MIRACLES FOR YOU Sondra Ray & Markus Ray on A Course in Miracles: Recent Episodes

Sondra Ray & Markus Ray

This is a PODCAST by two of the clearest voices giving their commentary on A Course in Miracles, the "most important book written in 2000 years," according to the Rays. This PODCAST gives you miracles of "changed perception," and helps you navigate life with the clearer perspective of your inner Being, your Higher Self.

When we "set a goal" we can move toward a particular result. When this goal is clear, the result we want is well defined. This is established in the beginning. The goal clarifies the situation. The situation flows in the way of the goal. Without the goal, there is no direction for the situation, and the outcome can vary. Usually we judge the situation according to preferences that are "after the fact." A situation without a goal is more apt to dissatisfy us, and then we attack ourselves or others with a vengeful emotions. What the goal establishes is a clear direction in which the means for achieving it can be assessed. Are we getting closer to our goal, or not? We easily release what is not supporting our goal, with minimum judgment, because we are clear. Without the goal we drift. In this nebulous drifting without a goal, anything can happen. With a goal, only things supporting the goal are given our sustained attention, therefore, mere consistency helps us immensely to attain the outcomes that fit our goal. Simple and unequivocal, the goal of Truth gets us in alignment with the Holy Spirit.

When we turn over a special relationship to the Holy Spirit's purpose for healing, the Holy Relationship is the result of the transformation that comes about. In the first stage of this transformation we go through an unsettling period when our old "motives” are coming to an end. The growing pain of this discomfort requires faith to persevere. The goal is set with sanity as its purpose, but the ego wants to cut off the relationship for a new one with the same ego motives. We are asked to have patience and trust that the Holy Spirit is in charge, even in the midst of challenges that are for our own learning of the Holy Relationship. This is the time to maintain faith that the relationship is ascending to a higher level. The Special Relationship is coming to an end, and the Holy Relationship is being born in a new Purpose.

The Holy Relationship is in great contrast to the Special Relationship. Set in an elaborate and bedazzled frame, the Special Relationship is a collection of dismal fears, guilts, and anger that ends in the despair of death. Only the elaborate frame gives it any illusion of desirability. Yet the death that the picture represents is meaningless, and not even there in reality. Were it not for the illusions of the frame that seems so glitteringly "real," we would dismiss this picture as worthless. It is the Holy Relationship that offers us a true picture of Life and Loveliness. God is at its heart, and our relationship to the Life of our Creator is the Force that sustains us eternally. Realized in our Holy Relationships with our Brothers, we can restore our awareness to God in the very Relationships we once tried to make special. "To make happy" is the purpose of all Holy Relationships. For God is realized there. And God is Life, and Happiness, and Love all applied to the very people we hold dear in our time here on earth.

What would it be like to have the Christ in all of our Relationships? In fact, this primary Relationship we have with our higher Self is the starting point for all Holy Relationships. The result would have to be happiness, because God's will for us is "perfect happiness," and the function of all relationships is to "make happy." In this Sunday Talk the invocation of the Christ into all of our relationships is discussed. And we can make contact directly with this "Higher Self" we share. We decide to be guided by this Self, and the result would have to be pure joy. What is not joy is only there to forgive. The Christ will restore us to Joy. Amen.

The function of all of God's Relationships is "to make happy." The function of the special relationship of the ego is ultimately death. Is this a real choice? The Holy Relationship is aligned with God's will for us, which is "perfect happiness." The ego's relationships are always alert to "threat." There is no threat in the Holy Relationship. We look at two pictures here. The one gives us a special relationship of problems and delusions, and the Holy Relationship is our way out of this dilemma. The choice is ours to make. Why not decide now for the Holy Spirit's function to make us Happy?

Shadows of the past are brought forward and given reality. Yet, to forgive is to remember only loving thoughts you gave and received, and all else you are willing to forget. Can we ever think "guiltily" of another, or ourselves, and be happy? Keeping no records of wrongdoing from the past is to let go of our shadows from the past. The "shadow figures" are dark memories of unhappiness we are keeping alive. The ego wants to keep itself alive with these shadows. The "slaves of vengeance" remind us of our past grievances. We may feel "justified" to hold ourselves and others "accountable" for our mistakes that we have to "pay tribute" to correct. Correction requires no retribution. It merely requires we let go, and allow Truth to correct the error in total innocence. In this correction there are no shadows. The Holy Spirit dissolves our shadows when we bring these illusions to the light of truth.

The dreams we dream are but illusions of reality. In fact they are dreams and do not really exist. But to the degree we believe the dreams are "true," we will maintain the dreamworld and all of its pain and suffering. Truth cannot deal with errors we want to keep. "Order of difficulty" in receiving miracles is simply withholding some thoughts from the Truth, and because we believe part of our "dream" is also "true," we do not allow Truth to deal with these errors. When we awaken from dreams we see they were not real, and did not exist. Yet, it is we who must be willing to "wake up" and bring our illusions to the Truth. Without this thought reversal the dreams are maintained. They are held on an equal ground to the Truth. "Pain and Suffering" are seen on equal grounds of "Peace and Joy." When we accept pain and suffering are made up dreams by us, and the Truth of Peace and Joy are God created states of being, we take our fantasy to the Truth to be dissolved forever.

What would the Forgiven World look like? The perfection of this final step in this dimension is given in this Section. The Real World, in its loveliness, in here for us now. Can we bless this world with total forgiveness of everyone and everything? This is the step we must take. Complete Forgiveness is ushered in by the Holy Spirit when we are willing to go in this direction. Then the final step is God's--to take us into the Light of Heaven, even here on earth.

The Special Relationship prevents us from being in the present. The past, full of illusions of conditions that did not meet our expectations, is projected onto the Special Relationship and usually ends in "disappointment." This leads to upset, attack thoughts, and basically "vengeance," the opposite of the Peace of God. How can we end the illusion of the past and be in the truth of the present? We ask for the Holy Instant that liberates us from the illusions of the past, and our judgments of the present. Ask to join with the Holy Spirit in this instant of liberation. This instant is the awareness that God's Will for us NOW is only perfect happiness. Can we make this Happiness our only function to be and realize? The Gifts of God are in this present moment. The past is gone, and only Relationships founded on this present joy are real. AMEN.

Crossing over the "bridge" means to give up our Special Relationships and enter into the dimension of Holiness and Oneness of our Reality. The Real World is seen not in the destruction of the world, but in its translation into Heaven. We are holding out our special relationships to the Holy Spirit for cleansing. Our Unwillingness is strong, but the help of the Holy Spirit can "atone" for our unwillingness. The Willingness of the Holy Spirit aids us in crossing the Bridge to the Real World. We use the body only as a communication device to bring our Brothers across the bridge to Heaven with us. What a great mission we all have. The Miracles are offered by the Great Rays, but we have to have a "little willingness" to have a different perspective on our Reality.

The Special Relationship is the attempt to "kill God" (or in this case our Higher Self) in place of the Special Relationship. The Special Relationship is one in which we believe our "littleness" is "real," and we need someone else to fulfill us in ways we think we do not have. First we "deprive" ourself of our Grandeur, and make up an "altar of form" to replace the Content of our Divine Connection. Usually there is a "payoff," a neurotic benefit for maintaining the Special Relationship. The real completion, for which this Section V is to make clear, would say "no" to this "specialness" and take us across the "bridge” to our True Self, restoring our awareness of our God-Created Self-Identity. In this Self we have no “needs,” therefore the Special Relationship is seen as an illusion, having no real purpose at all.

What makes us complete? Are we complete within ourself or do we need another to "complete" us? The Special Love Relationship is a coverup for the Special Hate Relationship. Neither are real Love, and both are in the conflicts of guilt, fear, and anger. We wish to triumph over God, and God is simply the absence of conflict and the return of Joy. Do we really want to be happy, or do we want to be "right" and maintain our conflicts? We want to have our needs met by our partner, whom we try to dominate. This kind of completion is one of separation and specialness, whereas the Real Completion, like the Real Love, has no specialness. We are complete and Whole within ourselves, and in this Completion we have not projected "needs." All of our real Needs are met by our Creator. There is nothing to "get" from our partner, and only something we have from our Creation to Give. This is the real Choice for Completion.

The Special Love Relationship is used to hide the Special Hate Relationship. Both are illusions. We are asked to look at them and give them up. With the Help of the Holy Spirit we can cross the bridge to the Reality Love, in which there are no "Special Relationships." This is our inheritance from God, and the Christ in us can be our Guide to receive it.

A Course in Miracles is for the working person, one who is willing to step outside of the "conditioned mind." For the "non Christian" person, it may have a deeper appeal. A Course in Miracles is Universal Knowledge that tells us what is True, forever, regardless of our "religious upbringing." ACIM establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt, our Self-Identity as our Source created me. We all have an "ego self" that is not so connected to our Source, and therefore our identification is with our "problems" —fear, guilt, anger, judgments, insecurities, doubts, regrets, etc. When we Identify with our Higher Self as our Source created us to be, our life changes into one free of these problems. We notice our real Identity is Love, Peace and JOY! We replace our hell we made up with the Heaven our SOURCE created. We are in the present, now, engaged in this Heaven. What could be better? A Course in Miracles and Rebirthing can take us there. Why not go in this direction?

CAN WE ACCEPT our own "teaching" of A Course in Miracles? The Teaching comes from the Christ, but are we accepting the rewards of teaching? Have we accepted "the comfort of our own teaching?" The Real Teacher has come to us beyond our thought system. The Christ is here in the teaching for us to accept. As "teachers"of A Course in Miracles, we have to fully let go of our ego's thought system. The witnesses of Truth are here in our life, but we have to embrace the Thoughts of God that have produced these results. We can replace our ego's thought system with the Divine Thought System of the Holy Spirit. Can we fully embrace the Higher Self's truth, instead of insisting that the illusions that appear to us as struggle and strife are not real. The REAL Cause and Effect Relationships of the Holy Spirit lead us across the Bridge to HEAVEN where the Holy Masters stand to pull us across the bridge . This is the real REWARD of the Teaching. We enter into Heaven by teaching it, and embracing it for ourselves.

THE POWER OF HOLINESS is in us. This proceeds from the Holy Spirit in us. It is clear we do not understand miracles, but we do have witnesses that prove themselves to us. We do not "do them," but the Holy Spirit in us extends the miracles and gives us the witnesses to these extra ordinary encounters. Holiness includes everyone, and within this Universal Field of Reality, the miracles correct all errors in our mind. This is cause for surrender and Joy. The Holy Spirit knows our needs before we have them, and if we Trust in Him to provide, there is a certainty that all of our needs are met. The Holy Spirit is the part of us that does understand miracles. It is natural to trust this Power of Holiness that is within us. We can do this today. We need not wait to have the awareness of this Power in us.

We begin a new Chapter, #16, The Forgiveness of Illusions, today in Valencia, Spain. The first section is a very key section. "To empathize is not to join in the suffering of others. True Empathy is a function of the Holy Spirit, and we do not really know what true empathy is. The first paragraph in this Section totally undoes the notion that "empathy" is "to share in the suffering" of others. The ego wants to empathize what is not working. It wants to "make real" what is not. This Section harkens to the lesson #248, "Whatever suffers is not part of me." The Holy Spirit sees our contradictions and illusions, but does not make them real. Understanding is not of us. We can leave Empathy in the hands of the Holy Spirit, Who would always free us from the past, from fear, anger or guilt that brought about our suffering in the first place. We need "do nothing."

This is a new action of BLESSING. A sacred exchange is a BLESSING. This news will be shared on FRIDAY. A Blessings is seeing our Brothers and Sisters as One with us. This is challenging to include those people who "irritate us." They are our "saviors for the day.” The powerful prayer in this lesson is : "Give me your blessing, Holy Son of God. I would behold you with the eyes of Christ and see my perfect sinlessness in you." We can do this if we are willing, and “put away pride” long enough to have the Peace of God instead.

CHRISTMAS as the end of sacrifice. Sacrifice is solely of our making. God's will for us is to give and receive JOY. Christ represents this full awareness, and He is within us. In fact, He is Us. This makes us Host to Him, and he is Host to God. Therefore we are Host to God in our Self which is JOINED in the Christ Consciousness. Joy is ours. Sacrifice is not of our true SELF. We can simply forgive ourselves, and let it go. AMEN.

What is the real REBIRTH? There would be a relinquishment of guilt and sacrifice in order to embrace our true Self in the Christ. The time of rebirth is the time of Christ. Being HOST to the ego, or HOSTAGE of God is the perspective the ego would like to maintain. Being a Host implies free will and joy; being a Hostage implies a sacrifice and being against our will. But we have this backwards. The real REBIRTH is the reversal of our thinking, which is already "upside down." God asks us for no "sacrifice" or "suffering" of any kind. The Ego would maintain "guilt" and ask us for tremendous "sacrifice." We can be HOST to God as we wake up, and let go of being Hostage of the ego's addiction to pain and suffering. This is the real REBIRTH that is offered to us.

Our attraction to God is undeniable. It is a natural longing to return to our true home, to the place where we know we belong. Holy Vision is the state of seeing ourselves and others "beyond the body," as the Great Rays of our true Self. This Vision of Holiness shows us our unlimited reality. Limitations are of the body, and we have to rise above the attachments we have to thought and our body. These attachments are blocking our Holy Vision of the Great Rays. Gratifications and pleasures of the body divert our attention away from Holy Vision. Heaven is the state of being that is Pure Joy, Perfect Happiness, not bound by "limitations," free of fear, guilt or anger, in a constant contact with the Love of God.

Our Holy Relationship with the HOLY SPIRIT, the Christ, and with GOD is the only real Relationship. All of our Relationships in life depend on the right mindedness we establish in this Holy Relationship. We are redeemed when we are free of our ego's voice of littleness, and we are listening to the voice of our Higher Self that is in Communication with our Creator. God gives us the entire Sonship, so everyone is in our universal “Brotherhood" that JOINS us in the Christ Consciousness. DIVINE LOVE is the whole basis for Love. Our "special relationships" are transformed into holy ones with the DIVINE LOVE brought to our attention by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Instant is the means by which we enter into this sacred dimension. There is no "separation," therefore, our Minds are returned to communication with our Creator which is the only Real Relationship.

There is no "sacrifice" in true Love. There is no lack in Divine Love, and Divine Love is the only Love free of "guilt, fear, or anger." In short, the ego's version of special relationships has no basis in Love. It pretends to be "loving" but it is premised on need and obligation, then it deteriorates into anger and guilt when these "needs" are not met. We do not recognize this "lack" that demands our partner "meet our need," and this "lack" makes us angry. Then we project that "anger" outward, and anger's function is to make another feel "guilty." The vicious chain of "Lack-Sacrifice-Anger-Guilt" forms the basis of our special relationships. And most of our relationships have been conceived in "specialness." We can turn every relationship over to the Holy Spirit to cleanse and purify for us, in order to give ALL of our relationships a HOLY PURPOSE. We may not fully know this purpose, but the Holy Spirit does, and can show us that real Divine Love is possible.

THE LAWS OF GOD would make every relationship Whole. Each one may be unique, but one is not more Holy than another. The faith in our brothers is total. Each brother is worthy of our reverence. Everyone has his or her own perfection. Holiness is shared, and we gain the Strength of God when we are looking toward the Perfection of each person. Everyone is deserving of God's Love, and to have the strength of God we cannot hold anyone "outside" the scope of God's Grace. God is the Strength in which I trust, and the Idea I am holding about myself can be changed. I can change the idea of being "weak" for the divine idea of my sacred strength. We unite the Idea of Perfection with our own perception of our Holy Self. This is the Freedom to be who God created us to be. We are the Holy Sons and Daughters of God. This is God's Law in truth.

This Section shows us how much we have made our relationships into special ones, and that we use the past to judge the value of our relationships based on our projected expectations that fill our own "needs." We obligate people to us, and then judge the relationship based on whether they are fulfilling these special needs or not. God makes no one special, so why do we? Do we think our needs are not met by our Creator? Do we seek this dependence on people we have made special, demanding they fill our needs? Is it possible to share the Holy Instant with the people in our Life to discover and express Divine Joy? The Holy Instant removes the "specialness," and purifies these relationships into Holy ones. We can let go of our "imagined needs" and ask for only what God wants for us—which is "perfect happiness."

THE HOLY INSTANT is here now to give us our Magnificence. Yet, we have to let go of all of our thoughts of "limitation" from the ego. The ego would like us to believe it takes time to "improve ourselves." We already are in our Magnificence in truth, but we have made such a case for our "littleness" that we do not think it is possible to leap into this Heaven of our true Self immediately. We are addicted to the "denial of Who we are as God created us." The ego postpones the Holy Instant because we are "arrogant" in insisting upon our own plan that is a substitute for God's Plan. We want our "familiar hell" instead of our “unfamiliar Heaven." We are afraid of the Unknown, and the Holy Instant, before we accept it, is Unknown. Can we give up the plans we "know" that do not actually "improve our life?" Can we let this go, and accept the Holy Instant instead? We have free will to do so. It takes our "willingness," not "time," to accept this Plan of the Holy Instant. We must practice accepting it.

Today is a very important section in A Course in Miracles. "Littleness Versus Magnitude" makes it clear that we are falling short in our definition of ourselves. We are accepting a level of limitation that is "tolerable," and then we define this as "Happiness." We are not content, and now we can actually admit it. Jesus tells us, "Be not content with littleness. But be sure you understand what littleness is, and why you could never be content with it. Littleness is the offering you give yourself. You offer this in place of magnitude, and you accept it. Everything in this world is little because it is a world made out of littleness, in the strange belief that littleness can content you." The fact is we are not content. Can we drop all of our seeking to improve ourselves when we see that we already have everything at our inner disposal? The Holy Spirit can lead us to realize our Magnitude, but only when we stop our attempts to "make up a false heaven." We have made ourselves the "CEO of Hell." And when we admit this is so, and let go of false control, we can invite the Holy Spirit into our awareness to guide us to our Magnitude.

MARKUS reads from his commentary onA Course in Miracles, a book named "THE SECOND COMING.” In this Podcast he discusses Chapter 23 in this book—The End of Sickness. It makes clear the mental "causative factors" behind all disease. How do we overcome these "thoughts of attack and defense” that keep the sickness alive? Can we heal sickness at the "root cause?" First of all, "Sickness is a defense against the Truth." We have to see that all physical sickness begin with erroneous "thoughts” in our mind first. Then we have to make contact with the Truth, which can correct all these errors in our mind. PEACE and JOY are the TRUTH, and they can heal us, but we have to make absolute contact with them. This Chapter makes this shift clear and very possible.

The Holy Instant transcends time and doubt. We are given the Atonement to erase the limitations of time we have placed on our "awakening process." It appears it takes "time" to wake up, but the instant offered to the Holy Spirit is offered to God on our behalf. We let go of all our past learning. TRUTH is outside of time, and happens all at Once. We do not use the "work" we do to postpone this flash of the Holy Instant. The laws of time do not apply. The Holy Instant is just that—a moment that is NOW> TOTAL LIBERATION does not take time. It can happen in a flash when we let go of all the preoccupations to "make ourselves enlightened" by the modes we have used to “awaken ourselves." We are grateful to have the TEACHERS who represent to Holy Spirit in our lives. Their teachings are “outside of time.” We are grateful to have Them, and the means to wake up in a hurry. AMEN.

WHAT IS TIME? How do we use it? Is it fraught with regret of the past and dread or fear of the future?Do we fear the future will bring death and disaster? The ego uses time to reinforce fear, guilt, death and hell; the Holy Spirit uses time to establish Love, Innocence, Immortality and Heaven. The Holy Instant can get us there, but we have to use time in a different way. Heaven and Immortality are the Holy Spirit's goal. Hell and Death are the ego's goal. The ego uses dissociation to keep its contradictions alive in time—guilt is eternal in its view. The ego pursues us beyond the grave—it offers us “immortality in hell." This insanity is dissolved for good in this Holy Instant. The cornerstone of the Holy Spirit is your eternal innocence. Love is your true nature, and this Holy Instant puts us immediately in Heaven. It takes no long drawn out process. It is here NOW. NOW is the time we enter into the Present. Only Heaven is here, without a past or a future. Continual "instants" of the Holy Instant keep our future clean and promising. What comes to us anew is anticipating the Heaven we are feeling now in our perfect happiness. Immortality of Joy in the present is just a “string of delightful Holy Instants,” the only time there is. AMEN

What is the TEST OF TRUTH? are we in a state of undisturbed peace? Can we have and maintain our "inner calm?" The Holy Spirit would lead us to this truth of peace, but we have to be willing to be guided by It's Light of a different kind of reason. There is a place in us of Perfect Peace, but we must want that above all else. It is easy to think that we can make this "utopia" for ourselves. Many have tried and failed. Thought can project all kinds of ideals that are unreachable. But have we ever admitted we do not know how to establish this unequivocal Inner Peace? This admission is necessary to invoke the Power of the Holy Spirit to give us this God-Given State of being. Can we cease our own "seeking" and accept the truth, which will test us with this one requirement of actual, complete, and palpable Inner Peace? The Peace is already given. Can we receive it?

I WANT THE PEACE OF GOD is Lesson #185 in the Workbook. Are we committed wholeheartedly to bringing this statement into application on ourselves? To say these words is meaningless. To mean them as our Truth is everything. We are not dreaming when the Truth dawns in our minds with sincerity of the highest order. I WANT THE PEACE OF GOD is not a dream. Do we really want this state of being? We rise above all dreams. We rise above all half-hearted attempts to bring these words into application in our life. We need the Strength of God in order to apply them. By ourselves we cannot make this leap of faith. With the Holy Spirit's help, assured when we JOIN with another, 2-by2, in our joined intention to "realize" these words, we are given the Peace of God. We Want the Peace of God. All of Heaven is behind the gift of Peace that is our only real state of Being.

"I PLACE THE FUTURE IN THE HANDS OF GOD." This is Lesson #194. Would we have concerns of the future if we truly applied this Lesson? Do we even trust there is a God Who cares for us, and paves the way for our future to be one of Heavenly proportions? What would it take for us to believe these words are true for us? In times of "uncertainty," we need this Lesson even more. What is the need for a false sense of "certainty" when we have the Trust that God will pave our Future road better than our past? Let us not rest on the laurels of our accomplishments, but rather grow to Expect a BETTER FUTURE than our past, one of NEW POSSIBILITIES that indicate a Bright Future, one in the Hands of our Loving Creator Who wants only the highest JOY for us in our future.

The reflection of Heaven has certain conditions. Peace would be a condition. Freedom from guilt would be there. There would not be attack thoughts in this reflection. The miracles come from this "different world" of unlimited Love, free of all guilt, fear or anger. There is no "order of difficulty" in the Holy Spirit's ability to bestow His blessings upon us. But our world of the ego sees only limitations and doubts. We are very familiar with the contradictions in our thinking that we have grown to accept as "normal." A place beyond this world is a Dimension of Love that is totally different than the one we are used to "perceiving." This other Divine Dimension is sending us Miracles that have no order of difficulty to alter our vision to see this reflection of Heaven. Can we let go and allow the Holy Spirit to show us only Love or a Call for Love are the options available to us.

We already are HOLY. This is our Truth. Atonement is a "reparative process" that removes the illusions of our past "mistakes" that make us miserable. We keep a "record of wrongdoing" in ourselves and others that prevent us from seeing the reflection of our Holiness that is our only Reality. Healing is the only concern of the Holy Spirit, and healing is what we need in order to "erase" the opposites of our Holiness. Fear, guilt and anger have no reality in Truth, but we have to make contact with this Truth of Holiness to shine away these illusions in us. The reflection of our Holiness is seen in the Mirror of our true Self that shines its light of innocence upon us. This Holy Light of the Holy Spirit undoes our illusions. Everything that is not Pure Joy and Pure Life is dissolved. Death itself is undone in this Reflection of our Holiness. We are that—Pure Joy and Immortal Life.

We have a HOLY MEETING PLACE with the Holy Spirit at the Altar of the Father with His Son. The gifts on this "Holy Meeting Place" have the Innocence and Glory of the unseparated Father and the Son. Love flows constantly here. The Holy Altar to our true Relationship with God abides. Let us not put on our Altars what does not belong there. "Fear guilt or anger" are illusions that we have tried to replace that Love and Holiness that is only on our Altar with God. Grievances and Attack Thoughts have no place in this "Holy Meeting Place." Let our minds not wander into the shadows that are not really there. Let's open the doors of our Temple and see God's Glory with that He gives to His Son, Who is US!

TRUTH is UNION. In UNION opposites cannot coexist. War and Peace are but projections of the ego as opposites. When brought to the TRUTH, war has no justification, and only peace has a Divine Cause. Fear is the source of the ego that wants to keep "opposites" alive. The ego justifies fear, and conflict and war are then perpetuated. The opposites have not be "brought together." Only the Holy Spirit can dissolve the fear, and make clear that only LOVE and Peace emanate from the Truth. The false, in this case "fear," does not really exist. It is miraculous to see that fear is never justified, and truly "there is nothing to fear." The ego hides the truth and never looks at it. The justifications for defenses and war are built up in the ego's thought system. In the Divine Mind, war is never justified—killing is not Divine. At best it is a compensation for the ego's gross mistakes. When "opposites" are brought together, the untrue is shined away by the truth. LOVE prevails over "fear," and soon Love, Peace and Joy are seen as our rightful inheritance in TRUTH.

It is the LIGHT which shines away the darkness. What is held secret and obscure in our minds, based on shame and fear and guilt, can be shined away by the Light of True Forgiveness. The Light of Love is Forgiveness in this dimension. The sentinels of guilt keep our shame secret. We carry the past mistakes as "records of wrongdoing." But it is time for us to LET GO of these shadows that have no real substance other than that which we give to them. Bring the LIGHT of Guiltlessness to these shadows of "guilt." Keeping them hidden does not serve our Communication with God. For only the truly Innocent can be communicated. The Light of Love is the only thing worth communicating. All else is a “break down" of communication. Why keep these shadows alive in our MIND? Let them be dissolved by the Light of Holy Reason that shines away the darkness in our memories.

Can we enter into the Circle of Atonement in the quiet of God's eternal Love for us? The message is always the same: God's Son is only guiltless. There is no guilt in the true Mind of God that is ours to use. We were created in this Mind of God, and only Innocence and Joy abide in the holiness of this Mind, of which ours is a part. Who could condemn with guilt Whom God has blessed in His purity? We enter into the circle of the Atonement when we choose to see our brother's sinlessness, and our own. There is no "sin" that we were taught by "false religious theology." We can distinguish the pure message of the Christ to restore us to the awareness of our Innocence, which has always been within us to awaken. Escaping from all pain depends on us freeing ourselves through the Atonement from all forms of guilt we have thought was "real."

We are already absolved of any mistakes we made. But we do have to practice forgiving others, especially if we are prone to holding onto grievances. Love holds no grievances, and mistakes anyone made do not affect at all the Love God has for them. So who are we to withhold our Love to them, based on our grievances. Keeping "records of wrongdoing" puts us in a quagmire of the past, and prevents us from receiving the Atonement for ourselves. Atonement is for ALL for ALL situations, or not for anyone at all. We have to make the decision to forgive fully, and this is seeing that the "errors" had no "effects" on the Reality of Who we are, and What we are divinely doing here.

Only the Guiltless are Free. And only Guiltlessness is our reality. Guilt is an illusion. But this fact does not stop us from projecting guilt onto us and others. We believe the false is "true," and attack based on this "guilt" is justified. We decide each second between "guilt" or "guiltlessness." Our INNOCENCE is our REALITY. How would we step into this Awareness unequivocally? Our Innocence is guaranteed by our Creator. Our Atonement is the end of all guilt, but we have to make a decision with the Holy Spirit to accept it. God's Will for us is perfect happiness, and this would require the decision for "Guiltlessness" for us to align our will with God's Will.

There is a simplicity of Truth. What we pursue to bring us "happiness" too often brings us disappointment or even despair. "Pursuit of happiness" is our divine right, yet these pursuits can lead to "nothing." We make palaces, golden crowns, and royal robes out of nothing. We are fooled by appearances. These appearances too often disintegrate into dust, leaving us with the perishable. The simple beauty of Everything is the stillness of the Peace of God. There is something beyond materiality that is a Gift of God to us. Happiness is here now. Perfect happiness is God's Will for us. Can we receive it and claim the Truth as our own? The Holy Spirit helps us to make this one decision.

Can we really learn anything from the ego when the final result of the ego's thought system is conflict, sickness, and death? These results are "nothing" according to the Holy Spirit. Truth will correct all errors in our Minds when we ask Him to liberate us from our mistakes. We have one decision to make: to turn our minds over the the Holy Spirit for His directions. The logic of the ego's world leads to "nothing." We do not see this, therefore we need the Holy Spirit's correction which is a condition for learning. We first must learn the system we are using is in error, and be willing to give that up. Then we can be shown the Simplicity of Truth, which is the true Love of God that created us.

HEAVEN is real. It is free of all guilt and conflict. War is unreal. Guilt is unreal. There is no conflict in the Will of God. When we use the Holy Spirit's corrective energy on our behalf, we restore our will with God's Will, and therefore dissolve all forms of conflict. PEACE is WHOLE and unambiguous, or not at all. There is no variation or contrast in PEACE. This we would call HEAVEN. We are ready to leave behind our former "guidance system" of the ego, that kept us embroiled in the contrasts of opposites, and surrender to the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit Who is in complete touch with our Reality. He judges the TRUTH from the FALSE, and lets the FALSE go. God would WILL us into HEVEN, and the Holy Spirit can lead us there when we are willing to be led and make no decisions by ourselves.

RELEASE FROM guilt is seeing your true SELF is only pure innocence. Mistakes are inconsequential to this true SELF.

Why do we hang onto the "guilt" we maintain from past mistakes. We have a saying--"Keep no records of wrongdoing." The Atonement stands brightly and clearly in this Holy Instant in the present. God created us Innocent, regardless of our past mistakes. We need not hang onto the "guilt" of wrongdoing from the past. The past is over. And the Self God created did not make the errors in the first place. Can we Identify with our True Self? In this acceptance we are absolved of all past "guilt" we thought we deserved. The Holy Instant is NOW. We do not keep records of wrongdoing. The guilt is "false," therefore guilt does not really exist. AMEN.

VIII. From Perception to Knowledge

1 All healing is release from the past. That is why the Holy Spirit is the only Healer. He teaches that the past does not exist, a fact which belongs to the sphere of knowledge, and which therefore no one in the world can know. It would indeed be impossible to be in the world with this knowledge. For the mind that knows this unequivocally knows also it dwells in eternity, and utilizes no perception at all. It therefore does not consider where it is, because the concept "where" does not mean anything to it. It knows that it is everywhere, just as it has everything, and forever.

2 The very real difference between perception and knowledge becomes quite apparent if you consider this: There is nothing partial about knowledge. Every aspect is whole, and therefore no aspect is separate. You are an aspect of knowledge, being in the Mind of God, Who knows you. All knowledge must be yours, for in you is all knowledge. Perception, at its loftiest, is never complete. Even the perception of the Holy Spirit, as perfect as perception can be, is without meaning in Heaven. Perception can reach everywhere under His guidance, for the vision of Christ beholds everything in light. Yet no perception, however holy, will last forever.

THE REAL WORLD IS OURS. But we have to want it above all else, and be willing to let go of the world we "made up." Would we commit ourselves to see through Christ's Vision? This is given to us when we want it, but we have to welcome it in. Love does not wait on time, but on our welcome to enter into our world of reality. This world is given, not made. This is the world free of pain, strife, unfulfillment, suffering, fear, etc. We have the means within us to be totally immersed in our Divine Reality. The Christ awaits our welcome. Om Namah Shivay!

Can we totally bring our awareness into the Present? Can we let go of all the images we have held on to from our past? The only real time is the Present, and the Light of our true Self is here. "No cloud of guilt" is held onto in our clinging to the past. We let the past go. Christ's Vision is only in the Present. With no past and no future, we are aware of this Holy Instant now. We are only in the Present, and the continuity of God's Peace and Joy in only here. It does not have a "past” regret, image, or projection...and it does not have a "future" into which these negative ways of seeings are projected. To be "born again" is to simply be in the Present without all the images of our past. We are Present in our Divine Truth that we always had, but we have to want to let the past go, and be ready to experience this Heaven on Earth Now. These are Eternal, Timeless states of Being. The Holy Spirit holds this out for us to receive NOW.

LOVE or FEAR. One is of God and one is of the ego. Which will we choose? The ego's "version" of "love" is racked with fear. In fact, the ego is the fear that made it. It rejects the wholeness of real LOVE, and picks its allies carefully to maintain its specialness and separation. Christ's Vision is necessary to cast out the fear that has become so much a part of our modus operandi. LOVE joins us together, is extended, and increases as it is given. FEAR is insanity, which is unique to the "thinker," and divides and separates us into an isolated entity which is connected to nothing, a "meaningless shell" of who we really are. We make fear, or we Create in Love. One or the other is inevitably our choice.

