January 6th 2014 Lesson 293
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 291 - 300:
8. What Is the Real World?
The real world is
a symbol, like the rest of what perception offers. Yet it stands for
what is opposite to what you made. Your world is seen through eyes of
fear, and brings the witnesses of terror to your mind. The real world
cannot be perceived except through eyes forgiveness blesses, so they see
a world where terror is impossible, and witnesses to fear can not be
found.
The real world holds a counterpart for each unhappy
thought reflected in your world; a sure correction for the sights of
fear and sounds of battle which your world contains. The real world
shows a world seen differently, through quiet eyes and with a mind at
peace. Nothing but rest is there. There are no cries of pain and sorrow
heard, for nothing there remains outside forgiveness. And the sights are
gentle. Only happy sights and sounds can reach the mind that has
forgiven itself.
What need has such a mind for thoughts of death,
attack and murder? What can it perceive surrounding it but safety, love
and joy? What is there it would choose to be condemned, and what is
there that it would judge against? The world it sees arises from a mind
at peace within itself. No danger lurks in anything it sees, for it is
kind, and only kindness does it look upon.
The real world is the
symbol that the dream of sin and guilt is over, and God's Son no longer
sleeps. His waking eyes perceive the sure reflection of his Father's
Love; the certain promise that he is redeemed. The real world signifies
the end of time, for its perception makes time purposeless.
The
Holy Spirit has no need of time when it has served His purpose. Now He
waits but that one instant more for God to take His final step, and time
has disappeared, taking perception with it as it goes, and leaving but
the truth to be itself. That instant is our goal, for it contains the
memory of God. And as we look upon a world forgiven, it is He Who calls
to us and comes to take us home, reminding us of our Identity which our
forgiveness has restored to us.
Lesson 293
All fear is past and only love is here.
- All fear is past, because its source is gone, and all its thoughts gone with it. Love remains the only present state, whose Source is here forever and forever. Can the world seem bright and clear and safe and welcoming, with all my past mistakes oppressing it, and showing me distorted forms of fear? Yet in the present love is obvious, and its effects apparent. All the world shines in reflection of its holy light, and I perceive a world forgiven at last.
- Invitation Prayer: Father, let not your holy world escape my sight today. Nor let my ears be deaf to all the hymns of gratitude the world is singing underneath the sounds of fear. There is a real world which the present holds safe from all past mistakes. And I would see only this world before my eyes today.
- The world of our senses holds the history of our past mistakes; all the things we did that we thought we should not have done, and all the things we didn't do that we thought we should have done. This is the world that needs our forgiveness today, for this is the world that holds all our fears of punishment and retribution for what we thought we did or didn't do. Forgive this world and be free of it, for we, the holy children of God, stand in every present moment ready to be acquitted of all charges and of all guilt, for we have done nothing to diminish or devalue the Self that God created perfect, nor could we. If we are willing to forgive ourselves for what we thought we did, we will awaken to the world as God created it. We have merely been dreaming and dreams have no effect upon reality. They only seem to affect the dreamer while he sleeps, and are completely gone at the moment of awakening. What remains after dreams, is the truth that love alone was, is now, and always will be, the only thing that is real, eternal, and joyful..
I and my Creator are One. 
January 5th 2014 Lesson 292
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 291 - 300:
8. What Is the Real World?
The real world is
a symbol, like the rest of what perception offers. Yet it stands for
what is opposite to what you made. Your world is seen through eyes of
fear, and brings the witnesses of terror to your mind. The real world
cannot be perceived except through eyes forgiveness blesses, so they see
a world where terror is impossible, and witnesses to fear can not be
found.
The real world holds a counterpart for each unhappy
thought reflected in your world; a sure correction for the sights of
fear and sounds of battle which your world contains. The real world
shows a world seen differently, through quiet eyes and with a mind at
peace. Nothing but rest is there. There are no cries of pain and sorrow
heard, for nothing there remains outside forgiveness. And the sights are
gentle. Only happy sights and sounds can reach the mind that has
forgiven itself.
What need has such a mind for thoughts of death,
attack and murder? What can it perceive surrounding it but safety, love
and joy? What is there it would choose to be condemned, and what is
there that it would judge against? The world it sees arises from a mind
at peace within itself. No danger lurks in anything it sees, for it is
kind, and only kindness does it look upon.
The real world is the
symbol that the dream of sin and guilt is over, and God's Son no longer
sleeps. His waking eyes perceive the sure reflection of his Father's
Love; the certain promise that he is redeemed. The real world signifies
the end of time, for its perception makes time purposeless.
