Lesson 77
I am entitled to miracles.
W-pI.77.1. You are entitled to miracles because of what you are. 2 You will receive miracles because of what God is. 3 And you will offer miracles because you are one with God. 4 Again, how simple is salvation! 5 It is merely a statement of your true Identity. 6 It is this that we will celebrate today.
Yay! Let us celebrate today. We will celebrate that we are entitled to miracles. Miracles are our right. They exist because we need them and we receive them because it is the Will of God that we do so. We offer miracles because we one with God and therefore we will as He Wills. I love that salvation is a statement of our true identity. I am as God created me, period. That is my salvation.
W-pI.77.2. Your claim to miracles does not lie in your illusions about yourself. 2 It does not depend on any magical powers you have ascribed to yourself, nor on any of the rituals you have devised. 3 It is inherent in the truth of what you are. 4 It is implicit in what God your Father is. 5 It was ensured in your creation, and guaranteed by the laws of God.
Jesus is reinforcing these ideas today because he knows we need to hear this in different ways and often. Miracles have nothing to do with our illusions, nothing to do with magical powers that we think we have or wish we had. None of our rituals are responsible for miracles. They are ours because of who we are and what our Father is. Jesus says that we are assured of miracles and they are guaranteed by the laws of God.
W-pI.77.3. Today we will claim the miracles which are your right, since they belong to you. 2 You have been promised full release from the world you made. 3 You have been assured that the Kingdom of God is within you, and can never be lost. 4 We ask no more than what belongs to us in truth. 5 Today, however, we will also make sure that we will not content ourselves with less.
What are the miracles that we are entitled to? We have all heard about miraculous healings, but that is not the miracle. The healing is the effect of the miracle. The miracle itself is the change of mind that welcomed the healing. We must make the miracle welcome by believing in it, and by believing in our self as God’s Son.
We do that when we shift our allegiance to the Holy Spirit rather than to the ego. We begin to recognize that our thoughts are the problem and the Holy Spirit is the answer. This is how we get full release from the world we made. This is how we remember that the Kingdom of God is within us and we can never lose it. Let us not content ourselves with less than this.
When we think that we are vulnerable and victims; when we believe that we are impoverished and unloved; we think that we must have what we believe will give us what we feel we lack. We think we need a physical healing or more money, or we think that we could be happy if only the perfect person miraculously turned up in our life wanting to be with us. But the miracle is not the change in the world that we think we must have in order to be happy, though that could be the effect of the miracle. The miracle corrects the thinking that caused this sense of lack in our lives. This is the real gift, the real miracle.
If healing of the body was the miracle it would feel like we had indeed received something miraculous, but the body would only get sick again and eventually die. That is not a miracle we can depend on. However, if we fully accept that we are pure Spirit and not these bodies, all these needs disappear. This is a true miracle. Without the belief, they cannot return.
W-pI.77.4. Begin the longer practice periods by telling yourself quite confidently that you are entitled to miracles. 2 Closing your eyes, remind yourself that you are asking only for what is rightfully yours. 3 Remind yourself also that miracles are never taken from one and given to another, and that in asking for your rights, you are upholding the rights of everyone. 4 Miracles do not obey the laws of this world. 5 They merely follow from the laws of God.
Is sickness, poverty, lovelessness laws of God? Of course, not. These are the laws of man and they are not real just as the laws of man are not real. They are real to us if we believe in them, but only as we believe in them. Within us is the Home we seek and this Home obeys only the laws of God which are benevolent and certain and inherent in us because we are his children. All things are possible in God because He does not live according to our laws. Today let us remember that we are entitled to miracles, that they are ours for the asking. Each time we ask the Holy Spirit to heal our mind or to show us a different way to see, we are asking for miracles. Sometimes we will experience the world in a different way when we accept that healing. Other times, we will not notice a difference in the world but we will receive peace of mind and happiness. Miracles are our right.
W-pI.77.5. After this brief introductory phase, wait quietly for the assurance that your request is granted. 2 You have asked for the salvation of the world, and for your own. 3 You have requested that you be given the means by which this is accomplished. 4 You cannot fail to be assured in this. 5 You are but asking that the Will of God be done.
These days, the only miracle that interests me is a healed mind and the peace of God that comes with that healing. But I have had many different experiences that were the result of that miracle of a healed mind. One time when my kids were young, my husband was injured at work. He was recovering from surgery and so not working. It was Christmas time and I didn’t have the money to buy my children the present they wanted. They wanted bicycles but there was no way I could afford them. I was certain, though, that I could have this if I wanted it.
