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A COURSE IN MIRACLES CH 23 THE WAR AGAINST YOURSELF
III. THE LAWS OF CHAOS
19 The "laws" of chaos can be brought to light, though never understood. Chaotic laws are hardly meaningful and therefore out of reason's sphere. Yet they appear to constitute an obstacle to reason and to truth. Let us, then, look upon them calmly, that we may look beyond them, understanding what they are, not what they would maintain. It is essential it be understood what they are for, because it is their purpose to make meaningless and to attack the truth. Here are the laws that rule the world you made. And yet they govern nothing and need not be broken; merely looked upon and gone beyond.
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK for STUDENTS
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Sin is insanity. It is the means
by which the mind is driven mad, and seeks
to let illusions take the place of truth.
And being mad, it sees illusions where
the truth should be, and where it really is.
Sin gave the body eyes, for what is there
the sinless would behold? What need have they
of sights or sounds or touch? What would they hear
or reach to touch? What would they sense at all?
To sense is not to know. And truth can be
but filled with knowledge, and with nothing else.
The body is the instrument the mind
made in its striving to deceive itself.
Its purpose is to strive. Yet can the goal
of striving change. And now the body serves
a different aim for striving. What it seeks
for now is chosen by the aim the mind
has taken as replacement for the goal
of self-deception. Truth can be its aim
as well as lies. The senses then will seek
instead the witnesses to what is true.
Sin is the home of all illusions, which
but stand for things imagined, issuing
from thoughts which are untrue. They are the "proof"
that what has no reality is real.
Sin "proves" God's Son is evil; timelessness
must have an end; Eternal Life must die.
And God Himself has lost the Son He loves,
with but corruption to complete Himself,
His Will forever overcome by death,
love slain by hate, and peace to be no more.
A madman's dreams are frightening, and sin
appears indeed to terrify. And yet
what sin perceives is but a childish game.
The Son of God may play be has become
a body, prey to evil and to guilt,
with but a little life that ends in death.
But all the while his Father shines on him,
and loves him with an Everlasting Love
which his pretenses cannot change at all.
How long, oh Son of God, would you maintain
the game of sin? Shall we not put away
these sharp-edged children's toys? How soon will you
be ready to come home? Perhaps today?
There is no sin. Creation is unchanged.
Would you still hold return to Heaven back?
How long, oh holy Son of God, how long?
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L e s s o n 252 The Son of God is my Identity.
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
My Self is holy beyond all the thoughts
of holiness of which I now conceive.
Its shimmering and perfect purity
is far more brilliant than is any light
that I have ever looked upon. Its love
is limitless, with an intensity
which holds all things within it in the calm
of quiet certainty. Its strength comes not
from burning impulses which move this world,
but from the boundless Love of God Himself.
How far beyond this world my Self must be,
and yet how near to me and close to God.
Father, You know my true Identity.
Reveal It now to me who am Your Son,
that I may waken to the truth in You,
and know that Heaven is restored to me.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 252
The Son of God is my Identity.
Sarah's Commentary:
Today, I will add a couple more comments on our reading in the Section, "What is Sin?" (W.PII.Q4) Jesus tells us that while we take our lives in this world seriously and all the events surrounding them, it is nevertheless all a childish game. We are playing at being ". . . a body, prey to evil and to guilt, with but a little life that ends in death." (W.PII.Q4.4.3) Yet he calls this a silly game played by the Son of God, Who has forgotten what he is and now identifies himself as a body. Yet what we call life on this earth is nothing but a madman's dreams. In those dreams, we are indeed frightened. When we think we are a figure in the dream, being acted on by forces outside of our control, we do experience fear. When we understand we are the ones dreaming this dream, it is within our power to wake up. All the time that we have taken our lives and our belief in death so very seriously, nevertheless, we have not had the power to change who we are as eternal beings. Currently, we find ourselves in a world of perception, where we are no longer certain about anything.
"But all the while his Father shines on him, and loves him with an everlasting Love which his pretenses cannot change at all."
