IA´s Journal

[IA56]

LESSON 128

”Your grace is given me. I claim it now.”

God speaks to us. Shall we not speak to Him? He is not distant. He makes no attempt to hide from us. We try to hide from Him, and suffer from deception. He remains entirely accessible. He loves His Son. There is no certainty but this, yet this suffices. He will love His Son forever. When his mind remains asleep, He loves him still. And when his mind awakes, He loves him with a never-changing Love. If you but knew the meaning of His Love, hope and despair would be impossible. For hope would be forever satisfied; despair of any kind unthinkable. His grace His answer is to all despair, for in it lies remembrance of His Love. Would He not gladly give the means by which His Will is recognized? His grace is yours by your acknowledgment. And memory of Him awakens in the mind that asks the means of Him whereby its sleep is done. Today we ask of God the gift He has most carefully preserved within our hearts, waiting to be acknowledged. This theg ift by which God leans to us and lifts us up, taking salvation´s final step Himself. All steps but this we learn, instructed by His Voice. But finally He comes Himself, and takes us in His Arms and sweeps away the cobwebs of oursleep. His gift of grace is more than just an answer. It restores all memories the sleeping mind forgot; all certainty of what Love´s meaning is. God loves His Son. Request Him now to give the means by which this world will disappear,and vision first will come, with knowledge but an instant later. For in grace you see a light that covers all the world in love, and watch fear disappear from every face as hearts rise up and claim the light as theirs. What now remains that Heaven be delayed an instant longer? What is still undone when your forgiveness rests on everything? It is a new and holy day today, for we receive what has been given us. Our faith lies in the Giver, not our own acceptance. We acknowledge our mistakes, but He to Whom all error is unknown is yet the One Who answers our mistakes by giving us the means to lay them down,and rise to Him in gratitude and love. And He descends to meet us, as we come to Him. For what He has prepared for us He gives and we receive. Such is His Will, because He loves His Son. To Him we pray today, returning byt the word He gave to us through His Own Voice, His word, His Love:

”Your grace is given me. I claim it now.
Father, I come to You. And You will come
To me who ask. I am the Son You love.”

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 169

”By grace I live. By grace I am released.”