This Section, The Function of Time, we see the two uses of time: The ego's version is to bring the past into the present, all it's regrets and mistakes and guilt, and project those into the future, which turns it into a "hell" of repetitive errors that makes it destroy itself eventually. The Holy Spirit sees only the present, and the past is over and forgiven; the future would be an extension of the Joy that is presently here and "NOW." God's will for us is perfect happiness, and the present is clear and free—totally forgiven—of the past errors we made. We need a new use of "time" in which only the Present is here, which is the truth about "time." In the Present there is not function of "time" as the ego perceives it. And if we are free of the ego's us of time, we are in the timeless present of perfect happiness.

It is not pain and suffering we are afraid of; it is the Love that would heal them that instills a deep fear in us. We have grown accustomed to problems. We have gotten used to attack and counter attack. What would allow us to accept our Love for God and God's Love for us? It is our deepest desire that we keep hidden under the ego's shroud of suffering and death. We include our brothers and sisters in this healing. The real grandeur of God's blessing with healing is what we really want. God placed the solution in us in the midst of our imagined "separation." Let us look upon the Love that would dispel our fear. Let us accept the resurrection instead of the crucifixion that does not really exist.

The Gift of Lillies on this Day of Easter is the recognition that there is no death, and our immortality is guaranteed. Those of us who leave our bodies behind are blessed today, and can enter into the Light of God, and of the Self, God's Son, to meet our true Identity. We give the body this blessing as well, that it served us well as a communication tool we used for awhile to join in Love with our Brothers and Sisters. Let us resurrect into the Spirit, and feel the Joy of Gain, not "loss," in our Vision of our Holiness. May all of those we know who have taken their transition out of the body be blessed in their True Self today, and be given the Lillies of Easter, this day of great Peace and Joy. We can see things differently and offer the Lillies of Easter instead of the "thorns" of "death." There is no death. The Son of God is free. AMEN.

Guilt is something we feel and then project onto others. The ego's thought system is based on guilt, and retaining guilt. Projection of guilt does not "get rid" of it. The ego believes if you dare to think you are "guiltless," then you are really "guilty." To declare our absolute innocence is "blasphemous to God," according to the ego. The guiltless induce "fear" in the ego. But when we have seen the Truth that God's Son is guiltless, full of joy, and whose will is perfect happiness, and we are God's Son, the ego just appears as ridiculous. The cornerstone of the ego has no real basis. The Truth redeems us along with the Christ, who is eternally Innocent.

This whole Chapter 13 is called "THE GUILTLESS WORLD." This Chapter is to help us to see things differently, and be freed from the delusion of "guilt." The guilt projected onto ourselves and others makes up "laws of suffering, separation and death." This is a loveless world of the ego. We cannot have a feeling of a Benevolent and Merciful GOD in this picture of the ego. "Love does not kill to save." Adam's "sin" was merely a mistake of feeling guilt. God did not condemn man by "throwing him out of paradise." We threw ourselves out through the delusion of guilt. It was the belief in "guilt," not our Creator, that put us in hell. God created us "originally innocent" and established Heaven as our eternal State of Being, in the frequency of our "guiltlessness."

Can we remember the Love that created us? It is our Divine Connection. This is the precedent in our life. Our Divine Connection is our attraction to Absolute Love. Love created us like Itself, and this Energy that created the Universe is at our disposal. But if we would rather listen to the ego's voice, the Love that would solve our problem has become "invisible." What is "visible" is our despair that resulted from our separation. Will we continue to relinquish that Power that Created Reality for some version of a "reality" that is embroiled in massive problems that we first projected? We are ATTRACTED to Love and Love only. In Love there is no conflict. There is no "crusade" to protect ourselves from the very Evil that we made up in our world.

"Miracles demonstrate that learning has occurred under the right guidance, for learning is invisible and what has been learned can be recognized only by its results. Its generalization is demonstrated as you use it in more and more situations. You will recognize that you have learned there is no order of difficulty in miracles when you apply them to all situations." This is the beginning of asking for Help in the Mind. You start within. The Holy Spirit is there to Help us with our Healing, but we have to ask for it. This is the Action of "Looking Within." The Miracles is trading our expectations from the ego to the Holy Spirit. We have to expect the Miracles before we can have them. Whose manifestations will we invoke? The Holy Spirit manifests the Christ. Are we willing to have only this?

The Vision of Christ is the help we need to make contact with our Higher Self. The value of our Self is realized by the extension of loving thoughts outward. We have something to give, and this is our own remembrance of God. The Holy Spirit reminds of this Divine Connection. The Real World is composed of only loving thoughts; everything else is a "call for help." Our job is to meet the unloving with the loving. The real world springs to our sight because the Christ has never left us. In perfect peace He waits for us at our Father's Altar, where we waits for our awakening. Christ is the Identity we share, and the way we express love in this world.

This is the beginning of sanity, in which we listen to the Teacher that can give us the SANE CURRICULUM. The ego's rule is to "seek and make sure it does not find what it seeks." In terms of a curriculum, the ego tries to "learn but make sure it does not learn what it studies." Attack makes us weak, but the attacks we do on ourselves and others really have no effects. When we see our invulnerability to attack is true, all the attacks we have done on ourselves and others have not really weakened us. Attack has no effects on our Real Self. The Holy Spirit is our only Real Teacher. His Love is our strength. And this is the Sane Curriculum. No attacks have had any real effects.

The rule of the ego is "seek but make sure it does not find what it seeks." The futile search for "love" fails to acknowledge that Love is already our true nature—there is nothing we need to seek. We already "have" what the ego "seeks." What we "seek" is already ours. Seeking and finding go together. Lesson #230 says, "Today I seek and find the Peace of God." This Peace is inside of us. No external conditions need to be a certain way for us to stand in this Peace. It is always here, and requires we simply accept it in the present. And then it is here in our Mind, in our Awareness. It is always here now.

What is the reality we invest in? Are we investing in conflict, anger, problems, and trouble? Our Investment in Reality would be totally free of inner conflict and anger. The Text later states, "Anger is never justified." JOY is always justified, and we owe our brother the Reality of Peace and Joy. If he asks something of us that "does not really matter," rather than go into "opposition," respond with faith and acceptance. We can give to our brother the harmony and the abundance of the Holy Spirit's spiritual wisdom. To remain in peace is the key. Any response other than Love deviates from the Answer from God which is absolute abundance. We are supplied by the Love that is ours to give.

We remember God by remembering our brothers and sisters. To heal ourselves we translate denial into truth. All sickness is a "lack of love" from our denial. The sick must heal themselves, but it may be us who give this healing to others. We can deny the "denial of love." Only Love exists, and our remembrance to Love everyone and everything including ourselves is the way to remember God. We give the brother Love even in the midst of his problems and calls for help. Our response is the way of remembrance. Sickness is another "call for Love." It is our job to respond to any sickness with more Love. Give Love and we will know we have it. AMEN.

There are either Loving thoughts or a "call for help." How we respond to any situation, incident, or interaction accordingly would involve these. All other reactions would be giving the "unreal" a "reality" that is not there. We can remain neutral with either our response with Loving thoughts or with our response to a "call for help." How do we respond? Appreciation is the only response to our brother. There is one teacher of Reality, and this is the Holy Spirit. Hear This and receive all we need to answer any call for Help. We need the Holy Spirit's guidance in all responses. We do not know what the full situation is asking of us. We keep asking for guidance. And ask for and listen for the Judgment of the Holy Spirit, not our own.

We are in the critical juncture of A Course in Miracles with this Section VIII of Chapter 11. "The end of the world is not its destruction, but it's translation into heaven." Our healing powers require that we see with Christ's vision. We have a challenge to see that "only loving thoughts are true." Everything else is a cry for help. We can heal in the Christ Energy. He encompasses everyone in God's Love. "God had condemned me not. No more do I." This is Lesson #228. It is in keeping with this lesson of invoking only loving thoughts to be in the Reality of God's Answer. God's Answer is some form of Peace. All problems are solved in it. We need but call and God will answer us.

We have a responsibility to see that we do not know much (in the absolute state). We have to see that what we have learned amiss is our "problem." But what we "think we know" is erroneous. Can we drop the false world of ideas that do not require us to make contact with the "Actual?" Our one "problem" is separation from the Truth, which we maintain with the thoughts of the ego. We have one problem which is an "imagined separation" from our Source Energy, and we have specific problems that spring forth from this separation. We have to "undo" the known errors that we maintain. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us to erase our illusions; to help us solve our "problem of separation."

The main condition of reality is that it is unequivocal. It has no "opposite" in other words. And our attention is given to the Holy Spirit's thought system. The ego may see "the good," but it will always establish its "autonomy" by perceiving an opposing factor. "Evil" is equally valid to fight against. This division of "opposing factors" is one of the ego's principle tools to assert itself. "Nothing real can be threatened; Nothing unreal exists." Therefore, the projections of fear are not really there beyond our false projections. What is "false" is by definition "not true," and what is not true does not exist. We see this and then forget it.

Can we transcend into our True Self? This would be the Self of total forgiveness and total joy. Christs Vision is an aspect of this Self. Are we slaves of the crucifixion we make up, or are we liberated in our resurrection? Christ is the resurrection and the life, and we can align with Him to have a new perception. We need a new experience that comes from Him. His perceptions are our natural awareness. We live in God and therefore in the Christ. And we have to perceive this in all our brothers and sisters. For we cannot exclude anyone. We ascend together into this True Self. Jesus helps us accept the resurrection. This is "waking to redemption."

The freedom of interdependence is a high state of total harmony and cooperation. The ego wants “autonomy” to maintain the separation. It is an isolated entity we have constructed to give ourself a sense of identity that takes no account of our place in the Whole. “God is dependent on the Son; the Son is dependent on Him.” But this is not a loss of freedom, but a gain, because it connects us with the entire Cosmos. Why would we not want that? Why would we want to maintain separation that eventually ends in death and despair? In true Love there is total interdependence on our Creator. There is no need for defense because there is no attack, no guilt that demands punishment, and no separation that is motivated by fear.

We look at the "dynamics" of the ego today. The "autonomy" that the ego would claim for itself is in "separation." It is the interdependence of Creation, and all things in It, that brings us our Peace and Power. The ego's sense of "autonomy" is self-centered, "solipsistic," and isolated, only relating to it's circular arguments of its existence. We look in a mirror of distortion when we are using the ego's thought system. Experience is not necessarily valid for establishing our inner truth. A "separated truth" has no meaning, because Truth is One and Whole, all-inclusive. Fear is running the ego, it constantly divides us off from the Whole, and we have to look at it to dispel it.

Our inheritance is the Sonship. We cannot exclude anyone from this awareness of the WHOLE creation of God's Son. One exclusion, even of a "Hitler," would cloud our vision, and prevent us from receiving Christ's Vision. There is no condemnation of any kind in the Mind of God. Lesson 228 says, "God has condemned me not, no more do I." We must never forget the Sonship. And this is outside of time, space, and the judgments we have about the "people" who occupy this dimension. If we "hate" part of ourself, (any of our brothers) all of our understanding is lost. Markus looks at the movie, "The Zone of Interest," and the challenges we have to "condemn evil," and how the ego justifies its judgments and deeds of cruelty. It is something in us we must cleanse away and rise above.

We go from the darkness we made to the light God created. We have allowed a sense of separation to take us over. This makes us weary of the world, but it is all self-imposed. The will of God for us is the light. "Out of our joy we will create beauty in His name." What God wills for us is ours. Let us walk in the light today. The Great Light is here. It is within us. Let us claim the Light today. It is also within all of our brothers. Let go of the darkness—the grievances, the attack thoughts, the judgments, the things we are against. God wills that our glory is shared together. This is our inheritance. Let's claim it.

Healing involves a few things. First we have to see who we are as God created us, so we are no longer in denial of our Self-Identity. Then we have to listen to the Holy Spirit, the Guest we invite in as our Voice for God's guidance. Healing is a desire to "make whole," and this would include our brothers in the Sonship. None can be excluded, but the healing is of ourself first. The Holy Spirit lobbies for the end of separation. We make our Will one with God's Will that IS Wholeness. We invite the Holy Spirit to guide us in this endeavor to end our separation. We can be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom when we see the Holy Spirit is there to keep us aligned with this.

The main GIFT of the Fatherhood would be receiving the infinite Will of Creation. The Universe has no beginning and no ending, and we are part of this infinite grace. The "fear" of God's Will is because we think our true will is something different than God's. Our will and God's Will are the same in our desire for perfect happiness. Peace and Joy are the only things God Wills for us, because they are the nature of the Universe. The Universe IS JOY. Only cause for rejoicing! This is the gift of the Fatherhood that asks us to JOIN in our own creations. Our return is waking up to who we already are. It is a joyous homecoming.

There are two systems of thought. God's sacred thought system is one. The ego's separated thought system is the other. They are irreconcilable. A person cannot be in both. He is in one or the other. The question is one of our Source. Who is our "Father?" Who "Authored" us in truth? Is God our Father or the ego, standing in as our "father?" We first make up the ego, then put ourselves under its "authority." We first make us a set of false premises under which we are bound and limited. We made up a false self. Then we put ourselves under its "authority." This is why we feel separated, because the ego's premises are based on separation, isolation, loneliness, and meaninglessness. We can look at the ego and let it go. The Christ will be there, standing beside us with the Lamp of Pure Light to shine away our ego's illusions.

We deny God by denying Life, Joy, Happiness, Health, etc. "Blasphemy" is thinking we are not as God created us. He did not create us in the pain, suffering, depression that we have fallen into. These are states of "being who we are not" and therefore "blasphemy." Wrong thinking can be corrected, but we have to be willing to change our minds, and their focus. Health is the "denial" of our self-destructive thoughts of the god of sickness. The real blasphemy is the Denial of God, but God cannot be denied in reality. Only in the midst of illusions can we pretend to deny God. We are fooled by false religious theology that made God into all pervading Force attacking us "sinners" with "condemnation." We are not aware we are denying our Creator when we accept pain and suffering as real. We do not know our True Self when we fall into the appearances of sickness. This denial of God is in need of correction. The Holy Spirit will help us to see our Reality, aligned with our Creator and our Self.

The End of Sickness is merely to stop trying to fix illusions. There is just one thing we need to see about "illusions." We move our attention onto the Truth, the Perfection, the real Self we share with the Christ of Perfect Happiness. The end of sickness is simply denying that the sickness is "real." There may be some procedures to do—if you break a bone you need a doctor to put it back together. But more importantly, the thoughts that attracted that need to be addressed, and once the physical mend has taken place, the "mental mend" has to be included in the healing process. The end of Sickness is to see that we are part of God's Will, and this Will is Perfect Happiness. PEACE and JOY invite our attention, because they are consistent with God's Will, and this is the Only Answer.

We can be only sick in our ego. And this "false self" we made up is the "idol of sickness" we have made in our madness. It is not created by God, and by definition, Reality is ONLY what God created, therefore sickness is not real. What is not real is an illusion, only a projection of something that is not really there. And what is not really there is "nothing." But like a mirage that is only a figment of our imagination, but not really there, the "Idol of Sickness" is also a mirage. When we stop giving it "reality," we will see that it is nothing. This vision of the miraculous is what the Christ holds out for us. In it is perfect peace. When we accept it, we accept we accept our True Self that is never "sick." You accept it for all your brothers and sisters—the whole Sonship.

We decided to forget who we are as God created us. We once knew who we are, but then we forgot by making a false "self." This self is called the ego, and it is an illusion that brought much pain and suffering to us. Yet, The "memory" of Who we are as God Created us is still in our Mind. God is in our Memory. When we are willing to remember this True Self, we are awakening to Peace, Joy, and the Glory of our Reality. With the Holy Spirit we can fully awaken. We can accept this True Self, and return our mind to Knowledge, beyond the limitations of perception.

When we are at Home in God we have decided wholly to end our imagined separation from our Source, and therefore we are happy. And because we are unified with our Creator, we know our Creations emanate from Love and are Loving. But sometimes we are unaware of this Divine Connection, and it follows that our mind is split. Partly this, and partly that. It is our Will that can end this dilemma. When we "will there be light," the light is there, and we are unified with the Kingdom in us. Fear, guilt, anger, and other projected misperceptions banish themselves from Love. We can end this through an action of Will in which we join with the Will of God, which would be perfect happiness.

The "thoughts" that cause our pain and suffering are not facts. And because the "pain and suffering" from wrong mindedness appear so "real," it is difficult to see that "pain" is an illusion, because it is based on a "thought" that is an illusion. We believe our "nightmares" when we are in them. Be believe our wring thinking because we are in them, and keep thinking them. The "thoughts" that cause our pain and suffering are self inflicted. This Chapter would call them "idols." They are not really there, but we "think" they are. Because the have "taken form" in our experience, and we place experience as the paramount proof of a "fact," we think the pain and suffering is real. We have to see this differently and correct the "cause" in our mind.

We are arrogant to reinforce our "littleness" with thoughts like "I am not good enough. Others are more deserving than me. Etc." We over compensate with self-inflating thoughts like "I am so much better than everyone else." "Littleness or Grandiosity" will never satisfy us. Yet, we are Exalted in the Grandeur of our Creator. We share this Grandeur, this Light, with Everyone. The Glory of God pulses through us, and we have to feel this Divine Power in our very blood. The Love we share with everyone attests to this Grandeur. Beauty is everywhere. Divine Appreciation is the doorway into heaven. We can step into this awareness so easily, if we so choose to give up the illusions of "littleness" and "grandiosity."

The Atonement is obviously the way to evaluate your true Self. The Holy Spirit looks with Love on all the He perceives. The ego does not love you, and perceives you in a suspicious and even vicious way. God's will for us is happiness, and we attain that by evaluating ourselves correctly, through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. God Wills us perfect happiness now, and we need not delay our Joy. Peace abides in our true Self. Accepting the Atonement is the way to Peace. This is obvious. If we choose not to "see" our innocence, that is our free will to do. But A Course in Miracles is here to give us a different evaluation of truth, in which none of our "mistakes" of our false "self" have any real consequences. We accept our True Self by forgiving our "false self" that are opposing evaluations. The choice is obvious and simple.

For our awareness of our Whole connection to Everything, we have to join with our brothers wholeheartedly. We have to accept our brothers a part of us. To the degree we let them in, we see who we are as God Created us. Our Glory is shared, in other words, in order to experience it. It is quite simple. Each part of the Sonship we remember we add to the Sonship. We awaken through accepting our brothers as one with us. AMEN.

UNHEALED HEALERS do not see that all sickness is self-inflicted, and that the cause for this self-attack is not real. This is a Lesson for us to see that "problems" are only appearances of conflict and imbalances, but the corrections and solutions are rooted in "changing our minds." The person who is certain can see that thought determines all effects. And if there are effects he does not want, there are thoughts he has to change in order to dissolve the "problem." This is our responsibility to see that the thoughts that "made up" the problems are only thoughts, and thoughts can be changed. And we can see the illusion of these thoughts is not really there. We need the Holy Spirit to help us in this awareness. And it is the Holy Spirit that helps us heal ourselves and facilitate healing in others. This is the LIGHT that heals.

To forgive is to "overlook." Can we overlook our errors, and those of others? When we make the "error" real, and then "forgive" it, we are using the "ego's plan" for forgiveness. This does not absolve us of guilt, but intensifies it. We do not know what forgiveness truly is, but we have a Guide to help us, Who does know. Can we allow the Holy Spirit to accomplish forgiveness for us, and give up our judgments in all matters. The Holy Spirit has a "judgment" that restores our innocence and corrects all of our errors. Are we willing to let go of all other plans but this one? To have the Holy Spirit's plan, we first have to let go of our own plans. In this "dropping it," The Holy Spirit can give us the Atonement. We need only accept it.

How do we correct our errors? This is the subject of this Podcast. We are apt to correct "others" without looking for the source of the error in ourselves. Self-correction is always the right approach, no matter what the error is we are witnessing. We have to be careful not to "blame" our brother for his "errors" without seeing the common pitfall that we all fall into when coming from the "errors of our ego." We first need to see that the ego is not real, and the correction of error is to not treat the ego's errors as real. Errors are in the ego, and correction of errors lies in relinquishment of the ego. Silent adjustment is to overlook the error. Are we able to do this and allow to Holy Spirit to make the corrections?

Finding our True Self is the purpose of the Holy Spirit's curriculum. The nature of the ego is fear, and we know that all too well. We are not so aware of our Reality, which is aligned with the Will of God. But our true Will is the same as the Will of God. God's Will for us is Perfect Happiness and Absolute Love. The Will is full awareness of our True Self. Fear abides in the things that we "know." The self we made up is full of fear, and we choose it over our the Self God created. It is insane to cling to the false self that is rooted in fear. But this is what we do. We can accept our Reality is Love, Truth, Joy, Perfect Happiness, etc. All else is a bad dream we made up.

Finding our True Self is the purpose of the Holy Spirit's curriculum. The nature of the ego is fear, and we know that all too well. We are not so aware of our Reality, which is aligned with the Will of God. But our true Will is the same as the Will of God. God's Will for us is Perfect Happiness and Absolute Love. The Will is full awareness of our True Self. Fear abides in the things that we "know." The self we made up is full of fear, and we choose it over our the Self God created. It is insane to cling to the false self that is rooted in fear. But this is what we do. We can accept our Reality is Love, Truth, Joy, Perfect Happiness, etc. All else is a bad dream we made up.

Healing is a change of our perception. The deep memories that manifest as replaying problems may tempt us to think the Holy Spirit is not helping us. The Ego will fool us into thinking the Holy Spirit does not help us to heal. Perception alone can be "sick" or "wrong." What are the thoughts that we need to heal? Wrong perception is the illusion of sickness. Reality is not sick. But our thinking is, and projects its sickness onto the body. The healing is a corrected perception. Sleeping in the illusions of the Ego is not the real rest we need. We Rest in Awakening into the Joy of our True Self. Health is a result of this awakening. Resting is God is to be AWAKE in the truth of the Holy Spirit's Love.

What is the purpose of our Body? We are not our bodies, and our bodies are neutral. Our body is just a tool to use to express something. Are we expressing attack and anger with our bodies? This is not their function. Are we communicating Love and Unity with our bodies? The Body is simply a means not an end. It is a "communication device" to share that I am Love and you are Love and our Minds are joined. Our interests are the same. PEACE and JOY are the end, and the Body can be used as a tool to communicate this.

The Body is a means of communication, not an end in itself. Too often we identify our "self" with our "body.” This is a mistake that can engender fear, and promote attack, which results in guilt. This is the "slippery slope” of the ego's descent into hell. The hell is not really there, but we make it up, thinking that the actions of the body are real and lasting. When we use the body to communicate JOY, beyond itself, then we are using the body to communicate LOVE. All other uses are errors we make to keep ourselves in a state of suffering. We can end this suffering when we decide to use the body only for Joyful purposes. And we share this Joy with other minds.

GOD'S TREASURE IS YOU! You are the Divine Gift God has given to you. The SON of GOD is the Treasure of God. He is Eternal and so are You. If we want JOY, we have to be aware of our eternal nature. We return to the awareness of Who we are as God created us. Then we return to utilize the Gift of our Self Identity. Until we wake up to our true Self, we are not tapping into the unlimited resources God has in store for us. Why not today? You are God's Treasure. Claim it now.

Joining our will with the will of the Christ will also connect us with our Creator. We stand in this True Self of our Being. Christ is in us and The Creator is in the Christ. These are simple directions to connect our will one with the Creator. The Divine Will is Undivided in Truth. We would like to be part of this Truth. It is our vigilance to only have this connection in our awareness. AMEN.

We have free will to cause ourselves to suffer. We have free will to deny the Will of our Father. We have free will to deny the Christ in us. We have free will no matter what—even if it is a form of "unwillingness" to accept our Divine Will. Our true Self is only in a state of Peace and Joy. The alternative "will" of the ego has rejected Peace and Joy. Then we vacillate and make up some kind of false happiness that does not last, and can turn too easily into its "opposite,” sorrow. Is this the instability we want? How can we be lonely if God is always with us? How dare we we say we have "problems" when the Holy Spirit and the Christ can solve all of our problems for us? Can we LET GO of our “solutions?" In this letting go is our Freedom.

All Encounters with anyone is an opportunity for us to discover the Happiness within ourselves. We need our Brothers and Sisters to see the Happiness within them, and thus within ourselves. The GLORY and POWER of God is what can awaken all of us to Pure Joy. Power produces Joy. Glory results in Happiness. Will we focus on the positive aspects of what we are "seeing?" We can only "encounter" our Self. Who is that Self we choose to see? The Holy Encounter is up to us. POWER and GLORY belong to God, and so do you and your brother. This is the true ENCOUNTER that brings us "Perfect Happiness." The GLORY of our Father is our own in these Holy Encounters.

The Holy Spirit leads us to more peace and freedom. It is unconditional, natural, and joyous. This teaching is more of an awakening to what we already have, than an "additive" process that fulfills a "lack." You have no lack. You have the Will God gave you, which gives you everything. Perfect Happiness is the Will of our Creator for us, and our true will is one and the same. We go toward more Freedom. The ego leads us away from this Freedom. We stop listening to the ego when we give attention to our intrinsic Freedom, Joy, and Clarity that will only increase in our awareness when we give these our attention. Look beyond everything that would hold us back. Our Freedom is in God's Will alone.

We have a "Course" of action in life, and this course we could also call "the curriculum." There are two—the ego's curriculum, or the Holy Spirit's Curriculum. The first leads us to "war" and inner conflict; the second leads us to peace. Peace is a condition necessary for us to enter into the Kingdom of Knowledge. We need the Atonement to erase all of our past wrong thinking and bad choices that resulted in "war," and the opponent of our inner peace. There are no real "opponents" with whom we do battle. We have to give up the whole notion there is something or someone to "oppose." The Real Curriculum will lead us to Joy. War is the opposite of Joy. Which curriculum will we choose for our "course" of living? It's an obvious decision.

We are in a state of Grace and simply are not aware of it. Our Mind is the determiner of our awareness, and if it is directed by the ego, whose nature is problems, pain, suffering, unhappiness, etc., then we will be aware of that. If our Mind is directed by the Holy Spirit, then JOY and Peace and GRACE will ensue. Our awareness depends on what part of our Mind is in charge. We have free will to think whatever we want, but until we align our Thoughts with God's Thoughts, our results will be questionable. God's Peace and Joy are mine. This is a fact. Grace begins to dawn in us whne we are focused only on that.

The Guidance of the Holy Spirit will always lead us to more JOY. Not following this guidance will give us judgments, anger, fear, guilt and PAIN! Which do we want? We would not consciously choose pain, but our unconscious unwillingness may direct us not to follow any guidance. Unwilling to listen to another way, we think we already know the way. This Podcast gives us another alternative to this question of inner guidance. The result of following and aligning with the Will of our Creator, puts us directly in awareness of our Self-Identity. This would have to produce Joy, and that is God's Will for us. We are JOY, so being who we really are is our only true awareness.

Extending the Kingdom is to be is a state of intense JOY, and being willing to give away that JOY. The fullness of the Kingdom is important for our awareness of it. We extend to all, and this extension is our co-creation with God. What do we have to give? This is what we give and this is the extension of the Kingdom. And also, this is the Source of our JOY. When we are giving of ourselves to all other selves, our function is being fulfilled, and this can only produce JOY in us. As we give, we receive. The more we receive, the more JOY we invoke in ourselves. What could be better? HUGS.

The Unbelievable Belief is the ego's thought system to perpetuate conflict. It projects the conflicts outward onto others to avoid seeing it maintains conflict inside of you. Therefore it maintains your belief in it, which is unbelievable. We are the ones giving the ego energy, and trying to "get rid of conflicts" by projecting them outward. We stay busy in order to avoid seeing our inner turmoil. We cannot perpetuate illusions in others without believing them ourselves. The ego is the "unbelievable belief." The past is over and it relies on the past mistakes to give itself reasons for belief. We have a decision to make—accept the Atonement for ourselves and let go of our allegiance to the ego. The ego is unbelievable, and we forgive ourselves for believing in the unbelievable.

Wholeness of the Kingdom means you are complete and perfect all of the time. Partial commitment to Wholeness is meaningless. A little lack is no commitment at all. The Laws of Wholeness rise above all lack, and all partial attempts to accept the Kingdom are released. We accept the Kingdom wholly and completely now. We leave behind all illusions, or any mistakes. "Teach no one that he is what you would not want to be." Teach only Wholeness and Love, for that is what you are. We can be "hurt" by nothing but our thoughts. When we think only with the Thoughts of God, we would remember we are honorable and joyful. And all who we meet merit this self-same perfection.

The Vigilance is only needed when we "listen" to the ego's voice of separation and conflict. As long as we are subject to its voice, we need vigilance "against" this self deception. Yet, once we realize that the ego's voice speaks only the "untrue," then we can Decide for the Power of Love which does not listen to the ego's rantings. We are no longer "fooled" by the ego's thought system. With FREE WILL we undo the error of the ego's mistakes, that needed the free will to come about in the first place. LOVE created like itself, which is whole and beyond all errors. When we step into this level of Peace, we are liberated.

HEALING AND THE CHANGELESS MIND; ALTAR TALK

We heal as we recognize who we are as God created us. It is a decision we initiate. The Holy Spirit helps us to remember who we really are, and forget the "false self" we made (called the "ego"). Our "little willingness" to heal is all the Holy Spirit needs to use our decision to translate our Hell into Heaven, to "heal" our sickness into "health." Our effort is in initiation. There are Divine Forces then that allow the healing to be completed. Our "decision for correction" has to be there to initiate the process of healing. Healing is remembering our Wholeness in God, and forgetting the divisions of separation made up by the ego. We forget all of our "mistakes" to accept the correction of the Atonement.

The Kingdom is always here, and we have to be aware of it. It is our Awareness in our connection to the Power of the Kingdom. We have to be willing to "turn on the light" to see the light. We accept the fact we already are in the Kingdom. In fact, earlier, Jesus says, "You ARE the Kingdom." This is a conflict free state of Mind in which everyone is included. We teach who we think we are. Are we using our awareness of Who we are as God Created us—in the Kingdom—to connect with our Divine Joy? God created us to be in the Kingdom of the Sonship. Amen.

In the Kingdom of Heaven and Creation there is nothing to "learn." The LAW of the Kingdom is UNITY. What you extend, you are. There is one Thought System that is wholly consistent. We know only Love in the Kingdom. We know only Peace and Joy. And in the ego's world of dichotomy, we decide to be Vigilant only for God and His Kingdom. "Teach only Love, for that is what you are," is the Lesson we extend as Teachers of God. We translate the ego's thought into the Truth. Then, there is only the extension of Truth. Only the Will of God is True. This "Kingdom" is wholly joyous and wholly consistent. This is the LAW of the Kingdom.

The final stage in our Awakening to the knowledge of Who we are as God created us is said to be "God's last step." We see when we are close to this step that it has already been taken. What was "first" was also "last" in God's Kingdom. God already created us WHOLE and COMPLETE, PERFECT in our BEING. When we are ready to see this Perfection, when we have forgiven ourselves and everyone else completely, enough of the "deceptions of the mind" have been undone, the Light in us is seen. The "last step" is taken. We see we already are as God Created us. And we are totally cared for in that perception of ourselves. We are in "danger" nowhere in the world.

The Holy Spirit sorts out the false from the Truth in our mind. He rejects that which is not wholly joyous. And he transmutes everything into this forgiven world of total Inner Peace and Joy. Our Holy Purpose is to know this Kingdom of God within us. It is already there, but we have to "clean out" that which would contradict this Kingdom. Our job is to empty ourselves and approach this Divine Light within us that has been placed there by God when we were created. To have, we give. To have Peace we must be willing to share and teach Peace. And to be in the Kingdom, we have to arrive empty and let go of everything not in alignment with the wholly Joyous.

The Second Lesson of the Holy Spirit is "To have peace, teach peace to learn it." This further supports the law that what we give away we already have, and increase what we have. Give peace in order to teach and learn it. Peace is increased by giving it away. This is your peace that is already within yourself. When we decide to teach peace, we side with the thought system of the Holy Spirit. There is no conflict in this decision. We are consistent in what we teach—peace and joy. We only GAIN by GIVING. Nothing real can be increased except by sharing that. When we share we give away our most valuable asset, inner peace. By giving it away we increase it in ourselves.

