My thoughts* on A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 108, To Give and to Receive Are One in Truth (*Because Both Recognize FATHER and the SON)

To give and to receive are one in truth.

* This is true because it is an attribute of GOD and everything is like HYMN.

1. Vision depends upon today’s idea.

* Vision would be the ability to see as Father does.

²The light is in it, for it reconciles all seeming opposites.

* Light has also been called knowledge. God is all that is, and HIS Characteristics ARE OURS AS WELL.

³And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true?

* This speaks to me of the perfection of God, Who says all is well. That says I do not have to yield to anyone else’s opinion of how I live or how they feel when they walk through my apartment.

* My comfort is what is important. I do not need to accommodate my environment to their idea of what is right or convenient for them. I actually had this happen today, and it was an “icky” feeling that energy that I was not approved of, or that my choices were not approved of within my “rented” space.

* It was kind of a “creepy” feeling for a while. And don’t think about who I might be speaking of or their “right” to do this, although it was the property owner because a fuse had blown, but what I want you to hear is that I felt the (unsaid) questions he had, and I reviewed them but I decided what was right for me. And this is a boundary or right that I have.

* Now, when he needs to come in and do work by the fuse box I will make sure the way is clear, but I am not altering my life to accommodate his occasional need to visit.

* What I am describing here is how I define my own boundaries and how I honor them WITHIN MYSELF.

⁴Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place.

* There is something about this that grabs me. I have gotten the point that “Thought” means Christ in this narrative.

* Here is the statement #4 expounds upon (or expands), “³And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true?”

* Would that “one concept which is wholly true” not be that I am free to “BE” because I am a part of CHRIST?

* This is how “seeing Christ” and “receiving Christ” allows us the “rebirth of baptism,” which is receiving Father’s Guidance through SPIRIT, and has nothing to do with water except symbolically (and the message has been lost or at least shrouded in our fascination with death)” and has to do with our EXISTENCE IN FATHER’S PRESENCE, rather than releasing sin, which is an impossibility.

* Actually, Jesus teaches that sin is an impossibility and that if it were possible, it would be impossible to be redeemed from it because GOD is Who He Says He IS.

⁵And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.

* Over because you have released the belief in separation from God recognized yourself as a part of the Sonship that is Christ.

* Thereafter, you walk by the light that is Father’s Guidance through SPIRIT, one step at a time.

* At this point, “in time,” even though I accepted the Atonement and true baptism of SPIRIT in February of 2020, I am still being shown how to “weed out” the thought patterns that have me unsure of my “boundaries.” (I have to admit that I may be very “gun-shy” right now with anyone’s physical presence.)

* Please remember that I use “personal reflections” of my perception of existence at this time to relate Eternal Truths, and they are not a request for assistance or even adjustment on the part of anyone else.

2. True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold.

²It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all.

* The “unification” takes place within the Atonement. And leaves you “KNOWING” that you know NOTHING. So do not be afraid of it or expect that suddenly you’ll become “holier than thou” or someone that others will want to bow to. (HINT: If you see this behavior, you have seen ego making an idol of the image that the Son of God thinks he is.)

³And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.

* BULLSHIT! It is seen through the eyes of SPIRIT as the unreality that it is and also as the reality that those still in ego=god mind set adhere to.

3. This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision, being healed, has power to heal.

* The “light of SPIRIT” shows you the ego manifested reality while confirming that it is not real.

²This is the light that brings your peace of mind to other minds, to share it and be glad that they are one with you and with themselves.

* LOL, NO WONDER people have thought that the placid demeanor is the one on the face of those who know GOD. No, that peace of mind is within and it carries you through much turmoil because THAT is where humanity believes it exists right now.

* Others see you being able to get through many things and rise like the phoenix over and over. This is what testifies of the peace and strength that is within you because of your acceptance of the existence of God the One Original Universal Creator and FATHER of ALL THAT IS or EVER COULD BE.

³This is the light that heals because it brings single perception, based upon one frame of reference, from which one meaning comes.

4. Here are both giving and receiving seen as different aspects of one Thought whose truth does not depend on which is seen as first, nor which appears to be in second place.

* YET, THE FATHER MUST BE RECOGNIZED AND THE SON SEEN AS EQUAL IN ALL OF ITS PARTS.

