Questions for J

And the Love that He Gave Me

Barret Hedeen

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 Welcome! To those who are on a path of a spiritual nature, thanks for joining me
as we journey down the trail together a bit. And even if that doesn’t seem to describe
you, let’s just take a stroll together anyway and see where we end up. For truly, our
journey is all-inclusive – there’s no one left behind.
So, where do we start? The answer is both surprisingly simple and surprisingly
hard (I would suggest using either “simple/complex” or “easy/hard” as more precise
alternatives), since the answer is: right where you are, right now. Now it’s simple,
obviously, since you don’t require any additional tools. There’s no “right place” you
need to go to, and there’s not any “perfect setting” you need to be in.
What’s so hard about “right where you are,” then? Well, as an answer, why don’t
we try this little exercise:

If you are able and willing, let me invite you to close your eyes for two minutes.
While your eyes are closed, listen to your breathing. To the best of your ability,
keep your mind focused only on your breathing. Go ahead and try it.

Now if you are anything like me, you might have failed utterly at this task. (And
if you’re an experienced meditator who was able to do it, you probably understand
already) what I was saying about this journey being surprisingly hard: Because the mind
has an unconscious resistance to inner stillness and introspection.

(MY SUGGESTION FOR THE SECOND SENTENCE SO THAT IT READS

MORE CLEARLY: If you are an experienced meditator, you know how much practice
was needed to achieve that state of inner focus. Either way, you might now have a better
understanding of what I was saying about this journey being surprisingly hard)

Our journey involves using the tools of inner stillness and greater introspection to
gradually and peacefully undo this resistance. When this resistance starts to fall away,
you may begin to notice yourself being guided as to what to do or not do as you move

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through your day. This guidance originates from only one of two sources, either what we
can call the “ego,” or the “Inner Guide.”
If you are in touch with your Inner Guide, there are some things that will help you
to know it. First, the feeling or message or guidance doesn’t seem to be coming from
you, but from something or someone beyond you. Second, there may be a feeling that
listening to the message would be good for many others, not just for you alone. Third,
there is a sense of genuine peacefulness that accompanies this feeling.
If, on the other hand, the ego is the one that is guiding you, then you will probably
experience tension and unease. There may also be a sense of urgency or worry associated
with whatever you are feeling guided about. You needn’t feel bad if this is the case for
you, for this is actually the case for most of us almost all of the time. We have a large
amount of unconscious fear and guilt which influences us in our thoughts, words, and
deeds, and we’re often not even aware of it.
If we’re willing to gently and gradually lift up the veil with which this fear is
covered, we can rediscover the joy that this fear is keeping us from knowing. This is the
journey that I’ve been on for many years now and I’m (I WOULD SUGGEST MAYBE
ADDING SOMETHING HERE LIKE “humbly” OR “gratefully” IF YOU WISH)
inviting you to join me. There are no clubs to join, or any money to pay, since this is all
about you. There is only one classroom that you need, and that is the life that you are
living right now.
- - -
As I began to travel this path, my sense of being guided began getting stronger
and stronger. It started being more and more an integral part of my work in the healing
realm, and even eventually became a part of the social and family aspects of my life.
Initially, I knew this guidance as the “Higher Self,” but I wouldn’t often discuss it that
way. Using terms like ‘intuition,’ ‘having a feeling’ or ‘listening within’ seemed less
controversial, and therefore easier to share what was going on with other people.
One day, I picked up a book entitled A Course in Miracles (ACIM), and began to
learn what it had to say. Much of it made a lot of sense to me. Things like, “Love
created me loving,” and “Kindness created me kind,” really put my mind at ease. I knew
there was a deeper wisdom breathing life into the words on the pages I was reading. In

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ACIM, this wisdom referred to itself as both the Holy Spirit and, in the first person, as
Jesus. I came to realize that these symbols were the same as what I had been referring to
as the Higher Self.
As I came to identify my Inner Guide with Jesus -- whom I started calling “J” for
short -- I had a remarkable experience while I was a participant at a men’s spiritual retreat
called the Grail (which is, paradoxically, led by women). All of the men go through a rite
of passage of some sort as the weekend unfolds, and as mine approached, it brought with
it a very strong sense of my being bound. I felt as if I were weighed down by chains, and
I felt that they would be lifted by going through the rite. So I signed up for the first
available slot.
The experience was remarkably transformative for me. I felt completely
unburdened and at ease! I was no longer constrained by these mental trappings that I
hadn’t even realized were there. I just went from experience to experience in peace and
in joy. This experience waxed and waned for the remainder of my time at the retreat, and
culminated in friendly farewells to the other men I had had the pleasure of meeting and
coming to know there.
I left the retreat with plans to meet a friend of mine from college whom I hadn’t
seen in a few years. The joy and goodwill from the retreat carried me easily down the
highway on my way to meet him. I pulled over to figure out the details of our visit. But
when I called him to finalize our plans, I found out that he had to stay late at work and
would no longer be able to see me.
The feeling of peace that I had been experiencing quickly disappeared, and I was
plunged into sadness, disappointment, anger and jealousy. I couldn’t understand it – how
had my experience of ease disappeared so suddenly? My commitment to live with
compassion and equanimity vanished in a puff of smoke. Not knowing what else to do, I
decided to seek guidance, and suddenly these words came pouring through me and into
my laptop:

What is life, what is death? Why do bodies swim in the sea if joy waits at their
feet? What does it contribute to the whole when pain is chosen? Why do we do
this to ourselves? Are we junkies longing for the sweet heartbreak? Can’t this

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 end? Show me the way, show me the way

Amazingly, more words appeared on the screen (I’M ASSUMING THAT YOU
MEAN THE WORDS APPEARED AS A SORT OF AUTOMATIC WRITING
THROUGH YOUR TYPING ON THE KEYBOARD? I WOULD SUGGEST THAT
YOU MIGHT WANT TO ADD SOMETHING TO CLARIFY THAT SO THE
READER WON’T THINK YOU WERE GETTING INSTANT MESSAGES OR
SOMETHING BEFORE THEY GET TO THE LINE ABOUT “THROUGH YOUR
FINGERS”) – an answer to my call. The words were compassionate and respectful –
those of a kind and patient teacher. These words, though they came through my
fingertips, were not really mine. Eventually, I recognized that this was another way for J
to share his love with me. It continued like this for twenty-one months, with me asking
questions, then feeling answers come through me in response.

Now I feel called to share the result, and I hope you find it of benefit to you. I know it
has helped me immeasurably on my path to self-acceptance and peace.

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 A note about Terminology:

A good many of the responses to my questions are (YOU HAD “DEAL” AND “IS”
ORIGINALLY, WHICH READ STRANGELY BECAUSE ALTHOUGH ‘DEAL’ IS
NORMALLY A SINGLE NOUN AND WOULD TAKE ‘IS,’ YOU USE IT HERE TO
AS AN ADJECTIVE DESCRIBING A MULTITUDE AND SHOULD THEREFORE
PROBABLY USE ‘ARE’) framed in the context of A Course in Miracles. Like ACIM,
they use generally Christian phrases and terms in ways other than how they are typically
understood in wider society. One example of this is the term “forgiveness,” referring
here to the process of relinquishing our misconceptions about ourselves and God on our
way to accepting our wholeness with Him.

This leads right into the next point, which is that God is not a ‘He.’ Nor is the Son of God
nor the Holy Spirit. Nor are any of them ‘female’ either, existing completely beyond this
world of dualities as they do. Also, the terms ‘Christ’ and ‘the Son of God’ refer to the
light and love that we are in truth, as opposed to a particular individual.

And finally, when ‘vision’ and ‘seeing’ are discussed, it is generally a metaphor for
seeing things differently in our minds, and not actually seeing them differently
physically.

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Pleas

What is life, what is death? Why do bodies swim in the sea if joy waits
at their feet? What does it contribute to the whole when pain is
chosen? Why do we do this to ourselves? Are we junkies longing for
the sweet heartbreak? Can’t this end? Show me the way, show me
the way

Behold - it is yours to choose. The beauty and love that you long to
live are there at your feet already. Bend down and pick it up and, once
again, all is open to your vision. Alleluia! When love seems to be far
off and not with you, you are but deceiving yourself, for it is all that
exists. Lay low the cragged peaks and know that we are one. Shall
wise men lead you when they know not what really exists? By your
daring possibility of everlasting love, let the light shine without. Feel
that which seemed to diverge return to oneness. Lift your heart, head
and joy into the air, into the sky, seeking the love that breaks all
barriers. Let the scales of justice put down her heavy burden. The
wide wings of death don’t really cast a shadow, for beyond the fear is
the happiness of peace reawakened in you. Let the eternal wonder be
shared with what is true while you learn to love again.

Oh, Lord, how can I open the floodgates to your love? Don’t despair at
those instances when things seem to be in opposition to your
happiness. As you keep practicing forgiveness, that which is your true
self will emerge and life will flow more easily. So let the ideas of pain
and sorrow and lack begin to fade from your memory, for that is the
only place where they have truly existed anyway, and even that is
unreal, as it is part of the misconception that is time. For the fortunate
are those delighting in the joy and wellbeing of their brother. As you
give him, so are you given. As the happiness flows gently to your

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brother, you are blessed by your feelings of happiness. The glory of
the world isn’t really in the world at all, for it is you, and you dwell with
God in Heaven as you have for all eternity. The joy of this instant is
the recognition that that which you have given, you have also been
given. So is your perception of the holiness of your brother both given
and received. Dare to go forward with love as your ceaseless
companion, and you will know that you are truly the One you have
been waiting for.

What can I do to remember the love within more consistently? Judge

not yourself harshly in those times you find yourself being judgmental
toward a brother. There is no need to treat harshly what is merely an
unknowing error. You will eventually see that what you think
happened has not actually taken place. It is only your mistaken way of
seeing it that gives it any reality to you. As you adopt this helpful
perception, your Father’s Love will be automatically recalled to you for
it is your natural state of being. When you no longer hold tightly to the
fear that keeps you from knowing your inner peace, will it naturally and
easily be shared by you with your brother. Permit this joyous state to
be your experience by knowing anything less to be unworthy of he who
is one with his Creator. Be generous with your Heart, for it is what you
are.

Under what circumstances will I feel at peace? There are no

circumstances that can prevent a teacher of God from knowing his true
Self. Yet can he unknowingly resist doing this, believing that his guide
to love is instead a malicious covert agent – the ultimate wolf in
sheep’s clothing. However, this strange belief only prevents him from
knowing the peace and tranquility given him by God Himself. Pain
becomes a welcome refuge to this awful uncertainty, tied innately to
this ambiguity toward his loving teacher.

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Why do I struggle so often with life? There is a mistaken yet quite
persistent assumption that produces no small amount of discomfort,
uneasiness and outright terror in your mind and, hence, your world.
This error prevents you from welcoming the love that gently but
ceaselessly calls out to you, asking but for your willingness to give up
your fear. No more need you flagellate yourself for empty promises of
safety that deliver simply pain and abandonment. There is truly
nothing to fear, but your idea that there is something to fear creates a
seemingly endless parade of sorrow to which you willingly succumb.
Allow me to accompany you in looking at this innocuous mistake and
all its various offspring which you feel so subjected to. This gentle,
joint gaze will help you see how baseless all pain and suffering is.

How do I secure God’s unchanging peace? It will yet dawn on your

mind that this state is the only thing that is truly unchanging. You still
cling to the fantasy that there is stability in the things of the world –
that you must only search one more time, or try yet another pointless
avenue in the hopes that it will bring the love that is seemingly anon.
Relinquish this idle quest, for it has brought you merely emptiness and
sorrow. Only in this very moment are you able to accomplish a shift
such as this, so give up your needless delay and you will find the peace
that has been in you forever.

Why do I fight against you, J? It is an aspect of identifying with the ego

that there must be opposing sides. All this does is open you to seeing
a world of duality and thinking that it exists. In those times when true
joining helps to undo this way of seeing, the possibility of conflict
ceases to be. You must choose to see with me in order to correct that
which you have chosen in error.