We share with all our Brothers and Sisters the Essence of our Self-Identity. We can only share this, and have full appreciation for them. We are aligned with the Holy Spirit when we embrace this Wholeness. Not only are we asked to restore our communication with GOD, but also with our Brothers. Sharing is Communication, and this becomes Communion. Communion is an exchange of Love in which we trust our Brothers, who are one with us. "To have, give all to all."

The HOLY SPIRIT opens up the Communication channel between our Self and God. God does not make any of our "errors" real, therefore, He does not try to "teach us" our Perfection, but rather give us the Holy Spirit to WAKE US UP to the Perfection we already have. "Do only that" means accept this Perfection as our reality, and open our communication of Joy with the Creator Who created us to be Happy. Let us open these channels of communication today. Peace and Joy are ours, and we can drop our "unwillingness" to accept these Gifts of God.

Can we be led by a Higher Force of Divine Love? This Podcast questions the system of thought that is guiding us. Is it relative, racked with problems and opposites that end in death? Is it Absolute, free of opposites, conflict and problem free? This leads us to the Immortal. We are presented with these options in this Podcast.

Your true Self cannot be hurt, nor can it hurt others. We no longer project attack onto others, not "beat ourselves up" for mistakes we made. We can forgive us for our mistakes—for all those times when we attacked ourselves or others—and be in the Peace of God which is only LOVE. The absolute thought system of the Holy Spirit teaches "only Love." We embrace this Self-Identity which is what we are. We will inevitably teach something. Heaven or Hell are our only options, and one is real and the other is not. Hell is an illusion of attack that we made up. Heaven is God Created which is what we are, and what we can extend.

We project our separation, thus avoiding to see our own mistake of isolation in us. All judgments and projections are ultimately a mistaken thought that makes us unhappy. It has no real effects in our Eternity, but the effects seem mighty in this dream of the ego in which we seem to be caught. Our real mind is part of God's Mind, and the Holy Spirit is the Voice for God that directs our thinking to correct itself and accept the Atonement for ourselves.

SELF-IDENTITY is the Source of HAPPINESS Being who we are as GOD Created us is an essential part of being HAPPY. LOVE created us like itself, and GOD, being LOVE, is also HAPPINESS. Therefore, the logic would follow that WE are HAPPINESS. HAPPINESS is simply being our SELF. In this realization is SUPREME JOY!

We have to rise above the Crucifixion and see it as an re-enforcement of our Identity as Love. "Teach only Love, for that is what you are." This is the "Lesson" of the crucifixion that we must embrace, to rise above fear, guilt and anger. The Experience of the Master Teacher is for us to receive the true meaning of the Lesson. We do not have to repeat the experiences of the Teacher, but we do have to perceive correctly the Lesson that His experience is meant to teach us. Then we can enter into GRACE, which is given to us when our Lessons have been learned.

Sondra & Markus comment on documentary about a Yogananda community of caring and inspiration called "Finding Happiness." Happiness is found through the action of caring and giving to our brothers and sisters. This "givingness" is the subject of this Podcast.

JESUS speaks of the real meaning of the "crucifixion." We have to rise above anger, and feeling like we have been "attacked and hurt." We have to rise above our "identification" with the "body" as the Self. Our Self is a Thought in the Mind of God that is unassailable. It cannot be "attacked" in any way. "Nothing real can be threatened." If that is true, then anything that is subject to attack is not real. Our Holiness rises above all the situations and conditions that may be painful in our lives. Our Holiness can undo these situations and restore us to Peace and Joy.

We can decide for GOD instead of the ego. This would free us from all fear, guilt and anger in an instant, and put in the stillness and the peace of God. This is not a difficult decision. We can admit we made the wrong decision if we are not feeling wholly joyous. We have to accept the Atonement for ourselves. We have to "decide otherwise," and allow the Holy Spirit to correct all of our wrong thinking. If we are not at peace, wholly joyous, we have to admit we were "wrong." In this way the Atonement "undoes" our wrong decisions. We can decide for the Holy Spirit's correction.

Time and Eternity are functions of the Ego or the Holy Spirit respectively. The ego uses time against us, and plans for our own demise through "death." The Holy Spirit uses Eternity to assure us that there is no death, and our Reality is unassailable by the chops and changes of time. The decisions of the ego are always motivated by fear, guilt or anger. The one Decision of the Holy Spirit puts us in the fields of Peace and Joy. The Truth of peace and Joy will undo all errors of the ego in our mind. Eternity comes to our rescue. We are saved and always in the loving Hands of God in Eternity.

Guilt is the modus operandi of the ego, to ensure that fear is maintained. The Separation never occurred, but we thought it did when we had the notion that we "made ourselves." Guilt is a sure sign that we have used the ego's thought system. If we "think with God," the result will be JOY. The "guiltless mind" cannot suffer. Our job is to "heal the mind" through accepting the Atonement for ourselves. The Holy Spirit is the Voice for God that helps us makes this decision.

The Love of God and Ourselves is realized in a state of Wholeness. To Love God is to Love our Brothers and Sisters. This is the JOY we have within ourselves to share. This Kingdom of Heaven is Us when we are AWAKE. We heal as we teach healing to others. Sharing is an essential action in realizing our True Self. Christ is the guide. We Love God through loving all of our brothers and sisters. No exceptions are in this Unity of Love.

The Holy Spirit mediates between our ego, which manufactures conflict, and our True Self which operates is a state of God's Peace. There is a purpose for the Holy Spirit to undo our misperceptions of conflict. God's Will has no conflict, therefore, to make our will one with God's would mean we have no conflict.

The Holy Spirit bridges the gap between the world of "perceptions" (that can be faulty) and the world of "Knowledge" that is True and unequivocal. The Holy Spirit's function is to forgive all of our misperceptions and restore right mindedness to us, so that God can give us the Knowledge of Divine Reality. This shift is miraculous. It is brought about by correcting our perception through absolute forgiveness. This is our function as "the Light of the world." The Holy Spirit helps us to make this shift.

The Voice for God restores us to the unseparated Mind, in which unification of our Mind with the Mind of God is complete. We make the "decision" to end the imagined separation, which puts us in a state of Joy. Pain and and suffering are abolished through this decision for Unification. Heaven and Earth are in us. Our Devotion to the Altar of the Holy Spirit would put the call to God in a place more important in our Mind. Can we hear "only the Voice for God?" Come empty handed in Lesson #189. Then we can "Feel the Love of God" because God wills that we feel this and will take this step toward us.

The Voice for God, one could call it the Holy Spirit, has a purpose to end our imagined sense of separation. The call for healing is merely listening to the Holy Spirit's Atonement offered to us. We can be healed and guided by the Holy Spirit, the Universal Inspiration that restores us to our original State of God Consciousness. We can listen to this Voice for God all of the time. This is the Spirit of Joy. The Holy Spirit's function is to end the sense of separation in us, through the Atonement. We can hear this Voice for God and be healed.

The HOLY SPIRIT is the UNIVERSAL INSPIRATION. This Inspiration only gives Divine Truth, therefore it corrects all of our "wrong-mindedness." The Christ Consciousness uses this UNIVERSAL INSPIRATION to work the miracles of inner correction. The HOY SPIRIT is the CHRIST MIND. (CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS) Atonement is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Lesson #157 puts us in the Awareness of Christ Consciousness. His Presence is made manifest through applying this Lesson.

The Wholly Joyous are Loving. The Loving are not "sick." Everything that rejects or denies opportunities to "make happy" contributes to a defense against the Truth, and that defense makes us "sick." We already have the JOY of God within us, and by sharing this Joy we increase it in ourselves and in others. Our awareness can be focused on the Truth of our Identity in Spirit. We can give up our defenses of fear, guilt, or anger which make our minds "sick," which in tirn are "acted out" in our bodies as "symptoms." We give away Thoughts of Joy which connect our Minds with Spirit, and this alignment brings us perfect health, even at the level of the Body.

In this podcast Sondra & Markus discuss Communication and Creation, and their relationship as a WHOLE THING. We can step up to this level of real Communication with the Whole. It is a leap upward, an ascension into a Reality higher than the one in which we are used to operating. We transcend "existence" which is "specific," to embrace "being" which is "universal." NOTHING REAL CAN BE INCREASED EXCEPT BY SHARING. We share our Wholeness, our connection to the entire Cosmos.

We have a debt of gratitude to our brother. To love God is to love our brothers, including loving the Christ. We are One with everyone, and from this Energy of Oneness is where true transformation takes place. The Lesson shred is #99: "Salvation is my only function here."

Welcome to this GIFTS OF GOD Program of 2024. Sondra and Markus continue with the Gifts of God Program into 2024. Welcome. You are all invited to join this group for those like minded people who are seriously studying A Course in Miracles for a major spiritual practice in their life.

MARKUS RAY gives a general overview of A Course in Miracles, which is a "mind training" we can take to clean up our Mind. The Mind gives us our results. Is our result Heaven or Hell? We are responsible for these results. Is Peace and Joy our priority? We are as God created us in terms of our Minds being part of God's Mind. These Thoughts we share with God will result in our Heaven state, our Joyful state. Forgiveness is the means to let go of our judgments and grievances that separate us from God's Thoughts. We can change our minds anytime we are thinking wrongly, resulting in a Hell.

Whenever we are not feeling JOYOUS, we are siding with some frequency of our ego, and this is "wrong-mindedness." Thinking with the "Thoughts of God" would inevitably lead us to JOY. We could focus on the negative aspects of things, or we could focus on those things that put us in a state of gratitude. Jesus is here to help us get in the Spirit of our True Self. This leads us to JOY. All else is what we need to release. When we are feeling "dis-spirited," we need but say, "This need not be."

You "are the Kingdom of Heaven." This statement puts us in our true Self. We are joined with the Christ and all of our Brothers and Sisters in the UNITY with God. Once we have this knowledge, we cannot go back to the conflicts of the ego. The ego is unclear about Love. It "loves and hates" itself simultaneously. Once we have a taste of "the permanence and unshakeable being of the Spirit," we would never go back to the conflicts of the ego.

The ego thinks it is totally on its own. It perceives itself "rejected" by something greater than itself. Self-esteem in ego terms is very unstable. The world of perception can be transformed into right mindedness, but the conflicts of the ego would have to be undone. Personal myths and magic would also need to be relinquished. The Self of the spirit, not separated from our Source, is our Reality. Perception can be transcended to be in a state of Knowledge, but we will have to question the validity of the ego, and accept our Self as God created us.

WE made up an ego that is always incomplete, lacking, and incessantly wanting to "get more stuff." The changing fields of the ego's thought system throws away true Knowledge. We are basing our self-image on something variable and unstable. Transcendental Knowledge is unchangeable. It is absolute. Coming from the relative thought system of the ego, there is no stability in our beliefs. Truth is from the higher realm of Knowledge. The Absolute will always undo our lower levels of mind if we are willing to invite the Christ to cooperate for our inner correction.

Christ is here to teach us the time for "learning" has come to an end. We are created Perfect and we are Perfect irrespective of what we "know" or what we think we still need to "learn." Our Identity has no "degrees." Our college "degrees" have nothing to do with our True Self worth. That was established by our Creator. We can hand our egos and our bodies over to the Christ to cleanse and to use. We have to pass through the door of the "unknown" so that we can accept who we are a God Created us to be. Jesus can help us. He says, "I will live with you and teach with you if you will think with me." Can we think with the Christ? We can.

This Chapter #4, The Illusions of the Ego, are explored. We are asked to relinquish the ego's thought system—and take up the Holy Spirit's guidance system. The Foundation of Knowledge is within us. But we must first be willing to give up our fear, guilt, and anger that the ego uses to perceive. Can we bring our perception to an end—if only for an instant? We must in order to step into this "stillness of the Peace of God" and transcend the illusions of the ego.

We are either accepting our Self as God created us, or we are "making up" a self we think we created. These are two thought systems that are irreconcilable. Which way do we go? The Illusions of the Ego or the Reality of the True Self? This final section VII in Chapter 3. make this distinction very clear. The choice seems to be one that is easy to make now.

There is a level of Reality that is beyond judgment. And there is a Knowledge that transcends perception. It is free of judgment. Judgment involves a rejection. Then we go into a conflict with what we have "judged." The other part of this section involves the "authority problem." Were you made up by a separated self (ego) or created in the like quality of Your Creator (the True Self)? These are some of the themes of this podcast.

Are we as GOD CREATED US, or have we deluded ourselves with the "self we made?" Perception versus Knowledge is the subject. What we "made up" as an image of ourselves versus the SELF GOD CREATED is discussed. "Making" versus "Creating" is an important distinction to understand. In Creation there are no needs. Our Identity as SPIRIT frees us from all "doing" or "making." Knowledge is stable and can be ours when we Identify with our Self as Spirit. In our right-mindedness we are close to Knowledge. We can make the decision for the Heaven State of Being.

The Knowledge of Spirit transcends the levels of Consciousness and Perception. Yet, in order to make this leap into the Knowledge of the Spirit, we have to clean up our levels of consciousness. Are we perceiving with "right-mindedness" or "wrong-mindedness?" This is where the miracles are needed to clean up our perception. In the "made-up" self, we have the free will to forgive and clean up our perception. Christ's Vision would look on a forgiven world. This is the work we have to do first before we can leap into the Knowledge of Spirit, which is the healing of separation that never really occurred.

Perception involves the body's senses. Knowledge does not. Right perception, using the love of miracles, prepares the mind to receive knowledge and revelation. But it is changeable. Knowledge is changeless and true. It is Certain. Knowledge does not induce action. It does not rely on the body's senses at all. True perception relies on consciousness and our senses to align with love, not fear, with innocence, not guilt. True Perception prepares the way for us to receive Knowledge. Perception exits in time; Knowledge is timeless.

True Perception begins with seeing our INNOCENCE. There is no guilt, no attack thoughts,
no projection of anger onto others or ourselves in the miracle of Truth. BABAJI made TRUTH
the first in His principles for a good life. True Perception is that which is aligned with the Will
of God that Loves ALL, no matter what mistakes have been made in life. We are challenged to give up the darkness of our ego's perception for the LIGHT. Can we do it? The Decision is ours.

IN the INNOCENT PERCEPTION, there is no guilt, and no payments made to "atone" for "sins." There is no sin, and therefore no guilt that demands our retribution. The Resurrection establishes the Atonement, not through the "crucifixion," but rather through the overcoming of the limitations, even death. No one is asked to make a "sacrifice" to offset the "evil deeds" of others. Jesus did not "suffer for our sins." He was clear there is no death or "illusions of evil" complete with "attack thoughts" which victimize us in a crucifixion. JESUS rises above the conditions of even death, and using the Spirit's reality He forgives the attacks and establishes the Realty of Life—through the immortality of Christ Consciousness.

The Last Judgment is the last time we judge ourselves with anything but the perfect happiness and joy of total acceptance of the Atonement. God does not condemn. Nor does God judge. Can we release ourselves from guilt and punishment that have been in our mind for eons? With the Christ are we absolved of all errors, and we are free of consequences that we were bringing upon ourselves. Can we accept the Atonement that is the last time we ever judge?

This is a real explanation of Cause and Effect. Jesus explains that He cannot interfere with this basic law. If we choose to think "fear" is real, He cannot interfere with our "results" we manifest from this faulty belief system. It is we who have to choose correction for our mis-beliefs, and therefore our mis-creations. Can we absorb this responsibility to invoke Miracles to accept the Atonement that can correct our mind for making this fundamental mistake? The decision is one we must make.

FEAR AND CONFLICT

Fear brings about inner conflict, because we end up being inconsistent with what we "think" and what we "do." Our thoughts and our actions are conflicted, and this produces anger and fear, and also a certain amount of guilt for this inconsistency. We have elevated "ego thoughts" (body thoughts of fear) to the level of the mind. We have not identified with our True Identity, and been "fooled" by "body thoughts." This mistake produces fear. We can accept the Atonement for ourselves and correct this mistake. Then we have the Christ Mind to guide us according to the Holy Spirit's decisions.

In this Podcast Sondra & Markus discuss the special principles of Miracles Workers. What do we need to have clear about the process of miracles? This discussion helps us to understand our right relationship with the Christ Consciousness in the action of performing miracles.

The Function of the Miracle Worker is to accept the Atonement for himself/herself. Only the Mind can create, and correction (miracles) happens at the thought level. Mostly, the suspension of the thought of the ego, which has fragmented itself, is what is needed. Spirit makes no errors. The mind can make misperceptions which require corrections at the mind level. The body is neutral and merely reflects the mind. The Atonement is the principle of forgiveness that corrects the mind. Right-Mindedness is the realm of healing. Healing is of the mind, not from a physical medication or treatment that ignores correction of the mind.

All healing is a release from fear. Fear is of the mind, not the body. This section makes it clear healing is therefore in the mind. The mind is the level where the error occurred, and therefore where any correction needs to be made. The body responds to the directions of the mind. Material Agents to treat bodily ills are described as "magic," not creative. Creative actions are in the mind. However, it is important not to increase fear in addressing our disease. Taking medication is therefore OK, if an increase in fear would precipitate from using the mind to heal. Miracles are not meant to increase fear.

The Altar of God is the place for releasing the inner light of the Atonement. Perceiving the "body" in terms of a temple relies on the inner Altar of Truth that is a holy relationship between us and the Christ Self and God. Any real temple will have an Alar of this Holy Relationship. The separation and fear are ended at this Altar. The Atonement is the defense against the separation. All errors are forgiven. At the center of the Altar of God, the separation is ended.

What is a perfect defense that repels all attack, and cannot be used to attack back? Atonement, or complete forgiveness, is such a "defense." We put ourselves in the "Peace of God that surpasses understanding." Miracles are our right. Jesus has asked us to perform miracles, but without any fear or doubt that would misdirect them. The perfection of Atonement casts our fear, doubt, errors and all things that are not perfect happiness. It restores our eternal state of inner Peace.

What are the origins of the separation? We perceived ourselves as "imperfect," and then attempted to fulfill a lack and make ourselves "perfect" again. But this Perfection was already our God-Created Reality. We "separated" our awareness from this original state of being, then tried "making up a self" to fill a deep sense of "lack." The Atonement heals all of this misperception. It sees that the "mistake" never really occurred, and our God-Created Self never left us.

What prevents us from seeing miracles in our life? What are impulses that we get confuses. The real pleasure is in doing God's will, which is changeless. Physical impulses can come and go. They are not eternal. A miracle impulse puts us in touch with constant joy, not temporal joy. Our direct communication with our Creator is close behind this encounter with Joy.

THE ILLUSIONS OF NEEDS

MARKUS & SONDRA discuss the different "levels" that seem to divide our SELF in the separation, and what would integrate us back to wholeness. Why do we fear? What is the cause and what is the solution? This podcast deals with this subject.

Wholeness and Spirit

Today Sondra & Markus discuss miraculous channels of expression. Connecting with the Christ puts us in a state of abundance. In the Self God created we are in communication with our Source. Miracles help us to be aware of and maintain this divine connection. In this state of Being we are whole. We cut time and move toward the Atonement when we move toward Spirit, make our forgiveness complete, and restore our awareness of our God-Connection.

We are Spirit. The personality of the self we made up is not our true Self. When we shift focus to our Self God Created, as Spirit, we wake up to the fact we are Love, and this is Spirit. When we give attention to our Spirit, our True Self, the Atonement takes place and we are restored to the Light, the Sphere of Celestial Order.

Giving up grievances corrects our perception. We can make ourselves "miracle ready" when we are serious about giving up all grievances, "thoughts that hurt," and all judgments. At the personality level we cannot enter the state of Grace. We can rise above the personality through Forgiveness. This lifts us into the Spiritual Realm in which the miracles can be given us through the Christ.

ATONEMENT & MIRACLES

Jesus is in charge of both. He knows when we need help, but we have to ask. And be willing to receive direction and follow it. Whatever action He inspires us to do, remember this:

Spirit is in a state of grace forever.
Your reality is only spirit.
Therefore you are in a state of grace forever.

The miracle shifts us out of lower level concerns into the Sphere of Celestial Order. It brings the heaven state to earth, so that they are no longer experienced as separate states of being.

TEXT; 1; II.; 4-6 Revelation, Time, & Miracles

Markus reads an Ode to the Divine Mother, "I call to You." Then he and Sondra discuss the Revelation that God has in store for us. Jesus is One with God but also one with His brothers. His Love can call down Revelation from God to us, and also intercede for us with Miracles. No time is really needed for this. The Christ cuts time for us. What may have taken thousands of years for us to correct, the Christ helps us to sort out instantly when we are ready, free of unwillingness.

TEXT; II. REVELATION, TIME, & MIRACLES

Sondra & Markus discuss section II. of Chapter #1 of the Text of ACIM. Our communion with God opens the channel for Revelation. It is beyond our thought and understanding. Miracles, on the other hand, enter into our consciousness and induce action that is interpersonal. Jesus is not asking for "awe" toward Him, but rather respect and willingness to follow his wise directions. The different levels of Revelation, Miracles, and Consciousness are explained.

TEXT #1, I. 41-50 The Principles of Miracles

Sondra & Markus complete the 50 Principles of Miracles in this Podcast. The God Created universe has a Sphere of Celestial Order that governs even the "laws" of physical matter. We are given miracles to lift us above the "physical laws" into the Laws of Love that restore our world to the perfection of this Celestial Order.

¶ 31-40 Principles of Miracles

Markus & Sondra further discuss the 50 Principles of Miracles. The miracles are here to correct our perception. They are not meritorious of awe, but rather gratitude. They are everyday events that restore us to the Celestial Order of things. Miracles get us out of "lack thoughts" and put us in the protective order of Divine Providence. Miracles get us in the fullness of our life of abundance.

The Principles of Miracles; ¶ 21-30

Sondra & Markus discuss the next ten principles of miracles. How do we overcome fear? What does it mean to rise to a higher level of our Being? These are questions asked and answered in this podcast on the Text of A Course in Miracles. Some of the most fundamental principles need to be clarified so our study is applied, and the Miracles we are receiving make perfect sense.

The Principles of Miracles ¶ 11-20

Prayer is the medium of miracles. Sondra and Markus give focus to prayer, a new Divine Mother invocation, and a deep dive into the first Chapter in the Text of A Course in Miracles. Chapter #1 starts with 50 principles of miracles. One by one, Sondra and Markus discuss these principles and shed light on their application.

Principles of Miracles 1-10

Sondra & Markus begin the TEXT of A Course in Miracles with an auspicious invocation with the Holy Spirit's INTRODUCTION to ACIM—"A required Course" indeed, designed to "remove the blocks to the awareness of Love's Presence." The begin with Chapter 1, The Meaning of Miracles, and with Section I. The Principles of Miracles. Welcome to this Undertaking. We are happy to have you along in this unprecedented exploration.

The Practice of Psychotherapy

III. The Question of Payment

The holy relationship of the Psychotherapist and the Patient is not entered into for the money. Yet, an exchange may take place. The Therapist gives what he may see is needed, in terms of Forgiveness in himself and his patient, to take them both to a more sane place. The patient may supply the money the Therapist needs in order to do his work of this holy exchange. But all value is in the Holy Relationship in which the Therapist and Patient are seen as equals in the eyes of God, and all "thoughts that hurt" are forgiven in both, restoring both to JOY, and having a full healing of all pain and suffering.

The Practice of Psychotherapy

I. The Selection of Patients

II. Is Psychotherapy a Profession?

This Section 3. is the recognition that GOD arranges all meetings. Where two or more are gathered in His Name, His Presence must be there to affect the relationship. This is what is actually happening between the "Therapist" and the "Patient." Even what is communicated is not up to the Therapist to decide. An open minded "therapist" meets the "patient" without an agenda. What is needed will be revealed in the exchange, and bot will be freed of all guilt, in the mutual acceptance of the Atonement.

PPPP 2. ; VII. The Ideal Patient-Therapist Relationship

Every encounter is an opportunity to heal. There is no difference between the "therapist" and the "patient." The "patient" is the one who can heal the "therapist" of his own misperceptions. The Christ enters this ideal relationship to enact the forgiveness necessary for healing to take place. This is unique to this treatise on Psychotherapy. It invites a Higher Presence into the process.

PPPP 2; VI; The Definition of Healing

The definition of healing depends on the definition of the sickness as "unforgiveness." Guilt would have to be present, and the healing would have to involve forgiveness. Forgiveness is the remedy for "guilt," either projected onto ourselves or onto "others." The forgiveness has to happen between the "therapist" and the "patient." Healing is then a collaborative venture. The patient shows the therapist what he must forgive in himself, and as he does is the patient released as well through the remedy of forgiveness.

PPPP 2; V. The Process of Healing

When two or more are gathered for the purpose of Healing, God's Presence and Help is invoked. It is guaranteed to show up. All healing is a process of forgiveness. And the unforgiveness in us is at the root of all sickness. Helping another to overcome the unforgiveness in themselves also gets us out of unforgiveness. All is healing when we meet our brothers in the purpose of healing and forgiveness.

III. The Role of the Psychotherapist

IV. The Process of Illness

The Psychotherapist is a teacher. Yet, the Teacher, the One who has transcended judgment altogether, and arisen into the totality of the egoless state of being, is needed as a Guide in the process. Otherwise, "sickness" is seen as a "reality," and the the illusion of sickness, made up of false "self-concepts" of victimhood and attack, is not undone.

PPPP #2; II. The Place of Religion in Psychotherapy

The main element of Psychotherapy is forgiveness. The "belief in God" is not necessary. The therapeutic quality of any relationship depends on the giving up the justification for anger and attack and the embracing of inner correction of the upset casing the upset. Forgiveness is essential. "Formal Religion" is not only unnecessary, but also a "block" to the truth of real healing.

PPPP #2; Intro & I. The Limits on Psychotherapy

The relationship between the Patient and the Psychotherapist is described here. The dismantling of the Self-Concept that made up suffering is essential. Healing depends on this. Fear, Guilt, and Anger are bulwarks of this Self-Concept. We are all clinging to the "self we made" ACIM calls the ego, and in this clinging is great suffering. The purpose and process of Psychotherapy, in the true sense, is to be free of this false self we all made up.

Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process, Practice

This Supplement for A Course in Miracles was scribed by Dr. Schucman in 1977, after the dictation of A Course in Miracles. It established the mind as the proper focus for the healing of all disease. It also establishes the Holy Spirit, or the Teacher, as the main healer, or "therapist," Who can also help the patient sort out his mind and make the inner connection with his Source, or with God. Ultimately this is the healing that has to take place.

6 HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit is the Life force that pulses through the Christ. It "bridges" between the world of "perception" within a world of form and the Divine Reality of Knowledge that is Spirit, which Itself is formless. Love is the domain of Knowledge, which imbues all living things with the Energy to BE. We can connect with the Holy Spirit in order to prepare ourselves to correct our perception by looking upon a "forgiven world, so we may receive the final step of God into Knowledge.

COT #5 JESUS - CHRIST

There is the Man and the Christ. When the man Jesus rose to meet the Christ in himself, he had something of unity to give to his brothers and sisters. We are as God Created us in the Heaven of Creation, but we have forgotten where our reality is. The Christ awakens us to be our true Self. He can do this because He has risen to it in Himself. The Christ is in us already. We merely need to let go of all that is not The Christ for Him to become visible to us.

PERCEPTION - KNOWLEDGE

In this physical dimension we have perception. And to be with the Absolute nature of Love, we have to cleanse our perception of the conflicts and grievances we hold in our mind. The MIND of GOD, the realm of Knowledge, does not have these conflicts. But in our world of perception, we do. To prepare ourselves to step into Knowledge, approaching the Altar of Truth is necessary, and bringing all impurities in ourselves to be laid at the feet of this holy altar within ourselves, to be forgiven and cleansed. This acceptance of the Atonement is our only job to do here.

What do we perceive? —A world of changing forms of opposing factions and thoughts, and even feelings within ourselves? The Face of Christ presents no changing forms. Its content is one, and that is the Peace, Joy, and Innocence of a Forgiven World. It is a Happy Dream in a world of sorrow. It is an orderly perception in a conglomerate of chaos. Forgiveness is the means of having a vision of Christ's Face. Do we want it? If we truly do, it is there for us to embrace.

We overlook the limitations of the ego's thought system, and go for the clarification of the miracles. Trust will correct all errors in our mind when we are willing to let go of our "thinking we know." The invocation of the Atonement, the forgiveness of all our errors, wipes away our memories of misperceptions that kept us in Hell. We enter into the Heaven of the Peace of God. We go directly there, and the shadows of the past, the ego's conundrums, merely fade away and disappear. When we "turn on the light," the "darkness" disappears.

TGOG: COT; #1 MIND—SPIRIT.

We are given clarification of the MIND of GOD which is in constant contact with Spiritual Truth. This is the realm of Pure Love, Joy, Happiness, Wellness; and True Being. What could be turned away from that awareness is also the mind, but one in need of inner correction and guidance. We are always given the opportunity to transcend all limitations, rise above the physical level of constraints, and be in the stillness of the Peace of God—the place of our real MIND with GOD.

AS FOR THE REST...

We can give over our problems to the TEACHER Who is always right. We refer decisions now over to the Holy Spirit. We are absolved of all guilt now. And we can be free of fear and anger as well, and allow the memory of Love to return to us.

28. WHAT IS THE RESURRECTION?

"Very simply, the resurrection is the overcoming or surmounting of death. It is a re-awakening or a rebirth; a change of mind about the meaning of the world. It is the acceptance of the Holy Spirit's interpretation of the world's purpose; the acceptance of the Atonement for oneself. It is the end of dreams of misery, and the glad awareness of the Holy Spirit's final dream. It is the recognition of the gifts of God. It is the dream in which the body functions perfectly, having no function except communication. It is the lesson in which learning ends, for it is consummated and surpassed with this. It is the invitation to God to take His final step. It is the relinquishment of all other purposes, all other interests, all other wishes and all other concerns. It is the single desire of the Son for the Father."

The Complete Section Here

WHAT IS DEATH?

Death is the central dream from which all illusions stem. Is it not madness to think of life as being born, aging, losing vitality, and dying in the end? We have asked this question before, but now we need to consider it more carefully. It is the one fixed, unchangeable belief of the world that all things in it are born only to die. This is regarded as "the way of nature," not to be raised to question, but to be accepted as the "natural" law of life. The cyclical, the changing and unsure; the undependable and the unsteady, waxing and waning in a certain way upon a certain path,-all this is taken as the Will of God. And no one asks if a benign Creator could will this.

CAN GOD BE REACHED DIRECTLY?

We have a Divine Connection that is in us, but we can block our contact with it if we maintain doubt, fear, anger, guilt, and general unwillingness. We have to forgive all of this. Responsibility is in seeing we are never a victim of anything, and we have attracted all negative experiences. We can forgive ourselves and return to GRACE. In this open mind we can cross the threshold of our Divine Connection, and have the help of the Spiritual Masters to redirect our course in life to fulfill our holy destiny. We are meant to have an active contact with our Divine Creator, starting NOW.

ARE PSYCHIC POWERS DESIRABLE?

Awakening into our God Consciousness is the main goal ACIM puts forth. Can we do this in using all of the powers given to us in the Mind? There is nothing special about it, but it may expand the powers of the Mind activated through our study of A Course in Miracles.

IS REINCARNATION SO?

The concept of "Past Lives," so prominent in the belief in reincarnation, is not necessary to make the decision for Heaven now. In fact, it can distract us from that decision, especially if we are enmeshed in the beliefs that prevented us for making this decision in the past. Whatever we are suffering now we have always suffered until we decide to end our self-inflicted suffering. "Past lives" may present a picture of similar dynamics in our relationships and circustances, but forgiveness is still the means to clean everything up. And this does not require a belief, or a fucus, on reincarnation.

DOES JESUS HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN HEALING?

A spiritual Master is essential to our own process of inner evolution. We "awaken" through the grace of these "Teachers of God." They help us to "undo" lower order concerns and rise to the height of our True Self in God. Without them, we would waste time and flounder around in life's "problems." Jesus, in this case of studying ACIM, is the Master Teacher who played His part in the ATONEMENT perfectly. Therefore, He can lift us out of the doldrums we might be stuck in, and place us at the gates of Heaven through which He leads us through. What could be better. —MARKUS

HOW ARE HEALING AND ATONEMENT RELATED?

"Healing and Atonement are not related; they are identical. There is no order of difficulty in miracles because there are no degrees of Atonement."

The responsibility to "accept the Atonement" for ourselves remains. Can we. It is a total action. Without it, how can there be real healing? The decision is ours. Sickness....or Healing. Conflict...or Peace. Is there anything really, to block our one decision?

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF WORDS IN HEALING?

The Energy of our pure intent, with our certainty of Divine Connection, lends great power to our healing process. We have to know in our bones that God's Will for us is perfect happiness, which would include total healing. We can LET GO. We can be in a new vibration of the Heaven State, pain-free, conflict-free, disease-free, and yes, even "death-free." We need only the Prayer of the Heart for this to be given.

