There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.

“Who uses but Christ’s vision finds a peace so deep and quiet, so undisturbable and wholly changeless, that the world contains no counterpart.”  

“For love has come, and healed the world by giving it Christ’s peace.”  

From Abraham/Jerry and Esther Hicks:

This is always true: What I think and how I feel, and what manifests, is always a vibrational match. But here’s the big kicker: What manifests isn’t manifesting instantaneously. So, you’ve got all this buffer of time leeway that makes you sloppy… If you thought a negative thought and a brick would instantly fall on your head every time, you’d clean up your thinking. But you’re not here to be punished about your thinking. You’re here to use your thinking—and your focus—to create.

Excerpted from a workshop in Washington, DC on Saturday, May 7th, 2005

Our Love,
Jerry and Esther

Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.

Great lesson for me as I have a tendency to get sidetracked with details of the dream.

Someone wrote to me the other day and said I should make an effort to keep my teachings/writings strictly on the message, and not write so much about my personal life. I think it is good advice but often I can’t tell the difference between my personal life and the message as they feel identically the same to me. It’s ONE thing.

I am the message and the messenger.

I am not a separate body delivering a message of love and light. I AM love and light. It’s all one thing.

I am in the world, but not of it.

A Course in Miracles is about being yourself and DEMONSTRATING Jesus’ message through your own life. It is about integration.

So when I am talking about my cats or cooking or relationships, I am teaching. I am talking about the sight of Christ.

It’s impossible for me to differentiate between my personal life and my spiritual life as it’s one thing. It used to feel separate (now I am praying, now I am working, now I am thinking about God, now I am thinking about things in the world like a job and money), but over time an integration occurred and now there is no difference. I am praying while I am working (without even realizing that I am praying or that I am working!!)

The way I can tell if I am looking on the face of Christ or if I am looking on the world is by the way I feel.

If I feel happy, then I’m seeing clearly.
If I feel fearful or upset, then my sight is obscured and I need only to change my mind.

I used to think that if I saw the world of solid 3-D things that I was doing something wrong. But these lessons are simply teaching to use VISION. They are not is asking you to try to make the world disappear. This course is not about magic. It is about coming to know yourself as God created you, and realizing that you have within you the power to change your mind to see things differently. Where before there was sadness and sorrow, suddenly there is hope and happiness.

“What I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”

It is Your gift, my Father, given me to offer to Your Holy Son, that he may find again the memory of You, and of your Sons as You created him.

It happened. I got Sam back!

I lost him in May and got him back today.

It’s been getting freezing cold around here in Wisconsin - snowing and freezing - so I decided to write to the local newspaper and ask them to do a write-up about a missing black cat, because it was pretty evident that the cat was nowhere around here.

I got a call this afternoon, from 10 miles away, and it’s Sam.

He went completely bananas when he saw me.

The people who called me said he showed up about a month ago - really skinny and scared - and they started feeding him and then he started getting friendly with them.

I’m in shock.

I am so in love with people who take care of strays. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

About an hour after I got Sam back, I got a call from a woman at the Humane Society saying she saw my ad about a missing cat in the newspaper and that a lot of people have dropped off cats this week because they can’t afford them, and that there were several black cats.

So if anyone out there wants some unconditional love, remember there are a lot of unwanted pets out there that need a home.

The holy Christ is born in me today.

These lessons are like clockwork!!

How is it that I come through the “Summer of Discovery” (as one reader beautifully put it) which included every emotion under the sun - fear, doubt, anger, gratitude, joy, loneliness, love, hope, confusion, pain, certainty, and happiness - to go through the whole spectrum of colors only to find that this is the journey!

My friend Greta said to me the other day that she is convinced that the path is designed like this - that you undergo every single possible emotion and this is the rebirth of Christ in you. You must dot every i and cross every t … and then you emerge into the light … healed, and whole and perfect.

Born Again.

The holy Christ is born in me today.

Let’s celebrate with music:

Do you hear what I hear by Anne Murray (not the best youtube visual, but absolutely my very favorite Christmas song - I listen to this version by Anne Murray all year long in my car, and usually 4 times in a row, every couple of weeks)

Said the king to the people everywhere:
Listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere
Listen to what I say
A child, A child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light.
He will bring us goodness and light.

Christmas songs are timeless. And today, this song heralds Christ birth in me.

HE WILL BRING US GOODNESS AND LIGHT.

The amazing thing is that the child WAS SLEEPING, and he was sleeping in me, but today he is born, awakened in me.

Joy to the World by Anne Murray.

Joy to the world is straight out of the bible; a word-for-word translation from Psalm 98 from English cleric Issac Watts, made in 1719. Over 100 years later, American composer Lowell Mason put the words to music, and attributed the final product to his hero, George Fredrick Handel. The attribution of this carol to Handel lasted for more than a century, but it’s from the bible. Word for Word.

