LESSON 127
There is no love but God's.

Jesus tells us, " Today we make the largest single step this course requests in your advance towards its established goal." (W.127.6.5) That kind of statement should certainly get our attention. Why would this be such an important Lesson? It is because we are being guided to the place where we can know the Self that we are as the love that we were created to be. In getting even the " faintest glimmering of what love means," (W.127.7.1) we will " have advanced in distance without measure and in time beyond the count of years" (W.127.7.1) to our release. That should certainly motivate us to pay attention to what this Lesson is about. Our opportunity for advancement is huge, when we commit to the practice.
 
It is very sobering to read these first lines and recognize in them that we don't know what love is. Certainly it is used a lot in the world, and is the theme of most music, movies and books. We can be in love and then we fall out of love. We have "special" love for certain people whom we favor. We think that we love our children differently than our parents, or our friends. We speak of loving a good meal, a beautiful sunset, a nice event, a dog or cat, our children, God, our spouse, a good book and even a concept. Yet it appears we really don't know what we are talking about in the true sense of the word, love, as described in this Lesson. It seems to us that there are different kinds of love, but this only implies a hierarchy of illusions in that to us some kinds of love we judge as being better, or of higher quality, and more intense than others. The Lesson affirms that this is not so. Love is one and has only one Source. It has no separate parts, kinds, levels or distinctions and does not change or alter. This does not mean that love is expressed the same way in the dream,  where it does have different expressions, so that some will have sexual expression and others, like the love for God, will have more of a spiritual expression. Jesus says that love is love for that is what we are.

The Source of love is the same, and it is unchanging and unchangeable. What that means is that this kind of love, which is a reflection of God's Love, is not affected by what the beloved does or does not do. It also means that no one is excluded from this love. When we love some people sometimes and exclude some entirely from our love, we know that it is coming from the special love and special hate expressed by the ego mind. This is not to make us feel guilty, when our love is variable. However, when we become aware of exceptions that we are making to how we love, it is time to ask for help in bringing our projections to the light of truth.

What we define as love, which is variable and inconsistent, originated with the separation from God's Love, when we chose our specialness and individuality instead of our Oneness. With that came changing love, which meant different forms of special love. This reflects the first law of chaos, which says that truth is different for everyone, meaning that " each is separate and has a different set of thoughts that set him off from others." (T.23.II.2.2)(ACIM OE T.23.III.20) " This principle evolves from the belief there is a hierarchy of illusions; some more valuable and therefore true." (T.23.II.2.3)(ACIM OE T.23.III.20) This is the basis for the attacks that we make and justify our reasons for not loving some, or loving sometimes and attacking at other times. We justify our attacks based on the belief that our values differ and we are not the same. Thus, our brother can readily become our enemy.
 
I can remember my first awareness of this from a Course teaching many years ago. My husband had left me and I was totally distraught. I went to my source of comfort, the Course, and read that " Love's meaning is obscure to anyone who thinks that love can change. He does not see that changing love must be impossible." (W.127.2.1-2) Then I read the section on the special love relationship, which affirms the same thing about the meaning of love. I had always thought of my relationship with him as special and it seemed odd to move my mind from my idea of love to God's love, which says that changing love is impossible. I was in love with a man whom I now felt hatred for because of all of my perceived pain that I believed he had caused me.
 
The consistent teaching that Jesus offers us in this Course is that love can't turn to hate. Was it possible, I asked myself, that I did not love him at all? No, I told myself at the time,  it was truly love and therefore I would prove it by continuing to love rather than judge him for whatever I perceived that he did. What that meant was that I had to turn to the Holy Spirit and ask for help to release my judgments about him and about the situation. I felt betrayed and wanted revenge, which felt justified in my mind. However, with reflection, I increasingly recognized that his actions were not about me and that I could keep choosing to ask for help in releasing my anger and attack thoughts through forgiveness. What that meant was that I had to take responsibility for these thoughts. They were not about him at all, but thoughts that were in my unhealed mind that did not know how to love. Increasingly I was able to admit that the hatred was in my mind and had nothing to do with him. He was merely the savior in my life that was showing me what was unhealed in my mind.

My healing depended on bringing awareness to these attack thoughts in my own mind. This is essential to do, if we are to know ourselves as the love that we are. Giving meaning to our thoughts keeps us from this love. It is our interpretations of any situation that create pain for us. It certainly required help from the Holy Spirit daily and I leaned heavily on the words of Jesus in the Course to bring me comfort. It was a powerful learning time and resulted in countless miracles and our loving reconnection, which endured to the death of his body in form, and gave me some of the "faintest glimmering" as he speaks about in this Lesson of what love means. For that, I will always be grateful. The miracle is always available to us in any situation. It is simply a change from judgments and attacks to forgiveness. When our perceptions are shifted, we experience the miracle. The miracle is always within the mind.

