Daily Lesson

  

L e s s o n  359

God's answer is some form of peace. All pain
Is healed; all misery replaced with joy.
All prison doors are opened. And all sin
Is understood as merely a mistake.     

<AUDIO> <VIDEO>   

Hear Today's Lesson~Voice & Music by Martin Weber-Caspers[maz] 

IAMBIC PENTAMETER 
Format from URTEXT by Lee Flynn 

   "Father, today we will forgive Your world,
    and let creation be Your own. We have

    misunderstood all things. But we have not

    made sinners of the holy Sons of God.

    Whom You created sinless so abides

    forever and forever. Such are we.

    And we rejoice to learn that we have made

    mistakes which have no real effects on us.

    Sin is impossible, and on this fact

    forgiveness rests upon a certain base

    more solid than the shadow world we see.

    Help us forgive, for we would be redeemed.

    Help us forgive, for we would be at peace."

     ~ Original Handscript of ACIM   February 18, 1971       

 What Am I? 

 <AUDIO> <VIDEO>      

Voice & Music by Martin Weber-Caspers [maz] 

IAMBIC PENTAMETER
Format from URTEXT by Lee Flynn       

   "I am God's Son, complete and healed and whole,

    shining in the reflection of His Love.

    In me is His creation sanctified

    and guaranteed eternal life. In me

    is love perfected, fear impossible,

    and joy established without opposite.

    I am the holy home of God Himself.

    I am the Heaven where His Love abides.

    I am His holy Sinlessness Itself,

    for in my purity abides His own."

   Our use for words is almost over now.

   Yet in the final days of this one year

   we gave to God together, you and I,

   we found a single purpose that we shared.

   And thus you joined with me. So what I am

   are you as well. The truth of what we are

   is not for words to speak of nor describe.

   Yet we can realize our function here,

   and words can speak of this, and teach it, too,

   if we exemplify the words in us.

   We are the bringers of salvation. We

   accept our part as Saviours of the world,

   which through our joint forgiveness is redeemed.

   And this, our gift, is therefore given us.

   We look on everyone as brother, and

   perceive all things as kindly and as good.

   We do not seek a function that is past

   the gates of Heaven. Knowledge will return

   when we have done our part. We are concerned

   only with giving welcome to the truth.

   Ours are the eyes through which Christ's vision sees

   a world redeemed from every thought of sin.

   Ours are the ears which hear the Voice of God

   proclaim the world as sinless. Ours the minds

   which join together as we bless the world.

   And from the oneness that we have attained

   we call to all our brothers, asking them

   to share our peace and consummate our joy.

   We are the holy messengers of God,

   who speak for Him. And carrying His Word

   to everyone whom He has sent to us,

   we learn that It is written on our hearts.

   And thus our minds are changed about the aim

   for which we came and which we seek to serve.

   We bring glad tidings to the Son of God,

   who thought he suffered. Now is he redeemed.

   And as he sees the gate of Heaven stand

   open before him, he will enter in

   and disappear into the Heart of God.

   ~ Original Handscript of ACIM  February 10, 1971 

ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections 

Lesson  359    
 God's answer is some form of peace. All pain
Is healed; all misery replaced with joy.
All prison doors are opened. And all sin
Is understood as merely a mistake.

Sarah's Commentary:         

We know we have an answer from God when we have peace, when pain is healed and when we experience joy in the place of any kind of sorrow, grief, worry, distress. We know we have God's answer when our will is set free. And we have that answer now as it is in our minds where it has always been. If we don't receive it, it is because we are blocking it. When the blocks to love are removed our will is set free and then it is one with God's Will which is our own.  

Then no conflict is possible. "All prison doors are opened". The chains that have kept us bound are now released. The realization dawns on our minds that nothing we have ever done or ever could do can change our reality. We realize that "all sin is merely a mistake." When we realize this, we have the peace that is already there in us. And in this process, as reflected in the law of love, we extend this realization to our brothers. By extending the miracle to them, forgiving them, their prison doors are opened. We see that their sins are merely mistakes. What this means is that instead of seeing our brother as intentionally trying to hurt us, we see instead someone making a mistake and calling for our love and understanding. They know  not what they do. They have simply forgotten who they are. Their call is our call. And this makes a difference as to how we respond. Though we may see that they are intentionally causing harm it is also because they too have misunderstood who they are. And when we can overlook their mistakes and remember who they are, we know that for ourselves as well. It is the permission we now allow ourselves to take ourselves off of the cross. While no real harm is done and nothing can change our pristine nature, in our seeming reality we certainly can inflict harm.  