Joy to the world! The Lord has come:
Let earth receive her King.
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing, and heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and heav’n and nature sing.

Joy to the world! The Savior reigns:
Let men their songs employ,
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
And wonders of His love, and wonders of His love
And wonders, wonders of His love.

And my third favorite song, O Come All Ye Faithful, by, yes, Anne Murray. I listen to this song all year round too.

O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold him, born the King of angels;
O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him,
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Glory to God in the highest.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning,
Jesus, to thee be all glory given.
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:
O come let us adore him
O come let us adore him
O come let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

The holy Christ is born in me today.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee. Born this happy morning.

Where darkness was I look upon the light.

Today was a remarkable day. Everything was pure light: easy, effortless and fun. Where before there was drudgery and disappointment, now I look upon the light, seeing a world full of new possibilities. It’s interesting that today’s lesson is “Where darkness was I look upon the light” because it’s physically become true. There was dark before and now there is light … and I’m looking right at it.

“Father, our eyes are opening at last!”

“Your holy word awaits us, and our sight is finally restored and we can see.”

How is this accomplished??

Look again.

Look again.

Look again.

What happened exactly? I hired a marketing coach. I’ve been receiving emails now for probably over a year and I always delete them without looking at them, but for some odd reason I never unsubscribe from the list.

Then last night I gave a radio interview with Michael Lyon, from the Miracles Prisoner Ministry and he was talking about being healed from alcoholism and he said ‘You can’t do it alone.”

And that sentence - You can’t do it alone - made me sit up straight. I’ve obviously heard that sentence a million times before but it really stood out for me last night. I can’t do it alone. I can’t do anything alone. I need help from my brothers. I need to accept help when it arrives, and not to think that I know what I need. To not think that I’ve got everything figured out, or that I know what I should do, but rather: to let my brother take my hand and show me something new.

So this morning I signed up for an afternoon teleconferencing marketing class and it rocked my world!! It was completely brand new information. The reason I never signed up or took any interest was because I thought I knew all about marketing, but turns out, I don’t know a damn thing.

It was so brand new. I took 15 pages of notes.

It was so unbelievably great. It was like being back in college again.

And not only that, but during the class, the teacher Steve Harrison said: “You need to develop a support team. Hire other people. You don’t want to be in a situation where you are doing everything by yourself. You don’t want to operate alone. You can’t do this alone.”

!!!!!!

You can’t do this alone.

It’s like someone is sending me a message.

I can’t do this alone.

Thank the good Lord.

“We thought we suffered. But we had forgot the Son whom you created. Now we see that darkness is our own imaging, and light is there for us to look upon. Christ’s vision changes darkness into light, for fear must disappear when love comes.

God is in everything I see. He is in the emails that I delete without reading.

My eyes are opening at last!

Light is all there is. God is in everything.

It is merely the correction of mistakes, and the return of sanity.

Most people think the Second Coming is an event that will come later in the future when some historical figure that looks a lot like Jesus returns.

But Jesus has already returned! He resurrected. He never died. He lives in you.

Jesus on earth is The First Coming.
You on earth is The Second Coming.

So the journey, then, is the search for sanity.

From Chapter 8, Section 4 of A Course in Miracles, The Holy Encounter:

“The goal of the curriculum, regardless of the teacher you choose, is KNOW THYSELF. There is nothing else to learn.”

So the Second Coming then has nothing to do with Jesus, and everything to do with you.

It also has everything to do with your brother because you cannot find yourself alone. You come to know yourself THROUGH your brother. There is no other way. Your power and glory are in your brother and you will know yourself clearly when you see your brother clearly. That’s how that works.

“The Holy Spirit teaches you that if you look only at yourself you CANNOT find yourself because that is NOT what you are. Whenever you are with a brother, you are learning what you are, because you are TEACHING what you are. He will respond either with pain or joy depending on which teacher YOU are following. He will be imprisoned or released according to your decision, AND SO WILL YOU.”

(caps from the Urtext, not mine)

Never forget your responsibility to him, because it is your responsibility to YOURSELF. Give him his place in the Kingdom and you will have yours. The Kingdom cannot be found alone, and you who are the Kingdom cannot find YOURSELVES alone.”

That’s why it’s good to be with other people and not to isolate yourself. I’m sure you’ve had experiences where you feel all warm & fuzzy when it’s just you alone with the book, but the second you add someone else to the equation you immediately start to feel irritated.

The Second Coming is the place where you can be with other people and never get irritated. The Second Coming is where you see your brother truly in all circumstances and love him with the Love of God.

