Lesson 159 from A Course in Miracles teaches, “I give the miracles I have received,” which I found very moving in preparing for today. The first powerful idea in this lesson is that in order to give something, we have to have it for ourselves.
Primarily, Jesus assumes the role of the instructor in this scenario. Should you subscribe to this belief, Jesus presents meticulously crafted arguments and discourse. He initiates by proposing that if you possess the ability to perform miracles and aspire to bestow these miracles upon others, this implication traces back to the Jesus of two millennia ago.
Throughout various junctures in history subsequent to that period, the prerequisite for disseminating miracles entails having personally experienced them. Subsequently, the subsequent facet of the argument posits the existence of two distinct methodologies for engaging in acts of generosity. In the context of the Miracle Channel or one that is intrinsically linked to spirituality, the act of giving serves to reinforce one's possession of the very attribute being given.
The intrinsic connection to an inexhaustible source underlying this manner of giving results in a positive correlation between the extent of one's giving and the reservoir of resources available for further giving. Conversely, the other facet of this dichotomy pertains to a channel characterized by scarcity. To illustrate, if one were to possess ten oranges and proceed to allocate five of these oranges to another individual, the framework of scarcity dictates that the giver is now left with a remainder of five oranges. This act engenders a sense of depletion; the act of giving has led to a diminution in the giver's resources. In this scenario, the quantity remaining is inferior to the initial tally.
In essence, this discourse commences by introducing the concept that the human mind possesses the capacity to operate through two distinct channels. These channels are denoted as the abundance channel, or the Miracle Channel, and the scarcity channel. This foundational premise serves as an intriguing point of departure.
Text from the lesson states, “I give the miracles I have received. No one can give what he has not received. No one can give what he has not received. To give a thing requires. First you have it in your own possession. Here the laws of heaven and the world agree. But here they also separate The world believes that the possessive thing, it must be kept. Salvation teaches otherwise to give is how to recognize you have received it is the proof that what you have is yours. You understand that you are healed when you give healing. You accept forgiveness is accomplished in yourself. When you forgive, you recognize your brother as yourself, and thus do you perceive that you are a whole. There is no miracle you cannot give for all are giving. You receive them now by opening the storehouse of your mind where they are laid and giving them away.”
So that's the foundation for this lesson. And then the rest of these, the paragraph four starts out, “Christ's vision is the miracle.” Paragraph five, “Christ's vision is the bridge.” Paragraph eight, “Christ's vision.”
Now we've encountered this idea of vision. Vision, in this context, really means the storehouse of miracles that have been prepared for us. It's a very unusual and peculiar use of vision, but when you follow the intricacies of these arguments in these different lessons and in the course overall, we see that the physical world of perception is really not vision. Even though I may be in a dark room physically, and I shine a light, I can see better. The course is making the point that the physical body and everything that it perceives is severely limited and is not true vision. To think that it is and to keep leaning into the physical world, to accomplish things there as our first line of effectiveness is actually a form of weakness.
It terms this state "confusion level," prompting the desire to turn inward towards the reservoir of miracles, tap into its abundance, and then apply this abundance within the tangible realm of perception. The objective is to transition from a state of heightened confusion to one of resolution.
Continuing, Christ's vision serves as the repository where we access and claim miracles, enabling us to generously bestow them. This extends the earlier discussed premises. The ensuing paragraphs, numbered five, six, and seven, convey that Christ's vision acts as a bridge between realities. Its potency instills trust for transitioning from the present world to one sanctified through forgiveness. Objects appearing solid in this domain are but fleeting shadows in that realm—translucent, occasionally glimpsed, and eventually forgotten. Yet these shadows are powerless to obscure the radiant light beyond.
This notion suggests that the tangible realm, despite its apparent solidity to our corporeal forms, emanates from the wellspring of miracles housed within Christ's vision. It assumes a quality akin to a transient dream or a “movie,” which are metaphors often employed to illustrate this concept.
Paragraph six says this, “Vision, the source is the Holy Spirit's single gift, the treasure house to which you can appeal with perfect certainty for all the things that can contribute to your happiness. All are laid here already. All can be received, but for the asking here, the door is never locked and no one is denied their least request or their most urgent need. There is no sickness, not already healed, no lack, unsatisfied. No need unmet within this golden treasury of Christ.”
