The Last Step. The last step in the Reawakening of Knowledge (Atonement) is taken by God. In ACIM, the individual sections, sentences or paragraphs can be poetic and beautiful. Individual words can evoke evoke vivid pictures in the mind. Each chapter, each section within a chapter, is its own book. One can pick up the book and start reading anywhere. ACIM speaks to the Soul.
Love extends outward simply because It cannot be contained. God does not limit His Gifts in any way. When He gives, He gives Everything, Eternally. Anything that is not Love, exists only in dreams.
If I believe I am lost, alone and sad, it is becauseas this is what I look for "outside" me and this is what I will give of myself to "others." If I believe I am the Son of God, I will give only Love and It will last Eternally. Only one of these is Real and will last forever. The other is a dream that will vanish when I Awaken to Reality.
God will translate the useless into the Useful, the meaningless into the Meaningful and the temporary into the Timeless.
Everything God does is Whole, Complete and Eternal. God does not teach, because His Creations are Whole. Teaching is only needed where learning is necessary. Heaven is Known, not learned. I know I am dreaming, because everything in the world "outside" me has to be learned. In fact, learning is essential in the ego-world. In the Kingdom there is no teaching or learning because there is no belief, only Certainty. "Time" applies neither to God nor His Creations. God reveals nothing, because He hides nothing. His Light was never hidden, because it is His Will to Share Everything.
My function in the world of dreams is forgiveness of my thoughts and everyone and everything I seem to see. God will do the rest. The final step, taken by Him, will be my Awakening to Reality.
The Law of the Kingdom. Sickness and separation are not of God. The Kingdom is of God, so if I hide the Kingdom from myself, I perceive what is unGod-like. To heal is to correct my perception, which will benefit both me and the "world," the "world" being a thought in my mind. My Inheritance as God's Son requires no learning at all, but when I disinherited myself I became a learner of necessity. Heaven's teaching is a lesson in remembering and forgetting. I must forget what I taught myself, in order to remember God's Kingdom. I will not understand Truth's translations while I listen to two ways of interpreting them (God's/ego's). I must forget or relinquish one to understand the other. God's World needs no translation as It is Perfectly Known and Understood, but in the world of dreams my perception is upside down. The Creator may alter the form of what He translates, but what He translates preserves the original meaning in all respects and all languages.
The Reality of the Kingdom. The lesson of Atonement is Universal in that it applies to all "individuals" in all situations. Heaven maximizes all efforts and all results. By understanding the Power of God's Kingdom, I learn that all Power is mine. God's Power was created to be shared, as is everything God creates. It cannot be meaningfully understood if it is perceived as belonging to any one person at the expense of another. God's Gifts belong to ALL.
The part of me that believes I am outside the Kingdom (ego) is insane. It teaches me that I am not the Son of God. It teaches me that I am limited and weak, subject to sickness and death. Ego always perceives itself at war. It believes it is at war with God, and everyone and everything "outside" itself. Yet, I am the Son of God who is never at war. I must recognize all I see as One. Brothers are equals, and equals are at Peace. Because God's Son has Everything, there is no need for competition. If I perceive a "brother" as anything other than my equal, the idea of competition, or levels of value, will enter my mind. I will not underestimate my need to be vigilant against this idea. ALL conflicts come from this very idea. My Right Mind sees only equals. My Right Mind has no enemies.
I have questions about everything in my world: who am I? what is the meaning of life? why am I here? Yet if I knew Reality, my questions would be meaningless. To be in the Kingdom, I will simply focus my full attention on It. Reality is mine because I am Reality. God will undo all my questions, leading to Certainty. The Certain are Perfectly Calm, because they do not doubt. They have no questions, because they Know. They have Perfect Serenity because they Know who they are: God's Holy Son.
