened.
God’s Presence is revealing Itself. Forgiveness, then, should not be aimed at the Source of all that Is. We need to forgive ourselves. Only we have made the suffering that we both see and endure.
And this is because the mind is extremely powerful. We literally become what we think.
Our thoughts, however, are really nothing. The ego is just a wind that kicks up waves on the surface of the ocean. Sometimes, it’s a breeze and sometimes it’s a storm.
Being egoless means we become the ocean. The wind can’t affect our Self in any way.
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264/ Peace in Action
15th April 2024
Do not confuse His function with your own. He is the Answer. You the one who hears. (ACIM, S-2.III.5:8-10)
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Ref: In quietness are all things answered, and is every problem quietly resolved.(ACIM, T-27.IV.1:1)
A Course in Miracles tells us that we are in conflict. Conflict is what the ego is. It is a split mind that has lost its way.
There is no resolution with conflict. War is just a state of mind that makes more war.
Any answer that arises through conflict simply produces more questions. The illusion continues. It’s as if the mind is spiralling out of control.
A Course in Miracles tells us that everything we need is found within the holy instant. This is the peace and quiet and stillness of the mind. From this stillness, the answer is just there.
When we have a problem, the best thing we can do is to step away from that problem. It is to take a few breaths. The body is our servant and our friend. It only obeys what the mind is telling it to do.
We settle the body down and pause. When the body is agitated, it just means more agitation. The ego is demanding our attention but we do the opposite. We seek the silence beyond our distress.
The mind has to settle, if only for a moment. It is through this settling that the answer arises.
Being quiet is a practice and a way of life. It requires patience, vigilance and a lot of forgiveness.
When the mind settles, it is peace in action. Any agitation means our inner Voice can’t be heard.
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265/ Absolute Peace
16th April 2024
And what is it He speaks to you about? About salvation and the gift of peace. About the end of sin and guilt and death. About the role forgiveness has in Him. Do you but listen. For He will be heard by anyone who calls upon His Name, and places his forgiveness in His hands. (ACIM, S-2.III.6:1-6)
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Ref: Healing must occur in exact proportion to which the valuelessness of sickness is recognized. One need but say, “There is no gain at all to me in this” and he is healed. (ACIM, M-5.II.1:1-2)
A Course in Miracles tells us that healing is of the mind and not of the body. It is a decision. We can either decide for the ego or for the Holy Spirit.
Equally, healing is accomplished the instant anyone sees no value in pain. Instead of weakness, we are choosing strength.
Within us all is the Voice that is alluded to at the top of the page. This is where our healing arises. We all find this Voice in different ways and we all have to develop the faith that it is there.
The mind is chaotic when the ego is in charge. We can have no doubt that the ego is in the mind. It’s as if we feel on edge. We have no sense of absolute peace.
The ego is the voice that is very loud and very prominent. We hear it in the morning when we wake up and we hear it at night as we go to sleep. It comes through in our dreams and is incessant.
The Voice of the Holy Spirit takes no notice of the ego, just as the sun takes no notice of the clouds. The sun always shines consistently despite anything else that appears to be going on.
Sickness, therefore, is impossible when love replaces fear. Peace is our Source and joy is our Guide.
And absolute peace arises only in the holy instant. The sun is shining in the mind.
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266/ Mind of God
17th April 2024
Forgiveness has been given Him to teach, to save it from destruction and to make the means for separation, sin and death become again the holy gift of God. (ACIM, S-2.III.6:7)
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Ref: The preparation for the holy instant belongs to Him Who gives it. Release yourself to Him Whose function is release. Do not assume His function for Him. Give Him but what He asks, that you may learn how little is your part, and how great is His. (ACIM, T-18.IV.6:5-8)
The ‘Him’ referred to at the top of the page is the Christ; this is both the Self we share and the Son of God. The ‘Him’ referred to above is the Holy Spirit; this is the Voice for God that is in our minds.
The Christ abides forever in the Mind of God and has never left its Source (which is Heaven). The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us, simply so that we remember our natural state (which is one of peace).
Both the Christ and the Holy Spirit are the links that keep us one with God. However, it is the Holy Spirit that bridges the gap between the perception of what we think we are, and what we really are.
There are two thought systems that we use. The ego’s has its source in loss, which binds us to the world of pain. The ego enjoys sending out its hungry dogs who hunt for guilt with their fangs of fear.
The other thought system belongs to the Holy Spirit and has God as its Source. It sees only a world of boundless joy. The Holy Spirit is the manifestation of truth and always has knowledge at its core.
We can either think with the ego or with the Holy Spirit. The thought system we use is entirely up to us. One heals the mind and lights it up, and the other keeps the mind split and holds it in darkness.
It is by bringing the darkness to the light that we allow our fears to dissolve and the illusion to stop.
And, as the Holy Spirit holds us within the Mind of God, we become the Christ that has never left.
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