A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 15

A Course in Miracles

Workbook Lesson 15

 

"My thoughts are images that I have made."

 

Interpreted by Roberta Gallop

 

Daily Welcome:  Hey you guys, big hugs, and lots of excitedly jumping up and down. I look so forward to our hanging out together today and having a good old-fashioned blast, as we walk this happy path to insightful enlightenment together. I hope you rested well, and that you are starting to feel the benefits of the Course and also the company. God is love, and as we continue with the workbook lessons the abundant love of who we are shines through more and more. Enough of my yapping, let's go.

 

Prayer: Blessed All That Is, please guide us to know you, feel you and recognize we are you. Please take us to the garden where we never left, so we can wake up at last. Please help us to remove all that stands in the ways of our being loving, compassionate and kind. Please help us to see the oneness in us all, and to see rightly. Thank you for teaching us, and may your Wholly Spirit be with us allways.

 

Workbook Lesson: "My thoughts are images that I have made." This one completely just gave me a whole new awareness. I always listen to my teacher's discussions from each lesson before I do my daily essay on the lesson. So today between reading the lesson, and His discussion my mind was completely blown. Many times, we get a knowledge of what is being said, but it isn't until we have the experience that we also get the understanding. So today, boy did I get it. The reason why my thoughts are images I have made, isn't because I was dropped on my head, or that I am crazy or stupid, or less than. (Wait for it, wait for it) My physical body is designed that way, my brain which interprets the thoughts I hold in my mind is hard wired to my eyes, and the rest of my senses, so, if I think then I create the illusions in my world. But if I release and forgive all the images I hold in my mind, I can use my God given spiritual sight, to see through my third eye the way it was intended.

 

In the ACIM workbook this lesson talks about having light experiences as natural occurrences and starting to see light around the edges of objects, and I must say that has been my experience. For quite awhile I have seen the aura around objects, but what has increased for me as I have been working with my teacher on the lessons, is now I see the aura of everything. I just kind of grew into it over time, so don't worry it doesn't have to be scary for you, it just means you're starting to see more with your third eye, than your physical ones and it is an awesome sign, you're on the right track.

 

Tips & Tricks: Waaahoo, get down with your bad self. These lessons are starting to get to the real nitty gritty. Why are we like we are? Because we were created that way. We are completely innocent, we have done nothing wrong, we have never done anything wrong. In fact, there is no such thing as right and wrong, good and evil, healthy or unhealthy anyway, just the illusion of it down here in splitsville. Be gentle with yourself and others and try to stay as neutral and non-judgmental as possible. And please remember to do the lessons without expectation, just going on to the next neutral thing. For me the knowledge I was created this way by design was huge and soothing, because it left me nothing to beat myself up about.

 

 

Upon Closing: Well sweeties, we not only finished another lesson, but we started our third week. Can you believe it? Time sure flies when you're having fun and hanging out with like minded people in the spirit of camaraderie and expectation of awakening, is the best feeling in the whole world. (Which isn't real anyway) Wanna go skinny dippin again? I am completely in the mood; these lessons are emotionally taxing and I wanna float the kinks and stress out of my back. Have a blessed day and restful night, please know you are loved, allways. Love & Light, Riki 🌈

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 14

 

A Course in Miracles

Workbook Lesson 14

“God did not create a meaningless world.”

Interpreted by Roberta Gallop

 

Daily Welcome: Hey precious travelers, I pray you are well rested and happily motivated, because this is another one of those high energy days that promises to lead to all good things. The sun on our path is shining, birds are singing, and we have a very fresh and gentle breeze, it doesn’t get any better than that, except Heaven and that is where this road leads. I hope you are enjoying our time together; I know I do. Doing the Course can be sorta tricky, so it is a blessing to have my friends with me. It’s kinda like when you smell something bad and then say yuck this smells just awful, it will kill ya, here you smell it, and then hold it in a buddy’s face, togetherness. Let’s get a wiggle on, singing “all ya need is love, all ya need is love…”.

 

Prayer: Blessed Christ, thank you for creating us and for walking us home. Please help us to feel you and know you are with us. Please grant us the awareness to see, and the strength to keep on going even if sometimes we are resistant to continue. Please help us to know how glorious we truly are. Thank you for teaching us. Allways.

 

Workbook Lesson: “God did not create a meaningless world.” What I love about the Course, is just as soon as they rip the band aid off, while you are laid open and utterly bleeding everywhere, within a few lessons they are giving you the suave to heal the wound they just opened. Today is another one of those exciting days when you get a two-fer from my teacher. When he gets on a roll the miraculous truths of God start flying out, and I am honored I have his permission to share them with you. My teacher says, “Ascension is a natural occurrence when you think in correspondence with the reality of what God thinks.” (Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne, ACIMi, L14, ex.) I chose this quote because it gives me such hope that Ascension does happen naturally, when we think as God does, and we release and forgive our own thinking.