Healing as Recognition of Truth. Truth can not be learned, only recognized. Healing does not come directly from God, but it proceeds from the Laws of God. God knows His Creations are Perfectly Whole. Yet, in the dream-world, I live in a state of mind that does not know God: sleeping and unaware.
When I heal, I remember the Laws of God and forget the laws of ego. Forgetting is merely a way of Remembering better.
I will give all of my abilities over to God, Who understands how to use them only for Good. God knows me only as Whole. By healing I learn of Wholeness, and in learning of Wholeness I learn to remember God.
Ego always seeks to divide and separate. God always seeks to Unify and heal. As I offer healing through forgiveness, I am healed. To know myself as healer, I must give healing. To think I can oppose the Will of God is delusional. Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, seek only This, and I will find nothing else. There is nothing else. Only the Kingdom of God exists. The world of dreams is an illusion. To forget my ego-self will enable me to remember who I am: the Holy Son of God.
Healing and the Changelessness of the Mind. In the world of dreams the "body" is home for ego. Both the body and ego reinforce my belief in a world without God. Ego teaches me that the body can both communicate and create, and therefore does not need the mind. Ego believes that every time it deprives "someone else" of something, it has made itself better. Truth can use whatever I make for God's purposes and God's purpose for the body is Communication. Ego cannot obliterate the impulse to Communicate because It is also the impulse to Create. Only mind can Communicate, the body does nothing. Only the mind can Create. But the Glory and Perfect Joy that is the Kingdom lies in me to give. As TRUTH enlightens my mind, I offer enlightenment to the world through my thoughts and "actions." The "world" heals and this is reflected back to my mind reinforcing my own healing.
Healing is Love's form of Communication in this world. Healing only strengthens. It perceives nothing in the healer that "everyone else" does not share. Magical thinking (the thinking of this world) always seeks for something "special," and perceives a healer as someone "special" ~ someone who can bestow gifts on those who do not have special abilities. I do not understand God if I think I have something that "others" lack. The psychic/medium John Edward always tell his audience: What I do, you can do, everyone can do it. He is absolutely correct. ACIM teaches me there is no death. But what "others" like Edwards do, are tap in to the collective consciousness of ego. Remember, there are no "others," there is only One Mind. God uses everything I created in the dream to teach only of Reality. "Jesus" said "what I do, you will do this and greater," John 14:12.
God's healing always works, and His healing is Consistent and Universal. Healing Gladdens, produces Harmony and is Predictable. Healing is Inclusive.
Learning guided by God is Constant and so Powerful that a Son of God can recognize his Power in one instant and change the "world" in the next.
Understanding is appreciation because what I understand I can identify with, make it part of me, and accept it with love. God created me in Understanding, Appreciation, and Love.
The Mind I share with God is the Mind I share with all "others." See "them" truly and my mind will be healed.
From Vigilance to Peace. In the world of dreams, I perceive the Sonship as fragmented; "7 billion souls" on earth. In Reality there is only One Mind. Mind is the only Reality. There is nothing and no one "outside" me.
It is impossible to see something in part of the Sonship that I will not attribute to all of the Sonship. If I attack part of the Sonship, I attack all of the Sonship. That is why attack must be given up entirely in thought, word and deed. Ego creates with fear. God creates with Love. Thoughts will return to the mind of the thinker and affect his total perception, including his concept of God, his concept of himself, and his concept of "others." He will not appreciate any of them if he regards them fearfully. He will appreciate all of them if he regards them with Love.
The mind which accepts attack cannot love. That is because it does not understand Love and in fact, believes it can destroy Love. If the mind does not appreciate Love, it cannot see itself as Loving. It loses Awareness of Being, inducing feelings of insecurity, loneliness, and utter confusion. My thinking is very Powerful. It created a world I very much believe in. Yet my thinking can also bring me back to Awareness of Reality. My ability to direct my thinking as I choose is part of its Power.
