L e s s o n  321

Father, my freedom is in You alone. 
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IAMBIC PENTAMETER 
format from URTEXT by Lee Flynn

   "I did not understand what made me free,

    nor what my freedom is, nor where to look

    to find it. Father, I have searched in vain

    until I heard Your Voice directing me.

    Now I would guide myself no more. For I

    have neither made nor understood the way

    to find my freedom. But I trust in You.

    You Who endowed me with my freedom as

    Your holy Son will not be lost to me.

    Your Voice directs me. And the way to You

    is opening and clear to me at last.

    Father, my freedom is in You alone.

    Father, it is my will that I return."

   Today we answer for the world, which will

   be freed along with us. How glad are we

   to find our freedom through the certain way

   our Father has established. And how sure

   is all the world's salvation, when we learn

   our freedom can be found in God alone.

         ~ Original Handscript of ACIM 

   Creation is the sum of all God's Thoughts,

   in number infinite, and everywhere

   without all limit. Only Love creates,

   and only like Itself. There was no time

   when all that It created was not there.

   Nor will there be a time when anything

   that It created suffers any change.

   Forever and forever are God's Thoughts

   exactly as They were and as They are,

   unchanged through time and after time is done.

   God's Thoughts are given all the power that

   Their own Creator has. For He would add

   to Love by Its extension. Thus His Son

   shares in creation, and must therefore share

   in power to create. What God has willed

   to be forever one will still be one

   when time is over; and will not be changed

   throughout the course of time, remaining as

   it was before the thought of time began.

   Creation is the opposite of all

   illusions, for Creation is the truth.

   Creation is the holy Son of God,

   for in Creation is His Will complete

   in every aspect, making every part

   container of the whole. Its oneness is

   forever guaranteed inviolate;

   forever held within His holy Will

   beyond all possibility of harm,

   of separation, imperfection and

   of any spot upon its sinlessness.

   We are creation; we the Sons of God.

   We seem to be discrete and unaware

   of our eternal unity with Him.

   Yet back of all our doubts, past all our fears,

   there still is certainty. For Love remains

   with all Its Thoughts, Its sureness being Theirs.

   God's memory is in our holy minds,

   which know their oneness, and their unity

   with their Creator. Let our function be

   only to let this memory return,

   only to let God's Will be done on earth,

   only to be restored to sanity,

   and to be but as God created us.

   Our Father calls to us. We hear His Voice,

   and we forgive creation in the Name

   of its Creator, Holiness Itself,

   Whose holiness His own creation shares;

   Whose holiness is still a part of us.

   ~ Original Handscript of ACIM  January 12, 1971

Today's lesson is the first in the ten lessons related to "What is Creation?" So you are invited to read that section to provide a fuller context for the next lessons. It starts out with a very important statement that needs to be understood as to its intent. It says "Creation is the sum of all God's Thoughts in number infinite and everywhere without all limit".  So Jesus is making it clear that God created One Son which tells us that creation is perfect Oneness and that truth is perfectly one. So why does he speak of infinite numbers and then say that "we are creation; we the Sons of God. We seem to be discrete and unaware of our eternal unity with Him?" (4.1-2) There are course teachers who say that God's Thoughts are not one but in number infinite. I have come to think that what is being said here by Jesus is still that creation is perfect oneness but is reflected in this discussion as many as that is how we see ourselves as "discrete and unaware of our eternal unity with Him." As he says in Chapter 2, "It should especially be noted that God has only one Son". (T.2.VII.6.1)Later he says that "every part is container of the Whole" (3.2) The separation never happened even though that is our experience. Jesus speaks of the seeming separation as "So very long ago, for such a tiny interval of time, that not one note in Heaven's song was missed. (T.26.V.5.4). 