This was before A Course in Miracles, but while I was interested in Unity teachings. I made a treasure map with pictures of the bike a I wanted for them and I would look at it every day knowing that somehow this would happen. My husband didn’t believe in this but he believed in me so, as doubtful as he felt he still wondered how it would happen. After a few days, I had an inspired thought. I put an ad in the local paper saying that because of circumstances, Santa was unable to bring bikes to my kids for Christmas and I was looking for used bikes I could afford.
I got several replies but one person said he was Santa and that he wanted to buy new bikes for my kids. He sent his wife and I met her at Sears. She let me pick out what I wanted. Getting these bikes did seem like a miracle to me. At that time, I did not understand the real miracle, the change in my thinking that was manifest in the world as these new bikes. I started out feeling downcast that I could not buy Christmas gifts for my kids but then decided that this had to be possible and just followed my guidance, ignoring the fact that it couldn’t be done. It was a turning point in my life though
I didn’t recognize it as such at the time. I look back on that time and realize that a lot of changes were occurring in my thinking that would lead me to A Course in Miracles and to where I am now. It was about the same time that I put together that when I got angry and held onto my grievances, I would always get a cold. I don’t think I got more than one cold in all the years since I made that discovery. Not getting colds was nice, but seeing the connection between holding grievances and how it played out in the body was a major understanding. I also began having dreams that I understood were metaphors for changes in my understanding.
W-pI.77.6. In doing this, you do not really ask for anything. 2 You state a fact that cannot be denied. 3 The Holy Spirit cannot but assure you that your request is granted. 4 The fact that you accepted must be so. 5 There is no room for doubt and uncertainty today. 6 We are asking a real question at last. 7 The answer is a simple statement of a simple fact. 8 You will receive the assurance that you seek.
These days when I have a need, I give that need to the Holy Spirit with every expectation that I will be answered and answered fully. Chapter 13 is one of my favorite chapters in section VII, it says this:
T-13.VII.11. Everything the ego tells you that you need will hurt you.
This is why I don’t turn to the ego with my perceived needs. The fact that I think I need something is a message from ego. Instead, I turn to the Holy Spirit. This section goes on to say this:
T-13.VII.12. Only the Holy Spirit knows what you need. 2 For He will give you all things that do not block the way to light. 3 And what else could you need? 4 In time, He gives you all the things that you need have, and will renew them as long as you have need of them. 5 He will take nothing from you as long as you have any need of it. 6 And yet He knows that everything you need is temporary, and will but last until you step aside from all your needs and realize that all of them have been fulfilled. 7 Therefore He has no investment in the things that He supplies, except to make certain that you will not use them on behalf of lingering in time. 8 He knows that you are not at home there, and He wills no delay to wait upon your joyous homecoming.
T-13.VII.13. Leave, then, your needs to Him. 2 He will supply them with no emphasis at all upon them. 3 What comes to you of Him comes safely, for He will ensure it never can become a dark spot, hidden in your mind and kept to hurt you.
I don’t say to the Holy Spirit that I need more money or a healed body or help losing weight. I say, rather, that I think I need something in the world to change. Please heal my mind. I give Him these perceived needs knowing He will meet them if I need that. He will supply whatever I need without emphasis on it, without making it special, without making me special.
If I leave it all up to Him, I will have what I need for as long as I need it. Nothing will become an idol that tempts me to turn from my purpose. I have absolute faith in His plan for me. I will not want for what I need, nor will I be burdened with what is not needed. This faith is the miracle. What comes to me in this way, the appearance of something material and the peace of mind are the effects of the healed mind.
W-pI.77.7. Our shorter practice periods will be frequent, and will also be devoted to a reminder of a simple fact. 2 Tell yourself often today:
3 I am entitled to miracles.
4 Ask for them whenever a situation arises in which they are called for. 5 You will recognize these situations. 6 And since you are not relying on yourself to find the miracle, you are fully entitled to receive it whenever you ask.
W-pI.77.8. Remember, too, not to be satisfied with less than the perfect answer. 2 Be quick to tell yourself, should you be tempted:
3 I will not trade miracles for grievances. 4 I want only what belongs to me. 5 God has established miracles as my right.
I think I can say that the miracle is the acceptance of the Atonement. This is our only real need and it is ours for the asking. Let us not be satisfied with less than the perfect answer.