Jesus is already whole and perfect. He never changed. He remains as God created him. In truth, you are whole and perfect, so the question is: DO YOU KNOW YOURSELF AS WHOLE AND PERFECT? A Course in Miracles simply takes the fragments (the false illusions, the limited ideas) and removes them and what you are left with is a whole idea - that you are forever loved, as limitless as your Creator, and completely changeless and forever pure.

The Second Coming is your recognition of all that is true. It is simply a remembrance of all reality in God. It is the return to sanity. It you recognition that there is no world, that there is nothing outside of you, that your brother is one with you, and that there is only love.“The Second Coming ends the lessons that the Holy Spirits teaches, making way for the Last Judgment (”You are my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.”) in which learning ends in one last summary that will extend beyond itself, and reaches up to God.

“The Second Coming is the time in which all minds are given to the hands of Christ, to be returned to spirit in the name of true creation and the Will of God.”

“The Second Coming is the one event in time which time itself cannot affect.”

When the Second Coming occurs is up to you.

It is the time in which you become aware of your union with Christ and all things. How simple!

“Pray that the Second Coming will be soon, and do not rest with that. It needs your eyes and ears and hands and feet. It needs your voice. And most of all it needs your willingness. Let us rejoice that we can do God’s Will, and join together in its holy light. Behold, the Son of God is one with us, and we can reach our Father’s Love through him.”

We are almost at the end of this one year! We’ve gone though 300 lessons! Who would have guessed we’d come this far back in January? Remember how daunting it seemed??

But we are almost there.

Only 65 days to go, and you will have completed the entire Workbook of A Course in Miracles.

Congratulations Teachers of God!

I don’t know what next year will bring as far as the blog goes. I would like to continue to teach and inspire every day, but in a new format that challenges me: like being on the radio.

In 2008 I wrote about the lessons.
In 2009 I would like to speak about them.

And God Himself shall wipe away all tears.

“Father, unless I judge I cannot weep. Nor can I suffer pain, or feel I am abandoned or unneeded in the world.”

Wow. There’s a huge gift. I cannot suffer, or feel I am abandoned or unneeded in the world.

I have started reading A Course in Miracles again at night in bed before I drift off to sleep. I love this book, and I forgot how much peace and joy it brings to me every single time I open it up and read. Last night I was reading from the Teachers Manual:

How Do God’s Teachers Deal with Magic Thoughts?

How is Correction Made?

What is Justice?

And Workbook Lesson 73: I will there be light.

In the presence of God, the world disappears.

“God’s world is happy. Those who look on it can only add their joy to it, and bless it as as a cause of further joy in them. We wept because we did not understand. But we have learned the world we saw was false, and we will look upon God’s world today.”

A great lesson for me today, especially since I’ve been crying lately.

I was mistaken.

God Himself shall wipe away all tears. I wept because I did not understand. But the world I see is false, and I will look upon God’s world today.

3 people sent this video to me!!!!

LOL.

Lisa = Loser.

haha.

Click to watch:

I’m registered. I’m ready!

Election Day is November 4th, and in some states you can vote early - now.

I love this blog because interesting things get sent to me that I would never hear of otherwise. Thank you very much! I’ve got angels and helpers all over the place.

This just fell out of clear blue skies:

G.I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949) and The Fourth Way.

Gurdjieff taught people how to increase and focus their attention and energy in various ways, and to minimize daydreaming and absentmindedness. According to his teaching, this inner development in oneself is the beginning of a possible further process of change, whose aim is to transform a man into what Gurdjieff taught he ought to be.

From the Gurdjieff Foundation in California:

Man, Gurdjieff taught, is an undeveloped creation. He is not really man, considered as a cosmically unique being whose intelligence and power of action mirror the energies of the source of life itself. On the contrary, man as we encounter him is an automaton. His thoughts, feelings, and deeds are little more than mechanical reactions to external and internal stimuli. He cannot do anything. In and around him, everything happens without the participation of his own authentic consciousness. But human beings are ignorant of this state of affairs because of the pervasive influence of culture and education, which engrave in them the illusion of autonomous conscious selves. In short, man is asleep. There is no authentic I am in his presence, but only an egoism which masquerades as the authentic self, and whose machinations poorly imitate the normal human functions of thought, feeling, and will.

Many factors reinforce this sleep. Each of the reactions that proceed in one’s presence is accompanied by a deceptive sense of I—man is many I’s, each imagining itself to be the whole, and each buffered off from awareness of the others. Each of these many I’s represents a process whereby the subtle energy of consciousness is absorbed and degraded, a process that Gurdjieff termed “identification.” Man identifies—that is, squanders his conscious energy, with every passing thought, impulse, and sensation. This state of affairs takes the form of a continuous self-deception and a continuous procession of egoistic emotions, such as anger, self-pity, sentimentality, and fear which are of such a pervasively painful nature that man is constantly driven to ameliorate this condition through the endless pursuit of social recognition, sensory pleasure, or the vague and unrealizable goal of “happiness.”