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How can I know love to be, rather than searching for it and feeling it
not? You don’t have to feel apart from the Love of God. However,
while even a tiny part of you thinks it is so, will you believe that you
aren’t with Him. And thus was the world of separation made in order
to prove to you time and again that the impossible isn’t impossible and
that the perfect oneness that God created is but a sham. Let go of any
investment in the belief that this could be. It never was nor will it ever
be. God is with you, at ease and content in timelessness, for always
has He been.

Does sadness bring anything good to the table? You are under the
delusion that you are a victim to the circumstances in which you live,
for you fail to recognize the true power that sits quietly within. As you
awaken and come to realize your indwelling birthright, the full glory of
He Who gives you all will return once again unto you. As you no more
deny the wholeness within, peace will return to who you are – the
divine Son of God. Linger no longer in crooked fantasies of lonely
coronation or empty adulation – these offer only sorrow and only
despair. Such despondency leaves life bereft of the Christ’s inherent
gentle blessing. Reclaim the power that has been given unto the Son
of God and decide to share your hidden self-hatred with your teacher.
In the light of forgiveness, the illusion of terror is undone in grace and
joy.

Why do I push away love? You seem to act against God’s will for you
have not perceived truly that which is. That which seems to be
terrifying will be revealed for the glory that it is. Its true nature is not
apparent yet because it is not perceivable - it must be experienced.

How much longer do I have to experience sadness? This burden you

feel you carry is but an idea you never really wanted, although it was

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chosen by you while you were not seeing rightly. It remains a choice
that you choose for as long as you seem to experience pain or
unworthiness of any kind. For the truth of what you are is evident to
Him who created you. Your worthiness is a blessing unto God which
mirrors exactly the blessing you are unendingly given by your Creator.
It shines onto Him in unwavering splendor, blessing all of creation,
which smiles in glad return. Thanks are due for your bravery in even
considering this life-giving thought system. This is because this
perspective undoes the central thought in the way you currently see
the world. It shifts you out of the idea of separation, of scarcity, and
into the truth of abundance and endless Love. This awareness will
permit you to embrace the beauty in yourself, letting go of any idea of
separation that still lingers in your mind. And in this awareness does
joy reawaken to you.

How can I bring God’s grace more fully into the world? You can’t, for
that which is beyond this world will never be made home in it.

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Uncertainty

Why do I keep struggling with the same thing over and over? You
don’t really know what it is that you struggle with. It seems to be this
thing outside of you or this other issue that shows up in your world.
They’re always pushing your buttons and you are sure that it’s out of
your control. You – the helpless victim; the world – always punishing
you needlessly. This situation would indeed be hopeless if it were so.
You have, however, fooled yourself into being beguiled by this idle
fairytale. How could God’s Creation experience suffering were it not
chosen for himself? How indeed. This perspective has no place in your
sorry tale of victimization and of sorrow. Nor does victimization fit at
all in the Holy Spirit’s Vision of your experience. For he knows that
pureness is not capable of being made impure. He also knows the
purity that lies within you has lain there always and forever.

How should I let go of disappointments as I travel through this world?

You need not let go of disappointments that you are not ready to hand
over to me. I merely ask that you be willing to look at them with me.
You will see through to their source at some point. When you realize
that you are the one upholding all of the illusions, you will have arrived
at the gate of Heaven. Know only that you have a decision here. You
will either choose wholeness, finally and completely, or you will decide
that you are not ready to see the utter emptiness and lack of value
that all illusions hold without exception. But do not worry, for so
choosing only delays in dreams what is done in truth already, namely
the holy Son of God’s awakening unto himself – for forever and without
limit.

How should I handle issues with my family? No differently than you

would any other issue – with kindness and compassion. Be careful,

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though, not to fall into false compassion. This is when you speak kind
words in spite of how you feel in your heart, or act nicely, but without
love in your heart. These deceptions serve no one. Rather, gently
share your inner conflict as lovingly as you can. If you would rather
not do this with your family, I am with you always and forever, happily
willing to take from your hands whatever you want no longer.

How can I find peace as I go through the world? You cannot, for it is
not in the world to find. All the avenues you have traversed in your
mad dash for peace have mistakenly been aimed not within but
without. Yet you have thus far failed to see this is what you have
done, preferring to heed the mistaken creed which you have received
from the ego, that peace can be achieved but won’t be. Still it needs
to be, according to the ego’s broken record of a cry – you are in conflict
and have no hope out of it. As long as peace is something that needs
to be acquired, you are definitely experiencing its lack. But it is time
for you to give up what has served you poorly by its own measure and
in truth not at all. Peace will arise in your mind as all that you have
obscured it with is lifted away by our gentle looking at it.

How does ambivalence disappear? Why do the situations you have

chosen irritate you? Their illusory nature permits you to take them as
the joke that they are. You wonder why there is wool over your eyes
and do not consider that it is you that holds it there. Allow the deeper
peace to be revealed to you. It can be found right now if you truly
choose to awaken to it. Let your gratitude be the gateway into this
experience of Love. And so it is that you rediscover your true identity
and experience the Kingdom of Heaven, knowing deeply that it is what
you have always been.

Where need I go to find the peace you bring? Hold not your anxiety in

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your heart so tightly. You bind your self with every thought of
inadequacy, of unfulfillment, that you do anything but merely laugh at.
How could such broken and lonely ideas be anything but insufficient for
he whom God created wholly loved and loving?

What keeps me from knowing the beauty that dwells within? In truth,
nothing but a laughable mirage. It is clear to me that you do not see
this quite yet. You persist in your hurtful belief in inadequacy and its
relatives – sin, fear and, of course, pain. You mix these thoughts of
lack, creating a concoction that beguiles you and confuses you too.
When you find yourself in such a state, allow me to show you the truth
that persists endlessly, not even touched by your ravenously wild
uncertainty.

How don’t I allow myself to forgive? You don’t always see an

opportunity for practicing forgiveness as one. If you find yourself in a
situation that is not permitting you to be completely and totally at
peace, then you have an opportunity for learning to perceive
something in it with Christ’s Vision. This way of seeing will bring you to
the remembrance of the truth of who you are. So allow this metric to
assist you in knowing when forgiveness is how you should mentally
respond to that which you perceive.

How can I best deal with my tiredness? Remember that the body is not
your home. That which keeps the Christ that you are in a state of
other than perfect peace has, in truth, no reality. How could
imperfection exist within the perfection that is the truth of what you
are? Beyond all form, the peace that you are gently calls to the
fragmented idea you have of yourself, asking simply that you know
yourself.

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Why can’t I love those I meet on my path more easily? The only
reason for you to withhold sharing your love with your brother is a lack
of proper sight. If you believe in that which limits anyone, you have
limited your ability to perceive them as they are in truth. For the light
that shines in you shines exactly as brightly within them, as any
difference is mere fantasy. Allow yourself to traffic in fantasy no more,
since its end result always falls shy of what you expect. You are
presented with the choice – for oneness and joy or for the unhappiness
stemming from multiplicity – so choose once again. Berate yourself
not for past choices of fear, they have had no effect. What has reality
comes from God and cannot be changed, being from He who is
unchanging. Permit the all-encompassing nature of His love to nourish
and sustain you as you journey back to your remembrance of your
peace in Him.

What can I learn from my resistance to peace that I often feel stuck in?
There is always a way to see where you are with eyes of love, even
when this seems unreachable in your position.

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Questioning Ego Beliefs

How can I stop limiting myself? The pain that you see as the truth of
who you are is merely a simple mistake. It does not need to be
believed in, and if you choose, it can be realized to be the “notness”
that it is.

What is the point of staying in the dream world? There is yet much for
you to forgive while this body of yours seems to remain your identity.
Give over all concepts that the Son of God has any limit whatsoever.
Your attachment to all things of form serves only to deepen your
acceptance of the preposterous concept that you are apart from He
Who created you.

What is it that I should do when I find the world to be very important?

This is a very good issue, since it cuts to the heart of the matter. You
actually seem to think that every thing in your life is extremely
important. How else could it be for someone who throws his peace
away for both the “important” and the “trivial” happenings in his life?
You delight in discriminating between the former and the latter, and a
myriad of other categories you happily employ. Yet as has been
mentioned before, these artificial distinctions have no reality nor value.
All the varied things you have presented to yourself have been made
for one purpose – to prevent you from remembering the gentle peace
you share with your Creator. You can only do this on the level of the
mind, and what does the world shout over and over, except “There is
no mind!”? Thus does the ego attempt to give reality to its most
extravagantly elaborate mistruth – that the world is all that is, period.
However, the holy Son of God cannot subsist wholly on untruths, for
there is an irrevocable memory in him of the oneness that God has
willed him to be.

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What is it in me that fears the punishment of God? There is a place in
your mind that you guard with an intense fervor. You will not tolerate
threat to this place where your identity as separate is kept. It is sacred
to your separated self and your alliance with separation will pull out all
the stops to prevent even the merest questioning of its legitimacy.
Your right-minded Self sees this manipulating and posturing and has
no concern. For how could nothingness be a cause for concern? You
will see that all that you have given credence to has been less than the
merest wisp and need not give rise to more concern than such a thing
deserves.

Why do I yearn for separation? You are aware of the tenuousness of

your perch on your throne that “rests” on the idea of God Whom you
have destroyed. You know that this is an impossible idea, but you
cannot stand to consider stepping off of the “kingdom” of pain and
suffering that you believe to be your dominion. Your wish to be special
keeps from your memory your longing to awaken once again unto your
oneness. When you are in harmony with this return to your peace
does the ego become vicious in one of any number of unique
strategies. It may in some way convince you to see yourself in a
superior light in any situation, or, alternatively, an inferior one. You
may notice some matter of lack in your life, as well may you covet
something your brother may have in his possession. Perhaps is your
body unsatisfying in this view of the ego’s that it has sold you. All of
these and a myriad more have you accepted from the ego that your
specialness not be diminished. Yet there is no more need for this to be
your goal.
By giving your perceptions over to me will I help you to transform
their goal to be one of harmony and tranquility. No more will you see
the distinctions that had once led you to grief and sadness. I will show

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to you another way of looking at your world so that the underlying love
shines clear, spreading loving blessings on all that is. Permit me to re-
examine the burdens you have shouldered for all of time, and help you
see the substanceless nature that they have always had. Let this
limitlessness, newly rediscovered, allow you to remember the beauty
and peace at rest in you, and in your oneness with your Creator.

How do I take my fear less seriously? As long as you have for your
identity a sense of limitation and littleness, you will believe that you
are capable of both attacking and being attacked.

What do I do when I feel I can’t face love? Allow yourself to see that
you have imprisoned yourself by your upside-down definition of love
and self. You believe that you have limitations and can only be
genuine some of the time. Yet does God know his Holy Son to be
without limit and unbound by time. He is only as his Creator knows
him to be.

What should I do when I feel empty inside? Your emptiness is only a

strange inversion of the holy Fullness that gently resides in your very
being. At your core, you need nothing for you are wholeness itself. It
is only in denying this perfection that you find what seems to be its
opposite in your mind as well as your experience.

How can I keep from believing that other people have limitations? The
holy Son of God will simply see his brother in the same manner he
believes himself to be. In a world of limitations you perceive to be so,
all will be seen as inherently limited. Yet could this not be farther from
what is true. God wants only peace and eternal love without limit for
his holy Son, for this is the only gift which he truly ever was given.
Relinquish any “gifts” of fear that you falsely hope will result in the

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love which they, in fact, cover over. This pain has set a table of glitter
and gilt-covered dinnerware and yet will not your desire for God be
sated at this banquet of naught. You will rather discover again the
idea of “not enough” that wearily calls from within the ego’s defective
viewpoint.

Why do I get sidetracked by thoughts of the ego? The challenges of

the path are seemingly many, but in fact there is but one. This
“challenge” lies at the heart of your seeming conundrum. When you
are able to see the light and beauty within yourself, will all questioning
be done. Then any challenges that had previously presented
themselves for you will be understood to be the illusions that they
have always truly been. As your heart begins to see truly, all the joy
and love that is Heaven will be remembered to be your own.

Why do I often think I have all the answers? The ego would like you to
believe this, since it supports its belief that you have overthrown the
Kingdom of God. Now you find yourself on its throne, with the world at
your feet. If you imagine all the world groveling before you, how could
you not conclude that what you believe is what’s best? You don’t
really know what’s best, though, while the idea of being above or
separate from anything at all has any value to you. Once this new
perspective of the valuelessness of the many differences of form is
adopted, you will see once again the light that only shines for always
and forever.