Such promises about a destination—remarkable! It's a mindset, a frequency, a dimensional level. Everything leading to inner peace, fulfillment, and happiness is ensured. These words are truly uplifting, constructing the argument that as miracle workers, we not only access this place but also draw from it for ourselves and share it with others.
As a leader, proficiently utilizing these miracles for self-enhancement and propagating them forward becomes paramount. This, in turn, initiates a ripple effect within your organization. Leadership's allure revolves around creating tangible outcomes in the physical world through teams and other avenues, accompanied by influence and recognition. However, the associated occupational hazard is the potential frustration if circumstances deviate. The temptation arises to coerce individuals onto the correct path, especially among assertive, intelligent, ambitious, and successful individuals.
Lesson 97 says, “If you spend five minutes of every hour giving what, whatever you think you have to give in this area, we're talking about the thought. Spirit, am I a holy child of God. Free of all them. It's safe, yield, whole, free to forgive and free to save the world.”
That's like a firefly, putting out a little blip of light, which the Holy Spirit will take and amplify it, send it all around the world, healing people. When it comes back to the source, you, the person who put it out, it’ll be as bright and as powerful as the sun. That's a real step up in terms of return on investment.
Now, I’d like to discuss the theme of atonement from my book Nightmares to Miracles. On page 26 of the book in chapter two I start out with this excerpt from the course. It says, “All fears ultimately reducible to the basic misperception that you have the ability to usurp the power of God. Of course. You neither can nor have been able to do this. Here is the real basis for your escape from fear. The escape is brought about by your acceptance of the atonement, which enables you to realize that your errors never really occurred.”
It is so gratifying to know that the basis in A Course in Miracles is the removal of wrong thinking. The results are effects of our wrong thinking, and that atonement is the device that has been given to us to do that elsewhere in the course. Atonement is really a device, a technology almost, that is birthed from God's infinite love. This is why there's no punishment from God in A Course in Miracles. It’s simply concerned with saying you fell asleep and you started to dream nightmares, but I want to wake you up back to your true nature. How could source punish you for something you were dreaming that was scaring you? The solution starts in your own will, which is that you deviated in some way from trusting me and surrendering to me by thinking that you could usurp, my divine love for you. So that's a very powerful sort of centering of atonement to start with.
The next part of atonement that signals for me how important atonement is in the course of miracles. It goes on to say, “The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept atonement for themselves. This means you recognize that mind is the only creative level, and then its errors are healed by the atonement. Once you accept this, your mind can only heal by denying your mind any destructive potential. And reinstating its purely constructive powers. You place yourself in a position to undo the level confusion of others. The message you then give to them is the truth that their minds are similarly constructive and their miscreations cannot hurt them.”
This is the basis for so many other truth principles, which is that if I reach into the storehouse and use atonement to correct my errors and misperceptions and that I'm no longer frightened of what those things will do to hurt me or to hurt other people or separate me from God, if I correct all of that, then automatically when I'm interacting with other people or thinking about them. It's almost like a Bluetooth device. They pick up that nothing in their minds can hurt them either, and that they can drop their miscreations can drop away, and I'm so impressed by the impact it has.
To combine the lesson from A Course in Miracles and the book conversation on Atonement, I think an overlapping theme that comes to mind is that we need to acknowledge the importance of collective consciousness in this world. It can be extremely dangerous or extremely transformative and powerful and helpful. As a group or society, we can collectively live in nightmare state or transcend collectively into miracle state. Sometimes we fail to realize what level of collective consciousness we are in as a world, as a country, as a company, as a family, as a western culture. It only takes really take the enlightenment of one leader to change that for everyone.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an example of this who woke everyone up from the collective nightmare and helped the world to realize that we don't need to live in this perpetual state of hate and division. People actually listened and changed their hearts. It was truly a miracle. You, reader, could be that very leader today.
The more we reinforce these ideas on miracle mindsets, the more they take on a reality, and the more they function the way that they're supposed to my leadership becomes more effective. All you must do is go into the storehouse of the gifts we've been given and then begin giving those gifts abundantly out to the world.