According to Gurdjieff, the human condition cannot be understood apart from considering humanity within the function of organic life on earth. The human being is constructed to transform energies of a specific nature, and neither his potential inner development nor his present actual predicament is understandable apart from this function. Thus, in the teaching of Gurdjieff, psychology is inextricably connected with cosmology and metaphysics and even, in a certain sense, biology.

How are human beings to change this state of affairs and begin drawing on the universal conscious energies which they are built to absorb but which now pass through them untransformed? How is humanity to assume its proper place in the great chain of being? Gurdjieff’s answer to these questions actually circumscribes the central purpose of his teaching—namely, that human life on earth may now stand at a major transitional point, comparable perhaps to the fall of the great civilizations of the past, and that development of the whole being of man (rather than one or another of the separate human functions) is the only thing that can permit man to pass through this transition in a manner worthy of human destiny.

But whereas the descent of humanity takes place en masse, ascent or evolution is possible only within the individual.

Only an instant does this world endure.

“This is the thought which can be used to say that death and sorrow are the certain lot of all who come here, for their joys are gone before they are possessed, or even grasped. Yet, this is also the idea that lets no false perception keep us in its hold, nor represent more than a passing cloud upon a sky eternally serene.”

I am thinking of Jennifer Hudson whose mother and brother were shot to death two days ago in their home in the South Side of Chicago. Here we have a fairy tale Princess story, rags-to-riches - Jennifer Hudson rises to stardom out of dirt-poor beginnings - only to find now she always had everything she wanted already before the Academy Award, before the movies and money.

She had a family who loved her.

And while she always openly acknowledged her gratitude for her family’s love and support, I bet she would give up everything she has worked so hard for in order to change this situation, in order to see her mother and brother one more time, and to talk with them again.

You realize in a flash that everything you ever wanted was always right there in front of your eyes to look at.

WHAT AM I TAKING FOR GRANTED THAT IS IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW, WHILE I SEEK FOR OTHER GOALS?

All things are lessons God would have me learn.

There is always a tendency to keep striving for things, while being blind to what is directly in front of you. I find I don’t usually appreciate something until it is gone, and then it’s too late.

Only an instant does this world endure. We seek Your holy Word today. For we, Your loving Sons, have lost our way a while.

For we, Your loving Sons, have lost our way a while.

That’s good to know. At least it gives me the option of continuing to wander lost and aimlessly OR to let it be a reminder to me that I can stop where I am, and take a good look around, to pause, and find my way again.

It means to open my eyes and count my blessings. I have everything I’ve ever wanted right now. It’s all here for me today. You could give me all the money, Academy awards, honors, achievements to me and it would not add a single thing to the treasure that is before me right this minute.

What are you taking for granted?

Eternal holiness abides in me.

“My holiness is far beyond my own ability to understand or know. Yet God, my Father, Who created it, acknowledges my holiness as his. Our Will, together, understands it. And Our Will together, knows that it is so.”

THANK THE LORD.

Of my own self … I am nothing.

THANK THE LORD I AM NOT ALONE.

My holiness is not of me. It is not mine to be destroyed by sin. It belongs to God.

Eternal holiness abides in me.

Last night a reader left me a comment, saying that I seem upset a lot lately, and that maybe I should take a sabbatical from Gorgeous for God and from the computer.

That sounds like a great idea, except for only one thing: it impossible to get away from the energy of the place I find myself. Even if I stopped blogging and stopped using the computer, I would still find myself in a place where things are shifting immensely. If it seems like I am upset a lot lately, it’s because this world is upsetting to me.

I look around and I don’t know what the hell this place is. Hell is what it is. My only salvation is to keep remembering that I don’t belong here and that my home is in Heaven … and thankfully, I know how to find peace, joy and happiness on a moment by moment basis by changing my mind.

What would Jesus do?

I always think of Jesus as the ultimate perfect example. He still got upset. He was all the passion in the universe. He turned over the money tables. He called a spade a spade. He didn’t look away from death and destruction, rather he looked directly at it with love and compassion. I imagine him crying when people were suffering.

Yes, I get upset. I cry. I can’t get away from the way I feel when I see people hurting. It affects me directly. I can actually physically FEEL healing and cellular movement within my own body. It doesn’t feel like pain or pleasure - it feels more like mountains moving in me. Sometimes I just start crying for no reason at all. It has no source, but it’s like something that breaks in my heart. Not as a metaphor, but as a real pressure that seems like my heart cracks. And then tears start coming out of my eyes. It doesn’t come from memories or thought, but rather it is like something pushing through me … like a newborn baby or a newborn world.