Why do I feel like a child who always asks, “Why this?” and “Why
that?” It is not necessary to belittle yourself as you begin to take steps
unto God. The truth is within you, but you still see it not. The thought
that you have some deficit to overcome before God will embrace you
again is the very idea that keeps you seemingly apart from your peace.

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For the truth in all this is that you are perfect already, and how can you
think differently when it is God’s will for this to be so? So accept His
love into your heart, and into your being, and mope no longer in the
shallow pools of self-contempt! Recognize your greatness, since this is
how God created you! And allow this knowledge to ring through all
existence, for it is this for which you are!

What is there to even strive for? Nothing, and this should come as a
great relief to you – for what has your whole life been but striving? You
have striven to achieve a thing you have deemed valuable. When you
weren’t doing that in some way, you have striven to avoid some other
thing that you had decided would harm you. What have you achieved
but to wear yourself out? What have you gained but a tenuous grasp
on an uncertain situation that will undoubtedly change? This is no gain
to the Holiness within. He loves you with a certainty that only comes
with the fullness of Everything. He sees all your escapades into
division and loss and holds the unswerving knowledge of your
unchanging peace steadily within. And He knows, as do I, that this
peace will be revealed unto you yet again.

Why do I keep encountering sadness, fear and anxiety? You long to be

rid of such emotions, yet you do not always make the leap of logic to
understand that you cling to them desperately on the level of your
mind. This decision to ally with the ego sees no difference between
releasing pain and ultimate annihilation at the hands of a vengeful
god. This insane correlation is only possible when the ego’s perception
is given precedence, total love being the antithesis of its existence. As
has been stated before, there is no overlap of these thought systems.
One is a testament only to freedom, the other simply imprisonment.
When you are shown that you have the power – you have the key, will
you not release your self, your mind, from this prison you have made?

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Let yourself go free in seeing freedom in each brother you see. The
divine in you dwelleth in him, as the divine in him dwelleth in you.

What am I learning by believing this world to be my home? There is

nothing to learn from those statements which are not true – they only
foster misunderstanding and self-denial. Yet that does not mean that
these non-truths are useless as you journey home to your oneness in
God. For the Holy Spirit makes use of all that you’ve made to be
important in your completely (albeit mistakenly) twisted way of
thinking. He will assist you in letting go of those things which you have
placed between yourself and your knowing of your holiness. As you
begin to unburden your mind of what has absolutely no value, you will
know again the divine Self that you have been forever and beyond.

How shall I stabilize my perception when things cause me distress? All

the seeming variety of sources of anxiety, suffering and unease are but
reflective of the core idea of the ego. They but represent in your world
the unreal thought that you are separate from God. There is a better
way of seeing, and this is what I share – a way of setting things in their
proper order. This will eventually grant you all the love you ever
longed for and thought ever beyond you. Why not pursue this way of
viewing the things you encounter as you move through the world?
This cannot help but give you all that is seemingly beyond you yet still
dwells within. Allow the unreality of the intertwined ideas of loss,
attack, pain, and separateness to be known to you. Thus do you
uncover the ever-shining beauty that graciously gives to all, being of
All.
Now are you able to perceive with a light in your eyes, with a
love in your heart and a song in your ears. No more are you deceived
with the idea that the things of this world can bring you happiness, nor
will they result in sorrow. They are but effects of an insane decision

21
you did not even really make. There is no sense in you who have
made this world choosing to become a victim to it when at any
moment can you see it anew. So give over all that you have piled
upon your back and let yourself turn your face to welcome God’s
graciousness, as does a flower turn and welcome the warm rays of the
gentle sun.

How can I no longer cling to limitation? Limit has become your world.
You believe that smallness is what you are worthy of. This must be so
or it would not have been chosen by you. Only this twisted
understanding would result in you who are the home of holiness
believing in your inherent damnableness. What could I do but laugh at
something so outlandish? You need not anything in truth, though you
might not grasp this as you look at yourself through your body’s eyes.
I see with no such limit and can see your holiness in each and every
moment, since what is eternal does not know of change.

Why do I believe that pain is? There are a variety of mistaken ideas
that you believe to be real. In the end, you will see the connectedness
of these untruths. How could the laughable concept that you are
unworthy of God’s peace not be innately linked with a belief that you
and He are other than perfectly one?

What can I do with my rebellion that’s in opposition to your guidance?

Do not be afraid to give it into my hands, thereby expressing your
willingness to reexamine the faulty assumptions that underlie any
opposition that you are experiencing. Only the belief in the mistaken
concept of duality will give rise to mistaken thoughts like these. What
reality is there to “opposing” if duality is false, and oneness is all that
is? Since God is all, there is truly nothing to oppose. Lay down your
fear, that this realization may be given back to you.

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23
Joy

How am I to give my joy when I am not feeling it? It is not always

apparent yet it is always there. Allow this fact to buoy your spirit in
those instances in which you have permitted another way of seeing to
cloud your eyes. Those experiences have no relation to reality. Leave
them behind and remember the happy truth that you are loved by God
and that Love encompasses everything. Because of this, there is not a
single person excluded, and also not you, even though you feel you are
oftentimes unworthy of receiving this. God’s Son is incapable of being
unworthy of His Love, for it is what God created him to be. Is it
conceivable that God’s Son is not worthy of his own eternal nature?
Allow, then, the gentle peace of Heaven to reawaken to your vision, for
it has been there always, as your truth has been as well.
There is no time that has ever been in which your spirit was not
whole. Any idea in which you have ever been incomplete in any
manner has no basis in what is real. Such preposterous conceptions
melt away in the clear-seeing Vision of Christ, which is your constant
option of choosing to see the light in others and in your Self. So give
all anxiety and thoughts of lack over to this way of perceiving and they
will melt away into the nothingness which they have always been. For
as you wake from illusions, it’s very easy to see that their seeming
substance was not there.

Why don’t I allow my joy to be shared with more regularity? It is not

actually what you feel will serve you, so you do not let it at all times
shine. For while you believe yourself to be a limited and injury prone
being that dwells in a body will you choose to give yourself as well as
those you see shame and loneliness. Yet do you already know the
truth on the level of the spirit which exists in spite of all seeming forms
that may be contrary. Forgive all that clouds your perception of the

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happiness and tranquility that stays eternally beyond all that is
changing.

How can I know Beauty? Open your heart to it and let your mind know
it to be, know it to be all. For it is one with you and you are one with
Beauty too; Undo the ideas in your mind that have stated otherwise –
they are simply idle ramblings not worth the value you give to them.
With this knowledge do all strivings cease, for you have nowhere to go
once you wake up to the fact that you are in Heaven and have always
been. Lay aside your fears, your rage, your ennui, your despair – that
which is nothing has no place in Perfection. Give up too your
attachment to this world of form – it is not your home, but the ego’s.
Now know the peace that is your truest Self.

Why do I struggle with staying connected to a sense of joy? You feel

that shame is a big part of what you deserve owing to a mistaken
concept of your true nature. Your commitment to believing this harsh
unreal fairy tale about your origin brings this false idea of pain to your
experience. As long as you feel that this “attack” upon God has any
amount of legitimacy, will separation be what seems to be happening
in your life. Yet how could the Son of God stop being what he is? It is
possible that he may not see the truth of himself, but still will the
eternal light that God placed in him shine blessings on all that exists.

Where do the fleeting moments of pure joy disappear to? Joy is neither
fleeting nor temporary, but your precious clinging to this thought of
duality causes you to believe the untrue is true. Allow your Teacher to
guide your wandering mind back to the truth by helping you see the
unendingness that is that which shines from within.

How can I more easily remember my joy? Be not afraid to ask for help,

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for it is truly with you always and forever.

Why do I keep myself from living a fully joyous life? This is

synonymous to the question of why you lead a separate existence.
Neither have any basis in what is true, but do you clench your fists
tightly around the belief that they are so. You will come to understand
how what I share with you is true. Until you are prepared for this to be
so, will you believe that what the body’s eyes show you is objectively
real. Yet how can what is but a dream have any objective reality?

How can I remain in the Joy that I know myself to be? In times of
happiness, there is but one thing for you to do. Celebrate! Give your
joy freely to all those you meet and all those that you think of. The
light that shines from your heart is reflected in the pure mirror of
beauty that rests quietly within your brother, blessing all infinity. So
share unequivocally the blessed truth that your Creator gave to you,
which is yours as well as of you!

How can I joyfully share the love that dwells in me? As you see the
warm rays of joy and peace that shine happily outward from you, will
you also see the light and love in each and every brother that presents
himself or herself to you. This is true also the other way around. As
the light shining in your brother reveals itself to you, will you come to
know your own divinity as well. It shines irrespective of whether you
know it to be there or not. Welcome it in those times where you see it
easily, and allow a new perspective to come to you in those moments
where you see it not.

Why do I permit myself to feel other than perfect joy and happiness?
You are beset by anxiety not through the whim of a mad dictator, flush
with vengeance. There is no “other” that wishes you harm and revels

26
in your sorrow. Yet you have come up with this terrible fantasy,
offering such ideas as evidence that God has dictated this terrible
conflicted state to be your fate. What have I to offer in response to
this but unceasing compassion and understated gentleness? Once you
begin to open your heart to my message of ceaseless unity, of
ceaseless love, these silly shadows will start to leave your mind. In
this way, you will come to know that which you have always known on
some level – the gentle and ever-present nature of your Father’s love
for you.

Why does joy sometimes seem to lead me to experiencing more of it,

but not always? While there seems to be a dream that you think is
your life does this experience of joy seem to dance around you,
permitting you but the most minor whisper of a taste before pain
returns once more. The peace that you think sidesteps and flits here
and there does not in reality do that at all. For there is no peace that
is not constant. Constancy is the primary characteristic of what peace
is. So let yourself accept this joyful news, and permit your vision to
encompass what you have learned. The eternal nature of your brother
is a blessing unto you both - for you are what he is, and the reverse is
a blessing as well.

How can I sustain the joy I have only occasionally? You do not yet
understand the truth of what joy is. Its eternal nature belies the
possibility that it could be temporary in any way. The experience you
refer to as joy is but a temporary lessening of the anxiety and
hatefulness that underlies all that you think to be real. As you begin to
know the peace that is truly beyond all the things of this world, the
“joy” will then deepen and transform ultimately into Joy’s ceaseless
state of being – into that which you truly have always been.

27
How can I share the light I know is in us all? Open yourself to seeing it
in your brother in whatever circumstance you interact with or even
think of him. His light is there whether or not you perceive it to be so.
All the Sonship shines brightly regardless of your resistance to see this
to be true. So share this resistance with me that we may perceive all
this anew, shining in the gentle rays of your Father’s deserved grace.

How can my joy be shared with the innocence of love? In any instance
in which peace is all of your experience, will your joy be given to all the
Christ in perfect harmony. In this instance, you will not even question
what manner this should be done in, for it will simply be done through
the truth of what you are without concern. This follows very logically,
because the Christ in you knows that whatever seems to cause
concern is nothing but a figment of unreality.

How does the joy fully express itself? Allow it to overcome you – and
by this I mean – open the eye in your heart and see. For love is all
around you, within you – it surpasses all dualities. Let it be the star of
Christ’s rebirth in your awareness. For this light in you has never
dimmed in anyway, just because you have chosen to look at a dream
of pain. Know your true nature and be assured, for your death is an
illusion. Allow your rage to be exposed for the hot air it truly is. For
your awareness of this will allow it to be blown away on the cool breeze
that is your certainty of your true inheritance. Your Father’s gifts to
you are eternal – they cannot be taken from you, even though you
choose to ignore them. But now is the time to allow His loving Peace
to return to your knowledge. And rejoice, for that outcome has been
chosen for you by the Christ that you are.

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Vision

How can I see the newness that your Vision supplies in any given
moment? Within the holy instant, all is eternal yet new
simultaneously. This is the truth regardless of the situation that seems
to be confronting you in a world of retributive attack and seemingly
unending unease. No more need you hold so tightly unto the scraps of
mere nothingness which have only left you hungry and in need. Your
Father did not create you so. God wills nothing but peace for His Son,
and in truth does not a thing exist that opposes His will. As you
relinquish your flawed and broken worldview of duality, all of Heaven
will be made plain to see, its newness and glory that shine always in
thee.

