Saturday, June 23, 2007

Lesson 175:

God is but Love, and therefore so am I…

This is the still point of creation by which we come to our lives today. By beginning on purpose from this premise, we have the chance to remember that we are love, and that it is from love that we draw our purpose. The recognition of love as our crucial premise is the miracle we receive which we then can extend into every situation and to everyone we encounter today.

I give the miracles I have received…

This is accomplished through forgiveness. We bring all that tampers with our peace of mind; all judgments of our brothers, all preferences, likes and dislikes back to the still point and offer them to the Holy Spirit for correction and renewed life. Forgiveness offers us fresh eyes to see our brothers as our Self; to correct our misperception and renew our faith that we are all in this together, united in purpose. This purpose has been set from beyond and available to us through our desire to do His Will. God’s Will for us is perfect happiness.

God is but Love, and therefore so am I…

When we align ourselves with the love in which we have our being, we can easily see the dark waves of fear’s thought system, drift across the mirrored surface of our still minds and attempting play-out in our lives.

We simply choose once again, allowing the Holy Spirit within our mind to remind us who walks with us on the way that we must go. When we ask, “who walks with me?” the answer is always the same. Love answers softly from our own voice in Him… “God walks with me in perfect holiness… for,

I am at home. Fear is the stranger here”…

And we are returned to the still point with which we light the world. We light the world with our holiness. This is our purpose, our union and our happiness…

God is but Love, and therefore so am I…

Friday, June 22, 2007

Lesson 174:

God is but love, and therefore so am I…

Into His Presence would I enter now…

It is this pure abstract awareness we return to in our practicing today. No-thing is, and yet, we find our Self; undivided, pure and with only the same name as all. Abstract Love is His Presence in which we now feel wholly our holiness. Can you feel it? ~~~rest in this peaceful joy~~~

This is my home. It is here I am, while ‘me’ dissolved; for it addressed not at all, the love that I am …

Yet, love has room for every ‘me’ and every imagining to play out on the screen. I remain the witness.

I am not of the world. The world is of my mind… Although fixed by belief to appear personal, the world I see is purely selective, made by decision in mind. I am beyond. I am of His Presence; being One Love only…

Ah, to remain unmoved by the dreaming on the screen of mind reflecting world, and never re-identify with it, that is the aspiration of this lesson. Residing in His Presence as pure Love; we easily realize that we are not the world we see, for we see it. We are not the thoughts we think we think, for we are the thinker, and beyond that, as well. We are not the feelings and sensation and all manner of body experiences, for we are the experiencer of them…

We rest where we have always been, in our Oneness with God. We have our being already, always, in the Presence we enter in our practicing today… we return mind unto our being…

It is this being, love, we bring forth. This is the gift we give that we have received… We give until we recognize fully, all that we have received…

Today I learn to give as I receive…

Forgiveness is reduced to simplicity; what is not love, is a call for love, and the reason for my being here: to supply the love of my being through surrendering all beliefs and circumstances and persons in a given situation, to the Presence; the Holy Spirit within mind, for re-evaluation and interpretation. By answering to His call, I now become a minister to bring His Call for our return to Love, to all brothers which play across the surface of my so-called life. This is why I am here; to forgive my Self, one brother, one situation, one belief, one thought at a time; harmonizing them all with His Presence in my Mind…

God is but Love, and therefore so am I…

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Lesson 173:

God is but love, and therefore so am I…

Ahh… The still peace of ‘I am’… So simple… So sure…

It is only from the acceptance of this one idea that we experience truth; God, our Self. It is here also, that we come to understand, experience, and begin to fulfill our purpose here. We are the love we are here to share; to bring forgiveness and the happy tidings of awakening unto love, to every seeming split to the one mind of the Sonship; the mind we share with God.

If God is Love, there is nothing else we could be. The ridiculous search for love is over, for through the universal experience of love’s awakening upon our mind which we share today, we recognize our Self.

We are the love we have been searching for.

