Day 156: I walk with God in perfect holiness.

"I am as God created me."  This lesson is repeated frequently throughout A Course in Miracles.  Today's meditation enunciates this belief once again.  We go arm in arm with God, wherever we go, whether we're aware of it or not.  How can we, of God's creation, be anything less than Holy?  Only when we forget from Where It Is we come - only when we falsely think that we could not be Pure - does our experience reflect those grim illusions that we make.  In recognizing that we are not sinners, but merely misguided dreamers, we can awake to the Truth that God and all of us are One.  This awareness lights the world around us, and brings along with each one all our brothers and our sisters who await to waken with us.

I walk with God in perfect holiness.  I light the world, I light my mind and all the minds which God created one with me.

Today's meditation reaffirms our place in the Universe.  We have no limits, for we are present Everywhere.  We are each a part of one another, tied together in an unbreakable link with our Creator.  When we forget this simple truth, our minds grow dark indeed.  We cut off the electric stream between ourselves and God, like unscrewing a light bulb from its safe and sturdy socket.  Electricity still flows, but we have closed off from receiving it.  All we must do is turn the bulb back into place, and we will see the brilliant light shine forth from each of us again.

Let us not forget that God walks with us all the time, in every possible way.  We are given constant reminders that He is here with us: A smile from a stranger on the street, a beautiful rainbow arching gracefully through the sky, the sounds of children laughing as they play with wild abandon... All these things and countless more are there to tell us we are not alone.  Our purity is permanent, for we cannot change who God created us to be.  Let us walk in confidence then today, that we are Whole and Perfect, and perfectly Holy.  As we do so, we light the world around us, and bring Light to the rest who choose to wake in our footsteps.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 155: I will step back and let Him lead the way.

Today's lesson is about relinquishing control, and accepting that - in this world of illusion - we never really had it to begin with.  Think about this: Who makes a happier person?  One who tries to orchestrate every single aspect of his life?  Or one who accepts what comes to him and proceeds to make the best of it?  The former will meet disappointment after disappointment, as expectations that he sets are constantly not met.  The latter will move through life fluidly, extracting from each unexpected situation an opportunity to grow.  The former tries to make sense of an insane world, which is insanity in and of itself.  The latter accepts where he is, and lets fate guide him along his path through life.

The only danger in relinquishing control is when it's done before yet realizing Who will be your Guide, and when the destination of your journey is not clear.  This is what today's meditation helps remind us:

I will step back and let Him lead the way.
For I would walk along the road to Him.

God must be our Guide, and Truth our destination.  They are One and the same, as are we with them.  In recognizing this, we also realize that we are walking on the path that leads us Home.  By allowing Truth to go before us, and with the helping hands of those who walk beside us, the road on which we travel is illuminated, showing us the way amidst illusions that we pass.  As we embark upon our sacred journey, the Course advises us as such:

Walk safely now, yet carefully, because this path is new to you.  And you may find that you are tempted still to walk ahead of truth, and let illusions be your guide.  Your holy brothers have been given you, to follow in your footsteps as you walk with certainty of purpose to the truth.  It goes before you now, that they may see something with which they can identify; something they understand to lead the way.

Yet at the journey's ending there will be no gap, no distance between truth and you.  And all illusions walking in the way you travelled will be gone from you as well, with nothing left to keep the truth apart from God's completion, holy as Himself.  Step back in faith and let truth lead the way.  You know not where you go.  But One Who knows goes with you.  Let Him lead you with the rest.

Indeed, as we follow those who have gone before us, others will follow in our footsteps.  With each step we take in the Light of Truth, our own light brightens and serves as a beacon for those who have yet to hear the Call of God.  Let Him be your Guide.  Relinquish all "control" you may perceive yourself to have, for such is wasted energy in this world of smoke and mirrors.  True freedom comes with following the Source of Light.  And when we finally have left this world, illusions will not haunt us anymore.  Let us take that journey now, and along the way we will but laugh at silly holograms that try to veer us from our path.  Keep the Truth ahead of you, and you will walk with confidence of purpose, knowing Who You Really Are.  As A Course in Miracles tells us, "We walk to God."  What other destination could be worthier than Him?  Step back, and let God lead the way, and we will walk together along the road to Him.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 154: I am among the ministers of God.

