Lesson 201: Review: “I am not a body.  I am free.  For I am still as God created me.”  “I trust my brothers who are one with me.”

Lesson 181 says, “When you attack a brother, you proclaim that he is limited by what you have perceived in him.  You do not look beyond his errors.” 

The Course teaches us to practically apply the lessons.

This means we take our brothers and sisters and we learn to forgive. 

We also learn to, with love, give our brothers and sisters feedback about what works for us in communicating. 

The Course says that we are meant to see our brothers and sisters sins as unreal. We see them as unreal simply for our own sake because when we do not, we get upset about what we perceive as their shortcomings.

No one likes to be miserable and that is the sure way to be miserable. 

This is the whole purpose behind seeing errors as unreal.

Then the impact they have on us is significantly smaller.

Then, we may just feel a hint of upset because we take this all in perspective. 

We stay above the battleground in our minds when we see problems as unreal, and then our minds and spirits stay elevated no matter what happens. 

This is the only way to achieve and maintain true peace. We stay above the battleground, which means we take all the helpful perspective of the Course’s mind teaching and we apply it wholeheartedly.

It works if we stay in the practice, whatever that looks like. 

We just stay committed to finding our inner willingness to keep our minds in the center of God’s Will and trust the process of whatever is happening.  

We learn from the Course that forgiveness is our only important thing that we need to bring with us when we encounter the world.

We will need forgiveness, start to finish, in our every day, because the world is full of problems. 

Forgiveness is the perfect antidote God has given us emotionally to get to that place where we are not resisting the moment, projecting out our nightmares. 

It stops us from doing things that hurt us or hurt other people.  Forgiveness is the form of love that always works to heal whatever we see before us.

This is why it is the magical miracle we are meant to carry in our front pocket, where we can just reach in and make forgiveness always a part of the solution. 

The Course also teaches us that when something happens with our brothers and sisters where we end up being angry at them- for some seeming shortcoming- then, we must make sure we forgive them first for whatever it was. 

People are always doing their best, and this is why we can forgive, because it is what frees them from any suffering over what they may have done that we weren’t happy about. 

This forgiving them also frees us, because when we hold that attack energy about them in our minds, because of the ego is complaining, then, we get all bound up internally.

Then, we are frozen inside about whatever happened we did not want.

The Course teaches that forgiveness heals us because, then, we let them off the hook and all that attack energy within us totally disappears too.

This is why forgiveness heals everyone.

The Course also reminds us that when we may feel called by the Holy Spirit to give someone feedback emotionally about something they have done within our relationship, we want to do so with love. 

We can tell the only person about whatever it is we would rather hear from them or have them do.

They may not understand what works best for you emotionally, so it may be a super time to tell them. 

Just remember to hold your intention inside of yourself that you are wanting to protect your friendship and heal it. 

This is why you want to make a suggestion that will then make you feel happier in your relationship.

Then both of you will be more enthusiastic about being in it.

But just make sure to come from that place of self respect and respect for them, not that desire to take control of the situation or to in any way put them down for saying something that hurt your feelings. 

When we rise above that pull downward, sucking our energy into low elevation, this is the way to heal the relationship.  

And, we give them neutral information about what will help us in conversation with them.