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REVIEW
A Course in Miracles is a self-study course. In the beginning it tells us, "This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean
you can establish the curric...
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| About CIMS |  |
Course in Miracles Society (CIMS) is an international group of Course students and teachers organized to discover, authenticate and propagate the Divine Teachings of A Course in Miracles.
As students, we seek to increase our knowledge of Jesus' words and to deepen our experience of His teachings.
As teachers, we work to circulate the message of
A Course in Miracles throughout the world by our words, by our deeds, and by the example of our lives. COURSE IN MIRACLES
SOCIETY
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"THE UNDOING OF FEAR"
V. The Greater Joining
There is a way of finding certainty right here and now. Refuse to be a part of fearful dreams whatever form they take, for you will lose identity in them. You find yourself by not accepting them as causing you and giving you effects. You stand apart from them but not apart from him who dreams them. Thus you separate the dreamer from the dream and join in one but let the other go. The dream is but illusion in the mind. And with the mind you would unite, but never with the dream. It is the dream you fear and not the mind. You see them as the same because you think that you are but a dream. And what is real and what is but illusion in yourself you do not know and cannot tell apart.
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<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
*IAMBIC PENTAMETER*
What is 'Iambic Pentameter'?
The real world is a symbol, like the rest
of what perception offers. Yet it stands
for what is opposite to what you made.
Your world is seen through eyes of fear, and brings
the witnesses of terror to your mind.
The real world cannot be perceived except
through eyes forgiveness blesses, so they see
a world where terror is impossible,
and witnesses to fear can not be found.
The real world holds a counterpart for each
unhappy thought reflected in your world;
a sure correction for the sights of fear
and sounds of battle which your world contains.
The real world shows a world seen differently,
through quiet eyes and with a mind at peace.
Nothing but rest is here. There are no cries
of pain and sorrow heard, for nothing here
remains outside forgiveness. And the sights
are gentle. Only happy sights and sounds
can reach the mind that has forgiven itself.
What need has such a mind for thoughts of death,
attack and murder? What can it perceive
surrounding it but safety, love and joy?
What is there it would choose to be condemned,
and what is there that it would judge against?
The world it sees arises from a mind
at peace within itself. No danger lurks
in anything it sees, for it is kind
and only kindness does it look upon.
The real world is the symbol that the dream
of sin and guilt is over, and God's Son
no longer sleeps. His waking eyes perceive
the sure reflection of his Father's Love;
the certain promise that he is redeemed.
The real world signifies the end of time,
for this perception makes time purposeless.
The Holy Spirit has no need of time
when it has served His purpose. Now He waits
but that one instant more for God to take
His final step, and time has disappeared,
taking perception with it as it goes,
and leaving but the Truth to be Itself.
That instant is our goal, for it contains
the memory of God. And as we look
upon a world forgiven, it is He
Who calls to us and comes to take us home,
reminding us of our Identity
Which our forgiveness has restored to us.
~ Original Hand Script
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DAILY LESSON
L e s s o n 297
Forgiveness is the only gift I give.
<AUDIO>< VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Forgiveness is the only gift I give
because it is the only gift I want,
and everything I give I give myself.
This is salvation's simple formula.
And I, who would be saved, would make it mine,
to be the way I live within a world
that needs salvation, and that will be saved
as I accept Atonement for myself.
Father, how certain are Your ways; how sure
their final outcome, and how faithfully
is every step in my salvation set
already, and accomplished by Your grace.
Thanks be to You for Your eternal gifts,
and thanks to You for my Identity.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
Lesson 297
Forgiveness is the only gift I give.
Sarah's Commentary:
Lessons 295, 296 and 297 all remind us that everything we give, we give to ourselves. "This is salvation's simple formula." (W.297.1.3) It is about accepting Atonement for ourselves, which means that we are accepting the correction/healing for ourselves through forgiveness. Thus "Forgiveness is the only gift I give, because it is the only gift I want." (W.297.1.1) Forgiveness is the recognition that what someone has done has had no effect. Through forgiveness, the thoughts we hold that block our awareness of our true Identity are released. What could we want more than to know who we really are, and what could we want more than the gifts that come with this knowing? They are the gifts of peace, of joy, of abundance, of innocence and of the love that we are.
