Message From God: "My plan for you is perfect and will fall into place at exactly the right time. Never try to hurry anything along, but watch everything unfold and develop. If life appears to be going very slowly be not impatient. Learn to wait upon Me in absolute faith and confidence, and know that at the right time all things will come about, as there is indeed a right time and right season for everything.

Remember, you cannot change the seasons of the year. You cannot change the movement of the heavens or the tides. The universe is in My hands and no one can harm it. Go forward in complete faith and confidence allowing My wonders and glories to unfold. Do not be concerned about anything, simply be strong and of good courage.

When you are at perfect peace within, you will be able to withstand the stresses and strains without. Therefore let My peace and love influence and enfold you, and be at perfect peace as I do My will."


Nick Arandes

You Don't Have to Make Things to Forgive
© By Liz Cronkhite

Sometimes students will tell me that they really don't want to do something, but they are going to do it anyway, because they think that they need to forgive it or to use it as an opportunity to extend Love. This is a classic example of how the personal mind distorts what is taught in A Course in Miracles. Life in the world grants you enough obligations to practice forgiveness without you having to force yourself to accept situations just so that you can forgive them. You also don't have to go out of your way to find situations to forgive or in which to extend Love. If you do either of these, you are actually making these situations special, so you cannot forgive them. You are making them real to you, and you can only forgive illusions. And it is not up to you to decide for yourself what you should forgive and where to extend Love; that's the Holy Spirit's job. The Holy Spirit is never going to force you into a situation, because It recognizes that all situations are all equally unreal, and all are equally perfect for forgiveness. So it is the same to the Holy Spirit whether or not you go to the company Christmas party or not, for example. In fact, your thinking that it matters one way or the other is exactly what you have to forgive. This is what the Course means when it says that you can't but be in the right place at the right time: Every place and every time is exactly right for forgiveness.

To awaken to the Fact that you are really always in God, you must forgive what naturally shows up in your particular awareness. Making something to forgive is going in the exact opposite direction of forgiveness. For example, I've heard from students who think that they must watch the news or read newspapers to forgive the disturbing things that show up in them. But if they have truly forgiven what they see on TV or read in a newspaper, they would not have to return to it again and again. If they recognized that what is in the news is not real, they would have no motivation to watch it.

Of course, forcing themselves into situations to practice forgiveness, or making situations to extend love, is often a tactic a student will use to avoid dealing with their own specific obstacles to Peace. Like the philanthropist who takes care of everyone but their own family, picking what you must forgive and where you must extend Love can be a way of avoiding the hard work of forgiving and extending Love to what it right in front of you. What flows into your awareness naturally is flowing from your seemingly specific mind. When it does not reflect your Peace, it reflects your specific obstacles to Peace. Your real obstacles are much harder to face than the ones that you make for yourself! Center your life in God, and forgive whatever shows up right in front of you; extend Love right where you are. You do not have to make special occasions for this.

Liz Cronkhite is a mentor for students of A Course in Miracles. She has been a student of the Course since 1984, and a life-coach since 2000. You can learn more about her, and the mentoring and resources she offers students, at www.acimmentor.com.

© 2007 by SEDNARA Publishing & Nick Arandes