WHAT IS THE PEACE OF GOD?

It certainly is not "death." Death is no escape if you hate your life and want to "get out of here" and get "back to God." God is here too, in this physical dimension, so if you are not at peace now, you may not be in peace just because you drop your body. The "stillness of the Peace of God" is here now. We have to drop what we are thinking and make the contact with it here and now.

WHAT IS JUSTICE?

We are asked to bring our thoughts of "injustice" to the true "justice," the action of real forgiveness, to dissolve all our denials of Heaven in this dimension. Miracles are the actions of Justice. Justice corrects the errors in our mind that have judged the world wrongly—which have manifested sorrow and pain. The Holy Spirit corrects these errors in our thinking, restoring the mind to Peace and innocence; and this is real Justice.

HOW IS CORRECTION MADE?

This is a question we all must answer for ourselves. The sole responsibility of the Teacher of God is the acceptance of the Atonement for himself / herself. And the Atonement is the correction of all our "wrong thinking." Correction is made without any guilt. Without anger. Without making the "error" real. We see the error as an illusion that we can overlook.

HOW DO GOD'S TEACHERS DEAL WITH MAGIC THOUGHTS?

Magic Thoughts are those which we think separated from our Source Awareness. They have a tinge of fear, guilt and anger embedded in them. Are we defending ourselves from a perceived attack? These would be magic thoughts. Can we let them go? We have to be the ones who step out of the imagined separation from our Source, and be in contact with our Divine Connection—to be in our mind all the time.

HOW SHOULD THE TEACHER OF GOD SPEND HIS DAY?

There is no set rule for how a Teacher of God will spend his day. But we are asked to treat every day as an opportunity to be Divinely guided, and apply this litmus test—is my day giving me PURE JOY? If it is not, then we must admit were were wrong, and we have made decisions by ourselves without a Divine Connection. Then we must "reboot" our minds and set all things right while listening to the guidance of our Source Energy.

15. IS EACH ONE TO BE JUDGED IN THE END?

"Indeed, yes! No one can escape God's Final Judgment. Who could flee forever from the truth?" What is the "truth," you may ask?

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

HOW WILL THE WORLD END?

The "world" is our interpretation of all the physical stuff in the cosmos. The forgiveness of all this "stuff" means that we have no judgment, not grievances, no attack thoughts of condemnation upon any of it. We have forgiveen everyone and everything. We have PURE JOY permeating our being. And this is the TRUTH of our existence as God Created us to be. We have forgiven the world, our interpretations, and the "physical stuff itself" (our bodies). We imbue our Creation with the truth of Heaven Now.

WHAT IS THE REAL MEANING OF SACRIFICE?

Giving up what is not real can hardly be a sacrifice. Giving up the non-joyous for the joyous is the only "sacrifice" we need to make. Above all else we want to see Heaven instead of Hell. We made the Hell and we can let it go. This is not a "sacrifice" but a compassionate act of aligning with the Truth, not with the "illusions."

HOW MANY TEACHERS OF GOD ARE NEEDED TO SAVE THE WORLD?

The answer is ONE. And we, who are committed to rising into this role in life, become part of that ONE when we accept the Atonement for ourselves. We rise above the body when it comes to seeing our true Identity in total Innocence in the Mind of God. Then we use our body to communicate this Innocence to others.

HOW IS PEACE POSSIBLE IN THIS WORLD?

The PEACE of GOD is always here. We are absent from it most of the time. It is up to us to give "peace a chance." This is the Peace of God that surpasses our understanding. This means we have to step outside of our normal channels of thought. The nature of thought is assessment and judgment, therefore it is always in a form of conflict. Do we value Peace above all else? When we do value it, we will have it.

HOW IS JUDGMENT RELINQUISHED?

We cannot judge because we never know all of the factors in any given situation. Judgment blocks the insight of Infinite Intelligence coming into our minds. We relinquish judgments by seeing their limitations and choosing out of this mode of "seeing."

ARE CHANGES REQUIRED IN THE LIFE SITUATION OF GOD'S TEACHERS?

HOW CAN PERCEPTION OF ORDER OF DIFFICULTIES BE AVOIDED?

There is only one solution for all illness: Healing. And this begins in the mind. God's will for us is Perfect Happiness, free of all illness.

There is only one solution for all illusions: Truth. The truth is we are Holy Sons of God and deserve to be perfectly healthy all of the time.

"One of the most difficult temptations to recognize is that to doubt a healing because of the appearance of continuing symptoms is a mistake in the form of lack of trust. As such it is an attack. Usually it seems to be just the opposite. "

The only healing that needs to happen is the correction of our "Imagined Separation" from our SOURCE. Once that is corrected, there is no need for the symptoms—which were a result of the "guilt" we held from the "Imagined Separation."

The Gift of Healing is given. It is received and has its effects. The giver need not concern himself with its efficacy when he knows the Holy Spirit gives with certainty of the outcome. We can step back and accept the Atonement for ourselves in a healing role, and allow the Holy Spirit to affect the healing in us, and in the one with whom we are sharing.

The Function of the Teacher of God is to help his brother change his mind. What was sickness before is seen as an error in his thinking. The Mind is restored back to its original settings of health and Divine Connection. Death is seen as a “wrong choice” rather than an inevitable end. Eternal Life is our Self as God Created us.

Can we give up our false sense of "autonomy" by making our self sick? And eventually dead? When we are "sick" we are not tapping into our Mind that can heal us. When we align our Mind with the Will of God, then perfect health is the result. We can work with the Thoughts of God that are our real thoughts. We no longer maintain a "separated will" that maintains fear, guilt and anger that cause us to be sick. We can align with Immortal Life, not "inevitable death.” We hand our body over to the decision of our Mind. And the only one decision meaningful is to choose Heaven which is total consistency with our Creator.

FAITHFULNESS is based on Trust that all things will be restored to perfect JOY. The teacher of God brings all unresolved issues to the Light of Truth in order to be resolved, not withholding one shadow of his own personal darkness away from this Light of forgiveness. OPEN-MINDEDNESS is required as well, one free of all judgment. When the Teacher of God has mastered these attributes, he or she is ready to claim the inheritance of the Self Who God created whole and totally Loving.

We are GENEROUS when we are certain that what we give away only increases our storehouse of abundance. We trust that we are giving in order to keep and gain. Then we can be truly GENEROUS. We may not always know how long something valuable will take to manifest. We are certain of our good outcomes, yet we may not know the timeframe in which these outcomes unfold in our life. The truly PATIENT can afford to wait. They are certain that the giving will have an abundant supply coming back to them from the Universal Source.

There is a progression of these characteristics, as a "spiritual practice—" a "sadhana," that brings us to the realization of God's Gifts to us. TRUST leads to HONESTY and TOLERANCE, and these lead to GENTLENESS, JOY and DEFENSELESSNESS. All of these are practices we need to master firs in order to receive the Gifts of God. We can be free of pain, so that JOY is our inheritance. This requires we be consistent with GENTLENESS and DEFENSELESSNESS. etc.

We have to suspend all judgment to master TOLERANCE. Not always so easy. What would it be like to have no judgments? We certainly would be TOLERANT. And while TOLERANT, we would be GENTLE. We are building TRUST based on these recently discussed characteristics of HONESTY, TOLERANCE and GENTLENESS.

Markus and Sondra demonstrate their 5-Point Prayer Process. This consists of

1) Reading a few paragraphs in the TEXT of ACIM;

2) Forgiveness;

3) Gratitudes;

4) Petition of Intention for your day;

5) Reading from the Workbook of ACIM.

Here you have it. You can start your day with this 5-Point Prayer Process. This will give us our Divine Connection through the "Door of Everything."

The Teacher of God is consistent with all of his or her thoughts, words, deeds and actions. And there is no "challenge" to be so, and their will is one with their Creator's . Consistency is the attribute of true Honesty.

This section in the Teacher's Manual gives us the "characteristics of God's Teachers" in Section 4. There are 10 Characteristics, so these will be discussed for the next 10 Days. The first attribute is TRUST. This is the main Characteristic. This is something we would best memorize:

The teachers of God have trust in the world, because they have learned it is not governed by the laws the world made up. It is governed by a power that is in them but not of them. It is this power that keeps all things safe. It is through this power that the teachers of God look on a forgiven world.

It is time we develop this TRUST.

These are the things we need to know about "levels of teaching." Ultimately there are none. This section in the Manual For Teachers makes that clear, and as well describes three cases of "encounters" we may face as students of ACIM.

Who are the students of the teachers of God? There are certain ones assigned to us when we decide to be one of God's Teachers. And we make this decision when we see the interests of someone else as our own.

Who Are God's Teachers? This section discusses what it means to be a student and a teacher of God.

The Last Lesson in the Workbook of ACIM.

This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace.

And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.

This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace.

We continue with this important Lesson, 361-5. We want to remember our "Heaven of God's Peace." This involves total forgiveness of ourselves and others. We can be in the Stillness of the Peace of God. Let's put aside our own insanity today, because so simple is this release by letting go of our judgments and grievances as unreal.

Rebirthing and A Course in Miracles are Life Long Spiritual practices. This General Lecture is given in Estonia to the attendants of the Revolutionary Spiritual Healing seminar. This is presented to people who have not necessarily heard of A Course in Miracles. So you can share it with people you know who are new and need more background.

This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace.

We are again asked to let the Christ lead the way. Can we give our lives to this Guidance? Can we go beyond the words to another State of Spiritual Being? We need the help of the Holy Spirit. We are either "all in" or "not in at all." Do we want to come to inner silence and make contact with the Christ? With Babaji? With the Divine Mother? The Holy Spirit? This contact with the Holiness within us, as helped by the Holy Spirit and the Masters who give us the way, is our only desire above all else. The result is Pure Joy. We end the ego's rule and make contact with true Guidance from God which is Pure Happiness.

This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace.

We make a decision to be led by the Christ or not. This lesson is bringing us to a deep connection with the Holy Spirit's guidance. This Source of true direction is within us. Can we listen to this inner voice for God? Can we actually "follow" and not think that we already know? Can we give our days, every instant to the Christ to guide us? "His is the only way to find the peace that God has given us." If it truly is the only way, and we see this truth, would it be difficult to give this holy instant to the Christ to lead us? Certainty is ours when we give this holy instant, and every holy instant, to the Holy Spirit to lead us. Amen.

This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace.

We are asking the Holy Spirit—the Christ Consciousness—to lead us in our every action in life. We are asking for guidance here. We are completing the thoughts of the ego separation that have governed us for a long while. Now we are open to receive new directions that are from our Higher Source. Be us at peace today, knowing that the stillness of the Peace of God is ours. We can claim it now in the glory of having everything granted to us by our Creator.

Peace be to me, the holy Son of God.
Peace to my brother, who is one with me.
Let all the world be blessed with peace through us.

This is the last Lesson of section 14 of PART II of the Workbook of ACIM—"What am I." We are the Son of God, joined with our brother, and joined together with our Creator. We cannot see our own holiness without seeing his. Joined together in this mutual respect, we bless the world in tandem. One more Lesson awaits us, (#361-5). We will be guided when we maintain our Divine Connection and practice awareness of the same. This Lesson #360 helps us do so.

God's answer is some form of peace. All pain
Is healed; all misery replaced with joy.
All prison doors are opened. And all sin
Is understood as merely a mistake.

Can we receive God's Answer? Are we able to let go of the ego's thought system? Peace is the result. Peace ends all suffering and loss. Forgiveness is the means to let go. Today can we accept God's Answer? Do we fully let go of all conflict? guilt? blame? attack? All pain is healed and all misery is replace with joy in God's Answer. Would we rather keep the ego's "answers?" Can we use God's Answer to undo our thoughts of conflict? The responsibility is ours to manifest this grace.

No call to God can be unheard nor left
Unanswered. And of this I can be sure;
His answer is the one I really want.

This is a reassurance that God does hear our prayers and we can receive His answer immediately. Do we want it? Do we have fear that we will have to "sacrifice" something we are attached to? We can invoke the Source Energy to guide us and lead us in directions that are perfectly happy. We can decide for happiness, and all of our "calls to God" would have to be a request for this happiness—or a restoration through forgiveness of this happiness. In the "communion" with our Creator, all of our needs are met, and we feel good in our "happy day."

Truth answers every call we make to God,
Responding first with miracles, and then
Returning unto us to be itself.

This is our request: we ask for a miracle for the correction of our "problems" which are brought about by wrong thinking. Miracles are thoughts that correct our "wrong-mindedness." Truth is able to correct us. Then the problem is dissolved. The miracle is coming to correct something. We have to be open to make some form of inner correction. I must forgive totally in order to make space for the miracle to occur. I have to behold my brother as "sinless." I have to let go of all my judgments and grievances. Then return to peace, the conflict-free state of being.

MARKUS & SONDRA RAY give an introductory Lecture in Tallinn, Estonia, introducing people to A Course in Miracles. This lecture can inspire you to press on if you already are a student of ACIM; it can inspire you to begin its study if you have not heard of this Course. Translation is in Estonian by Kadri Maria Rinaldo. This lecture gives anyone a basic overview of the principles of A Course in Miracles to apply in their life.

Sickness is but another name for sin.
Healing is but another name for God.
The miracle is thus a call to Him.

This Lesson #356 brings of mind to the Altar of Truth. God and Healing are synonymous. Sickness and guilt go together. The Healing is the end of "guilt," in other words, our full and complete forgiveness of ourselves and others is Healing. Can we accept the Atonement for ourselves? This is the Healing. This is our connection with our Divine Creator. I am as God created me. I am fully INNOCENT even when I have made a mistake. God does not condemn us for our mistake. We are calling the Holy Spirit to help us correct our subconscious minds, and conscious minds as well. We ask to receive the help. Even for the errors in our subconscious minds we do not even know we have made. AMEN.

What is needed for us "to accept God's Word?" To be so close to accept this Word is to be stepping into Peace and Joy forever. We need more than our meager attempts to accept this Word. We need the help of the Holy Spirit for this acceptance. We need His Grace to put us into this full truth of A Course in Miracles. We have to be open to receive the Grace. "Joy Forever" is held out to us. Can we stop projecting "plans that did not work?" Grace is here for us when we stop doing the things that do not work. Only God's Plan for Salvation will work. Let's accept that Plan with the Help of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Can we let in the Energy of standing one with the Christ? Can we remember the Lesson in all that we do and say? Is forgiveness our function as the Light of the world? This is our one purpose together with the Christ. Our ego is silenced in this holy acceptance. We are one with God just as the Christ is One with God. Can we accept our True Self? We have to give up our habit of thinking negative thoughts and indulging in unhappiness. If we are not feeling Joy, part of us is denying our Divine Connection. If God is in the Christ, and the Christ is in us, then God would have to be immersed in us. We accept the Atonement for ourselves and join with the Christ. We receive and give this complete forgiveness—this is our only purpose. This is our Clarity. This is our inner Joy!

Christ is but my true Self. We dedicate our life to miracles today. Can we rise to it? It's a lofty purpose. We lose our lower self to claim our Higher Self. Can we join with the Christ in our purpose in Life? This is a great focus that ACIM has brought us to. Can we accept it? It is actually arrogant to NOT accept this purpose. Fulfilling my function as the "light of the world" is to align my purpose to bless the world with miracles. Can we have the ears to hear this? Can we be this? We are clearly asked to rise into this Christ Consciousness all the time.

How many times a day are we judging something? This prevents us from seeing through Love. It will make me blind. The Lesson associates Love with Forgiveness. Forgiveness is the means to Love in this world. Is it possible for us to lay aside judgments? Judgment and Love are opposites. We cannot have both. If we are judging, we are excluding Love. If we are Loving, we have suspended all judgment. This is the decision we make today.

What am I? This is the question we ask ourselves when we come to completion of the Workbook of ACIM. We are told we are the Saviors of the World along with the Christ. How will we see our brothers? How will we see ourselves? Will we focus on the "self" we made up, or the "Self" God created? We have to transcend the self we made up. We have to rise above the level of the ego self and enter into the Holy Spirit's Self we all share. Can we see our brother's sinlessness, and therefore see it in ourselves? Or do we want to see our brother's errors? PEACE or PAIN. This is what we are deciding between based on the vision we choose to look upon.

What can we remember but God and the Self we really are? We can "incorporate” thisby taking in all of our brothers and sisters into this Self we remember. This is a Whole and connected system of God's Thought. We are glad to do this. God's eternal Love is God's Thought, and every human being is incorporated into the Eternal Love of our Father. This Effect of God is a miracle of inclusion. The ego's thought system has no real effect on our Self as God Created us. All of our drama has no effect on the God created Self.

We are given Grace to meet all the needs we think we have. We meet these needs with the gifts of God already given us. Can we receive and give freedom from all our perceived needs? I am freed from all my problems with the reception of miracles. We must suspend our judgments. These contribute to the "problems" we think we have. When we remove our judgments from what we are looking upon, we open up the possibilities for miracles.

We have to get in touch with the energy of Grace, not fear or anger. Can we be aware of a forcefield of grace that surrounds us? We fall into fear and anger in absence of being in touch with God surrounding us with HIs Grace. Heaven is the actual awareness of God's Energy of Grace surrounding us. This is our protection and blessing in every situation. We have to tune into this Grace so we have no cause of anger or for fear.

We judge and therefore attract pain, and then we get angry about this attraction. This whole dynamic keeps the miracle, the "end of pain," away from us. We use judgment and pain as forms of attack. Things unfold in ways that bring about perfection. In the atmosphere of judgment, anger is bound to surface. Things come to an end when we give up judgment. Then a Miracle can be bestowed on us. We can allow the Christ to look upon the situation and heal it.

This is the beginning of a new awareness. Are we enveloped by God's Love in our Mind? The power of attention renders this to us. Do we value God's Love above all else? This is the possible outcome of being a student of A Course in Miracles. We made a body as a distraction, and the aches and pains of physical existence would be keeping us from this full awareness. Let us forget all things except God's Love. Let us transcend the physical dimension for the spiritual dimension, and integrate even our physical dimension into the Peace and Joy of God. Amen.

We receive what we give. This is a LAW. We fear miracles because they are different than our "reality of problems." We need the Action of Forgiveness to invoke the miracles to help us undo the "hell" we made up. Forgiveness is the action of the miracles that can restore us to perfect happiness. Perfect Happiness is God's Will for us, but we have projected our misperceptions, our grievances, our attack thoughts, our judgments toward ourself and other that prevent us for realizing "Perfect Happiness." We can forgive and have the miracle that dissolves our "problems" which are not really here in God's Will for us.

What you give you also receive. This is the basic tenant of A Course in Miracles. Give more love and you receive more love. Give anger, hate and resentment, and you receive more of that back to yourself. This Lesson discusses the fundamental principle that the Course is putting forth. How clear we are to extend forgiveness, because when we do, we receive the absolution of all of our mistakes and lack of love, and receive the gifts of God.

Giving increases us. The ego thinks when we give something away we have less of it. Giving thus becomes a "sacrifice." To feel this "loss" when we give is to affirm sacrifice is real. But when we receive God's Gifts we are increased, and God is increased when these Gifts are given. If we give more Love, we increase that Love in us and in the others to whom we are giving. Giving Gratitude increases the Gratitude. Giving Mercy away increases it—so it is not a sacrifice. Can we give and receive as one action? In this action there is no sacrifice. AMEN.

What would get us into the Heaven State of Being? This is what Markus Ray discusses in this overview of A Course in Miracles in the Belgian Loving Relationships Training (The LRT®). What is the Paradigm of Joy? How can we get into it and maintain it? ACIM offers us miracles to "undo" the hell we made up, and help us accept the Heaven of our original creation. We can remember who we are, and forgiveness gives us the means to erase the illusions of our past. Markus leads us to accept what the Course is saying as true—a guideline to follow, to restore our minds to the Heaven State of Being.

This Lesson is the "door to Heaven" through which we are asked to pass, and the "key" to opening this door is complete forgiveness. We let forgiveness rest upon every atom of creation in the universe—all things. Nothing short of complete forgiveness will be the "key to happiness." The means of our salvation is the Atonement. The key is in our own hands. This Lesson # 342 is the key Lesson to accepting the Atonement for ourselves. We give thanks to our Father for saving us from the "hell" we made. Perfect Happiness is ours now. Let's go through this doorway of complete forgiveness and be in the Blazing Light of Truth and remember God.

"How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile, with all Your Love bestowed upon us, living one with You, in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete; in sinlessness so perfect that the Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a universe of Thought completing Him." We are afraid of accepting this Truth, and the miracles that would establish this Truth in our minds. The word of God is our inheritance. Can we accept them, so they shape our reality? This is what is given us to do as students of ACIM.

Can we see that suffering is something we bring upon ourselves? Christ's vision would apply forgiveness to all things that are not Pure Joy. There is no room for anything but Joy and Perfect Happiness This Lesson can free us from fear, attack, guilt, anger and all forms of suffering. We must let forgiveness rest upon all things. We must apply it to receive the results of freedom from suffering. This is the inner work we have to do.

What are we requesting? If we receive what we "do not want," somewhere in our frequency we have requested it. If we are in pain, there are thoughts we have that put us in pain. This Lesson #339 gets us clear that we receive what we have requested. And all the more reason we need to forgive ourselves for the subconscious memories and thoughts that bring us ill effects. We need to make no decisions by ourselves. Can we ask that God's Will be made manifest in us? Only "perfect happiness" would be the result of this sincere and unilateral request. Let's make it then.

What is the content of our mind? This content is composed of memories and thoughts. These thoughts and memories have their effects. There are Thoughts in the Mind of God that we share with our Creator. Are these the Thoughts we are "thinking?" Are we aware of our Divine Thoughts? All thought produces form at all levels. The mind never sleeps. It is always with thoughts of separation or Thoughts of our True Identity in God. The focus of our mind is our decision to make. "I rule my mind, which I alone must rule." Let us decide for heaven. Let us "think" with the Thoughts of God. Then we only have the effects of Love.

Markus Ray speaks in Valencia, Spain, on the importance of ACIM in these times. He gives the background of this modern day scripture, and what the challenges are in studying it. A correction of Christianity lies underneath the direct relationship with Jesus that one forms by being a student of ACIM. Spoken to a Spanish audience, this intro to ACIM can awaken the interest of spiritual seekers to take up ACIM as an authentic and meaningful daily practice.

We are the Self God Loves. As this Self we are entitled to perfect happiness all of the time. Yet, we have to let go of the "self we made" that thinks it is a "sinner." We have made mistakes, but we are absolved of all consequences from those mistakes when we accept the Atonement for ourselves. God holds nothing against us when we are willing to give up our judgments, attack thoughts, and grievances. Are we willing to see the truth exactly as it is? Do we trust God's Peace and Joy are ours to claim? Forgiveness offers them to us.

Can we transcend the dimension of perception? Can we rise above separation? We transcend the level of perception by forgiving everyone and everything. We have no grievances. Wholeness and completeness are the results of rising above perception. The end of perception is achieved through complete forgiveness. I look through Christ's vision that looks upon a forgiven world. Can er enter into this space beyond perception? It is there for us to enter. Forgiveness is an action inside of us where minds are joined. AMEN.

Forgiveness is a choice. We choose to not see the records of "wrongdoing" of our brother, or even of ourself. We let the past go, and do not hold the mistakes of bygone days get the better of our judgments. In fact, we let all judgments go, and admit we do not know. This empty space is more conducive to accepting the Atonement for ourselves. We are absolved our our errors when we do not hold the errors of others against them. Only the ego can make errors. Our true Self never lost its innocence. Our true Self made no errors. This Self is "sinless." We can see this Self in our brother and thus we see it in ourselves.

There is a Peace that forgiveness bestows on us. It is up to us to claim it. Do we value the Peace of God that is offered through forgiveness? We would have to value it in order to claim it. And we would have to master forgiveness—letting go of judgments, grievances and attack thoughts—in order to claim these gifts. Would we value Peace? Would we master forgiveness in order to have its full blazing light in our awareness? The decision is ours to make.

What is conflict, but a dream? And a "dream" is only a figment of our imagination that is not really there. The dream may contain areas of relationships that are in conflict, which may need to be addressed. But ultimately we are to WAKE UP from the dream. Forgiveness is the means. We step out of the self the ego made up, whose nature is conflict, and enter into the Self God Created, which is at peace. This is the action of Forgiveness here. This Lesson #333 offers it.

When our will in one with our Creator's, there is no conflict in us. We are at peace. Peace is the absence of conflict. And we, who have no will apart from the Will of our Creator, can have no conflict in this state of unification. Conflict does not exist in truth. So why does there seem to be so much conflict in the world? We have separated in our minds from our Source. And in this separation there is tremendous conflict. ACIM is here to end this imagined separation.

What but limiting thoughts of fear bind us to our problems in this world? What but forgiveness can set us free from them? The choice is ours to see the false as the false, and let it go. We can call this process of "letting go" forgiveness. It is God's gift to us—the means by which we are saved from the consequences of our thoughts of conflict. Forgiveness is the means of dissolving our illusions in order to glimpse at the truth. God's peace and joy our ours. This is the truth we are meant to see.

We have been hurting ourselves and not even knowing all our pain is self-inflicted. But it is. And we can stop inflicting "hurt" upon ourself today. The mind of thought, conflict, attack, grievances can come to an end. What is in its place? "The stillness of the peace of God." There is no "hurt" in that state of being. Are we willing to go there? The decision is ours.

We have already joined our will with God's Will when we accept this truth. We are Awake. We are the Will of God. This is our Self Identity. Can we rise to this perfection, greater and greater perfection. We have to will endless joy. Truth, Happiness, Joy, Love, are all one. Our true Self has already chosen these attributes. We are awake to the degree with accept this fact.

When our thinking is upside down, what we see as first is actually secondary. And what we see as secondary is actually in the first place. This all must be "flipped around." We have to choose what looks like secondary in order to gain the first. Sounds crazy, but it is true. We choose the "second place" to gain the first place. We place God's Voice in the first place when we do this. Our true voice is in this shift. And then our will is united with God's Will. All conflict has been ended then. We are restored to Divine peace and joy.

When we do the due diligence to maintain our daily connection to our Source Energy, then we have the ability to call upon Divine Forces in times of need. These Forces have to come through for us. The "answer" will be some kind of Peace and Joy. We must have certainty that miracles will happen, and we have the means to call upon these Divine Forces to come to our aid. Will we proceed in supported faith, and faith that is "proven" by the answers of help from our Creator? We give attention to our Divine Source which is strengthened by our daily contact with the Presence of our Creator all around of us.

We are created as a Thought in the Mind of God. We are as God created us. Can we be certain of our Identity, knowing this? Can we let go of our unwillingness to wake up to this truth? Today is a reason for rejoicing~! We are given the ability to create as our Father in Heaven creates. Bringing Heaven to earth is our job to do, and when the whole earth rests within our Peace then earth can disappear. We have the Power of our Father to accomplish our mission here. Amen.

We see what we decide to see. And this is the law of perception. I start with what I want to see, and these ideas go out to manifest what I want to see. The challenge is to see when there is something in your life that is uncomfortable, some thought form in your memory is being activated. We have to be working out our karma with people, which could mean we are totally letting go of the past. Real Thoughts of GOD are our inheritance. We have to claim them and rise up from the ashes of the past.

Can we be guided by the Holy Spirit in everything we do. This is a Lesson in which we ask for guidance. We will be given guidance to the degree we ask for it. We can be guided. An earlier Lesson #155 is "I will step back and let Him Lead the way." Can we trust a guidance that comes from beyond our thinking? We can make contact with the Christ Mind to guide us when we are determined to do so.

What does God ask us to "give up," for "sacrifice" is an action of "giving up?" "You ask of Your beloved Son; You ask him to give up all suffering, all sense of loss and sadness, all anxiety and doubt, and freely let Your Love come streaming in to his awareness, healing him of pain, and giving him Your Own eternal joy." We can rejoice in this request. And with the Holy Spirit's help we can make this shift into joy. Let's make this "sacrifice" of fear and be glad.

What do we "give up" when we say we would like to free ourselves from the ego? The ego is limitation. And limitations block our awareness of our sacred Self that has no limitations. This Lesson #322 asks us to give up the illusions of all the thoughts we use to convince ourselves of our "limitations." They are not real, even though we insist they are. Today we are able to take this step closer to our real Self that is free of fear, guilt, anger, conflict and even death. We give them up today. We connect with the wholeness of Creation in this action.

Do we value Freedom? Are we free? Do we feel this certain liberation from the low moments that have been so prevalent in our life? God Wills we have happiness and only happiness. We forgive Creation in the name of its Creator. We are Creation. We are One. There is no time in which we are not. There is no Separation and the Son of God, Who we are, is already in its ultimate perfection. Can we accept this Cosmic reality for the replacement of the little, limited self we made. Everything is here for us to see its holiness.

The Power we are given is limitless. And we are in the frequency of that power if we can let go of the blocks to it. What but our own attempts to control and manage would stand in the way of us receiving God's Power? This is an Energy beyond our managing. It is easy, not hard, to allow it to flow through us. It is only requiring of our Faith to allow it to flow. Let's see if we can let this Power flow in our daily affairs.

This is a lofty thought of our intention and purpose for our presence here in the world. We came for it's salvation. What would that mean? Can we transcend all limitations? When we "come for the salvation of the world" we are totally with our purpose. Perfect happiness is our inheritance. We recognize our true purpose in this Lesson. Only truth is in this Lesson. Our "arrogance" would deny it. Let us be truly humble and accept this role we have as the savior of our world.

We are saved. The means for this are in us. We are the means and the end of this process of Liberation. Can we accept it is the question, that it has already taken place. Will we awaken to the fact we are the "Holy Son (or Daughter) of God?" This is what this Lesson asks of us. We awaken into this truth today. It is a lofty aspiration. Amen.

There is a way to peace that everyone is appointed. In our own unique way, the ascension to our Higher Self is guaranteed when we cooperate with our Divine Destiny. This "way" is already in place. Commitment to peace and joy is essential. The letting go of grievances and judgments is also essential. Are we ready to stop opposing the way to our own happiness, which is inside of ourselves? It is an inward journey we make to the Self. Already we are waking up when we stop seeking for a "way" outside of ourselves.

All spiritual gifts we give are our own. Can we receive them?

All the gifts of Joy are ours. Even if they are given by someone we do not even see. Thousands of these gifts, every second, are coming to us. All expressions of happiness benefit us, and go into the storehouse of our gratitude. Our minds are joined in this Joy of God. All the treasures are appreciated by us in this Lesson. Other people's Joy gives us Joy. The Gift of God's Love is all around us, especially when we are aware it is being shared. We can use the Gifts of Joy of others to give ourselves Joy, because all expressions of Joy belong to us.

What but the present is here? The past is gone. Life is NOW. There is no cause for suffering when we let go of the past. We enter a "quiet future full of joy!" Our past mistakes are dissolved by the Atonement—total forgiveness of our past and everyone else's past as well. Can we "forget the past" and not keep any "records of wrongdoing?" We can let go of guilt from any past errors that we or someone else made? Let us correct our main error, and enter this present NOW in which we are absolved of our mistakes. We are Sons and Daughters of our Creator Who's Will for us is perfect happiness now and forever.

This Lesson is our choice to use Christ's vision of our "sinlessness." We are stuck on the concept of "sin" because of very strong programing about "sin" from our "church programming." Today we are allowing a new perception into us. We make contact together with our Eternal Innocence. This Lesson gives us this "new perception," beautiful and loving in our true Identity. Our Divine Connection we share, Christ Consciousness, is our to claim now. Forgiveness is the doorway. As we release others into this grace, we enter into grace ourselves. We can have this miracles now. Guilt and sin and fear are GONE. We can let this new perception in now. Why not?

We decide in this Lesson #312 to give up all of our judgments about any situation, person, or thing. Can we see through the eyes of the Holy Spirit? This would require that we give up the way we "see things." Our thoughts precede the events in our life. Thoughts precede perception. This Lesson is about giving up the thoughts that produce suffering in our life. We are responsible for cleaning out our mind of all these negative thoughts and judgments. Ultimately if we want the Peace of God, we have to "think with the Thoughts of God." It is always our choice to let go of our judgments that may be keeping us in our "hell." We can just as easily have "Heaven" instead.

What is the Last Judgement? God created us innocent, fully loving, and limitless as Himself. We are asked to let go of all sense of "condemnation." We are released from all forms of "guilt" and trade in all judgments we had made for this final Judgment of our total holy innocence. We are in the purity of our Being, and we have never left our Holy Home of total forgiveness. Forgiveness transmutes all of the petty "judgments" we have projected, and turns our awareness back to our original state of Innocence. This Innocence is in all our brothers as well, and this is Christ's vision. Then the world can fade away. Until then, we have Service work to do, to bring all of our brothers and sisters to this holy vision of God's Last Judgment.

