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Lesson 180: Review of Lessons 169 and 170

Reframe: Love is all that is; therefore, compassion and harmony are my natural state.

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:

169 By grace** I live. By grace I am released. God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
170 There is no cruelty in God and none in me. God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

*God: an impersonal, formless, and infinite principle of pure Love. Substitute whatever term that resonates best and allows you to receive the message. The Will of God is our happiness.

**Grace – the state of being where we release the ego mind and accept the Love of God within a world of seeming hate and fear. 

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Message

Grace is the state in which we release the ego mind and live by the Divine gifts bestowed upon us—our true Self. In that state, we personify peace, love, and joy. Compassion and harmony become our natural condition, which means cruelty has no place in us.

Any other state is ego-based, generating fears, grievances, and limitations. When we feel any variation of these, we should treat them as red flags.

Examples: agitation at the slow grocery checker, disappointment over an unfinished to-do list, worry about our children’s safety, anger at the neighbor’s loud music, frustration with an unappreciative boss.

When we spot them, we name them and do what we can to return to our natural state of grace. The real challenge is keeping judgment and guilt out of the process—they’re just more tools in the ego’s arsenal.

As we continue with lessons that draw us closer to our Divine selves, the ego may grow more clever in its attempts to stay front and center. The more we recognize these red flags, the better we’ll become at returning to grace.

In any moment, we can ask: am I operating from fear (Lesson 160) or from grace (Lesson 159)?

“Once I drop all the rules, ideas, evidence, and grievances around which I’ve formed my life, only good can come to me.”
— “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

 About the 2026 Mandalas of the Day — ▶️ A Note About A Course in Miracles