|
|
| Graphic by ©Deposit Photos |
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 26 THE TRANSITION
VIII. REVIEW OF PRINCIPLES
49 Perception's laws are opposite to truth, and what is true of knowledge is not true of anything that is apart from it. Yet has God given answer to the world of sickness which applies to all its forms. God's answer is eternal, though it operates in time where it is needed. Yet because it is of God, the laws of time do not affect its workings. It is in this world, but not a part of it. For it is real and dwells where all reality must be. Ideas leave not their source, and their effects but seem to be apart from them. Ideas are of the mind. What is projected out and seems to be external to the mind is not outside at all but an effect of what is in and has not left its source.
|
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK for STUDENTS
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Christ is God's Son as He created him.
He is the Self we share, uniting us
with one another, and with God as well.
He is the Thought Which still abides within
the Mind Which is His Source. He has not left
His holy home, nor lost the innocence
in which He was created. He abides
unchanged forever in the Mind of God.
He is the link that keeps you one with God,
and guarantees that separation is
no more than an illusion of despair,
for hope forever will abide in Him.
Your mind is part of His, and His of yours.
He is the part in Which God's Answer lies;
where all decisions are already made,
and dreams are over. He remains untouched
by anything the body's eyes perceive.
For though in Him His Father placed the means
for your salvation, yet does He remain
the Self Who, like His Father, knows no sin.
Home of the Holy Spirit, and at home
in God alone, does Christ remain at peace,
within the Heaven of your holy mind.
This is the only part of you that has
reality in truth. The rest is dreams.
Yet will these dreams be given unto Christ,
to fade before His glory, and reveal
your holy Self, the Christ, to you at last.
The Holy Spirit reaches from the Christ
in you to all your dreams, and bids them come
to Him to be translated into truth.
He will exchange them for the final dream
which God appointed as the end of dreams.
For when forgiveness rests upon the world
and peace has come to every Son of God,
what could remain to keep things separate,
for what remains to see except Christ's face?
And how long can this holy face be seen,
when it is but the symbol that the time
for learning now is over, and the goal
of the Atonement has been reached at last?
So therefore let us seek to find Christ's face,
and look on nothing else. As we behold
His glory, will we know we have no need
of learning or perception or of time,
or anything except the holy Self,
the Christ Whom God created as His Son.
|
L e s s o n 279
Creation's freedom promises my own.
<AUDIO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
The end of dreams is promised me, because
God's Son is not abandoned by His Love.
Only in dreams is there a time when he
appears to be in prison, and awaits
a future freedom, if it be at all.
Yet in reality his dreams are gone,
with truth established in their place. And now
is freedom his already. Should I wait
in chains which have been severed for release,
when God is offering me freedom now?
I will accept Your promises today,
and give my faith to them. My Father loves
the Son Whom He created as His Own.
Would You withhold the gifts You gave to me?
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
|
|
ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 279
Creation's freedom promises my own.
Sarah's Commentary:
"The end of dreams is promised me."
(W.279.1.1) It is promised by God because His Love is with us now. We have not been abandoned in the dream. Whenever we are ready to accept that we are already at home in God, we will awaken to this truth. This dream has had no effect on our reality. We may be feeling very impatient and discouraged along the way if peace and, ultimately, enlightenment still seems to be a long way off. In the Manual for Teachers, Jesus urges patience. He says, "Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety. Patience is natural to the teacher of God. All he sees is certain outcome, at a time perhaps unknown to him as yet, but not in doubt. The time will be as right as is the answer. And this is true for everything that happens now or in the future. The past as well held no mistakes; nothing that did not serve to benefit the world, as well as him to whom it seemed to happen. Perhaps it was not understood at the time." (M.4.VIII.1.1-7)
Isn't that a terrific reminder? I especially love that nothing has been wrong about our seeming journey through time. Everything along the way has been exactly as it was supposed to be for our awakening. Jesus tells us the past held no mistakes, and where we are, right now, is perfect! It is all just a perfect classroom, with everything and everyone in our lives perfectly orchestrated for our healing. And it has all been orchestrated by our own mind. There is nothing and no one outside of us.