The
Holy Spirit has no need of time when it has served His purpose. Now He
waits but that one instant more for God to take His final step, and time
has disappeared, taking perception with it as it goes, and leaving but
the truth to be itself. That instant is our goal, for it contains the
memory of God. And as we look upon a world forgiven, it is He Who calls
to us and comes to take us home, reminding us of our Identity which our
forgiveness has restored to us.
Lesson 292
A happy outcome to all things is sure.
- God's promises make no exceptions. And He guarantees that only joy can be the final outcome found for everything. Yet it is up to us when this is reached; how long we let an alien will appear to be opposing His. And while we think this will is real, we will not find the end He has appointed as the outcome of all problems we perceive, all trials we see, and every situation that we meet. Yet is the ending certain. For God's Will is done in earth and Heaven. We will seek and we will find according to His Will, which guarantees that our will is done.
- Invitation Prayer: We thank You, Father, for Your guarantee of only happy outcomes in the end. Help us not interfere, and so delay the happy endings You have promised us for every problem that we can perceive; for every trial we think we still must meet.
- nsights/comments:
- Again the will of the One who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-present, cannot fail; it cannot be unmade or undone for it is inevitable and already fulfilled. This may be difficult to understand for us who are slaves to time, but in eternity there is no delay for there is only the eternal moment of now. God's plan can, in a sense, from our perspective, seem to be delayed since we play a vital role in its fulfillment, but even this apparent delay is part of our salvation, for God will not abandon His children, but will wait patiently for us to join Him in the fulfillment of his plan. The apparent waiting is nothing to one who lives in eternity, but for us who believe ourselves to be in time, the delay we add to God's plan for our salvation can be quite unpleasant, for we are delaying ourselves the ultimate experience of lasting happiness. All things return to God in the end, to find that they had never left, but only thought that they did. The ending of our dream is the awakening to the perfect world that God created for us—the only true reality there is. For this we are eternally thankful.
I and my Creator are One.
January 4th 2014 Lesson 291
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 291 - 300:
8. What Is the Real World?
The real world is a symbol, like the rest of what perception offers. Yet it stands for what is opposite to what you made. Your world is seen through eyes of fear, and brings the witnesses of terror to your mind. The real world cannot be perceived except through eyes forgiveness blesses, so they see a world where terror is impossible, and witnesses to fear can not be found.
The real world holds a counterpart for each unhappy thought reflected in your world; a sure correction for the sights of fear and sounds of battle which your world contains. The real world shows a world seen differently, through quiet eyes and with a mind at peace. Nothing but rest is there. There are no cries of pain and sorrow heard, for nothing there remains outside forgiveness. And the sights are gentle. Only happy sights and sounds can reach the mind that has forgiven itself.
What need has such a mind for thoughts of death, attack and murder? What can it perceive surrounding it but safety, love and joy? What is there it would choose to be condemned, and what is there that it would judge against? The world it sees arises from a mind at peace within itself. No danger lurks in anything it sees, for it is kind, and only kindness does it look upon.
The real world is the symbol that the dream of sin and guilt is over, and God's Son no longer sleeps. His waking eyes perceive the sure reflection of his Father's Love; the certain promise that he is redeemed. The real world signifies the end of time, for its perception makes time purposeless.
The Holy Spirit has no need of time when it has served His purpose. Now He waits but that one instant more for God to take His final step, and time has disappeared, taking perception with it as it goes, and leaving but the truth to be itself. That instant is our goal, for it contains the memory of God. And as we look upon a world forgiven, it is He Who calls to us and comes to take us home, reminding us of our Identity which our forgiveness has restored to us.
Lesson 291
This is a day of stillness and of peace.
- Christ's vision looks through me today. His sight shows me all things forgiven and at peace, and offers this same vision to the world. And I accept this vision in its name, both for myself and for the world as well. What loveliness we look upon today! What holiness we see surrounding us! And it is given us to recognize it is a holiness in which we share; it is the Holiness of God Himself.
- Invitation Prayer: This day my mind is quiet, to receive the Thoughts You offer me. And I accept what comes from You, instead of from myself. I do not know the way to You. But You are wholly certain. Father, guide Your Son along the quiet path that leads to You. Let my forgiveness be complete, and let the memory of You return to me.