And in this world of mind, expression of that pure love, such that it heals this tired idea of a world, finds its way through our whole surrender to the Holy Spirit part of mind, the Jesus part of mind. When we look at how we came this far, we but see only the footprints of love, ours have been erased by forgiveness, moving us along the inevitable way. Today, we make a deliberate decision to return the faith that Jesus/Holy Spirit has shown in us, which has brought us this far. A distance we know that the man-mind could not have made alone. For as we sink back into the experience of certainty which our guide statement directs (God is but love, and therefore so am I), we feel our other-worldliness and find our being rests in love, with no form at all. Bringing this experience forward, form-ulating a world we apply the most natural of procedures.... and let the One Who Knows, take the lead.

I will step back and let Him lead the way…

I find it incredible, when I am resting, as now, in the total oneness of God-Love, that I could ever lose faith; be petty, value the insignificant, irritate or not recognize my brother as the love that I, too, am…

Yet, it seems a part of mind remains, dreaming itself up as a body, sucking air on planet earth; suiting-up and showing-up for forgiveness’s ministry, and accepting fully the Atonement; one miracle at a time…

So at those times of personhood-posing-as-reality in mind, distinguished by feeling a lack of peace; we reach for the ready restorative and ask: Who walks with me? And we ask as a continual prayer, until we hear the joyous answer resounding within and about, which restores us to now:

I walk with God in perfect holiness…

God is but love, and therefore so am I…

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Lesson 172:

God is but love, and therefore so am I…

Once given wholeheartedly to this one eternal truth, all else dissolves into the turning of mind to only Love., I notice how simple it is to quietly rest in this idea and let everything else slip away from mind. It is so compelling it draws me deeper. It feels absolutely safe and complete and whole. Thought seems not to want to muster itself into symbols of this world in representation in mind. Nothing can harm what is everything. Now, this is freedom…

In my defenselessness my safety lies…

What is there to defend, when love has filled the emptiness that seemed to be within, making desire for something without, irrelevant? If I allow my mind to slip in to the sleep of believing in other-hood and person-hood, I loose my identity; here, now in the present Love of God~ One Self= brother-hood… Remembering and demonstrating through the ministry of my daily life, requires my focus remain in the stillness of my being. ~God is but Love, and therefore so am I~

With attention on being, Love fills the ‘gap’ between my brothers and myself with the stillness of our oneness in Him. We are one. We are by nature, the ministers of His Word among the sleeping… gently waking with the peace of God that recognizes its own. Once we have heard the call of Love beckoning that we awaken to Him, and once (even for an instant) answered, our ministry is set… The Holy Spirit is directing the ‘big’ picture, and we can lean back into the love that we are and trust…

I am among the ministers of God…

We are united with our Creator, Who created only like unto Himself; the Love that is creation.

God is but love, and therefore so am I…

God is… therefore, I am…

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Review V: Lesson 171:

GOD IS BUT LOVE, AND THEREFORE SO AM I:

Join me in this prayer:

“Steady our feet, our Father. Let our doubts be quiet and our holy minds be still, and speak to us. We have no words to give to You. We would but listen to Your Word, and make it ours. Lead our practicing as does a father lead a little child along a way he does not understand. Yet does he follow, sure that he is safe because his father leads the way for him… So do we bring our practicing to You. And if we stumble, You will raise us up. If we forget the way, we count upon Your sure remembering. We wander off, but You will not forget to call us back. Quicken our footsteps now, that we may walk more certainly and quickly unto You. And we accept the Word You offer us to unify our practicing, as we review the thoughts that You have given us”… “God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

This is the prayer given us in review V of the workbook. Once again, we see His gentle approach to our childish fears while at the same moment, sweeping us up in the sure and loving arms of the Parent we trust implicitly, complete with the sense of never even considering what mistrust of Him might be. We feel safe and assured in His certainty.

A new level of faith and trust reside within us now. We have met the arrogant character of ‘self-reliance’, accepting instead the arm we felt on our shoulder, the hand already in our own that rests as calm assurance in our hearts. We value the path we take in a wholly different way, for we no longer value for ourselves alone. In fact, we are loosing all sense of the idea of aloneness, for it slips gently away as the abundance of oneness fills the forefront of our mind returned the present~ now.