We are all called by our Creator to do His Will here on earth.  Many of us, however, have forgotten how to listen to His call.  We begin to tune our ears by changing the way we think about ourselves.  We are all free, if we choose to be.  True Freedom does not reside in the illusions we've deceived ourselves in believing, but it rests in the Will of God, which we must recognize is also our own will if we desire to be free.

Each one of us is a Holy Messenger sent by God to bring salvation to the world.  This assignment may imply a limit on our freedom, for if this is the Will of God, what freedom do we have if we cannot follow our own will?  Yet our way apart from God's is not the way of Freedom.  This divergence only traps us, for in separating ourselves and our will from God's, we make fearful figures which obscure the Truth, complicate our choices and constrict our way of life.  Salvation is Freedom, so our sole purpose then is to deliver it to All the world.  That is His Will, and once we do accept it as our own, we will be free.

Along these lines, let us meditate upon our lesson for today:

I am among the ministers of God, and I am grateful that I have the means by which to recognize that I am free.

You have been Chosen to do the Work of God.  This "work" is unlike any work as we conceive of it on earth.  It is a Joyous process to bring Peace unto the world.  It is a Loving mission to awaken others to their Chosen Path.  We are all Divine Creatures, each roaming this planet with a uniquely specialized assignment from our Creator.  No one individual's role is more or less important than another's.  The gifts we each possess were given us by God to do His Will.  Let us give ourselves and these blessed gifts back to our Source and allow our bodies to be the instrument by which He works His Miracles.

Accepting your ministry is to let go of what you once believed you were.  We come to realize that we are not the sinful and depraved beings the world tends to tell us that we are.  In letting go, we allow God to take the place of those shadows in our minds.  In letting go, we invite Freedom into our being.  This is how we tune our ears to Hear Him.  This is how we direct our eyes to See Him.  This is how we open our hearts to Love Him and One Another, for as His Children we are all connected to each other.  We all have the same mission here.  Our execution of that Holy Work will differ, but the end result is one and the same: Salvation will be ours, if we join our will with God's.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 153: In my defenselessness my safety lies.

Defense is just another form of attack, cleverly masked to appear as protection.  But what the act of defending oneself tells us is that we are but a body, fragile and susceptible to harm.  This hides the Light of Truth from our eyes that we are not our bodies, but a spirit joined with all others that could never be threatened by any form of attack.  Here is where True Safety dwells.  And defenselessness is our recognition and acceptance of this fact.  Defenselessness is a mark of greater awareness of one's True nature, and thus provides a safety which defense would only push away.

In my defenselessness my safety lies.

In explanation of today's lesson, A Course in Miracles says the following:

We look past dreams today, and recognize that we need no defense because we are created unassailable, without all thought or wish or dream in which attack has any meaning.  Now we cannot fear, for we have left all fearful thoughts behind.  And in defenselessness we stand secure, serenely certain of our safety now, sure of salvation; sure we will fulfill our chosen purpose, as our ministry extends its holy blessing through the world.

Be still a moment, and in silence think how holy is your purpose, how secure you rest, untouchable within its light.  God's ministers have chosen that the truth be with them.  Who is holier than they?  Who could be surer that his happiness is fully guaranteed?  And who could be more mightily protected?  What defense could possibly be needed by the ones who are among the chosen ones of God, by His election and their own as well?

Indeed, we are all God's ministers.  Many of us have simply not awakened yet to this.  Since we are each created by God, Holy and with purpose, what need is there to defend Who We Really Are?  There is no threat that anyone could ever pose upon us.  Truth needs no defense, for there is nothing that could breach it.  We are Truth and we are Light.  As long as we remember this, we have no need for defense.  To defend oneself reflects the false belief that there must be a weakness to protect.  This is not so, for though our bodies may be hurt and will one day be laid to rest, our spirit is immortal.

When temptation to defend arises, remember this today: You are not bound by the limits which your body may impose.  We are far greater than our bodies, and we are of One Like Mind.  The Mind of God has nothing that this world could ever harm.  We rest within His Mind, Whole and Perfect and Strong.  Such Power needs no defense.  Let us recognize this truth and know that we are safe forever.  Our defenselessness shows that we have remembered Who We Are.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 152: The power of decision is my own.