 

Speaking of our own thinking, this second quote from the Rev. sent chills coursing through my whole body. “You’re not seeing objects, your misunderstanding reality. God is there, but you are distorting Him, the word of God, into an object. You’re making the glory of God a pathetic box, a book, a computer, a wall, and you are completely misunderstanding the truth of what is reality. (Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne, ACIMi, L14, ex.) Well at this point I am left with a couple choices, I can either pull in, hate myself more, feel more guilt and shame continuing the cycle. Or run screaming to the Wholly Spirit begging to see things differently. Even as hard as stuff gets sometimes, I am reaching out to the Wholly Spirit, and I am getting some measure of serenity.

 

Tips & Tricks: Each day, each hour, each minute, release, forgive and trust. It’s not so much get frantic, freak out, and be neurotic about doing it right. It feels to be a more of an internal decision to reach, to believe, to understand. When I ask God to do for me what I can’t do for myself, I feel a whole lot better, like God’s got my back, my front and everything else. As you keep moving forward lesson after lesson, and not judging yourself or your progress, you stay open for wonderful things to happen. Please remember to do your lessons as suggested in the workbook, and connect to the Wholly Spirit in the morning and at night.

 

Upon Closing: How are you doin? How do you want to be doin? You have just got to two full weeks of the workbook lessons in the Course, and I am so proud of you to stick to it and joining me every lesson for a group hug and a joyous stroll. Sometimes we just need to stop, breathe, and ask for guidance from the Wholly Spirit. After all remember they are on this epic stroll with us, we are never alone. Let’s eat some apples from the apple tree in the corner and talk about the nice weather. Hugs all around. Love & Light, Riki 🌈

 

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 13

A Course in Miracles

Workbook Lesson 13

 

" A meaningless world engenders fear."

 

Interpreted by Roberta Gallop

 

Daily Welcome:  Hey you guys, I was a little sore from the workout I got in yesterday's lesson, but I just need to get the kinks out and keep on a goin. I hope you all had a restful sleep and are ready for an emotional one today. I must say I love having you in my life, and though my teacher would probably spank me for saying this, I think you're all sooooo special (even Him). So, time to go for it, you are becoming old pros at this. Enjoy, race ya to the next resistance.

 

 

Prayer: Compassionate Christ, thank you for loving us and showing us a way home to you. The truth is we never left, but sometimes it's hard for us to see the truth when we are covered up with crud. Please help us to know our worth and own it. Please help us to release the grievances and resistances that stand in the way of our really loving you, and please through your blessed and Wholly Spirit help us to apply forgiveness to everything and see the world differently. Allways,

 

 

Workbook Lesson:" A meaningless world engenders fear." This lesson can thoroughly get your grundies in a bundle, fear of the unknown is a really scary place to be. My teacher says, "We don't know exactly which is the right direction to go, we don't know exactly what to let go of, and what's real and what's not." (Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne, ACIMi L13, int.) I really like this quote cause it so accurately shows what was going on in my head around this lesson. It is assuredly something that helps to keep us stuck, because the devil you know, is better than the one you don't. A lot of what I said yesterday applies to today also, because the lessons are so close. It has been said that we have such great fear because we feel we are in competition with God. I just know on so many levels I feel like I let Him down, so my motive has not been that I made a meaningless world because I think I am better, but because the guilt can be overwhelming sometimes, almost crippling.

 

For me these lessons are the toughies because I am already beating myself up extremely well, and then it becomes like throwing salt in an open wound. Ya know, when you sincerely want help, but ya don't want the pain that goes along with the really going there? As a kid I was taught right and wrong by being punished (usually spanked) when I did wrong. So, I learned when I do something I view as wrong, I spank myself because I feel I deserve it. The idea of seeing myself as innocent doesn't really cross my mind because I am too busy being motivated by guilt and shame. I am so grateful God measures me by a different yardstick.

 

 

 

Tips & Tricks: My point is to pppllllleeeaaaassseee be gentle with yourself, especially here. While the Course exposes us to the error of our thinking, it is only to make us aware enough to be open and ready to change it, not the gunpowder we can use to blow ourselves to hell (if there truly was such a place). My teacher, myself and many others have found benefits from doing the Course which are beyond our wildest dreams. I believe one of the most needed things here is the faith to hang in and wait for the ability to see the meaningful world. I just need to remember that when Christ seems far away, it's only because I am holding Him at a distance in my mind.