It always surprises me, in a good way.

Eternal holiness abides in me.

But yes! It is a good reminder and great advice for me to STOP BEING UPSET - to take a sabbatical - and to start being helpful - to simply stand in this place without participating in it - and so I am immensely grateful for the comment. Thank you.

I have the willingness to give it a try - to be a happy learner of the Atonement - and turn in that direction towards God. A Course in Miracles aims at a complete reversal of thought. My primary goal for myself is to remember this:

Holy are you, eternal, free and whole, at peace forever in the Heart of God. Where is the world and where is sorrow now?

It says in the Teachers Manual that one who lives constantly in the light cannot sustain a physical body for long:

“If God were reached directly in sustained awareness, the body would not be long maintained.”

“Those who have laid the body down merely to extend their helpfulness to those remaining are few indeed. And they need helpers who are still in bondage and still asleep, so that by their awakening can God’s Voice be heard.”

DO NOT DESPAIR, THEN, BECAUSE OF LIMITATIONS. IT IS YOUR FUNCTION TO ESCAPE FROM THEM, BUT NOT TO BE WITHOUT THEM. IF YOU WOULD BE HEARD BY THOSE WHO SUFFER, YOU MUST SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE. IF YOU WOULD BE A SAVIOR, YOU MUST UNDERSTAND WHAT NEEDS TO BE ESCAPED.

Salvation is not theoretical.

Ha!

I love these words from Jesus.

“Let us not, then, be concerned with goals for which you are not ready. God takes you where you are and welcomes you. What more could you desire, when this is all you need?”

“The world will end when it’s thought system has been completely reversed. This final lesson, which brings the ending of the world, cannot be grasped by those not yet prepared to leave the world and go beyond its tiny reach. What, then, is the function of the teacher of God in this concluding lesson? He need merely learn how to approach it; to be willing to go in its direction. He need merely trust that if God’s Voice tells him it is a lesson he can learn, he can learn it. He does not judge it either as hard or easy. His Teacher points to is, and he trusts that He will show him how to learn it.”

As I am typing here, it is occurring to me that maybe it is time for me to be willing to go in a new direction!

“To turn hell into Heaven is the function of God’s teachers, for what they teach are lessons in which Heaven is reflected.”

Gorgeous.

“And now sit in true humility, and realize that all God would have you do you can do. Do not be arrogant and say you cannot learn His Own Curriculum. His Word says otherwise. His Will be done. It cannot be otherwise. And be you thankful it is so.”

What, O teacher of God, is it that you want? You have been called by God, and you have answered. Would you now sacrifice that Call? Few have heard it yet, and they can but turn to you. there is no other hope in all the world they can trust. There is no other voice in all the world that echoes God’s. If you would sacrifice the truth, they stay in hell. And if they stay, you will remain with them.

There is one thought in particular that should be remembered throughout the day. It is a thought of pure joy; a thought of peace, a thought of limitless release, limitless because all things are freed within it.

So, there it is: Let’s have a day of pure joy.

He’s my man.

And … drumroll … The New York Times has endorsed Barack Obama.

Read it here:
Barack Obama for President

For more fun and games, here are four Saturday Night Live clips, which are HILARIOUS. Click the image to watch:

Click to read the SNL transcript - Bush endorsement of McCain

I love You, Father, and I love Your Son.

Yesterday’s lesson was: Forgiveness, Forgiveness, Forgiveness.

Today’s lesson is: Gratitude, Gratitude, Gratitude.

For most of you, it’s probably evident that I had a fairly difficult summer. As you probably have already learned, I am pretty good at keeping up appearances no matter how the black the hole gets. But underneath was a current of disappointment, frustration and let me admit it … despair that I was losing my faith.

I was in survival mode - just scraping by.

Last night I realized - looking back in hindsight over the summer - that I allowed myself to STOP CARING. I allowed myself to slide down, inch by inch … down, down, down.

But last night I realized, well, if I am able to STOP CARING then, well, I am able to START CARING!!

If I am able to BECOME depressed then it must also be possible for me to become NOT depressed!

Quite a revelation!!

And the gates to Heaven opened!

I was thinking about my cat Sam, who is still missing. I think about him every single day. I keep wishing he would return. I get the sense that wherever he is - dead or alive - he is fine. He’s not GREAT, but he’s fine. And then I realized that Sam was offering my a good lesson: that in the same way I want him to come home to me … COME HOME SAME - my Father wants me to come home to Him. COME HOME LISA. I realized that I have been getting along fine. Not great, but fine. Surviving. And all the while, my Father in Heaven has been wanting me to come home.