How can I help myself see that forgiveness is the best choice in each
circumstance? Each situation you find yourself in is an opportunity to
undo those seeming happenings that it appears you have created with
the ego. Order not yourself to be unflagging in your pursuit of Heaven.
But instead, show yourself compassion and allow your mistakes to be
given me and undone. Commitment is required, yet your goal is
unreachable without being forgiving of silly errors in yourself and your
brother. Do not forget, as well, that your goal is already achieved, as
the miniscule glitch that is the idea of separation has been let go of
before it could be held on to. Remember, then, to be gentle with your
world as you journey into peace, where you are already.

How can I more regularly see the true horror of this world? Ultimately,
what it is important that you see is the world’s unreality. It is true that
you have looked at this world with eyes of lust, longing, despising and
more – all ways of making a big deal out of it. But whether you are
making it out to be beautiful or abject, you are making it out to be

29
credible, and that is the real error.

How can I cultivate Christ’s Vision more fully? When you allow yourself
to see what is divine in each and every situation that you find yourself
to be in, has the Vision of Christ made moot your inane un-thoughts of
littleness and small-mindedness. You need no longer give credence to
any mistaken idea based in the ego’s cracked foundation of pain and
loneliness. These hurtful concepts do not truly benefit that which God
created, in spite of your mistaken belief they do.

What need I do to remember my brother’s divinity? You must be

willing to release your preconceptions as to his identity, for you know
not the truth of what he is. Your sad misconcepts would encase him in
a hopeless cage of flesh, where only death could seemingly afford
release. Yet is this sad story woven out of whole cloth, without even a
single touch of reality within. And you take this fabricated tale and
wrap yourself tightly in it, not fully conscious of its requisite allies,
namely sorrow and pain. These need not be your allies, however, nor
are they in truth. But until you can see that they have actually been
chosen by you in your fear, you will think that they travel alongside
you. All that being said, your brother’s divinity is there for you to
perceive. It is all that he is, as it is all that you are as well. Even
though you resist these concepts still, you will see their correctness in
due time.

Why do I see beyond the truth and make the world such a strong
concern? Give over the pain and “trauma” that you have squirreled
away to the dark corners of your mind, and you will look upon illusions
no more. This insane idea that you have perpetrated vengeful and
hateful acts upon another has as much merit now as it always has had,
which is to say none whatsoever. The corollary insanity, the belief that

30
you are the victim of such acts, holds the same amount of water as
does its partner. Give, then, the ideas of this manner to one who views
them with a true Vision. He uses a Vision beyond what this world’s
eyes are capable of viewing to translate hurtfulness to harmlessness,
and victimhood into victimlessness. For He sees the Son of God as he
is, and not as he thinks himself to be. What once was seen as
malicious attack is turned into innocence calling out for love. That
which was viewed as an innocent undergoing horrible cruelty is now
seen as an active partner in an opportunity for forgiveness. Let these
perceptions of holiness be given you as your own, so that you may
share them in the circumstances which you have made your own. Go
forth and bless those that you meet with this Vision.

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Leaving Anguish

How can I leave all of my unhappiness in the dust? Your unhappiness

already lies in the dustbin of imagined loneliness and imagined
suffering. No longer need you imagine that place is where you reside
as well. When you feel that your home is connected with any variety
of longing and lack are you misunderstanding the nature of your
dwelling place. For you have been created by God to be with him
eternally in your shared residence of Heaven. No more need you
pretend that there is something within you that is unworthy of this.

How can the illusion be released? Let yourself know the deception
which you have chosen to believe and take off the mask that allows
you to think you’re in pain. For these things are but idle toys that have
never given you what you had hoped when you first picked them up.
They have given you only grief and sorrow. Let this be good news to
you, for in this realization comes the awareness that this sadness can
be let go of. It was never truly there to begin with. And the idea of
separation melts back into the nothingness that it always was, and you
are once again, as you have always been, one with your Creator.

What do I do with the frustration that I find in myself? There isn’t

anything you need do, nothing at all. This compulsory need to make
yourself the victim of your emotions need not be your lord and master.
There are always choices, whether or not you see this to be so. In fact,
you are always choosing either love or fear. The way you see yourself
and those around you is wholly determined by this choice.

How do I let go of anger and return to peace? All that you seem to see
cries out that it’s separate, which reinforces your chosen idea of
separation. For too long you seemingly tolerated the idea of this

32
judgment and so have apparently suffered. Your decisions to this point
have been skewed by the cloudiness that this “vision” has brought
with it. There is but love for you to behold when you look beyond the
veils that have limited what you have seen. Let this gift be given you
that you may share it with your brother.

How can I unfold despite my fearful thoughts? Permit yourself to

awaken from the painful dreams that possess your mind. For believing
in this illusion of fear and scarcity shows merely a lack of
understanding of the beauty that dwells within you. This unending
peace that shines in all the Sons of God is your inheritance, is the truth
of what you are. And as you permit your awareness to encompass this
true vision, you bless yourself and all those you perceive as radiant
bringers of love. Then are you able to know the higher purpose of your
every seeming interaction with another. It is but to bless him and
allow his blessing to be given to you in turn. Seeing him as other than
love prevents this light from being recognized. Believing a body is the
reality of your brother disallows true vision. Simply remembering the
beauty dwelling in your brother will cast aside any shadows that you
had set before your seeing him as the peace which passeth all
understanding.

Why do I seem to hate so often? Your presence is true, unshakeable,

timeless. In this oneness, have you chosen amiss. The strange allure
of pain hides the timeless joy. This deeper fear warps your perception
so strongly that you no longer can see which option is love. But worry
not, for I will guide you. Through all seeming trials.

What does it mean to let go of fear? It means only that you have
relinquished a mad fairy tale which has no basis whatsoever in what is
true. Do not think that you are letting go of a single idea that is of

33
benefit to you. For it is not conceivable that a person in their right
mind would be desirous of suffering. But this is where you are, or at
least seem to yourself to be. Who but a madman would lock himself
into a crazy “funhouse” of distortion, malice and evil? Yet is there a
path out which will lead to a correction of all the ego’s twists and turns
and dead ends. Through your diligent commitment to giving all that is
not of peace into my care, will the light dawn once again to your eyes.
In graciousness will the peace of Heaven be given unto you once more.

How do I share God’s light in the midst of struggle and turbulence?

How else could you share it? For as long as you believe yourself to be
a separate entity in a world of things that shift and change, will you
experience turbulence and things that are in conflict. That is the lot of
he who believes there are struggles to overcome and battles to be
waged. He does not, however, see precisely that which he is fighting.
Like many who have explored the dark cave before him, he will come
to see that he only battles himself. It is then that his tight grip on his
weapon can be loosened, and one day given up entirely. Until that day
arrives in his experience, his “weapon” of choice in believing God to be
separate will cloud the truth of his oneness with that which is One.

How do I step out of my belief in fear? How can you know that this has
not already been done? Your angry adamance that this is a lie betrays
your darker, more beastlike hatred of what is peace. When you are
able to look such blind rage directly in the eye with me in the calm
certainty of knowing that it has no iota of reality will Heaven be
remembered by you once more.

What does my frustration accomplish? All the dour masks associated

with the ego serve but one aim – to keep you unaware of the oneness
that encompasses everything completely. Yet even your innocent but

34
mistaken loyalty to misperception cannot cloud completely the warm
and gentle rays of your Father’s unending Call to His Son to awaken
and return home.

How do I relinquish my guilt? Keep your reluctance to acknowledge it

in steady view. It is held close in your heart by your avoidance of
perceiving it.

How does the shadow let rid its hold? How can something that is
nothing do aught? Have you been willing to consider the possibility
that you have been holding on to your pain, and that is the only reason
it seems to exist? Have you been open to the chance that you have
clung to your misery as would a capsized person to a life raft? Have
you considered these are anything but possibilities – that they are cold,
hard fact? For when you can conceive of your situation rightly, then do
new pathways open up to you. While you have seemed to be the
victim that you have made yourself, how could you imagine that you
have some way of setting things right? In this crazy scenario, all that
makes sense is howling in rage at the unfairness of it all. This,
however, is hardly how a loving God treats his only Son.

How do I give my fear to you? Whenever you are feeling ill at ease,
you have presented yourself with an opportunity to forgive. This is a
welcome to look at the emotion you are experiencing from a fresh
perspective. Need you perceive the emotional maelstrom to be around
you and what you are encased in the storm? This is simply the view of
the victim, but it is not the perspective that you need adopt, for how
could it serve you? As you share your fear with me, your desire for
victimization will no longer hold sway and you will step free of your
misguided need for pain. In this space, peace will return to your
awareness for you will remember what you are and that you are home,

35
as you’ve never not been.

Why do I struggle so much with needing things to be the way I want

them to be? This is but a conceit of the ego’s – that things could be
the way it chooses and not in complete agreement with that which God
wills. Lay aside any and every fleeting thought that speaks to you not
of perfection, of unity and grace. These sad mistakes will return to the
nothingness from which they crawled forth. Those things without any
basis are not at all. How could fear and sin and all related concepts
have any reality, as they clearly are built upon the illusory idea that
you and God are not one. Could such a blatant untruth lead a logical
mind unto ideas not entirely misleading? This is what you have been
mercy to, the belief that your Father wants to destroy you and cast you
into the fiery pits of hell until the end of eternity. Allow yourself to
think these concepts real no more. For they are entirely baseless and
simply laughable when seen aright. You are at home now with your
Father in Heaven, and there has never been a microscopic instant
when you were apart as never will there be.

36
Helping Others

Why do I want to hide from people when I feel like I could help them?
This dynamic that exists between you and your brother is but a mirror
of the twisted relationship you mistakenly believe you have with God.
The horrifying image of your Creator that you have given yourself by
thinking the separation to be true demands that you cower at his
throne or be punished. The fact that you could believe such a
miscreation to have the merest touch of truth reveals how upside-
down and backwards your thinking has become. So rely not on any
judgment that you have made in the grip of fear, since that is
guaranteed to cloud your sight. Instead, graciously release your
burdens unto me, that you may come to see they never were at all.

How can I help others when I myself am struggling? Your question

reveals that you have fallen into the thought system of the ego and are
therefore not perceiving your situation in the most helpful manner.
Being willing to change your mind about what is real is something that
will help yourself and others.

What is the purpose of spiritual teachers? They have the same

purpose as any other thing in this world, and that is one of two things;
either it is to reinforce separation or it is to negate it. Neither has
anything to do with the teacher himself, but only to do with you and
whether you choose to see perfection or not. At this point, it is very
tempting for you to blame yourself and imagine that you are faulty for
not seeing the wholeness in every situation or in every person. Yet
you must be wary of setting yourself on too high a pedestal, for those
on pedestals invariably fall. You need not be concerned with whether
or not the end of your path will be reached, for, in all of your
experience, only that is certain. For what is already accomplished

37
cannot be undone and what is unassailable cannot to brokenness be
reduced. Let us give thanks that this is so as we remember once
again the peace our Father has given us.

How can I share my love in the best manner? As you begin to let go of
your tenacious grip on your mistaken choice for loneliness, your self
will begin to shine with the light that irrepressibly dwells in Heaven and
in you. In spite of its irrepressible nature, you have deluded yourself
into believing it is but a dream. This merely displays your deeply
profound confusion as to the makeup of your self. In truth, the
prodigal son never left his Father’s home – it lay within. So, too, did his
Father’s welcome dwell in the heart and in the mind. All that is
required for you to know this welcome is to welcome nothing else.

How can I let the love flow more effortlessly? All you need do is to be
your Self, for what you really are is the epitome of love effortlessly
flowering. Be not deceived by terms such as “flowering” and “flow”
which seem to convey that a shift or change occurs in love. For Love is
unchanging and is only perfection, which need not improve or shift at
all since it already is perfect. For you who seem to inhabit a world of
ups and downs, the peace that underlies all appearances may yet
seem impossible to achieve. You believe that this prison world is all
you deserve, having committed an atrocity through destroying God’s
Peace in Heaven by thinking of separation from Him. Yet did not one
part of this inane fairytale happen at all. Verily does God assure you
that this is so by the sending of His Voice to help you know what is
true.

