L e s s o n  317

I follow in the way appointed me. 
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IAMBIC PENTAMETER 
format from URTEXT by Lee Flynn

   Christ's Second Coming gives the Son of God

   the gift to hear the Voice for God proclaim

   that what is false is false, and what is true

   has never changed. And this the judgment is

   in which perception ends. At first you see

   a world which has accepted this as true,

   projected from a now corrected mind.

   And with this holy sight, perception gives

   a silent blessing and then disappears,

   its goal accomplished and its mission done.

   The final judgment on the world contains

   no condemnation. For it sees the world

   as totally forgiven, without sin,

   and wholly purposeless. Without a cause,

   and now without a function in Christ's sight,

   it merely slips away to nothingness.

   There it was born, and there it ends as well.

   And all the figures in the dream in which

   the world began go with it. Bodies now

   are useless, and will therefore fade away,

   because the Son of God is limitless.

   You who believed that Gods last judgment would

   condemn the world to hell along with you,

   accept this holy truth: God's judgment is

   the gift of the Correction He bestowed

   on all your errors, freeing you from them,

   and all effects they ever seemed to have.

   To fear HIs saving grace is but to fear

   complete release from suffering, return

   to peace, security and happiness,

   and union with your own Identity.

   God's final judgment is as merciful

   as every step in His appointed plan

   to save His Son, and call Him to return

   to the eternal peace He shares with him.

   Be not afraid of Love. For It alone

   can heal all sorrow, wipe away all tears,

   and gently waken from his dreams of pain

   the Son whom God acknowledges as His.

   Be not afraid of this. Salvation asks

   you give it welcome. And the world awaits

   your glad acceptance, which will set it free.|

   This is God's final judgment: "You are still

   My holy Son, forever innocent,

   forever loving and forever loved,

   as limitless as Your Creator, and

   completely changeless and forever pure.

   Therefore awaken and return to Me.

   I am Your Father, and you are My Son. 

   ~ Original Handscript of ACIM

In this lesson Jesus reminds us that we have a special place to fill..."a role for me alone" (1.1) We may wonder when we look at our time here and our lives, what that special place is for us to fill? What am I appointed to do? What is the role that I am to fill? This lesson says that until we answer this question, "salvation waits". Until we make this choice, he says we are the "slave of time and human destiny". (1.3) So what is this choice? It seems that the choice is to awaken. In other words, when we make that decision to awaken, time is now being used by us for its intended purpose. What is that purpose? It is only for us to remember the truth of who we are. And to do that, we must  "willingly and gladly go the way our Father's plan appointed us to go". (1.4) That sounds to me like God has a plan for us. Yet if we are already safe at home with Him and dreaming of exile in this world, then there can be no plan except for us to recognize that "salvation is already here, already given all my brothers and already mine as well". (1.4)  That is the truth to which we have to wake up to. Accepting atonement for ourselves is simply the acceptance of this truth.

We have a choice as to whether we follow the ego's plan or the Holy Spirit's plan. As this lesson points out, it is about which voice we listen to. And that is all about our choice. So in this lesson, we are committing ourselves to choosing with the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to lead us. "Father, Your way is what I choose today". (2.1) We are joining our will with His because it is our way back to the home we never left. Sometimes that call to return is very strong in us and at other times we resist. There is a part of the mind that will do anything and everything to delay. It argues, debates, disagrees, judges, interprets and tries to control. It thinks it needs to figure out its own answers for its life and even for its awakening. Or we may feel that anything worth having is something that requires us to suffer...to pay a price for it. So we put off our awakening for some time in the future. We say "not yet" to the truth of who we are.

Surrendering is the hard part for it seems to be an insult to our independence. To recognize we don't know, and to become as dependent as little children seems very dangerous. We think that if we don't take charge of our lives then things won't get looked after. We still don't trust. But the part that has answered the call is willing to look at every thought that keeps us attached to this world of bodies, concepts and attack thoughts and release them and start to acknowledge that we don't know the meaning of anything. And the part of the mind that has answered the call is where the Holy Spirit resides.