I will remember my ego is not a separate entity, but is the part of me that believes it is separate from God. Its job is to maintain the illusion of a world without God. It does not share the Characteristics of God, so it does not Truly exist. But my ego's desire to preserve itself is strong. Ego is perfectly logical but clearly insane. Though ego is completely dependent on the Power of the mind, it will do everything it can to discount the Mind's Power. Ego attacks what is preserving it, which results in extreme anxiety.
Ego believes it can not only create a world without God, but that it can attack God, and it convinces me that I have done this. The mind cannot attack so ego proceeds to the belief that I must be a "body." Ego wants no part of Truth, because ego itself is not true. If Truth is total, the untrue cannot exist. I must commit myself to either Truth or the untrue, and only one exists. I cannot have both Truth and untruth coexist in my mind without having a split mind. If I want Peace, I must give up the idea of conflict once and for all. While I believe in both a world without God and God, I believe in two contradictory thought systems where both seem true for me. Do I realize my need for vigilance? Be vigilant only for the Kingdom of God, because there is nothing else. If I think there is anything else, I am mistaken.
Ego is totally committed to untruth. Yet, God and I are not separate. I am not separate from "others." To remember the Oneness of the Kingdom is to remember my Wholeness, Sanity, and Limitless Power. I am the Kingdom of God. I am not a weak, powerless "body," subject to sickness and death. I must learn to remember who I am: the Son of God in Heaven with God.
When I believe I am weak and without power, I will attack. There is nothing to attack, so I make up images and project them "outside" me. The world of dreams is Nothing. It has no meaning and it does not exist. I will not try to understand it, because I will never understand insanity. I cannot make meaning of the meaningless. I cannot experience the Power of my Creativity as Son of God while my mind is divided. My divided mind is blocking the extension of the Kingdom, and extending is my Joy and Reality.
In the dream-world I experience a hopeless and depressed state of mind. God gently reminds me that I am sad because I am not fulfilling my function as His Son, depriving myself of Joy. This is not God's choice, but mine.
Opposing God's Will is meaningless and impossible. If I think I can oppose God's Will, I am mistaken. God's Will is my will and I am only Happy when I remember this.
The Totality of the Kingdom. Whenever I deny a blessing to any "other," I will feel deprived. It is impossible to deny part of the Sonship without denying the whole Sonship including myself. The Power of my mind is without limit. If I use denial to deny Reality, Reality is gone for me. Reality cannot be "partially" appreciated, so denying any part of It means I have lost the Awareness of all of It. Denial of Reality is a defense of ego. Used negatively, denial will be used for attack. Used positively in the service of Truth, denial can help me lay aside dreams and illusions to recognize and appreciate Reality.
When an "other" acts insanely, he is offering me an opportunity to forgive and bless him. I need the blessing too, but I can only have it only by giving it. My "brother's" need is mine. This is the Law of God, there is no exception. I do not "need" God's Blessing because His Blessing is already mine forever, but I do need the blessing I give to my "brother" to remember who "I" am.
Ego's picture of me is deprived, unloving, and vulnerable. But I will refuse to see this picture in anyone or accept it for myself. As long as I dream of a world without God, my "brother" will be the mirror in which I see myself.
Illusions will last as long as I value them. The only way to dispel illusions is to withdraw all investment from them. While I desire them, I give them life.
I will rest in God's Love and protect that rest by giving only Love. I cannot know my own Perfection until I have honored all those who seem to be "outside" me. Every attack is a call for Love. When I attack, I believe I am deprived. Therefore, I will give of my abundance to teach my "brother" his.
I cannot lose anything unless I do not value it. If I do not value it, I do not want it and I will put it out of my mind. My ego perceives this as rejection, and I, myself, will feel deprived and believe that "others" are taking something from me. The ultimate basis for all ego's projections is this: I believe that a "brother" is attacking me to take the Kingdom of Heaven from me. It may seem that someone is trying to steal my spouse, my money, my status or my anything. But those things only exist in dreams. The only thing of Real Value is God's Kingdom. I believe "others" are out to take God from me. Projection always sees my wishes in "others." If I choose to separate myself from God, I will think "others" are doing this to me, no matter the form.