In our present state we carry a lot of guilt. "The certain outcome of the lesson that God's Son is guilty is the world you see. It is a world of terror and despair. Nor is there hope of happiness in it. There is no plan for safety that you can make that ever will succeed." (T.31.I.7.4-7) There is no joy or hope in this world when we identify with the ego. But as we learn to forgive and see only the innocent Son of God in every brother, then a world of hope and happiness opens up for us. "The outcome of the lesson that God's Son is guiltless is a world in which there is no fear, and everything is lit with hope and sparkles with a gentle friendliness." (T.31.I.8.1)
Yet forgiveness is such a misunderstood concept. "Forgiveness recognizes that what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin." (W.PII.Q1.1.1) This makes no sense unless we see it in the context of the illusory world where behaviors are seen in the dream, but they have no real effect. It is our interpretation that we give the behaviors that cause us pain. "It is always an interpretation that gives rise to negative emotions, regardless of their seeming justification by what appears as facts." (M.17.4.2) We need to ask for help to see in another way the things that our brothers are doing that seem to have a negative impact on us. We are given a process to use whenever we are not joyous. It is basically the forgiveness process described in the Course.
"I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace." (Meaning I must have decided to see the guilt in my brother that I see in my own mind, so now I am blaming him and not feeling any peace and joy.)
"I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise." (I can choose to change my thoughts.) "I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace." "I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong decision if I will let Him." (I can let the Holy Spirit undo my unloving perception of my brother by seeing that when I take responsibility for the projection of my guilt onto my brother, and look at my mistake with the Holy Spirit, my wrong perception is healed.) "I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me." (Holy Spirit, let me see my brother through your eyes so I can see his innocence and know my own.)
(T.5.VII.6.7-11)(ACIM OE T.5.IX.96)
When we truly want to choose the Holy Spirit over the ego, then we must withdraw our investment in guilt by accepting its unreality through forgiveness. We do that, as this lesson says, by accepting Atonement for ourselves, which is to accept the correction in our own minds. The means offered is through forgiveness, which allows us to see our brothers as they truly are so that we can know who we are as the Christ Self. To see our brothers as they truly are is to bring our own blocks to love to the Holy Spirit. Forgiveness is such a misunderstood concept because, in the traditional definition we seem to be forgiving someone else. But the Course definition of forgiveness is about cleaning up our own act by recognizing guilt, judgment, and unworthiness in our own minds and giving them over to the Holy Spirit for healing.
Recently my partner had suggested we spend an evening together at dinner and a movie. Meanwhile his buddy called to say he had acquired two tickets to the football game. I saw that he really wanted to go to the game in spite of his commitment to me. I knew that it would be easy to make him feel guilty about the importance of keeping his commitment to me. Yet would I want this knowing where he would rather choose to be? In my decision to offer him the freedom, and even the blessing to be with his friend, I received the gift of happiness. There was no lingering sense of residual blame or recrimination. It felt so freeing. I have had many experiences of using control through guilt in my relationships, which always results in suffering. Yes, we get what we want in behavior, but we lose the love that can only come through freedom. Why would we want anyone to be with us, when they wished to be elsewhere? Thus the gift I gave was only to myself. There was no loss but only gain, for both.
To forgive is to undo what we have made in our choice for separation and individuality. It is all about undoing our own specialness and all the fear that comes with it. It is about undoing the comparisons we make with others, about making everything about us, about competition with our brothers, and about bargaining to get what we think we need and want.
We think our identity is that of a body that is in the world for a short time, one that is impermanent, that we experience all kinds of challenges and conflicts in the world, that, try as we might, happiness is elusive and that we are basically alone and separate from other bodies also wandering in the world looking for scraps of pleasure, and ways to feel special. The world does not seem to have much purpose until we take up our special function, which is always to forgive. The backdrop for our function is based on our abilities and talents. When given over to the Holy Spirit for His purposes, the content of our function, regardless of what it looks like in the world, is forgiveness. The form of our function in the world varies from person to person, but the content is all the same. The form then just becomes the backdrop for learning forgiveness. It is the healing of our false perceptions.
