(Allof the quotations in this blog are from “A Course in Miracles” and are here because they illustrate ‘deep truths’ that are not readily apparent to the unenlightened mind. To become enlightened, they must be considered.) When things look bad, it is a good time to go back to basic ideas about what is really going on…

• “If I take offense, I give offense.”

• “Because I know the meaning of His Love, hope and despair are impossible.”

• “When I am fearful, I have chosen wrongly… Only my mind can produce fear, arising from a lack of love. Perfect love is the only remedy.“

• Beware: “Fear is insatiable, consuming everything its eyes behold, seeing itself in everything, compelled to turn upon itself and to destroy.”�

• Remember: “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein, lies the peace of God.”

• Realize: 

• “Father, I do not know the way to You. But we have called, and You have answered us. I will not interfere. Salvation’s ways are not my own, for they belong to You. And it is unto You I look for the way. My hands are open to receive Your gifts. I have no thoughts I think apart from You and cherish no beliefs of what I am or who created us. Yours is the way that I would find and follow. And I ask but that Your Will, which is my own as well, be done in us and in the world, that it becomes a part of Heaven now.”

This is how an enlightened person thinks:

• “I am not the victim of the world I see, for I have invented this world. I choose to see peace instead of this.”

• “I remember that I am not here by accident, and chance plays no part in God’s plan.”

• “The one wholly true thought I hold about the past is that it is not here. To think about it at all is therefore to think about illusions.”�[Memories exist only in one’s mind.]

• “I have been much too tolerant of mind wandering… passively condoning my mind’s miscreations.”

• “When I point out the errors of my brother’s ego, I am seeing through my own ego, because the Holy Spirit does not perceive my brother’s errors. This must be true since there is no communication between the ego and the Holy Spirit. The ego makes no sense, and the Holy Spirit does not attempt to understand anything that arises from it. Since He does not understand it, He does not judge it, knowing that nothing the ego makes means anything.”�

What can I do to cope with what appears to be happening, to ‘fix things?’

• “I give all my dreams to Christ and let Him be my Guide to healing, leading me in prayer beyond the sorry reaches of this world.”�

• “Before I choose to do anything, I ask [God] if my choice is in accord with His… There is no strain in doing God’s Will as soon as I recognize that it is also my own.”

• “In sorting out the false from the true, the miracle proceeds along these lines: Perfect love casts out fear. If fear exists, then there is not perfect love; but only perfect love exists. If there is fear, it produces a state that does not exist. I believe this and I will be free. Only God can establish this solution, and I accept this faith as His gift.”

• “When I am troubled, I am certain that He has the answer, and gladly give my troubles to Him. I simply turn to Him and ask for His answer. He withholds no answers that I need for anything that troubles me. He knows the way to solve all problems and resolve all doubts. His certainty is mine. I but ask it of Him, and it is given me.”

• “I fully recognize my complete dependence on God. I know the real power of the Son in his true relationship with our Father. The specialness of God’s Sons does not stem from exclusion but from inclusion. All my brothers are special. If they believe they are deprived of anything, their perception becomes distorted. When this occurs, the whole family of God, or the Sonship, is impaired in its relationships.”�

• Henceforth, “I hear but the Voice for God when I retire from the world, seeking reality instead. He directs my efforts, telling me exactly what to do, how to direct my mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given me. His is the Word I chose to be my own. I am in His hands, His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and pain that I think is real.”

• “If I attack error in another, I hurt only myself.”

• Remember, politics is just one of many distractions from what is Real.

Practicing the Way of Love, the Way of Forgiveness

• “I am here only to be truly helpful. I am here to represent Him Who sent me. I do not have to worry about what to say or what to do, because He Who sent me will direct me. I am content to be wherever He wishes, knowing He goes there with me. I will be healed as I let Him teach me to heal.”

• “When I am healed, I am not healed alone. Healing is strength, freedom. Our function is to let our minds be healed, that we may carry healing to the world, exchanging curse for blessing, pain for joy, and separation for the peace of God.”

• “The emptiness engendered by fear must be replaced by forgiveness.”

• “Forgiveness is the healing of the perception of separation. It is still, and quietly does nothing… It merely looks, and waits, and judges not.”

• “Infinite patience produces immediate results.”

• “A sense of separation from God is the only lack I really need correct.”

• “Love is incapable of any exceptions. Only if there is fear does the idea of exceptions seem to be meaningful.”

• “An untrained mind can accomplish nothing. The purpose of these exercises is to train my mind to think along the lines which the course sets forth.”�

• “When I forget, Father, help me remember that I walk with You, with Your Word upon my heart.”�

One must discern and have Faith in what is Real

• “I am as certain of arriving at home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between.”

• “Now we walk with You, as certain as You are of where we go; as sure as You of how we should proceed; as confident as You are of the goal, and of our safe arrival in the end. The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say Amen.”�

• “I am told exactly what God wills for me each time there is a choice to make. And Christ will speak for God and for my Self, thus making sure that hell cannot claim me, and that each choice I make brings Heaven nearer to my reach.”�

• “And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held open to welcome us. We trust our ways to Him and say Amen.”�

• “In peace, we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence, we wait for His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. We love God’s Son as we love Him. The [Holy Spirit] teaches us how to behold the Sonship through His eyes and love the Son as He does. I do not walk alone. God’s angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds me, and of this I am sure; that I will never be comfortless.”�

• “I am still and lay aside all thoughts of what I am and of what God is, all concepts I have learned about the world, all images I hold about myself. I empty my mind of all thoughts about what is true or false or good or bad, of every thought of judgment, worthiness or shame. I hold on to nothing. I do not bring one thought from the past, nor one belief I have ever learned about anything.”

• “I forget this world and come to you, Father, with wholly empty hands.”

The path of the Enlightened Ones is easy regarding Spiritual Reality, yet pretty much hopeless when we put our faith in the world and those who are not spirit-led. A Godless world is not possible (as God is everywhere present) such that there is nowhere where God is not. Not believing this is a choice to try to make unreality true.