Today's lesson in the workbook of A Course in Miracles begins with this:

No one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision.  No one suffers pain except his choice elects this state for him.  No one can grieve nor fear nor think him sick unless these are the outcomes that he wants.  And no one dies without his own consent.  Nothing occurs but represents your wish, and nothing is omitted that you choose.  Here is your world, complete in all details.  Here is its whole reality for you.  And it is only here salvation is.

The very next line says, "You may believe that this position is extreme," and indeed it seems to be just that.  But on some level, whether consciously or unconsciously, we do create the world around us.  Everything begins with thought.  Our thoughts create the "reality" in which we live.  Of course, this is a different sort of reality than the one which is our Truth.  The reality here on earth is one that's ever-changing, bending to whichever thought we may be thinking at the time.  We cannot seem to make up our minds, and so what we end up making is nothing short of chaos.

Perhaps we may claim that it's the other way around - that we are living at the effect of the world around us.  But to make such a claim would mean that we have no power whatsoever.  What, then, would be the point of thinking at all?  Of course, those who believe that they are at the effect of the world tend not to think, but merely coast by, filling their lives with distraction after distraction so as not to take responsibility for anything that happens.  In believing as such, they make it so, not even aware that they are the ones doing it.

On the other hand, it is not easy to accept that we are the ones creating the diseases which we suffer, or the terrible accidents in our lives, or the abuse inflicted by another human being.  How can it be so that we asked for such atrocities?  This is where the idea of karma comes into play.  The form in which the universe presents our circumstances may not be precisely what we chose, but what they offer is exactly what we asked for.  Take, for instance, a hypothetical situation where you find yourself in a car accident and wake up to discover that both your arms were amputated.  Perhaps, on a deep subconscious level, you desired to experience your own power of resiliency and strength.  Perhaps your triumph in learning to survive without your arms inspired others to step up and do much more with their own lives than they believed they ever could.  Now, did you ask to have your arms taken away?  Of course not, but remember that any physical circumstance is just an illusion anyway.  The Real experience you longed for was to know your own strength and resilience, your own ability to inspire.  Karma, always working in the favor of your soul growth, presented the perfect situation in which you could achieve just that.

Maybe the most important inference we can take from today's lesson is that no matter what occurs in our lives, we alone are the ones who determine how we will react.  The decision to respond in a loving manner will create more loving circumstances in our lives.  Yes, this is easier said than done.  But we begin to lead our lives this way when we accept that we have the power to decide.  There must be another way.  That simple statement marks the turning point in a life lived passively to a life lived actively and purposefully.  It then will start to dawn on us that we were created to live Divinely.  Why should we choose destruction over creation?  What good purpose would that serve?  What joy would that bring us?

Along this line of thinking, the Course provides us with the following meditation for today:

The power of decision is my own.  This day I will accept myself as what my Father's Will created me to be.

God, our Creator, willed for us to be like Him - free to live in permanent Joy and to spread Love and Happiness wherever we go.  Why would we want to live any other way?  Yet look around and you will know that we have often decided to oppose this way of being.  We have been tricked by our egos to think that the Will of God is false.  As a result we've turned our thinking completely upside-down, believing what is True is false and what is false is true.  We must decide to right our thoughts if we are to create a better way of life.  Thoughts have enormous power.  What we think will be.  Decide to be Divine, and you'll remember your True Being.  Decide to live in Harmony, and you will see the world shift accordingly.  Decide to reside in everlasting Bliss, and no situation will threaten your happiness.

Remember, when in doubt, to tell yourself: There must be another way.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 151: All things are echoes of the Voice for God.

Today we are asked to give all our thoughts to God so they may be purified.  That which is a false illusion shall be stripped away before the thought returns to us, Whole and True and unencumbered.  Then we may offer this Truth upon the world and reconstruct our perceptions so that they reflect the Gifts of Heaven.  As we do so, we are reminded of the following:

All things are echoes of the Voice for God.