In this world we think we can give our guilt away and thus escape from it. In truth, when we blame another, we are only hurting ourselves by accumulating more guilt since giving and receiving are the same. The Holy Spirit reminds us that the same principle is reflected in salvation's simple formula in that forgiveness is always for ourselves. It may appear that we are forgiving another, but it is only our own thoughts about anyone that we are releasing. And in that release, we are set free from the guilt in our minds.
We have such an investment in seeing others guilty and ensuring that we hold them bound to punishment for their "crimes and misdemeanors." Yet the Holy Spirit shows us that a loving God sees everyone worthy of salvation regardless of what they appear to have done. We are all innocent. We experience it as we extend forgiveness to our brothers and thus come to know our own innocence. As we extend miracles we receive miracles. The only reason that we don't receive miracles is because we have decided that someone else is not deserving of them.
It is only our own thoughts that are the source of our pain, projected onto the world. We are not the victims. We have created our reality. That is the message of the movie, "What the Bleep Do We Know", which clearly articulates how we become addicted to our emotions that lead to our experience and reflect beliefs that we hold. We keep playing out the same scenarios in our lives until we decide to choose another way. It is a loop that we seem to live in where our false beliefs just keep getting reinforced over and over. The loop starts with a belief. For example, I may believe that, for me to feel loved, others have to agree with me. When they don't, I feel betrayed. Now their betrayal affirms my belief in my unworthiness. What I have done is set up rules for my relationships. Instead of freeing my brother to have his own thoughts and opinions, I have bound him to my rules based on my beliefs. Thus my grievances are all based on my beliefs about myself and how others are supposed to be around me. By healing my own mind, I free my brother and myself.
Jesus tells us that, "No one can be unjust to you, unless you have decided first to be unjust." (T.25.IX.7.7)(ACIM OE T.25.X.84) Any problems that we have are there by our own election, challenging as that is for us to accept. The decision to be unjust means that we wanted someone to lose while we benefit by their loss. Then we feel guilty and guilt demands punishment. Now we need to dream punishment into our lives in the form of problems. Because of the guilt that comes from our attacks, we think we deserve to be punished. Thus guilt is at the core of every problem that we have. As we turn our misguided thoughts over to the Holy Spirit and see that there truly is another way to see everything and everyone, we will experience the miracle, which shifts our perception from guilt to innocence. And through this we will experience the happiness and innocence that is always there behind our misguided thoughts and perceptions.
The question is, why don't we choose it? Why do we stubbornly hold onto our perspectives, our grievances, our judgments, our anger, our worries? Isn't it because we feel it is justified by what someone has seemingly done to us and we refuse to release our perceptions of the situation? But in this process, we are simply hurting ourselves. What would our lives be like if we really saw clearly that what we do to anyone we are doing to ourselves? How would our lives look if we really knew, in a deep and clear way, that to gain at anyone's expense is hurting us?
Every step we take in forgiveness is a step closer to recognition of the truth of who we are. "Father, how certain are Your ways; how sure their final outcome, and how faithfully is every step in my salvation set already, and accomplished by Your grace." (W.297.2.1) Today, let's be grateful that our salvation is available to us through the acceptance of forgiveness as our way back to our Identity. We have wandered from our home, but we have not been left without an Answer. We just need to do our part, which is to bring our misperceptions to that Answer, and now the miracle can shine forth.
Love and blessings, Sarah
[email protected]
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37 Accepting the Atonement for yourself means not to give support to someone's dream of sickness and of death. It means that you share not his wish to separate and let him turn illusions on himself. Nor do you wish that they be turned instead on you. Thus have they no effects. And you are free of dreams of pain because you let him be. Unless you help him, you will suffer pain with him because that is your wish. And you become a figure in his dream of pain, as he in yours. So do you both become illusions and without identity. You could be anyone or anything, depending on whose evil dream you share. You can be sure of just one thing---that you are evil, for you share in dreams of fear.