- God created us perfect, Spirit, free, and one with Himself, which means that all happiness and fulfillment is divinely established within us as our true Self. To experience this in our awareness requires only that we be our true Self, as opposed to our ego-self, the self we think we are in the world of the senses. Our ego-self is a pretension, an assumption that we are something that we are not. We can only be as God created us, and in spite of all the pretensions that blind us to our true nature, we cannot in any way diminish or change that true nature. This means that we are peace, joy, and happiness, even when we forget our lineage and think we lack these traits. The path back to our inherent joy is simply to let go of our self-made illusions, assumptions, and pretensions and be in the stillness of our true Self. This is easier done than said, for even the saying of it requires more effort than the being of it. We already are the happiness we seek for we share in the happiness that is God. Stillness opens our awareness to what already exists and overshadows all illusions. In stillness forgiveness comes to fruition; now are we ready to hear God's Voice and follow His guidance.
I and my Creator are One.
January 3rd 2014 Lesson 290
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 281 - 290:
7. What Is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit
mediates between illusions and the truth. Since He must bridge the gap
between reality and dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the
grace that God has given Him, to be His gift to everyone who turns to
Him for truth. Across the bridge that He provides are dreams all
carried to the truth, to be dispelled before the light of knowledge.
There are sights and sounds forever laid aside. And where they were
perceived before, forgiveness has made possible perception's tranquil
end.
The goal the Holy Spirit's teaching sets is just this end of
dreams. For sights and sounds must be translated from the witnesses of
fear to those of love. And when this is entirely accomplished,
learning has achieved the only goal it has in truth. For learning, as
the Holy Spirit guides it to the outcome He perceives for it, becomes
the means to go beyond itself, to be replaced by the eternal truth.
If
you but knew how much your Father yearns to have you recognize your
sinlessness, you would not let His Voice appeal in vain, nor turn away
from His replacement for the fearful images and dreams you made. The
Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain
what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will
employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it
truly is at home.
From knowledge, where He has been placed by
God, the Holy Spirit calls to you, to let forgiveness rest upon your
dreams, and be restored to sanity and peace of mind. Without
forgiveness will your dreams remain to terrify you. And the memory of
all your Father's Love will not return to signify the end of dreams has
come.
Accept your Father's gift. It is a Call from Love to Love,
that It be but Itself. The Holy Spirit is His gift, by which the
quietness of Heaven is restored to God's beloved Son. Would you refuse
to take the function of completing God, when all He wills is that you be
complete?
Lesson 290
My present happiness is all I see.
- Unless I look upon what is not there, my present happiness is all I see. Eyes that begin to open see at last. And I would have Christ's vision come to me this very day. What I perceive without God's Own Correction for the sight I made is frightening and painful to behold. Yet I would not allow my mind to be deceived by the belief the dream I made is real an instant longer. This the day I seek my present happiness, and look on nothing else except the thing I seek.
- Invitation Prayer: With this resolve I come to You, and ask Your strength to hold me up today, while I but seek to do Your Will. You cannot fail to hear me, Father. What I ask have You already given me. And I am sure that I will see my happiness today.
- To find the happiness that we seek, requires that we first have some idea of where it is, or at least where it is not, so that we can focus our efforts on seeking for it where it really is. The world of our senses provide no examples of lasting peace and happiness, though it provides many philosophies and paths, both secular and religious, that claim to have the goal we seek or at least the means to it. Clearly, it would be unwise to seek for lasting happiness in this world that provides no evidence of it. But this world of our senses is the only world we seem to know, so what are we to do? In such a case, it would be wise to seek the highest council we can find, and that for us is our Creator, the One who created us in His image and likeness: perfect Spirit, free, and one with Himself. If anyone knows true happiness and the way to it, He will, and if He does not know, then no one knows, and our search is futile. Fortunately God is the source and goal of all that exists and is real. He is Happiness Itself, and so too are we, for He created us one with Himself. But having forgotten our true identity, we became lost in the imaginary world of our senses, blindly searching for that which we already are. Happiness is a fundamental part of our being because it is a fundamental part of God. Knowing this, the way is simple now, we need not search the world for the happiness we seek, all we need do is look deep inside ourselves, beyond our senses, mind, and even beyond our intellect and realize we are happiness itself. We can step away from the world of our senses, mind and intellect by bringing our attention again and again to the stillness within us. Be still and know that I am God is the formula. Sit quietly and let go of the world of the senses; let go of the thoughts and feelings that arise in our awareness; let go even of the impulse to judge or even manipulate anything and simply, Be, letting all things be as well. This is how we can return to our pristine state of being, the state in which God created us and the state in which we always reside, our home, and there reunite with our true Self and the happiness we are.
I and my Creator are One.