I am currently reading, I Married a Mystic, and something that struck me related to the above was when the author, Kirsten Buxton, doubted the value of her contribution, the Holy Spirit assured her it was perfect by saying, "You don't know what kind of effect your reply (to a question) has had on others, and I can assure you that what was said was perfect. Trust in divine order. When you doubt, you block your awareness of me---even doubting after an event blocks your awareness. Every moment is an opportunity to ask me for guidance. Trust that all things work together for good."
This is a good reminder when we start to become impatient or even discouraged or when we get angry about our current situation or critique or second guess ourselves about what we should have said or done. We can rest in the knowledge that there is no doubt the dream will end when the time is right, which is when our minds are ready. And our readiness comes as we learn this dream has had no impact on the truth of who we really are. In fact, the dream has no reality at all! Yes, it does seem to have an impact on us while we still believe we are in it; but we have a choice, to move outside of the dream, above the battleground, moving away from the battleground of our own thoughts. We look at the dream from the gallery of the theater, remembering we are not the characters on the stage. From that place of awareness, we become the observers of the dream figures. When we identify with the dream and the dream figures, we believe we are imprisoned in the world and in this body. The truth is, our only reality is the Christ Self. This is the source of our freedom we experience in the holy instant.
The chains have been severed. Jesus offers us freedom now, but he reminds us, "Prisoners bound with heavy chains for years, starved and emaciated, weak and exhausted, and with eyes so long cast down in darkness they remember not the light, do not leap up in joy the instant they are made free. It takes a while for them to understand what freedom is. You groped but feebly in the dust and found your brother's hand, uncertain whether to let it go or to take hold on life so long forgotten. Strengthen your hold and raise your eyes unto your strong companion, in whom the meaning of your freedom lies. He seemed to be crucified beside you. And yet his holiness remained untouched and perfect, and with him beside you, you shall this day inter with him to Paradise, and know the peace of God." (T.20.III.9) (ACIM OE T.20.IV.25)
Our way to freedom is by freeing our brothers. We take a brother's hand and release him from the prison in which he sees himself by recognizing his innocence, which is how we can know our own. Thus, we go home together. We do it on this worldly plane through forgiving what our brother did not do. In giving, we receive. In loving, we know love. In healing, we are healed, and in seeing the innocence and perfection in our brother, we know our own. In other words, we see the Christ in our brother and thus come to know the Self we truly are. We can only see the Christ in him when we bring to awareness our own blocks to love we hold in our own minds. We ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to reinterpret our misperceptions so we can see truly. We take responsibility for these misperceptions, recognizing we are wrong about the way we see everyone, but we are willing to be taught.
There was a time when I felt superior on this journey, believing that those who did not embrace spirituality as I did were shallow and superficial. I had a limited interest in engaging with them. It was a way I kept myself in judgment. Now I see it was a projection of my own superficiality and just another mistake. Any concept we hold about ourselves, including the concept of being spirituality elevated, has a shadow, which is what we project. The shadow in this instance was my fear of seeing my own superficiality. It was my own self-attack that was being projected rather than courageously being brought to the light. Bringing it back into my own mind was what needed to happen if it were to be healed. True, I feel more at home with my mighty companions on this journey and do seek them out for support, but our minds can never be healed as long as we choose to see ourselves as separate or different from any brother. There can be no exceptions in this.
Freedom is in joining, not in separating. We have been model prisoners for a very long time. We are now using the Course teaching to learn what real freedom is and how to achieve it. We need to be patient in the process and have faith that the end is certain. Salvation is simply to become aware that we are dreaming and are keeping ourselves bound to this dream by the belief in sin and guilt. Undoing the guilt is a process of taking responsibility for our projections. We have been given the means for undoing all that is false. We now need to apply them by being vigilant and mindful in watching our thoughts and taking responsibility for them. Nothing is outside of our own minds.
