I must recognize God's Gifts are given to me, only then can I choose to accept Them. God's Gifts are mine. Today I will accept Them to complete the Gift. ACIM lessons are broken down into very basic, simple steps. It may seem repetitive to say, "God gives me a Gift, I recognize that a Gift has been given and then I finally accept the Gift." But I have placed dreams before my vision and I must be taught with simple steps.
God's Gifts are not like the world's gifts in which the giver loses as he gives the gift, and the receiver is made richer by the giver's loss. The world's gifts are not gifts but bargains made with ego (the part of me who believes in the world of dreams). The world's gifts are always given for a more valuable return: for someone's love and affection; an endowment to charity which recognizes the giver's wealth; a gift to a new neighbor in exchange for goodwill and friendship, etc. The world's gifts are a temporary loan; a pledge of debt to be repaid with more than the gift was worth. This strange distortion of what "giving" means, is spread throughout the dream world. Giving has become a source of fear because the both the giver and the receiver are held in debt to one another. It strips all meaning from the gifts that are given, and leaves me nothing in the gifts I take.
God's Gifts are given to Everyone and they are give Eternally. No one loses, Everyone wins. A major learning goal in ACIM is the reversal of my idea of "giving." I will accept God's Peace and Joy, and learn a different way of looking at giving. God's Gifts only increase when they are given away.
Heaven's Peace and Joy intensify when I accept them as mine. True Giving is Creation Itself. It extends Limitlessness, Eternity and Love unto Itself. Giving and Receiving are One, Ongoing and Constant. True Giving is a circle of Love which never ends. True Giving adds to All-That-Is-Already-Complete. Not in simple terms of adding "more," for that implies that there was "less" before. God's Gifts increase letting What-Cannot-Contain-Itself fulfill Its aim of giving away Everything It has, securing the Gifts forever for Itself.
God is Complete, make no mistake about that. Yet in the language of dreams, I can understand that God's Completion includes His Son (me), and God Himself is not Complete without me. But He is never without me. I am Safe in Heaven dreaming of exile to a fantasy world. I only seem to be separated from God and Heaven.
True and Real Giving never contains loss for anyone. In the world's "giving," someone always has more while the other has less. When I give a gift, I no longer have it. When I give away money, I have less for myself. These ideas cannot be reconciled in the world of dreams. The world of dreams does not exist. It is only my mind and thoughts which must be healed and reconciled to God and Reality. Today, I will receive God's Gifts of Joy and Peace, and in accepting His Gifts, they are given back to Him, completing the circle of Love.
Start today's lesson by thinking of those whom I have denied my blessing; perhaps judged them harshly and abruptly, or said an unkind word. I must realize I have only hurt myself. For the "world" and "other bodies" do not exist, so where do my negative thoughts go? Only to myself. I will think of my "enemies" today and now, offer each one the Peace and Joy that God has given me. I am now using the world of dreams to heal myself. There is only One Self, not many. But while I see many "selves," I offer them the Blessings that will come back to me and heal my mind. While I hold negative thoughts about anyone else, those thoughts remain in the One Mind, blinding me to Reality. When I give God's Gifts to "my brothers," I am learning to Awaken to Reality and accept these Gifts as my own. Giving and Receiving are One in Reality. The blessings I "give," I also "receive." This is all done at the level of the Mind, because the world does not exist. It is my thoughts that must be healed.
Whenever I encounter a "brother," I will always offer a silent blessing, ESPECIALLY if s/he seems to offer me a curse. For I am doing this to myself! I am creating a "brother who curses at me." Recognize this "brother" as a part of my mind which asks for healing and give "him" the healing which he asks for. For this "brother" is MYSELF in disguise.
God's Peace and Joy are mine. I will remind myself this hourly throughout the day. Offer this Gift to any "brother" who seems to tempt me.
"God's Peace and Joy are mine."
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