A moment outside of time is where this Lesson takes us. Can we bask in the joy of it? Can we extend this joy into the whole of our life? This Lesson holds out a promise when we give attention to it. Nothing less that the awareness of Heaven is the advent of fearlessness and love. Can we enter into this sacred space of the Mind and stay there? Why would this evade us? It is offered here now when we completely let go of everything else. Can we "completely let go?" What do we have to lose, when Heaven is held out to us?

Why do we fear to "look within." What do we think we will see? The Lesson says we will see my Eternal Innocence. Do we think this is what we would see, or would we look upon some disaster of ourselves? The fear we feel is to look within and see "guilt" or the "lack of holiness." We have misperceived ourselves and this is the source of our fear to "look within." However, we can see our real will, which is in alignment with God's Will for us, which is "perfect happiness." We can look within and see our glory as God created us. Eternal Innocence is our inheritance. But we have to claim it through looking within.

Can we be in present time? The NOW is the only time there is. Christ's Presence is here now. The perfection of Life is in this Instant. Can we be with this present instant? What would that be, to be totally immersed in our present moment? The "redemption" of total forgiveness is here. Christ's vision is here now. We are absolved of former mistakes. We are corrected in this Holy Instant now, in a state of timelessness. We are redeemed now, not later. Can we show up for this glorious moment now. This is what Lesson #308 holds out to us.

The Will of God is something different than fleeting "wishes." "God's Will for me is perfect happiness." This would be free of all conflict. Preferences and choices could be our "conflicting wishes" that do not bring us peace. We are responsible for conflict in our life. And these conflicts are thoughts. We do not normally see that we are causing our own pain—our own conflict. But we are choosing conflicting wishes instead of the Peace of God. We can be challenged in our relationship with someone that tests our resolve to bring these Lessons of ACIM into application. These challenges are essential in order for us to receive the miracles.

Christ's vision is what we are seeking as students of A Course in Miracles. To look on a "forgiven world" is to accept the Atonement for ourselves, through extending total forgiveness to others. The "gift of Christ" is the vision of this "forgiven world." It requires that we totally let go of our mindset from the past and arrive at that "empty place" within ourselves. We receive this holy vision when we are willing to give up our judgments and grievances. "Can we do it?" is the question.

There is a peace that accompanies Christ's vision in which we "let forgiveness rest up all things." He bestows it upon us as we are willing to forgive ourselves and everyone else, including all situations in which we feel "stuck." The ego wants to hold on, in spite of the pain and suffering that it has manufactured. There is an unwillingness to admit we are responsible for our own suffering. When we see Christ's vision is our own real vision, something already in us, then we can accept the responsibility is merely a change in our perspective that we can decide.

What is our world but our "filters" through which we perceive and project our "reality." Perception is our thought mixed with the input of the body's senses. We obscure the "sight of Christ" with our filter of the ego. Perfect Happiness is ours when we use Christ's vision to perceive. Are we using Christ's eyes to see? The darkness of our bad moods is something we do to "deny the Thought of God." We consciously or unconsciously choose death and hell instead of eternal life and the Joy of Heaven. All fear is past. Love is here now but we have to think and feel along these lines of the forgiven world which is Christ's vision.

Can we be "born again" today in the version that A Course in Miracles holds out to us? This may not fit in the terminology that we have been skeptical to receive from the "fundamentalist" churches that we rejected in the past. Being "born again" had pejorative feeling in our claiming of Self-Reliance in our search for our true identity. We are asking the Angels to witness this "birth of Christ" in us. It is a lofty Lesson. Can we receive the simple purity of it, and accept the Self God created in us?

This is an action of shifting out of all the preoccupation with the past and the problems we bring forward from the past; we embrace the light of the present in which we have forgiven our past. Willingness to forgive totally is the key to this light. "Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world,' is Lesson #62. Guilt is gone in the present, and guilt is the major "cause of suffering." Our eternal Holiness is here now, but we have to tap into it. When we do, the light has come and we have forgiven the world. All guilt is meaningless in this, Christ's vision.

The advent of "The Second Coming" is upon us. Can we extend ourselves and our awareness of our part in this "Second Coming?" Can we awaken into our Christ Consciousness? Can we "let forgiveness rest upon all things," especially on all aspects of our own life? This is our life action that realizes (or not) this Self we share. We hope that coming together will give us the necessary Strength to awaken the Christ in us. We hope we can forgive everyone and everything, most of all ourselves. Truly then, this is the "Second Coming."

This Lesson gives us a choice to make, between the world of sorrow and death, or the world of complete forgiveness that represents Christ's vision. The real world is the latter, and from this platform does God Himself reach down to us and draw us nigh unto the Heaven in which we were originally created. The instant this will take for us is outside of time. It is here now when we let go of making our "illusions" into images that only seem real. We can still our minds and accept the grace that is given us. Here and now. And the world of sorrow and death endure only an instant when we are determined to see things differently.

HI. OFF TO HERAKHAN TODAY. Eternal Holiness abides there. And in us. The true Herakhan is inside us. HUGS

Gratitude and Love go together. Forgiveness erases all that is not Love. The way to Love God is to Love our brothers and sisters, God's Son. What better directions could we have? We have a responsibility to come to this inner peace of mind.

In order to be free of guilt from all of the mistakes we hold in our subconscious, we have to master forgiveness and extend it to others. As we forgive others for their "mistakes," we are absolved of any regrets or guilt from our own mistakes. Thus are we both freed at once and restored to the awareness of innocence in which we were created. God's will for us is that we are aware of this Original Innocence. It is the purpose of miracles.

Who speaks through us? The voice of Love or the voice of fear? We have a decision to make and this requires we silence our thought, in order to make contact with a Voice beyond our projections. The Holy Spirit is here for us, but we have to be Present to meet this Voice. The Voice of the Holy Spirit is for the salvation of our world, yet we have to be listening to it, and allowing it to be spoken through us. Can we do it? We would have to get over our resistance. We would have to rise above our "unwillingness."

Who looks through us? Who is the Self we share called the Christ? What would Christ see? Can we look on a forgiven world and thus redeem our brothers and ourselves? This is what is asked of us today. Can we let forgiveness rest upon all things, and thus join the Christ in redeeming the world and ourselves simultaneously? It is a challenge worth considering.

This Lesson #294 tells us the proper perspective of the body. We all have one. It is not the Self, nor should we confuse it for our Self. It is, rightly seen, a "neutral thing" to be used in service to the Self. It is a communication device to communicate the Truth. The Truth is I am Love and you are Love and we are not separate from Love. Shared, our interests become one. This is the proper use of the body—to end the imagined separation and correct our minds to be restored back to their original Wholeness with Creation.

Gratitude for the beauty of everything in the present is what gets us out of fear. Fear is in the past or the future, in time. But love is timeless. Its effects are always observable. We can be in love or fear. The decision is ours. To which will we give our attention? The answer is only one Thought away.

God gives a guarantee in this Lesson that "a happy outcome to all things is sure." But we cannot have an "alien will." We cannot maintain grievances, attack thoughts, judgments, and low opinions of ourselves and others. Forgiveness is the doorway to this happy place. Can we trust that God will do the work required to restore relationships to a "happy outcome," when we do you part in complete forgiveness? It is a good test. Can we drop our agenda in order for God's plan for salvation to take shape? This will give us the happy outcome that is sure.

The real world is one of stillness and of peace. It is one in which we have forgiven the world completely, and God's final step to engulf our minds is at hand. Have we made our forgiveness complete? Are we still holding grievances and judgments? These are the challenges to bringing this Lesson #291 into application. The Prayer is particularly poignant: "Let my forgiveness be complete and the memory of You return to me." Perhaps today is the day God will take His final step toward us and our Divine memory will be fully restored.

"My present happiness is all I see." Is this what we are seeing? Are we awakening into the Joy that our Creator holds out to us? Or are we focused on our witnesses to "pain and suffering." Are we willing to see that we manufacture our own unhappiness? Are we willing to take 100% responsibility for how we feel and elect to change the thoughts that hurt us and make us unhappy? We must be willing to change our mind if we want to step into this pureness of Joy. Are we willing to let in the Love that surrounds us always? We have to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to dissolve our errors and get us in touch with the perfect happiness that God created us to be.

How can we let go of the past and be free? The forgiven world is here for us to see when we completely let go. Can we let go? Can we let go completely? We need the help of a Higher Power to do that. What are we hanging on to that prevents this holy vision of a forgiven world to come to us? Love holds no grievances, and all grievances are in the past. We replay the past in the present and form our own familiar hell. With this Lesson we can stop this tendency.

Can we forget our brother's past in the very moment we are tempted to judge and dismiss him? This is the ultimate test as students of A Course in Miracles we will be asked to pas through. Often we flunk. But there will be a time, with practice, in which we will not flunk. We will forget our brother's past and our own simultaneously. This will be a day of rejoicing. Why not today!

To what do we give our day as our main goal? The lesson asks us to devote our goal to our Father. It asks us 5 important questions:

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?

Heaven, Perfect Happiness, Peace of God, True Identity, and Absolute Love. These are the attributes of the Father, to which we give our attention today. What better goal could we have?

Heaven is within us now. Why wait for it to embrace our hearts? Today it can be ours. Can we allow this awareness to engulf our minds? We are the Sons and Daughters God Loves. What are we waiting for? Let us accept our Divine Reality today, without delay.

The nature of our holiness is JOY. The two go together. Pain suffering, loss, sickness, have nothing to do with Love. JOY and all forms of suffering are mutually exclusive. In fact, they are defenses against Love. When they are present, they indicate the absence of Love. They are surely a "call for Love." Forgiveness is called upon to meet them. Silence and Stillness are the first responses in the face of them. Allowing forgiveness to blanket these cries for help is a practice we would do well to perfect. In this extension, our holiness shines bright and clear today.

We can change our minds. The mind we have been using attracts pain and suffering. Our negative thoughts make up sickness, suffering and death. We are the cause of our own demise. By the same token, we can elect to change all the thoughts in our subconscious mind that hurt us. "I rule my mind that I alone must rule," is Lesson #236. Because we rule the mind, we can change the thoughts we think with it. Making our mind one with God's, only loving thoughts are true. Only joyful experiences are God's will for us.

Who are we? We are Sons and Daughters of God. We are One in this shared Identity. This is not an "image of ourself" we have made, but rather a blessing of God laid opon us forever and ever. We are The Son He Loves. What else then, could we extend to our brothers and sisters. Can we put away all grievances, attack thoughts, fear, guilt, or anger in order to accept your True Self? We must. And we can. It is already given to us to claim. Why not today?

Why would we be afraid of our own Identity? Obviously we have made up a false self whom we think is "us," and it scares the bejeebies out of us to give it up. We are more concerned with the "benefits" of maintaining this false self than the actual reality of Who we are as God Created us to be. Love is who we are in the absolute sense. This Self is immortal, boundless, unlimited, at one with all of Creation, and forever Free. This is LOVE. This is who we are....not the "fear self" we made up.

We seldom see that sickness is brought about by thought forms. These thoughts are not God's Thoughts of perfect happiness. In fact, sickness is a defense against this truth. Being "hurt" is preceded by thoughts that deny our Divine Connection with Pure Joy. The Bliss of God is our natural state of being. Separation from this state of being is what we are attempting to heal with A Course in Miracles. We can turn things over to the Holy Spirit when we see the way out of our sickness is not a way we have made up to keep us there.

Who God created limitless is free. And we are that. So how could we be limited by anything? The language of these words from Jesus in ACIM are beyond anything uttered in the English Language. They are evolving us upward. We have to take pause, and let these words sink into our soul. We need to apply the Lessons to our everyday life and adapt upwards. Let us go up the ladder of holiness together.

There is no freedom but now. There is no real bondage other than the prison we impose upon ourselves. When we realize we are part of Creation, we are free. The "laws" of fear, guilt, and anger are vengeful dreams that punish and bind us to death. Creation's immortality is free already here for us. Our liberation is now. There is no postponement of total freedom for us, promised by Creation. It is here already.

Who but ourselves can we bind with thoughts of limitation? And could God be limited to a body that lives for awhile then dies? We are Sons of God who are boundless, unlimited. Let us not be merely entities of mortal flesh that enevitably come to an end. Rather are we beings of the spirit that have immortality at our core.

This Lesson helps us put our foot down and not listen to all the senseless rules and regulations by which we bind ourselves in life. We are under no laws but God's (Lesson #76). This is the lave of Love—what do I have to give? Giving is the only law under which I am governed. Let's find what we have to give and put our joy into that. It is something of the Spirit that brings us pure Joy.

We do not often think we are speaking "the word of God." The loftiness of such an utterance would take us to a different dimension that we are not used to in everyday life. But nonetheless, we are asked to go to this dimension and speak something that is lofty. We are unwilling, for the most part. But why? Would we trust that this word would put us in pure Peace and Joy? Or are we addicted to our misery of victimhood? Deep questions are brought up by this Lesson #276.

What would God say to us? Do we have the ears to hear it? We must. What else would we be listening to? Our fears and concerns? Our "problems?" Can we bring our minds to silence and "have the ears to hear" God's Healing Voice? In this Podcast Markus and Sondra discuss what it means to really listen to a Voice beyond our ego's raucous ravings. We are awakened in a state of attention, when we quiet our minds together to join with the Christ Mind in hearing God's Healing Voice.

We are as God Created us in LOVE. Nothing else but this is true. Nothing else but this is worth our attention. We are in a state of Joy realizing this fact. Anything short of Pure Joy does not merit our attention. But we must include our Brother in this ascension into our Holy Identity. Together we ascend. Separate we stay stuck. Today belongs to Love with our Brother. In that state of Holy Relationship, there is only Love; there is nothing to fear.

How long will we wait for the day of "undisturbed tranquility?" This is what A Course in Miracles is awakening us to claim. Do we want the Peace of God above all else? If not, why not? Would we rather have the disappointments that inevitably accompany worldly pursuits and endeavors? Let's get our priorities straight at least. The Peace of God is our top priority. And then from there, "all things shall be added unto us."

The Holy Spirit asks so little of us to come to our aid. Yet, the ego wants to offer all kinds of penance to "make ourselves worthy" of receiving God's good graces. What if none of this were necessary? In fact, doing something to merit God's grace blocks the reception of this very grace. We need do nothing to receive the Holy Spirit's help. Can we "do nothing?" The ego loves a "plan of action" it formulates to receive God's Love. At the same time, this plan blocks the Holy Spirit from giving fully. Less is More in this case. Doing "nothing" with Trust is more valuable than an ironclad plan forged in doubt. Do nothing then, and receive everything.

What but the truth can satisfy God's Son? He knows His Identity in God. This is the truth. This is the Christ. Anything short of this would not be the truth. It would be an illusion, a substitute for the whole truth. Let us today accept ourselves as what our Father's Will created us to be. In this Self-Identity we share with the Christ, we are united, healed, and whole. Let us rejoice in this fact.

How do we see? What eyes are we using? Yesterday said, "I will not use the body's eyes today." So then what? What is this "Christ's vision" that does not use the body's eyes? It seems almost beyond our understanding. Indeed. But it is accessible or Jesus would not ask us to use "Christ's vision." Do we want this above all else? Can we make it there in our highest intentions for the day? What higher intention could we have together? It is clear what this Lesson asks of us. Love, MARKUS & SONDRA.

What gives us true vision but the Christ? What deceives us but the filter of judgments we use from what the body's eyes perceive. We can trade the way we are seeing now with the body's eyes for Christ's vision—of a forgiven world. This is the decision we must make.

What but the Christ are we to see in our brothers and sisters? And this applies to our worst "enemies." Are we students of A Course in Miracles or not? The challenges and temptations of judgments are always there to test us. Will we see with "Christ's vision" or with the ego's vision, which is not seeing at all. Looking upon Christ's face is the only real purpose for holy vision. Can we do this? We can, but will we? It is the one decision we must make.

What would reality look like with no fear? no sense of loss? no problems whatsoever? This is what Reality with a capital "R" is—a state of being in Heaven. Let all things be exactly as they are. What function do they have in Heaven? Either they have a function or they do not. We can let go of all that is not in our Heaven. God's will for us is perfect happiness, therefore what is not "happy" is not God's will. Therefore, it is not part of Reality. Let it be as it is, and let it go then. What remains will be our Heaven State of Being.

What makes our heart beat? The Life and the Love of God pulse through us. Are we in touch with this Source Energy that sustains us every second? Would we not have immense gratitude, then, for this Life we share with our Creator? Sink into this Lesson #267 It is beautifully poetic and goes to the core of our most sacred heart. Blessings abound in our hearts. Amen.

"This day we enter into Paradise, calling upon God's Name and on our own, acknowledging our Self in each of us." What could be more clear? The way to Heaven is through acknowledging the Christ in each one of us. No one is excluded in this holy vision. We are apt to judge certain people as unworthy of being a "Son of God." This Lesson corrects us. To exclude anyone from the Sonship would be to exclude a piece of our Self. The Sonship is whole and complete. Exclusion would be contradictory to its nature.

The gentleness of creation is the theme of this lesson. Are we in touch with it? Or do we have fears in our mind that prevent us from making this contact with the peace of creation? "Creation's gentleness is all I see." This would require that we put aside our self-projected fears and be with the stillness of the peace of God within our minds.

What but the Love and Peace and Joy of God surrounds us? Are we in touch with it? It is all there is in truth, but we are preoccupied with our projections of thought's illusions. The Peace of God is shining in us now. Are we aware of that. The Love of God envelops and and keeps us safe. What other "joy" would we rather seek? A paltry substitute for Love, no less. But the Mighty Source of the Universe is all around us. How could we not tap into it. We would have to be blind to the very Energy that gives is Life.

How do you see? What is it you see? The fundamental question is what is in our Mind that determines our seeing. To see "all things as pure," we would need a different kind of seeing, which requires a different kind of thinking. Are we thinking with our Holy Mind that gives us Christ's Vision? This is the only kind of seeing worth having, and the result of that is a vision of purity. This Podcast envelops everything into that purity.

What is separate from us? What if we saw clearly the unified field of creation and that nothing is separate from us? There is one life, says Lesson #166. How could it be divided into parts, and then those parts seen as "different" from one another? Wholeness and Oneness are the results of applying this Lesson: "Let me perceive no differences today." This unification not only takes place between ourselves and all other humans, but also between ourselves and every atom of Creation in the entire Universe. It is a "cosmic unification" that happens to us as a result of applying this truth to ourselves.

Can we give up all other forms of what we think is our "refuge and security" and place our sole faith in God? What would that mean for us? To the ego that feels like placing our faith in nothing. But we can make this breakthrough today. We can relinquish all other forms of safety but this:

Your safety lies in truth, and not in lies. Love is your safety. Fear does not exist. Identify with love, and you are safe. Identify with love, and you are home. Identify with love, and find your Self.

Together we can rise to meet this challenge today. We give up all other forms of safety but this one: "God is my refuge and security." Love protects us and nothing but Love is worthy of that trust.

We are Sons and Daughters of God. This is just a fact. We did not "make" ourselves. Did you design a lung? a heart? the fingers on your hands? Obviously there is a force of Creation that operates beyond our understanding. A Force of Life greater than ourselves is the Source of us. And let's just call that GOD. We could also call that LOVE. We can remember this. Love created you and me. We are united with our Source, even if we are not aware of It. And this Love is at peace. There is nothing It cannot do. It is unlimited and immortal. And we are that. HUGS.

The concept of "sin" includes "guilt." Many organized religions believe that people are born automatically as "sinners," and they can only be "redeemed" by Jesus, some mythical entity outside of themselves. There is no sin. And the Christ is the higher energy of absolute Love already your Identity. And everyone else's for that matter, whether they are aware of it or not. Love and Sin cannot coexist. Since we are only Love, sin does not exist in us.

In the TEXT ( Chapter 4, Sec. III, ❡ 1 ) Jesus corrects our thinking about the statement, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you" Heaven is not something "outside" that now you are bringing "inside," as though is is a separate entity. He says: The word "within" is unnecessary. The Kingdom of Heaven is you. What else but you did the Creator create, and what else but you is His Kingdom?Today's Lesson brings this home. Our "goal for God" is to realize that who we are as God created us, IS ONLY WHO WE ARE. And nothing else is us. And that Identity is Heaven itself. Perfect Peace. Pure Joy. A day of Rejoicing!

Can we remember that our goal in life is to be happy? Happiness comes in may forms. And there are times when we "feel bad," not happy at all. Yes, everything that comes to us we "asked for." Maybe not consciously, but subconsciously. Now we are even aligning our subconscious with Pure Joy. We put aside all conflicting goals but this one. This is our Holy Purpose. Teach only Love and Joy, for that is what we are.

Forgiveness in the world of "separation" is the only means back to the remembrance of God, and of our true Self that is certain of its connection to Source. Had we not imagined the "separation," forgiveness would not be needed. But we did imagine it. Therefore, we need a means to "undo" that mistake. This is the means back—forgive yourself and everyone else. NOW. Not by first making errors real, then letting yourself "off the hook," but by seeing with the eyes of your True Self that sees no error.

Our choice is what we attend to. Will we give our attention to perfect peace throughout our day? How will we spend it? This Lesson shows us that Heaven is always here, within us, but we can distract ourselves with pain, suffering, and sorrow. This is a matter of decision. "Heaven is the decision I must make." (Lesson #138). Therefore, it is the only decision that requires our undivided attention. Giving attention to spend our day in perfect peace is the equivalent of deciding for Heaven. Will we, is the question, especially in the midst of challenges?

To whom are we listening? We have to step out of the torrential flow of thought. The mind free of thought loves silence. In this quiet place of stillness, it is possible to receive. And what we hear, when we truly have disengaged from our ego's mind of problems, judgments, projections, and plans, is something from the Holy Spirit. It begins with Silence. What we "hear" in this awareness is the Voice for God. It will come on its own when we are truly with it. Our only "job" is to silence our thought. Then our will and God's Will become united. This is the ultimate Yoga.

How vast is our true Self, Who has made its will one with God's Will. Everything that happens to us we have called for it. Therefore, what is the lesson in an emotionally upsetting and charged exchange? These incidents in our life did not just happen on their own. We called them forth. We are the rulers of our Destiny. With the Holy Spirit and Christ leading us, we return to the Heaven state which is God's Will for us.

Who we are is revealed in this simple Lesson. We are the Sons of God in our true Self. Nothing that we have made has any consequences that would negate this fact. Today we can say to God— I may waken to the truth in You, and know that Heaven is restored to me. Knowing who we are as God created us restores our sanity. We are sinless. We are beloved of God. His light shines upon us and in us. The light we shine is likened to God's light. Heaven is restored to us in our awareness of this Light.

What is our truth? We are Divine Beings, created in Joy and Truth. Truth is Joy and Joy is Truth. We are in need of nothing but the Truth. We are Children of God and that is a fact, and God's will for us is perfect happiness. Are we willing to stay in that vibration of the Truth. Joy is all around us. Will we accept this truth for ourselves right now? There is no better time than now.

How do we limit ourselves? Judgments of ourselves and others? Attack thoughts shot out at certain people and situations? Cutting people off who offend us? Seeing ourselves as "good" and others as "evil?" There are many ways in which we limit the effulgence of our spirit. Yet, the glory of God awaits us any moment. We can apply this lesson throughout the day when any limiting belief contradicts our Constant Joy!

Forgiveness is the "master erase." There are stages to real forgiveness. I admit "I was wrong because perfect happiness was interrupted. I ask for the inner correction needed. I allow the Holy Spirit the space to undo all the consequences I do not want. I want to be corrected." This is the essence of forgiveness as the Course teaches us. These are the steps that give us a Love of inner correction that forgiveness is.

This Lesson makes it clear that all pain, suffering, and grief are not part of our true SELF. Therefore, we have to transmute them to Peace. The Peace of God is our inheritance, and this implies we need to undo and process out any fear, anger, or guilt that may be contributing to our suffering. The key in this lesson is to see that we have caused our own suffering, and with the help of the Holy Spirit in this Lesson, we can end it as well.

There will be people your life who really activate you. They may be attacking you emotionally. You might think of them as your "enemy." It is no accident they are in your life. They are helping you to clear the darkened corners of your mind and heart that you have kept hidden. They are your "savior for the day." They may be challenging you to admit you were wrong about them. They may be asking you to give up your attack thoughts. They may be freeing you from all grievances. This is what they are doing. Teaching you the true meaning of forgiveness. Forgive your "enemy." Can we embrace them as our "savior," this being the case?

This is the Lesson that can lead us out of strife, especially with that person who is the most activating in our life right now. The person who is activating is our "savior for the day" as we are told in Lesson #78:

Let me behold my savior in this one

You have appointed as the one for me

to ask to lead me to the holy light in which

he stands, that I may join with him.

This is the very person to whom this lesson today refers. "To love my Father is to love HIs Son." We also have to forgive ourselves in this clean sweep of our grievances. This is the master erase. We forgive them, ourselves, and picture them forgiving us as well. And turn everything over to the Holy Spirit as the Force of True Empathy.

Since we we told yesterday we are in danger nowhere in the world, what would be the result of that? Today's lesson is the result of seeing no danger in anything. The peace of God is with us, and we are safe no matter what situation confronts us. We can meet any challenge, any apparent danger, any family conflict with the peace of God shining in us. As a result of this peace, we are safe. There is nothing our holiness cannot do, and there is no place we are without the Love of God surrounding us. These are just facts. Can we embrace them today?

Why do we feel threatened? What is danger? Is it our physical body that we fear will be injured or come to an end? Why do we ever feel in danger? This Lesson gives us an antidote to fear and danger. There is a Divine Protection into which we can enter. This Lesson takes us into that. Are we willing to go there?

"Today I will judge nothing that occurs." Can we bring this lesson into application? Not that easy sometimes. A situation that is upsetting always involves our own contribution to it. Did you ever notice when there is a "problem," you are there? Your thought forms and memories contribute to the problem. Your judgments feed it. Therefore, your removal of judgments begins to diffuse it. A "problem" without "a judgment" does not exist. Today we begin to question the need for judgments, and our relinquishment of them.

Can we be guided in this day we give to God? The TEXT tells us to "make no decisions by ourself." This Lesson instructs us to ask Him Who knows the way to God to lead us to our Holy Home. Will we ask? This is the challenge, isn't it--to ask the Holy Spirit, "What would You have me do? Where would You have me go? What would You have me say, and to whom?" These are the questions we can ask once an hour to keep ourselves on track with this Lesson.

Today we begin Section 3. of PART II of the Workbook of ACIM: What is the world? And it begins by saying we have to forgive everything in this world because it was made out of separation, and it is an "attack on God." Those are strong words. Salvation is here now when we forgive everything, most of all ourselves. Can we do it? With the Holy Spirit's help we can. This Holy Instant, now, is the only time there is. Let is step into it without delay. Let us try again for "complete forgiveness.” Let us value Salvation above all else.

Fear is not justified. We are in the momentum of our "thought," which ACIM calls "meaningless." This kind of full sweep of the mind is what is needed to eliminate fear. Fear is NEVER JUSTIFIED. God is not the culprit of our fear and suffering. We are. When will we stop projecting fear? Why not today?

Do we connect with the Glory of God on a regular basis? Or do we sell ourselves short of perfect happiness? What is this Glory spoken of in the Lesson? Do we experience it? We seem to be challenged by some people to have harmonious and lasting relationships. Can we "see the face of Christ" in them instead of their mistakes and our mistakes? Claiming the Gifts of God of our Glory depends on this.

Do we really get the urgency of being a student of A Course in Miracles? "On my decision all salvation rests." That's like saying the well being of every person on the planet is affected by me and my decision for salvation. What is this "decision?" I mean, it must be BIG for Jesus to say this to us. Think about it. It's huge. However, we are not entrusted with this kind of a thing if we are not capable of wielding its power and promise. On our decision the salvation of the world is at stake. There is an urgency that we forgive everyone and everything, most of all ourselves. Let's do it together. HUGS.

Now would we be who God created us to be. Who else would we be? The "self we made up" is capricious and full of problems and conflicts. The Self God created is clear, changeless, and forever immersed in the Peace of God. Why would we want to be anything but that? This Lesson helps us to claimn our Self Identity. Let's be grateful for the clarity.

We have dominion over how we feel. Feelings are spearheaded by thoughts, and we rule our mind which contains these thoughts. How we feel is in our mind, based on the thoughts we choose to think. We rule over this mind. We are the sovereigns of our mind. Therefore, we are the determiners of how we feel—JOY or SORROW. Which emotion do we serve? LOVE or FEAR. This dialogue between Markus and Sondra Ray goes into this perennial question of inner sovereignty. We have the freedom to decide.

What is Salvation? A state of perfect happiness is promised in A Course in Miracles. Nothing short of this is worthy of God's Son [or Daughter]. We are as God created is in a perfect state of Joy. The Lesson #235 states:

I need but look upon all things that seem to hurt me, and with perfect certainty assure myself, "God wills that I be saved from this," and merely watch them disappear. I need but keep in mind my Father's Will for me is only happiness, to find that only happiness has come to me.

Whatever the challenge we may be facing in our life right now, can we apply this to it? We have to remember that God's will for us is only happiness—and immediately drop the thoughts that have attracted "unhappiness" to us. It sounds too simple, but it is simple. Only our ego's thought system would make it "complicated."

The MERCY OF GOD saves us from the quagmire of thoughts that compose the hell we have made up. Can we drop all of them and allow the Peace of God to take their place? With GOD'S MERCY we can.

We remember a state of mind we never really left. The Peace of God is shining in us now, and we are forever in the Mind of our Father who Created us. We are in the Mother of our physical form as well. All levels of our being are in the flow of the Divine, and always have been. Just a "little dream" of separation distracted our minds for a little while, and this is coming to a close. "Father, today I am Your Son again."

Who guides our steps? Will we step back and let God guide our steps? Jesus can help us do this, but we have to "step back" and let him lead the way? Are we doing this? This Lesson will help us do this. In this Podcast Markus tells us about the great sage Vivekananda, whose inner transformation allowed him to bring Vedanta to the Western world. He simply "gave his life to God to guide him," which provided everything he needed.

To what do we give our attention? The mind is a powerful place of command. What is in our mind determines the actions and results of our life. Using our mind to connect with our Divine Source is the subject of this Lesson #232.

Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake, and shine on me throughout the day today. Let every minute be a time in which I dwell with You. And let me not forget my hourly thanksgiving that You have remained with me, and always will be there to hear my call to You and answer me. As evening comes, let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love. And let me sleep sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son.

Can we give our "hourly thanksgiving" for this Divine Connection? It is the easiest thing when we have the willingness to do it. Sondra and I will set the timer on our iPhone to go off every 55 minutes. We find that keeps us on track. Get in the habit of periodically "disengaging" from activity. Then when you return to what you are doing, you are in a more Peaceful state.

What do we want to remember? All of out struggles and traumas in life? What does it mean to remember our Father? Is God lurking in the wings, waiting to judge us and mete out punishments for our mistakes? Do we think that about God the Father? Anger and Vengeance? We need a different Reality of what we think Salvation is. Why would we want to remember our Father? What is in this remembrance that would lift us out of our sorrow, fear, guilt, anger, and general dismay? This lesson gives us a piece of Heaven to remember. It gives us a piece of our real Father to remember.

Let us come daily to this holy place, and spend a while together. Here we share our final dream. It is a dream in which there is no sorrow, for it holds a hint of all the glory given us by God. The grass is pushing through the soil, the trees are budding now, and birds have come to live within their branches. Earth is being born again in new perspective. Night has gone, and we have come together in the light.

Let us "come together in the light" and remember God in each other now.

Today we ask for Peace. Today we ask to be ourselves. Today the Peace of God is shining in us now. We are determined to be who we are as God created us to be. Nothing can intrude upon the Peace that God Himself created to be His Son. We can put away all of our conflicts, concerns, fears, upsets and past regrets. We are in the present now with this Peace. This is all that matters to us now. We FIND this Peace, because it is within us—it is actually who we are.

This is the truth about our Self Identity: "Love, which created me, is what I am." This Lesson has the potential to dissolve all of our beliefs in sin, suffering, anger, fear, guilt, and even death itself. Why would be not want to receive this Gift of God fully? We have to see the face of Christ in all our brothers, and drop all of our grievances in order to fully realize the power of this Lesson.

How do we condemn ourselves? Thoughts of limitation and lack? Anger and judgments? Fears and guilt? We don't have to look too far inside of ourselves to see we have become our own worst enemy. This Lesson is the end of all that self-condemnation in its many forms. This Lesson is the acceptance of ourselves in our true state of holiness. We are absolved of our errors, not condemned for them. This is the ultimate "correction" of our wrong thinking. Don't we think it is time to make this inner commitment never to "condemn" ourselves or others?