* Do not twist that statement into negating the Presence of Father to be EQUAL to the Son. Even in the Son’s Fullness, the Father is the Father and the Son is the Son. The reason the Son has equal power to the Father in His Fullness is because all parts of HYMN accept THE FATHER’S GIFTS AND PRESENCE FULLY.

²Here it is understood that both occur together, that the Thought remain complete.

* Basically, this is saying that Christ is ONE COLLECTIVE BODY.

³And in this understanding is the base on which all opposites are reconciled, because they are perceived from the same frame of reference which unifies this Thought.

* It sure makes it sound impossible to understand, but it isn’t.

5. One thought, completely unified, will serve to unify all thought.

* Recognizing our Wholeness and Equality will serve to unify all thought for the benefit of the abundance and success of ALL.

²This is the same as saying one correction will suffice for all correction, or that to forgive one brother wholly is enough to bring salvation to all minds.

* This, too, at first appears to be hidden behind some Herculean task, but it is not. It is something that we all can grasp, and children typically come into the world feeling. Even though what got them born here was a belief in separation.

³For these are but some special cases of one law which holds for every kind of learning, if it be directed by the One Who knows the truth.

* That would be SPIRIT Who Guides us under FATHER’s Direction.

6. To learn that giving and receiving are the same has special usefulness, because it can be tried so easily and seen as true.

²And when this special case has proved it always works, in every circumstance where it is tried, the thought behind it can be generalized to other areas of doubt and double vision.

³And from there it will extend, and finally arrive at the one Thought which underlies them all.

* This is misleading because one needs to see the WHOLE of CHRIST before one entertains engagement with a singular part. THIS IS WHAT THE ATONEMENT GIVES US THROUGH THE FORGIVENESS OF THE ORIGINAL ERROR.

7. Today we practice with the special case of giving and receiving.

²We will use this simple lesson in the obvious because it has results we cannot miss.

³To give is to receive.

⁴Today we will attempt to offer peace to everyone, and see how quickly peace returns to us.

⁵Light is tranquility, and in that peace is vision given us, and we can see.

8. So we begin the practice periods with the instruction for today, and say:

²To give and to receive are one in truth.

³I will receive what I am giving now.

⁴Then close your eyes, and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to everyone, to have it yours.

⁵You might, for instance, say:

⁶To everyone I offer quietness.

⁷To everyone I offer peace of mind.

⁸To everyone I offer gentleness.

9. Say each one slowly and then pause a while, expecting to receive the gift you gave.

²And it will come to you in the amount in which you gave it.

³You will find you have exact return, for that is what you asked.

⁴It might be helpful, too, to think of one to whom to give your gifts.

⁵He represents the others, and through him you give to all.

* I am sorry, but I cannot support this backwards presentation.

* You must recognize that you have forgiven ALL THAT IS (which is the Son of God) for belief in separation from God, and then approach each person understanding that they are a part of the whole and simply caught in confusion as they proceed from a paradigm of lack and separation.

10. Our very simple lesson for today will teach you much.

²Effect and cause will be far better understood from this time on, and we will make much faster progress now.

* YES, IF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE INTERACTING WITH THE WHOLE SONSHIP WHEN YOU INTERACT WITH THE ONE PART, AND YOU PUT FATHER’S GUIDANCE AS YOUR ONLY GOAL OR LENS FOR HOW TO MOVE FORWARD.

³Think of the exercises for today as quick advances in your learning, made still faster and more sure each time you say, “To give and to receive are one in truth.”

* So, “to give and to receive are one in truth” is to say that FATHER IS GIVING TO ANOTHER WHO IS RECEIVING FROM FATHER ALL THAT IS OR EVER COULD BE AND ACKNOWLEDGING BOTH OF YOUR PLACES THEREIN.

* PLEASE think about this because it IS HUGE!

* This does not mean that we each play the same role (though that sentiment needs to be behind every interaction), not while any are still caught up in the belief in separation and the illusion, anyway.

* THIS is a very deep lesson, and I am only beginning to understand just how “deep” it is. I also know that Father Guides us through SPIRIT, and that is what is important.

(ACIM, W-108.1:1–10:3)

To Father be ALL Glory and Praise Given AS His Son, debi.