What do I have to do to join with my brother? There is nothing for you

to do to make true what has been true forever. Can an ugly fantasy of
bitterness and vanity tear apart what can never be torn asunder? But

38
this is not what you would have be. You would try and convince God
that there is other – not He. Since this is the core of the ego’s
existence, you can understand its insistence that it is the truth.
Insisting that something is true does not, however, make it so,
regardless of the seeming intensity of the plea. Only sanity is sane,
and only what is unchanging is true. As you assume this new mental
perspective, the reality of your changelessness in the softness of your
Lord’s bosom will be awakened again in your mind.

How shall I share all that has been given me? Frustrations mask the
deeper truth that you know. And due to this, you often struggle with
decisions between one option versus another. It is usually apparent
when you are going to choose something which does not leave you in
peace, but there is something that you have decided to give more
value than this rest in God, although it has no reality in truth. It is the
ego you cherish, this “individual” self you have led yourself to believe
that you are. It gives you the specialness that you crave, whether it
leads to congratulating yourself for “walking the path” of a spiritual
belief system, or encourages denigrating the self you think you are.
Yet always it places your self separate and apart from another. Know
this is not true. You are as you always have been, united eternally with
your Father. There is nothing you need accomplish for this to be so.
You need merely brush away the veil that you have placed over your
eyes and behold the wondrousness of the truth of Heaven. Let your
thankfulness for all you have been given open your eyes to the simple
and profound Being that is what you are.

How can I bring my love in the optimal manner to those in my life?

Share the gentle peace when it arises within you, blessing the spirit
you see in your brother and all around. For as you perceive that which
seems to be outside of you, will you see yourself. Shine the joy in your

39
heart upon all that is before you so that you see the beauty joyfully
shine in your heart and mind.

How can I share the love that has been given to me? Heal yourself and
give all that you find within. Anything that calls to you of peace, of
ease of being, provides you with the impetus to release unnecessary
ideas of limit and smallness. As it begins to be understood that
artificial divisions have no basis in love, and only that which has a
basis in love is at all, will you see that being shared is all that love is.
The path of forgiveness that you have chosen will make this all clear to
you. Yet while confusion still seems to be your only option, I will guide
you until you are ready to choose sight instead of blindness. Once you
begin to see that you and you alone are responsible for all that you
seem to sense with your body, can you accept that those things that
are important to you are so merely due to your belief that they are so.

40
Pain and Suffering

Why do I permit myself to get caught up in painful memories? It

seems to be something that you have no control over, yet the little
willingness to give suffering over to me is what is lacking when such
things occur. Yet can you find this nugget of faithfulness if but look for
it you will. It dwells at all times within you, waiting patiently for you to
recognize it and all the value that it has. For when you see this, will all
joy be yours for you to see, as it is in this very moment as well.
Rejoice, then, that all for which you sought and sought is in you right
now and always was and will be.

What should I do with my anxiety? Give it over to me that I may help

you open your eyes to a different understanding of that which gives
rise to such a feeling. You may think that there is some “thing” that
has caused this sensation to be experienced and that you would like
this thing, be it a situation you are in, or maybe a disturbing thought
that has come to mind, to be changed so that you can find peace. But
this way of thinking would seem to make that which is given you from
God fleeting, conditional. And this is absurd. For what He has given
you, namely Love, namely tranquility, has no conditions and never
does it change. Never is it other than what you are. This is reason to
rejoice, for the Beauty that lies within you is glorious in the gentle
radiance that shines from within as well.

How can I deal with situations that bring me suffering? The answer is
always the same, no matter what form this unease appears to assume.
Permit yourself to see it anew by seeing it through the eyes of Christ.
When you can see the love that simply is, constant and serene, that
dwells past all appearances, will all pain and sorrow melt away into the
nothingness they have always been. Give over, then, all concepts of

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lack and withdrawal, permitting me to remind you of the abundance
you share with the oneness of All.

Why do I permit myself to choose to feel pain and sadness when joy is
all around? You have merely started to learn what you are in truth. It
seems to you still that fictional ideas such as sorrow and loneliness are
truly given unto you in situations that surround you. Yet this is not so.
For, in fact, are not only these feelings no more real than an
illusionist’s feats of distraction, but the unhealed world you meander
through is but a trick of the eye too. When these concepts begin to
become the foundation of your thought system, such experiences
begin to lessen in their intensity. Worry not about if you will ever
achieve that seeming progress, for your rememberance of the truth of
being is not in question. It is inevitable, and for this, the ego wails, and
the truth of who you are shares its limitless happiness. So call upon
the Happy Teacher, whose wholeness is intertwined with your
reawakening. How could worry creep into the mind of one whose
never-ending guide’s only motivation is perfect happiness for his
charge, for you.

How can I give up the pain that I feel? You must first see how much
you cling to it and want it. It is truly nonsensical that you would want
pain to be what you experience, yet the Son of God is not made small
by other than his belief in his smallness, and even then not in reality.

Why do I feel like the equanimity I long for isn’t in me? You maintain
that what is not true is true, and this will undoubtedly bring conflict. A
mind cannot be in peace and hold opposing ideas at the same time.

How can I leave behind this animosity and anxiety? It is something

you do not need, yet there is a longing to keep it close that you have.

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You have listened to the laughable claims of the ego, which claims that
fear is safety, that loathing is peace, that rage is your only reasonable
choice. Yet Reason would have you choose differently. The animosity
is the outcome of wanting two things opposed to one another. What
peace is there in such an unsteady situation? Let me help you look
again and choose anew. Allow peace to enter into your heart and rest
to be given you. For behold, that which Christ offers is truly already
with you.

Why do I return over and over to pain and loneliness? The ego wants
your suffering to continue indefinitely, leading you to disappointment
and envy in their many different manifestations. For while you are
beguiled with their seemingly magnetic allure, their substancelessness
will remain hidden unto you. And substanceless are they in truth, for
that which detracts from God’s peace is not, in truth, at all.

Can I choose a better way to experience this life than the ping-pong
back and forth between remembering my peace and the agony of
forgetting? Begin to see that what you’ve allied yourself with doesn’t
really serve you, and you are well on your way to the constancy of
peace that you believe you feel at times. However, the peace of
Heaven is eternal, and does not oscillate away and back into memory.
True, there are experiences which shed a glimmer of this state into
your awareness, and these are chosen by you to keep you steady on
the path to remembering who you really are, the Son of God. For your
true Identity needs no reassurance, it needs no propping up in order to
help it to see the truth that it is. It simply knows – it knows that its
presence is a blessing to all the world, which, when seen truly, blesses
the Sonship in return. For the fact of reality is that it is shared. It is
shared freely and without hesitation, and this is how it is kept. For in
Heaven, to give and to receive are identical.

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What is there to learn from my experiences of pain? Ultimately, it will
be made clear to you that every single experience of pain and unease
was “born” of the same mistaken idea: the unreal thought you are not
completely one with God. However, while you still seem to be in a
world of hurt, there is much you can do on behalf of the Reawakening
of which you are an unreplaceable part. When you can accept that the
world that you perceive with your senses is merely an outward
reflection of your deeply hidden and thoroughly conflicted sense of
self, the disproportionate importance you give it will cease to be. In its
place will God’s wholeness be unquestionably evident to His Son yet
again.

What is the source of the pain that I subject myself to? There is no
other source but the decision to believe that you are other than God
himself created you to be. As He is eternally One, so are you eternally
One – never in any way other than in perfect peace in the gentle
embrace of Heaven. Release the painful cords you use to bind yourself
to abject horror and seemingly eternal inadequacy. These concepts
have no basis in reality whatsoever. They merely seem to be so to
you, due to your mistaken adherence to your faulty belief in God’s
otherness. How can you hope to deal with such a seemingly large
problem, you may ask yourself? Yet is the answer all around you. In
each circumstance you face that leaves you angry, sad, upset –
unpeaceful in any possible way – is that primary mistake being
reflected in this world unto you. This is then an opportunity for us to
look upon it together, renewing the purity of its holiness and
relinquishing its mistaken importance.

What should I do if my inadequacy overwhelms me? It is important

that you begin to see your very belief in your inadequacy as an

44
unjustified attack on yourself and on love as well. If you truly believed
that love created you loving, then this belief would effectively deny the
other, rendering it unable to keep you hooked into its mistaken
worldview.

How can I give up my deep and abiding belief in pain and suffering?
That which seems to you to be continually representing itself in an
incredible variety of forms has not registered as even a blip in
Heaven’s eternal radar screen. It is important that you realize that this
is not said to minimize or diminish your experience, as I would never
denigrate that which you have chosen. You have appealed time and
again for assistance in being fully aware of your true Self, and this can
only be done by seeing very clearly the insanity of relying on the ego’s
faulty concept of “other.”

How does the pain melt into nothingness? Recognize the mirror that is
the seeming world around you. Open your eyes to the fact that it is all
a crazy clown-like funhouse mirror image of the dripping pustules of
rage you unknowingly harbor. You caress it tenderly, longingly,
clinging tenderly to the bilious loathing inside. It is only your
willingness to value it so that makes it seem real to you. Unburden
yourself of the pain and horrible suffering that you value now. Let it
flutter away into the warm embrace of forgiveness, in which its
nothingness is readily apparent. For this displays the truth of your
situation, that you are not required to subject yourself to your twisted
imaginings. It is but an unrealizable fantasy - only a call into the void.
Seen truly, this statement lays bare the fallacy of the idea of
separation from the divine. For how can a call into a void be anything?
Love is all, is everything. The very concept of emptiness, a.k.a. void,
disappears in the presence of the love, of the all-encompassing. Let
this message bring you rest. Let it bring you peace. For solace is the

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gift of one who bears the illusion of the world not.

Why am I anxious? What is it that you feel anxious about? Allow it to

come to mind and see what it is that upsets your sense of peace. Turn
whatever it is over to my hands that I may show you its
meaninglessness, for the meaning that it has to you is merely
whatever you have given it. Yet there is a meaning for it that will
propel you forward as you learn again of your divine Self, which you
have always been in reality. This is the perspective of de-investing the
grim certainty that you had given to this scenario of sorrow and worry.

What is the point of all this suffering? There is no point – it is

meaningless, just like everything in this world. Yet this does not mean
that there is not a higher plan with which suffering is used to display its
own nothingness.

How can I release the pain that hides in my mind? Remember but that
it is not so. Only this is required. You have thoroughly convinced
yourself that the opposite of the truth is real. The ego has sold you
defective goods. And you have bought them and permitted them to
teach you that you live in a world of loss and withdrawal. The very
word “goods” is misleading, right in line with the ego’s nature. It
would have you believe that it has given you your every desired wish,
yet this is not so. For the ego has taken pain and sorrow and
convinced you they would save you from vengeance, yet have they
only given form to them, though an illusion they are.

Why do I let myself fall into sadness so often? You are tricked into
thinking that it has some important meaning but it is of an unreal
maker and therefore has no real substance. This fact is not what you
believe, however, in those moments of loneliness and lack. You can

46
use such times to practice viewing your situation with the eyes of
Christ. As you turn your circumstance, whatever it may be, over to
me, you will be blessed with a new vision, a more hopeful
understanding, which sheds light on that which was perceived as dark.
This vision will give you the peace which you have never lost, although
you have lost sight of it. Now is the moment for you to choose to
remember the presence of God in you, where it has never not been.
As you remember the peace you have, will you share it in joy and
benevolence with all of Christ, the Sonship’s true Self.

What shall I do to release my attachment to pain? Unburden your soul

– free your inner self. Permit pain to be other than an aspect of what
you believe yourself to be. Give up your attraction towards restriction.
This smallness of thought outlived its (lack of) usefulness an eternity
ago. Why remain mired in a muck that has only belittled you, belying
its empty promise of shelter from retribution? Unchain yourself from a
cesspool which you mistakenly dove in, and let me clean the muck
from your eyes as you remember to forgive.

How can I best see the silliness of pain and fear? Allow yourself to
share your worries and unfounded beliefs with me and we will see
together a new interpretation for what had bound you so. And make
sure as you work to accomplish this that you do not trick yourself into
pretending you do not think anger and fear are very real. This denial
will simply lead to more unnecessary projection and unnecessary
suffering. Allow the bile and malice to bubble up that they may be
seen without condemnation, thereby removing any power that once
had you given them.

