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Lesson 172: Review of Lessons 153 and 154

Reframe:  Love is all that is; therefore, love is my essence.

Suggested Practice:
From Review V Introduction:

”Let this review become a time in which we share a new experience for you, yet one as old as time and older still.²Hallowed your Name. ³Your glory undefiled forever. ⁴And your wholeness now complete, as God established it. ⁵You are His Son, completing His extension in your own. ⁶We practice but an ancient truth we knew before illusion seemed to claim the world. ⁷And we remind the world that it is free of all illusions every time we say:”

⁸God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

“With this we start each day of our review. ²With this we start and end each period of practice time. ³And with this thought we sleep, to waken once again with these same words upon our lips, to greet another day. ⁴No thought that we review but we surround with it, and use the thoughts to hold it up before our minds, and keep it clear in our remembrance throughout the day. ⁵And thus, when we have finished this review, we will have recognized the words we speak are true.” (ACIM, W-rV.in.10:1–11:5)

With these reviews from 171-180, we’re encouraged to “place faith in the experience that comes from practice, not the means we use. … We use the words, and try and try agin to go beyond them to their meaning, which is far beyond their sound. The sound grows dim and disappears, as we approach the Source of meaning. It is Here we find rest.”

In other words, the “words” are the doorway to experiencing the essence of what the words mean.

Today we take this approach with these two review lessons:

153 In my defenselessness my safety lies. God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
154 I am among the ministers of God. God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

Message

In sitting with today’s review, it got me thinking that there’s a third option to our existence here, which I’ll get to in just a minute. Think of it like the story “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

The first option is to live solely in the body under the ego mind’s control with its fears, illusions, and separation, all in the name of keeping us safe, when it’s really about keeping itself safe from us figuring out who we really are.

The second option is to live in a different form of separation state where we live like a hermit, off the grid, blissed out in a meditative state knowing full well who we are but physically all alone and disconnected from all of humanity.

Then there’s the third option, à la ACIM. With this option we—as our True Selves—experience earthly life in a body, but not of it.

To put it another way, with option 1 God is no where to be seen or heard. With option 2, God is there but no one else is. With option 3, God walks beside us.

For me I see option 3 as if I’m walking along a seashore with people all around enjoying a day at the beach. God—who I see as a translucent human-shaped being—is to my right. The two of us are carrying on a conversation together, while others play.

Applying these three options to the two review lessons, with option 1 our very existence would be in defensive mode, with uncertainty, feeling separate from others, and no sense of safety, which makes it challenging to consider ourselves to be among the ministers of God. Even though, technically we are—we just haven’t revealed that to ourselves yet.

With option 2, while we would know our True Self and the safety it offers, we wouldn’t be among the ministers of God because we’ve isolated ourselves from the rest of the world.

With option 3, we embrace our divine connection as part of the One, know full-well who we are, while also existing on this earthly plane, living our day-to-day, fully aware that we are among the ministers for God.

For me option 3 feels just right, even if I forget at times and revert to option 1.

“Anytime I don’t feel joyful and at peace is because I’m giving attention to something that disagrees with Source.”
— “The Course in Miracles Experiment” by Pam Grout

Blessings & Peace,

Maureen,
The Mandala Lady

transforming soul whispers
into mandalas & channeled messages
for clarity, peace, and joy

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