A Course in Miracles Lesson 174

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.

What does it mean to enter into the Presence of God? And is that even a good question?

One of the ways that our practice of A Course in Miracles heals us is by inviting us to a new experience of being – to learn that we are not self-centered and petty, not jealous and angry, not addicted to suffering – but rather happy and free, capable of creativity and service.

We do not have to go on a journey to reach God. We go on a journey – if we do – to learn that journeys are not necessary. God is present; God is here. God’s Love is all. Love holds everything.

There are a thousand times a thousand ways to remember that God is Love, and that God’s presence can neither be found nor left. It can be denied, yes. It can be ignored. But it cannot be undone.

We cannot make what is true untrue.

Rather than ask what it means to enter God’s presence, ask how to enter God’s presence. Ask how to remember that “God is but Love, and therefore so am I” (W-pI.174.1:1).

This review lesson offers us a very concrete way to do this! If we want to remember our inseperable oneness with God, then we need to learn that true giving and true receiving are the same.

They are not the same in experience, which cannot be shared (W-pI.158.2:7). But they are the same in Vision, which can be shared, through extension, from one mind to another as they learn they are one ((W-pI.158.2:8).

Bodies perceive other bodies; this is natural and inevitable. But we are not bodies! The gift we give the other is to focus on them as they are in truth – as God knows them, not as a body does.

When we practice this, we learn that it is not a fantasy but reality. We truly can know the other as God knows them, and in knowing them that way, remember what we are in truth.

So the practice is hold that thought in mind while we relate to our brothers and sisters in the world. God is Love – how does Love know this other person? Is it possible for you to know them that way? Why or why not?

We enter into God’s presence by being willing to remember God as unconditional Love, and we remember that by sincerely relating to one another – to the best of our limited ability – as God’s creations which are not embodied.

It’s not an intellectual practice. It’s a practice of relying less on the body’s eyes and more on the mind’s understanding that we are all one with each other in holiness (W-pI.174.8:4).

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