Why are things never good enough for me? The ego is never happy,
for that which opposes happiness cannot know it. It does, however,

47
make many promises that will go unfulfilled. It assures you happiness,
rest and comfort, once its conditions are fulfilled. If, by chance, are
these conditions accomplished, will you still find no peace. A fleeting
and personal covetousness will give way rather quickly to the ego’s
more “natural” anxiety and fearful worrying. Worry such as this makes
sense from the ego’s severely flawed point of view. How could it not
when it has made variation and inconsistency its cracked and uneven
foundation? All the trying and trying that the ego has assured you
would be enough to prop up this shaky and false beginning did never
for an instant offer you other than depression, other than failure, other
than pain. Yet need you not be allied with things such as these when
an Ally of light, power and grace stands always with you. Take now
this Ally’s hand – it is offered to you in this moment – and watch all
thoughts of sin and sickness, pathos and pain, be undone completely,
leaving only what is true.

What is there to even try for? This is a somewhat despairing thought.

It results from a conflation of the very true idea that this whole world is
but a dream with the very false idea that this world is all that is. This
second idea is, in fact, exactly upside-down from that which is real.
Only truth has ever been and all that is changing has not. As you
assume this peaceful perspective, your despair will then be undone.

How much pain will I keep going through? The answer to this question
is yours to give, for only you can decide that this fiction is real. Only
you can choose to look with me at your world and correct your
misperception. Come, join me, as we watch the pain give way to joy.
This work is chipping away at the absurd belief that you are separate
from God. Yet, since this is the primary mistaken thought of which the
ego was made, will it flounder and flail with unaccustomed malice.
Permit not its anger, its rage, to slip a veil once more over your vision.

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Rather, see them both as an insane meaningless babble, being of
nothing in truth. As you permit me to show you the illusory nature of
what is not, you will once again allow peace and ease of being to be
yours, which they have never not been in reality. All your Father’s gifts
are waiting in the present for you to remember their home is in you.

What leads me over and over into pain and loneliness? There exists
but one mistaken belief you refuse to acknowledge that supports and
“breathes life” into every experience of pain and un-ease that comes
your way. No more must you choose to ally yourself with the ego and
its world of “me versus you.” This one-upmanship will never provide
the satisfaction and the rest the Son of God knows truly to be his own.
Let the Holy Spirit relieve you of this senseless burden that brings you
sorrow and brings you loss.

How can I live a life free of pain? It is not clear to you yet that there is
a deep disagreement within you as to whether or not this is truly your
goal. One part of you sees the possibility of a world without pain as
the absolutely worst imaginable situation. This conflict between your
right-mindedness and this insane point of view will continue for as long
as there is any part of your mind that supports this crazy assertion.
And you do give credence to this impossibility, in spite of your opinion
to the contrary. Your goal, then, must be to allow all thoughts of
scarcity, angst and disease to be undone by allowing me to reinterpret
them into more helpful forms for you. When you are able to do this,
will they be seen as the appeals for love that they are.

Why do I believe in sickness when it’s been made clear that this belief
keeps love from my world? The beginning of remembering your true
self consists of questioning those ideas you currently believe are
important. When you place a great value in those conflicting ideas

49
that support the ego’s contention that you are unworthy, then you
have more learning to accomplish in order to realize the glorious light
that you are. Things which seem important in the viewpoint of fear are
seen anew in the Vision of Christ.

How can I relinquish those things I really want but I know result in pain
and sadness? They bring temporary pleasure and momentary
“happiness,” beguiling you over and over. Yet are you ever subjected
to some situation that you did not desire? Only in a wild fantasy is the
Son of God not the master of his domain. How could he who God
created be unlike his Creator, unendingly whole?

Why do I have to go through all this pain to get to God’s peace? Allow
yourself to completely release your death grip on the concept of all
unease and the very thought of “pain” will be seen for its lack of
reality. As you permit yourself to open up to perceiving things in this
manner, your very question is turned on its head. For what do the
things of this world matter when they are seen for the dream things
they really are? If a dreamer is aware that what surrounds him is but a
dream, how can he be hurt by the things that happen to him in the
illusion? Things that strike terror into the hearts of many are now seen
as one more scary dream, something the dreamer knows has no
connection to reality. And those happenings which bring peace and
happiness can now be understood as merely symbols of Love, and can
lead the dreamer to the gentle awakening into who he has always
been. As you assume this stance in relation to the events of this world,
they will assume less importance to you, while simultaneously will your
tranquil inheritance from God dawn gracefully upon your mind.

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Listening Within

How can I be sure of the guidance I receive? Allow yourself to sink into
the oneness that you really are. As your mind relaxes and returns to
calmness those messages that you question will fall away. Truth is
known. In this knowing, that which is for you to know will be revealed
to you. Share your heart deeply in this place of peace. Giving yourself
has always been the purpose. Let the gratitude flow forth, for it is a
blessing to yourself and God and so it flows, and remembrance of the
Beauty that dwells in you occurs.

Why do I keep failing to understand what my true purpose is in most

situations? You yet maintain that there is happiness to be found in the
transient and hurtful things that you have made to be just that –
transient, hurtful. Your face of innocence then comes into full effect,
complaining bitterly against an unjust world, clearly the victim of a
cruel and uncaring God. Yet is this God nothing but an image, bearing
no relation to the true nature of the all-encompassing Divine.

What should I ask you to help me find my way home, J? When you
remember, ask me to behold the unpleasantness that seems to be
within and without. I will help you see that both are truly in the split
mind which inevitably brings you a world of splits. Some of these splits
are apparent, such as pain and pleasantness, hot and cold and night
and day. Other splits, like life and death, innocence and guilt, and
hope and hopelessness are often more veiled and simultaneously
reinforced, belying the fact that the truth of the first concept does not
have anything that opposes it. Yet would the ego tell you that what is
true and has truth is not whole and unopposable. It would, instead,
weave for you a fantastic tale of treachery and deceit, hatred and
bitterness, casting you in each and every role of suffering and despair.

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None of this would matter to you but for the fact that you decided to
believe this meaningless fable is so. As you turn to me to help you
decide anew will you relinquish the seeming stranglehold with which it
seems to hold you. Then will Christ’s Vision shine on all the world and
see it as naught but love, for that is all you are.

For what is the Kingdom of Heaven seemingly unfulfilled? Only for the
smallest of mistakes. You perceive a lifeless illusion filled with
cockroaches and decay. Give this dream over to the Christ within and
let it be replaced with true vision. Allow yourself to see the joyful truth
– that you are loved unconditionally and have already been given all
the gifts that exist. It is but a laughable error that this is not what you
perceive as of now. Unfold the unwanted fear that you have clung to,
allowing it to be seen for the nothingness that it is. Know that God has
given you only peace and joy and love. All that remains is to realize
they are yours and to share them easily with your brother. Go forth in
love and light sharing your radiance with the Christ!

How does the miracle shorten the need for time? There is only a single
truth you must come to realize to relinquish time’s importance to you.
Within the illusory world, you most likely will take a number of
intermediary realizations toward accepting what is complete already
but temporarily outside your limiting conception of yourself. These
forgiveness rememberings will shorten how much time it will take to
complete all opportunities awaiting you ‘ere your attachment unto time
is no more. At the end of time’s seeming importance, you will be again
that which never were you not – perfection of everything and one with
God as the heart of Love.

What shall I learn to enable my return to God? There is, in fact,

nothing that you need to do in order to be at one with Him. For this is

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what you are for always and what you are beyond space and time.
Your part in all this is remembering what you really are.

Where do I go from here? Seek within. The peace you long to

remember is not seemingly outside. Spirit travels with you wherever
you may seem to be for the holy Son of God is one with His Father.
Only the light that is within can illuminate the happy trail that leads
you to your remembrance of Love.

Where do I find the restfulness of your love, J? There is not a single

space in which you will discover that which is your inheritance from
God, since peace is all-encompassing. What exists everywhere and
everywhen will not be come upon in anything specific, for that is not its
nature.

What is there but gratitude? If by gratitude you mean that which is

timeless and boundless, nothing but joy and eternally given and always
received, there is nothing that is separate from it. What could intrude
upon the Son of God’s peace since this is all that there is? Nothing but
shadows, naught but illusion. As such, can you happily show them to
me that we may look upon their lack of beingness with gentleness and
mercy.

How do I open all the way to the Holy Spirit’s guidance? Do not live
your life bound in chains that are of your making. All that holds you
back is only the merest illusion. Is such a thing able to restrain the Son
of God unless he chooses that it be so? Unburden your self of the idea
that there is actually something holding you against your will. Let your
true glory be revealed to shine upon all of God’s creation. And
happiness will rain down upon your brother and release him from the
prison of your own making! Go forth and know the beauty of Heaven!

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To what is there towards which to strive? Nothing other than
perfection is, therefore there is nothing that needs striving toward. In
this description of Heaven’s peace, the ego has no home. Yet this is
not where you believe you are. Your conception of self bears no
resemblance to the truth of what you are. You conceive of yourself as
small, inadequate, pathetic at times, sufficient on occasion, but never
truly adequate to the world’s varied needs. This strange, unstable
amalgam of sorrowful self-concepts is hardly worthy of the identity of
the Son of God. Free yourself of these thoughts that limit and entrap
the true expansiveness that is what you are. A new beginning will
dawn unto you when you accept that all beginnings and endings are
untrue.

What can I do to find Love more easily? The first and most important
thing that will help you in this regard is to cease your quest for trying
to find it in the world around you. There is no place outside of you that
will provide you with what you are seeking. The peace that you long
for can only be found inside you, since that is its eternal home. You
do, however, push quite strongly against this truth, minimizing and
denying it - anything that keeps you from acknowledging it in its
totality. And the reason you push and you push and you’re still
pushing is because there’s no way you want to see the terror that
comes with believing yourself to be apart from your Creator.
Ultimately, admitting to yourself the falsity of this, the mistaken
concept which birthed the ego, will return to you Heaven’s peace,
which, in truth, has always been what you are.

What can I do to mitigate the fear that I often feel? It is a gift to

acknowledge that you can do something with your fear besides
succumb to it. You may have chosen to believe in fear’s reality, which

54
then led to obscuring your part in its benighted choosing. However,
refusing to acknowledge peace’s truth does not make what’s untrue
true. Thus can you begin to question your adherence to a belief
system of victimization and belittlement. How can what is all-
encompassing exist alongside anything that can be reduced in any
manner? In this vein, to believe yourself to be reducible by something
that is “not you” is to deny the perfect and unchanging essence that is
in you and is you. No more need you prop up this sad and sorry tale
with your unquestioning belief. Raising the darkness to the light shows
you its complete lack of veracity. With this knowledge of light’s
unbrokenness, is holiness completed by itself once again forever.

How can God’s Word become clear to me? Ask not that you can hear
the Voice for God, for this is something that is not in this world. Yet it
lies within, urging you to lay down the forms with which you would
encapsulate eternity and limitlessness. There exists nothing that has
in truth touched Eternity’s unblemished perfection; lay aside the
needless guilt you harbor by mistakenly believing that you have
accomplished what is not so. Thankfully has the Holy Spirit already
seen this to be so, so is it relinquished in reality.

How can I be aware of the help you unceasingly offer? Open your
heart to the moments in which you feel subjected to lack and fear.
Together, we will learn that these dreams of sorrow need not burden
the holy Son of God. This is not a revelation to me, but it is to you who
believe that your Father is other than completely one with you who are
His completion.

How do the memories of loneliness lose their seeming potency? None

of what seems to be separate means anything to your Creator, since
He knows only of reality, of what is whole. Because of this, He knows

55
His Son is with Him forever and forever, never incomplete or other
than perfectly whole. The wholeness in you will reveal itself to your
vision in that instant it is what you choose without reservation of any
manner, of any kind. It is apparent that the enmity that is held closely
in your heart does still have importance to your identity or this idea of
separation would not be real to you.