"Brother, take not one step in the descent to hell. For having taken one, you will not recognize the rest for what they are. And they will follow. Attack in any form has placed your foot upon the twisted stairway that leads from Heaven. Yet any instant it is possible to have all this undone. How can you know whether you chose the stairs to Heaven or the way to hell? Quite easily. How do you feel? Is peace in your awareness? Are you certain which way you go? And are you sure the goal of Heaven can be reached? If not, you walk alone. Ask, then, your Friend
[the Holy Spirit] to join with you, and give you certainty of where you go." (T.23.II.22.1-13) (ACIM OE T.23.III.40)
It is important to watch our minds and not indulge the story, which takes us down many steps into hell. When we notice the first few thoughts of anger or distress, it is much easier to release them than when we build a case. Let us commit to being vigilant today. Let us focus on the certainty of God's promise. Let us remember that all is perfect for our awakening. We are exactly where we need to be at this moment and can choose peace in whatever situation we find ourselves. Practically then, how does this look? Well, imagine an event, circumstance, or person that you deem to be the cause of your upset. You feel a lot of conflict or experience fear. What do you do? The first thing is to stop, take a breath, and come into the present moment, inviting the Holy Spirit in. This may require removing yourself from the person or situation. Now look at what has happened by inquiring what this is about for you. It is not about analyzing or beating up on yourself or making yourself guilty but quietly looking at what is being triggered in you.
The answers may not come right away, but the inquiry is helpful. Why? It is helpful because identifying the issues that have resulted in the upset in you help to bring them to your awareness so you can then turn them over to the Holy Spirit for healing. They are just mistaken notions about yourself. In every situation, we are being called to remember the truth of who we are. Ask for help from the Holy Spirit. This is a time to do the Lesson and be reminded of the truth. The truth of the Lesson will resonate with you because it is already in your mind. You can be at peace even with your upset because you are not your upset. You are the observer that sees the character in the dream that you identify as yourself. When you look at the character without judgment but with love and compassion, you are freed from the dream. In acceptance of the truth are we set free, and this always starts by simply looking at the ego from above the battleground.
Love and blessings, Sarah
|
VII. The Appointed Friend
44 Anything in this world that you believe is good and valuable and worth striving for can hurt you and will do so. Not because it has the power to hurt, but just because you have denied it is but an illusion and made it real. And it
is real to you. It is
not nothing and through its perceived reality has entered all the world of sick illusions. All belief in sin, in power of attack, in hurt and harm, in sacrifice and death has come to you. For no one can make
one illusion real and still escape the rest. For who can choose to keep the ones which he prefers and find the safety that the truth alone can give? Who can believe illusions are the same and still maintain that even one is best?
45 Lead not your little lives in solitude with one illusion as your only friend. This is no friendship worthy of God's Son, nor one with which he could remain content. Yet God has given him a better Friend in Whom all power in earth and Heaven rests. The one illusion that
you think is friend obscures
His grace and majesty from you and keeps His friendship and forgiveness from your welcoming embrace. Without Him you
are friendless. Seek not another friend to take His place. There
is no other friend. What God appointed has no substitute, for what illusion can replace the truth?
46 Who dwells with shadows is alone indeed, and loneliness is not the Will of God. Would you allow one shadow to usurp the throne that God appointed for your Friend if you but realized its emptiness has left
yours empty and unoccupied? Make no illusion friend, for if you do, it can but take the place of Him whom God has called your Friend. And it is He who is your
only Friend in truth. He brings you gifts that are not of this world, and only He to whom they have been given can make sure that you receive them. He will place them on your throne when you make room for Him on His.
VIII. Review of Principles
47 This is a course in miracles. And as such, the laws of healing must be understood before the purpose of the course can be accomplished. Let us review the principles that we have covered and arrange them in a way that summarizes all that must occur for healing to be possible. For when it once is possible, it
must occur. All sickness comes from separation. When the separation is denied, it goes. For it is gone as soon as the idea which brought it has been healed and been replaced by sanity. Sickness and sin are seen as consequence and cause in a relationship kept hidden from awareness that it may be carefully preserved from reason's light.
48 Guilt
asks for punishment, and its request is granted-not in truth but in the world of shadows and illusions built on sin. The Son of God perceives what he would see, because perception
is a wish fulfilled. Perception changes, made to take the place of changeless knowledge. Yet is truth unchanged. It cannot be perceived, but only known. What is perceived takes many forms, but none has meaning. Brought to truth, its senselessness is quite apparent. Kept apart from truth, it seems to have a meaning and be real.
