| Graphic by © Deposit Photos |
A COURSE IN MIRACLES CH 20 THE PROMISE OF THE RESURRECTION IX. THE VISION OF SINLESSNESS
70 The Holy Spirit guarantees that what God willed and gave you shall be yours. This is your purpose now, and the vision that makes it yours is ready to be given. You have the vision which enables each one to see the body not. And as you look upon each other, you will see an altar to your Father, holy as Heaven, glowing with radiant purity and sparkling with the shining lilies you laid upon it. What can you value more than this? Why do you think the body is a better home, a safer shelter for God's Son? Why would you rather look on it than on the truth? How can the engine of destruction be preferred and chosen to replace the holy home the Holy Spirit offers, where He will dwell with you?
|
A COURSE IN MIRACLES WORKBOOK for STUDENTS
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Salvation is a promise, made by God,
that you would find your way to Him at last.
It cannot but be kept. It guarantees
that time will have an end, and all the thoughts
that have been born in time will end as well.
God's Word is given every mind that thinks
that it has separate thoughts, and will replace
these thoughts of conflict with the Thought of peace.
The Thought of peace was given to God's Son
the instant that his mind had thought of war.
There was no need for such a Thought before,
for peace was given without opposite,
and merely was. But when the mind is split,
there is a need of healing. So the Thought
Which has the power to heal the split became
a part of every fragment of the mind
which still was one, but failed to recognize
its oneness. Now it did not know itself,
and thought its own identity was lost.
Salvation is undoing in the sense
that it does nothing, failing to support
the world of dreams and malice. Thus it lets
illusions go. By not supporting them,
it merely lets them quietly go down
to dust. And what they hid is now revealed;
an altar to the holy Name of God,
whereon His Word is written, with the gifts
of your forgiveness laid before It, and
the memory of God not far behind.
Let us come daily to this holy place,
and spend a while together. Here we share
our final dream. It is a dream in which
there is no sorrow, for it holds a hint
of all the glory given us by God.
The grass is pushing through the soil, the trees
are budding now, and birds have come to live
within their branches. Earth is being born
again in new perception. Night has gone,
and we have come together in the light.
From here we give salvation to the world,
for it is here salvation was received.
The song of our rejoicing is the call
to all the world that freedom is returned,
that time is almost over, and God's Son
has but an instant more to wait until
his Father is remembered, dreams are done,
eternity has shined away the world,
and only Heaven now exists at all.
~ Original Hand Script October 1, 1970
|
L e s s o n 232 Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake,
and shine on me throughout the day today.
Let every minute be a time in which
I dwell with You. And let me not forget
my hourly thanksgiving that You have
remained with me, and always will be there
to hear my call to You and answer me.
As evening comes, let all my thoughts be still
of You and of Your Love, and let me sleep
sure of my safety, certain of Your care,
and happily aware I am Your Son.
This is as every day should be. Today
practice the end of fear. Have faith in Him
Who is your Father. Trust all things to Him.
Let Him reveal all things to you, and be
you undismayed, because you are His Son.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
|
ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
 LESSON 232Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.
Sarah's Commentary:
When I was living in Sedona, Arizona and taking a year of study of the Course with the Circle of Atonement, I memorized this Lesson. Our group started the morning in the red rocks with a sunrise meditation and concluded the day with a sunset meditation, while we devoted the rest of the day to rock climbing, stopping every half hour for meditation during the day. In revisiting this Lesson today, it brings back many fond reflections of a very memorable year devoted to the study and practice of the Course.
This is a beautiful prayer and such a personal appeal to our Father to be in our minds. It is not really a request to our Father, because He is already in our minds, although we are not aware of this. So the request is one we make to the decision-making mind. It is an appeal to strengthen our own decision to know the truth already in our right minds. There is nothing to seek, as the truth is already within. All we are inviting is the strengthening of our own willingness. Willingness to know the truth about ourselves is important because there is no value in simply watching our minds if we continue to cling to the errors. If we sincerely want to release them, we need to do more than just notice the distressing thoughts. We actually need to want to have them healed. This is where willingness comes in to do the healing so we can come to recognize the vastness of our own holy minds beyond the ego.
In our morning time, spent with God, we affirm our Father is with us in every moment, and thus, we can greet the day with joy instead of dread, anxiety, and concern of any kind. Everything in our day is there to help us to awaken by showing us what is in our own minds. If we saw it this way, what is there we could judge as bad or wrong? If we truly devote our day to healing, we can be constantly grateful for everything that shows up. The reality is that His Love shines on us in every moment, even when we are turning away from It. Thus, we can choose to experience His sure protection regardless of what comes up in our day that we judge is a problem. These things have no reality except as we experience them in the dream. Outside of the dream, we can see this is so. The only real thing is the constancy of His Love. Our experience in the illusion, which seems so real and solid to us, is not the truth. It is a dream we are dreaming.