(W.PII.Q4.4.4) We simply cannot change our reality. God has assured us that we are still His Son, perfect in every way. It is what the Atonement Principle is all about. We can only become unaware of the love buried in our minds and pretend we are unworthy of it. We have played the game of sin for so long that we have forgotten it is a game. The game of sin makes us feel like we cannot go home again, as reflected in the story of the Prodigal Son. He was afraid to return to his home, fearing his father's punishment for what he had done. Yet his father received him with great love and gave him an open-hearted welcome home.
Our senses keep us focused externally on the people and events of this world, which we often take seriously, but our eyes were meant to deceive. "Reason would tell you that the world you see through eyes that are not yours must make no sense to you. To whom would seeing such as this send back its messages? Surely not you, whose sight is wholly independent of the eyes that look upon the world." (T.22.I.2.3-5) (ACIM OE T.22.II.6) This may seem quite startling to be told we don't need eyes to see. It makes me think about the reports of out-of-body experiences where one is above the body and observing it. Who and what does the observing? The eyeballs are still in the body, yet seeing happens. Clearly, this kind of seeing does not require the body's eyes, and the seeing Jesus talks about is seeing with the mind of Christ, which is to see with vision.
"The brain interprets to the body, of which it is a part. But what it says you cannot understand. Yet you have listened to it. And long and hard you tried to understand its messages."
(T.22.I.2.9) (ACIM OE T.22.II.6) Yet we cannot understand any of it. We have come to believe we are egos having a life in a body and relying on what our senses tell us and what our brains interpret for us. Yet none of this is the truth. It keeps us from awareness of what we are! We can't figure out our lives. Oh yes, we think we can, but it is precisely this mind that thinks it knows which must be surrendered. If we think we know and understand, we won't be willing to listen to the message Jesus is bringing to us. This does seem disorienting, and it is. Jesus acknowledges that the transition from our world of illusion to the real world can create considerable confusion. "In the transition there is a period of confusion, in which a sense of actual disorientation may occur." (T.16.VI.7.4) (ACIM OE T.16.VII.64) However, Jesus goes on to assure us, "The period of disorientation, which precedes the actual transition, is far shorter than the time it took to fix your mind so firmly on illusions." (T.16.VI.8.5) (ACIM OE T.16.VII.65) In other words, it took a lot longer, perhaps thousands of lifetimes, to enter the dream than it will take to awaken.
In the Lesson today, we read, "My Self is holy beyond all the thoughts of holiness of which I now conceive." (W.PII.252.1.1) In other words, we can't even imagine our grandeur and our magnificence. Our brothers and sisters are equally magnificent beyond the masks they wear. We just aren't able to see the truth about anyone, including ourselves, because we take information in with our senses and therefore fail to see with our holy eyes, which would only see innocence. In Lesson 161, we are told that if we really could recognize the truth in anyone we have forgiven, we could ". . . scarce refrain from kneeling at his feet." (W.PI.161.9.3)
The words of this Lesson are extremely potent when we are receptive to them. Jesus describes who we are as shimmering, perfect purity, and more brilliant than any light we have ever looked upon. "Its love is limitless, with an intensity that holds all things within it, in the calm of quiet certainty." (W252.1.3) It does seem this Self must be ". . . far beyond this world" (W252.1.5) and thus not readily available to us, yet the memory of who we are is very near to us because it is in our right minds. It is here our reality is held as the Son of God. How much do we want this to be revealed to us? How strong is our desire to know our Self? How much do we want to awaken?
The burning impulses that come from our physical or emotional passions seem like strength to us because they seem to be able to make things happen in the world. Yet they cannot even compare to the boundless Love of God, according to this Lesson. When we are extremely angry, very much in love, or feel strong passions and desires, we feel the power of these burning impulses. Yet they are nothing compared to the power of God's Love, which is quiet, boundless, certain, and calm. It is a different kind of power. Until we experience this power, words can only point to it.
"Father, You know my true Identity. Reveal It now to me who am Your Son, that I may waken to the truth in You, and know that Heaven is restored to me."
(W252.2.1-2) In fact, only by our own desire and readiness is the truth about ourselves revealed. We have powerful support on this journey, but we are the ones in charge of the process. The prayer simply affirms our desire to have our Identity be known to ourselves. It is revealed to us as we focus on mind-watching, taking responsibility for our thoughts and undertaking our function of forgiveness, which lifts the veil that hides the face of Christ.