I am the Will of God. I am the Son of God. I am God's Creation. I will not accept anything less about myself or I will feel the need to attack. The Love of God is in me and my "brother." If I see it there, I will see it everywhere.
When I perceive any part of ego's thought system as wholly insane, delusional, and undesirable, I have correctly evaluated ALL of it. This correction will enable me to perceive God's Real, Perfect, and Desirable World. This I want and this I will have. This I will give and in the giving It will be mine. Gifts offered to ego are always perceived as sacrifices, but gifts offered to God's Kingdom are gifts to myself. Everything God has He gives to me, His Son.
The Unbelievable Belief. Without extension (sharing/giving) there can be no Love. The Law of Extension is the Law of Love, and it is the Law by which I was Created and by which I Create. This is the Law of Sharing and the Law of Life. I give what I value in order to keep it. To ego, giving is perceived as a means to "give up" something. It is the law of deprivation as far as ego is concerned. Depending on how I choose to apply the Law of Giving (through ego or through Love), it will produce abundance or scarcity. It is my choice on how to use it, but I will use it. The mind must project or extend, because mind is Life.
Ego likes to preserve conflict, though it comes up with ways that seem to "diminish" conflict, but its function is to preserve conflict. Conflict is a characteristic of a world without God. Ego projects this conflict from my mind onto "others," in an attempt to persuade me that I have gotten rid of the problem. But conflict cannot Truly be shared, and according to the Laws of God, giving something is how I keep it. I believe that by seeing it "outside" myself, it does not belong to me. Everything is in my mind, even if it appears otherwise. Since the projection has not left my mind, I am forced to engage in constantly activity in order not to recognize this. When I project conflict I will need to be vigilant for my own safety. The Laws of God (giving = receiving) have not completely left my Awareness, so when I project fear in any form, a part of me knows that it will return and harm only me.
I cannot hold bad feelings about "another," without the bad feelings being felt by and about myself. There is no way out of this, because Mind is One. Though the mind appears to be fragmented into many bodies, that is Truly impossible. There is One Mind and "bodies" do not exist. Any hatred I project will affect me. I will give all my concerns, anxiety, worry, sadness, negativity, and doubt over to God to be undone completely. These words of Truth will help me think with the Thoughts of God.
The Extension of the Kingdom. I will not withhold myself from God. If He Gifts me with Peace, my countenance will be infused with Peace and I will project it to all "those" I encounter (anyone "outside" me). When someone makes me angry, sad, fearful, or annoyed, I will try to perceive them with Love. It helps to think of the person as vulnerable, childlike or helpless, because at the moment (especially if they annoy me or make me angry), they seem to be quite powerful in their ability to make me feel the way I do. Offer only Love.
Being retains Knowledge of Itself by extending Itself. To Know myself, I must give myself. Extension is one of the Laws of the Kingdom. Spirit yearns to share Its Being just as Its Creator did. I Create by sharing. My will, like my Creators, is to Create. I Create through sharing. I extend the Kingdom by sharing. God's Fullness cannot be contained. Sharing or extension is the Natural State of God's Kingdom.
A split mind cannot perceive its Wholeness and needs the miracles of Truth to heal. Selfishness is impossible in the Kingdom, while giving (or extension/sharing) is inevitable. There is Perfect Peace in the Kingdom because Spirit is fulfilling Its function. Spirit is not fulfilling Its function here in this world of dreams because I have chosen illusions over Truth, so in my mind there is turmoil, chaos, and war. The Creations of all the Sons of God are mine, since every Creation belongs to everyone. Love protects my Creations while I remain unaware of them. God can bring them into my Awareness whenever I let Him. God gives all His Creations Everything, and He gives Forever.
