A Year of Miracles: Daily Devotions and Reflections (The Marianne Williamson Series)

by Marianne Williamson

alchemist,

have

Today I command fear to go back to the nothingness from whence it came, as I embrace the love that alone casts it out of me. I choose love, I embrace love, and I cleave to love. Though I know I shall be tempted by fear, I also know I shall be saved by God and delivered to the peaceful shores of love given and received.

I get rid of my enemies by making them my friends. The only way out of enmity is through forgiveness. I refuse to allow my grievances to hide the light of God in me. I free myself of judgmental thoughts, for they cause my heart to suffer. I think of those I blame and send them love. I think of those I resent and wish them well. I think of those who have hurt me and I pray for their happiness. Thus shall spirit infuse my mind, and deliver me beyond the pain of my own condemnation. Thinking of every person who has caused me pain, or so I believe; of everyone who has betrayed me, or so I believe; or everyone who is wrong, or so I believe—I now release all condemnation. I leave to God all efforts to balance the rights and wrongs of anyone, and pray that all of us now be at peace. Amen.

DAY 242 May

DAY 254 I do not walk alone through life. Whatever happens in my life today, I know it is a part of my journey. If I’m happy, I will not take my happiness for granted. If I’m sad, I will remember that times will change. If there is conflict, I will pray for a miracle. If there is fear, I will pour forth my love. Every moment is part of a divine curriculum, and I do not wish to avoid its lessons. I open my heart today to the fullness of existence, praying to receive its blessings no matter what they are. I do not walk alone through life, for God is within me and around me. I am blessed and protected in all I do. Every moment carries a gift for me. May I receive it and pass it on.

I include everyone today in the circle of my love. My ego will always tell me that other people are the problem. It tempts me to blame, to judge, and to withhold forgiveness. Yet I realize that its main target is me. It would encase me in a shroud of fear. Today I refuse to blame anyone. No matter what judgment arises in my mind, I ask spirit to reveal to me another interpretation of events. For what is not love is a call for love, and today I choose to see that in everyone. Thus shall I forge the miracle-worker’s insight, and a miracle-worker’s power. Amen. My attack thoughts about anyone are attacks upon myself. My forgiveness of anyone is forgiveness of myself. Today I choose to see innocence beyond guilt, and calls for love behind all shrieks of fear. May I include everyone today in the circle of my love.

DAY 286 I surrender my critical nature. Everything we do is infused with the energy with which we do it. Even if I think I’m giving constructive criticism, if I say something in an effort to change someone, then they will feel repelled. What I might think is a sharing will come across as an attack. I pray today for the ability to communicate effectively, but with love. Behavioral change is not enough to transform our communication skills. I cannot cover an attack with sugary icing, a sweet tone of voice, or therapeutic jargon and expect a miracle. For that, I need an authentic switch from fear to love. I pray today for the ability to honor the spiritual perfection in everyone, that they might feel my love no matter what I say. Dear God, Please redeem my personality, That any sharp edges within me Shall turn tender. With every word I say, May I heal and not harm. And so it is. Amen.

On Surrendering Our Anger It doesn’t matter if someone tells you that you “deserve” to be angry—you deserve, of course, to feel whatever you want to feel! But the only way to experience miracles is to think about situations in a miracle-minded way. Holding on to anger hurts no one but yourself. As it says in A Course in Miracles, “Do you prefer to be right or to be happy?” The universe knows if you were hurt, and it is already on the case to make right whatever wrong occurred. Your anger, if it lingers, throws a wrench in the machine of the miraculous universe. Something miraculous happens when we say, “I am angry but I am willing not to be. Dear God, help me see this situation differently. Amen.”

On Surrendering Our Anger It doesn’t matter if someone tells you that you “deserve” to be angry—you deserve, of course, to feel whatever you want to feel! But the only way to experience miracles is to think about situations in a miracle-minded way. Holding on to anger hurts no one but yourself. As it says in A Course in Miracles, “Do you prefer to be right or to be happy?” The universe knows if you were hurt, and it is already on the case to make right whatever wrong occurred. Your anger, if it lingers, throws a wrench in the machine of the miraculous universe. Something miraculous happens when we say, “I am angry but I am willing not to be. Dear God, help me see this situation differently. Amen.”