When I am anything less than loving to anyone, I can ask for His help to release my mistaken perceptions so I can know what I am as I was created. The Holy Spirit is not outside of my own mind, so His Help is always there in my mind. When I experience feelings of unworthiness, I can remind myself these feelings are not the truth. To indulge in self-pity is to stay in the story, declaring our victimhood. Every thought we have that contradicts the truth about ourselves must be observed and released if we are to know the Self. We must see the meaninglessness of these thoughts. We are worth the effort and the vigilance this takes. We have not changed who we are in truth. We are simply delusional, thinking we are something we are not. As Jesus reminds us, "Yet nothing he can do can compare even in the slightest with the glorious surprise of remembering Who he is." (M.25.1.5)
There are not two selves in conflict. We are the One Son of God and nothing else. It is not about having a higher Self and lower self because the self we identify with in this world is not real. We are with God and not at all where we think we are. Our current state is delusional. It is the delusion that we are human beings living in a real world. Until we awaken from the dream, the truth will not be fully restored to our awareness. Our limited, meaningless thoughts are the only things keeping us tied to this reality. Our belief in our needs, lacks, shortcomings, guilt, shame, fear, and death all keep us bound here. We have a terrible case of amnesia. Only as we are willing to bring all of our meaningless thoughts to the Truth will we know the Self we are. Thus, our dreams of guilt, hate, depression, frustration, and specialness are replaced by happy dreams, which culminate in the real world.
Today we say this prayer with true desire and willingness to wake up to the truth of who we are. Notice how much Jesus wants for us our own happiness when he says, "How long, O Son of God, will you maintain this game of sin? Shall we not put away these sharp-edged children's toys? How soon will you be ready to come home? Perhaps today?" (W.PII.Q4.5.1-4) Why not today? Why not wake up to the happy world Jesus wants for us? What keeps us in this state of sleep, when all we need to do is forgive our brother, instead of holding Heaven back by holding onto our judgments and grievances? We keep the belief in sin real by blaming our brothers for our condition. "How long, O holy Son of God, how long?" (W.PII.Q4.5.8)
Love and Blessings, Sarah
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19 The "laws" of chaos can be brought to light, though never understood. Chaotic laws are hardly meaningful and therefore out of reason's sphere. Yet they appear to constitute an obstacle to reason and to truth. Let us, then, look upon them calmly, that we may look beyond them, understanding what they are, not what they would maintain. It is essential it be understood what they are for, because it is their purpose to make meaningless and to attack the truth. Here are the laws that rule the world you made. And yet they govern nothing and need not be broken; merely looked upon and gone beyond.
20 The first chaotic law is that the truth is different for everyone. Like all these principles, this one maintains that each is separate and has a different set of thoughts which sets him off from others. This principle evolves from the belief there is a hierarchy of illusions; some are more valuable and therefore true. Each one establishes this for himself and
makes it true by his attack on what another values. And this is justified because the values differ and those who hold them seem to be unlike and therefore enemies.
21 Think how this seems to interfere with the first principle of miracles. For this establishes degrees of truth among illusions, making it appear that some of them are harder to overcome than others. If it were realized that they are all the same and equally untrue, it would be easy, then, to understand that miracles apply to
all of them. Errors of any kind can be corrected
because they are untrue. When brought to truth instead of to
each other, they merely disappear. No part of nothing can be more resistant to the truth than can another.
22 The second law of chaos, dear indeed to every worshiper of sin, is that each one must sin and therefore deserves attack and death. This principle, closely related to the first, is the demand that errors call for punishment and not correction. For the destruction of the one who makes the error places him beyond correction and beyond forgiveness. What he has done is thus interpreted as an irrevocable sentence upon himself, which God Himself is powerless to overcome. Sin cannot be remitted, being the belief the Son of God can make mistakes for which his own destruction becomes inevitable.