We can be so thankful that He has never left us, but He remains with us and will always hear our call and will always answer. We are One with the Father, having never left Him. Now, as we watch the mind, we can see the interference of the voice of the ego. When we bring our attention to our thoughts of distress about anything that comes up in our day and look at it through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, we can see it for what it is---nothing. To see in this way is to look without judgment and recognize there is no need for guilt. Everything in our day is just another opportunity to remember the truth about ourselves. We do our healing by looking at the thoughts blocking the truth and choose to place them on the inner altar, giving them over to the light already in our right minds. When we stubbornly hold onto our opinions, our judgments, our perspectives, and the things we think we want and need, we cannot enter the peace. We are believing something is lacking in us or there is something we need. Neediness and lack are not in God. Anytime I think I am lacking in anything, I am putting value where there is none. When we ask God, "How would you have me see this?", we acknowledge that perhaps there is another way of looking at this situation or person. Perhaps we have been mistaken. We will always know we have chosen the ego when we are not at peace.
We increasingly come to the realization that all distress is simply holding onto our mistaken ideas. It is all about our interpretations of situations that are, in themselves, neutral, and thus, they are never the truth. This requires admitting that our interpretations are always wrong. Our perceptions are never true. Yet we cling to them because they define us. We value our thoughts and opinions. We defend them vigorously. Yet when we realize we are clinging to suffering, our hold on our thoughts is loosened. To know the truth is to let go of what we believe and value, in the moment, and simply surrender. It is to be willing to be taught by One Who does know. It is a moment-by- moment undertaking and requires constant mind-watching.
There is no greater gift than to know that no matter what is happening in our day, we can always depend on Him, and He will always hear our call and always answer. It is the call of our hearts to be home with Him, to know His love, and to be completely understood. We are never alone. We may not always feel, or believe, that He is always with us, and we may not always trust that He hears our call, yet Jesus continually assures us God has never left us. The moment we had the thought of separation, the Thought of God (the Atonement) was placed in our minds.
We continue this prayer into the evening as we still our thoughts and sleep, sure of our safety. Jesus reminds us that this is how every day should be. We just need to focus on the truth each day, awakening every morning by connecting with God and setting our purpose for the day. Now our gratitude becomes a daily experience, not for having our needs met, but for the joy of knowing everything in our day is for our healing. When we see it this way, we are indeed a happy learner regardless of what is happening.
We continue with our daily reading of the section, "What is Salvation?" (W.PII.Q2) We focus today on God's Word, which we are told is in our mind. "God's Word is given every mind which thinks that it has separate thoughts, and will replace these thoughts of conflict with the Thought of peace." (W.PII.Q2.1.4) Thus, with every irritation, problem, and distress in our minds today, the Answer is always there. It does nothing but shines away the illusion. Behind every grievance is a miracle waiting to be born. So the truth lies right behind our self-deceptions, quietly waiting for our acceptance. We are saved only from our mistaken thoughts and our belief in sin and guilt. Thus, like the miracle and forgiveness, salvation actually does nothing but waits for our acceptance. It is the reminder in our right minds that we have been mistaken about who we are. When our mistaken thoughts are brought to the truth, the light of God shines them away. His light, like the sun behind the clouds, has always been there, waiting for our decision.
This is an encouraging thought for me today as my mind has been so occupied with all kinds of unsettling thoughts. My feelings of impatience, anticipation, and seeming pressures of the day plague me even as I write this. I remind myself that peace is always available to me. As I give up each unsettling thought, peace is waiting to replace the thoughts I was holding onto. I only need to be willing to release them. While they seem justified, I remind myself that anger is never justified. Thank you God. The mind needs to be "re-minded" constantly. The Answer is always in my mind, always available, having been put there at the instant of separation. I have been given a remedy to every disturbing thought. I must choose it, which is what I have the power to do in each moment of distress. All that is required is my willingness to bring my troubling thoughts and lay them at the feet of my brother, Jesus.
Love and Blessings, Sarah
|
PAUSED FOR WEEKEND
IX. The Vision of Sinlessness
67 Vision will come to you at first in glimpses, but they will be enough to show you what is given you who see your brother sinless. Truth is restored to you through your desire, as it was lost to you through your desire for something else. Open the holy place which you closed off by valuing the "something else," and what was never lost will quietly return. It has been saved for you. Vision would not be necessary had judgment not been made. Desire now its whole undoing, and it is done for you.
68 Do you not want to know your own Identity? Would you not happily exchange your doubts for certainty? Would you not willingly be free of misery and learn again of joy? Your holy relationship offers all this to you. As it was given you, so will be its effects. And as its holy purpose was not made by you, the means by which its happy end is yours is also not of you. Rejoice in what is yours but for the asking and think not that you need make either means or end. All this is given you who would but see your brother sinless. All this is given, waiting on your desire but to receive it. Vision is freely given to those who ask to see.