What prevents me from living more peacefully? Only your own desire
not to gets in the way to you “achieving” the peace that dwells in you
beyond all time. Seeing how you think that you want this peace in
every moment, you may have difficulty believing this is so. But a
closer examination of your state of mind will unearth your resistance to
embracing love. This openness to look with clarity at those thoughts
which cause you fear is the greatest strength that is given you as you
take the steps to reawaken. Be willing then, to not turn away from all
thoughts of pain, sadness and confusion, but instead to let the light of
seeing honestly illuminate their lack of substance. As the meaningless
fades from sight, will you be rewarded with the remembrance of the
divine treasure which you were created to be and which you have
always been.

What need I do to have the peace in my heart? You merely need to

give up believing that it is not in you.

How can the gentle peace of God be my experience without end?

When all that you perceive is the true light of spirit, then will God
render you as his Son unto your peace, and in that moment will you
remember that it was never truly separate from you. For in dreams
you thought you wandered, ill at ease and alone, while in truth you
rested in God, truly happy. This is the beginning of knowledge, the
beginning of your journey home. You needn’t worry that you won’t

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make it, since your awakening has been decided in advance. You are
the one who tried to leave God, and you are the one that will re-
embrace your true self in God. Let your brother show you how to
remember all of this, by letting him reveal his light. This is the true
self which he is and he is longing to share with all. Will you release
your judgment of what he is, that he may share himself joyfully with
you? For in this seeing is the experience of Heaven given you. While
this choice to perceive your brother with forgiveness goes unchosen,
so will you see yourself as unforgivable too.

How do I tune into you more deeply and consistently, J? Know your
true Self and you know my message, for the Kingdom of Heaven is the
message. Share yourself and you are blessing those you meet. Allow
yourself to go deeply within and that which is true will present itself to
you. Do not let yourself be sidetracked by the distractions of the ego,
but allow the gentle light that you are to guide you back to Heaven,
where you have always been.

What is the point of all the conflict in my life? Any type of unease,
ranging from the slightest bit of disappointment up to the seemingly
unending cauldron of rage, but covers over the unbelievably large
amount of pain in your mind that sincerely, though mistakenly,
believes that the separation from God Himself has happened. That is
its purpose as the ego sees it. For allowing you to see the falsity of
this primary error is the worst thing that could occur from its point of
view. This is the foundation of what the ego is, and in the moment that
you know its unreality will the ego be undone completely. In contrast,
another way of perceiving can avail you. It is the awakening to the
illusion’s unreality. It is the sharing of the deep and abiding Love that
underlies any and all mistaken thoughts. It is the call to remember the
tranquil truth that is what you are, as it is what God created you as

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before there even was time. Still are you at home in this radiant
beauty, for time is yet a dream and the world you made to be your
home does not cherish this peace as Heaven does. So awaken to
forgiveness as your only function that your mind may awaken to the
gentle joy that has always dwelled in you.

When shall I cease my questioning and rest in love? Worry not, dear
one, for it is done already. All rest is yours right now, though, perhaps,
you know it not.

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Self-Hatred

Why do I almost always think that I am inadequate? How could anyone

who feels he is a body think he is something other than less than good
enough? For being limited and imperfect is the body’s function in the
viewpoint of limitation that the ego shares with you. However, you
need not accept the perspective given to you from the ego. The Holy
Spirit offers a gentle and benevolent vision unto God’s Son, asking him
to share this gift with everyone he encounters in any way. Let yourself
adopt this Vision of Christ in every instance that you find yourself
believing that lack is real. Free yourself of what hasn’t benefited you
in a single manner. This overarching fear of not being good enough is
symbolic of your belief that you are judged harshly by God who laughs
at you from His perch high above. Yet no one judges you other than
you, and you have judged yourself cruelly, albeit wrongly. Your
judgment is faulty because all that you accuse yourself of has not
really been. You have not accomplished the unthinkable, even if you
think that you have. This crazy concept of having separated from your
Creator is as unreal now as it was in the beginning, for both space and
time are equally illusory within this dream that is yours.

Why do I sometimes deliberately hurt myself and others? This is a way

of choosing to see the world you think you live in that coincides with
the idea that you have left the Kingdom of Heaven. Because you think
this is so, you perceive yourself to be abandoned and lonely, merely
“living” at the mercy of a heartless and inhospitable environment. Yet
this is not so. The light that shines in you is an unceasing reminder of
what God has intended for you. Just because you have turned away
from this beauty that you are, do not believe that it has dimmed in
even the slightest degree, for it has not. These feelings of fear and
pain that you have chosen are burdens that no longer serve you, so

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give your burdens to your Father, that you may know them to be no
longer. As this massive boulder of guilt is released, so will your anger
and hatred melt away to nothingness.

Why do I clutch sadness so closely to my breast? You have permitted

yourself to fall prey to the ego’s deceptiveness as well as its
understanding of what is. In this sideways and backwards manner of
thinking, all is perceived askew and awry and not at all like what it is.
If you permit lack and inadequacy to be central to your thought system
as the ego does, you will also give belief to their siblings - pain and
sadness and sorrow.

What is the purpose of my seemingly interminable resistance? Its only

purpose is to sustain its illusory existence. When this becomes more
clear to you will your alliance with pain and suffering cease to have
such an amazing importance to you which it now enjoys.

Why do I direct loathing at myself? The pain you suffer from disguises
itself in many forms. Tradition, loyalty, dependence and burdens that
foment their fear upon you all seem to have a normalcy to them. This
is a testament to the upside-down thought system of the ego. Leave it
behind and allow peace to return, for it is yours to have when you want
it truly.

Why is it that my questions sound so pitiful? When a question arises in

your mind, you do not know the peace that is within. When you do
know the glory of Heaven, what is there that you know not? How could
a question mean something other than that you need to know? This
perspective only exists in the framework of separation that you have
received from the ego. In the eyes of the ego, being pitied simply
entrenches the identity of the victim which it covets intensely. And it

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is true that you have allied yourself with this thought, though you may
not enjoy it on this level of consciousness. But it is not true that you
must remain a prisoner to this cell of shame and littleness.
When you begin to see that you have not been chained by any
other than yourself, will the chains begin to break and fall. In their
absence will the light of Love shine its gentle Ray upon you and assist
you in seeing the joyful peace of all that is real. So take this joyous
moment and permit yourself to come to know God once more. All the
world will cheer your happy reawakening, as do they ever longer, that
they are no more chained in the once-imagined prison that you once
believed was real. In this glad release is God Himself made full, which
He has always been in truth. And is the Son of God made whole, as he
has been forever as well.

How can I deal with someone who treats me disrespectfully? This can
be an opportunity for caringly forgiving your brother, who knows not
what he is doing. Whenever it seems that another has led to your lack
of peace can you choose to see things another way. Only you could
choose such a thing to experience for yourself, and even you could not
choose it truly. Yet could you believe that you harbored pain and
malice and envy, in spite of my unending reassurances otherwise. So
is it with your brother - only you can choose whether to see this
“slight” as such, or as a call for help. Despite any seemingly automatic
judgment of the situation, you are able to see the loving plea. So open
your heart to that underlying call for union whenever the things of the
world demand judgment or separation.

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Rejection of Love

(In this question, J, sensing my fear, refers to himself in the third

person perspective.)
Why does it seem like I keep reverting to my fearful self? Do not judge
yourself severely for this. You are like a child that is just beginning to
try a new thing. Like a loving parent, J sees you with eyes of love. He
sees your back steps and still calls to you with love, certain that you
will hear his Voice. There is no harshness in his tone because he was
once born on this world, and has shone light into the darkness that is
still seemingly part of you. In this very moment is the opportunity for
you to choose again. Let this choice be one of light. And as this peace
shines into all the seeming corners of your mind, all illusions will melt
away into the nothingness they are. Commit yourself to choosing this
light in every moment, yet remember J’s gentleness in those times you
do not.

Why don’t I allow my love to shine away any and all thoughts of
anxiety or rage or the like? In the truth of who you are, this already
has been done. Allow the focus to shift to those places in your mind
where forgiving them truly seems yet a crime. Into these corners of
pain and solitude there are still things which seem to cause you much
fear. You need not give them this sort of power of you, making them
some sort of unconquerable enemy, seemingly impenetrable. Even
steadfastly refusing to see what it is, what is there, has not diminished
the terror you have at the merest memory that it’s there. Yet are you
gently encouraged to look at it with love, which will then allow the
gentle, white dove of peace ever after to unalterably see, the awful
image was conjured from naught, posing no threat to thee.

Why do I push against returning to peace? It still seems to be

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unreachable to you mainly due to believing in this world of “other
than” which you mistakenly think to be worthy of the Son of God. Yet
beyond such a concept there lurks a more elemental mistake, which in
itself led to this idea of a place which shifts while the seconds tick by.
As such an inane misconcept was done was it also undone. Thus while
the merely laughable thought of separation convinced you that sin,
guilt and fear were your sad lot, did God’s Voice gently and happily
remind you that none of them are anywhere at all. As this holy instant
dawns in your awareness, realize yet again that the ego offers only
false promises, and choose a guide that leads to unencumbered
realization of your true Self.
Do not, then, allow yourself to be dismayed at the seemingly
challenging circumstances that often show up in your daily life.
Instead, give them to me that we can remember once again the light
and happiness that wait for your embrace without regard to the
changing shadows which often beguile you.

What keeps me from resting in your warm embrace? You must yet be
completely, unequivocally willing to look your attraction of guilt clearly
in the eye, so to speak. Yet need you not, nor can you, accomplish this
on your own. It is only in the Son of God’s joining with himself that the
mistake of fear melts away for good, becoming once again that which
it has always been – nothing whatsoever.

Why do I struggle when I know that my truth is love? Yes, it is true

that you know this axiom in certain regards, yet it is not known
unequivocally. You wouldn’t need to ask such a question if you did.
This was a question you asked, however, so you do have need for
correction yet. No shame need be felt due to this, since there is no
ounce of condemnation in this observation. It is very valuable to see
your situation with clarity. It is only lack of clarity that has resulted in

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the holy Son of God seeming to be other than at peace in Heaven.

Why don’t I just go right to my oneness with God? Dear friend, there
yet remain some incorrect ideas in the separated mind you have
chosen. You have an opportunity whenever you seem to not be at
oneness to shift your experience to one of love and wholeness. This is
done through forgiveness, through seeing your brother as one with you
and embracing him with your perception of his divine Self. Within the
illusion you feel you are in, giving fear to the truth is bringing your
destined reawakening more and more to you. So be joyous, for God is
already one with you, and your path is bound directly to his
reappearance in your awareness. Be at peace, dear friend, and so
shall you know your Truth.

What happiness is it that seems to scare me so? Your continued

reliance on concepts founded on division prevents you from embracing
true wholeness, which supplies nothing but happiness. As long as you
remain enthralled by the deficient promises the ego assures you will
give you what you lack, will Heaven seem to be anathema to you. For
when the premise of incompleteness is more to you than the merest
laughable daydream will you see love to be destruction and enmity to
be love. When you are ready to relinquish the burden of your
misconceptions will your inverted thought system give way to nothing
but joy, to nothing but your rightful inheritance from God.

How does a fish swim upstream? Why do I struggle so with your

guidance? You do not yet see the value in following the suggestions
that you ask of me. There is a convoluted perception that my
recommendations will lead to your destruction. The ego tells you a
tale of lies about ulterior motives. You can, however, relax your guard.
I wish no ill of you. To the contrary, your happiness is my only desire.

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I bear no upset when you have seemed to listen to the ego’s morbid
story. In patience, I present again to you the opportunity for peace
and love. Listen, again, to the truth of your being, and know that all
wisps of sorrow and loneliness shall pass into the nothingness that
they are.

How can I figure out the ways I push you away? When you find
yourself in discomfort and lack of ease, know that you have given away
that which is naturally yours. The blessings of happiness and
abundance of heart are not susceptible to irregularity. You can,
however, forget that this is so, and believe yourself to be mired in a pit
of condemnation and victimhood. Know that you cannot find yourself
in a place where I am not there, for I am with you always.

What is there that keeps the love out of me? Only your belief in the
ego’s world of “better than” prevents you from your awareness of the
love within. The ego, your recalcitrant ally, relies on “better than” to
sell you illusions which lead you to reject the peace that is your
Identity. This cruel deception gives you everything but what it claims
to give. Instead of providing safety, you now believe you can be victim
to the cavalier indifference of a hostile world. Instead of offering true
power, you find that you must sacrifice part of what you care for that
you may accomplish something else to which you give your care. This
senseless world of one or the other is not your true home, nor has it
ever been. God waits with open arms to welcome back his mistaken
Son, knowing in truth they have never not been together in gentle love
and gratitude.