Echoes are not real, but they do reflect the source from which they come.  Thought is always Source.  God has entrusted us with the power to create as He does.  When we are aligned with God, Who is our Source, we create only what is worthy of Eternal Being.  When we fall out of alignment and forget Who We Really Are, we make false icons, which may exist in time but never in Eternity.

Today's meditation lesson tells us that all things are echoes of the Voice for God.  That which is not timeless, then, is also an echo.  Yet echoes can become distorted.  It is for this reason we must hold all that we see, all that we hear, all that we touch and taste and smell and, especially, think, up to the Light of God.  Let any false representations of what we behold fall away and reveal the Purity of what lies underneath.  It's as though, through the daily practice of meditation and prayer, we are given a special pair of eyeglasses.  When we look through them, we are able to discern the True from the false.  That which is a reflection of Love shines brightly through the lenses, while the rest appears as a dark shadow in the backdrop.

While I meditated upon the lesson for today, I thought about the sinister creations of this world.  Where is the Voice of God there?  As the Course instructed, I gave it to God and waited for His answer.  The thought returned to me, and I saw that even in the grimmest of circumstances, Love is there.  When tragedy occurs, there is response so kind, so communal, so truthful, that it outweighs the tragedy and restores the Lightness of our Being where we had formerly forgotten it.  Must it take a tragedy, though, for us to remember Who We Are?  I'd like to believe that it doesn't.  But as long as we allow our thoughts to carry with them beliefs of separation and fear, we will continue to collectively create that which reflects such thoughts.

Let us make the small effort, then, to remind ourselves daily through prayer and meditation of our True Divinity.  As we connect with the Source of our Being, we will be reminded of our connection to all other things.  That is how we shift the frequency of our thoughts to begin manifesting only the echoes of our collective Joy and Peace and Love.  Let us not wait for another grim event to bring us together and remind us of our Truth.  Earn the right to wear those special eyeglasses so that we may behold a world far more beautiful than the one we now inhabit.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman

Day 150: Review - Lessons 139 & 140

Today we will conclude the Fourth Review in the workbook of A Course in Miracles.

Below are the links to my original posts for the lessons we are revisiting today:

Day 139: I will accept Atonement for myself.

Day 140: Only salvation can be said to cure.

Let us give five minutes as we wake and five minutes before we fall asleep to meditate upon the following:

My mind holds only what I think with God.

As we close our eyes to join our minds and all its thoughts with God, let us see no images among the blankness there within.  Do not allow your thoughts to take a single shape or form; the imaginary film screen of our mind has ceased its play.  Instead, just simply Listen, as you wait to hear His Voice.  With your inner ear you may begin to hear the faintest chimes; each tone just one of many - hundreds, thousands, even more.  Each one represents another life, another soul, another Creation of God.  The sounds begin to pulsate, growing louder as they chime in rapid succession.  Soon they all begin to blend together, indistinguishable from each other.  They converge, creating Harmony, in One sustained and Loving Tone.

I will accept Atonement for myself.

Atonement for oneself is to walk the path toward God.  It does not mean repentance for the sins we have committed, for in God's eyes we are sinless.  Atonement, then, is recognizing where we are right now, and where we long to be.  Atonement is the guided road which we must walk to free ourselves from all illusions we have made on earth.  To atone is to forgive, and to forgive is to love wholly.  Loving wholly is with reverence for the Truth of Who We Are, to know that each of us is equal and a part of one another.

Only salvation can be said to cure.

Modern remedies may only seem to solve the pangs of illness.  But what we're really doing is replacing one illusion for another.  The only cure for sickness is to put our minds at ease, for dis-ease cannot be where one is peaceful and serene.  Salvation brings us Peace, for it has saved us from the thought that we are dying and alone.  We can never die, and nor could we be ever left alone.  God is with us always - in the air we breathe, the souls we meet, the earth we walk upon... When we Truly realize this, we are Saved and will no longer be susceptible to sickness.

Salvation will be ours when we decide to follow God's Angels along the path of the Atonement.  His Light and Truth shall guide our way.  And as we watch false dreams dissolve, all illness will depart our bodies; for we will have recognized the Sacred Self we are.

Until tomorrow,
Journeyman