February 18th 2014 Lesson 336
Part II Introduction
We will continue spending time with God each morning and night and at each waking hour, using all future lessons as introductions to the times in which we leave the world of pain, and go to enter peace, calling to God when we have need of Him as we are tempted to forget our goal. During these holy times, we will say some simple words of welcome, and expect our Father to reveal Himself to us, as He has promised that He would when we invited Him.
This is how our times with Him will now be spent: we say the words of invitation that His Voice suggests, and then we wait for Him to come to us. Sit silently and wait upon your Father. He has willed to come to you when you have recognized it is your will He do so. We need only call to God, and all temptations disappear. Instead of words, we need but feel His Love. Instead of prayers, we need but call His Name. Instead of judging, we need but be still and let all things be healed.
Our lessons will now be preceded by a theme of special relevance that we should review before each lesson until another is given us. They should be slowly read and thought about a little while, preceding one of the holy times we sit in silence and wait for God to reveal Himself to us. The next of these special thoughts follow and are relevant to lessons 331 - 340:12. What Is the Ego?
The ego is idolatry; the sign of a limited and separated self, born in a body, doomed to suffer and to end its life in death. It is the "will" that sees the Will of God as enemy, and takes a form in which it is denied. The ego is the "proof" that strength is weak and love is fearful, life is really death, and what opposes God alone is true.
The ego is insane. In fear it stands beyond the Everywhere, apart from All, in separation from the Infinite. In its insanity it thinks it has become a victor over God Himself. And in its terrible autonomy it "sees" the Will of God has been destroyed. It dreams of punishment, and trembles at the figures in its dreams; its enemies, who seek to murder it before it can ensure its safety by attacking them.
The Son of God is egoless. What can he know of madness and the death of God, when he abides in Him? What can he know of sorrow and of suffering, when he lives in eternal joy? What can he know of fear and punishment, of sin and guilt, of hatred and attack, when all there is surrounding him is everlasting peace, forever conflict-free and undisturbed, in deepest silence and tranquility?
To know reality is not to see the ego and its thoughts, its works, its acts, its laws and its beliefs, its dreams, its hopes, its plans for its salvation, and the cost belief in it entails. In suffering, the price for faith in it is so immense that crucifixion of the Son of God is offered daily at its darkened shrine, and blood must flow before the altar where its sickly followers prepare to die.
Yet will one lily of forgiveness change the darkness into light; the altar to illusions to the shrine of Life Itself. And peace will be restored forever to the holy minds which God created as His Son, His dwelling place, His joy, His love, completely His, completely one with Him.
Lesson 336
Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined.
- Forgiveness
is the means appointed for perception's ending. Knowledge is restored after perception first is changed, and then gives way entirely to what remains forever past its highest reach. For sights and sounds, at best, can serve but to recall the memory that lies beyond them all. Forgiveness sweeps away distortions, and opens the hidden altar to the truth. Its lilies shine into the mind, and call it to return and look within, to find what it has vainly sought without. For here, and only here, is peace of mind restored, for this the dwelling place of God Himself.
- Invitation Prayer: In quiet may forgiveness wipe away my dreams of separation and of sin. Then let me, Father, look within, and find Your promise of my sinlessness is kept; Your Word remains unchanged within my mind, Your Love is still abiding in my heart.
Insights/comments:
- The idea of separation is a core belief that keeps us bound to our illusions. But the eternal truth is that we are one with each other and with God, and cannot ever be separate, except in dreams, fantasy, and illusions. When we sleep at night we experience different characters, situations, and environments in our dreams, all of which are created by our minds. Similarly, all the people, situations and environments we experience in our waking state consciousness, are sharing various experiences in the Mind of God. We are the characters or thoughts created by God and are interacting with each other in His unified Mind. Our minds are therefore joined with each other and with God, for His is the One Mind in which we all exist. We, as thoughts in God’s Mind, perceive only what we believe, and those perceptions in turn dictate our experiences. If we wish to have different experiences, we simply need to change our beliefs, which change our perceptions, which then allow us to make different choices. As Henry Ford said: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't—you're right,” and similarly, whether we believe in truth or illusions, our experiences validate our beliefs. Because our minds are joined, everything we do affects the whole of God’s mind, just as a pebble thrown into a pond affects every aspect of the pond. Similarly, every act of either forgiveness or non-forgiveness affects everything in God’s mind. If we believe that forgiveness is the means for our salvation, we will choose to forgive and allow forgiveness to wipe away our dreams of separation and of sin. The lack of harmony we experience in today’s world is the result of a failure to recognize forgiveness as the means for our salvation
I and my Creator are One. 
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