49 Perception's laws are opposite to truth, and what is true of knowledge is not true of anything that is apart from it. Yet has God given answer to the world of sickness which applies to
all its forms. God's answer is eternal, though it operates in time where it is needed. Yet because it
is of God, the laws of time do not affect its workings. It is in this world, but not a part of it. For it is real and dwells where all reality must be. Ideas leave not their source, and their effects but seem to be apart from them. Ideas are of the mind. What is projected out and seems to be external to the mind is not outside at all but an effect of what is in and has not left its source.
50 God's answer lies where the belief in sin must be, for only there can its effects be utterly undone and without cause. Perception's laws must be reversed, because they
are reversals of the laws of truth. The laws of truth forever will be true and cannot be reversed, yet can be
seen as upside-down. And this must be corrected where the illusion of reversal lies.
51 It is impossible that one illusion be less amenable to truth than are the rest. But it
is possible that some are given greater value and less willingly offered to truth for healing and for help. No illusion has any truth in it. Yet it appears some are more true than others, although this clearly makes no sense at all. All that a hierarchy of illusions can show is preference, not reality. What relevance has preference to the truth? Illusions are illusions and are false. Your preference gives them no reality. Not one is true in any way, and all must yield with equal ease to what God gave as answer to them all. God's Will is One. And any wish that seems to go against His Will has no foundation in the truth.
52 Sin is not error, for it goes beyond correction to impossibility. Yet the belief that it is real has made some errors seem forever past the hope of healing and the lasting grounds for hell. If this were so, would Heaven be opposed by its own opposite, as real as it. Then would God's Will be split in two and all creation be subjected to the laws of two opposing powers until God becomes impatient, splits the world apart, and relegates attack unto Himself. Thus has He lost His Mind, proclaiming sin has taken His reality from Him, and brought His love at last to vengeance's heels. For such an insane picture, an insane defense can be expected but
cannot establish that the picture must be true.
53 Nothing gives meaning where no meaning is. And truth
needs no defense to make it true. Illusions have no witnesses and no effects. Who looks on them is but deceived. Forgiveness is the only function here and serves to bring the joy this world denies to every aspect of God's Son where sin was thought to rule. Perhaps you do not see the role forgiveness plays in ending death and all beliefs that rise from mists of guilt.
54 Sins are beliefs which you impose between your brother and yourself. They limit you to time and place and give a little space to you, another little space to him. This separating off is symbolized in your perception by a body which is clearly separate and a thing apart. Yet what this symbol represents is but your wish to
be apart and separate. Forgiveness takes
away what stands between your brother and yourself. It is the wish that you be joined with him and
not apart. We call it "wish" because it still conceives of other choices and has not yet reached beyond the world of choice entirely.
55 Yet is this wish in line with Heaven's state and not in opposition to God's Will. Although it falls far short of giving you your full inheritance, it
does remove the obstacles which you have placed between the Heaven where you are and recognition of where and what you are. Facts are unchanged. Yet facts can be denied and thus unknown, though they were known
before they were denied.
56 Salvation, perfect and complete, asks but a little wish that what is true be true; a little willingness to overlook what is not there; a little sigh that speaks for Heaven as a preference to this world which death and desolation seem to rule. In joyous answer will creation rise within you to replace the world you see with Heaven, wholly perfect and complete. What is forgiveness but a willingness that truth be true? What can remain unhealed and broken from a Unity Which holds all things within Itself? There
is no sin. And every miracle is possible the instant that the Son of God perceives his wishes and the Will of God are one.
57 What is the Will of God? He wills His Son have everything. And this He guaranteed when He created him
as everything. It is impossible that anything be lost if what you
have is what you
are. This is the miracle by which creation became your function, sharing it with God. It is not understood apart from Him and therefore has no meaning in this world.
*Paragraph 36 in Section VI does not appear in the Original Edition
manuscript. This content was restored in the 2009 Revision from an earlier manuscript and was numbered 35a. However, starting with the 2012 Revision, paragraph 35a was changed to 36 and therefore all of the following paragraphs, through the end of Chapter 26, have been renumbered. -Ed.
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"
|
|
|