So, as I see it,  Jesus speaks of God's Thoughts as infinite as the concept of Oneness is meaningless to us in this seeming state of separation. But there are others who give this a different interpretation. Jesus says in Chapter 25 "All this takes note of time and place as if they were discrete, for while you think that part of you is separate, the concept of a oneness joined as one is meaningless". (T.25.I.7.1)

But what is important is that "God's Thoughts are given all the power that their own Creator has" (2.1) and as such we all share in that power and in His attributes of creation and extension. In the world of time we believe we are separate but in reality we are one Self. But the fact is that the world of time is illusion and not the truth. While we think we have changed ourselves into these separate identities, "What God has willed to be forever one will still be one when time is over; and will not be changed through the course of time, remaining as it was before the thought of time began." (2.4) So no matter what we think of ourselves, "our oneness is forever guaranteed inviolate; forever held within His holy Will, beyond all possibility of harm, or separation, imperfection and of any spot of sinlessness." (3.3) This memory of who we are as Christ is firmly implanted in our minds. So the truth is in our minds now and we will remember who we are as this one perfect Self when we are ready. Our readiness depends on the level of fear in us.  The memory that is behind all of our doubt thoughts is always there, so that when the doubt thoughts-the blocks to love-are cleared away through forgiveness, then we no longer will be "unaware of our eternal unity with Him" (4.2) "Yet back of all our doubts, past all our fears, there still is certainty". (4.3) 

Now our part is to "let our function be only to let this memory return, only to let God's Will be done on earth, only to be restored to sanity, and to be but as God created us." (4.6) This is what time is for. It is to join in purpose with our brothers recognizing we are not different. We share the same purpose to know who we are. And we can only know the truth when we give up our attacks on our brothers. When we attack we see them as unholy and different from us. We put our guilt on them so that we can feel innocent. When we share in purpose we recognize that our responsibility is to look at the guilt in our own mind and bring it to healing so we can know that we are all the same. This recognition of our sameness is a reflection of the oneness of Heaven. When we know we are innocent, we extend that to all of our brothers.

Now we look at the lesson for today. "Father my freedom is in You alone."  What is freedom? How often have we had the feeling that all I want is to be free. But free of what? Free of responsibilities, demands, requirements? Free to do what I want? Free to indulge my wants and my desires? When we listen to the ego then we think that is where our freedom is. The ego  tells us that freedom is in our separation from the Will of God. It sees that joining with our true Self is the end of our freedom. Yet none of these so called freedoms that we think we want will give us true freedom because the only freedom there is, is the freedom that comes from knowing who we are. It comes from certainty where there is no confusion about what we want. That means that we know who we are as created by God. We are freed of the ego self which limits us. Any limitations we have on ourselves keep us in chains. God created us as unlimited.

The separated self is the rebel which resists healing. We demand our space. We insist on our independence. We compete against everyone including God. We think this is freedom yet we are trapped in reaction. We focus on independence and control because we believe it is the way to protect ourselves from pain and sacrifice. We fight to do it our way, as Frank Sinatra sang so eloquently.

The lesson says that we have "searched in vain" which is certainly my experience for many, many years. I was always driven by the question of "who am I?" I looked for answers in books, workshops and relationships. I was always looking for happiness but always felt that it was a very elusive thing. Underneath it all was fear and anxiety. And finally "I heard Your Voice directing me". (1.2) It was not as if I actually heard a voice, but I knew I had found the Answer when the Course came into my life. And that was no accident. It is never an accident. We meet who we need to meet and we get what we need when we are open and ready to receive the Answer. All of you getting these emails have answered the call at some level of willingness. That willingness allows us all to see each practice as contributing to our freedom. It is not something we HAVE to do. If we see the practices as contributing to opening up to more love and thus more freedom then we will have much more willingness to do them. If we truly want happiness, and true freedom, Jesus says there is only one way. And that is through  forgiveness. We know how simple salvation's formula is, yet all of us experience how difficult the process can be. But it need not be so. The key is willingness.

Do you notice how much more motivated you are to do this work when you are at the end of your rope? I know for me, that I turn to God more often when I am under siege than when everything is going "swimmingly" in the world according to what I think I need. That is why we can be grateful for 'opportunities' that invite us to really dive into this work. Oh yes, we resist these 'opportunities' we get angry and distressed about things going 'wrong' in our lives as we perceive  them. But we don't know.  We think we want things to be different. Yet everything is perfect for our awakening. All that is required is that we look from above the battleground and become the witness of what is happening around us. In other words we recognize that we are the dreamer and not the dream. When we truly realize that, even the worst things, as we define them, that happen to us, can become the doorway into transcendence. Each moment is simply what it is. Once we argue with it, we suffer. Our arguments are the ego's demands that it not be what it is. Acceptance is about releasing these demands. No, it may not be pleasant on the physical level or for our psyches where there may be pain as we resist the experience, but  does   suffering only comes with our resistance.

