The introduction to this review tells us to remind ourselves hourly "I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me." A "deep relinquishment" is called for "of everything that clutters up the mind, and makes it deaf to reason, sanity and simple truth." (W.RVI.IN.3.8) What clutters up your mind today? What are the beliefs, worries, concerns, or distractions in the way of the love that you are? They are thoughts that block the love that is always present in us from our awareness. The introduction to the review proposes that when we are tempted to get into thoughts not of God, we should remember: this thought I do not want. I choose instead to remember that the love of God is in me now. I am as God created me. I am love, not this ego-self I have come to believe I am. Today I ask for the help of the Holy Spirit that I might forgive myself for using any situation, person  or thought to keep me from knowing the love I truly am.
 
Today we claim the power to create, which we can only do when we "become vigilant only for God and His Kingdom." (T.7.I.2.8)(ACIM OE T.7.I.2) Jesus tells us, "To create is to love. Love extends outward simply because it cannot be contained." (T.7.I.3.3-4)(ACIM OE T.7.I.3) God's love created us because His love cannot be contained. It keeps flowing outward, and when we accept ourselves as love, we can't help but extend love through us, because it too can't be contained. "The ego, on the other hand, always demands reciprocal rights, because it is competitive rather than loving. It is always willing to strike a bargain, but it cannot understand that to be like another means that no bargains are possible." (T.7.I.4.1-2)(ACIM OE T.7.II.4) When we bargain, we do so at the expense of knowing who we are. It is all about trying to get something we believe is lacking in ourselves, but Jesus reminds "To gain you must give, not bargain," (T.7.I.4.3)(ACIM OE T.7.II.4) because in giving, you but give to yourself.
 
Jesus, as our example of a healed mind, gave only love to the kingdom. He said this was because he knew his reality as God's Son. We don't believe we are only love. We believe we are love some of the time, but also bodies and personalities with variable moods. We believe we are two selves in conflict. Yet Jesus comes through in this Course to remind us of the truth. We are only one Self. "What you believe you are determines your gifts." (T.7.I.5.2)(ACIM OE T.7.II.5) The ego has no gifts to give, as it is only about taking for itself, though pretending to be kind and loving. It does so only because we would not get if we did not seem to give something.
 
To undo the ego is to undo our false beliefs about ourselves. Any belief, any self-concept, any concern, any issue we grapple with today is what blocks our awareness of our true Self. By turning over these misperceptions to the Holy Spirit, the light of truth shines through our minds. Today we are asked to remain vigilant for the kingdom. We watch our thoughts. We go into the silence. We remember the truth of who we are, and in that vigilance, we affirm we are created by God, and as such have all his attributes of love. As we experience this, we extend it, and in this extension we create in the same way God created us.

I was aware yesterday of how much I wanted to be "left alone."  It was not a happy state, and there was no peace in it. I looked at those thoughts of wanting space from my brothers. I recognized in them that I still valued the little gap between me and my brother because I still see love as treacherous. Our fear of love reflects our fear of God. It is  "The greatest obstacle that peace must flow across." (T.29.I.3.2)(ACIM OE T.29.I.3) It reflects our fear of God's punishment for our perceived sins. Jesus reminds us that we keep our brothers at a distance because "A cautious friendship, and limited in scope and carefully restricted in amount, became the treaty you had made with him. Thus you and your brother but shared a qualified entente, in which a clause of separation was a point you both agreed to keep intact." (T.29.I.3.8-9)(ACIM OE T.29.I.3) "It is the symbol of a promise made to meet when you prefer, and separate till you and he elect to meet again." (T.29.I.4.3)(ACIM OE T.29.II.4) The body saves us in this situation for "it gets away from total sacrifice and gives to you the time in which to build again your separate self." (T. 29.1.4.7)(ACIM OE T.29.II.4)
 
The gap we value between ourselves and our brothers is the same gap we want to maintain with God. While I can profess I am not a body and I feel the love within me now, I need to do the work of releasing the fears that maintain these gaps, and this is where awareness comes in. When we affirm "I want my space," or"I need to establish boundaries," we are really affirming separateness. Too much closeness can start to feel threatening, demanding, invasive, and smothering. We value our independence. For me, it has been a lifelong process of establishing my independence and my fear of being controlled. Being controlled felt dangerous and made me feel vulnerable. Getting in touch with these fears is what watching our thoughts is about. When we look at our darkness, with the light of Jesus beside us, these fears lose their power. Thus, the ego program can be exposed. The ego is the self with which we clearly identify much of the time, but is not the truth about who we are. That is what makes it safe for us to look at it. Who does the looking anyway? The mind that looks is where sanity resides. Yes it takes courage, honesty and vigilance, because our vulnerability is exposed, but in my experience the result is greater freedom and lightness that bring more joy and peace until the final doubt thought can be released and only awareness shines forth. The experience of the Self we are shines forth. The love we are, which illuminates our minds and our freedom, no longer has to be defended or demanded. It simply is.

Today, use the Lesson to remind yourself of the truth and try to remember to use it in any situation where you feel a temptation to judge or attack. The truth is we are not different. We are both set free when one of us remembers there is only God's love and nothing else is true about everyone. "The love of God is what created me. The Love of God is everything I am. The Love of God proclaimed me as His Son. The Love of God within me sets me free." (W.209.1.2-5)
 
We continue to do our daily practice with morning and evening meditation of fifteen minutes, repeating the Lesson and then spending time in silence being attentive to guidance from the Holy Spirit. We continue our hourly practice of reminding ourselves of the thought for the day and expressing gratitude to the Holy Spirit for His presence in our minds. We continue to bring awareness to the thoughts that block the truth about ourselves. We listen for guidance and bring the Lesson to our mind as often as possible throughout the day. Anything that tempts us to lose our peace throughout the day becomes another opportunity to apply the Lesson in a form that addresses the issue. As an example, we might choose to say "The Love of God within me sets me free from this difficult situation I seem to be facing."