It made me cry … tears of joy.

From A Course in Miracles, Chapter 5, Section 8:

God in his knowledge is not waiting. But his Kingdom IS bereft while YOU wait. All the Sons of God are waiting for your return, just as YOU wait for theirs. Delay does not matter in eternity, but it is tragic in time. You have elected to be in time rather than in eternity, and therefore have changed your belief in your status. You do not belong in time. Your place is ONLY in eternity, where God Himself placed you forever.

Amazing, huh? I’m waiting for Sam to come home, which is just an extreme example of the universe waiting for me to come home. Except - here’s the interesting thing - the universe is NOT waiting, but it’s ME that’s waiting. It’s me who’s delaying. I’m like my cat Sam who is just out there wandering, somewhere, while I pray for his return to come home.

Home is always where it always was. Heaven never left. My home remains exactly as it always was, and my Creator longs for my return. He didn’t move … I did.

I love You, Father, and I love Your Son.

“My gratitude permits my love to be accepted without fear. And thus am I restored to my Reality at last.”

At last!

Thanks for standing with me this summer. Thanks for putting up with me. Thanks for not leaving me, while I wandered off on “thorny byways.”

Thank God and Thank you that every moment offers me another opportunity to choose again.

I had a summer of not caring for myself, and not really caring for anyone else either. I let a lot of things fall apart. I gained weight. And the scary thing is when you can actually see the downward slide - you can see yourself gaining weight or you can see things falling apart - and that makes you go deeper into oblivion.

Thankfully, every day is a new beginning to choose again. I stopped caring which means I can start caring.

Last night at 11:00pm, my faith was restored again and all my doubts vanished.

Father, I come to you today, because I would not follow any way but Yours. You are beside me. Certain is Your way. And I am grateful for Your holy gifts of certain sanctuary, and escape from everything that would obscure my love for God my Father and His holy Son.

I love you, my friend.

Forgiveness is the only gift I give.

Forgiveness is the gift I give to myself and to other people. It is the ONLY gift. It is the only gift I give because it is the only gift I want. And everything I give I give myself.

THIS IS SALVATION’S SIMPLE FORMULA.

Jesus is the perfect demonstration of today’s lesson. He shows me the way. He allowed himself to be crucified without being angry. He went to the cross without defending himself.

Up on the cross he said only one thing: “Forgive them Father, for they not what they do.”

“FORGIVE THEM FATHER FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.”

That’s the whole lesson of Jesus’ entire teaching. His whole ministry was to teach the lesson of forgiveness, to show it in all his doings, to demonstrate it, to live it, to be it.

FORGIVE THEM FATHER FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.

Forgiveness is the only gift worth giving.

If there is someone acting insanely in your world, or who is angry, or sad, or vengeful, or who is ignoring you, or attacking you … there is only one thing to do … forgive.

Look how many opportunities you have to practice these lessons!!

Amazing, right?

We all have something in our life right now that we want to fix, improve or change.

I’ll bet money there is a person or a situation in your life that you wish was different. That “if only” the person or situation was different, then you would be happy and at peace.

Well. LOL. If you’ve been following along with the workbook lessons or with this blog, then you know it’s impossible to fix something outside yourself. IMPOSSIBLE. You cannot change another person. It’s absolutely 100% impossible. Everyone is being exactly the way that they are … and there is no need to change them. However, there is every need to change your mind about the person.

Forgiveness, Forgiveness, Forgiveness.

It’s the Key. It’s the Answer. It’s the Only Gift.

In a world of war, condemnation, attack and political insanity you can do much good by forgiving it all.

The Holy Spirit speaks through me today.

“The Holy Spirit needs my voice today, that all the world may listen to Your Voice, and hear Your Word through me. I am resolved to let Your speak through me, for I would use no use but Yours, and have no thoughts which are apart from Yours, for only Yours are true.”

I would be savior to the world I made.

That’s nice, huh?

I would be savior to the world I made.

In recognition that this world is my own doing, then I will allow it to be undone through me.

So in order to let the Holy Spirit speak THROUGH me, first I have to become aware that he is speaking TO me. I must recognize that there is a Voice in my own head, in my own thoughts, that is slightly different than the usual mind-chatter of fear, planning, striving, doing and worrying.

What is this Voice saying to me right now? It’s talking about movement and energy and it’s telling me that I don’t have much time to write and that I have to get in the shower quickly and get going.

LOL.

The Voice (which is my own thoughts) is not telling me any insider secrets or spiritual gems.

I have come to discover that this Voice is NOT a booming, holier-than-thou, shout it from the highest mountain kind of voice. It doesn’t preach. It doesn’t command.

