To give and to receive are one in truth.
Vision depends upon today's idea. The light is in it, for it reconciles all seeming opposites. And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.
True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body's eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.
This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision, being healed, has power to heal. This is the light that brings your peace of mind to other minds, to share it and be glad that they are one with you and with themselves. This is the light that heals because it brings single perception, based upon one frame of reference, from which one meaning comes.
Here are both giving and receiving seen as different aspects of one Thought whose truth does not depend on which is seen as first, nor which appears to be in second place. Here it is understood that both occur together, that the Thought remain complete. And in this understanding is the base on which all opposites are reconciled, because they are perceived from the same frame of reference which unifies this Thought.
One thought, completely unified, will serve to unify all thought. This is the same as saying one correction will suffice for all correction, or that to forgive one brother wholly is enough to bring salvation to all minds. For these are but some special cases of one law which holds for every kind of learning, if it be directed by the One Who knows the truth.
To learn that giving and receiving are the same has special usefulness, because it can be tried so easily and seen as true. And when this special case has proved it always works, in every circumstance where it is tried, the thought behind it can be generalized to other areas of doubt and double vision. And from there it will extend, and finally arrive at the one Thought which underlies them all.
Today we practice with the special case of giving and receiving. We will use this simple lesson in the obvious because it has results we cannot miss. To give is to receive. Today we will attempt to offer peace to everyone, and see how quickly peace returns to us. Light is tranquility, and in that peace is vision given us, and we can see.
So we begin the practice periods with the instruction for today, and say:
To give and to receive are one in truth.
I will receive what I am giving now.
Then close your eyes, and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to everyone, to have it yours. You might, for instance, say:
To everyone I offer quietness.
To everyone I offer peace of mind.
To everyone I offer gentleness.
Say each one slowly and then pause a while, expecting to receive the gift you gave. And it will come to you in the amount in which you gave it. You will find you have exact return, for that is what you asked. It might be helpful, too, to think of one to whom to give your gifts. He represents the others, and through him you give to all.
Our very simple lesson for today will teach you much. Effect and cause will be far better understood from this time on, and we will make much faster progress now. Think of the exercises for today as quick advances in your learning, made still faster and more sure each time you say, "To give and to receive are one in truth."
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The Following is Forwarded from Pathwaysoflight.org
Lesson 108
“To give and to receive are one in truth.”
I have experienced both sides of this truth. I have experienced guilt and fear when I have judged (attacked) another. And I have experienced great feelings of peace and love when I have offered peace and love to others. In fact it seems that sometimes I feel the love stronger when I offer thoughts and words of love to another than when someone offers loving expression to me. Perhaps that is because there are some aspects in my mind that do not feel worthy of love. Perhaps it is because as I offer love and peace, I identify with it first in order to offer it. Or perhaps it is a combination of both. On thing is sure: It is clear that giving and receiving are the same.
Because of this truth, if I want to experience love, peace and joy, it certainly behooves me to offer them to everyone I meet or think of. Peace does not come through criticism, trying to change others so that their behavior will be to my liking, trying to make others guilty, defensiveness, berating myself for “dumb” mistakes, or any of the myriad other ploys the ego uses to try to make it seem that my lack of peace is the result of some external cause.
Peace comes through connecting with the Source of peace that is always within me, my true Self. This peace is then magnified again and again as I share it with anyone and everyone. It is a blessing to bless. I know that I am blessed when I bless.
Today I will seek to only bless with all my thoughts. Holy Spirit, I ask Your help to guide my thoughts that I might share only loving thoughts throughout the day.
Practicing the process in paragraphs 7-9 today is quite convincing. What I offered, I received. As I offered everyone quietness, I received quietness. As I offered everyone peace of mind, I received peace of mind. As I offered everyone gentleness, I received gentleness.
I am realizing that this truth -- that to give is to receive -- is happening all the time. What I am accepting into my mind is what I am giving and what I am giving is what I am accepting into my mind.
This is the beginning of understanding the truth of unified thought spoken of in paragraphs 2-3 of this lesson. What particularly stands out to me is, “It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.” (2:2-3) and ... “This is the light that brings your peace of mind to other minds, to share it and be glad that they are one with you and with themselves. This is the light that heals because it brings single perception, based upon one frame of reference, from which one meaning comes.” (3:2-3)
When I practiced the process in paragraphs 7-9, I was led to the experience of vision referred to in paragraph 1. This vision reconciled all seeming opposites that I saw before doing the process. As I accepted true perception, I gave true perception. What a powerful practice to use to transform my mind whenever I find myself not at peace! This Course is truly very practical to apply to every part of my daily life.
Thanks for the reminder not to try to change others so their behavior will be more to our liking. I was just about to do that. Now that I think about it, I can see that my Inner Guide was trying to direct me away from that course of action, but my ego wanted to do it so bad, that I wasn't paying attention. I will offer silent blessings instead and see how that feels.
I, too, have, a million times, experienced both sides of this truth. Unfortunately, if I look back, my ego tells me that I've experienced more fear than love, which, in turn, causes guilt. But the Course tells me to hang on to the power of the Holy Spirit and bring from the past with me only those thoughts of love; anything else than that has but given me the strength to seek and find my Heavenly Father.
Many times I just don't feel like I have it in me to forgive or to love the way I think I should. It is these times that I've learned to withdraw from the thoughts of this world for awhile and work on my relationship with my Higher Self until I am able to receive love and forgiveness for myself; at that point I can then give it away and it's at that point that I see I don't need to be critical or unforgiving of others. It is only myself I need forgive.
Holy Spirit, help me have the willingness today to offer peace and love to everyone, especially the people my ego tells me have hurt me. Help me know that to give to them is to give to myself. Amen.
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