The willingness to let go into the care of the Holy Spirit is the theme of this Lesson. Any concerns or fears are dissolved by this simple "letting go." This Holy Instant is our doorway to a new vibration, and new receptivity to receive the will of God into our life. It is not our effort through which we do this. It is simply our little willingness to come forward and let go. We need not prepare ourselves with elaborate plans or actions. In fact, to receive the Holy Instant and be released, we must release in ourselves this "need to plan." Let all things be as they are—and then we trust and say AMEN. "Thy will be done."

What is our home, but a state of Heaven consciousness? What prevents us from entering this state of Mind is our own preoccupations of thought. What have all of our "to do lists" done for us? What concerns and worries we have ever truly improved our life, or helped us to avert a deep feeling of being unfulfilled? Can we drop all of that? This Lesson is asking us to enter Heaven now. No need to wait on certain conditions to be met in the future. Heaven is NOW or not at all, and no conditions need to be met other than for us to drop all "conditions." Then we see Heaven is already here. We can go there now, inside of ourselves. We can hasten home in this Holy Instant.

Returning God's Love through extending it to our brothers is essential. We realize we have God's Love by giving it away. Giving and receiving thus become the same. (Lesson #108) Can we give love to our brothers and receive it for ourselves? Both then become the beneficiaries of this Divine Connection. Let us reach out today, and give our love to someone, near or far, who needs our attention. We then fulfill this lesson and realize truly that "giving and receiving" are the same.

Our Name is still known to God. Our Name is our Identity in Love. It is a State of Being free of all conflict of duality. It is a Unified field of Wholeness—Oneness. This Lesson introduces us to a deeper awareness of Who we are as God sees us. We can claim this Identity today. Why wait? We allow God to reveal it to us. AMEN.

Could we see the "face of Christ" instead of our mistakes? This is what this Lesson #223 is asking us to do. What would that involve? We would have to give up all of our "attack thoughts." We would have to let go of all forms of anger, guilt, and fear. We would have to cease to have grievances about others, and ourselves. This would require us to use a different thought system than the one we have been using [the ego]. We embrace the benefits for doing this, which would be a mindset that could deliver us to Heaven. Why not? We say let go, and be who you really are now as God created you to be.

We are in this physical dimension. Would we not find it holy? Even though we are "not a body" in essence, we do have a function in these physical planes to bring the Light of Truth into this Life. This Lesson brings this Light. The SOURCE is here in the air I breathe, the food I eat, the water that sustains me. It inhabits the holy Thoughts that guide me from the Spirit. This Lesson imparts an aura of holiness even in this level of our incarnation.

We introduce this Year of THE GIFTS OF GOD with Lesson #221: "Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still." Can we be still? Can we stop our thought? This is the state of inner emptiness imparted by these Lessons of PART II of the Workbook of A Course in Miracles. Give yourself space to lay everything aside. Give yourself space to connect with your Creator. Give yourself space in which the Peace of God resides. We send you our blessings, as we know you will send to us as well, and to all receiving these GIFTS OF GOD in this New Year.

This is the last Lesson in a long sojourn of this past year to bring A Course in Miracles into application in our lives. We have walked together in this, holding hands with the Christ, and it has been one of the most meaningful years of our lives. "There is no peace except the Peace of God." We are certain that miracles will be given us now. We can join in healing the separation we once believed was real. Together we can enter into a new Action, "THE GIFTS OF GOD-2023." We welcome you to reinforce the innocence that is our power and strength, our inheritance from our One Creator. God Bless. SONDRA & MARKUS

As we come to a close with A YEAR I GIVE TO GOD, this key lesson opens the floodgates for our Spiritual Identity to come forth. "I am not a body. I am free, for I am still as God created me." We are poised on a new beginning, in which we have transcended the body, the ego self—and a new Action is about to take place. All is good. Are we ready to take the next step together? We will begin THE GIFTS OF GOD with Part II of the workbook on January 1, 2023.

What would it take for us to have a holy vision of God's Glory? Did you ever think about the Glory of God? It is available to us, but we prevent this kind of vision with all of our judgments, attack thoughts, grievances, regrets, complaints, etc. What would stop all of that nonsense in us? "Only my condemnation injures me," it says. can we stop condemning ourselves and others? The Glory of God is there to see if we do. We can forgive the past totally, and hence cease to condemn. Are we all ready to do this? What do we have to lose? Try it.

We can be grateful for the Gifts of God we receive and give. There are no bounds to the joys of liberation we receive from them. Our Liberation does not depend on those who receive our gifts. We do not need accolades from others, who may or may not receive what we give. We earn our own gratitude when we give the Gifts of God away, because we have received them ourselves already. We give peace, and we receive more peace. We give our silence, and we earn the gratitude of silence. Miracles are laws that put us in the right relationship with Life. Life is a stream of ever flowing gratitude. It's up to us to enter the stream and stay in the flow of it.

Attack thoughts always attack our self. Forgiveness always liberates us from judgments. Empathy is what the Holy Spirit bestows on us in times of difficulty. We may not know which way to go, but we can ask the Holy Spirit to guide us. We need not fear. We need not "manage things" ourselves. Difficult situations call for surrender, on our part, not more complicated systems of management. Our "management" and "plans" could very well be an attack. And they would lead to our own "crucifixion." We can always let go, which is to say, we can always forgive ourselves for the mistakes we made that kept us apart from pure joy.

Can we be guided by an energy beyond our thought? What would Love do in our life? Where would it take us? How would we walk, being guided by Love? In this lesson we are told the Holy Spirit is our only real guide. To where, one may ask? Love would lead us to gratitude and more happiness. Love is the result of being guided by the Holy Spirit. Do we feel the gratitude for this?

What does "placing the future in the Hands of God" really mean? It says, only good can come from this action, because God gives "only the good." Why would we not want to do this? Only if we felt fear of the future that we already have, and lack of trust that God would actually make a difference. This Lesson gets us to see things differently. Can we entrust our future into the "Hands of God?" After listening to this Podcast you just may.

What we may judge as an unpleasant experience could be a blessing in disguise. Can we be determined to see things differently? We can see our part in attracting all negative experiences with our unexamined negative thoughts. When we take 100% responsibility for all the events in our life, we have the capacity to forgive and move on. We can elect to change the thoughts that "hurt us." In this action of "changing our minds" is our salvation.

Most of us have wondered at some point in our life, "Why are we here?" In these moments we invoke and answer that is beyond the status quo of survival. We know how to have jobs and earn money, but what is it beyond that we are supposed to be doing. What is our function. This Lesson addresses this question. Forgiveness is our function. Can we become masters of it. What are its deeper implications?

This Lesson is a huge leap in our frequency indeed. The ego would have to be totally silenced for this Lesson to be "realized" in us. That will take our Total Attention. Do we really want to be our Self God created? Our would we rather stick with the self we made up, with all its pains and little accomplishments? The decision is our to make. How long will we take to make it? Another Life Time? The time is only NOW to have this Holy Instant of true acceptance.

We have to see that pain or joy are the only options we have. We think we would choose joy and that would be obvious. We do not see we are deciding for thoughts, deeds or actions that may result in pain. We are responsible for the pain. It is a result of misperception. We can change our mind. Thank goodness we can choose the joy of God instead of pain.

What is it we feel in this very moment? Is it the Love of God? Is it anxiety about the future? Is it conflict in our relationships? Is it the uncertainty of doubt? It may not be the Love of God. This lesson helps us make contact with a light within ourselves that is independent of the external situation. This is the Love of God. We can feel it in this very instant, and reap the benefits of this Divine Connection.

The Peace of God is shining in me now. I give myself the quietude and the space to make contact with it. It is always there, but in giving our attention to other concerns, we often do not realize it. A couple days ago we said, "I want the peace of God." Do we? This lesson is the flower of that true intention. If we truly want the Peace of God, we have it to give. As we give it, we "bless the world." and ourselves. And whne we have that in our awareness, surely "the Peace of God is shining in us." Om Namah Shivay!

We bless our own innocence when we extend it to another. The state of complete forgiveness is ours to give. When we bless another we are giving the grace that we have already received. In giving the blessing we are certain we have it. Our storehouse of goodness increases. When Divine Ideas are given away, they increase in us. Application of the truth then, becomes our most primary life action.

What do we have to give? We receive the miracles of the Gifts of God in order to give them away. The power of our extension comes from our Creator, and the joy we have from giving is unsurpassable. The world, caught in the quagmire of conflicting thought, needs our love and forgiveness. Who but we can save it? Who but we have the means to forgive our mistakes and see the face of Christ in every human?

We receive what we truly desire instantly. If we want gratitude, we have it. If we want trust, we have it. If we truly desire Peace, we have it. This lesson takes us to the Elysian fields of inner tranquility. Let us go there without delay. Let us claim the Peace that God Himself holds out for the whole Sonship.

We "inherit" the power of Divine Will. It is in the Name of God. This is not a "word" as we know it. Imagine a Name that encompasses all things in Creation. It is Total. It sends Love to every corner of the Universe, and especially to us. This is the "Name of God." And it is our inheritance.

What does it mean to call upon God's Name? What is that primordial Power of Creation that we are calling upon, which is also our own true name? We are asked to go beyond the personality we all have formulated, and be with a Self-Identity that is deeply connected to everything. God's Name will help us to make this connection, and we need to consciously call upon it for its action and power to unfold in our life.

"I will be still an instant and go home." What is our home? It is free of conflict and stress? Can we really be still and empty our mind of fear, judgments, and attack? This is what being still means. Who values that above all else? Who really wants to go to their true HOME?

We begin the last Review of Lessons #181-#200 today. The Oneness of our Self is the backdrop for this Review VI. "I am not a body; I am Spirit." In this connection are we joined as One. It is at that level we can truly TRUST, when we say, "I trust my brothers who are one with me."

The Peace of God is always present, but we are absent from it. When we pay attention to the Peace and Happiness that "God wills for us," that is already there for us, we will find it. ACIM makes it very clear these elevated states of being are our certain Inheritance. But we must claim them in order for them to "take effect" in our lives.

This is the ultimate test in whether we will ascend into the Spirit that we are. "I am not a body. I am free." It's one of the most important Lessons in A Course in Miracles.

Are we in the flow of giving and receiving? The receiving is in the giving, which has its own Divine Vibration of appreciation. Who is delighted to have something to give? Are we expecting to "get back" something by our giving? Or, in the right relationship with giving, do we realize we already have what it is we give? We are created to be like our Creator, Who only gives. Gratitude is "earned" the moment we give. We give more love and forgiveness, and we receive them back in the silence of knowing we are one with our divine function.

The resurrection is merely the ascendance out of the ego's thought system into the Holy Spirit's Thought System. If we are not doing this, then we are crucifying ourselves with Fear, Guilt, or Anger. Attack directed toward anyone is an attack upon our self. There are no exceptions to this. It is true, then, "It is but myself I crucify." We can stop doing this. It does not take time or practice, just willingness. Are you willing to leave the ego's "crucifixions" behind and resurrect into the Christ mind?

Love and gratitude go together. Grievances, comparisons, and unforgiveness go together and block our awareness of love. Which would we choose? We have the means to erase all the struggles and strife in our world. Will we walk that path of forgiveness and claim the Gifts of God? It's our choice which way we go. Go the way of love and forgive everything. Go the way of forgiveness and walk in gratitude!

This Lesson has the potential to undo all fear, especially the anxiety we all hold about the unknown future. Murphy's Law—"what can go wrong will go wrong," does not apply to us when we are placing the future in the Hands of God. "God gives us only happiness" is part of a prayer in Lesson #66. God and Happiness are inseparable. As long as we place our future in the hands of certain happiness, what is there to fear? What "guilt" is left to undo? Forgiveness is complete in us, and therefore we can relax and let go into the care of our Divine Creator. Isn't that a relief!

We have all heard the saying "shit happens." All things are lessons, and even the things that seem to go off are usually teaching us something about ourselves and our place in the world based on the thoughts we have about it. These difficult incidents are "lessons in forgiveness" mostly. No matter how challenging or "unfair" a situation may seem, the lesson is always forgiveness and returning to our inner Peace. This Lesson #193 is a good reminder of this. Can we take the challenging things in stride and maintain our faith that even this has an element leading us to our ultimate good? This is our test.

"Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world." This is Lesson #62. This Lesson is a reminder of that function, and also a booster knowing that God's will is that I fulfill this function in the world. We who have studied ACIM a long time know this directive inside and out. More so, that Forgiveness takes on new meaning and urgency in our lives. We may receive tougher lessons that test our minds even deeper into fulfilling our function. It is good to know that what God wills us to do, God also gives us the help in doing. The Holy Spirit is always there to help us in times of doubt and resistance. This help is there if we can accept it. Why not accept it?

This is a supreme statement of Self-Identity. Getting this Lesson in your heart and bones is the whole purpose of A Course in Miracles. This is the ultimate Miracle—accepting your Self as God created you. The prayer is poignant:

I am the holy Son of God Himself. I cannot suffer, cannot be in pain; I cannot suffer loss, nor fail to do all that salvation asks.

Can we step up today and accept this liberation from our lower self of the ego? What keeps us tied to the past? To the problems that are not really there? We have to make a decision at some point. Why not today.

HEAVEN or HELL. Which do we choose? The choice is ALWAYS ours. LIFE or DEATH. These are also functions of our consciousness. The fact that pain is a choice we make is not always so apparent. It is easy to feel like a "victim" of pain—something that "just happens to us beyond our control." But our sub-conscious mind is in control. And this we are not always aware of how it is affecting us. But the fact is our mind, conscious or sub-conscious, is always manufacturing effects. If the effect is "pain," we can be sure our minds are off, and need the miracles of self-correction. This is what these Lessons in ACIM are: corrections of our mind, introduced by the Holy Spirit. The question is, do we really want to make these deep corrections. Only you would know that for yourself.

This Lesson gives us the doorway to Heaven. The prayer at the end is profound:

Father, we do not know the way to You. But we have called, and You have answered us. We will not interfere. Salvation's ways are not our own, for they belong to You. And it is unto You we look for them. Our hands are open to receive Your gifts. We have no thoughts we think apart from You, and cherish no beliefs of what we are, or Who created us. Yours is the way that we would find and follow. And we ask but that Your Will, which is our own as well, be done in us and in the world, that it become a part of Heaven now. Amen.

We have called God, and God knows the way to us. We just need to step back and allow the feeling of love come to us, as we make sure we would rather have The Love of God than our grievances, judgments, and attack thoughts.

We have a light in us put there by our Creator. This is the light of Pure Joy, of Truth, of Perfect Happiness, of absolute Peace. This is the light this lesson is asking us to contact within ourselves. Do we give this contact importance in our life? "I am the light of the world" is Lesson #61. "Light and Joy and Peace abide in me," is Lesson #93. Clearly Light, Peace, and Joy are synonymous. Perhaps today we are ready to make this Divine Contact.

We have the Peace of God within us. This is the blessing we extend. When we know we have something, we have it to give. But when we give something away, the ego thinks we have less of it. The Holy Spirit's Thought System knows when we give something valuable away, like Peace, we have more of it. It increases by giving it away. In fact, all that we give away becomes a blessing to ourselves and others. Lesson #187 is the answer for any trying person or situation we may encounter in life. Giving yourself a blessing of Peace extends Peace to others, even if they do not receive it right away. The Holy Spirit is in charge of their reception. We are in charge of giving the blessing to ourselves first.

If something requires our contribution to be complete, it would follow that completion depends on us. This is the logic of this Lesson #186. The bringing of the Heaven State to Earth cannot happen until we have brought this State of Being into our own life. Our part is essential in this plan of "Salvation." (Lesson #100) This is not "arrogance" to think our part is so important, because it actually is. Salvation of the world depends on us, and we can exercise true humility when we accept that our Forgiveness adds to the greater whole of Atonement—for which this world is in great need.

"I want the Peace of God." The first "gift of God" is Peace. Can we receive it? We would have to want it above all else. This wipes away all other desires, and imbues all our actions with a serenity the world does not know. The Peace of God is a gift so great we hardly recognize its all encompassing magnitude. Perhaps this is the day we can come to the pure intention that A Course in Miracles lays out for us. We want to Peace of God. Let us claim it together.

We are asked to put aside all the "names" we have given things which divide reality into separate parts. There is a WHOLENESS that we are not seeing when we "name things." This lesson is a portal into that State of Mind that is suspended from division and separation. We have to claim this inheritance by giving our attention to the One Name of All that is Created—the Name of God.

The call of God’s Name is something available to us. We can always make it. In our sincerity to be in contact with our Creator, the Name of God is there for us to invoke and use. Will we do it? The Name of God is also our real Name as well. We are uplifted in it.

Where is our home? We yearn to go there. It is not an external place. The Home we see is inside of us. It contains the universe. It is the stillness and the Peace of God we seek, and that state of mind is within us. The Home we seek is a still small voice of the Christ Child in us, blazing in its innocence, lighting the way for us to return to our Self as God created us. Will you and I go there together? We can in an instant go Home. Let's go!

What would it take for us to let go and trust? What would it take for us to let go of all grievances and see in the Light of Christ's vision? This Lesson is just about that. The Law is this—what we give out we receive. So if we project guilt and mistrust onto anyone, we receive those judgments back upon ourselves. But if we extend trust, and see our brother's sinlessness, then we will be given grace and sinlessness ourselves. Therefore, to trust our brothers is the right action to establish peace in our life.

We live by Grace, and we are released in its benevolent care of innocence. There is no mistake we have made that cannot be corrected, and we are absolved of any guilt entirely. In this restoration of our innocence, we can be gentle and kind. There is no cruelty in us any more. We have arrived at a place of inner safety, and external order. All of our needs are met, and our desires are fulfilled.

There is One Life that has no separation. Within this state of wholeness, there in do division or conflict. The Grace of our Divine Creator descends upon us, and we are blessed in the providence of all that we need and want. The present is Holy, and we have many instants of supreme appreciation for Life. All is good, and we are among the ministers of God.

The Gifts of God only bring Peace and Joy. Therefore, why would I not receive them? Every time I have an alternative to joy, I am denying the Thoughts of God. These are the Gifts of my Divine Inheritance, yet, I cannot receive them as long as I hold grievances, attack thoughts, victim thoughts, etc. In this Lesson we can stop "denying" our Inheritance, and accept it with the open and loving arms of our Creator.

Who but The Christ could say, "There is no death." The Christ has overcome all affiliation to death, and affirmed the Joy of God is our only purpose here. Any thought that is not supremely happy is a "death thought," and only in separation from our Source could we think such thoughts. But it is not possible to be separate from our Source. So it is not possible to ever die. We are One with our Source. This is our reality, therefore, there is no death. This is cause for great rejoicing.

Lesson #176 is a review of giving blessings to our brothers. It is also in seeing the holiness of our brothers so we can see it in ourself. Without this exchange the grace of God cannot descend upon us. Blessing is a sure sign that the separation has ended in our mind, and we have something to give and receive.

This Review V brackets every two Lessons (151-170) with this statement: "God is but Love, and therefore so am I." Love is our Home. Fear is a stranger here. LOVE is who we are. Fear is a distraction of our ego, our false self, to usurp the home of Love. But the miracles will always undo this fear, and show us the ways of Love. This is our home, and we give the miracles we have received. This restores our minds to Love.

Can we enter into Christ's Presence. What would that look like to us. We explore this.

Who leads us? Will we step back? What does that mean? Can we make ourselves empty, and allow the Divine to fill us? Can we be "guided by God?" Most of the time we are trying to "figure it out." We think we must manage everything. Can we just completely let go? Life will take care when we completely let go. Will we though? These Lessons help us.

What defenses do we have? Anger? Judgment? Control? We are asked to give up "defenses." We are also asked to "be among the ministers of God." These are tall orders. Can we rise to meet them? Love is the vibration of no defenses. Love is Truth, and Truth needs no explanation or defense. It is what it is. It is as certain as the sun rising. We are being asked to accept the Truth. Can we?

We are asked to walk with the Christ now, and give Him our hands and feet and whole being for sharing the truth of our unification. Love is who we are as God created us. Would we identify with anything short of that? These reviews are asking for our co-operation to be in the Strength of our Divine connection.

Fear causes us to defend ourself. Defenses attract attack, then we feel justified in our counter attacks. This Lesson points out this "cruel dynamic." We project this justification for attack onto God—now we have an idol—a "god of vengeance." What if God has none of this. There is no "god of vengeance." This is a construct of our imagined guilt and separation. This is a return to sanity. Our brothers are not "out to get us." Attack is never justified. Forgiveness is what is needed, not attack and "cruelty."

Grace is an absolute state of mind. Can we rise above dualism, the level of thought itself, to enter into this state of grace? This is the challenge put forth in this Lesson, and in this talk given on Lesson #169. Markus explores grace, even within the challenges of physical ailments and problems. Can we rise above problems and be in a different dimension of Grace? Join Markus in this essential human question.

Grace is the gift of God in our life so certainly present that we can relax and let go into perfect care and safety. Wouldn't this be the goal of miraculous thinking? The "last step" is up to God bestowing upon us, when we have forgiven ourselves and everyone else completely. The grace of God is given. Can we claim it fully? This Lesson holds out the certainty that God will provide everything we need, and more.

This Lesson establishes us in the ONE LIFE we share with our Creator. This is an Immortal Life. This is a spiritual paradigm in which there is no death. We come to a complete shift in this Lesson with identification with the Spirit. Will we make a stand today to be the Christ or remain our "personality" we made up? We have a choice to make—a decision for Heaven or hell; Eternal Life or death. It seems like this choice should not be hard to make. Why not?

What are the Gifts of God? They would have to be the most valuable things in Life, yes? LIFE and GOD are ONE. So they could also be called the Gifts of Life. What if we were taught as soon as we could talk these are the most important acquisitions a person can have? We might have saved a lot of struggle, strife, and inner confusion. This is a beautiful Lesson to master. In the mastery we are entrusted more and more with the gifts. But we have to practice them and give them away to master them. What better thing do we have to do in life than to master the Gifts of God?

There is a Thought of God that underlies all the illusions of strife and struggle that seem to permeate our world. This is nothing short of Heaven. Through a decision, we are told in Lesson #138, we can enter into this divine realm. The problem is pointed out in this Lesson--we are in denial of our Divine Connection. Consciously or unconsciously we do not think we can achieve perfection, because we have not fully forgiven everyone and everything. It is through the power of the Christ in us that we are able to do this. and we need His help to make this decision. In that, there is no "denial."

We are connected to our Source, but are we fully aware of this connection? It has to be total, in order to be One with it. We may be experiencing emotional states that "separate us" from this whole Awareness—anger, fear or guilt. What would help us undo these? Christ's Vision is talked about. What is it? Are we interested in seeing through Christ's Vision? This is what would undo our anger, fear and guilt. And this is necessary before the Oneness with our Source can be recognized and realized.

How do you feel to be told there is no death? Also, that "sadness, fear, anxiety, doubt, anger, faithlessness and lack of trust, concern for bodies, and envy" are all "forms of death?" We are Spirit. In this perfect state of the Love of God which is timeless, there is no death. Therefore, we are immortal. This is the true essence of our Being. It is who we are as God created us. Can we get our heads around this? It's a huge leap in human evolution.

This lesson, held firmly in the mind, will liberate us from death. This is Jesus's promise. Will we have trust that His words are true? This is one Lesson which is repeated three times in the Workbook of ACIM. It would have to be a key lesson for it to be given three times. "I am as God created me." What have we "made up" to be our self? This we have to relinquish in order to make contact with our true, God created Self. Victory over death is held out to us. We need but accept it.

“Give me your blessing.” This is quite a request. When we see with the eyes of Christ, without any judgment or attack, we are entitled to that energy of forgiveness coming back to us. This Lesson is about extending Christ’s vision so we can have it as our own. Giving blessing and asking for it in return is the action of the Christ in our actual life.

Fear or Love? Which do we choose to be our home? These are the only two "options" we have. One is generated from our True Self. The other is self-imposed by a made up self, in separation from our Source—Love. If Fear is real, then Love would be diminished and rendered partial, losing its power of all pervasiveness. If Love is real, fear cannot exist. This Lesson helps us ponder the nature of our Self. Love can "cast out" the fear, the "stranger," if we allow it. The Holy Spirit of the Christ can help us do that.

We give what we have. And, we also realize, we have what we give. In the realm of the miraculous, when we give something away we increase it in ourselves. More LOVE given away brings the giver more LOVE. The more we forgive others, by giving forgiveness away, the more we have forgiveness for ourselves. Christ's vision is one of a forgiven world in which the step into Heaven is very short. Beauty abounds, and forgiveness rests upon all things. Truly these are the miracles we have received as students of ACIM.

Are we receiving and giving Christ's vision here? What is it? Love holds no grievances. Forgiveness is complete. And we have accepted the Atonement for ourselves. Then we look upon a "forgiven world." Are we doing this? This is the challenge and the gift.

Into His Presence would we enter now. What is this Presence? Are we ready to enter into it? The Christ’s Presence is very real, and available to us, yet it is only through our pure intent that we will approach it and enter into it. It is not attained through “learning,” but rather through grace and the surrender of our ego’s attempts. The Presence is there when we show up empty handed, and with the faith that we will receive this divine connection.

“I walk with God in perfect holiness.” Do we keep this in our awareness during the day? If not, why not? If this is the real Source of our Joy, then it would follow that we do not really want Joy if we are not stepping back and following our Source. We inadvertently follow “pain and suffering” then. Maybe the ego does not want us to realize we are doing this, but we are. However, we always have another way to choose. This is the journey of our True Self that is already in us to follow.

What does it mean to step back and let Him lead the way? Who is He, whom leads the way? And where would He be leading you? These are the questions this lesson brings up in us. The Christ is the one we are invoking in this lesson to “lead the way.” A state of mind that is in a state of happiness is the destination. Are we willing to step back, put our directions aside, and go the way towards this inner transformation? This is what the Lesson is asking us to do.

We have a message of innocence to deliver. We did not write the message, but we have been chosen to deliver it to those appointed us. Will we choose to follow this direction, listening to the "Voice for God?" We have free will to cooperate with this mission or not. We have free will to join with the Christ in us or not. Why not if it brings us more joy? Being among the ministers of God means that we accept the message of sinlessness in order to give it. In the giving we realize we have received it.

No Lesson in A Course in Miracles reverses the thinking of the world as much as this one. The ego associates "safety" with "defenses." In reality it is just the opposite. A Mind that is safe has no need for defenses, because it sees it cannot be threatened, hurt, or made to do what it does not choose. This is the Lesson in which we begin to "identify" with the Christ Consciousness within us. This is a practice we all need. In this Divine Connection is true safety, which requires no defenses to maintain.

What is the “power of decision?” What are we deciding? Nothing short of being the Master of our Divine Destiny we share with our Creator. This is one of the KEY LESSONS in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles. This lesson is a matter of “life or death.” This power of decision lies in our own hands, not in some force “beyond our control.” Truly we have things to clean up in our life, and order to re-establish. But ultimately, Immortality is God’s will for us. Can we make this decision is the question?

This is the first lesson in the next section of 20 lessons. "All things are echoes of the Voice for God." Can we give up our own judgments of people and things? We must if we would like to be shown Christ's Vision. The Voice for God can give us the one JUDGMENT of innocence that is our Truth. This we extend to our brothers, and transmute all we thought before into the Truth. We can let go into this Energy of God's Voice.

In Estonia we presented a “Spiritual Cleaning Training.” This is the talk we gave, translated into Estonian, on ACIM. There were many people who had not heard of it before. What is the basic truth that A Course in Miracles is trying to help us realize? What is the purpose of studying this thought System of Christ Consciousness? These are a couple of the questions answered in this Podcast talk (with Estonian translation).

This is the last lesson of Review IV. "My mind holds only what I think with God; I will accept atonement for myself; Only salvation can be said to cure." Are we ready to see ourselves in a different light? Complete forgiveness is the atonement. And this is the pathway to curing all that ails us. This is what ACIM calls "salvation." The questions is, "Can we accept it?"

We are in the momentum of suffering. The root of this suffering is our imagined separation from the Source of Life. Healing is a decision we make to be connected to our Source in our awareness. This connection is free of suffering and despair. Then we can begin to “clean up” our projections of sickness and defenses. Others are positively affected by this healing. It does not occur in isolation. We are unified together with our Source and with our brothers and sisters.

Defenses attract attack. By the time we pick up a defense, in essence, we are perceiving ourselves as "already attacked." This leads to more trouble, and might even manifest as a "sickness." Anger held in the mind over a period of time can easily make the "body" sick. Anger is a defense, and defenses attract attack, sickness, and a state of being NOT in touch with our Inner Peace and Joy. Realizing Peace and Joy is God's will for us. Anything short of that is not the truth with a capital "T."

What do we value? Will it last forever? Does it serve the good of everyone? Will it instill our God Created innocence? These are the questions Sondra and Markus discuss in this Lesson from Review IV. What is true forgiveness. This is also explored in this Podcast.

The Truth we honestly seek is ours. We cannot fail in this search. But one of the actions we must take is to bring our Mind to emptiness. No judgments, no assessments of the world we see at all compose the "real world." We can see the meaninglessness of all of our projections. On the "clean slate" of our Holy Mind, the "still mind" and the "quiet mind," God can show us who we really are. In this Truth we cannot fail.

We have a decision to make. There is a "world" of the ego's thought system. And beyond that world, there is nothing short of Heaven. But it requires our decision. Because we cannot see both, or the sight of one blocks the sight of the other, we have to choose. Which will it be for you?

1) Beyond this world there is a world I want.

2) It is impossible to see two worlds

“There is no Love but God’s.” We see the reflection of love in this world. Clearly it comes from the Original Source of Creation. We are asked to tap into that love. Also, we are asked to move past and beyond the “substitute” forms of “love,” which masquerade as attachment, co-dependence, and a “world” that really holds nothing for us.

Today we explore the "quiet." In Quiet I receive God's word and "thoughts." Can we bring our mind to that deep silence within? And then we give from that place of inner connection. What we give grows within us, and our storehouse is increased. The more joy we give away the more we have it for ourselves. This is obvious. And in turn, we have more Joy to give away as we take it within ourselves.

Grievances and non-forgiveness block our awareness of our Divine Mind. Can we let them go? In order to see our mind one with God's Mind, forgiveness is necessary. And forgiveness is the key to happiness. The gifts of God are realized in this Mind, one of total forgiveness. Are we ready to remember who we really are in this Mind we share with God. It reminds us of lesson in #35: "My mind is part of God's. I am very holy."

1) I thank my Father for His gifts to me.

2) Let me remember I am one with God.

“My mind holds only what I think with God.” This thought would silence all of the rest. What would we be if only the “thoughts of God” filled our mind? Forgiveness would be complete, our mind would be still—emptied of all the meaningless “chatter” of fear, anger or guilt that keeps us distracted from awareness of our Sacred Source. But in fact, our mind only does hold what it thinks with God. This begins our direct contact with those thoughts.

1) Forgiveness is the key to happiness.

2) Forgiveness offers everything I want.

Only your innocence is the real "medicine." We try to "heal the body" of its symptoms without healing the source of the sickness in the first place—good old fashioned GUILT! Guilt is underneath all sickness in the body. It is the mind that makes up the guilt, not the body. We have to accept the Atonement for ourselves. Only complete forgiveness, then (The course calls this "salvation") can be said to cure you of guilt, the cause of your disease.

Accepting who we are as God created us restores us to our Divine Perfection instantly. There is no heavy penance to perform. We discover a silence deep within that has left the uncertainties of the world behind. The Holy Spirit takes us there when we accept the Atonement for ourselves.

Have we ever made a real decision? Perfect Happiness is our true nature. It does not have an opposite. This is something you know in your very bones is true, and not any storm or change of fate can undo it. This is one of the "pinnacle" Lessons in a long string of Miracles. Can we take these words and heed them? One day we must. Why not now? We took a birth to come and make this one Decision. We have the help of the Holy Spirit to make it. There is a place in you of perfect peace that does not have an opposite. Enter into this place and never leave it.

The sickness of "separation" cannot be healed in isolation. We imagined this separation to be true, and it made us "sick," both mentally and physically. Undoing our false sense of separation is the healing, and this cannot be done alone. Our healing is what everyone else is waiting for, so we can all ascend into our highest potentials and be healthy and free...together.

This Lesson lets us know that the mind rules the body in all instances. And the mind in union with its Divine Creator results in pure joy. Sicknesses we “make up” and play out in the body are defenses against these facts. The truth is that our true Self is never “sick.” We are asked to live from that Self all of the time.

"If I defend myself I am attacked." This is a totally new perspective on the subject of defenses. When I defend myself with my own plans, I am not trusting on the Peace of God to keep me safe. I am not allowing my mind to embrace the care of the Universe to provide for me. This subtle form of defense invites attack and for things to run amuck. God's plan for me results in perfect happiness when I am really with it, without my ego's plans.

