All things are lessons God would have me learn.
God does not know of learning. Yet His Will extends to what He does not understand, in that He wills the happiness His Son inherited of Him be undisturbed; eternal and forever gaining scope, eternally expanding in the joy of full creation, and eternally open and wholly limitless in Him. That is His Will. And thus His Will provides the means to guarantee that it is done.
God sees no contradictions. Yet His Son believes he sees them. Thus he has a need for One Who can correct his erring sight, and give him vision that will lead him back to where perception ceases. God does not perceive at all. Yet it is He Who gives the means by which perception is made true and beautiful enough to let the light of Heaven shine upon it. It is He Who answers what His Son would contradict, and keeps his sinlessness forever safe.
These are the lessons God would have you learn. His Will reflects them all, and they reflect His loving kindness to the Son He loves. Each lesson has a central thought, the same in all of them. The form alone is changed, with different circumstances and events; with different characters and different themes, apparent but not real. They are the same in fundamental content. It is this:
Forgive, and you will see this differently.
Certain it is that all distress does not appear to be but unforgiveness. Yet that is the content underneath the form. It is this sameness which makes learning sure, because the lesson is so simple that it cannot be rejected in the end. No one can hide forever from a truth so very obvious that it appears in countless forms, and yet is recognized as easily in all of them, if one but wants to see the simple lesson there.
Forgive, and you will see this differently.
These are the words the Holy Spirit speaks in all your tribulations, all your pain, all suffering regardless of its form. These are the words with which temptation ends, and guilt, abandoned, is revered no more. These are the words which end the dream of sin, and rid the mind of fear. These are the words by which salvation comes to all the world.
Shall we not learn to say these words when we are tempted to believe that pain is real, and death becomes our choice instead of life? Shall we not learn to say these words when we have understood their power to release all minds from bondage? These are words which give you power over all events that seem to have been given power over you. You see them rightly when you hold these words in full awareness, and do not forget these words apply to everything you see or any brother looks upon amiss.
How can you tell when you are seeing wrong, or someone else is failing to perceive the lesson he should learn? Does pain seem real in the perception? If it does, be sure the lesson is not learned. And there remains an unforgiveness hiding in the mind that sees the pain through eyes the mind directs.
God would not have you suffer thus. He would help you forgive yourself. His Son does not remember who he is. And God would have him not forget His Love, and all the gifts His Love brings with it. Would you now renounce your own salvation? Would you fail to learn the simple lessons Heaven's Teacher sets before you, that all pain may disappear and God may be remembered by His Son?
All things are lessons God would have you learn. He would not leave an unforgiving thought without correction, nor one thorn or nail to hurt His holy Son in any way. He would ensure his holy rest remain untroubled and serene, without a care, in an eternal home which cares for him. And He would have all tears be wiped away, with none remaining yet unshed, and none but waiting their appointed time to fall. For God has willed that laughter should replace each one, and that His Son be free again.
We will attempt today to overcome a thousand seeming obstacles to peace in just one day. Let mercy come to you more quickly. Do not try to hold it off another day, another minute or another instant. Time was made for this. Use it today for what its purpose is. Morning and night, devote what time you can to serve its proper aim, and do not let the time be less than meets your deepest need.
Give all you can, and give a little more. For now we would arise in haste and go unto our Father's house. We have been gone too long, and we would linger here no more. And as we practice, let us think about all things we saved to settle by ourselves, and kept apart from healing. Let us give them all to Him Who knows the way to look upon them so that they will disappear. Truth is His message; truth His teaching is. His are the lessons God would have us learn.
Each hour, spend a little time today, and in the days to come, in practicing the lesson in forgiveness in the form established for the day. And try to give it application to the happenings the hour brought, so that the next one is free of the one before. The chains of time are easily unloosened in this way. Let no one hour cast its shadow on the one that follows, and when that one goes, let everything that happened in its course go with it. Thus will you remain unbound, in peace eternal in the world of time.
This is the lesson God would have you learn: There is a way to look on everything that lets it be to you another step to Him, and to salvation of the world. To all that speaks of terror, answer thus:
I will forgive, and this will disappear.
To every apprehension, every care and every form of suffering, repeat these selfsame words. And then you hold the key that opens Heaven's gate, and brings the Love of God the Father down to earth at last, to raise it up to Heaven. God will take this final step Himself. Do not deny the little steps He asks you take to Him.
The Following is Forwarded from Pathwaysoflight.org
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Lesson 193
"All things are lessons God would have me learn."
My continued belief in separation is a grievance against oneness. My belief in separation is the same as rejecting God. My holding on to all the different forms of separation that now appear to be real only brings me pain and conflict. Seeing conflict and pain and differences and death comes from the separated mind, the insane mind. My job now is to let go of the thoughts that come from the split mind that believes in separation.
Forgiveness means letting go of illusions. As I practice forgiving or letting go of each different form of illusion that comes along, these illusions will disappear because they are made of nothing. Only my belief has held them in place. As I practice forgiveness or handing over every form to the Holy Spirit, I will receive a new perception. This perception reflects oneness. This perception reflects innocence and holiness.
If I am willing, the Holy Spirit shows me where I have been mistaken. Forgiveness shows me that only Love is real. What is not real can be let go of easily without sacrifice or pain. I need to recognize all the places of unforgiveness still hidden in my mind. As I let each hour be an opportunity to find every form of unforgiveness and hand it to the Holy Spirit, my lessons are learned. I no longer need the ego's lessons of another form of separation that might make me happy. The Holy Spirit's lessons bring me freedom, joy and happiness. These are the lessons I would learn today.
Today's lesson is a wonderful recipe for healing. It is exquisite in its simplicity and comprehensiveness. By hourly pausing to forgive the issues of the previous hour and moving ahead into the next hour clean and free, I will inevitably forgive and release all illusions. I don't have to be concerned about digging up grievances from the distant past. Every grievance I hold will inevitably show up in some way in any given hour. And I have the opportunity then in that hour to forgive and let it go.
This practice is a wonderful gift. I only need to do it to make my life an accelerated path to freedom. Inconsistency in following this practice is just a reflection of resistance to accepting the happiness God has given me. This resistance I can also offer to the Holy Spirit for His help in letting it go. This is how I replace tears with happy laughter. This is how I replace a sense of weakness and vulnerability with the strength and certainty of God's Love.
As I began my quiet time with the thought of today's lesson, I was aware of many little concerns with how my body is functioning. None were ones that I would classify as frightening or life threatening, but all reflected a belief in vulnerability, which the Course tells me is really belief in death. As each one crossed my mind, I offered it to the Holy Spirit, asking His help to forgive and see it differently. As I continued this, I found myself feeling more peaceful and contented. I began to feel increasingly safe and loved as though I were cradled in God's arms, and angels were singing me a lullaby.
Today I would practice this moment by moment, hour by hour, for I would receive God's gift of Love and perfect happiness. My part is very simple. To every apprehension, every care and every form of suffering, remember, I will forgive and this will disappear.
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