January 2nd 2014 Lesson 289
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 281 - 290:
7. What Is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit
mediates between illusions and the truth. Since He must bridge the gap
between reality and dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the
grace that God has given Him, to be His gift to everyone who turns to
Him for truth. Across the bridge that He provides are dreams all
carried to the truth, to be dispelled before the light of knowledge.
There are sights and sounds forever laid aside. And where they were
perceived before, forgiveness has made possible perception's tranquil
end.
The goal the Holy Spirit's teaching sets is just this end of
dreams. For sights and sounds must be translated from the witnesses of
fear to those of love. And when this is entirely accomplished,
learning has achieved the only goal it has in truth. For learning, as
the Holy Spirit guides it to the outcome He perceives for it, becomes
the means to go beyond itself, to be replaced by the eternal truth.
If
you but knew how much your Father yearns to have you recognize your
sinlessness, you would not let His Voice appeal in vain, nor turn away
from His replacement for the fearful images and dreams you made. The
Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain
what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will
employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it
truly is at home.
From knowledge, where He has been placed by
God, the Holy Spirit calls to you, to let forgiveness rest upon your
dreams, and be restored to sanity and peace of mind. Without
forgiveness will your dreams remain to terrify you. And the memory of
all your Father's Love will not return to signify the end of dreams has
come.
Accept your Father's gift. It is a Call from Love to Love,
that It be but Itself. The Holy Spirit is His gift, by which the
quietness of Heaven is restored to God's beloved Son. Would you refuse
to take the function of completing God, when all He wills is that you be
complete?
Lesson 289
The past is over. It can touch me not.
- Unless the past is over in my mind, the real world must escape my sight. For I am really looking nowhere; seeing but what is not there. How can I then perceive the world forgiveness offers? This the past was made to hide, for this the world that can be looked on only now. It has no past. For what can be forgiven but the past, and if it is forgiven it is gone.
- Invitation Prayer: Father, let me not look upon a past that is not there. For You have offered me Your Own replacement, in a present world the past has left untouched and free of sin. Here is the end of guilt. And here am I made ready for Your final step. Shall I demand that You wait longer for Your Son to find the loveliness You planned to be the end of all his dreams and all his pain?
- There is only this present moment now in which we may act, so this moment is our moment of power, for what we choose in this moment will affect our future, and our perspective of the past. The past has served its purpose by bringing us to this moment of power, giving us now the opportunity to either stay on course, make a course correction, or even set sail in a new direction entirely. From this present moment perspective, our past has served us well so we can forgive the differences between how it turned out and how we would have liked that it turned out. This no longer matters for we are here now and can best serve our present and future by simply making the best choice we can from this present moment. This allows us to look with fresh eyes on the world that is here and now in our present, and choose, from all the things we can possibly do now, the one that is the most interesting and exciting, doing that for as long as we can without insisting that it must lead to a specific future outcome. This is called following our bliss. We choose the action, but Fate decides the outcome. So follow your bliss by choosing in this moment of power, the happiest, most interesting action we can, for happiness is our function here. Fate will organize the outcomes that will increase the joy, peace and fulfillment we are already enjoying from having chosen the most joyful action. And whatever the outcome, whether we like it or not, whether its what we expected or not, know that it is the shortest most efficient, most harmonious path to our destination, so we treat every outcome with a positive attitude and again choose the most interesting, most exciting action that we can from this present moment, performing it without any insistence on a particular outcome, letting Fate organize our life around the principle of our highest joy. If we do this every time we are faced with a choice, our life will be less stressful, more joyful and increasingly fulfilling
I and my Creator are One.
January 1st 2014 Lesson 288
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 281 - 290:
7. What Is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit
mediates between illusions and the truth. Since He must bridge the gap
between reality and dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the
grace that God has given Him, to be His gift to everyone who turns to
Him for truth. Across the bridge that He provides are dreams all
carried to the truth, to be dispelled before the light of knowledge.
There are sights and sounds forever laid aside. And where they were
perceived before, forgiveness has made possible perception's tranquil
end.
The goal the Holy Spirit's teaching sets is just this end of
dreams. For sights and sounds must be translated from the witnesses of
fear to those of love. And when this is entirely accomplished,
learning has achieved the only goal it has in truth. For learning, as
the Holy Spirit guides it to the outcome He perceives for it, becomes
the means to go beyond itself, to be replaced by the eternal truth.
If
you but knew how much your Father yearns to have you recognize your
sinlessness, you would not let His Voice appeal in vain, nor turn away
from His replacement for the fearful images and dreams you made. The
Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain
what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will
employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it
truly is at home.
