Today’s lesson is an extremely simple statement of truth.  It holds all the power you could ever seek to possess.  There is nothing you want more than to have a joyful, creative, and peaceful life.  All the desires we pursue are in fact ways we believe will achieve joy and peace.  Often we are mistaken about what leads to what we are really after.  We think a person or a promotion is the desire when really, what that person or promotion brings is the real desire.  And when we understand this, we can open to receiving our true desire in a thousand different creative ways.  

Releasing anger brings me all I ever really want.

We are not here to instruct people on how they should act.  It is not our job to tell other people what they should think is important.  Our priorities are not required to be another person’s priorities, no matter how important we may feel they are.  We did not come here to fight.  We came here to learn how to flow. 

We are also not here to figure out how to “get it right.” It is not possible to live a life without error.  And A Course In Miracles teaches us that there are no degrees of error.  All errors are equal in the eyes of creation, and all errors are equally meaningless and unimportant.  Errors are nothing and should be forgotten at once as utterly irrelevant beyond the useful information of how to realign with what is right. 

It is not possible to conduct ourselves in a way that will guarantee that we will get the behavior we want from other people.  When deciding how to act, place attention on what you yourself would approve of, not what you guess the other person might want.  If we do not approve of our own behavior we lose touch with our most trusted companion, ourselves.  

This world is upside down and backward.  This world is an illusion based on a false belief that separation from source is possible.  It is impossible to be alone.  We are always connected to a state of Grace.  Grace will do everything for us if we let it.  Grace will fix any and every problem if we agree to step aside and let Grace lead 

The word “forgiveness” is used in the original text for this lesson which technically means “to grant pardon” or “to cease to feel resentment against.”  I define the word “forgiveness” to mean “release anger.”

Being angry feels bad, even when it feels empowering.  Unlike feelings of joy, excitement, or peace, we never deliberately seek a feeling of anger.  We do not like the way anger feels, even when it has a seductive quality that feels like power.  It is impossible to stand behind actions that are motivated by anger because those actions are violent and violence hurts.  

No one wants pain.  People who pursue pain are still inherently pursuing a desire for peace because they believe pain will bring peace.  Anger is an energy of misperception.  It indicates an error in one’s logic about how we understand the world to be.  

If we want peace, what is it, really?  Peace is resilience and the ability to recover from any blow.  Peace is clarity and accurate responsiveness.  Peace is space and a sense of quiet company within that never goes away.  Releasing anger achieves all of this and more.  

A person who does not have anger in their body, mind, and spirit glows with a sparkle of inspiration to others.  We feel drawn to such people because they have found a way off the pendulum of extreme happiness and extreme sadness.  

When the ego feels it has lost power (which is most of the time) it scrambles to regain it.  But the ego has no intention of ever achieving peace.  The ego desires perpetual discontent and works to disrupt peace wherever possible. It is not possible to communicate with a perspective that wants destruction.  The only appropriate action to take with a destructive force is to walk (or run) away.  Paying attention to a non-negotiable perspective, whether it is in you or in another person is a waste of valuable time and energy.  Walk away from all ego engagements.  The ego wants to think wrongly and has no interest in accuracy or correct answers.  The ego is defensive and easily offended.  And every mind is conflicted with an ego perspective.

Forgive your mind for being divisive.  Forgive your mind for being multiple in nature and for feeling two opposing ways.  Fighting the ego makes the ego grow.  Finding its concerns unimportant diminishes its effects.

Some lessons are easier to connect with than others but A Course In Miracles wants us to keep in mind that how we feel about a lesson has nothing to do with its effectiveness.  We do not have to like, understand, or agree with the daily lessons.  We need only place our eyes on them and consider them as the lesson instructs.  Ponder today’s lesson from whatever mood or attitude you are in.  It is the conviction within you that is the real teacher.  Forgive the text for being obscure and filled with dense religious terminology.  Forgive the world for being impermanent.  Remember you exist in an enduring Grace.