 

 

Upon Closing: Hey I got an idea, let's go skinny dipping in the creek over there, last one in's a rotten egg. I don't know about you, but I sure enjoy a good splash in the water, it calms my nerves, cools me off, and changes my perspective. Let it all hang out. You are totally among friends, others that are seeking the way home like you are, no judgment here. Get the rest, enjoy the ride, and above all know you are loved. Love & Light,  Riki 🌈

 

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 12

A Course in Miracles

Workbook Lesson 12

 

"I am upset because I see a meaningless world."

 

Interpreted by Roberta Gallop

 

Daily Welcome:  Hi adventure lovers, I don't think I'd put my hiking boots away quite yet, today feels like another long one. I mean we get great millage on these lessons, but the altitude starts getting a little much. Let's take a little time out for a mini powwow. So how ya feelin? How's it goin? Are ya sleepin enough, eatin right? Self-care is so important anyway, but especially when you're getting your brain expanded. Are you all set to rock and roll? Let's go for it, my buds, we got this all day long.

 

 

Prayer: My glorious Father, I am so glad you are with us on our journey to you. Sometime the road gets rocky and long, and we get discouraged so it is wonderful to start getting that warm glow of love coming in. Please help us to know you, to feel you, and to help us release all these crazy thoughts we imagined, and this nutsy coocoo place we think we are in. Also please teach us to be compassionate along the way, to ourselves and to others. Please help us to remember a little kindness goes a long way. Please grant us knowledge of your Wholly will for us and the power to carry it out. Thank you for being here and guiding us, and for sending us your Wholly Spirit as a blessed light in the darkness.

 

 

 

Workbook Lesson: "I am upset because I see a meaningless world." Yes, righteously pissed off. God made me, God is with me always, and because He wants to experience, we end up on Fantasy Island, I mean you are God, God. Is that the best ya can do? But it's not that the world is really meaningless, I just see it that way. In the words of my teacher, "Once you start getting rid of your thoughts, the words of God, the thoughts of God are behind them." (Rev Devan Jesse Byrne, ACIMi L12, ex) That is so encouraging to me because I get so disheartened in the process, especially when I realize I did it to myself, I created this meaningless world that upsets me.  I start forgetting that there is a point to it. And this validates for me that there is a reason, to remove the clouds that are covering the son. That I will flourish, that I do matter, that God does love me, and just beyond the gibberish I defined, is the most blessed of rainbows and bluest of skies.

 

Have you ever tried to scare yourself? I mean as a little kid I'd start imagining a monster under the bed. You know the sneaky kind that waits until your asleep so he can pounce out and get you while you're sleeping. And the more I would think of all the horrible stuff it would surely do to me, the more outlandish it got. Until I had convinced myself that it was bigger than the house, it was definitely hiding under my bed, and it had glowing red eyes and huge spiked fangs, it was all black with purple stripes and worst of all it was invisible. At that point it would be safe to assume that a trip to Mom and Dad's bedroom with my blanket and pillow was clearly in my immediate future. That's how I see this lesson, as a self-induced hallucination that has me completely out of my mind, being concerned with things that are meaningless.

 

 

Tips & Tricks: What comes to my head is the acronym for fear. F- alse E- vidence A – ppearing  R- eal.

Which so effectively produces the Twilight Zone world I see. This is a wonderful time to whistle a happy tune and reach to the Wholly Spirit screaming "Please help me to see this differently".

 

 

Upon Closing: Whew, let's take a load off and give our illusion muscles a break and a gentle rub. We put so much work into the marching along this happy trail, that sometimes it is all about the company. Being with those that are trudging right along beside me and just being grateful for the love. Have a yummy day sweet buddy, I'll see ya for the next one tomorrow. Love & Light, Riki 🌈

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 11

A Course in Miracles

Workbook Lesson 11

 

"My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world."

 

Interpreted by Roberta Gallop

 

Daily Welcome:  Hi everyone, big smiles and happy hugs, I hope you've got your hiking shoes on, cause I get the feeling with this lesson we will go quite the distance. I so appreciate you for hanging in there with me, I am feeling better today and ready for the next right thing. Which happens to be hangin out with my buds and enjoying the scenery, as we tackle Lesson 11 at the top of our lungs. (Sounds kind of fun actually.) I wish our walking on this path counted for pedometer steps cause we have definitely racked up a lot of those puppies already. The cool thing about the Course is the more you do it, the more you do it. It just kinda grows on ya. So, let's get our meaningless backpacks filled with our meaningless stuff onto our meaningless backs, and once again ease on down the road. Thanks again for being here, you're awesome company, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Prayer: Blessed All That Is, sometimes our way gets confusing especially when we are learning about how we can't trust our thinking. Please grant us clarity, courage, and the perseverance to just hang in there no matter what. Please guide us as we come to know you through the Course, by releasing everything that stands in the way. Thank you for loving us, thank you for being with us allways, and thank you for this grand adventure.