We are reminded in the introduction to the Course that, " The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance." (T.IN.1.6-7)(ACIM OE T.IN.2) This Lesson helps us with the idea of what is described as real love. Again, we are reminded that we will have advanced significantly "If you achieve the faintest glimmering of what love means today." (W.127.7.1)
 
Until all the blocks to love are removed and we see everyone with Christ's vision, we cannot know ourselves as love. Furthermore, Jesus tells us that " Love is not found in darkness and in death." (W.127.6.2) In fact, it is never outside of our own minds. It is not in the things of this world nor in bodies. When we look for it there, we are looking for light in darkness where it can't be found. Actually, the world and bodies were made to keep God's love out of our awareness. Again, the " faintest glimmering of what love means" (W.127.7.1) comes to our awareness with each block removed from our minds through forgiveness. When we hold judgments, we are actually defending ourselves against the love that is within. As we release the rules that we hold onto of what things should look like and expectations of what others need to do to earn our love, we make more space for God's love to shine through us. " Withdraw all value you have placed upon its [the world's] meager offerings and senseless gifts, and let the gift of God replace them all." (W.127.8.4) It seems that we have settled for the meager offerings of special love that turns to hate, when our needs are not met. Jesus describes all of these kinds of relationships as bargains we make with each other. Now they can all be replaced by God's love, when we open our minds to His gifts.
 
" Love cannot judge." (W.127.3.1) When we judge, we compare. We speak about being in love and then about falling out of love. Love can't change. By its very nature, it is constant. We can't love some and not others, if we are to know ourselves as love. We exclude some from our love, and we chastise ourselves that we will be more loving in our efforts to be more spiritual, but the ego does not know anything about real love that is in the right mind. Instead of trying to be loving, we need to bring to awareness our judgments, which stand in the way of who we are as love. When we don't experience this unchanging love, we don't know ourselves. " There can never be a difference in what you really are and what love is." (W.127.4.1) Instead of thinking that we need a soul mate in our lives to experience a holy relationship, if we truly want to heal our minds, our better choice would be to have a partner who offers us many opportunities for healing. Thus, a holy relationship can be very difficult and very challenging, yet, with commitment to healing, very fulfilling. What we see in any relationship is simply what is not healed in our own minds. With willingness, all that is unhealed can be brought to the light, so that the miracles that are in our minds can shine forth. Now all the world seems more bright as we see through loving eyes.
 
The whole world is made to hide love's meaning. The world and all its laws obscure the truth about ourselves. And getting this, "Today we take the largest single step this course requests in your advance towards its established goal." (W.127.6.5) We learn about withdrawing the value we place on the world and its laws. When we release our attachment to this world and its stuff and no longer "hold it dear," no longer go after its offerings for our happiness, no longer look for that one and only that will make us happy,  " and let the gift of God replace them all," (W.127.8.4) then we can escape from this prison. It requires that we look at everything we currently believe, every value we hold, all of our beliefs, our guilt, fears, and expectations of others. All of it must be questioned and brought to the light.
 
" There is n ot one principle the world upholds but violates the truth of what love is, and what you are as well." (W.127.5.3) Everything we have learned in this world about love is actually everything that hides the meaning of love. The reason, of course, is that the world has taught us all that love is limited, that it changes, that there are gaps in love, and that we have different kinds of love directed specifically at a person or circumstances. It is all about special relationships and special love. None of the laws, rules or viewpoints of the world will tell us what love is. What we are told here about loving as God loves is foreign to the thinking of the world. Until we love by looking " on all as one," (W.127.3.2) love will elude us, because instead of seeing it as one rather than fickle and changing, we cannot know it. To love is to love everyone with all of Itself. It is total, whole, complete and everyone and everything is seen through the eyes of love, with no exceptions. There is no difference in what you are and what love is. Love is the very nature of what we are. It is the way God loves, but having said that, special love is not something we should feel guilty about. Special love is where all of our relationships start in this world. The important thing is that they can be well used by the Holy Spirit for healing and thus become a greenhouse for growing into the holiness of our being.
 
It is our false beliefs and self-concepts that are keeping us from knowing our Self as Love. We need to release them, if we are to hear His Voice teaching us the true meaning of love. It can only be taught to a clear and open mind, and we need to recognize where our minds are not open and not clear. This means that we need to get very honest about our judgments, our beliefs and attachments, and release them by bringing attention to them. We need to stay vigilant of our judgments, expectations and attack thoughts. We need to bring our awareness to them, so that they can be released to the healing light of the Holy Spirit. We can no longer hide the dark corners of our mind, if we want to know our Christ Self. We can no longer be content with our stories and our lies about ourselves. Truth cannot heal what we are choosing to keep from His healing light. We need not wait. We need not live in the past. We are born again today!

What amazing progress we could make today, if we do the work! " Today we take the largest single step this course requests in your advance towards its established goal." (W.127.6.5) Let's be glad to give the time to God who asks for fifteen minutes from us, twice today, for no other reason than for our own release! Allow Him to abide with you today in loving gentleness.
 
Stay aware today on how you exclude certain people from your love, not just in obvious ways, but in subtle ways. Be willing to notice and ask for help in releasing these blocks to love. Anyone that comes to mind today, three times an hour, offer him the blessing, " I bless you, brother, with the Love of God, which I would share with you. For I would learn the joyous lesson that there is no love but God's and yours and mine and everyone's." (W.127.12.4-5) This is someone whom you are tempted to see as special, someone on whom you are dependent or even someone with whom you are experiencing difficulties. Anyone who comes to your mind is a suitable subject.
 
As our minds are healed, the blessing of this healing goes out to everyone. It cannot be otherwise, for our minds are One. This is experienced in the world, as we recognize our sameness.
   

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