L e s s o n  332

Fear binds the world.
Forgiveness sets it free. 
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IAMBIC PENTAMETER 
format from URTEXT by Lee Flynn 

   The ego makes illusions. Truth undoes
   its evil dreams by shining them away.

   Truth never makes attack. It merely is.

   And by its Presence is the mind recalled

   from fantasies, awaking to the Real.

   Forgiveness bids this Presence enter in,

   and take its rightful place within the mind.

   Without forgiveness is the mind in chains,

   believing in its own futility.

   Yet with forgiveness does the light shine through

   the dream of darkness, offering it hope,

   and giving it the means to realize

   the freedom that is its inheritance.

   "We would not bind the world again today.

    Fear holds it prisoner. And yet Your Love

    has given us the means to set it free.

    Father, we would release it now. For as

    we offer freedom, it is given us.

    And we would not remain as prisoners,

    while You hold out our freedom unto us."

         ~ Original Handscript of ACIM 
 

This lesson follows on the heels of the discussion on conflict yesterday, perhaps so that we would not conclude that the truth is in conflict with illusions. "Truth undoes its evil dreams by shining them away. Truth never makes attack. It merely is." (1.2-4) So I get from this that Truth merely awaits our invitation and imposes nothing on us. It enters in when we make a space for it through forgiveness. Until we make space for Truth it merely waits patiently for our readiness. Nothing is forced on us. It is our choice. That is so very loving.

James Twyman in his writings said that we should not get comfortable in the world."What other path is there to walk but this path, the one where you have stood without moving while an entire Universe passes around you? Grow uncomfortable in your skin, for it is not your home. See what it is like to stretch free from these chains, then embrace the whole world. It is there for you now, if only you would choose to receive. Grow uncomfortable in this world, even this universe, that every world and every universe may be yours. Do not become comfortable with anything other than the Truth, that which does not move and does not change. You are the heart of that Truth, beating constantly and without end."

 What we have actually become comfortable with is fear. We generally don't think that fear makes us a victim, yet while we are comfortable in the world, we are actually being held willing prisoners to fear. Our bodies are an embodiment of fear. Just think about it. Everything we do in the world is a reflection of fear. We constantly protect the body and the psyche against all kinds of potential attack, whether it be the weather, viruses, accidents, verbal assaults, physical assaults, and we do this by locking the house; putting on a seat belt; buying life insurance; saving money for the 'future'; protecting our assets; exercising; eating right; special relationships; competition; and any number of defenses. There is nothing wrong with any of these.   It is not that we should feel guilty about any of our defenses or to stop doing any of these things. Rather it is to watch our thoughts about what we are doing,  in order to recognize how much of an investment we have in our fear-driven strategies that remind us over and over, how vulnerable we are when we think our reality is the body. The course is not about changing behavior but about changing our minds. So we need to look at these fear thoughts behind the behavior and bring them to our awareness. As the mind is healed, some of our behaviors will naturally fall away.

 As James Twyman, wrote, our goal is not to get comfortable in our own skin. Sometimes, when we are in this place of discomfort and a sense of displacement in the world, we get very distressed. "What is wrong with me?" we ask. "Why does everyone else seem to be so content while I am feeling like I don't fit in, don't belong here?" Yet, might you consider that this is actually a more powerful place to be than 'happily' lost in the illusion, "in the evil dreams". (1.2)  Further, there is no one on this planet who does not share in this sense of discomfort and displacement, no matter what it may look like. That sense of displacement and discomfort only changes when the awakened state is realized. 

Truth is available to any one of us at any moment that we open to it-meaning when  the fear that binds us to the world is released through forgiveness. It is through forgiveness that Truth will shine away these fantasies that keep us bound and in chains. These chains may appear to us to have some pleasant aspects to them when they serve our specialness as we see it. We are willing prisoners to our special relationships of bargaining and reciprocity. We call this love. Yet, they are still fear-based. They lose their luster quickly. And even while we hold onto them, they are all tinged with fear of loss. But regardless, the truth is that all the fear thoughts that we hold are illusory. They are thoughts in our own mind that we have accepted as true. When truth dawns on our mind, we awaken to what is real. And thus our mind is "recalled from fantasies, awaking to the real".  (1.5)

We will never be coerced by Truth. It will come only to the extent that the fear is released. We therefore, are always in control of how quickly we agree to turn over our illusions to be shined away. But it is the only hope being offered to "realize the freedom"  (1.8) that is our inheritance. How much do you want freedom from fear? The offer is always there. Freedom is continually being held out for us to receive. How do we free ourselves? We will free ourselves only as we bring awareness to our fear thoughts. Forgiveness is about looking at our fear thoughts, all of our defenses, and bringing them to the light of truth. With forgiveness, the chains that seem to bind us are loosened. We take our brothers with us in this process as we are one. Forgiveness is what allows truth to enter in and to free us from the seemingly hopeless situation. Why does it feel hopeless? Because with the ego thought system of sin, fear and guilt there is no way out. It is a never-ending cycle. It is a dream of darkness.  Only through forgiveness does the realization come, that freedom is our inheritance.

We don't generally think that fear is unforgiveness. Fear comes from our belief that we have destroyed reality and now we fear God's punishment which the ego has told us we need to escape from into the body and the world.  This is the God that the ego has made. Forgiveness undoes the guilt and fear of this avenge full God when we are willing to take responsibility for that we made the guilt and fear and when we are willing to look at it with honesty and courage so we can be set free by the Holy Spirit. 

The beautiful thing is that we do not have to fight against our fear. In fact to do so would be counterproductive. We do not have to manifest anything nor do we have to do all kinds of affirmations. All we need to do is allow the light of Truth to shine away our fears. All we need to do is bring every thought of guilt and fear to awareness and be willing to question and release it. It is not about doing anything different in the world. It is only about going from mindlessness to mindfulness by recognizing that we can make a choice to bring our projections back into the mind which is the only place that we can choose again to have the Holy Spirit reinterpret our misperceptions. 

A recent book that I read that speaks so beautifully about letting go of fear is called "When Fear Falls Away" By Jan Frazier. It is really worthwhile reading. But as she says in that book, the answer is within each of us and all anyone can do is to point the way as Jesus does in the Course providing us tools to return to who we are.

Notice how when you are in a state of fear, how powerless you feel. Notice how crippling guilt is in our lives. We feel small and frail in its presence. Forgiveness offers us the opportunity to see how God's Power can really work in our lives. And as we recognize this Power more and more, we grow in confidence in the truth of who we are as we were created by God-not  these vulnerable, lost, weak selves but truly powerful beings. Freedom is being held out to us in this moment. Are we willing to be released now? Look at the situations you are facing where fear comes up for you. Allow yourself to forgive the people involved in this situation and affirm that "as I offer freedom, it is given to me" (1.5) because to give and to receive are one in truth.

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}

VI. Recognizing the Spirit