69 Your brother's sinlessness is given you in shining light, to look on with the Holy Spirit's vision and to rejoice in along with Him. For peace will come to all who ask for it with real desire and sincerity of purpose, shared with the Holy Spirit and at one with Him on what salvation is. Be willing, then, to see your brother sinless that Christ may rise before your vision and give you joy. And place no value on your brother's body, which holds him to illusions of what he is. It is his desire to see his sinlessness, as it is yours. And bless the Son of God in your relationship, nor see in him what you have made of him.
70 The Holy Spirit guarantees that what God willed and gave you shall be yours. This is your purpose now, and the vision that makes it yours is ready to be given. You have the vision which enables each one to see the body not. And as you look upon each other, you will see an altar to your Father, holy as Heaven, glowing with radiant purity and sparkling with the shining lilies you laid upon it. What can you value more than this? Why do you think the body is a better home, a safer shelter for God's Son? Why would you rather look on it than on the truth? How can the engine of destruction be preferred and chosen to replace the holy home the Holy Spirit offers, where He will dwell with you?
71 The body is the sign of weakness, vulnerability, and loss of power. Can such a savior help you? Would you turn in your distress and need for help unto the helpless? Is the pitifully little the perfect choice to call upon for strength? Judgment will seem to make your savior weak. Yet it is you who need his strength. There is no problem, no event or situation, no perplexity that vision will not solve. All is redeemed when looked upon with vision. For this is not your sight, and brings with it the laws beloved of Him Whose sight it is.
72 Everything looked upon with vision falls gently into place according to the laws brought to it by His calm and certain sight. The end for everything He looks upon is always sure. For it will meet His purpose, seen in unadjusted form and suited perfectly to meet it. Destructiveness becomes benign, and sin is turned to blessing under His gentle gaze. What can the body's eyes perceive, with power to correct? Its eyes adjust to sin, unable to overlook it in any form and seeing it everywhere, in everything. Look through its eyes, and everything will stand condemned before you. All that could save you, you will never see. Your holy relationship, the source of your salvation, will be deprived of meaning, and its most holy purpose bereft of means for its accomplishment.
73 Judgment is but a toy, a whim, the senseless means to play the idle game of death in your imagination. But vision sets all things right, bringing them gently within the kindly sway of Heaven's laws. What if you recognized this world is an hallucination? What if you really understood you made it up? What if you realized that those who seem to walk about in it, to sin and die, attack and murder and destroy themselves, are wholly unreal? Could you have faith in what you see if you accepted this? And would you see it?
74 Hallucinations disappear when they are recognized for what they are. This is the healing and the remedy. Believe them not, and they are gone. And all you need to do is recognize you did this. Once you accept this simple fact and take unto yourself the power you gave them, you are released from them. One thing is sure-hallucinations serve a purpose, and when that purpose is no longer held, they disappear. Therefore, the question never is whether you want them, but always, do you want the purpose which they serve? This world seems to hold out many purposes, each different and with different values. Yet they are all the same. Again there is no order but a seeming hierarchy of values.
75 Only two purposes are possible. And one is sin, the other holiness. Nothing is in between, and which you choose determines what you see. For what you see is merely how you elect to meet your goal. Hallucinations serve to meet the goal of madness. They are the means by which the outside world, projected from within, adjusts to sin and seems to witness to its reality. It still is true that nothing is without. Yet upon nothing are all projections made. For it is the projection which gives the "nothing" all the meaning that it holds.
76 What has no meaning cannot be perceived. And meaning always looks within to find itself and then looks out. All meaning that you give the world outside must thus reflect the sight you saw within; or better, if you saw at all or merely judged against. Vision is the means by which the Holy Spirit translates your nightmares into happy dreams; your wild hallucinations that show you all the fearful outcomes of imagined sin into the calm and reassuring sights with which He would replace them. These gentle sights and sounds are looked on happily and heard with joy. They are His substitutes for all the terrifying sights and screaming sounds the ego's purpose brought to your horrified awareness. They step away from sin, reminding you that it is not reality which frightens you and that the errors which you made can be corrected.
77 When you have looked on what seemed terrifying and seen it change to sights of loveliness and peace; when you have looked on scenes of violence and death and watched them change to quiet views of gardens under open skies, with clear, life-giving water running happily beside them in dancing brooks that never waste away, who need persuade you to accept the gift of vision? And after vision, who is there who could refuse what must come after? Think but an instant just on this-you can behold the holiness God gave His Son. And never need you think that there is something else for you to see.
ON LINE SEARCHABLE Original Edition
|
|
 To UNSUBSCRIBE, Open email sent to you and scroll to bottom. Click where it says: [Message clipped] View entire message
Scroll to the bottom and click the "UnSubscribe Button"
|
|
|