My mind holds only what I think with God.

I will accept the Atonement for myself. The “will” in this sentence implies the future, as in ‘I am going to do this.’ I don’t feel to see it as a future endeavor. I accept the Atonement for myself now. As NTI Luke says, “Now is a very important time, for now is the only time that you can take any action that will make any difference. … Lay aside resistance now. Dismiss meaningless thoughts now. Focus on your willingness and nurture gratitude for being [now]. … The kingdom of God is within you now. Do not let yourself be distracted away from it.”

Only salvation can be said to cure. All problems are temporary. They shall have their end. And yet, every problem or difficulty will be replaced by another until we have transcended the belief in the body-mind as ‘me.’ Salvation is liberation from ignorance. Only salvation resolves all problems forever. With this realization, I am no longer distracted by thinking my happiness lies with some change or acquisition in the world. My focus is clear. I accept the Atonement for myself.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

When I am healed I am not healed alone. In Chapter 1 of A Course in Miracles, Jesus says, “I have nothing that does not come from God. The difference between us now is that I have nothing else.” That is healing, having nothing but that which comes from God. I trust when I am healed, that healing helps others. However, my focus now must be on reaching that healed state, that permanence of “only what I think with God” and nothing else. This is my commitment to myself and everyone.

Heaven is the decision I must make. This decision is not made once, but repeatedly. It is made each day, and it is made throughout the day. Anything that reinforces this decision in me is helpful. Anything that weakens this decision in me needs to be looked at and questioned. A partial decision or a ‘sometimes’ decision is not a decision. Total unwavering commitment is the sign of true decision.

My mind holds only what I think with God.

I have noticed since beginning this review that something is shifting in me. There is greater confidence than there was before in the efficiency of the direct path and in my desire and ability to remain focused on it. I feel as if I am learning now to “claim again” my inheritance.

With this in mind, I contemplate today’s review lessons.

If I defend myself I am attacked. In order to defend myself, I must forget my Self. It doesn’t matter if I am defending my psyche against something that it perceives as an attack or if I am defending against truth by avoiding spiritual practice. Either way, I am not coming from my Self. Therefore, whenever I notice myself defending, I will drop the habit of ignorance and turn attention toward the heart, toward truth.

Sickness is a defense against the truth. I do not feel to focus on effects. It feels better for me to watch where my attention is now. Am I obsessed with thinking about an illness or some other circumstance? Am I resisting an illness or another current circumstance? Do I feel like the victim of an illness or another circumstance? If yes, that focus is a defense against the truth. Instead of being in defense, it feels better for me to be consistently in acceptance, grounded in wisdom, and in contemplation of the truth. When I find myself in defense, I will return myself to clarity and promptly drop the habit of ignorance.

What good news yesterday’s lesson was. “No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.” And yet, one must be honest about her seeking. To say she seeks the truth, but to look to the world for happiness, is to be dishonest with her self. One who seeks the truth seeks inward, toward the great ocean of life-awareness, which is the true Self. “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” ~ Luke 17:21

With this, it is clear that ample time given to awareness-focused meditation is an important part of surrendering to the desire for truth realization. I do not deny this. I embrace this fact, and I take time each day for that most direct path. In addition, I remain aware of truth during my daily activities.

The review instructions say, “…place His Mind in charge of all the thoughts you will receive… And so each one will bring the message of His Love to you, returning messages of yours to Him. … And as His Own completion joins with Him, so will He join with you who are complete as you unite with Him, and He with you.”

It is with this thought that I contemplate today’s review lessons:

I will not value what is valueless. I will not value what is passing. I will be with it, because it is here now, but my heart’s value shall remain with the eternal, and my awareness will rest gratefully with the heart.

Let me perceive forgiveness as it is. When I notice my mind has gone to unnecessary thinking about temporary circumstances or wishes, I bring my attention back to the heart and the eternal. Here I abide as I go through the normal activities of my day. I rejoice in silent contemplation of truth.

Yesterday my focus was watching for defenses and self-deceptions, that which keeps my attention away from my true Self. I did this because it was a request made in the review instructions. After making that request, the review instructions say:

“And yet, your mind holds only what you think with God. Your self-deceptions cannot take the place of truth. No more than can a child who throws a stick into the ocean change the coming and the going of the tides, the warming of the water by the sun, the silver of the moon on it by night.”

This brings me back to, “My mind holds only what I think with God.” With this in mind, I contemplate today’s review lessons.