23 Think what this seems to do to the relationship between the Father and the Son. Now it appears that they can never be one again. For
one must always be condemned and by the
other. Now are they different and
enemies. And their relationship is one of opposition, just as the separate aspects of the Son meet only to conflict but not to join. One becomes weak, the other strong by his defeat. And fear of God and of each other now appears as sensible, made real by what the Son of God has done both to himself and his Creator. The arrogance on which the laws of chaos stand could not be more apparent than emerges here.
24 Here is a principle which would define what the Creator of reality must be; what He must think and what He must believe; and how He must respond, believing it. It is not seen as even necessary that He be asked about the truth of what has been established for His belief. His Son can tell Him this, and He has but the choice whether to take his word for it or be mistaken. This leads directly to the third preposterous belief that seems to make chaos eternal. For if God cannot
be mistaken, then He
must accept his Son's belief in what he is and hate him for it.
25 See how the fear of God is reinforced by this third principle. Now it becomes impossible to turn to Him for help in misery. For now He has become the "enemy" Who
caused it and to Whom appeal is useless. Nor can salvation lie within the Son, whose every aspect seems to be at war with Him and justified in its attack. And now is conflict made inevitable and beyond the help of God. And now salvation must remain impossible because the savior has become the enemy.
26 There can be no release and no escape. Atonement thus becomes a myth, and vengeance, not forgiveness, is the Will of God. From where all this begins, there is no sight of help that can succeed. Only destruction can
be the outcome. And God Himself seems to be siding with it to overcome His Son. Think not the ego will enable you to find escape from what it
wants. That is the function of this course, which does not value what the ego cherishes.
27 The ego values only what it
takes. This leads to the fourth law of chaos, which, if the others are accepted, must be true. This seeming law is the belief you
have what you have taken. By this, another's loss becomes your gain, and thus it fails to recognize that you can never take away save from
yourself. Yet all the other laws must lead to this. For enemies do not give willingly to one another, nor would they seek to share the things they value. And what your enemies would keep from you must be worth having, just because they keep it hidden from your sight.
28 All of the mechanisms of madness are seen emerging here: the "enemy," made strong by keeping hidden the valuable inheritance which should be yours; your justified position and attack for what has been withheld; and the inevitable loss the enemy must suffer to save yourself. Thus do the guilty ones protest their "innocence." Were they not forced into this foul attack by the unscrupulous behavior of the enemy, they would respond with only kindness. But in a savage world, the kind cannot survive, so they must take or else be taken from.
29 And now there is a vague unanswered question, not yet "explained." What is this precious thing, this priceless pearl, this hidden secret treasure, to be wrested in righteous wrath from this most treacherous and cunning enemy? It must be what you want but never found. And now you "understand" the reason why you found it not. For it was taken from you by this enemy and hidden where you would not think to look. He hid it in his body, making it the cover for his guilt, the hiding place for what belongs to you. Now must his body be destroyed and sacrificed that you may
have that which belongs to you. His treachery demands his death that
you may live. And you attack only in self defense.
30 But what is it you want that
needs his death? Can you be sure your murderous attack is justified unless you know what it is
for? And here a
final principle of chaos comes to the rescue. It holds there is a
substitute for love. This is the "magic" that will cure all of your pain; the missing factor in your madness that makes it "sane." This is the reason why you must attack. Here is what makes your vengeance justified. Behold, unveiled, the ego's secret gift, torn from your brother's body, hidden there in malice and in hatred for the one to whom the gift belongs. He would deprive you of the secret ingredient which would give meaning to your life. The substitute for love, born of your enmity to one another, must be salvation. It has no substitute, and there is only one. And all your relationships have but the purpose of seizing it and making it your own.
31 Never is your possession made complete. And never will your brother cease his attack on you for what you stole. Nor will God end His vengeance upon both, for in His madness He must have this substitute for love and kill you both. You who believe you walk in sanity, with feet on solid ground and through a world where meaning can be found, consider this: [These
are the laws on which your "sanity" appears to rest.] These
are the principles which make the ground beneath your feet seem solid. And it
is here you look for meaning. These are the laws you made for your salvation. They hold in place the substitute for Heaven which you prefer. This is their purpose; they were made for this. There is no point in asking what they mean. That is apparent. The means of madness must be insane. Are you as certain that you realize the
goal is madness?
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