Some time ago I had an experience of great sadness and longing when I attended a celebration of the liberation of my birth country of Latvia and participated in singing the national anthem and folk songs of my childhood. The experience stirred up so much emotion. I was surprised by all of the feelings that came up. It is a feeling of not being at home. We probably have all had similar experiences which are a reflection of a belief that we have wandered far from our Father's home and forgotten who we are. We are like the prodigal son who feels that he squandered his father's treasure and will not be welcomed back into his father's arms, yet yearns for the experience. Looking for somewhere in the world where we can feel at home again is just another substitute for Heaven. In my mind, it seems like the memory of my childhood home and my country of origin is what is pulling at my heart, yet, this lesson affirms again, that the memory that awaits us is of our Father who is waiting to welcome us back into His bosom. "And all my sorrows end in His embrace". As lesson 207 says, at the root of every sorrow is the feeling of separation we have from God.  He assures us in this lesson that we were mistaken when we thought we had wandered from the protection of His loving Arms. It is not possible for us to stray. We are not lost. When we awaken, we will realize that we just had a dream of exile while safe at Home.

We need not explore this dream at great length. Our job is not to try to figure it out or our role in it. It is basically quite simply just to release it. The only value that looking at the darkness has, is to take the next step and be willing to let it go. Our stories are basically all the same. The situations and characters are different but the ego conspiracies are identical. They involve abandonment, betrayal, shame, abuse, inadequacy, unworthiness, lack, loss, rebellion, revenge, sacrifice, self attack, failure, competition, comparison, jealousy etc. They all have their roots in our belief that we have separated from Oneness and thus feel guilty and expect to be punished for what we did. He offers us just one solution to our guilt and belief that we deserve attack that that is to accept the way appointed us which is to "willingly and gladly go the way my Father's plan appointed me to go".

Sometimes that plan seems to bring us great pain. I just had a call today from a friend whose baby died on delivery. Everything was going well. She was overdue and the doctors planned to induce the birth but waited a day. And it was in that day of waiting that the baby died. Why? The pain in her is immense. The ego voice tells her that she should not have waited. And then it tells her that at her age she may never have another pregnancy in the future. She is in deep pain wondering why this has happened. The voice of the ego crucifies us and keeps us in hell. It is the voice of guilt telling us we are paying for past sins and the future now seems painful too. So how do we understand this? How willing and how gladly are we prepared to accept the script of our lives and see that it is all a classroom for forgiveness and for awakening. How can we judge what anything in our lives is for? Did this baby make a choice not to come onto the planet at this time? We can't know all the reasons. Jesus tells us that "there is Someone with you Whose judgment is perfect". (M. 10.4.7)  We can't know all the facts but He does. He knows the past, present and yet to come. He knows all the effects of His judgment on everyone and everything involved in any way. "And He is wholly fair to everyone, for there is no distortion in His perception." (M. 10 4.) That is something we can never do. That is why we must come to acceptance that we know nothing of how things should be different than they are.     

Our awakening seems to be a process where there is something here for us to do while we believe that our experience here is real. We are called to do our forgiveness work in the special circumstances that show up for us that are actually perfect for our healing. The ego is restless, and wants things to be different than they are. It is forever making plans and trying to control every situation. Yet when we learn to step back and follow in the way appointed for us, we can rest in God and simply accept what is given us to do. In fact, there is not so much of the doing as much as undoing. Whatever the circumstance seems to be, we can use it for undoing the concepts, beliefs and thoughts that keep our true reality hidden from our awareness. My function is my happiness and my function is forgiveness of all of the interpretations and beliefs that I hold in my mind. My function here is to expose and undo the ego. That is the only purpose for time. And we can make that choice now. So much of our time is spent living in the past looking at all of the things we should have done, should have said, shouldn't have done, shouldn't have said. We justify our guilt when all we need to do is choose the miracle instead by letting go of the past and realizing that there is nothing to correct but our mistaken thoughts.

So today, we ask what is His way that He appoints for us? I suggest that you look at any fear that comes up, any anger you are holding onto, any unforgiving thought, any belief that you can control a situation, an event or another person, any concepts about your identity in this world and then sincerely ask for help in choosing His way instead of your own. Today, we ask to trust, to be guided to step back and let Him lead the way. "Your way is certain Father and the end secure. The memory of You awaits me there. And all my sorrows end in Your embrace."

Love and blessings, Sarah

Sarah's Home Page

Quotes in this article are from Foundation for Inner Peace edition; To locate the same quotes in the 'Original Edition', use this link:  http://www.jcim.net/acim_us/Acim.php  
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^{A Course in Miracles
 TEXT
 Chapter Thirty
The New Beginning}

IV. Beyond All Idols