So, much of our lives we have been guiding ourselves. "Now I would guide myself no more."(1.3)    We have tried to be the managers and controllers of our lives, judging events as good, bad, like, don't like, until we come to the realization that no matter how much we try, our goal for our happiness simply cannot be met in the world. The first step then is to recognize that no matter how hard we try to control outcomes, and no matter how hard we try to find happiness in the world we will always fail. Yes, there will always be moments of pleasure, but they will not last. With this recognition comes more willingness to surrender and thus more willingness to admit that we have been wrong and now to find a better way. The "gift" of ego weariness, as a friend said to me today, can truly move us forward.  Jesus is now asking us to trust him on behalf of our own freedom and  happiness. Because we have no way to "understand the way to find my freedom". (1.4)  Trust is the first and most important characteristic of the Teacher of God.

We have an authority problem. We don't want anyone to direct us. Yet only under His direction, only when we surrender to His Will, will we know true freedom.   "The way to Him is opening and clear to me at last". (1.7)  At this point in the lessons, we may be starting to see the opening. We start to see the fog lifting. So "Father, it is my will that I return." (1.9)   It is something that we have chosen. It is when we recognize that our way has in fact, imprisoned our true will which is that of God.

Lesson 131 reminds us that " Heaven remains your one alternative to this strange world you made and all its ways; its shifting patterns and uncertain goals, its painful pleasures and its tragic joys". So all of our pleasures that we pursue in the world for our happiness, actually bring pain and all that we describe as joys, actually result in tragedy. The reason that pain and pleasure are the same is that they share the same purpose. And what is that purpose? It is to make the body identity real. So both pain and pleasure compel our attention and both distract us from hearing the Holy Spirit's guidance. Are we ready to accept that there is no freedom or happiness apart from Him? When we pursue pleasure we are making the body the center of our focus which keeps us distracted from what would truly bring us peace and freedom.

So now we come to this. We think our freedom is doing what we want. We think that it is to follow our own will. We think that to do as God's Voice directs is to be in slavery. It feels like sacrifice and certainly not what we associate with freedom. But following our true will brings us happiness while we have come to see through our own experiences, that following our willfulness brings us pain. The ego keeps telling us that if we follow our own path, ultimately we will find happiness. But we all know through our own experience that no matter how many roads we take in this world looking for happiness, the end is always the same. We come out of it somehow feeling only loss and disappointment.

So we increasingly see that our will does not bring us what we want. Yes we have the freedom to choose it, but why would we want to? It is, after all, an alien will. It does not have our interests at heart. It tells us to be free, do what we want, go where we will, not having anyone tell us what to do, but for what purpose? Whereas, our experience with the discipline of  the course often feels restrictive, the promise of the course is that at the end of it all is only happiness, peace and joy. So yes, the freedom of the ego will is restricted when we follow the Voice of the Holy Spirit but the outcome is true freedom because the gift is our own happiness found in no other way. He is asking that we make this choice for our happiness recognizing that it is truly what we want. it is our true will, not the tyrant of the ego voice.

I recently felt some sacrifice when we have planned to be with friends at a concert but a call came from someone asking for help. It meant giving up on the concert and going where I seemed to be directed. Clearly I was to give up my idea of "fun" and offer support and be of service instead. In retrospect, I see the fulfillment and joy that came as a result of responding to this call with openness and receptivity, having released any initial resistance.  And it did feel like I was being used to fulfill my purpose and thus felt very liberating and joyful. That is what true freedom really is and a very deep level of satisfaction that can be found in nothing that I pursue with my ego program.  

You may still find, as I do, that you are pulled between your interests as you define them, and the truth. You may still find that you are reluctant to follow His guidance or, for that matter, even to ask for guidance. Our fear is still that we think God's way will somehow limit our personal interests. Our fear is still of Love because our shout is always "I want it THUS!" But when we acknowledge that our way is not working, it is truly not getting us the freedom and the happiness, then we open to the Holy Spirit.

So we pray the prayer today with the intent of recognizing that we don't understand what freedom is or even where to look to find it. We acknowledge that we have spent our lives searching in vain until we have responded to the call that is in our minds and the memory of who we are that has never left us. "Today we answer for the world which will be freed along with us"  (2.1) because the world is nothing more than the projection of our own thoughts.

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}

VIII. The New Interpretation