Hello Miracle Family,

What if the thoughts you keep believing about yourself are not the truth — they are just the ego trying to keep its version of you alive?

That is what we are looking at in “What Is Love? Gratitude, Appreciation, and Inner Peace | A Course in Miracles W-123 | Earl Purdy.” Lesson 123, “I thank my Father for His gifts to me,” is not just asking us to be grateful in some vague spiritual way.

It is telling us what to be grateful for. Be grateful that Love has not abandoned you. Be grateful that you have not been left alone with your fear. Be grateful that you are not limited to the self you made up.

The ego is the self you made up. It is your concept of yourself. It is your opinion of yourself when that opinion makes you feel guilty, angry, ashamed, afraid, deprived, or not good enough. Any voice in your mind that tells you something about yourself that does not bring peace is not the truth of you. That is the ego talking.

That is why gratitude is so powerful. Gratitude shifts your mind away from the ego’s story and back toward what Love is saying. When you give thanks that Love has not abandoned you, you are no longer agreeing with the thought that says you are alone. When you give thanks that your value has not changed, you are no longer agreeing with the thought that says your worth depends on your past, your body, your money, your relationship, or somebody else’s approval.

So gratitude is not just positive thinking. Gratitude is correction. Gratitude is how you remember that you are more valuable than you think you are. More loved than you think you are. More supported than you think you are. It lifts your heart above despair by giving your mind something true to focus on.

Practice: Be Grateful You Are Not the Self You Made Up

Take a few quiet minutes this week and write down one thought about yourself that does not make you feel peaceful.

It might be:

• I am alone.

• I am not enough.

• I have to figure this out by myself.

• I am hard to love.

• I do not deserve to be happy.

Now ask yourself:

• How do I feel when I believe this thought?

• What does this thought make me try to prove, defend, or control?

• Is this thought coming from Love, or from the self I made up?

Then give your mind another focus. Say slowly:

• I am grateful that Love has not abandoned me.

• I am grateful that I have not been left alone.

• I am grateful that my value is greater than my self-judgment.

• I am grateful that I am not the self I made up.

• I am grateful that there is another way to see this.

Do not worry about whether you believe it perfectly. The Course does not ask you to be perfect at the practice. It asks you to be willing. Let the words work on your mind. Let gratitude interrupt the old story. Let appreciation bring you back to what is still true.

This week, do not use gratitude merely to feel better. Use it to remember better. Use it to remember that you are not the ego’s opinion of you. You are not the voice of fear. You are not the part of you that thinks it has to do everything alone. You are still held in Love, still valuable, still guided, and still more than the ego has ever told you you are.

Love,
Earl

P.S. If you need anything, I’m here. Just reach out: earlpurdy@earlpurdy.com