We have accepted that God set the plan for salvation, and we, with relief, have given up the arrogant belief that it is up to us. “Me” ceases its importance; what is not for all, cannot be for any… for such is the composition of oneness, which we know, however vaguely, is the meaning of what we are… We gladly embark on this review group with the vision rendered by first accepting our station in God… We use the core idea, which zeros out the rest and grounds us at the zero point of thought…

“GOD IS BUT LOVE AND THEREFORE SO AM I.”

Here, we wait for the prompting of the Holy Spirit within our mind, and then look with Him, upon the ideas presented in each days lesson. Whatever we thought we thought they meant before, we surrender before the now of meaning that our readiness shall lend…

All things are echoes of the Voice for God…

With the vision of oneness upon our eyes, we are satisfied with what we see, willingly opening all darkened corners of our mind to the light: “Beyond the body, beyond the sun and stars, past everything you see and yet somehow familiar, is an arc of golden light that stretches as you look into a great and shining circle. And all the circle fills with light before your eyes. The edges of the circle disappear, and what is in it is no longer contained at all. The light expands and covers everything, extending to infinity forever shining and with no break or limit anywhere. Within it everything is joined in perfect continuity. Nor is it possible to imagine that anything could be outside, for there is nowhere that this light is not… This is the vision of the Son of God, whom you know well. Here is the sight of him who knows his Father. Here is the memory of what you are; a part of this, with all of it within, and joined to all as surely as all is joined in you.”(T-21.I.8-9)

God is but Love, and therefore so am I…

Having grounded in the truth these symbols represent, we are rejoice in our decision for Heaven, instead hell on earth, for we see simply that decision is the one tool we have to make determination of our experience in time… Will we be hostage to the ego or host to God?

The power of decision is my own…

And about what seems to be making specific decisions on a daily basis? I am immediately referred in my mind to chapter 30 of the text, the section called “Rules For Decision”, where the clearest of instruction is given, including steps for redirection as we fail along the way….

I am also reminded of what the Song of Prayer says in this regard:

A specific question is actually a decision about the kind of answer that is acceptable. The purpose of words it to limit, and by limiting, to make a vast area more manageable… Answers are not up to you. Any limit you place on them interferes with hearing”…

The careful study and tenacious practice supplied in “Rules For Decision” has been, and continues to be, an invaluable source for me… Turns out, like it says in the section on willingness in chapter 18, good intentions are not been enough, yet also, willingness, is… “Trust not your good intentions. They are not enough. But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter. Concentrate only on this, and be not disturbed that shadows surround it. That is why you came. If you could come without them you would not need the holy instant. Come to it not in arrogance, assuming that must achieve the state its coming brings with it. The miracle of the holy instant lies in your willingness to let it be what it is. And in your willingness for this lies also you acceptance of yourself as your were meant to be”…

~ “God is but Love and therefore, so am I.” ~

Monday, June 18, 2007

Lesson 170:

Lesson 170:

There is no cruelty in God and none in me…

The last couple of lessons have been about grace, which is our natural state as spirit, as it says in the very first chapter of the text: “Spirit is in a state of grace forever. Our reality is only spirit. Therefore we are in a state of grace forever”…

Today we have the chance to ‘choose once again’ the way that we would go. Fidelity to premise is the law of mind. No longer can we be faithful to fear: the god of defense, for at last we see our confusion and the error of the fear of God, in which we have our being. God~Love is the premise from which we came and remains still in truth. And it is by the grace of God we recognize our premise as our Self, today.

Having claimed grace as our own by inheritance and chosen once again, NOW, we are released, from not only all desire to attack, but also restored to our intrinsic desire that everyone, clearly like unto ourselves in God, join with us in the presence of mind which is Spirit, Now.

Here we have the truth of what we are. Here is the reason to defend, dispelled and fear’s premise exposed; seen as an instrument of the ego-belief-structure to keep us in forgetfulness and fear. Once seen without the insolent tool of defense, attack and judgment, as well as all otherness, are seen as simply meaningless… How could it be possible that what could never be, have meaning? It was simply another silly mechanism to perpetuate the false.