From knowledge, where He has been placed by
God, the Holy Spirit calls to you, to let forgiveness rest upon your
dreams, and be restored to sanity and peace of mind. Without
forgiveness will your dreams remain to terrify you. And the memory of
all your Father's Love will not return to signify the end of dreams has
come.
Accept your Father's gift. It is a Call from Love to Love,
that It be but Itself. The Holy Spirit is His gift, by which the
quietness of Heaven is restored to God's beloved Son. Would you refuse
to take the function of completing God, when all He wills is that you be
complete?
Lesson 288
Let me forget my brother's past today.
- Invitation Prayer: This is the thought that leads the way to You, and brings me to my goal. I cannot come to You without my brother. And to know my Source, I first must recognize what You created one with me. My brother's is the hand that leads me on the way to You His sins are in the past along with mine, and I am saved because the past is gone. Let me not cherish it within my heart, or I will lose the way to walk to You. My brother is my savior. Let me not attack the savior You have given me. But let me honor him who bears Your Name, and so remember that It is my own.
- Forgive me, then, today. And you will know you have forgiven me if you behold your brother in the light of holiness. He cannot be less holy than can I , and you can not be holier than he.
- Let us remember that forgiveness is the means to our awakening. We cannot be enlightened and still hold grievances, hurts, or “sins” against anyone, for this implies that we do not yet understand the oneness we share with our brothers and with God. Holding grievances also means that we do not understand the truth that we are as God created us: perfect, Spirit, free, which makes us as holy as our Creator. Let go then of all grievances, for they only veil the vision of Christ in our brothers, and prolong the awareness and experience of separation from God and from him who is our savior as we are his. We can only awaken together for we are one, and unity has no room for separation. Only through forgiveness can we love our brothers as our Self, so let us then forget our brother’s past today and let him forget ours, so that through forgiveness we can join with him and God in unity.
I and my Creator are One.
December 31st 2014 Lesson 287
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 281 - 290:
7. What Is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit
mediates between illusions and the truth. Since He must bridge the gap
between reality and dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the
grace that God has given Him, to be His gift to everyone who turns to
Him for truth. Across the bridge that He provides are dreams all
carried to the truth, to be dispelled before the light of knowledge.
There are sights and sounds forever laid aside. And where they were
perceived before, forgiveness has made possible perception's tranquil
end.
The goal the Holy Spirit's teaching sets is just this end of
dreams. For sights and sounds must be translated from the witnesses of
fear to those of love. And when this is entirely accomplished,
learning has achieved the only goal it has in truth. For learning, as
the Holy Spirit guides it to the outcome He perceives for it, becomes
the means to go beyond itself, to be replaced by the eternal truth.
If
you but knew how much your Father yearns to have you recognize your
sinlessness, you would not let His Voice appeal in vain, nor turn away
from His replacement for the fearful images and dreams you made. The
Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain
what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will
employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it
truly is at home.
From knowledge, where He has been placed by
God, the Holy Spirit calls to you, to let forgiveness rest upon your
dreams, and be restored to sanity and peace of mind. Without
forgiveness will your dreams remain to terrify you. And the memory of
all your Father's Love will not return to signify the end of dreams has
come.
Accept your Father's gift. It is a Call from Love to Love,
that It be but Itself. The Holy Spirit is His gift, by which the
quietness of Heaven is restored to God's beloved Son. Would you refuse
to take the function of completing God, when all He wills is that you be
complete?
Lesson 287
You are my goal my Father. Only You.
- Where would I go but Heaven? What could be a substitute for happiness? What gift could I prefer before the peace of God? What treasure would I seek and find and keep that can compare with my Identity? And would I rather live with fear than love?
- Invitation Prayer: You are my goal my Father. What but You could I desire to have? What way but that which leads to You could I desire to walk? And what except the memory of You could signify to me the end of dreams and futile substitutions for the truth? You are my only goal. Your Son would be as You created him. What way but this could I expect to recognize my Self, and be at one with my Identity.
- Again, as we come to realize more and more clearly who God is and who we are, all other goals become unattractive and meaningless. God becomes the only goal of any meaning or value, for nothing less will suffice us and nothing higher exists. Thus we begin to walk faster along our path as the vision of our goal grows more brightly in our awareness. No longer do we tarry on the way, venturing along side paths or investigating every trivial distraction along the way. Now our goal is clear, and we hurry home for there is where lasting peace, joy, and love abide forever. Our path is the inner journey of awakening to our true Identity as children of God, and therefore as gods!
I and my Creator are One.
