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

If something requires our contribution to be complete, it would follow that completion depends on us. This is the logic of this Lesson #186. The bringing of the Heaven State to Earth cannot happen until we have brought this State of Being into our own life. Our part is essential in this plan of "Salvation." (Lesson #100) This is not "arrogance" to think our part is so important, because it actually is.  Salvation of the world depends on us, and we can exercise true humility when we accept that our Forgiveness adds to the greater whole of Atonement—for which this world is in great need. 

"I want the Peace of God." The first "gift of God" is Peace. Can we receive it? We would have to want it above all else. This wipes away all other desires, and imbues all our actions with a serenity the world does not know. The Peace of God is a gift so great we hardly recognize its all encompassing magnitude. Perhaps this is the day we can come to the pure intention that A Course in Miracles lays out for us. We want to Peace of God. Let us claim it together. 

We are asked to put aside all the "names" we have given things which divide reality into separate parts. There is a WHOLENESS that we are not seeing when we "name things." This lesson is a portal into that State of Mind that is suspended from division and separation. We have to claim this inheritance by giving our attention to the One Name of All that is Created—the Name of God. 

The call of God’s Name is something available to us. We can always make it. In our sincerity to be in contact with our Creator, the Name of God is there for us to invoke and use. Will we do it? The Name of God is also our real Name as well. We are uplifted in it. 

Where is our home? We yearn to go there. It is not an external place. The Home we see is inside of us. It contains the universe. It is the stillness and the Peace of God we seek, and that state of mind is within us. The Home we seek is a still small voice of the Christ Child in us, blazing in its innocence, lighting the way for us to return to our Self as God created us. Will you and I go there together? We can in an instant go Home. Let's go!

What would it take for us to let go and trust? What would it take for us to let go of all grievances and see in the Light of Christ's vision? This Lesson is just about that. The Law is this—what we give out we receive. So if we project guilt and mistrust onto anyone, we receive those judgments back upon ourselves. But if we extend trust, and see our brother's sinlessness, then we will be given grace and sinlessness ourselves. Therefore, to trust our brothers is the right action to establish peace in our life. 

We live by Grace, and we are released in its benevolent care of innocence. There is no mistake we have made that cannot be corrected, and we are absolved of any guilt entirely. In this restoration of our innocence, we can be gentle and kind. There is no cruelty in us any more. We have arrived at a place of inner safety, and external order. All of our needs are met, and our desires are fulfilled. 

There is One Life that has no separation. Within this state of wholeness, there in do division or conflict. The Grace of our Divine Creator descends upon us, and we are blessed in the providence of all that we need and want. The present is Holy, and we have many instants of supreme appreciation for Life. All is good, and we are among the ministers of God. 

The Gifts of God only bring Peace and Joy. Therefore, why would I not receive them? Every time I have an alternative to joy, I am denying the Thoughts of God. These are the Gifts of my Divine Inheritance, yet, I cannot receive them as long as I hold grievances, attack thoughts, victim thoughts, etc. In this Lesson we can stop "denying" our Inheritance, and accept it with the open and loving arms of our Creator. 

Who but The Christ could say, "There is no death." The Christ has overcome all affiliation to death, and affirmed the Joy of God is our only purpose here. Any thought that is not supremely happy is a "death thought," and only in separation from our Source could we think such thoughts. But it is not possible to be separate from our Source. So it is not possible to ever die. We are One with our Source. This is our reality, therefore, there is no death. This is cause for great rejoicing.