THE GIFTS OF GOD — Sondra Ray and Markus Ray on A Course in Miracles

We are in the critical juncture of A Course in Miracles with this Section VIII of Chapter 11. "The end of the world is not its destruction, but it's translation into heaven." Our healing powers require that we see with Christ's vision. We have a challenge to see that "only loving thoughts are true." Everything else is a cry for help. We can heal in the Christ Energy. He encompasses everyone in God's Love. "God had condemned me not. No more do I." This is Lesson #228. It is in keeping with this lesson of invoking only loving thoughts to be in the Reality of God's Answer. God's Answer is some form of Peace. All problems are solved in it. We need but call and God will answer us.

We have a responsibility to see that we do not know much (in the absolute state). We have to see that what we have learned amiss is our "problem." But what we "think we know" is erroneous. Can we drop the false world of ideas that do not require us to make contact with the "Actual?" Our one "problem" is separation from the Truth, which we maintain with the thoughts of the ego. We have one problem which is an "imagined separation" from our Source Energy, and we have specific problems that spring forth from this separation. We have to "undo" the known errors that we maintain. We ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us to erase our illusions; to help us solve our "problem of separation."

The main condition of reality is that it is unequivocal. It has no "opposite" in other words. And our attention is given to the Holy Spirit's thought system. The ego may see "the good," but it will always establish its "autonomy" by perceiving an opposing factor. "Evil" is equally valid to fight against. This division of "opposing factors" is one of the ego's principle tools to assert itself. "Nothing real can be threatened; Nothing unreal exists." Therefore, the projections of fear are not really there beyond our false projections. What is "false" is by definition "not true," and what is not true does not exist. We see this and then forget it.

Can we transcend into our True Self? This would be the Self of total forgiveness and total joy. Christs Vision is an aspect of this Self. Are we slaves of the crucifixion we make up, or are we liberated in our resurrection? Christ is the resurrection and the life, and we can align with Him to have a new perception. We need a new experience that comes from Him. His perceptions are our natural awareness. We live in God and therefore in the Christ. And we have to perceive this in all our brothers and sisters. For we cannot exclude anyone. We ascend together into this True Self. Jesus helps us accept the resurrection. This is "waking to redemption."

The freedom of interdependence is a high state of total harmony and cooperation. The ego wants “autonomy” to maintain the separation. It is an isolated entity we have constructed to give ourself a sense of identity that takes no account of our place in the Whole. “God is dependent on the Son; the Son is dependent on Him.” But this is not a loss of freedom, but a gain, because it connects us with the entire Cosmos. Why would we not want that? Why would we want to maintain separation that eventually ends in death and despair? In true Love there is total interdependence on our Creator. There is no need for defense because there is no attack, no guilt that demands punishment, and no separation that is motivated by fear.

We look at the "dynamics" of the ego today. The "autonomy" that the ego would claim for itself is in "separation." It is the interdependence of Creation, and all things in It, that brings us our Peace and Power. The ego's sense of "autonomy" is self-centered, "solipsistic," and isolated, only relating to it's circular arguments of its existence. We look in a mirror of distortion when we are using the ego's thought system. Experience is not necessarily valid for establishing our inner truth. A "separated truth" has no meaning, because Truth is One and Whole, all-inclusive. Fear is running the ego, it constantly divides us off from the Whole, and we have to look at it to dispel it.

Our inheritance is the Sonship. We cannot exclude anyone from this awareness of the WHOLE creation of God's Son. One exclusion, even of a "Hitler," would cloud our vision, and prevent us from receiving Christ's Vision. There is no condemnation of any kind in the Mind of God. Lesson 228 says, "God has condemned me not, no more do I." We must never forget the Sonship. And this is outside of time, space, and the judgments we have about the "people" who occupy this dimension. If we "hate" part of ourself, (any of our brothers) all of our understanding is lost. Markus looks at the movie, "The Zone of Interest," and the challenges we have to "condemn evil," and how the ego justifies its judgments and deeds of cruelty. It is something in us we must cleanse away and rise above.

We go from the darkness we made to the light God created. We have allowed a sense of separation to take us over. This makes us weary of the world, but it is all self-imposed. The will of God for us is the light. "Out of our joy we will create beauty in His name." What God wills for us is ours. Let us walk in the light today. The Great Light is here. It is within us. Let us claim the Light today. It is also within all of our brothers. Let go of the darkness—the grievances, the attack thoughts, the judgments, the things we are against. God wills that our glory is shared together. This is our inheritance. Let's claim it.

LEADER

Healing involves a few things. First we have to see who we are as God created us, so we are no longer in denial of our Self-Identity. Then we have to listen to the Holy Spirit, the Guest we invite in as our Voice for God's guidance. Healing is a desire to "make whole," and this would include our brothers in the Sonship. None can be excluded, but the healing is of ourself first. The Holy Spirit lobbies for the end of separation. We make our Will one with God's Will that IS Wholeness. We invite the Holy Spirit to guide us in this endeavor to end our separation. We can be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom when we see the Holy Spirit is there to keep us aligned with this.