 

 

Workbook Lesson: "My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world." You're gonna get a bogo on quotes from my teacher today, sometimes I find his discussions so jam packed and powerful I can't eat just one. Garbage in, garbage out comes to mind when I think of this lesson, or to quote my teacher, "The reason you feel lost and confused, is because you've been choosing meaninglessness, as opposed to meaningfulness." (Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne, ACIMi L11, per) Well if that don't just pop your bubble. To me it is one of those brilliant truths that are so profound ya gotta sit, take a rest, and absorb it for a minute, just to let it sink in. I have done that many times, complain about how meaningless my life is and that was as far as I got, probably because I am still trying to figure out what meaningfulness is.

 

Now this next quote by my teacher has a little bit of sting to it, but as usual He was right on, in a Devan sorta way, which is why he is my teacher. "These lessons? Just scraping the surface, you get as much out of it as you put into it." (Rev. Devan Jesse Byrne, ACIMi L11, ex) This for me was a huge reminder, that I gotta want it, and I gotta want it bad. It doesn't mean running helter skelter everywhere in a franctic heat, trying to shove it in there as fast as possible, regardless of the consequences, nor going so slowly and carefully that we get so bogged down we can't see straight. It's actually a lot simpler than that, it's about just doing the lessons as honestly as we can, praying and staying open along the way, having the faith that God will guide us to where we most need to go.

 

 

Tips & Tricks: Expectations are complete setups, I probably have said it before, but it bears repeating over and over again. We have a tendency to write the script, not just for ourselves, but for everybody and then expect them to follow it. That can cause a massive headache especially when you are taking a course that discourages defining things. When I recognize I have done it again I usually stop drop and roll. I ask the Wholly Spirit to help me see things differently, and then take a breath and go on to the next right thing God would have me do.

 

 

Upon Closing: Told ya to have your hiking shoes on, let's have a cool drink and make cloud pictures. I see a giraffe with 3 tails, and another one that looks like the Mona Lisa with a Star Wars helmet on, and over in the corner I see Puff the magic dragon sticking his tongue out at me. What do you see in the clouds? Please make sure to slow down and breathe deep, we have worked hard today, the ragtag bunch we are, but we sure got heart and soul for days. I love you guys, rest well, I'll see ya tomorrow. Love & Light, Riki 🌈

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 10

A Course in Miracles

Workbook Lesson 10

 

"My thoughts do not mean anything."

 

Interpreted by Roberta Gallop

 

Daily Welcome:  Hey sweeties, I hope you got some precious rest after our rambunctious yesterday. Maybe we could use Angels as chauffeurs or something, so we don't actually have to do anything real strenuous today, I think you and I both know the answer to that one. They say, no pain no gain, it makes sense because it is at that point of dis-ease that many of us pay the most attention and are the most teachable, the most willing to be open. Because remember, life goes on even while, (especially while) we are working the Course, everything doesn't just stop, til we feel more like doing it. Right now, I am dealing with an addiction that has been kicking my butt for most of my life, and it is something I would like to keep on the back burner, and secretly beat myself up about. The problem here is that it has put me in direct conflict with my Calling. So, I am faced with the choice of staying stuck vs Serving God, and it truly doesn't feel like much of a choice. It's happy acceptance time as we reach to light and hold on for dear life.  I'll race ya to the next lesson, come on what ya waiting for, are you chicken?

 

 

Prayer: Almighty God, All That Is, please grant us knowledge of your Wholly will for us and the power to carry it out. Please help us to feel your compassionate guidance, even when it's raining. Thank you for Loving us, especially at those times when we don't feel like we can love ourselves. Blessed Wholly Spirit, please help us to see things differently, and remind us you are with us every step of the way. Thank you for being here allways.

 

 

Workbook Lesson: "My thoughts do not mean anything." Oh great, not only can I not find them, if I did, they wouldn't mean anything anyway. Isn't it funny how my salvation and pain come from the awareness of the same lesson? As my thoughts are what has created my turmoil, pain, angst, and every other torture I can think of, isn't it wonderful that they really don't mean anything anyway. That basically they aren't just not true, they have no meaning. Talk about a miracle, I now have the get out of jail free card, the one that frees me from "Spirit Prison" and lets me know under no uncertain terms that I am innocent. Just stop and think about that for a minute, (or don't since it clearly doesn't mean anything.) Lesson 10 in the ACIM workbook states, "Now we are emphasizing that the presence of these "thoughts" means that you are not thinking."  What a relief to know that what has been running through my head my whole life, has never been my real thoughts, it just makes me so curious to want to discover what my true thoughts are.