 The lesson reminds us that we remain as we were created. We cannot be anything but sinless because we were created in God's image and like Him we share in His Holiness. We are God's Son. And all of this dawns on our mind as we do the forgiveness work. This releases the world from all we thought it was and we experience the solid foundation of His Love. This foundation rests on reality rather than illusion.   "Sin is impossible, and on this fact forgiveness rests upon a certain base more solid than the shadow world we see".  (1.7)  

To us sin seems so very solid and intractable. And the world feels solid to us. Forgiveness seems less certain and less solid. We are not sure that it will have the power that we give to attack. It seems like forgiveness is like the shadow against a solid world. But we have it backward.   This is so different from how we see now but Jesus assures us that we can trust in the power of forgiveness.  

So today we acknowledge that we have indeed made mistakes; we have hurt people intentionally; we have tried to win at our brother's expense, but we have not changed who we are as created by God.  Jesus says that we should rejoice that this is so. He is not saying deny your mistakes. No. It is not that we should see all of our mistakes as good, only to see that they are not sins. It is not about doing whatever we want and dismissing it all as just a mistake. We need to see our true motives but recognize that they have no real effect on us. That is why we can rejoice.  

 Help us forgive, for we would be redeemed.  Help us forgive, for we would be at peace. (2.8-9). Yes, we need his help because sin does seem to be too solid, too real for us to forgive. The events of this world seem very real to us. It does seem like attack has happened and caused real harm. All of our senses give us pretty clear evidence of this. That is why we need the help from Someone outside of this closed circle of perception. We are asked to pray with sincerity for help in shifting our perception of events and move us to a changed perception.

So this blessed day of Christmas, we are asked to lay all of our burdens at the feet of Jesus. He asks no adulation. He has no ego. He only wants us to release our problems and issues to him that we may be freed of our prison house. He asks that we recognize that we are like him and the birth of Christ in him is the birth that we will know in ourselves as we release our guilt and fear. As the final paragraph in the "What is" section reminds us which is that God's Word "is written on our hearts".( 14.5.1.) What that means is that His Word is in the fabric of our being. And our function is to bring this message to everyone who is sent to us by being an example of a mind that has chosen the Holy Spirit and now can bring peace. The message to our brothers is that they are sinless regardless of their mistakes. We see them that way when we bring our blocks to love and place them at the feet of Jesus. It means that we must look first at how we are judging our brother and ask  for help to see him differently. This is the purpose for our being in the world. It is to extend His Word. It is to recognize that this is the Law of Love, to give as we would receive so that ultimately we can know and recognize the true nature of our being. This is an expression of our true will when peace and love are extended through us.  

Lesson 303 paints a beautiful picture of the birth of Christ in us. It reminds us that the angels watch over us today because this can be the day in which we can experience Christ's birth in us. It is therefore a holy day as any day can be.   "Let all God's holy Thoughts surround me, and be still with me while Heaven's Son is born" He is talking about us! He is waiting for our invitation.

 The ego is loud and boisterous in us. By finding the stillness in our minds, which is symbolized by the withdrawal from the world when giving birth, the truth is welcomed in. The ego does not want peace. Look at the ways we keep ourselves busy with the events of our lives and even more so at Christmas. Yet God's answer is some form of peace. It is the place of stillness in us. It is the holy ground, the altar to truth deep in our minds, waiting to be uncovered. It means that we need to take time from all of the activity and rest in God.

 As we release the ego's darkness, we experience the light that we are. It is a question of willingness. "It is in your power to make this season holy, for it is in your power to make the time of Christ be now." (T.15.X.4:1)

 So may this day be one of peace and holiness that Jesus wants for us to experience  today and every day. It is a peace that we can choose anytime we release our grievances and allow the joy back into our minds. It is the coming of the Christ Self that we all share. And this lesson says that it is by recognizing that "we have not made sinners of the Holy Sons of God. What You created sinless so abides forever and forever". We can do harm; we can hurt people and we can see others do the same. And yes, we must admit our mistakes. The lesson asks that to acknowledge this is not simply to do a bypass and pretend and justify our mistakes. We must admit the mistakes and then rejoice that this is all they are. They have not changed our nature. But neither are we giving our ego license to do as it will in the name of  justifying it on the basis that "it's all illusion".  

 So today we ask God to help us to overlook our brothers' 'sins'. We can't do it on our own. The evidence for sin is too apparent to us. Our senses show it everywhere. Thus we need His help to get out of the vicious cycle of sin and guilt and punishment. We want out of this cycle because we recognize that there is no peace possible in illusions. So today we prayer this prayer with sincerity. It is our plea to the truth that is in us. Make it a prayer of your heart today. There is no greater gift that can be offered for your brothers and your Self.

Thank you for sharing this journey and for your part in this awakening.

Love and blessings to all, Sarah

Sarah's Home Page

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