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Lesson 195: ”Love is the way I walk in gratitude.”

Reframe: Gratitude guides my steps and expresses through love.

Suggested Practice:

From the Introduction to Lessons 181-200:

”Our next few lessons make a special point of firming up your willingness to make your weak commitment strong; your scattered goals blend into one intent. ²You are not asked for total dedication all the time as yet. ³But you are asked to practice now in order to attain the sense of peace such unified commitment will bestow, if only intermittently. … And so we start our journey beyond words by concentrating first on what impedes your progress still. …⁴So we now attempt to go past all defenses for a little while each day. ⁵No more than this is asked, because no more than this is needed. ⁶It will be enough to guarantee the rest will come.”

Do two 15-minutes practices today.

From the Lesson:

“Therefore give thanks, but in sincerity. ²And let your gratitude make room for all who will escape with you; the sick, the weak, the needy and afraid, and those who mourn a seeming loss or feel apparent pain, who suffer cold or hunger, or who walk the way of hatred and the path of death. ³All these go with you. ⁴Let us not compare ourselves with them, for thus we split them off from our awareness of the unity we share with them, as they must share with us.” …

… “Then let our brothers lean their tired heads against our shoulders as they rest a while. ²We offer thanks for them. ³For if we can direct them to the peace that we would find, the way is opening at last to us. ⁴An ancient door is swinging free again; a long forgotten Word re-echoes in our memory, and gathers clarity as we are willing once again to hear.” (ACIM, W-195.5:1–7:4)

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https://youtu.be/Ys0Kr2fFdnQ?is=MNU97MUKjaNeRFFe

Message

Today’s lesson discusses two versions of gratitude: one out of comparison and one of love. The best way to describe the comparison version is with an often used phrase: There but for the grace of God go I—observing a particular difficulty or disaster and recognizing it could have been me suffering. With this thinking you would see that “…your brother is your ‘enemy’ because you see in him the rival for your peace…“

The Lesson says:

”You do not offer God your gratitude because your brother is more slave than you, nor could you sanely be enraged if he seems freer. ²Love makes no comparisons.” (ACIM, W-195.4:1-2)

Instead we’re encouraged to express gratitude through love.

“We thank our Father for one thing alone; that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore one with Him. ²And we rejoice that no exceptions ever can be made which would reduce our wholeness, nor impair or change our function to complete the One Who is Himself completion. ³We give thanks for every living thing, for otherwise we offer thanks for nothing, and we fail to recognize the gifts of God to us.” (ACIM, W-195.6:1-3)

When we do, the lesson eloquently states:

”Walk, then, in gratitude the way of love. ²For hatred is forgotten when we lay comparisons aside. ³What more remains as obstacles to peace? ⁴The fear of God is now undone at last, and we forgive without comparing. …When your forgiveness is complete you will have total gratitude, for you will see that everything has earned the right to love by being loving, even as your Self.” (ACIM, W-195.8:1-6)

This is one of those lessons where I get what they’re saying in theory, but struggle with putting it into practice. I catch myself practicing comparison gratitude often. Without realizing it, until now, that way of thinking perpetuates our separateness—which is so NOT what the Course is about. So for that, I’m grateful.

The challenge for me is practicing loving gratitude, which, as I understand it, comes through forgiveness—recognizing we are all One in Self and all the light of God.

I struggle a bit with practicing forgiveness towards those who trigger my anger, fear, and grievances. How can I see them as the light of God? That’s where asking the Divine to help me see things differently helps. For today, though, the best I can do is be grateful for the awareness I gained, knowing I’m a work-in-progress, and knowing where I need to go moving forward.

“Lesson 195…asks me to step up and claim my gifts. To rejoice unceasingly in my inseverable connection to all living things.”
— “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