Grace is an aspect of the Love of God which is most like the state prevailing in the unity of truth. It is the world´s most lofty aspiration, for it leads beyond the world entirely. It is past learning, yet the goal of learning, for grace cannot come until the mind prepares itself for true acceptance. Grace becomes inevitable instantly in those who have prepared a table where it can be gently laid and willingly received;an altar clean and holy for the gift. Grace is acceptance of the Love of God within a world of seeming hate and fear. By grace alone the hate and fear are gone, for grace presents a state so opposite to everything the world contains,that those whose minds are lighted by the gift of grace can not believe the world of fear is real. Grace is not learned. The final step must go beyond all learning. Grace is not the goal this course aspires to attain. Yet we prepare for grace in that an open mind can hear the Call to waken. It is not shut tight against God´s Voice. It has become aware that there are things it does not know, and thus is ready to accept a state completely different from experience with which it is familiarly at home. We have perhaps appeared to contradict our statement that the revelation of the Father and the Son as one has been already set. But we have also said the mind determines when that time will be, and has determined it. And yet we urge you to bear witness to the Word of God to hasten the experience of truth, and speed its advent into every mind that recognizes truth´s effects on you. Oneness is simply the idea God is. And in His Being, He encompasses all things. No mind holds anything but Him. We say ”God is,” and then we cease to speak, for in that knowledge words are meaningless. There are no lips to speak them, and no part of mind sufficiently distinct to feel that it is now aware of something not itself. It has united with its Source. And like its Source Itself, it merely is. We cannot speak nor write nor even think of this at all. It comes to every mind when total recognition that its will is God´s has been completely given and received completely. It returns the mind into the endless present, where the past and future cannot be conceived. It lies beyond salvation; past all thought of time, forgiveness and the holy face of Christ. The Son of God has merely disappeared into His Father, as His Father has in him. The world has never been at all. Eternity remains a constant state.This is beyond expereince we try to hasten. Yet forgiveness, taught and learned, brings with it the experiences which bear witness that the time the mind itself determined to abandon all but this is now at hand. We do not hasten it, in that what you will offer was concealed from Him Who teaches what forgivness means. All learning was already in His Mind, accomplished and complete. He recognized all that time holds, and gave it to all minds that each one might determine, from a point where time was ended, when it is released to revelation and eternity. We have repeated several times before that you but make a journey that is done. For oneness must be here. Whatever time the mindhas set for revelation is entirely irrelevant to what must be a constant state,forever as it always was; forever to remain as it is now. We merely take the past assigned long since, and fully recognized as perfectly fulfilled by Him Who wrote salvation´s script in His Creator´s Name, and in the Name of His Creators´s Son. There is no need to further clarify what no one in the world can understand. When revelation of your oneness comes, it will be known and fully understood. Now we have work to do, for those in time can speak of things beyond, and listen to words which explain what is to come is past already. Yet what meaning can the words convey to those who count the hours still, and rise and work and go and sleep by them? Suffice it, then, that you have work to do to play your part. The ending must remain obscure to you until your part is done. It does not matter. For your part is still what all the rest depends on. As you take the role assigned to you, salvation comes a little nearer each uncertain heart that does not beat as yet in tune with God. Forgivness is the central theme that runs throughout salvation, holding all its parts in meaninful relationships, the course it runs directed and its outcome sure. Andnow we ask for grace, the final gift salvation can bestow. Experience that grace provides will end in time, for grace foreshadows Heaven, yet does not replace the thought of time but for a little while. The interval suffices. It is here that miracles are laid; to be returned by you from holy instants you receive, through grace in your experience, to all who see the light that lingers in your face. What is the face of Christ but his who went a moment into timlessness, and brought a clear reflection of the unity he felt an instant back to bless the world? How could you finally attain to it forever, while apart of you remains outside, unknowing, unawakened, and in need of you as witness to the truth? Be graceful to return, as you were glad to go an instant,and accept the gift that grace provided you. You carry them back to yourself. And revelation stands not far behind. Its coming is ensured. We ask for grace,and for experience that comes from grace. We welcome the release it offers everyone. We do not ask for the unaskable. We do not look beyond what grace can give. For this can give in the grace that has been given us. Our learning goal today does not exceed this prayer. Yet in the world, what could be more than that we ask this day of Him Who gives the grace we ask, as it was given Him?

”By grace I live. By grace I am released.
By grace I give. By grace I will release.”

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 170

”There is no cruelty in God and none in me.”

No one attacks without intent to hurt. This can have no exception. When you think that you attack in self-defense, you mean that to be cruel is protection; you are safe because of cruelty. You mean that you believe to hurt another brings you freedom. And you mean that to attack is to exchange the state in which you are for something better, safer, more secure from dangerous invasion and from fear. How thoroughly insane is the idea that to defend from fear is to attack! For here is fear begot and fed with blood, to make it grow and swell and rage. And thus is fear protected, not escaped. Today we learn a lesson which can save you more delay and needless misery than you can possibly imagine. It is this:

You make what you defend against, and by
Your own defense against it, is it real
And in escapable. Lay down your arms,
And only then do you perceive it false.