What is it that compels me to disregard your guidance? There exists in

your mind an idea that you are worthy of only self-hatred. You believe
you have done the unspeakable, spoken the unutterable – you believe

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that you have cast God out of Heaven. You think you have sided with
the idea of separation and that this sin is unforgivable. But hear the
loving words of me you do not. For it is my joy to continually remind
you that this has not happened. You remain with God, your Creator,
one with all in Heaven, your only home. Fear not, for fear has no
ability to be here where you easily reside. Remember to allow me to
remind you of all of this in times of fear, and all fear will slip away to
reveal yet again your peace and joy within.

For what do I throw away Beauty? Naught. The entirety of all the
world is thrown in the trash bin for nothing. You may think it is
something but you have let yourself be deceived. You have been
promised that this world holds your peace. You hold the idea that here
you will be protected from the vengeance of God which you mistakenly
have called down to yourself. You cower here under the vain illusion
that perhaps His wrath won’t smite you if you believe in this place. Yet
the entire idea that Love Himself seeks to do anything but cherish His
dearest Son is laughable. Your entire premise for making this sad
world is now seen as the silly mistake it is. In this knowledge is Beauty
remembered and known to have been one with you all along.

Why do I deny myself the things I think would help me? You believe
quite strongly that you are not worthy. In your experience, you often
find yourself resisting what would help you. You push against it,
because you mentally equate it with your destruction. You have
adopted the ego’s entirely twisted way of looking at things. Nothing
makes sense in the ego’s world. The ego would have you believe that
wholeness is dangerous, that gentleness is crazy, that you can
somehow destroy the peace of Heaven. How could any of these make
sense? For the peace of Heaven is what you are, and is unattackable,
in spite of anything you may think you have done to it.

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67
Spiritual Path

How do I let love in? There is no need to do anything, since Love is

already given you completely. It is not yet evident to you that this is
true. How could the Son of God be otherwise? For God has given him
all that truly exists. When it is known again to you how illusory all but
Love is, the Love that is in you will cease to be clouded over and will
shine forth the magnificent light which has never truly dimmed. So, be
at peace, secure in the knowing of the abundance that springs forth
eternally within you.

Why do I keep falling shy of my intention to be kind to myself and to

others? You cling to a hatred that dwells in your mind but does not rise
to the surface and so you are not aware of it. Yet does it show up in
your life when you judge another as not good enough and hold yourself
to an unreasonable standard that you cannot hope to accomplish.
And what is the source of this relentless feeling of inadequacy?
Whether it is perceived as another’s deficiency or your own, is its
source the same. It is the preposterous thought that you have killed
God by stealing the peace of Heaven, which you believe in spite of all
the assurances I have given you that it is not so. The truth that none
of this is so will dawn upon you yet, as you come to see that all is
already healed and whole and rests gently in the Palm of God. Give
over all thoughts to the contrary and allow a new manner of vision to
grant to all the peace that rests in Him.

How can I help myself towards my true goal of remembering my

wholeness? You still feel like there is a part of yourself that needs to
be fixed, when, in reality, only perfection is at all. Then all there is for
you to do is give your illusions the amount of respect and belief to
which illusions are due. Since this amount is none, everything you

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worry about can be known to be as substanceless as it is in truth. Give
thanks, then, that this is so and I will return your gratitude tenfold unto
you.

How do I remember to open into the wonder of my Self? You may feel
like there is this or there is that which is necessary for you to be
welcomed into the warm embrace of your Father, but this is another
form of the mistaken idea of your separateness from That which
created you. This very idea is absurd, for God created you to be one
with Him now and always, and, truly, there are no exceptions for such
is His Will. Whenever it seems to you that you must accomplish this
thing if you are to be worthy enough for Heaven, you have judged the
holy Son of God as insufficient and have sided with the ego’s world of
scarcity and loss. No more are you impelled to see things this way, for
as you make conscious what is buried now to you, are you free to
perceive love in everything, as everything.

How can I remember God’s love when I’m not feeling it in any way?
How do you know you’re not experiencing this love, other than you do
not feel at peace? That is your signal and your opportunity. It is an
opportunity to look at things anew and to cease your struggle against
love. Since love is what you are, it should be good news to you that all
this time have you only been conflicted with your self. Yet you may
not see the happiness in this revelation, for you may think this means
that it is you who is to blame. A more useful perspective is a
realization that since you are tussling with only your self, can you let
go of the desire to fight. Once you embrace this view will you see that
there never was a fight to begin with, and not a single reason for any
shame. So release the unpleasantness that you hide in your heart. It
does nothing for you except distort your ability to see truly, in love.

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What awaits me as I deepen my forgiving ways? All that awaits you is
what you truly are. Your eternal Self sits in ease and joy knowing in
timeless certainty that you are coming home. In happiness then let us
share this moment, unearthing your deepest knowing of Love, so that
we may share it with your brother. Lay aside anything of the ego as it
occurs, for its gifts are not truly gifts at all. Would the Son of God
choose fear and lust and rage unless he were not of his right mind? In
sanity, then, let the truth be revealed to you that your choice may be
seen through the Holy Spirit’s vision. For in his vision are the
deceptions of the ego seen to be what they are. You may resist this
vision, for the ego has repeatedly warned you that this will result in
unbearable cruelty and death. Let not its lies disturb your peace any
more. Open your heart to the Love of God and they will be undone, as
they return to the unreality which they have always been. Within your
Self, your Atonement has already been completed. The game is
already won, not in triumph, but in gentleness. As you let go of your
belief in conflict, true peace returns to your awareness. Know that this
peace is undisturbable, unthreatenable, for it is what you are, and was
given you by God. Knowing this truly is your one and only function.

What tools can help me in those times that I’m not especially grateful?
Do not take things as seriously as you tend to. And don’t forget the
help that lies within you. Its only purpose is to help you see that the
guilt you think weighs you down is unfounded, is nothing. This
nothingness, which has become everything for you, is merely as
powerful as the power you give it.

What is it that I have yet to learn? There is nothing you need learn, for
the peace that lies within you is naught but perfect. How could the
holy Son of God lack in anything, being still as his Creator willed him
be? This is the truth of that which is you, in spite of your insistence

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that you are incomplete, unworthy and not truly whole. Only
adherence to a false premise could seem to derail that which is
unerringly true.

How do I fulfill my commitment to be more loving? It is clear that you

see yourself to be insufficient, striving and straining to somehow find
God’s unattainable love. What a sorry state you seem to be presenting
yourself with. I would indeed be sorry for you if this scenario had a
single miniscule piece of ‘is-so’-ness to it. However, seeing as it is
completely a fabrication, there is but for me to patiently wait and
gently encourage your process of letting go of an imaginary fantasy.
And this letting go is indeed accomplished already in truth, so there is
no lack for you to fill. That you still perceive any lack is a testament to
how convoluted you have allowed your thinking to become. As these
empty thoughts are given the level of seriousness they deserve, your
true gloriousness will be again shared with your brother and you will
know once more that Heaven is one.

Why do I still struggle with what is so? What is so cannot actually be

struggled with. Wholeness cannot be enjoined by a seemingly
separated fragment, or it would not still be whole. What you do
struggle with is what is not so. But you see this not. This whole world
is such a big deal to you, yet its lack of substance can be easily seen
by those fully committed to love. What am I saying here? Merely that
you are whole already and know it not. Since you know it not, you are
committed, in part, to wholeness’s seeming opposite: emptiness.
Emptiness does not really exist, but, having committed to it, you
believe that it does. This mistaken belief results in you experiencing
struggle – in your life and in what it arises from: the mind.

Where do I find God’s love? Look within your heart and you will be

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reminded that what you long for has been there forever. You may not
notice this at first, but continue to gaze at the joy within and you will
finally know of all the wonder that dwelleth there. You will notice at
first misconceptions about the Son of God – things you have felt to be
true. Release such ideas unto me; let them be a burden upon you no
more. When you choose to do this completely will the glory of the love
of God for his Son be known once more. Permit this, then, to be your
purpose and let yourself be not distracted by the shiny toys of the split
mind – they give you not what they offer. As it dawns on your mind
that all of the ego is simply an empty promise will you naturally return
to remembering your peace. This will happen because you only
identify with that which has value to you. The value you have
mistakenly put in the ego will return to the oneness you are with God
as you learn to perceive truly.

Can I make a deeper commitment to Christ? That is up to you. It is a

choice you have already made on the level of your divine Self. Now
allowing yourself to awaken to the beauty that you have chosen is your
task.

Why am I always fooled by the ego? You who are the holy Son of God
cannot be fooled but for your desire to be. You do not wish to see this,
for it would lay bare the fallacy of your precious victimhood. You have
put much value into that which is valueless, but will you come to see
the futility of grasping at mere shadows. The realization that peace
and peace alone is all that is valuable will be given to all minds at the
time they, as one, have chosen for themselves. For now, while this
time seems to you to yet be far off, will forgiveness’s gentle nature
faithfully guide you while you have even a small amount of willingness
to hear. Until this becomes your constant choice, there will seem to
you to be things that need correcting, when this could not in truth be.

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He who is Correct has no concept of anything needing correction, but
does He know His Son.

What should I do when I find myself in challenging situations and

sometimes forget to ask for help? There is no situation that does not
present itself in which you have not willed it to be so. So relinquish
this mistaken conception of your self as unwitting victim. You have
never truly been subjected to anything but what you have mistakenly
chosen.

What is there to do to become enlightened? There is but to open your

heart completely unto the peace you truly are. Even this has been
accomplished in fact, though not yet in your experience. Eventually
will you see the truth in this, although for now you must believe it to be
a lie. For how could it be so simple when you are utterly convinced
that it is impossible, requiring eons of bitterly wearying soul-searching?
It is a task too big for you, you fearfully and mistakenly claim, as you
espouse the ego’s fairy tale. What you are missing when these
untruths seem to you to be true is but this: You are never asked to do
it alone. Do what, you may ask? Share your fears and past hurts with
me in ease and in grace. That’s what the forgiveness process is. A
gentle joint looking at all that seemed such a big deal, but was nothing
in fact. When you are ready to see this, all the angels in heaven will
trumpet in joyful jubilee for the Holy Son of God has returned unto
himself and his Creator who are one for all eternity.

How does perfection reawaken in my mind? When that mistaken idea,

that thought of dis-oneness, of un-wholeness, is but a laughable inanity
will all be present to your experience once again. While it remains a
source of fear and a thing to hide, you will see the world in the
mistaken viewpoint which the ego gives to you.

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Where does this path lead me? Pure non-duality is your destination, as
it is already your true home. Allow yourself to be guided in all things
and time will disappear as the truth of Love is made plain for you to
see. The Holy Spirit lives in you and but waits for your permission to
assist you on your seeming journey. For it only appears that you are
going somewhere or that you even have someplace to go. Where is it
that you need to go when Heaven has been given the Holy Son of God
for all eternity?

Why do I permit myself to experience such anger and sorrow? You do

not thoroughly see the direct connection between belief in other and
your continuing experience of lack and loss. At some point will this link
be apparent to you and at this point will you choose to suffer not at all.

Why is the same lesson given me over and over? Allow yourself to see
that you have but one lesson to learn and the variety that seems to
confront you is but a smidgen of smoke that you have blown before
true sight. Yet when you realize the true sight that is your way to
remembering you are home, no amount of smoke can obscure the
simple brilliance that shines within you. Give this light freely so that
your burden of judgment can hide the truth from you no more.

Why do I often reject the guidance that you give? You do not yet know
the false from the true. When suggestions come your way that do not
align with your preconceived ideas of what is best, you often react
harshly, taking umbrage at the idea your way may not be the best. Yet
that is what this course is telling you – that your way is never the best.
Your concepts of what is superior are built upon a severely
compromised base – one that shifts and turns without pause. You will
be amazed at the seemingly endless contortions you have come up

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with to provide the illusion of stability to your warped self-concept.
Give over these burdensome mistaken thoughts and allow me to assist
you in looking upon the peace which is always there.

In wholeness, we celebrate our wholeness. Amen.

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