Lesson 108

To give and to receive are one in truth.

Vision depends upon today’s idea. The light is in it, for it reconciles all seeming opposites. And what is light except the resolution, born of peace, of all your conflicts and mistaken thoughts into one concept which is wholly true? Even that one will disappear, because the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. And now you are at peace forever, for the dream is over then.

True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.

This is the light that shows no opposites, and vision, being healed, has power to heal. This 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. This is the light that heals because it brings single perception, based upon one frame of reference, from which one meaning comes.

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

One thought, completely unified, will serve to unify all thought. This 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. For 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.

To learn that giving and receiving are the same has special usefulness, because it can be tried so easily and seen as true. And 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. And from there it will extend, and finally arrive at the one Thought which underlies them all.

Today we practice with the special case of giving and receiving. We will use this simple lesson in the obvious because it has results we cannot miss. To give is to receive. Today we will attempt to offer peace to everyone, and see how quickly peace returns to us. Light is tranquility, and in that peace is vision given us, and we can see.

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

To give and to receive are one in truth.
I will receive what I am giving now.

Then close your eyes, and for five minutes think of what you would hold out to everyone, to have it yours. You might, for instance, say:

To everyone I offer quietness.
To everyone I offer peace of mind.
To everyone I offer gentleness.

Say each one slowly and then pause a while, expecting to receive the gift you gave. And it will come to you in the amount in which you gave it. You will find you have exact return, for that is what you asked. It might be helpful, too, to think of one to whom to give your gifts. He represents the others, and through him you give to all.

Our very simple lesson for today will teach you much. Effect and cause will be far better understood from this time on, and we will make much faster progress now. Think 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.”

Initial Insight: “True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there.

I appreciate the clarification of light as used in ACIM. It is not light you see with your eyes. It is a state of mind in which we perceive correctly. Jesus talks about unification in this lesson. I understand him to mean that our thought becomes unified so that instead of thinking that there are many beliefs at different levels, there is only one truth.

He says that this is the light that shows no opposites. We believe we are sometimes sad and sometimes happy, sometimes argumentative and sometimes reconciliatory, sometimes sick and sometimes healthy. Our world as we see it now is so conflicted that the peace of God is not possible. Jesus is letting us know that this is not normal and that we can learn to see differently.

We can learn that it is possible to be in the world but not of it as we learn to see only what is true. Of that which is not truth, he says we will not see it because it is not there. He also talks about the one Thought that is behind all things. I think that is the Thought that is God or of God and that is Truth.

He also tells us that vision being healed has the power to heal and encourages us to prove this to ourselves. The best way to do this is with something with obvious and immediate results. One of the conflicting ideas we hold is giving and receiving, something we think of as opposites. He says that this is not true and that to give is to receive. To prove his point, Jesus tells us to test it. We are told to give what we want to receive.

I like that he suggested that we can use one person to represent everyone because that helps me to focus. I knew right away who I wanted to visualize receiving my gift. I used my son because he is experiencing a stressful time right now. I began by asking Jesus what gift I should offer and peace of mind came immediately followed by happiness. I liked those gifts because I want them for myself.

I have been practicing choosing happiness for several days now. Every time I think about something that seems to challenge my happiness I remind myself that I have chosen to be happy. So, this morning I felt less than happy, not depressed, but clearly not happy and I didn’t have a clear problem to see differently. I was wondering about this when I started this lesson and now, I have a focus to help me return to happiness so I am grateful.

I have also seen that in choosing happiness, I have unified my thinking, though I didn’t see it that way at the time. By that, I mean I choose happiness and doing so, I have chosen against anger, fear, guilt, all the ego effects that keep me from being happy. Or seen another way, in choosing to be happy, I no longer was aware of anger, fear, guilt or other ego effects. They were not there for me to see. The end result is that I am at peace as long as I make happiness my function. I see why Jesus told me to use those two gifts in my practice.

“Say each one slowly and then pause a while, expecting to receive the gift you gave. And it will come to you in the amount in which you gave it. You will find you have exact return, for that is what you asked. It might be helpful, too, to think of one to whom to give your gifts. He represents the others, and through him you give to all.”

I did as instructed, giving the gift of peace of mind and happiness in expectation of receiving it in the amount in which you gave it. I had to let my thoughts be purified first because as soon as I thought of my son being at peace, I also had the untrue thought that he could not be at peace with all the stress he is under. This is the kind of thinking that keeps us caught in the ego story of conflict by keeping the illusion of opposites in place.

I released that thinking to the Holy Spirit and returned my mind to the truth. I already knew from my own practice earlier this week that I can be happy regardless of what is happening in my life so I knew that my son could also be happy right now. I was sincere in my desire to give peace of mind and happiness to my son and so I received it in kind. I look forward to another day of happiness.

Daily Application: Here is something that happened a few years ago while I was working.

“This 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.”

I have been thinking about something my friend, Cathy, said about a situation at work.

“Whenever the office water cooler gossip sucked me in yesterday, I would say, “There I go judging again. I actually love so and so” and began instead to say, out loud, the “good” things about her. It was funny because then whoever I was talking to started doing the same thing. The really funny thing is that by lunchtime I was in a  good mood, relaxed and laughing.”

What a wonderful thing she did for herself and everyone else. I was amazed to realize it never occurred to me to do this at my workplace where there is also a lot of dissension between workers. I decided that I would do this the next time the opportunity presented itself. I would do as Cathy did and make it about changing my own mind. Then I thought about someone at the office who is most often the one everyone talked about and realized that I was going to have to do some preplanning on this if I was going to talk about her good points because I did not perceive her with Vision either. So that night I asked for help with this.

The following morning, I read this lesson and had to laugh because the Holy Spirit came through again with the perfect answer. He brought this woman to mind as the one with whom to practice. The way it worked is I thought of her and allowed some of her most annoying habits, and some of the meanest things she has done flow through my mind. Then I asked what I could give her.

The thought that came to me is that all those annoying and mean things she does are simply reflections of fear. I wanted her to experience peace instead, so that is what I gave her. As I gave her peace, I felt peace. Until I received the peace, I had not even realized how tense I was when she came to mind. I felt uneasy about her and guilty that I judged her. All of that faded away. As my mind filled with peace, my desire for her to share in the peace became stronger. I began to think of her as my dear sister. I realized that my desire for her happiness was sincere.

Insights from Holy Spirit: This is a message I received in the past before I mastered this. It was helpful to me and maybe will be to others so I am including it.

Myron, this is one of those laws that you like because there are no exceptions. You can absolutely depend on it. What you give is what you receive, and there is the added benefit that what you receive tells you what you gave. All of this takes place on the level of mind. You think that you will have to remember to set things up so that you can practice this. That will not be necessary. You are always giving something. Just monitor your thoughts when with someone or thinking of someone.

For instance, one day when you were talking to a dear one, you gave him the fear thoughts you have been harboring in your mind. You did not say them, but that is what you were feeling and thinking. You were saying the words you know from the Course, but you were thinking the “oh, no” and “what if” thoughts that are born of uncertainty, doubt, and fear. When you hung up the phone, you wondered why you felt that you had failed to be helpful, and why you felt no peace. The only real exchange happened at the thought level, not in what you said. You received what you gave.

So today monitor your thoughts and your feelings. Your feelings will help you see what you are giving and what you are receiving. You will become aware that you are giving what you do not want to receive. Ask Me to help you change your mind. In this way, you will be very effective in doing this lesson and will be a blessing to all of the Sonship.

Gratitude: Thank you, Holy Spirit for helping me to understand.