No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth. Although there are many ideas that distract from truth, they are each temporary. As a stream, they can appear endless. But if I step back from the stream and compare it to the ocean, I see the stream is shallow. It is the great depth of the ocean that calls to me. I shall listen and go where I am called.

I loose the world from all I thought it was. I thought my happiness resided in the world. That is exactly what I thought. That is why it has held my attention for so long. I loose the world from all I thought it was. I give my attention to the depth within.

“My mind holds only what I think with God.” It is lack of forgiveness that blocks this realization from our awareness.

The review instructions ask us to notice “the many forms in which the lack of true forgiveness may be carefully concealed.” In other words, the review instructions ask us to put some effort into finding our own defenses against the truth, our own self-deceptions.

With this request in mind, I contemplate today’s review lessons.

Beyond this world there is a world I want. I close my eyes and go into contemplation of this fact. I go beyond all of the thoughts that offer me something to think about. They are each defenses against the truth.

It is impossible to see two worlds. Attention will either go out towards the world and thought or it will go in towards awareness. It cannot go in two directions at once. Anything that keeps me from being aware of myself as awareness or as the watcher is a defense against truth for me.

The central theme that we are contemplating during this review period is:

My mind holds only what I think with God.

The workbook instructions for the review period say, “It is this thought that fully guarantees salvation to the Son. For in his mind no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares. Lack of forgiveness blocks this thought from his awareness. Yet it is forever true.”

This means that when we let our attention dwell with any thought, emotion or desire that is inevitably temporary, or when we let our attention dwell with anything that it cannot dwell on eternally, we block our realization of truth.

With this thought in mind, I contemplate today’s review lessons.

There is no love but God’s. What, then, is love? To discover what love is I must compare human feelings of love, which do not last, to that which is always present. For example, sometimes I think I love something because it brings me pleasure, but pleasure is not constant. Therefore that is not love. Yet I notice beingness or isness is always present. That must be love.

The world I see holds nothing that I want. That’s because the world I see holds nothing. It all comes and goes. Whether I perceive it as grand or totally undesirable, it has the same quality. It is not eternal; it is not held. I seek that which is eternal, that which is held, and I let the temporary be as it is.

The instructions for this review period give us a central theme to contemplate each day. That theme is:

My mind holds only what I think with God.

The instructions go on to say, “That is a fact, and represents the truth of what you are and What your Father is.”

This means that what our mind holds is what we are, and what our mind holds is what God is. So if we want to find our Self, and if we want to find God, we must look for what our mind holds. What our mind holds is always present. Therefore, our search for God is also the search for what is always present.

Here is my contemplation of today’s review lessons with that thought in mind:

In quiet I receive God’s Word today. All of the thoughts that come and go in my consciousness are not God’s Word, because God’s Word is the Word, that which is before everything. In order to know God’s Word, I must look beyond all of the words that distract from it. I must enter into the quiet, where God’s Word is known; not heard, but known. God’s Word is not other than my Self. In quiet, I realize that today.

All that I give is given to myself. Why do my thoughts appear so mesmerizing, those words that are temporary and are not the eternal Word of God? If I close my eyes and look, I find only one power that infuses thought with power. That power is my attention. I am the power that infuses thought with apparent power. All that I give attention to, I give to myself. The question then becomes, what do I want to give attention to? That is the same as asking, what do I want to have power over me?

The instructions for this review period have told us that we will use this review to “concentrate on the readiness for what will follow next.” And then it gave us a central theme to use in that concentration:

My mind holds only what I think with God.

Each day during the review period, be sure to start with five minutes contemplating this thought. You don’t need to write anything about it, although you can if something begins to come that you want to write down. However, be sure to spend five minutes marinating in this thought. Assume that it is preparing you for what will follow next, even if you do not notice the preparation at all.

After you’ve spent five minutes with this initial thought, go on to contemplate the review lessons for the day. As an example, here is my contemplation of today’s review lessons:

I thank my Father for his gifts to me. Those gifts are not the temporary things or experiences that come to me in this lifetime. God’s gifts are never temporary. God’s gifts are the eternal gifts that are always present. I thank my Father for His eternal gifts, and I show appreciation for them by paying attention to them throughout my day.

Let me remember I am one with God. I cannot find God’s gifts by looking for objects that are different from me. God’s gifts are my nature. I will seek what is my nature. If I see something that I can separate from myself, that is not my nature. I cannot ever be separated from my own nature. When I see something that is consistently present and cannot be separated from me ever, I have found my nature. Therefore, I have found my Self and I have found God, for they are one.