We do feel anger and we experience fear. We think our anger and our fear are related to conditions outside of ourselves. Jesus shows us that, if we recognize that the cause is not outside of us but entirely emanating from our own minds, then we can take responsibility for these thoughts. The power is within us to bring these thoughts to the truth and thus experience the miracle. This is the healing power of forgiveness. What is required is that we surrender our ideas of who we are, what we currently believe is the cause of how we feel, and what we believe we need for our safety and well-being. All of our ideas about what is true are actually not that way at all.

We came to this world believing that we are an effect of what is happening to us. We came believing that forces outside of us are responsible for our condition. We developed defenses and strategies to protect ourselves from the arrows of this world. But Jesus demonstrates to us that the truth is that we are invulnerable. God's Love surrounds us in every moment. When we don't experience the protection of that Love, we do feel vulnerable and at the mercy of the world. What we do to protect ourselves is that we try to take control over our circumstances. We look for substitutes that will take the place of God's Love. We look to those substitutes to surround us and protect us. We think we know what we need to feel safe and protected. It is our identification with the body and the personality that has taken us off course. We have always been safe and protected in God's Love.

I was reading a piece in the "Holy Spirit's Interpretation of the New Testament" today that speaks beautifully of this. It is a rather long piece, but I will include it as I found it very helpful and hope you might see the relevance of it for yourself.

"When Jesus left his home town, he went from village to village teaching the good news. He let his apostles ask many questions, always answering them to their full. When the time came that he knew they were ready, he sent them out, two by two, to fulfill the purpose for which he had gathered them, the spreading of the Word. He knew that it was through their own participation as teachers that they themselves would learn and see, and so he was very grateful for this plan of healing.

Jesus gave the apostles instructions before sending them out. Mostly he wanted to emphasize the importance of trusting the Holy Spirit in all things.

'You do not know,' he told them. 'Only the Holy Spirit knows, so trust His guidance within you. Do not think for yourself about what to do or say. Ask Him and listen in faith for His response. He shall lead you truly. It is His plan you are sent to carry out.

Do not look to your own effort for food or drink or shelter. Think only of the work He has sent you to do. All else will be offered through His Grace. When you go into a town, sleep where a bed is offered you, and be grateful for everything you are given. It comes from Him, that you may focus on His work.

The Word of the kingdom of God is for everyone, but everyone may not be ready for it. If you go into a town and they do not want to listen to the Word, give them your greetings of peace and leave that place. Hold no grievances against them. The time will come that they will listen. Shake the dust from your sandals and go joyously to the next place, always remembering that it is the Holy Spirit's plan you follow. You do not know."

This lesson is about choosing God's Will in everything, recognizing that we don't know what anything is for. It is to recognize the power of His grace and the blessedness of the Guide that is available to us in our daily activity. Jesus reminds us, in the Manual for Teachers, that "God turns to you for help to save the world. Teacher of God, His thanks He offers you. And all the world stands silent in the grace You bring from Him." (M.29.8.2-3) It is all about remembering our purpose and living in a state of trust where all our needs will be met without our own effort.
 
When I am experiencing fear, I am relying on my own resources. I am confused. I don't know what to do. I try to rely on my own devices to figure things out, knowing that I can never know with certainty if I am doing the right thing. Yesterday, I was referred to an Insurance Agent whom I had never met. My mind was spinning with fear thoughts around what to do to ensure a sound financial future for my family. I felt a lot of anxiety about the whole situation and asked for help so that I could recognize that my only need was to connect with the Love within. Miraculously, the conversation turned to the agent asking me what I do. I briefly explained my work in writing and teaching, at which point he wanted to know more. Incredibly our whole conversation went to the teaching of ACIM and his interest in it. I don't know what I will do about insurance, as there is no clear guidance at this point, but it became clear that the purpose for this encounter was not what I had thought. I was guided to give him Gary Renard's "Disappearance of the Universe."

"Can I be afraid, when Your eternal promise goes with me? Surrounding me is perfect sinlessness. What can I fear, when You created me in holiness as perfect as Your Own?" (W.348.1.6-8) Fear thoughts are made by me. They are based on my concept of myself as separate and alone. When I am holding onto these thoughts, I am denying the perfect safety within. To know ourselves as the eternal Self that we are is our only need. What then is there to fear? Our reality is eternal.
 
We are never on our own. If we think we are, it is only our own thoughts that are frightening us. It is our mind creating false stories. The truth is that we are truly supported in every moment by His everlasting Love. It wraps us in Its warmth. Feel that benevolent support, that is there in every moment of our lives. Trust it. Embrace it. Know the truth of it, which you can know when you bring to the truth all the pockets of hidden guilt and fear in your mind. Then all else is taken care of without effort. Our only problem is that we don't completely believe this. Fortunately belief is not required. It is only by doing the forgiveness work through these lessons and applying the teaching to our lives that the truth is demonstrated to us. With each step we take, our trust in Him increases. He invites us to keep testing out the truth of these words. It is only through experience that we can learn that truth is true.

Today we set our intention on our goal once again, which is to experience His grace in every need that we perceive. We do so by remembering that there is only one purpose for anger, judgments and grievances, and that is to keep God's love at bay and feed the ego instead. The ego's heaven is this world it made. The ego would have us believe that that is all there is. Until we know that we have an option, that there is another choice to be made, we are imprisoned in the confines of the ego. To maintain this self that we think we are, we hold onto anger and fear, which denies the fact that we are perfectly safe. Be willing today to look at all of your choices that you make throughout the day, where God's Love is kept away, and decide to choose against the ego.

Be willing to bring your attack thoughts and judgments to the Holy Spirit. Our part is not to fix the ego, nor to try to let it go, nor make ourselves spiritual. Our part is only to take responsibility for our attacks and bring them to the truth with sincerity and willingness to see how faulty own thinking is. Be a happy learner not by judging yourself for your mistakes, but by seeing how perfectly they are orchestrated for your learning. This is a hard one for us, because the spiritual ego resists this kind of self-honesty and wants to believe it is more advanced than it is. The undoing process requires tremendous self-reflection and a high degree of honesty. As the layers of the ego are peeled back, we may feel that we are not only not making progress, but that we are regressing. The fact is that the ego is being unmasked and in the process its ugliness is being exposed, but remember that it is nothing. It is not to be loved or feared. It is simply to be undone. Undoing requires this kind of exposing, which we can welcome.

As we accept Atonement (healing) for ourselves, space is made for God's peace to be extended through us to every brother we encounter or even think about. The peace that is extended is returned to our minds the instant it is given. And so today we remember that "God's grace suffices us in everything that He would have us do. And only that we choose to be our will as well as His." (W.348.2.1-2) All God would have us do is offer forgiveness so that we can remember who we are. Today we embrace every opportunity to do so in the face of temptation to be afraid and to attack.
 
Behind every seemingly difficult situation is a gift. Problems are simply the interpretation we give to any situation. When we place faith in the miracle, we will see witnesses to validate that faith. Let us be willing to release the blocks to love today. Let us be willing to let forgiveness light up our minds and be blessed by the miracle. Desire and willingness for the truth are powerful allies.