It inspires me, and moves me to action.

This Voice speaks to me as a friend who cares about me and who wants only what is best for me.

“We teach today what we would learn, and that alone.”

I’m not one of those teachers that acts as if the Holy Spirit is separate from me. You have probably already noticed this. I write from my heart. I speak from my own mind - I AM MYSELF - knowing that this is what the Holy Spirit is.

The Holy Spirit is not separate.

I used to do the whole Question and Answer thing where I would ask the Holy Spirit a question, and then listen to His answer. But that was years ago and I don’t do that anymore. For purposes of today’s lesson, I can talk about it, but I would like to add in here that the whole Q & A thing is what separation is. So be careful you don’t get trapped in the whole channeling thing.

The Holy Spirit is what you are.

There are some people that mistakenly think some people are able to download the Holy Spirit better than others, and then they flock to that individual as if they can learn something from them. Be careful not to make idols of other people!

The Holy Spirit is in you! He’s speaking to you.

Remember that A Course in Miracles is called “mind-training.” You are training your mind in a systematic way to start to listen and to hear this still small voice, which has been with you since time began.

There are two words that I love in the Introduction to the Workbook Lessons: total transfer.

Total Transfer.

This means that when you first start out you have limited beliefs about yourself as a separate body in a world of separation. Then through practice and willingness, something extraordinary happens! Total transfer! You become the Christ!

When something is changed totally, it means there is not a trace of anything else that remains.

And for now, I am running late. I will come back later and talk about this idea in my head of energy and movement. I have been thinking how it’s good to choose a small goal and make a commitment to it, and let that be your god for a day or a week or a month to observe how energy works. Most people when they choose a goal, they choose something big … and usually it’s so overwhelming that the energy never moves at all. But when you choose a small goal, you will instantly begin to observe energy moving.

I’ve been thinking that you use (waste) more energy in doing nothing (sitting in a chair, waiting for divine inspiration), than you do when participating in physical work.

For example, a runner who does not run wastes more energy “not running” than he does when he actually puts on his shoes and goes running. Then he is moving with his natural energy, and this action actually gives him more energy.

I know when I don’t write I feel physically exhausted. But when I do write it might seem like I’m using a lot of energy (as if I’m doing something that would tire me out) but in fact it gives me an additional burst of energy, more than if I had done nothing.

So, I am thinking that today, if you care to see this is action: I want you to pick a small goal. Make it a tiny goal. Perhaps it’s some part of a larger goal. For example, if you have an idea you want to lose 30 pounds, then instead decide you will lose 2 pounds. I want you to see how the energy starts to move.

These are the thoughts that are coming into my head.

The Holy Spirit looks through me today.

I love this lesson. Christ is asking if He can use my eyes today “and thus redeem the world.”

The answer is YES.

Yes, please. Have my eyes. Look through me.

A lot of people turn their life and will over to the care of God or to Jesus or some higher power without really realizing exactly what they are doing or saying. You might have said “Have all of me! I’m yours! Use me! I’ll do anything!”

It was probably some moment of desperation. Or it might have been a bargaining chip you used in prayer to get you out of some mess. Or perhaps you simply wanted a higher adventure.

Giving your life over to the God IS the highest adventure.

But chances are, you didn’t really know what you were committing yourself to. You probably didn’t really read the fine details of the contract you signed your name to.

Because in truth, when you declare anything - silently in your mind or verbally out loud - that vibration creates a real agreement between you and all the universe. Angels rush in. The Holy Spirit rushes in. God rushes in.

You might begin to think … well, I didn’t sign up for this!

Except … LOL … you did!

You absolutely signed on the dotted line to allow the Holy Spirit and God work through you.

In the Teachers Manual of A Course in Miracles it asks “Who are God’s Teachers?”

“A teacher of God is anyone who chooses to be one. His qualifications consist solely in this; somehow, somewhere he has a made a deliberate choice in which he did not see his interests as apart from someone else’s. Once he has done that, his road is established and his direction is sure. A light has entered the darkness. It may be a single light, but that is enough. He has entered an agreement with God even if he does not yet believe in Him. He has become a bringer of salvation. He has become a teacher of God.”

So see? You did sign on the dotted line - you have entered into an agreement with God - the instant you were helpful to someone else. Everyone at some point in their life has seen someone else’s interests as their own. Everyone. And this makes you a teacher of God, even if you don’t believe in God.

Today’s lesson is a first step in giving over one of your body parts: your eyes.

It always seems easier when you are offering all your love, joy, money, etc. when you are at a distance (or in a desperate place, saying “I’ll do anything! Just get me out of this mess!”) but then it’s a whole different story when you are called on to give something specific. It’s a little like someone who says “If you need anything, anything at all, just ask!” but when you ask for $50, they hesitate and want to know what it’s for.