Let us perceive forgiveness as it is. This Lesson is without a doubt a challenge to apply. It is hard to forgive people we really feel have “done wrong.” Yet we are asked to forgive what is false, not what is true. The false does not exist. But, what about very physical infractions and “crimes” that “demand punishment?” This discussion goes into a deep and pivotal process that is put forth in A Course in Miracles.

What is valuable? This is the theme of this Lesson. Will our choices lead us to Heaven or to hell? This is the question. Only what lasts forever has value. Only what is good for all has value. Only the innocent has value. This lesson helps us distinguish the valuable from the valueless.

The world is merely a projection of our thoughts we impose upon it. All of its troubles we made up. There is a spiritual reality in which we remove these projections. This is the subject of this Lesson. Can we change our mind and stop projecting our negative thoughts onto the world? This is up to us. It is the only may we can make a fundamental change, and make contact with the “perfect happiness” of our reality.

We are all seeking something. This Lesson #131 tells us we cannot fail in our search for the truth. Heaven is here for us when we give up all of the other futile searches for improvement in the places that have not yielded happiness. There is a place within us that is the perfect resolution of this issue of seeking a better world. We can go there in this Lesson.

We cannot see two worlds. We either look through the eyes of the ego, or we look through the eyes of the Holy Spirit that has let go and forgiven the world of the ego. We have a decision to make. Can we make it is the question.

Beyond this world there is a world I want. The Lesson says there is a Light within the darkness of the world that is beyond what the body’s eyes can “see.” Our Divine Connection is the “Light” that does not rely on the thoughts and visions of living in this world we made up. We are asked to make this other connection now, and to not delay in leaving behind the “world” of thoughts the ego has manufactured. Let’s give it the attention today, to make contact with this holy space of our true Identity in God.

What is the “world” according to A Course in Miracles? These next three lessons examine the world and our attachment to it. Can we let go of our interpretation and attachment to our conditioning about the world. It holds nothing that we want, the Lesson says. Can we step outside of this conditioning, is the question?

This Lesson gives us the whole enchilada about Love, its Source, its scope, its full meaning in our Life.

What I extend I receive. The forgiveness that we give still has the seeds of judgment embedded in it. Therefore, another version of forgiveness is necessary. To see clearly the spotless nature of our True Identity is to render all mistakes meaningless. When we give a vision of absolute innocence and peace, then no mistake can stand in the way of our Holiness. We see the Holiness of our brother [regardless of his errors] and our Self simultaneously. In this way, all that we give in terms of a vision of absolute innocence is given to ourself.

Who is quiet? This is the state of Mind that the Course is leading us to, in order to receive the directions from our Creator. Who can quiet their mind in order to be empty? Into the empty space we can receive. Our job in this lesson is to observe our mind and let go. By letting go we create a space of inner silence. This state is essential in order to receive Divine guidance.

Can we remember we are one with God? What would that mean to us? This Lesson continues in the gifts that God bestows on us when we are cognizant of His Presence in our life. What stops us from paying attention to this important connection? Do we think we already know what we are here to be and express? We are encouraged to make this Divine Connection the most important one in our Life.

Gratitude is the attitude of receiving and giving. The gifts of God are only effective if we receive and give them. They are “grounded in our being,” so to speak. This Lesson make it clear that an inner atmosphere of gratitude is what strengthens our bond to the “gifts of God.” We give thanks for the four months of inner transformations that A Course in Miracles have brought about in us.

Forgiveness offers everything we want. The Gifts of God are profound, and forgiveness offers these to us. Do we value them? Do we want peace? Do we want a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Maybe we have not even considered we can have these gifts. Do we even value them? This Lesson says that forgiveness offers them to us. Do we believe that, or would we rather keep our judgments and grievances? Truly this is an important Lesson.

This Lessons begins the deep teaching of ACIM. "Forgiveness is the Key to happiness," and we need help in this process because we have been so used to a mind of "judgments" and "grievances." To imagine a mind without them seems almost impossible. This is why the Lesson says we need to learn to give up these judgments, "but from a Teacher other than yourself, Who represents the other Self in you. Through Him you learn how to forgive the self you think you made, and let it disappear. Thus you return your mind as one to Him Who is your Self, and Who can never sin." Can we do it?

These two Lessons put us in peace when it comes to our daily actions. Can we allow God to move in us and through us? "I rest in God." This is the statement that will bring our minds to peace in all that we do. But we have to remember to put our minds in this place of complete letting go. Accepting that we already are as God created us, we can let go and rest in God. Then life takes care of all of all our needs.

The truth is, "God's Peace and Joy are mine." Anytime I am not feeling this Peace and Joy, then I am in some thought which is an error. Not to worry, because all "errors" can be corrected. Are we willing to give the truth of "Peace and Joy" our attention, in order to receive this truth? This is the principle: We can return to God's Peace and Joy easily because we are hard wired with them. They are "in us," not outside of us. Seeking for external goals (that we may or may not readily achieve) could be a distraction from the Peace and Joy that is available to us now. We have to claim these gifts of God right in this instant, inside of ourselves. The Holy Spirit helps us to do this. Truth helps us to do this.

What is the truth? God's peace and joy are ours. And these are absolute—without opposites. The other truth is that we are God's Perfect Son/Daughter. Are we listening to this "truth," or do have some other conflict or guilt in our life that we are giving too much energy and importance. Perfect happiness does not include conflict or guilt. So why do we allow them? It's time we make a stand to connect with this power of Divine Consciousness within us. We can if we really want that "above all else."

We are given gifts by our Creator that are our heritage. This means we are the inheritors of these gifts, without needing to earn them. They are already ours. But we need to let go of the impurities that would prevent us from receiving them—such as attack thoughts, grievances, judgments, doubts, etc. We seek what already belongs to us, and we can end our seeking with this knowledge. We can claim peace by extending it. We can realize love by giving it away. And happiness is God's will for us to have, all of the time.

God's will for us is happiness and only happiness. This is what makes it "perfect." Perfect happiness does not vacillate or "revert" to "unhappiness." It is Pure Joy that is constant. Can we align our will with that of God's? It is the only will there is. But we have free will to think otherwise, and to make up scenarios of suffering for ourselves. This is what we have to release. And the Unknown can help us in this. The Holy Spirit (which is so much a part of the sacred Unknown) works to give us Perfect Happiness all of the time. Let's get out of the way to receive and share it.

What is "salvation?" What are we to be saved from? There is a goal we are given. Nothing short of perfect happiness. Nothing short of the end of all suffering. Nothing short of constant joy. We go through a lot of ups and downs. Salvation is the end of judgments and the acceptance of Pure Joy. Perfect happiness is not only attainable, but it is our function here to realize it. Join Markus and Sondra in this discussion.

Are we limiting ourselves? Most likely we are. The Life Force is Unlimited and we are the Life Force. Why do we think we are limited by a body? God's "plan for salvation" is to liberate us from all thoughts of lack and limitation. We dedicate this day to our liberation. "I am spirit," is a declaration of independence. And we accept our part in this grand plan.

These are the Lessons in which we end the duality we carry in our pitiful view of our self. We are one Self. And this Self is not conflicted in arguments of "good" versus "bad." The low opinions we have carried in the form of self judgments and grievances have no meaning. We can let them go and embrace our one Self. We are unified in light, joy and peace. These abide strongly in our one Self. We claim this one Self today.

Can we see that we already have what we thought we were seeking? Light and Joy and Peace abide in us already. END of SEEKING. We do, however, need to make contact with this State of Mind that is already in us. We are as God created us in our original Being. Removing our history of conditioning through forgiveness is the only "work" we have to do. Letting go requires not effort, but the ego wants to make it complicated. And then the unwillingness comes up. Can we do the practice today, as prescribed? Every half hour? We all will benefit.

Today begins our 3rd review. "Miracles are seen in light, & Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one." The practice is to think of one lesson on the hour, and the other one on the half hour. A Course in Miracles is training our mind to use these new thoughts in our every day life. Can we remember, or do we let "unwillingness" get the better of us? You decide.

This lesson is powerful. Can we receive this statement of Self Identity? What would we substitute that is full of struggle? The easy path is to accept this thought as the real truth. It can "undo" our images of ourself. Try remembering this and be in the flow. "I am as God created me. HIs Son can suffer nothing, and I am His Son."

" 'I rest in God.' This thought will bring to you the rest and quiet, peace and stillness, and the safety and the happiness you seek. 'I rest in God.' This thought has power to wake the sleeping truth in you, whose vision sees beyond appearances to that same truth in everyone and everything there is. Here is the end of suffering for all the world, and everyone who ever came and yet will come to linger for a while. Here is the thought in which the Son of God is born again, to recognize himself."

Giving and receiving are one in the spiritual dimension. What you give you receive more of in proportion to your giving. Give Love away and you receive more love. Give anger away and you receive more anger. This is a law that is clarified in this Lesson.

What is the truth? What is the error that truth is meant to correct? Are we in a deep sense of peace and joy? To the degree we are not is an "error." We are told truth will give us a deep sense of peace, the likes of which we have never known. It will increase 100 times, then 100 more. We are asked to invite the Christ Consciousness into our mind. Can we do it? Are we willing to do it? Try it. This is the day we make contact with the Christ in us, and this will not be an idle fantasy. This is the truth that will correct all errors in our mind.

We have a responsibility to receive and give the truth, which in the case of these past few lessons, are the Peace and Joy of God. Can we receive what belongs to us? Can we maintain Peace and Joy in the midst of an often raucous and conflicting world? This is our challenge and our gift. The happiness of God is not dependent on external conditions being met. It is not a party we have, to put on for ourselves to prove we are having fun. God's Peace and Joy are ours to first receive, and then to share. Receive them and give them away. This is the true dynamic of holiness.

God's peace and joy are ours. Will we claim them? We claim them most by giving them away. The more peace and joy we extend to others (especially to those who activate us the most) the more we will receive peace and joy. This is a common thread that runs through A Course in Miracles - what we extend is what we receive. Extend peace and joy, and we will receive more of it. Project anger and upset, and we will get more of those. The truth that we seek is God's peace and joy. They are ours to extend. And the more we "give them away" the more of them we will have. This is the simple truth.

Peace and Joy are already within us. This lesson makes it clear. We need not "seek" outside of our Self for a condition that is already "in us." Peace and Joy are our inheritance from God to claim. Can we end all the external "seeking," and discover the stillness and silence within that are our greatest gifts and assets from our Creator?

We might not think we associate "love" with struggle, strife, and problems. But we do. We might not associate love with "only happiness." This Lesson makes it perfectly clear that where there is Love, there is also God and Happiness. Where there is not happiness, there is so form of separation from Love and God going on. This is a clear statement, very simple, that washes away centuries of false religious theology that said Love must endure pain and suffering. Love is not a matter of "putting up with pain," but undoing the thoughts that produced the pain in the first place. Love undoes. This is the lesson that sets us back on the track to perfect happiness.

What would God's Will be for us if not perfect happiness? Suffering buys us nothing, and we are not asked to make "retribution" for our "sins" through some form of pain and suffering. The age of "sacrifice" is over. Can we stop "beating ourselves up" with guilt, shame, fear, anger, and attack thoughts? We have to share in God's Will for us, which is perfect happiness and eternal JOY. We may think it is not possible. But God's Will is not only "possible," but has the power of the universe behind it to deliver to the "doorstep" of our awareness. Will we let it in, is the question?

The concept and belief in "sin" is totally undone in this lesson. It states, "There is no sin; it has no consequences." In the space left empty by removing the belief in "sin," there is no fear, anger, guilt, pain or suffering, which all rise from the belief in "sin." In this space there is perfect happiness, which is not dependent upon the external conditions we often associate with pleasure. In the space free of "sin," there is a clear view of the Self God created, which is our true Self, one of “perfect happiness."

We have a part in God’s plan for salvation, which is simply to be happy. This Lesson #100 makes happiness and salvation synonymous. Our part in the greater plan to end sorrow in us and in the world, is to make the decision for perfect happiness. Heaven and happiness go together, just as surely as sorrow and hell are states of being from which we are attempting to escape. Will we decide for happiness? It’s our challenge to play our essential role.

Salvation and forgiveness are the same. And this is our function on earth. The depths of this function unfold on every page of A Course in Miracles. We can accept our part in this action of forgiveness or not. But it is the only way we can transmute negative vibrations of pain and suffering into a world restored to sanity. And this happens individually, inside of us. We take responsibility for what we see and how we see it. In this cleaning up pf our perception, there is God’s Love.

Will we accept our part in God’s plan for salvation? This comes with some clear directions. Are we committed to total forgiveness? Are we willing to give up all grievances? Can we see that Happiness is our function in this process of letting go of judgments? And are we willing to stick with the practice and disengage from the world in order to make direct contact with the Holy Spirit within? This is the call of this Lesson—"I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.”

The shortest Lesson in the Course, only three words, is one of the most powerful. I AM SPIRIT. It is a statement of Self-Identity. It is a statement of our unlimited nature. It is a statement of who we are as God created us. Can we accept this truth about us. What would happen if we do? We are given this prayer:

"Spirit am I, a holy Son of God, free of all limits, safe and healed and whole, free to forgive, and free to save the world."

This is a statement heard around the world from us when we do the practice of this Lesson. Join with us in sending out this powerful energy of healing to a world in much need of inner peace. Join us in this peace, by acknowledging for yourself, "I am spirit."

There is no divided Self. The unity of the Self is a blessing to all in Creation. And we are that Self. We can put aside conflict, and see that we are Spiritual beings, totally joined and connected to everything in the Universe. This wholeness is our healing. This oneness is our "salvation."

We are one Self, united with our Creator. This is a statement of a fact. Can we be in the flow and appreciation from this realization? At one with every aspect of creation—that is a unifying statement without exception. Can we accept our Self as God created us to be. Everyone is entitled to this divine embrace of wholeness. And we are challenged to include those persons whom we would have excluded from our holy vision. Now we can see them as part of our One Self.

We are as God created us. The lessons tells us we are "sinless," and that we do not need to do anything to receive the benefits from this lesson immediately. Mistakes have been forgiven and corrected, when we accept this statement as the truth about ourself. "I am as God created me." This wipes away all the self-images and concepts we have made, both "good" and "bad," and puts our awareness on the immaculate Self. Our mind comes to stillness when we ponder this statement the first five minutes of every hour. Try to do the practice today, and give yourself the gift of sinlessness the lesson imparts.

There is a light in us that is inextinguishable. It is the Source of peace and joy. It is the opposite of the way we see ourselves now, but it is our only reality. It is our higher Self that is true, not the conflicted self we made up. Can we make contact with this impeccable Self we are? Today is the day. Give this attention to the lesson and make contact with your God created Self. Its “sinlessness is guaranteed by God.”

There is a strength in seeing beyond appearances. “It is God's strength in you that is the light in which you see, as it is His Mind with which you think.” We need to find this light within us. We need to use the strength in us that transcends the brain, and the images our ego has made to “define” us.

Miracles are seen in the light. Can we see in this light? How do we see it? There is a light that the body’s eyes do not see, but is nevertheless there. This is the light of truth—the light of simplicity and love. This lesson helps us have a change of mind in which we see the light. In this atmosphere miracles are natural.

Let me recognize my problem is a grievance. Let me also recognize there is an immediate solution when I am willing to let go of my grievances. Sondra and Markus discuss this lesson in Hairakhan, Babaji’s ashram in the foothills of the Himalayas. The solution is a miracle, and it does not take time to have one. We just need to let our judgments, attack thoughts, and grievances go. Then a space is clear for the miraculous to unfold in our life.

1) Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.

2) Let me recognize my problems have been solved.

I am entitled to miracles when I can give up my grievances. Miracles are my right. Also, a state of being which is free of all problems is my natural state. There is a blissful happiness within, made accessible when is ask for miracles instead of grievances. This action of “letting go” is my responsibility. Then the Holy Spirit is invoked in shifting a situation around. Healing is the result of letting go of attack thoughts and grievances.

1) I am entitles to miracles.

2) Let miracles replace all grievances.

Sondra and Markus broadcast from Babaji's Cave in Herakhan, India. The light has come. Can we forgive the world totally and allow our grievances to be dissolved? This is the only "law" under which we can realize our true Identity is love. There is no will that we can truly join with other than this: we will let our grievances go so we can join with the one law of Love, the one law of God.

1) The light has come.

2) I am under no laws but God's.

I will there be light. Can we “will” that any situation comes to peace and harmony? This lesson guarantees that we can. Furthermore, it is our responsibility to put others in this light, especially ones with whom we may have “grievances.” There is no will but God’s for us to come to peace and harmony, free of all grievances. Is this the day we will make our will one with God’s and give up our grievances? You decide.

1) I will there be light.

2) There is no will but God's.

Only God's plan for salvation will work. What is it? Holding grievances is the opposite of that. The grievances we hold, the attack thoughts we project about external people and things, is in opposition to our "salvation." Do we want a peaceful world or do we choose to live in the conflicts of our own grievances and opinions?

1) Only God's plan for salvation will work.

2) Holding grievances is an attack on God's plan for salvation.

My grievances hide the light in me. Would I rather be in the dark, or give up my grievances and be in the light. This is the choice I have to make. We all have to make this decision. In this one choice is our “salvation,” and that comes from us. Therefore, “salvation” comes from us as well.

1) My grievances hide the light of the world in me.

2) My salvation comes from me.

Love created me like itself. Would I then judge the perfection in which I was created? This is a great opportunity to look upon our Self and undo the ego that is distracted by grievances. Love holds no grievances is the next lesson. Can we have a new way of living, in which all grievances are dropped. We are either in the celebration of Love, or we are forgiving that which we formerly judged. Our function is to not hold grievances of any kind.

1) Love created me like itself.

2) Love holds no grievances.

My only function is the one God gave me. Are we with our function? Forgiveness is it, as the light of the world. Accepting this function brings happiness and only happiness. My happiness and my function are one. Can we trust that this is so? The lessons confront our ego to let go. Can we do that?

1) My only function is the one God gave me.

2) My happiness and my function are one.

Today’s Review tells us the light of the world, which is realized through forgiveness, brings peace to every mind. That is a function we all have. Can we remember it is the question? The ego wants to forget it. This is why we have to remind ourselves. “Let me not forget my function.” The challenge is clearly to forgive in situations that tempt us to reaction.

1) The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.

2) Let me not forget my function.

In this year we give to God, are we giving ourselves to the practice of miracles? Today begins the Review II. We are asked to give 15 minutes twice in the day to contemplating the two lessons given: one in the morning, and one in the evening. This is an opportunity to see how committed we are. Are we holding ourselves accountable in this process? Are we holding Jesus accountable in His providence of miracles? These are pertinent questions to ask ourselves now. Here are the two thoughts for today:

I am the light of the world
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world

“Let me recognize my problems have been solved.” This Lesson is confronting us to give up the thoughts in us which have manufactured problems. We are to apply the lesson to any situation that is unsettling: “Let me recognize this problem has been solved.” Can we do it though, in the midst of the very conditions of the situation? That is the test, isn’t it? Sondra and Markus look at this lesson in relationship to an actual real life “problem” with their “noisy neighbor.”

What is our problem? This Lesson #79 says it is only one—our imagined separation from our Source Energy. The separation into believing we are an ego, and forgetting our Sacred Source, is the only problem we need to “solve.” Instead of having many “problems,” we have only one. This is it. What is the solution? Recognizing that it is impossible to be “separated,” and that we can be in constant contact with our Source. This remembrance is the beginning of solving all problems.

This lesson makes it very clear: will we choose miracles or grievances? This is our choice, and we receive the results of our choice. Heaven or hell? The power of life or the illusion of death? The lesson applies this to relationships, and asks us to take the person we “hate” the most, and see them as our “savior” in the practice—a very sobering and important exercise.

We are entitled to miracles, but we have to be willing to receive them. This requires that we drop our position and let go. We need the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, but too often we think we can make decisions by ourself without considering miraculous outcomes. We have to ask, in other words, to be guided. Can we do it? We are entitled to miracles, but we have to be open to receive them.

We are under no “laws” but God’s. What are they? Sondra asks. God’s laws only give, they never take. Sacrifice and “payment” are not needed. Tap into the infinite supply of God’s abundance that can meet any need or solve any problem. We are under no laws but God’s. It is time that we claim our access to this divine order.

The Light has come. Can we forgive the world? To the degree we can we will see the light. To the degree we can’t, or “won’t,” we remain in the dark. This is a key lesson in our journey to wake up. We hold hands with you and choose forgiveness as our function as the light of the world.

There is no will but God’s. When we make our will one with God’s there is no conflict, then. These are statements that bring peace, because ACIM defines the will of God as one of perfect peace. We only need to decide this is our will as well, to come to inner peace. All else is a dream of “war” we made up.

“I will there be light.” Are we making our hell or accepting our heaven that we share with God? In this Lesson we have to make a decision to join our will with God’s. We can leave the past behind now, and give up our grievances for heaven.

Holding grievances is an attack on who we are, because grievances concern the body, and we are being asked to see ourselves as Love, not the body. The body is a “ship” of sorts in this dimension, and the “captain” of our ship directs its course. Are we directing it on the course of Love, or on the course of grievances and identification with the “body” as our “self?” This is a key lesson in removing our identification away from the “body.”

Only God’s plan for salvation will work. This is a strong statement. Our “plans” will not lead to “perfect happiness.” This may be a “bitter pill” to swallow. We must admit “we don’t know,” and this is often challenging. In this Lesson, we actually ask God, “what do we do, where do we go, and what do we say?” This is the beginning of being guided.

The "problem" and the "solution" are brought together in this Lesson. The guilt, fear, and anger we have made up in our mind and be undone there too, by us. What we have made up, we can unmake. The "salvation" we seek from pain and suffering in this lifetime is within our mind to have. Give yourself 10-15 minutes of this inner peace as we practice these recent Lessons to restore our connection to our Divine Source.

Holding grievances hides the light in us. Sondra and Markus explore the situation in which seeing the status quo the way it is may require an action. Can this action be taken without a grievance? This is the crux of the lesson.

“Love holds no grievances.” This is a key lesson in A Course in Miracles. It defines the real action of forgiveness. Letting our complaints and our grievances go is an action we all must take to be students this work. Seeing our “enemy” as our friend is a necessary step in the process of Self Awakening. Can we do it? This is the challenge of this lesson.

“Love created me like itself.” This is the first lesson in which our Self is identified as Love. We accept our function as the Sons and Daughters of God. And God has only positive attributes. God is not a “punishing and vengeful god” that we may have been taught in our organized religions. God is Love and that is what we are too.

God gives us only happiness. So if we are not happy, then we are not in touch with our Divine Source. This lesson associates our function with our happiness. Fulfilling our function must result in happiness. God wills it, so we need to tap into the power of this statement: "My happiness and my function are one."

This Lesson #65 further clarifies our function. It is the one God gave us. Every other goal is not only secondary, but can be preventing us from accepting this only goal God gave us. We are introduced to the absolute nature of the Divine Will in this Lesson. We are given the means for true meditation in this Lesson. The preceding 4 Lessons come to a head in this one Lesson. The question is, “Will you accept your only function?”

We have forgotten our function is to be the light, and to be the light is to be supremely happy. Our job here is to remember who we are as God created us. Our job here is to be constantly happy. Forgiving everything that is not pure joy is the means we are given to fulfill our function. We are asked not to "substitute our own" for God's, because that is our real function. That is why we are here; to forgive and be happy.

We are told we are the light of the world. We are told our function as this light is to master forgiveness. Now we are told this mastery will "bring peace to every mind." The people who are the hardest to love need our love the most. Can we practice our forgiveness on them? This is the question. Sondra and Markus give a sober look at their practice with "the noisy neighbor next door."

We need to make contact with true forgiveness. What is its Power? The Lesson says "it will remove all sense of weakness, strain and fatigue from your mind." Do we want that? Let's dedicate this day to fulfilling our function. Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.

I would fulfill my function that I may be happy.

This lesson is a leap in human evolution. "I am the light of the world." Who can say this and have it be their truth? Notice the challenges that come up in your everyday life that require you to accept this as a fact. "What is not love is murder." (TEXT;Chapter 23; Section IV; ❡1) We can take Action in the middle of the darkness. This is our purpose for being here. This is our acceptance of the Light that we are. "I am the light of the world. That is my only function. That is why I am here."

This is the last Lesson of the first Review. Where do we need the Peace of God the most? In situations in our life that are the most upsetting is where we need to apply the lessons. Sondra and Markus discuss "the noisy neighbor" and the situation in the world, and how the Lessons can help us to navigate through and around our fears. Their vulnerability is palpable in this AYIGTG Podcast.

We are surrounded by the Love of God. This is a fact. We need the connection to our Source to experience the grace and the Gifts of God. We can simply give attention to this Divine Connection. This focus of our attention can undo our troubles, concerns, doubts, and fears. This is a good set of lessons in which to make this contact.

Our holiness is the subject of these Lessons. We are asked to make contact with it, and actually use it in our dealings in the world. "My holiness blesses the world." is the miracle of Lesson #37. In light of the current events happening around the world, can we stay in our center, forgive ourselves for our own mistakes, and send the vibration of Peace out to those in need? We are blessed in this action.

We are not victims of anything in the world. Why? Because we invented everything we see in the world. If we see war, we contributed to it with our thoughts of conflict. We can change our mind and see peace instead. Our mind is part of God's and the Mind of God is at peace.

Above all else do we want to see things differently? Especially when there are dire external conditions like a war, what are we to see? Can we see God in everything? Can we divorce our seeing from "attack thoughts?" These lessons are challenging in light of recent world events. But it is always our responsibility to "look within" and end the "war" within ourselves.

What is in our minds is projected outward. We take responsibility for "war" without, because we are willing to heal the "war within." We have to be willing to "see things differently" and give up our way of seeing. We have to be willing to give up our "attack thoughts."

In this review we see that our thoughts produce our results. Our thoughts will either lead to happiness or away from happiness. It is our responsibility to notice which way we are going with our thoughts. We are never stuck. We can always change our thoughts. (PS We apologize for the phone sounds intruding.)

In this set of Lessons we are looking at how the way we are thinking and seeing does not guarantee us an orderly and peaceful view of the world. It calls this view, even insane. God did not create it, therefore it is only a mirage we have made up. We can let it go.

This is our meeting with our group who studies ACIM Lessons for one year.

We are thinking with or ego thoughts which are mostly in the past. It is with our thoughts that we "see." We are not thinking with our real Thoughts we think with God. Therefore we are not really seeing. These are profound Lessons.

This lesson begins the first Review. We have completed the first 50 lessons, and now we bring them to mind, five at a time, in our daily practice periods. Here are the first five of them. We are replacing our thoughts with those we think with God.

The lesson says, "Here is the answer to every problem that will confront you, today and tomorrow and throughout time." Sondra and Markus explore this statement with some compelling examples from their own experiences.

Sondra and Markus discuss Lesson #49, "God's voice speaks to me all through the day." This is a lesson of deep listening. Are we disengaged enough from the activities of the world long enough to listen? What are we hearing? Depressurize yourself, and listen for this other Voice of peace and beauty.

This lesson is a miracle in itself when we accept it is true. But our ego is convinced there is a lot to fear. And we justify the fear with all kinds of catastrophic thinking. This Lesson puts us in touch with a glimpse of trusting in God's strength in us. When we do that, truly there is nothing to fear.

This is a key Lesson in A Course in Miracles for the purpose of shifting our minds into the awareness of our Divine Source. God is the strength in which we can trust, and in that trust are all problems solved. Practice this lesson with special celebration today. We are never alone and the strength of God in us can solve anything.

In this lesson we see the first glimpse of the word "salvation." God does not condemn, therefore forgiveness is seen as our natural state of innocence. Mistakes are all correctable, without any condemnation or guilt. We can extend this innocence to all those people we had "issues" with from our past. Therefore, we extend this innocence (forgiveness) and receive it ourselves.

There are real thoughts we think with God. There are also thoughts of the ego we think in separation from our Source. This lesson takes us out of the ego's thoughts into those we think with God.

This Lesson begins to undo the "self we made" and bring to our awareness our real Self God created. The "light" is the awareness of our true Self. The body's eyes do not perceive it. It is in our minds, and the practice of this Lesson helps us to reach our real Self in this light.

This Lesson takes us to a place that transforms our perception. This Lesson prepares us for the "forgiven world" in which the gap between perception (body level) and knowledge (spirit level) is bridged. Join Sondra & Markus in this lively discussion about the application of this important Lesson.

Sondra & Markus discuss the Lesson. What are we to see with God's vision? There is a positive aspect to "seeing" that relies on our ability to drop the way we were "seeing" before. Exploring this in the lesson will bring about the new way of seeing.

This Lesson establishes our connection with our Source in all space and in all time. There is no place where this connection is not. It is up to us to be aware of this connection. And Lesson of #41 is one way we can remain mindful of our Source. "God goes with me wherever I go." This is the beginning of true meditation. This is the beginning of the end of the "separation" we only imagine is real.

This is the first Lesson in which we are introduced to our true Identity. The "Son of God" is our Identity. We are blessed by this fact. Sondra and Markus elaborate on this important Lesson.

What is the opposite of guilt? Guilt keeps us in our own special version of hell. Escape from hell would be freedom from unloving thoughts. This Lesson asks us to look at our unloving thoughts and give them up. Our holiness is our salvation from unloving thoughts. Our holiness contains thoughts of innocence, thoughts of love, thoughts of pure joy. This is our salvation.

There is nothing our holiness cannot do. Are we willing to accept this fact? In this discussion Sondra and Markus go deeply into this lesson in A Course in Miracles and apply it to their own situations. Miracles occur first in the mind by accepting the truth of our holiness. Join this discussion and apply the lesson to your own life.

This is the beginning of our holy function in life. Our purpose here is made clear—"to bless the world"—with the peace we find within ourselves. Sondra & Markus explore this important lesson with their own experiences.

We are asked to see our holiness envelop everything. We are asked to see the "sinless" nature of our real mind, that is part of God's Mind. We are asked to extend this holy vision to all the things our eyes rest upon. This is the real possibility based on the fact we have undone our attachment to all our past "thinking." Sondra and Markus are delighted to have come this far with you.

This is the first lesson that establishes clearly our Identity. "My mind is part of God's Mind." This is a statement that rises above all the images we have made, and all the conflicts and contradictions that our minds have accepted as "facts." Only the Peace of God is a fact, and that is absolute, without an opposite. And We are that. Enjoy Sondra and Markus speaking on the true nature of our Self.

This lesson is an "antidote" for anything upsetting. The question is will we use it? "I could see peace instead of this," establishes peace as our own decision. Sondra and Markus discuss this lesson and get us on the right track to using it to diffuse any upsetting thoughts that cross our mind.

The shift in perception away from the ego's "way of looking" toward the Holy Spirit's "way of looking at the world" is the subject of this Lesson. Sondra & Markus discuss this pivotal shift, and the importance of making it.

This is a Lesson about true "cause and effect," and also about 100% responsibility on our part for making up the world we are "seeing." The ultimate "projection," the way we see our world is a refection of our own frequencies and desires. It is within ourselves that we can change this world we see. If something is "upsetting," we have made it so. And we can equally transmute any situation to peace if we so choose.

This lesson gets us out of "victimhood" if we are willing to take responsibility for our thoughts. Our thoughts and the frequency of our thoughts attract other frequencies that are an exact match to any situation. Sondra and Markus explore the areas in their life that seem difficult and upsetting, and get to the real reasons underneath the feeling of "being a victim."

The fundamental relationship between the Mind and what we "see" is further strengthened in this discussion of Lesson #30. "God is in everything I see, because God is in my mind," is the Lesson for the day. Sondra & Markus explore how we "see" according to what we have going on in our mind, and this awareness is necessary if we are to make contact with a Divine Vision.

This is the first lesson that uses the word "God." What is this holy vision that is so important to A Course in Miracles? Here the shift in our perception of the world is reversed. God is in everything we see. Nothing exists that is not here because our Creator has created it. By the same token, nothing that is separated from this all-pervading Life Force exists at all. Join Sondra & Markus in this beautiful discussion of holy vision.

This is a continuation of yesterday's Lesson #27, "Above all else I want to see." Can we see things with the eyes of wholeness? Can we see the true nature of things? In this Lesson, the beginning of true vision is given to us. We want to see the purpose of the universe in what we see. This is the day we begin to see the transcendental nature of things.

This Lesson is the beginning of true vision. Sondra & Markus discuss Lesson #27, "Above all else I want to see." Holy Vision is something we must want more than anything else in order to have it. Sacrifice of any kind is not necessary. Vision has no "cost," other than the unequivocal desire to have it more than anything else.

