My mind holds only what I think with God.
(133) I will not value what is valueless.
(134) Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
LESSON 148
My mind holds only what I think with God.
(135) If I defend myself I am attacked.
(136) Sickness is a defense against the truth.
The Following is Forwarded from Pathwaysoflight.org
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Lesson 147
Review: "My mind holds only what I think with God." and
"I will not value what is valueless.
Let me perceive forgiveness as it is."
Only the Mind of God is real. Only eternal Love is real. Thoughts of separation come from the mistaken mind, the split mind. All the thoughts that come from the split off, ego mind are not real. The thoughts that come from this mind are valueless.
Jesus is teaching us not to value what is valueless because it will not bring us happiness. It will only bring us pain and sorrow, sickness and death in the end. Forgiveness is letting go of these thoughts of being separate from the Mind of God. Forgiveness is letting go of belief in bodies, of time and space, of differences and uniqueness.
Today, again, I will practice opening to the truth. I will practice forgiveness. I will practice letting go of illusions. I will practice letting go of the valueless. I will practice opening to the truth that my mind holds only what I think with God. This daily practice is my journey Home. There is no journey that has any value but this. I need not wander in the wilderness any longer. This practice is my highest priority. This practice brings me what I really want, God's peace, joy and eternal happiness.
As I am willing to see the false ideas for what they are, I will not value the valueless. I will open to the mind of God, my Source. I will return to what is true and eternal. I will realize that my mind holds only what I think with God. What is in the Mind of God is real and nothing else is real. This process of letting go of false ideas is what the Course calls forgiveness. Through forgiveness, we let go of what is not real. Holding on to what is not real is the barrier that hides the Mind of God -- What we all really are one with.
Since my mind holds only what I think with God and God is timeless, then all thoughts that I hold about the past cannot be thoughts I share with God. They must therefore not be real thoughts and are therefore valueless.
The ego loves to give great attention to the past. Major efforts are invested in archeological study trying to establish where and when bodies and human form started. One of the largest categories on the Internet is genealogy -- people trying to establish their identity by identifying the series of births of bodies from one generation to the next. And in everyday life we evaluate everything in terms of what we have learned in the past.
As we carry all this attention on the past with us, we are not able to see the present, clean and pure as it is. We overlay our past experiences and our beliefs about the past upon the present, like a mask. We do not see the present. We see a mask of our own making and do not recognize that all its meaning is projected from our own mind. By valuing the valueless past, we cannot see God's gift of Love in the present.
As I learn to loosen my grip on the past, to give it less value, I am able to let it go. This is forgiveness. This opens the door for me to see the innocent holy Self that is ever present, now. It is timeless, not to be found in the future nor the past. Our one Self is eternally here now.
Holy Spirit, help me to forgive the past, to recognize its valuelessness and lay it down. Thus will I be able to recognize that my mind truly holds only what I think with God.
©2003, Pathways of Light, Inc. http://pathwaysoflight.org You may freely share copies of this page with your friends, provided all copies include this notice.
Lesson 148
Review: "My mind holds only what I think with God." and
"If I defend myself I am attacked.
Sickness is a defense against the truth."
My right mind, my Real mind, holds only what I think with God. The split mind, the ego mind, from which I see images of separate bodies and separate things, is not my real mind, even though I might identify with it. It is a false mind, a mind that makes up images of nothing, even though I might experience it as very real.
In this false mind I feel I must defend myself against attack by something outside me. This false mind gives me images of attack and being attacked. For example, the pollen from the trees makes my eyes itch. There is constant change and deterioration by the weather. Everything is threatened by outer influences, which eventually destroy it. In this world, if we do not defend against germs, they would destroy us, we would become sick and die.
All this comes from the false ego mind. All this comes from a thought system that is denying the truth of our invulnerability as part of the Mind of God. All this denies the truth of our Identity. We experience this false world because we wanted specialness, we wanted individuality, we wanted to experience separation from our Source.
Thank goodness none of this could ever be true. The images and experiences that come from the false ego mind could never be true. We imagine that we become sick and die. But when we wake up, we see that none of it was ever real. It was all just hallucinations of vulnerability, lack and death. In this ego mind, we try to atone for our "sins" by punishing our bodies and perceiving ourselves as weak and vulnerable to forces that we cannot control. All this is simply not true. All this just comes from the false ego mind which we have identified with.
Thank God we still have our real mind. We cannot leave the Mind of God even though we imagine ourselves doing so. Our right mind holds only what we think with God.
By doing these lessons every day, every hour, we are gradually loosening our grip on the false ideas that give us the experience of this world of separation and vulnerability. As we stick with this mind healing program found in A Course in Miracles, we let go of the false ideas. Behind those false ideas is the one Mind, the Mind of God. This is our real Mind and the only Mind This is our true Identity forever.
Each day I continue the undoing process of letting go of what was never real. Repeating throughout the day, "My mind holds only what I think with God," brings me back the truth and allows an opening by which the Holy Spirit can bridge me back the truth, to where I never left. This daily practice is an important lifeline. There is nothing more important than returning to the truth.
The lessons reviewed in today's lesson focus on the belief in vulnerability that interferes with my awareness of the thoughts I share with God. I could not perceive myself as needing defense unless I believed that I was vulnerable. To believe I am vulnerable, I must believe I am separate from God or believe God is vulnerable, neither of which are true. Remembering that my mind holds only what I think with God is the cure for belief in vulnerability.
My safety does not come from building defenses against outside forces, people disease, weather, earth changes, all the myriad forms this world of false images presents. My safety comes from remembering that I remain in the mind of God as I was created, sharing His Love, His joy, His peace, His strength and His holiness. That is the truth about my true Self. It cannot be changed because God does not change. What is eternal is changeless and the truth about me, about everyone, is that we are eternal. We are the one Self that is God's extension.
Any time I perceive that I have been hurt, either emotionally or physically, I am believing in a false image of myself. It is this I must take to the Holy Spirit and ask for His gentle correction. Repeating hourly for ten days that my mind holds only what I think with God builds a reference point in my mind which I can use to help me recognize the false thinking that leads to feeling vulnerable and weak. With that recognition, my job is to take it to the Holy Spirit to receive His vision, to let my perception be corrected. It is a progressive process that becomes easier and more effective with every practice.
It is my willingness to practice that makes the healing of my mind possible. I am grateful for my little willingness and I am grateful for the mighty tools for healing brought to me in the Course. Today I will practice once again with gratitude and joy, reminding myself that my mind holds only what I think with God.
©2003, Pathways of Light, Inc. http://pathwaysoflight.org You may freely share copies of this page with your friends, provided all copies include this notice.