God, being Love extended Himself in/as Love, and all creation came to be. This timeless, changeless wholly loving being of God could but be what all creation is comprised of. Nothing else… Period. This is the premise of truth.

From and imagined premise, one tiny mad idea, spun out a universe so false, it could not possibly be considered anything but ridiculous by the mind that thinks naturally; the thoughts of creation, the thoughts we think with God. “We say God is… and then we cease to speak”…

The story told by the ego thought has separation at its core. It says, ‘what if? …this brings all unfeasible possibilities into belief’s range. Given but to a moment of doubt about who we are, the fear premise arose and all fear and defense against the nameless enemy ensues, making mindless the part of mind that believes the dream a serious affair. This is a state of consumption by the starved… Trusting no one, the caged animal awaits the enemy from without…

Yet, as each one seemingly waits, the gentle prompting of ‘reality; the quiet whisper of the Voice for truth, calls for our return… “You make what you defend against, and by your own defense against it is it real and inescapable. Lay down your arms, and only then do you perceive it false”….

As we begin to see that this ‘enemy’ is a battle waged within, see the war without and within, as mere ‘sight of hand’; we come to see that only the false battles, and only with itself.

When, in any holy instant, truth is recognized, we see no enemy, and the shadows where we thought he was within our mind, are lit by the One Light… The light of understanding fills the gaps where once defense had meaning… Grace now bestows content to the healing mind of the One Son of God… We have broached the obstacles to peace; and one by one grace has revealed our natural condition in God. Forgiveness is the natural restorative to right-mind premise: mind chooses, and graced with the light of truth, we see that the ‘incredible, unbearable ‘fear of God’, is truly “the incredible, unbearable light of being’… Form simply cannot hold up against it, our holiness; the state of God in us and we His, merely dissolves the silly thought within itself…

The practice of forgiveness on-going, as the Sonship returns to love. It is our one purpose here. To answer the call for love with love, we fulfill God’s plan for salvation. “Stuff” seemingly arises…but it is seen for what it is: ego’s mechanism for perpetuation… It is addictive in quality, compulsively, obsessively driving for mindlessness by way of time. Time-memory is the tool that gives meaning to familiarity of the past, reason to regret, defend and protect, to plan… And round and round the merry-o-round, of repetitious, false identification goes… But we no longer take a ticket and get on the ride… Our fears have been seen, if even for an instant, for the monster in the dark of the childish dream. And we are no longer children. We feel the presence of God, within and recognized as our being…The peace of God is shining in us now. Together we offer this prayer of truth:

“Father, we are like You. No cruelty abides in us, for there is none in You. Your peace is ours. And we bless the world with what we have received from You alone. We choose again, and make our choice for all our brothers, knowing they are one with us. We bring them Your salvation as we have received it now. And we give thanks for them who render us complete. In them we see Your glory, and in them we find our peace. Holy are we because Your Holiness has set us free. And we give thanks. Amen”.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Lesson 169:

By grace I live. By grace I am released…

Grace is Gods awareness as our awareness, of our is-ness. It is beyond what can be articulated, yet it is the is-glue of our oneness; permeating, penetrating, ir-real-living: causing recognition of the false in all else.

We have our being in the absolute and witness but to the one mind dreaming of separation’s possibilities; subject and object, playing roles of hero and victim, love and hate, life and death…

Yet, our being is … Only attention plays the din of the ancient tape… while grace holds us in oneness in the gap between its thoughts, in the beyond…

Let us take an instant, now, and withdraw all attention from the dream of world and bodies and time and space and you’s and me’s… And rest in God… deliberate in our attention to Him, till attention dissolves into being…

We say “God is”, and then we cease to speak…

And as we return to mind, let us feel salvation’s accomplishment complete, through and through… remaining only as the witness; for-giving all calls for love into the great abyss of grace.

This, be the living-prayer upon our lips:

By grace I live. By grace I am released.

By grace I give. By grace I will release…

Forever and ever, all glory to God~