Same with this. You turned your life and will over to God. And now today you are asked to give your eyes to Christ.

And there might be some hesitation, like, What?? Give my eyes? Are you crazy?

It’s not as bad or difficult as you think. This is a fun lesson: The Holy Spirit looks through me today.

The lesson says that the Holy Spirit is asking “this gift” from me that “He may offer peace of mind to me, and take away all terror and all pain.”

Amazing, huh? I give something to the Holy Spirit and He gives something back to me.

“As I am saved, the world is saved with me. For all of us must be redeemed together. Fear appears in many different forms, but love is one.”

My Father, Christ has asked a gift of me, and one I give that it be given to me. Help me to use the eyes of Christ today, and thus allow the Holy Spirit’s Love to bless all things which I may look upon, that His forgiving Love may rest on me.”

Oh my God. I love it.

Look with the eyes of Christ. Look upon everything through eyes of love and forgiveness. I’m sure there is some event or person in your life right now - in this moment - that you can use to practice to see that this lesson is true.

For me, yesterday it was my friend who “attacked” me about getting a job and saying I never finish anything. I silently decided to “forgive and forget” but simultaneously I also decided “Screw him, I’m not going to call him till I have an awesome (or shitty) job and then I can call him and say: Okay, I did it. I got a job. Are you happy? Asshole.”

And then of course, I burst out laughing at the insanity of my own mind.

It’s freaking funny when you look squarely and honestly at the working of your own mind.

How would Christ look at this situation?

He would see only love.

And that’s what happened to me. Suddenly, I could see everything clearly.

So what did I do? I called my friend and talked to him like a friend. We laughed and talked and all is well. And then I went on Craigslist and found 3 awesome potential jobs. I mean, really exciting jobs that I would love to do!

HA.

Where before I was dragging my feet as if a job would be a prison sentence, and now I am excited like a little kid as if getting a job is the biggest present the universe could offer.

I simply needed to find work that I would love to do, and that would feel purposeful and right for me, and Craigslist is awesome.

The situation didn’t change. I CHANGED. I decided to “look again” and that’s the miracle.

Look again. Change your mind. See things differently.

My body is a wholly neutral thing.

Today is the perfect lesson for me. THANK YOU GOD. This past Saturday night a good friend of mine knocked the wind right out of my sails. I felt like my wings were destroyed.

I woke up this morning thinking “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t go on.”

But then I opened the Course and it says “The body is a wholly neutral thing. I am a Son of God.”

A good reminder that I cannot be hurt. A good reminder that I’m not a body, and that my wings are not physical and cannot be destroyed.

He said I have to get a job and that I never finish anything, and that I never do what I say I’m going to do, and that I’m full of enthusiasm but that I never follow through with anything.

And all I could think was: He’s right.

But it knocked me to the ground. My hopeful optimism left me in that second.

I couldn’t speak, and I’ve been hobbling along … until now.

These lessons come in handy at times like this when you think you are confronted by attack from other people. My body is a wholly neutral thing. I am unaffected by anything anyone has to say about me, or to me, or directly to my face.

Of course, that’s not entirely true. It was like a dagger going through my heart. Here’s a friend who I trust and love, and who inspires me, and he chops my legs off.

But for today, I will practice the lesson: My body is a wholly neutral thing. I don’t have any legs to chop off and my brother is my savior.

“A neutral thing does not see death, for thoughts of fear are not invested there, nor is a mockery of love bestowed upon it. It’s neutrality protects it while it has a use. And afterwards, without a purpose, it is laid aside.

THE BODY IS NOT SICK NOR OLD NOR HURT.

“It is functionless, uneeded and cast off. Let me not see it more than this today; of service for a while and fit to serve, to keep its usefulness while it can serve, and then to be replaced for greater good.

Father, Let me use this dream to help Your plan that we awaken from all dreams we made.

See that? Use everything. If someone attacks you, use that incident to remember the truth. You cannot be hurt. Nothing can touch you. In every moment you have the power to rejuvenate, regenerate, and be restored again to wholeness.

There is no such thing as broken wings. Learn to fly again. There is no such thing as being crippled. There’s no such thing as having the wind knocked out of you. The only thing that can be attacked is your body, and it’s a wholly neutral thing. Your Spirit can not die.

You’ve got wings. Use them. Don’t stay in limitation. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Just get up, dust yourself off, and fly.

All fear is past and only love is here.

Sometimes these lessons seem REALLY NOT TRUE.

Maybe you - who is reading this - can be the guest blogger today in the comment area, because I don’t have it in me.

Lesson 293: All fear is past and only love is here.