It seems to be the enemy without that you attack. Yet your defense sets up an enemy within; an alien thought at war with you, depriving you of peace, splitting your mind into two camps which seem wholly irreconcilable. For love now has an ”enemy,”an opposite; and fear,the alien, now needs your defense against the threat of what you really are. If you consider carefully the means by which your fancied self-defense proceeds on its imagined way, you will perceive the premises on which the idea stands.First, it is obvious ideas must leave their source, for it is you who make attack, and must have first conceived of it. Yet you attack outside yourself,and separate your mind from him who is to be attacked, with perfect faith the split you make is real. Next, are the attributes of love bestowed upon its”enemy.” For fear becomes your safety and protector of your peace, to which you turn for solace and escape from doubts about your strength, and hope of rest in dreamless quiet. And as love is shorn of what belongs to it and it alone, love is endowed with attributes of fear. For love would ask you lay down all defenceas merely foolish. And your arms indeed would crumble into dust. For such they are. With love as enemy, must cruelty become a god. And gods demand that those who worship them obey their dictates, and refuse to question them. Harsh punishment is meted out relentlessly to those who ask if the demands are sensible or even sane. It is their enemies who are unreasonable and insane,while they are always merciful and just. Today we look upon this cruel god dispassionately. And we note that though his lips are smeared with blood, and fire seems to flame from him, he is but made of stone. He can do nothing. We need not defy his power. He has none. And those who see in him their safety have no guardian, no strength to call upon in danger, and no mighty warrior to fight for them. This moment can be terrible. But it can also be the time ofyour release from abject slavery. You make a choice, standing before this idol,seeing him exactly as he is. Will you restore to love what you have sought to wrest from it and lay before this mindless piece of stone? Or will you make another idol to replace it? For the god of cruelty take many forms. Another can be found. Yet do not think that fear is the escape from fear. Let us remember what the text has stressed about the obstacles to peace. The final one, the hardest to believe is nothing, and a seeming obstacle with the appearance of a solid block, impenetrable, fearful and beyond surmounting, is the fear of God Himself.Here is the basic premise which enthrones the thought of fear as god. For fear is loved by those who worship it, and love appears to be invested now with cruelty. Where does the totally insane belief in gods of vengeance come from?Love has not confused its attributes with those of fear. Yet must the worshippers of fear perceive their own confusion in fear´s ”enemy,”its cruelty as now a part of love. And what becomes more fearful than the Heart of Love Itself. The blood appears to be upon His Lips; the fire comes from Him. And He is terrible above all else, cruel beyond conception, striking down all who acknowledge Him to be their God. The choice you make today is certain. For you look for the last time upon this bit of carven stone you made, and call it god no longer. You have reached this place before, but you have chosen that this cruel god remain with you in still another form. And so the fear of God returned with you. This time you leave it there. And you return to a new world,unburdened by its weight; beheld not in its sightless eyes, but in the vision that your choice restored to you. Now do your eyes belong to Christ, and He looks through them. Now your voice belongs to God and echoes His. And now your heart remains at peace forever. You have chosen Him in place of idols, and your attributes, given by your Creator, are restored to you at last. The Call of God is heard and answered. Now has fear made way for love, as God Himself replaces cruelty.

”Father, we are like You. No cruelty abides in us, for there is none in You. Your peace is ours. And we bless the world with what we have received from You alone. We choose again, and make our choice for all our brothers, knowing they are one with us. We bring them Your salvation as we have received it now. And we give thanks for them who render us complete. In them we see Your glory, and in them we find our peace.Holy are we because Your holiness has set us free. And we give thanks. Amen.”

Love

[IA56]

REVIEW V

We now review again. This time we are ready to give more effort and more time to what we undertake. We recognize we are preparing for another phase of understanding. We would take this step completely, that we may go on again more certain, more sincere. With faith upheld more surely. Our footsteps have not been unwavering, and doubts have made us walk uncertainly and slowly on the road this course sets forth.But now we hasten on, for we approach a greater certainty, a firmer purpose anda surer goal.

”Steady our feet, our Father.Let our doubt be quiet and our holy minds be still, and speak to us. We have no words to give to You. We would but listen to Your Word, and make it ours. Lead our practicing as does a father lead a little child along a way he does not understand. Yet does he follow, sure that he is safe because his father leads the way for him. So do we bring our practicing to You. And if we stumble, You will raise us up. If we forget the way, we count upon. Your sure remembering.We wander off, but You will not forget to call us back. Quicken our foot steps now, that we may walk more certainly and quickly unto You. And we accept the Word You offer us to unify our practicing, as we review the thoughts that You have given us.”