 

 

Tips & Tricks: One of the best prayers I know is a good honest, "help" or my favorite "please". We got caught up in this idea that we have to say these big long prayers, in a specific position, or place, or even a perfect prayer, (still not sure what that one is) for God to hear us. The truth is God responds to frequencies, so the more heartfelt and sincere you are the further and quicker it reaches, and it really has nothing to do with the words. Which is actually an awesome thing because when I am in that kind of deepest emotional pain there is no time, just silent screaming.

 

Upon Closing: Just a little check in, hoping all is well with you and you are skating through this nicely, thoughtfully, but nicely. It's like just because you have to go to the dentist doesn't mean you can't have a pleasant time. It's all in how you look at it, your point of view. It's like anything else, some lessons I get, some I don't, but I hang in there anyway. Because you just never know when that one lesson is gonna show up that will just blow your socks off and make everything crystal clear. Please remember to be gentle with yourself and have a blessed day and a restful night. Cause you can bet we will be back at it full on tomorrow, in a friendly and sweet way of course.  Love & Light, Riki 🌈

A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 9

A Course in Miracles

Workbook Lesson 9

 

"I see nothing as it is now."

 

Interpreted by Roberta Gallop

 

Daily Welcome:  Hi everyone, I'm feeling really good today. I love the Course and it feels wonderful to be back in the saddle again, and it feels especially yummy to have company along the way. As part of my Teacher of Teachers certification I get to write an essay on each workbook lesson, I just didn't realize that I would be expanding and growing so much myself through doing them. I truly hope you are enjoying the process with me, and realize we are one together united in Spirit as we hold hands and move forward. Please remember if you miss a lesson here and there it's ok, don't beat yourself up, just pick up where you left off, and it always helps to ask the Wholly Spirit to help ease the resistances.

 

 

Prayer: Blessed loving and caring Christ, please help us to remember where we truly are, and to see the opportunity that ACIM gives us to go on an adventure of such magnitude as the perfect gift it is. Please help us to know our worth and uncovering the lies that stand in the way of our Ascension. Most of all please grant me the compassion to be kind and feel the beauty and tender gentleness of your love. Please grant us your strength that we may persevere and not allow the ego to deter us any longer. Thank you for listening, thank you for guiding us, and thank you for making us who we are. Allways.

 

 

Workbook Lesson: Many of the lessons tend to be confusing to me and this one, "I see nothing as it is now" is no exception. This little booger is the one that really started me freaking hard core. Yes, this maybe a scary one, but remember we are all holding hands, you are among likeminded friends, and you are not alone by any means. Where you've been doesn't exist, and you have no idea where you are, it sure sounds like the definition of screwed to me.  If you think about it, in a way this is really great news, because there is nowhere to go but up. That said, resistance really can be a sneaky one, maybe you just feel too tired, maybe you are getting a little too busy, or just need a vacation from everything. The answer is still to call in the Wholly Spirit, and one of my favorite sayings "easy does it, but do it", comes to mind. Just do the best you can and the deeper you get into the Course, the better you will do. Sometimes when I am getting resistant, I will do my later lesson for the day a little earlier, so I don't accidently (on purpose) fall asleep on myself.

 

 

 

Tips & Tricks: Do you know what an overlay is? When I was a little girl I used to love to play with paper dolls, there would be the basic part which was usually a paper cutout of a person with their face legs arms and so on, and then you would have all these different outfits you could put on the basic doll, hence the word overlay. I kinda feel like that when it comes to being on earth and a human self, I come up with all these stories of who I am and how I am, just adding on the costumes over and over again without taking any off. And after about 3,000 layers of definitions and perceptions of who I am, I am left clueless and deeply confused. The Course for me helps to loosen the layers so they can be removed through surrender and forgiveness.  

 

 

Upon Closing: Another corker today, but we are all sticking together, and we can handle it, no weenies in this bunch. Sometimes when it is the most stressful I will play a game with myself. Since I don't know what to think anyway, maybe I will find out I am an artichoke, maybe I am a candle on a cake, maybe I am Hello Kitty. It seems like the dumber and more playful I make my what ifs, the easier I can laugh, let go, trust God and know all is well. Have a blessed night my loves and remember, "it is always darkest before the dawn".

Love & Light, Riki 🌈