I cannot disobey God's Will. When I think I can, I am not thinking clearly. It is impossible to disobey God's Will. What God creates is Forever and Always and if I think I can thwart God's Will, I obviously think I am more powerful than God Himself. This is arrogance, not humility. I have never lost my Identity as God's Son, though I may have forgotten It. I will be confident in this. Miracles happen as a result of this confidence. When I include any one of my brothers (the Sonship), I include All.
Confusion of Pain and Joy. Ego is in total confusion about everything. The only reason I could possibly want any part of the world of dreams, is because I do not see the whole of it. I am willing to look at what ego offers, but not at its outcomes.
It should be clear to me now that I can accept into my mind what is not there (a world without God and all its illusions), AND deny what is (the Kingdom of God). If I deny God's Will, I deny the entire Kingdom: Eternal Peace, Love, Serenity, Happiness, Joy, etc. God will never oppose my choice, but He will direct me so as to avoid pain. If I recognized this, I would never object. What God is teaches me is True, but do I want to listen?
I do not know what is painful anymore than I know what is Joyful. I say Love is joyful, yet I continue to pick partner after partner who abuses me. I say loss is painful, but I make choices which guarantee my loss. Yet, the lessons God can teach me from this will bring me Joy and Serenity. I am very apt to confuse Joy and pain. Truth will teach me to tell them apart. What is Joyful to Reality, is painful to ego. Ego believes in "sacrifice." If I listen to Truth, I give up ego, sacrificing nothing and gaining Everything. Love never asks for sacrifice, but ego always does.
Heaven is Perfectly Trustworthy, as am I. God Himself trusts me, so my Trustworthiness is beyond question, however much I may question it. I am the Will of God. My identification with His Will is not optional, since It is what I am. Sharing His Will is not a choice, though it seems to be. In Reality there is nothing to choose and nothing to decide. Everything has been given me by God's Decision. That is His Will and I cannot undo it.
The miracles resulting from forgiveness are lessons in Joy. Every miracle is a lesson in Truth, and by offering Truth I am learning the difference between pain and Joy. Sharing = Love = Joy.
The State of Grace. I will trust in God. He will guide me. Following His guidance is the easiest and most natural thing to do. The world perceives difficulty in everything, but God's Will is Joyful, "....my yoke is easy, my burden light...", Matthew 11:30. My Reality is a State of Grace. When I am not in a State of Grace, I am in a condition of dreams and illusions; everything is a strain and I will not function well. The Son of God is Happy only when he knows he is with God.
Consider the kingdom I have made (a world without God); is it worthy for a Son of God? Is there only (and Eternally) Peace, Joy, Love, Happiness, Wholeness, and Serenity? If not, it is not a worthy place for me. Is my world without fear or loss of any kind? If the answer is no, then it is not a worthy place for me. Use this criteria to judge anytime I have doubts. God's World is the only environment in which I can be Happy. It has been Created for me and I was Created for It.
God watches over His children and denies them nothing, yet I deny myself Heaven by believing that there is a world without God. My ego too believes in God, but He is "up in Heaven" looking down on me and "gives me free will to do good or bad," and I "may or may not go to Heaven when I "die." WRONG! There is no death, all go to Heaven, I have free will to be lost in a dream or to Awaken to Heaven, and there is no place God is not. Unless I am feeling Perfect Bliss, I have chosen dreams, not Truth.
When my mind has only Light, "darkness'' disappears. When I accept the Majesty of God, I will accept my own Inheritance. God gives equally. He gives All to everyone. If I recognize His Gifts in any "other," I have acknowledged what is my own. Nothing is so easy to recognize as Truth. Its recognition is clear, immediate, and natural. I have trained my mind not to recognize Truth, and this has been a difficult lesson for me. When I deny any part of Truth, I deny Truth entirely.
I can choose differently. And Today I will. Today, I am vigilant only for God and His Kingdom.
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