This Lesson gives us a clear picture of how "attack thoughts" we "project outward" are actually attacking us. We are attacking ourselves when we have concern or anger about any situation. Are we willing to see this whole thing differently? Our safety relies on us giving up our concerns and "attack thoughts."

The first lesson that introduces us to the concept of the "ego," a false self we made up to replace the Self God Created. This is not our real Self, and it has "personal goals" that prevent us from knowing this real Self. We can withdraw our "personal interests of "me and mine," and in this space we can be shown our holy purpose and meaning. Concern, fear and upset show us this lack of purpose.

In this discussion, Sondra & Markus discuss lesson #24, "I do not perceive my own best interests." We need to give up the interests we think are our "best interests" in order for the Holy Spirit to give us something new, something truly in our best interests.

WOW. Here is the beginning of seeing that we have actually projected the "hell" we see in the world. Every "attack thought" we have contributes to the external conflicts we observe "out there." Sondra and Markus give a lively discussion of Lesson #23 in A Year I Give to God.

In this Lesson we see the aspect of our thinking that projects time and impermanence onto things. It asks us to say, as we are looking at things, "I see only the perishable; I see nothing that will last." As a result of this kind of seeing, we a in fear, believing in non-existence—or "death." Sondra admits this Lesson in itself is upsetting. Markus states this is how the ego "sees things," even God, as an attacking entity that makes our world unsafe and fearful.

A YEAR I GIVE TO GOD is a place we go to be honest. Sondra and Markus expose some of the common pitfalls we fall into with common "irritations" that we need to "see differently." Join them in this honest discussion of what is meaningful in life, and what we need to clean up in our world.

A Year I Give To God is an opportunity to "reverse our thinking." This "reversal" is a miracle. We are prompted in this Lesson #20 to change our mind so we can really see, and not "see' through the filter of judgments that cause us misery. Sondra and Markus explore the "structure" of a disciplined approach to studying A Course in Miracles. Our true "seeing" depends on this thought reversal and practice.

We are not alone in our thinking? We even share our misperceptions of the ego with others. The question is which thought system are we using? The ego's or the Holy Spirit's? Sondra & Markus continue their discussions in the A YEAR I GIVE TO GOD program.

We are not alone in our experiences of the ego, or of our real Self. This lesson begins to show us that "minds are joined." Even in the effects of the ego's thought system, such as fear, anger and guilt, we are not alone in experiencing these. This is the first step in seeing that we share the conditions we project, or the healing we extend. We decide how we want to "see" in all instances. And we share that decision with those around us. Join Sondra & Markus in this discussion of Lesson #18.

Sondra & Markus look at Lesson #17, "I see no neutral things." This is a continuation of the Lesson before, "I have no neutral thoughts." The cause and effect relationship is discussed—thoughts always precede our "seeing," and our thoughts are preventing us from perceiving the "real world." In these Lessons we begin to see how difficult it is to let go of the way we are thinking now.

Markus and Sondra discuss lesson #16 in ACIM: "I have no neutral thoughts." In this dialogue we see that thought is never idle, and it is always assessing and judging things according to its preferences. To see the nature of thought itself is to judge, is the prerequisite to coming to a still mind.

The theme of projecting images is discussed. Sondra and Markus explore the inherent meaning of things, and the importance of giving up our "images" of things we have projected and made. There may be "light" around the things we see when we stop projecting these "images."

If God did not create a meaningless world, then where did it come from? Sondra and Markus discuss this important Lesson in this beginning section of "undoing" in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles. A "meaningless world" is a projection of our misperceptions that make up a fearful world, a conflicting world, an unsafe world. God did not create that world, and so it does not really exist.

Markus & Sondra discuss Lesson #13, "A meaningless world engenders fear." In this lesson it becomes clear there are two ways we can "see" things: through the eyes of our "separated self (the ego) or through the Eyes of God. Nothing really exists without meaning, but the meaning we have projected onto the life stream from the ego's perspective is a personal illusion. To give up this projection of a meaningless world usually invokes fear in us. Then we get into "competition with God" to assert our own meaning—which Jesus points out is "meaningless."

Sondra & Markus discuss Lesson #12 in ACIM: "I am upset because I see a meaningless world." Why does a meaningless world upset us? Why are we so attached to giving meaning to how we see the world? Is it possible to give up our judgments about the world? These are the kinds of questions explored in this Podcast.

Markus and Sondra explore Lesson #11, "My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world." ACIM is a mind training to get us to look at our negative thoughts as the precursors of painful experiences. We practice in the lesson as prescribed. Understanding is not needed. Let our eyes rest on external things, on which we apply the lesson.

Markus and Sondra continue in the first Lessons of A Course in Miracles. "My thoughts do not mean anything." This is the correction process in which we "see" by a projection of our "thoughts" which are in the past, and are separated from our Source.

Markus & Sondra further discuss the issue of time, and lack of higher understanding from the Holy Spirit. This lesson brings us into the present, by sweeping away the way we have been "seeing" the world through projection of the past onto it. Time is undone by these recent lessons.

Markus & Sondra discuss the Lesson today. They are recognizing that our mind is "blank" when we are "thinking" with past thoughts. We observe that much of our mind is filled with past thoughts. What we "seem to be thinking about" is not our connection to our Source. It is good to observe our minds are preoccupied past thoughts in order to let them go.

Sondra & Markus discuss Lesson #7, "I see only the past." In this dialogue the nature of seeing through the filter of "the past" is examined. Why do we need to step out of the past into this present moment? How do we give attention to the Now? These are questions everyone has, and this podcast goes deeply into them.

Markus & Sondra discuss Lesson #6 in A Course in Miracles: "I am upset because I see something that is not there." We are upset for reasons that are past, and our current situation that is upsetting is just a replay of an earlier "upset." We also judge the situation as "upsetting," "fearful," "undesirable," etc. Can we stop our upset by seeing the "cause" in not there? This question is explored in this podcast.

Sondra & Markus discuss Lesson #5, "I am never upset for the reason I think." What is the real reason we are upset? In any situation in which we feel less than Joy, it is usually because we are projecting some past incident onto it. The present "upset" is just a "trigger" for some past hurt. Originally this was our imagined "separation" from our Source Energy of Joy.

Sondra and Markus Discuss Lesson #4 of ACIM, "These thoughts do not mean anything." The nature of thought is to divide life into "good" vs. "bad." Thoughts of either are preventing us from having our "real thoughts." This lesson is designed to stop our thinking and come to a still mind.

Sondra and Markus Ray discuss Lesson # 3 in A Course in Miracles, "I do not understand anything I see." This beginning step in the curriculum is designed to remove our opinions and judgments from the way we "see" things.

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss Lesson #2 in this talk: "I have given everything I see all the meaning that it has for me." Is it possible to remove our "meanings" we project onto things in order to allow their sacred meaning to be revealed to us? The suspension of judgment is the goal, and "our meanings" are usually full of hidden judgments. This Lesson is a good practice to let go of them.

MARKUS RAY & SONDRA RAY work with serious students of A Course in Miracles for a Year, starting January 1, 2022. This is Lesson #1. "Nothing I see means anything." Why is it necessary to wipe the slate clean, and undo our perceptions of things? Markus and Sondra discuss the opening of ACIM in this beginning dialogue: A YEAR I GIVE TO GOD.

This important section in the TEXT, Chapter 21, Section II, is "The Responsibility for Sight." Sondra and Markus dialogue on this very important section. It frees us of any "victim consciousness" that may be lingering in our mind.

GRACE is given to us constantly. Can we receive it. We have to prepare ourselves with "complete forgiveness." Our responsibility is to let go of grievances toward ourselves and others. We have to let go in order to prepare the space for GRACE to come to our awareness. Our forgiveness must rest upon everything.

Lesson #273 of ACIM gives us an opportunity for "undisturbed tranquility." Are we ready for this? Can we apply the Peace of God to all aspects of our life? When we encounter a "disturbance," can we bring our minds back to their original state of non-reaction? These are the questions the Lesson and Sondra & Markus Ray pose in this podcast.

"The Peace of God is shining in me now." This is lesson #188. It offers us a beautiful clarity about the Light that dwells in us, placed there by our Creator. When we are in touch with this Source, we automatically are in touch with this Light, which automatically puts us in a state of Peace and Joy. This is the nature of our Identity—I AM SPIRIT. We bring this Peace with us, and we have a responsibility to make direct contact with it now. PEACE is HERE AND NOW—without conditions. Heaven is here now. Will we make contact with it?

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss the Lessons #256 and #257—"God is the goal I have today," and "Let me remember what my purpose is." There is a deep listening in which one hears the Voice for God. This may not be "words" as we know them. It is spoken in nature, and in the deep, still, and silent place in our hearts and minds.

GOD'S WILL for us is ONLY HAPPINESS. Sondra and Markus discuss Lesson #235: "God in His mercy wills that I be saved." Saved from what? All the problems we have projected from a "self we made up." We all made a self up that has suffered. We can trade this self in for our Capital Self that is free of all the problems of separation and suffering we have made. MERCY is needed. We have to be open to receive it. Now we can.

Sondra & Markus explore Lesson #192, "I have a function God would have me fill." What would this function God has given us be? Forgiveness is discussed as our "function here." Translation of the illusory world into a "forgiven world" is our function. Forgiveness is the means for us to fulfill our function here on earth.

SONDRA & MARKUS focus on "Finding the Present." This is an important concept in ACIM, to let the past go. The Holy instant is a vision in the present. This is a vision of the "forgiven world" in the people who we meet in our present. We stay in the past through our unwillingness to give it up. This dialogue will help you to let go of the past and live in the Present.

SONDRA & MARKUS begin with Part 2 in the Workbook of ACIM. It starts with Silence of our thought. "Peace to my mind, let all my thoughts be still." (Lesson #221) This section of the Course introduces us to "Who we are as God created us." It also introduces us to our "sinlessness" and the love of Christ's corrective Energy. We can be grateful that now we are guided into more and more the Presence of the Christ. AMEN.

Can we acknowledge the Christ Who makes clear the way to be free of judgments and problems? What is the source of our gratitude? We are definitely liberated from our ego's world that is one of constant comparisons, devoid of real peace and joy. LOVE is the way we walk in gratitude. Let us come to this inner realization of our union with the Holy Spirit of stillness and silence, that shines in everything.

Sondra and Markus discuss the Future and all the fears that usually accompany it in our minds. This Lesson can liberate us from fear and worry. Can we give more attention to the Divine Care of God than to our "fears of the future?" We can train our mind to be free of "fear thoughts" and immerse our mind with miracles? The more we think about the Lesson, the more Energy we receive from this Divine Thought: "I place the future in the Hands of God." We train the mind to have the habit of Trust instead of the fear about the future?

Markus and Sondra further discuss this important Miracle. What is pain? Why do we maintain it? What can we do to get out of it? Explore this lessson with them and see if you can "step out" of the mindset of pain. You can. And with their help it becomes clear how to do it.

"I feel the Love of God within me now." SONDRA and MARKUS discuss Lesson #189. Can we let go of our concerns and irritations long enough to make contact with the Love of God? There is a Gentle home of a blessing. The Christ is a Presence. And what we feel in His Presence is this Love of God. We have to give attention to the Presence of this "Love of God."

Make contact with the Peace of God that shines in your Mind. And in giving it away your Peace is increased. Join with Sondra and Markus to hear this important Lesson. Happiness is Peace.

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss Lesson #187, "I bless the world because I bless myself." When we give blessings away, or joy, or forgiveness, we receive more of them for ourselves, and they increase in our sharing. Join them in this action to give away Love that we already have. We give to increase our JOY. Never forget that we give to ourselves. Giving to another IS giving to our SELF, because we are the same.

On this Easter Day of 2021, Sondra and Markus explore the resurrection we must undertake in our lives, by ascending into our Higher Self. Can we ascend together today? This dialogue may help you.

Do we ever consider we are Beloved of God? Do we think that we are the Holy Son of God, the Light of the World? This is our true Identity. Why can we not accept it? We need to claim our Identity on this Day of Easter, in which we resurrect into our God Created Self.

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss Lesson #186, "Salvation of the world depends on me." The denial of salvation, liberation from the negative thoughts that project suffering and death, is the arrogance of the ego that grips us in self-imposed limitations. Real humility would ask us to step up and be our Self as God created us. This requires we let go of all self-limiting thoughts, deeds and actions that keep us in the illusions of problems, suffering and death.

"I want the peace of God. To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything." Sondra and Markus discuss the peace of God which is offered here. It is an absolute peace that has no opposite. Do we mean these words we say? Is this what we say we want? Peace of God is totally free of conflict all of the time. We cannot say this lesson is our truth without the Help of a Higher Power that is in us, but not of us. It is not something we manufacture with "thought." Our "dreams" of thought need to be silenced.

Lesson #169 is "By Grace I live. By Grace I am released." We prepare ourselves to receive Grace in our Life. Grace is an extreme well being that we do not have to do anything for. Everything is provided in a state of Grace. Sondra and Markus give us the preparation in this podcast to receive the Grace. Complete forgiveness is what will provide the miracles of inner correction, which is the preparation for receiving the Grace.

"Your grace is given me. I claim it now." This is Lesson #168 Sondra and Markus explore the Grace of God that we have to claim. Can we be present in the awareness of this grace? God's Love is always present, but are we giving attention to it? There is a succinct description Markus gives simplifying "Meditation. The relationship between attention and meditation is essential. "Meditation is that which simplifies, and lets go of all the complications." These Podcasts are meant to increase our ability to be attentive to our Divine Source and the Grace offers.

Sondra and Markus delve into Chapter 15 in the Text, THE HOLY INSTANT, starting with Section I. "The Two Uses of Time." We have two ways to use time. The ego's way and the Holy Spirit's way. One leads to pain and suffering and hell and death. The other leads to healing, forgiveness, Heaven and eternal life. It seems in the Holy Instant is the only real use of time. Its function is to awaken our Self to the Peace within, and the Creative Life Force that keeps everything in our world working perfectly. The past and the future do not exist. So to be in the present is the only real use of time that has any meaning. And that present is the basis for Pure Joy.

God's will for us is Perfect Happiness. Where does pain fit into this truth? SONDRA & MARKUS explore Lesson #19, "I choose the Joy of God instead of pain." Can awareness of our JOY that God created us to be liberate us from all pain? What is the extent of this awareness? God does not bring pain upon us; but we bring it on to ourselves. Our Divine Connection can liberate us from the experience of pain. We can unravel the thoughts that have brought about pain; we can choose JOY in the midst of any pain we have subconsciously asked for.

WHAT ARE THE GIFTS OF GOD? Do we receive them? Sondra & Markus discuss these gifts that we are entrusted with in this life: Peace; Happiness; A Quiet Mind; Certainty of Purpose; a Sense of Worth and Beauty; Care; Safety; the Warmth of Sure Protection Always; A Quietness that Cannot Be Disturbed; a Gentleness That Never Can Be Hurt; a Deep Abiding Comfort; and a Rest So Perfect It Can Never Be Upset. Can we receive them and be aware of their presence in our life? This is our challenge in order to merit being entrusted with these gifts.

This is Lesson #164 in A Course in Miracles. We can make contact with the inner Altar of the Christ within us. We bring our mistakes to the inner Christ who can dissolve our problems and give us the correction of the Atonement, and a new frequency of innocence and truth. Join SONDRA & MARKUS who bring us to Divine Joy and Liberation through the Love of inner correction. The Divine Gifts are ours when we correct the errors in our mind.

In this discourse, SONDRA & MARKUS explore and complete their discussion on the 10 Characteristics of God's Teachers. Defenselessness; Generosity; Patience; Faithfulness; and Open-Mindedness are the remaining five Characteristics. Join them in this dialogue on these lofty qualities that are required to make contact with Christ's Vision that is ours to use.

In this sharing in the first Podcast in Season #2, SONDRA & MARKUS further explore the "characteristics of God's Teachers." Tolerance, Gentleness, and Joy are 3-5 of these Characteristics. Giving up judgments is part of Tolerance. Giving up cruelty, harm and hurt is essential to being with Gentleness. "Joy is the inevitable result of Gentleness." When we trust that no harm can come to us, there is Pure Joy. We walk with the Christ in our perfect holiness, in the correction of our mistakes.

This is the 50th Podcast in this Series #1 of Miracles For You with Sondra Ray & Markus Ray. What are the Characteristics of God's Teachers that give us Christ's vision? SONDRA & MARKUS discuss the first two Characteristics—Trust and Honesty. What are the stages in developing Trust? These stages show us what is needed to develop Trust in our process of Spiritual evolution. What is real Honesty. Join them to explore these stages in developing these Characteristics.

SONDRA & MARKUS have a dialogue on one of the most powerful Lessons in A Course in Miracles. "Now we are one with Him Who is our Source." The realization of this Lesson #164 would transform our world to Heaven on Earth. We would leave the world of judgments behind. We would leve our past behind. We would have to forgive ourselves and everyone else completely. Join in this conversation that can help you undo your resistance, and step into the frequency of Christ's vision that is yours to apply right now to your world.

This incredible Lesson #163 in a revolutionary statement we all need to hear. Sondra and Markus go into the powerful transformation this Lesson makes possible in us. The unconscious "death urge" is exposed and dissolved in this dialogue. Beyond the "body" there is a Spiritual Identity that never dies. Immortal in its nature, your Self is unaffected by the concept of "death."

"I AM AS GOD CREATED ME." This Lesson is repeated three times in A Course in Miracles. (Lessons #94; #110; #162) Sondra and Markus delve deeply into this lesson and the gifts it gives us. We have the choice to see ourselves from the ego's perspective, full of problems and plans, or see ourselves as God created us, with Christ's vision. The miracle in the lesson is the catalyst for us discovering our True Self, which is problem and conflict-free. It is our Identity, and our responsibility to live by.

Our Identity is Divine. We can strengthen our awareness of this fact or not. This Podcast helps us do that. Sondra and Markus discuss Lesson # 124 in A Course in Miracles: "Let me remember I am one with God." Join them in this discussion on our Divine Connection—how to make it and strengthen it.

"I AM SPIRIT" is the shortest lesson in ACIM. (Lesson #97) It is only 3 words. It is a pure statement of SELF-IDENTITY. We can rise to embrace this reality even while here in this physical body and dimension. Can we use this Lesson to connect with the truth of our SPIRIT? We have to make this direct contact with who we are as God created us. The knowledge of being Spirit is to bring us above the "problems of the world" into the realm of perfect PEACE and JOY.

Spirit am I, a Holy Son of God, free of all limits,

safe and healed and whole, free to forgive,

and free to save the world.

On Valentine's Day we expect LOVE to prevail. And usually we go out of our way to make that special someone feel more special. Well, what if GOD is doing that for you, not only on this day, but Every Day! We are sustained by the Love of God. We cannot get this more, especially on this day. To see that GOD = LOVE = JOY is what makes the Universe expand, this is the real Divine Connection in which we realize this ever sustaining LOVE. We wish you to have this awareness today. Love, Sondra & Markus

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss the holy instant. What is it? What is its purpose? How do we invoke it? The Little Willingness in the text shows us exactly how to invoke this powerful, and practical device to give our life a holy direction. The LESSON "This instant is the only time there is." #308 is related to this invocation. Your "little willingness" to invoke this Power, and ability to step aside and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit without your own intervention, can solve any of your problems.

SONDRA and MARKUS discuss Lesson #272, "How can illusions satisfy God's Son?" The illusions are fear, anger, guilt, pain, suffering and death! We can make a decision not to defend ourselves when we have our real Divine Connection to our Source. This is the "Heaven state of Mind." This discussion leads you there.

Sondra and Markus discuss Lesson #152, "The power of decision is my own." What does it mean to make a decision with the operating system (OS) of the Holy Spirit? What are the benefits? How can we let go of the OS of the ego? These are essential questions we all face in turning our life into a Heaven on Earth.

SONDRA and MARKUS discuss Lesson #156. We have to make contact our Divine Connection, and be well aware of our own Holiness. Listen to this Dialogue and make this connection for yourself.

SONDRA and MARKUS explore Lesson #155 and the action of "stepping back." What does that entail? And who is the "Him" Who will lead the way. Can we silence our thought to hear the Christ within as the guide we follow to lead us on the road to our Perfect Happiness?

On this Inauguration Day in the USA, January 20, 2021, Sondra and Markus discuss Lesson #154, "I am among the ministers of God."Within the context of whatever we are doing in the world, we have a function to bring Peace and Joy—union, not division—to the daily work we do. We are among these ministers of God as one of "Heaven's Messengers" in which we awaken the Peace and Joy in ourselves first. Divine Happiness is the message we are to embody. Our extension would be a message from the Clarity from the Holy Spirit.

What are these "Gifts of God" and can we go beyond the projections of fear and conflict onto our world, and a use the Gifts to form our real world. We have to make a new "movie" according to the "Gifts of God." SONDRA and MARKUS explore these Gifts amidst our everyday life. Can we find and accept these Gifts of God and transform our world?

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss joining our awareness with Christ's Presence in us. LESSON #157 is "Into His Presence would we enter now." We are asked to leave the world behind and enter into the dimension of Heaven now . This is accomplished in the present, and depends on our determination to meet this Christ Self. Climb the mountain of awareness into the boundlessness and space of Christ's Vision in this dialogue.

Lesson #156, "I walk with God in perfect holiness," is the subject of this Podcast today. Sondra and Markus explore this sense of holiness, and what it means to walk with the awareness of this holiness. The lesson brings us into the vortex of our holiness and helps us experience it directly.

SONDRA & MARKUS explore the meaning of Christmas, free of all notions of "sacrifice." The glory of the Christ in this day is born in us, bringing about the end of the notion of "sacrifice and guilt." We invite in the Christ into our awareness. This is the true meaning of Christmas.

SONDRA & MRKUS discuss the lead in to Christmas, on DEC 24th, 2020. Lessons #303-306 are the subjects of this Podcast. "The Holy Christ is born in me today." This is a whole new way of looking at the Christ as the "better part of our Self." The birth of the Christ in us is the real Christmas Day. And this awakening, this rebirth, can happen any time. Join Sondra and Markus on this "Christmas Eve" to awaken together.

What is true Forgiveness? It is part of the Song of Prayer. Yet, "forgiveness-to-destroy" is a deception that we have to look at in order not to make this error. All guilt projected onto others is just a reflection of the guilt we maintain in ourselves. Self correction is the work of the day. Christ's Vision sees only our eternal innocence. It looks past our "errors" at the Divine Self we are. Attaining Christ's Vision is the challenge of True Prayer and True Forgiveness.

The result of true prayer is recognizing our One Self. Lesson #95 in the Workbook states, "I am one Self, united with my Creator." This is the true prayer that unifies us with God. It gives us a definite practice in order to be aware of this unification.

Further Dialogues on the SONG OF PRAYER reveal the one true Prayer. "The truly humble have have no goal but God, because they need no idols, and defense is no longer a purpose." God can be seen in every action in our Divine Existence. We see everything we do in the holiness of God's Love. Markus says, "Then everything I do is an expression of my Divine Connection." Join Sondra and Markus for this next installment of commentaries on the SONG OF PRAYER.

Sondra and Markus continue their discussion on the Song of Prayer. What we see as "praying for others" is still and opportunity for us to accept and reinforce our own Divine Connection. This is the only real prayer—freedom from "guilt" and the problems that "guilt" demands. We are lifted to a higher Awareness in this discussion. The only One Prayer is for your absorption into your Divine Consciousness. In this connection all your other needs are met, all your "problems" have been solved.

There is a Supplement in A Course in Miracles called The Song of Prayer. It is a profound guide to Prayer. It defines true Prayer free of entreaty. True Prayer does not "ask for things" we do not have, or "ask to meet our needs." It asks to receive what has already been given. The lofty Prayer is to be free from the block of receiving what has already been given. We give gratitude and thanksgiving for the Song of God which has already given you Heaven and everything else. "In Prayer you let go of your specific needs as you see them and let them go into Gods Hands." God has already met the needs.

Looking at ourself, and taking 100% responsibility for everything, releases us from victimhood. This is easy when we turn over our vision to the Holy Spirit who can restore our right mind. We are all working through the same decision to heal. The correction is always within ourself. We are responsible for healing ourselves and all those with whom we are contacting in a Holy Relationship.

Sondra and Markus discuss the ATONEMENT and the end of guilt. How do we accept the end of guilt? All mistakes are "forgivable." And even though we made a "mistake," we can completely love and accept our True Self. The True Self does not need the ATONEMENT. It is only when we are "stuck" in our ego that we need the ATONEMENT to get us out of the "guilt" we feel. This Miracle is incredibly swift. Forgiveness is a swift shift out of identifying with the ego (fear and guilt) and the awakening of our Identity in our Christ Self (love and innocence).

MARKUS and SONDRA discuss Lesson #138, "Heaven is the decision I must make." A key lesson, this makes it clear that we have "made up a hell" which is our responsibility to bring to the Holy Spirit to undo. Never has this been made so clear as in A Course in Miracles. The responsibility for the kind of "world" we make or create is up to us. And all of our "hell" of anger, disease, war, conflict and problems" can be brought to the Truth to dissolve.

SONDRA & MARKUS further explore the lesson #139, "I will accept Atonement for myself." Can we accept ourself as God created us? Can we let go of the self we made up? This is the crux of accepting the Atonement for ourself. Self-Identity is the main goal of awareness A Course in Miracles offers us.

MARKUS and SONDRA discuss Lesson #152, "The power of decision is my own." They explore the self-deceptions of sickness, suffering, guilt and even death, which are the choices we have made that defile our Reality as God Created us. Listen to this lecture and be clear that HEAVEN and life everlasting are our real inheritance. We are responsible for a Decision for Heaven in our world. We can correct our misperceptions, and accept the Holy Power to be our true Self as God created us.

MARKUS delivers a talk on A Course in Miracles in the Miracle Consciousness Training. Do we have the attention to give to Miracles? Or will we stay at the level of the mind that is preoccupied with survival and the continuation and improvement of the "personal self?" Join Markus as he explores this eternal question.

MARKUS discusses the Blessing of giving away what is valuable, and thus increasing it. The power of "I AM" has come down to us from wisdom immemorial. "Know Thyself" has been the edict from the wise for thousands of years. We have the wisdom and the power these words impart: I AM. When We share the positive aspects of our Being, we increase these qualities in our awareness. This is the true Blessing we all need in these times of uncertainty.

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss Lesson #139, "I will accept Atonement for myself." Can we come to the acceptance of Who we are as God created us? We can remember our true Identity. Correcting this one mistake of "imagined separation" from our Self realization is all we need to correct. Is this decision something we want to do? Are we willing to make this major inner correction. Can we accept the Atonement and make a decision?

MARKUS discusses the way the "unconscious death urge" manifests in our life. In the absence of our own happiness, we indulge in this "death urge." But the miracle demands we see "there is no death." Who we are as God Created us is immortal. What would we do if we see Life is certain, and the thought "Death is inevitable" can be changed.

SONDRA & MARKUS explore Lesson #103, "God, being Love, is also happiness." It is made clear that happiness in our only Reality in Truth. All the other scenarios of life that fall short of perfect happiness are not part of Truth. We made them up in opposition to God, and to Love, and ultimately to having total Happiness.

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss Lesson #280, "What limits can I lay upon God's Son." They discover the need to invoke the Help of the Holy Spirit. Giving up our "how to" list frees us from the "limitations" of our projected "solutions." Then the Holy Spirit can solve our "problems" effortlessly without the "limitations" we have imposed upon ourselves.

MARKUS & SONDRA go into Lesson #93: "Light and joy and peace abide in me." There is an Identity beyond what the body's eyes can see. There is a Self God created, Who is your true Identity. This Self abides in Light, Joy and Peace. There is no "sin" in this Self. All mistakes can be corrected in this Light. And this "correction" happens instantly when we embrace our true Identity.

SONDRA and MARKUS discuss LESSON #91, "Miracles are seen in light." It is apparent that we are seeing with a thought system that manufactures fears, problems, conflicts, uncertainties, etc. The Lesson makes sure was realized these are "caused" by using the "body's eyes" of the ego. Can we suspend this way of seeing? The Holy Spirit's Thought System is waiting for us when we are willing to let go of our perceptions of the ego.

MARKUS & SONDRA discuss the nature of fear and what it is we are really afraid of, underneath the fear. Redemption is made clear as "Perfect Happiness" that is our Father's Will for us. We accept that misery in life is normal; because it is familiar we hang onto it as the status quo. Having Heaven on earth, in our world of total innocence, we are actually "afraid" of the solution of Heaven. Suppressed guilt prevents us from accepting it.

SONDRA & MARKUS discuss a part of the text that defines Justice, and seeing things differently. We are asked to not "perceive ourselves unfairly treated." When we ask the Holy Spirit to solve our "relationships problems" and help us see the "difficult people" as the CHRIST, then the miracle can take place. This space of non-judgment makes a space for miracles to happen.

Lesson #193 is the subject of this dialogue with Sondra Ray & Markus Ray. They will explore the deeper meaning of letting go through forgiveness. We can all receive guidance from the Holy Spirit when we are willing to let go. This dialogue will help you apply this to you own situations in life that may be difficult.

MARKUS RAY gives an overview of the poetic quality of Part II in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles. This section's Lessons, written in perfect iambic pentameter, are like jewels of Self-Identity given to us to practice from our Christ Mind. Part II gets us in touch with who we are as God created us, and introduces us to the Gifts of God.

MARKUS shares in the Miracles For You weekend seminar on the importance and dynamics of the first 50 Lessons in the Workbook of A Course in Miracles. He leads you through the undoing of your ego's thoughts system and places you in the awareness of your Holy Spirit's thought system that ACIM is here to impart. Join Markus and his twin flame SONDRA RAY in this lively discussion of the Miracles of the First 50 Lessons.

SONDRA and MARKUS discuss Lesson #164 in the Workbook: Now are we one with Him Who is our Source. What can we truly know except our Divine Connection to our SOURCE? This is a mighty purpose in our Life, and as we silence our Mind, the Christ Consciousness emerges in our awareness. This will help everyone make contact with that sacred space within themselves.

Sondra and Markus discuss the Gifts of the Kingdom, Chapter 7 in the Text of A Course in Miracles. Healing is the prerequisite for remembering the Thought of God. It is the reason we came here. Healing is the "only kind of thinking that is getting us to the Thought of God." So the Kingdom is discussed, and how do we enter it and stay in it? Listen and get clear on this. Enter the Kingdom and stay there.

This is Lesson #337. SONDRA and MARKUS discuss the nature of sinlessness, and why it protects us. Join them on this Podcast that clarifies the crux of the teachings in ACIM that establish our inherent innocence, and how this Holiness is a protection in times of trouble.

Markus Ray speaks about the significance of A Course in Miracles in these times, and makes the claim that it is the "Second Coming" of the Christ amidst us. It lays out a practical set of lessons and principles that allow the student to awaken his greater potential, and rise to the awareness of his Higher Self he was created to be. Ray has written a new book on this subject: The Second Coming: You Are the Christ. It is available here: bit.ly/SecondRay

MARKUS discusses his Teacher of ACIM, Tara Singh, and the Teacher Student Relationship that is inherent in the study of A Course in Miracles.

Every Sunday (unless there is a Weekend Training) Markus gives a Miracles for You live talk on ZOOM for the Miracles For You Facebook Group Members at 12 NOON Eastern USA Time. YOU can join this group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/miraclesforyou to receive the ZOOM LINK. To see the Video of this Podcast go here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/67mg4d7br944hg9/MFY%20SUNDAY%20TALKS-9-AUG-2020%20.mp4?dl=0

Lesson #240 is discussed in this Podcast. Fear is never justified, but which part of our mind are we using? The ego's thought system justifies fear in many way. The Christ's thought system is Absolute and has risen above the fear, and the idea of "opposites." Fear and Love cannot co-exist in this mind.

This is a commentary on the TEXT, Chapter 1, Section III—Atonement and Miracles. Sondra and Markus explore the meaning of the Atonement, and the application of Heaven on Earth. Join them in this meaningful dialogue on accepting the Atonement for ourselves, in which we make contact with miracles.

Markus gives his background with Tara Singh, his teacher of A Course in Miracles. He discusses the Lesson, "Heaven is the decision I must make." in this provocative commentary on ACIM. He is joined by Sondra Ray, his twin flame.

This Dialogue between MARKUS RAY & SONDRA RAY launches their PODCAST Series on A Course in Miracles. Starting with the subject of "Salvation," ACIM redefines it and makes it clear, and Markus & Sondra's commentary makes it even clearer. Awaken to your inherent Innocence. Gain Self-Realization, and embrace your own "Salvation" and what that means to you from listening to this PODCAST from these two dynamic teachers of ACIM.