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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lesson #176 is a review of giving blessings to our brothers. It is also in seeing the holiness of our brothers so we can see it in ourself. Without this exchange the grace of God cannot descend upon us. Blessing is a sure sign that the separation has ended in our mind, and we have something to give and receive. 

This Review V brackets every two Lessons (151-170) with this statement: "God is but Love, and therefore so am I." Love is our Home. Fear is a stranger here. LOVE is who we are. Fear is a distraction of our ego, our false self, to usurp the home of Love.  But the miracles will always undo this fear, and show us the ways of Love. This is our home, and we give the miracles we have received. This...

Can we enter into Christ's Presence? What would that look like to us? We explore this. 

Who leads us? Will we step back? What does that mean? Can we make ourselves empty, and allow the Divine to fill us? Can we be "guided by God?" Most of the time we are trying to "figure it out." We think we must manage everything. Can we just completely let go? Life will take care when we completely let go. Will we though? These Lessons help us. 

What defenses do we have? Anger? Judgment? Control? We are asked to give up "defenses." We are also asked to "be among the ministers of God." These are tall orders. Can we rise to meet them? Love is the vibration of no defenses. Love is Truth, and Truth needs no explanation or defense. It is what it is. It is as certain as the sun rising. We are being asked to accept the Truth. Can we? 

We are asked to walk with the Christ now, and give Him our hands and feet and whole being for sharing the truth of our unification. Love is who we are as God created us. Would we identify with anything short of that? These reviews are asking for our co-operation to be in the Strength of our Divine connection. 

Fear causes us to defend ourself. Defenses attract attack, then we feel justified in our counter attacks. This Lesson points out this "cruel dynamic." We project this justification for attack onto God—now we have an idol—a "god of vengeance." What if God has none of this. There is no "god of vengeance." This is a construct of our imagined guilt and separation. This is a return to sanity. Our broth...

Grace is an absolute state of mind. Can we rise above dualism, the level of thought itself, to enter into this state of grace? This is the challenge put forth in this Lesson, and in this talk given on Lesson #169. Markus explores grace, even within the challenges of physical ailments and problems. Can we rise above problems and be in a different dimension of Grace? Join Markus in this essential hu...

Grace is the gift of God in our life so certainly present that we can relax and let go into perfect care and safety. Wouldn't this be the goal of miraculous thinking? The "last step" is up to God bestowing upon us, when we have forgiven ourselves and everyone else completely. The grace of God is given. Can we claim it fully? This Lesson holds out the certainty that God will provide everything we n...

This Lesson establishes us in the ONE LIFE we share with our Creator. This is an Immortal Life. This is a spiritual paradigm in which there is no death. We come to a complete shift in this Lesson with identification with the Spirit. Will we make a stand today to be the Christ or remain our "personality" we made up? We have a choice to make—a decision for Heaven or hell; Eternal Life or death. It s...

What are the Gifts of God? They would have to be the most valuable things in Life, yes? LIFE and GOD are ONE. So they could also be called the Gifts of Life. What if we were taught as soon as we could talk these are the most important acquisitions a person can have? We might have saved a lot of struggle, strife, and inner confusion. This is a beautiful Lesson to master. In the mastery we are entru...

There is a Thought of God that underlies all the illusions of strife and struggle that seem to permeate our world. This is nothing short of Heaven. Through a decision, we are told in Lesson #138, we can enter into this divine realm. The problem is pointed out in this Lesson--we are in denial of our Divine Connection. Consciously or unconsciously we do not think we can achieve perfection, because w...

We are connected to our Source, but are we fully aware of this connection? It has to be total, in order to be One with it. We may be experiencing emotional states that "separate us" from this whole Awareness—anger, fear or guilt. What would help us undo these? Christ's Vision is talked about. What is it? Are we interested in seeing through Christ's Vision? This is what would undo our anger, fear a...

How do you feel to be told there is no death? Also, that "sadness, fear, anxiety, doubt, anger, faithlessness and lack of trust, concern for bodies, and envy" are all "forms of death?" We are Spirit. In this perfect state of the Love of God which is timeless, there is no death. Therefore, we are immortal. This is the true essence of our Being. It is who we are as God created us. Can we get our hea...

This lesson, held firmly in the mind, will liberate us from death. This is Jesus's promise. Will we have trust that His words are true? This is one Lesson which is repeated three times in the Workbook of ACIM. It would have to be a key lesson for it to be given three times. "I am as God created me." What have we "made up" to be our self? This we have to relinquish in order to make contact with our...

“Give me your blessing.” This is quite a request. When we see with the eyes of Christ, without any judgment or attack, we are entitled to that energy of forgiveness coming back to us. This Lesson is about extending Christ’s vision so we can have it as our own. Giving blessing and asking for it in return is the action of the Christ in our actual life.

Fear or Love? Which do we choose to be our home? These are the only two "options" we have. One is generated from our True Self. The other is self-imposed by a made up self, in separation from our Source—Love. If Fear is real, then Love would be diminished and rendered partial, losing its power of all pervasiveness. If Love is real, fear cannot exist. This Lesson helps us ponder the nature of our S...

We give what we have. And, we also realize, we have what we give. In the realm of the miraculous, when we give something away we increase it in ourselves. More LOVE given away brings the giver more LOVE. The more we forgive others, by giving forgiveness away, the more we have forgiveness for ourselves. Christ's vision is one of a forgiven world in which the step into Heaven is very short. Beauty a...