38 There is a way of finding certainty right here and now. Refuse to be a part of fearful dreams whatever form they take, for you will lose identity in them. You find yourself by not accepting them as causing you and giving you effects. You stand apart from them but not apart from him who dreams them. Thus you separate the dreamer from the dream and join in one but let the other go. The dream is but illusion in the mind. And with the mind you would unite, but never with the dream. It is the dream you fear and not the mind. You see them as the same because you think that you are but a dream. And what is real and what is but illusion in yourself you do not know and cannot tell apart.
39 Like you, your brother thinks he is a dream. Share not in his illusion of himself, for your identity depends on his reality. Think rather of him as a mind in which illusions still persist, but as a mind which brother is to you. He is not brother made by what he dreams, nor is his body, "hero" of the dream, your brother. It is his reality that is your brother, as is yours to him. Your mind and his are joined in brotherhood. His body and his dreams but seem to make a little gap, where yours have joined with his.
40 And yet, between your minds there is no gap. To join his dreams is thus to meet him not because his dreams would separate from you. Therefore, release him, merely by your claim on brotherhood and not on dreams of fear. Let him acknowledge who he is by not supporting his illusions by your faith, for if you do, you will have faith in yours. With faith in yours, he will not be released, and you are kept in bondage to his dream. And dreams of fear will haunt the little gap, inhabited but by illusions which you have supported in each other's minds.
41 Be certain, if you do your part, he will do his, for he will join you where you stand. Call not to him to meet you in the gap between you, or you must believe that it is your reality as well as his. You cannot do his part, but this you do when you become a passive figure in his dream instead of dreamer of your own. Identity in dreams is meaningless because the dreamer and the dream are one. Who shares a dream must be the dream he shares because by sharing is a cause produced.
42 You share confusion and you are confused, for in the gap no stable self exists. What is the same seems different because what is the same appears to be unlike. His dreams are yours because you let them be. But if you took your own away would he be free of them and of his own as well. Your dreams are witnesses to his, and his attest the truth of yours. Yet if you see there is no truth in yours, his dreams will go, and he will understand what made the dream.
43 The Holy Spirit is in both your minds, and He is One because there is no gap that separates His Oneness from Itself. The gap between your bodies matters not, for what is joined in Him is always one. No one is sick if someone else accepts his union with him. His desire to be a sick and separated mind cannot remain without a witness or a cause. And both are gone if someone wills to be united with him. He has dreams that he was separated from his brother who, by sharing not his dream, has left the space between them vacant. And the Father comes to join His Son the Holy Spirit joined.
44 The Holy Spirit's function is to take the broken picture of the Son of God and put the pieces into place again. This holy picture, healed entirely, does He hold out to every separate piece that thinks it is a picture in itself. To each he offers his identity, which the whole picture represents, instead of just a little broken bit which he insisted was himself. And when he sees this picture, he will recognize himself. If you share not your brother's evil dream, this is the picture that the miracle will place within the little gap, left clean of all the seeds of sickness and of sin. And here the Father will receive His Son, because His Son was gracious to himself.
45 I thank you, Father, knowing you will come to close each little gap that lies between the broken pieces of Your holy Son. Your holiness, complete and perfect, lies in every one of them. And they are joined because what is in one is in them all. How holy is the smallest grain of sand when it is recognized as being part of the completed picture of God's Son! The forms the broken pieces seem to take mean nothing. For the whole is in each one. And every aspect of the Son of God is just the same as every other part.
46 Join not your brother's dreams but join with him, and where you join His Son, the Father is. Who seeks for substitutes when he perceives he has lost nothing? Who would want to have the "benefits" of sickness when he has received the simple happiness of health? What God has given cannot be a loss, and what is not of Him has no effects. What then would you perceive within the gap? The seeds of sickness come from the belief that there is joy in separation, and its giving up would be a sacrifice. But miracles are the result when you do not insist on seeing in the gap what is not there. Your willingness to let illusions go is all the Healer of God's Son requires. He will place the miracle of healing where the seeds of sickness were. And there will be no loss, but only gain.
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Course in Miracles Society
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BOOK Offer
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CIMS is announcing that ACIM - Original Edition is now available by the case at the distributor price which is 40% below retail, plus shipping.♥
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To GIVE and to RECEIVE are One in Truth. Lesson 108
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