This is the thought which should precede the thoughts that we review. Each one but clarifies some aspect of this thought, or helps it be more meaningful, more personal and true, and more descriptive of the holy Self we share and now prepare to know again:

”God is but Love, and there fore so am I.”

This Self alone knows love. This Self alone is perfectly consistent in Its thoughts; knows Its Creator,understands Itself, is perfect in Its knowledge and Its love, and never changes from Its constant state of union with Its Father and Itself. And it is This That waits to meet us at the journey´s ending. Every step we take brings us a little nearer. This review will shorten time immeasurabley, if we keep in mind that This remains our goal, and as we practice it is This to Which we are approaching. Let us raise our hearts from dust to life, as we remember This is promised us, and that this course was sent to open up the path of light to us,and teach us, step by step, how to return to the eternal Self we thought we lost. I take the journey with you. For I share your doubts and fears a little while, that you may come to me who recognize the road by which all fears and doubts are overcome. We walk toghether. I must understand uncertainty and pain,although I know they have no meaning. Yet a savior must remain with those he teaches, seeing what they see, but still retaining in his mind the way that led him out, and now we lead you out with him. God´s Son is crucified until you walk along the road with me. My resurrection come again each time I lead a brother safely to the place at which the journey ends is forgot. I am renewed each time a brother learns there is a way from misery and pain. I am reborn each time a brother´s mind turns to the light in him and looks for me. I have forgotten no one. Help me now to lead you back to where the journey was begun,to make another choice with me. Release me as you practice once again the thoughts I brought to you from Him Who sees your bitter need, and knows the answer God has given Him. Together we review these thoughts. Together we review these thoughts. Together we devote our time and effort to them. And together we will teach them to our brothers. God would not have Heaven incomplete. It waits for you, as I do. I am incomplete without your part in me. And as I am made whole we go together to our ancient home, prepared for us before time was and kept unchanged by time, immaculate and safe, as it will be at last when time is done. Let this review be then your gift to me. For this alone I need; that you will hear the words I speak, and give them to the world. You are my voice,my eyes, my feet, my hands through which I save the world. The Self from Which I call to you is but your own. To Him we go together. Take your brother´s hand,for this is not a way we walk alone. In him I walk with you, and you with me.Our Father wills His Son be one with Him. What lives but must not then be one with you? Let this review become a time in which we share a new experience for you, yet one as old as time and older still. Hallowed your name. Your glory undefiled forever. And your wholeness now complete, as God established it. You are His Son, completing His extension in your own. We practice but an ancient truth we knew before illusion seemed to claim the world. And we remind the world thatit is free of all illusions every time we say:

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

With this we start each day of our review. With this we start and end each period of practice time. And with this thought we sleep, to waken once again with these same words upon our lips,to greet another day. No thought that we review but we surrond with it, and use the thoguhts to hold it up before our minds, and keep it clear in our rememberance throughout the day. And thus, when we have finsished this review,we will have recognized the words we speak are true. Yet are the words but aids, and to be used, except at the beginning and the end of practice periods,but to recall the mind, as needed, to its purpose. We place faith in the experience that comes from practice, not the means we use. We wait for the experience, and recognize that it is only here conviction lies. We use the words, and try and try again to go beyond them to their meaning, which is far beyond their sound. The sound grows dim and disappears, as we approach the Source of meaning. It is Here that we find rest.

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 171

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

151) ”All things are echoes of the Voice for God.”


”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

152) ”The power of decision is my own.”

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 172

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

153) ”In my defenselessness my safety lies.”

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

154) ”I am among the ministers of God.”

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 173

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

155) ”I will step back and let Him lead the way.”

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

156) ”I walk with God is perfect holiness.”

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 174

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

157) ”Into His Presence would I enter now.”

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

158 ”Today I learn to give as I receive.”

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 175

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

159) I give the miracles I have received.”

”God is but Love, so therefore so am I.”

160) ”I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.”

”God is but Love, therefore so am I.”

Love

[IA56]

LESSON 176

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

161) ”Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.”

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

162) ”I am as God created me.”

”God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”

Love