L e s s o n  327

I need but call and You will answer me. 
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IAMBIC PENTAMETER 
format from URTEXT by Lee Flynn

   I am not asked to take salvation on

   the basis of an unsupported faith.

   For God has promised He will hear my call,

   and answer me Himself. Let me but learn

   from my experience that this is true,

   and faith in Him must surely come to me.

   This is the faith that will endure, and take

   me farther and still farther on the road

   that leads to Him. For thus I will be sure

   that He has not abandoned me, and loves

   me still, awaiting but my call to give

   me all the help I need to come to Him.

   "Father, I thank You that Your promises

    will never fail in my experience,

    if I but test them out. Let me attempt

    therefore to try them, and to judge them not.

    Your Word is one with You. You give the means

    whereby conviction comes, and surety

    of Your abiding Love is gained at last."

         ~ 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

Lesson 72 says that "we have attacked God's plan for salvation without waiting to hear what it is" Well, we might ask, how did we do that? And the answer, in lesson 72,   says that we do that by shouting "our grievances so loudly that we have not listened to His Voice. We have used our grievances to close our eyes and stop our ears." Yes, that is true, but we have assurances in this lesson that despite our resistance we have also answered His call. And it is encouraging that we do not need to follow in blind faith but to test out His promises that "He will hear my call and answer me Himself". (1.2)

This lesson says that we are "not asked to take salvation on the basis of an unsupported faith." (1.1)  That idea has really served me well on this journey. We will know that He has answered as a result of our own experience. And with each experience, our faith will grow. Isn't that such a reassuring statement? And I find it is so very true. This path is not about blind faith where we are simply asked to give our loyalty and our allegiance blindly to a demanding God who will one day reward us for our faith. NO! He is inviting us to test Him out. And we certainly do-- don't we? We look at our lives as a result of our journey with the Course and we see that our peace has increased; we've had relationships that have shifted through forgiveness; we have met challenges with more grace; we have had examples of guidance where we have stepped back and let Him lead with happy results; and our minds have shifted into more of a sense of ease and openness and trust. Challenges don't go away but I find I am more up for them, feeling stronger and more confident with actual evidence that I am supported.

We have experienced miracles but we don't always recognize them or we may even deny the evidence. The ego will deny our experience, question it, dismiss it, judge it as just a coincidence or a fluke. So part of the process, in my opinion, is to simply take notice. Stay aware of the events around you and express gratitude for them all. The lesson says not to judge what we receive as answers when we ask. In other words we need to trust that the answer that we get is exactly what we need. It may not always be apparent that this is so, especially when it comes in a form other than what we expected or it comes in a delayed way where patience is called for that the answer will be given when we are ready to receive it. The point is that we are asked to look for the evidence of His Love and His Word (Promise) that we can trust Him to answer. He wants us to come to trust Him so that we will not delay our return. He is waiting with open arms and knows that when we accept His love for us, it will take us "farther and still farther on the road that leads to Him" (1.4)  because we will not fear our return when we know His Love awaits us.

"Let me but learn from my experience that this is true, and faith in Him must surely come to me".(1.3) My faith in this path home has grown stronger only because of my experiences. I am also reassured to see my brothers on the path and observe the beautiful changes that are reflected in their journey. Their gifts and their progress are mine as well because we are one. Sharing our experiences is how we encourage each other in testing out the truth of God's promises. It is not about trying to believe.

When I started with the Course, my obstacle to embracing it was the Christian language. I was motivated to give it a try because of the way it came into my life through a friend I had high respect for, Dr. Willis Harmon, then the CEO of the Stanford Research Institute for Noetic Sciences. It was my trust in his recommendation that kept me on this learning path in my early days of study.  But I had no belief and faith in God at that time. However, by applying the teaching to my life I started to see amazing changes. And I started to trust more and more that something was working in my mind that was not coming from my little self. And my faith grew.

Interesting enough, Jesus says in par. 4 of "What is Creation?" that behind all of our doubts, past all our fears, there is a certainty? Why? Because "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". (11.What is Creation?4.4-5) So while our seeming physical experience in the body seems so real, and our doubts and fears seem to us to be what life is about, behind all of this and deep in our minds, the certainty exists for all of us. We recognize more and more how lost and split off we have felt and how much we have been lacking in this awareness. So it is about making contact with that truth through forgiving our self-attacking thoughts and testing out God's promises by applying these lessons. And with that Jesus assures us that conviction comes. (2.4)

 "Father I thank You that Your promises will never fail in my experience, if I but test them out. Let me attempt therefore to try them, and to judge them not. Your Word is one with You. You give the means whereby conviction comes, and surety of Your abiding Love is gained at last."  (W-pII.327.2).Amen.

So we are encouraged to keep testing out His promises so we can know we have not been abandoned and are truly loved. He is there to give us the help we need so we are encouraged to ask. But remember, that when we ask for things of the ego, we are asking for nothing. Ask for what is in line with God's Will for us, for our happiness, for release from guilt, to see a situation differently, for guidance in a difficult situation. It is all about the prayer of the heart to open to our divine, holy minds more fully. It is about asking with desire and waiting with confidence for the Answer. It may not come in the form we expect nor in the time line we set, but it will come. We just need to stay aware of the miracle showing up and stay open and grateful for the Love that surrounds us in every moment and continue our forgiveness practice in order that our blocks to the love that we are can be released.

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 One
The Simplicity of Salvation}

III. The Self-Accused