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Lesson 265: ”Creation’s gentleness is all I see.”
Reframe: I perceive the world through softness, kindness, and clarity.
Suggested Practice:
From now on:
Once in the morning and once in the evening for however many minutes feels sufficient. Then every hour remember/recite the idea for the day.
Prayer For today:
(feel free to swap out the wording to whatever resonates with you best)
“In quiet would I look upon the world, which but reflects Your Thoughts, and mine as well. ²Let me remember that they are the same, and I will see creation’s gentleness.” (ACIM, W-265.2:1-2)
OR… “Be still and know gentleness.”
For Lessons 261-270: What is the body? is the theme. Read the whole article here.
”The body is a fence the Son of God imagines he has built, to separate parts of his Self from other parts.”… The body is a dream. ²Like other dreams it sometimes seems to picture happiness, but can quite suddenly revert to fear, where every dream is born. ³For only love creates in truth, and truth can never fear. ⁴Made to be fearful, must the body serve the purpose given it. ⁵But we can change the purpose that the body will obey by changing what we think that it is for… The body is the means by which God’s Son returns to sanity …³The Son of God extends his hand to reach his brother, and to help him walk along the road with him. ⁴Now is the body holy. ⁵Now it serves to heal the mind…³Your safety lies in truth, and not in lies. ⁴Love is your safety. ⁵Fear does not exist. ⁶Identify with love, and you are safe.⁷Identify with love, and you are home. ⁸Identify with love, and find your Self.
From the PART II Introduction: Read the whole introduction here.
“Words will mean little now. ²We use them but as guides on which we do not now depend. ³For now we seek direct experience of truth alone. ⁴The lessons that remain are merely introductions to the times in which we leave the world of pain, and go to enter peace. ⁵Now we begin to reach the goal this course has set, and find the end toward which our practicing was always geared.” (ACIM, W-pII.in.1:1-5)
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https://youtu.be/7SBldWGEn9c?is=qm98dPC-PVXiIWeB
Message
From the Lesson:
“And how deceived was I to think that what I feared was in the world, instead of in my mind alone. (ACIM, W-265.1:3)
This statement is both simple and profound to me. I had to stop a moment to see if it is true. Thinking back to situations where fear ruled my actions, I uncovered a common denominator. It wasn’t riding the roller coaster or giving a presentation or performing on stage that caused me fear. It was my mind’s interpretation of these things that ignited it. All of these situations, looked at objectively, were neutral. At the time, I made the default decision to listen to the fearful thoughts my ego mind dumped on me. I say default because I didn’t know I had another option: Divine mind.
Around that time I discovered Susan Jeffers’ book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, where she breaks down the different levels of fear and how to do the thing anyway. Because of it, I was later able to ride roller coasters with glee, give presentations with confidence, and perform on stage with ease. Now, going through the Course this year, I have a deeper understanding of where the fearful thoughts come from (ego mind) and that I have a better option: Divine mind.
With that in mind, I approached today’s Lesson from a slightly different angle. I know that when I’m in ego mind mode—fearful, anxious, hurried—I do not experience gentleness. If anything, it’s some varying degree of chaos. When that happens, I’m bumping into things, knocking things over, misplacing things, highly stressed, thoughts all over the place, and experiencing overall tension in my body. Nothing about any of that is gentle.
So this morning as I read and pondered the Lesson, I remembered the “Weekly Vibe Reading” I posted for this week. It’s where I pull three oracle cards to receive insight about the energy, message, and action for the week. The message card I pulled was “Quantum,” which invites us to make one small change because it can make a world of difference. With that insight and today’s Lesson, I heard the voice in my head say “slow down,” which immediately rang true in my body. Yes, I’m going to do that.
Throughout the day, as often as I could remember, I consciously chose to slow down whatever I was doing. (Which reminds me, I need to slow down with writing this post.) I realized that just about everything I do, I do in a hurry, as if someone is behind me telling me to “hurry up.” The thing is, no one’s there. It’s all in my head, or rather my ego mind. That voice has roots—it takes me back to childhood, when “hurry up” meant getting things done before I got in trouble. Back then the fear felt like it was outside of me, in their reactions. But I realize now it was never out there. It was in my mind, the same place it lives now.
This awareness made a big difference on my walk this morning. Normally, I try to walk as fast as I can. Today, I chose to take it slow. This did three things for me: 1) I was more aware of everything around me; 2) my body was more relaxed; and, the biggest surprise, 3) the thoughts in my mind slowed down. With the slowdown and presence of mind, I could more readily choose to align with Divine mind whenever the ego mind tried to interject one of its fearful thoughts. Then the Simon & Garfunkel song “59th Street Bridge” (Feelin’ Groovy) popped in my head, helping me keep a slower pace and lighten my steps.
Once you read the lyrics, you’ll understand how aligned this song was for me and my take on the Lesson.
59th Street Bridge — written by Paul Simon
Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy
Ba da da da da da da, feelin’ groovyHello, lamppost, what’cha knowin’?
I’ve come to watch your flowers growin’
Ain’t’cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in doo-doo, feelin’ groovy
Ba da da da da da da, feelin’ groovyI got no deeds to do
No promises to keep
I’m dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you
All is groovy
By now you may be wondering how this all relates to gentleness. Well, on my slower walk, I was able to notice gentleness right in front of me all along the way, especially when I spotted some of my neighborhood trees. They are already starting to change into fall colors. It reminded me of the gentleness of their process. They don’t rush to change. It’s a slow, delicate process. Even when their leaves begin to fall off, they won’t dive bomb into the earth—they’ll gently flutter their way down to the ground. They’re basically telling us that if we’re willing to notice, they’ll demonstrate gentleness for us.
So my takeaway today is simple: slow down and let Divine mind lead—the gentleness that was already there becomes visible.
“So I decided to take Lesson 265 … at its word. To concede that maybe … I misunderstood this person, maybe I deceived myself, maybe these judgments are only in my mind..”
— “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
