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A COURSE IN MIRACLES CH 25 THE REMEDY
X. THE JUSTICE OF HEAVEN
81 The sight of innocence makes punishment impossible and justice sure. The Holy Spirit's perception leaves no ground for an attack. Only a loss could justify attack, and loss of any kind He cannot see. The world solves problems in another way. It sees a resolution as a state in which it is decided who shall win and who shall lose---how much the one shall take and how much can the loser still defend.
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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.
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L e s s o n 274 Today belongs to Love. Let me not fear.
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Father, today I would let all things be
as You created them, and give Your Sons
the honor due their holiness; the love
of brother to his brother and his friend.
Through this I am redeemed. Through this as well
the truth will enter where illusions were,
light will replace all darkness, and Your Son
will know he is as You created him.
A special blessing comes to us today
from Him Who is our Father. Give this day
to Him and there will be no fear today,
because the day is given unto Love.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 274
Today belongs to Love. Let me not fear.
Sarah's Commentary:
Are we ready for a day that belongs entirely to love? If not, can we be content and satisfied to be on this learning journey where Jesus is teaching us how such a day can be achieved? On our own, with the ego as guide, we have no idea what is required to commit a day to love. We think we know what we need for our happiness, but how can we, when we don't know our own best interests? We are confused about what is painful and what is pleasurable. The ego wants it that way so it keeps us looking for what cannot be found. As we turn more and more to the only Teacher, who does know, we will be guided on how to interpret everything in our day.
To have a day where love prevails requires that we learn to walk this path with our brother, extending ". . . the love of brother to his brother and his Friend." (W.274.1.1) In other words, as we see the Christ in our brother, we will know our own innocence as well. We are One. We have no separate interests. There is only love and nothing else. Only in this recognition will we remember our reality. Thus, we experience the stillness and the peace within us. Our decision to listen to the voice of the ego blocks this experience from our awareness, but we can decide we have been wrong and make another choice. Perhaps, when we start to recognize there is another way of looking at everything, we will become willing to ask for the miracle.
A day of undisturbed tranquility may not be feasible as yet because we are not yet ready. In other words, our fear is still too prevalent. We may not yet be sufficiently motivated. God may not be yet our only goal. This is not a reason for discouragement as Jesus continually reminds us. He tells us that consistent peace and tranquility will be available to us when we are ready for it. The outcome of our journey on this path to enlightenment is guaranteed. It is certain because it has already been accomplished and only awaiting our acceptance. We just need to continue to do our part. We need not compare ourselves with anyone or use anyone as a measuring stick for our own progress. To do so is merely to focus on our perceived lacks and needs. Thus, we pray: "Father, today I would let all things be as You created them." (W.274.1.1) We let all things be exactly as they are. Where we are in our journey is what we are currently ready for. There is no reason for self-recrimination or guilt, which is the ego's response to our progress on this path.
We achieve a day of quietness, stillness, and peace by learning to dismiss our disturbances throughout the day. What are these disturbances? They are nothing but our own thoughts in relation to the meaning we give to events and situations that come up in our day. And when these thoughts come up, what are we to do? The most helpful thing we can do in the moment is to stop, step back, take a breath, and turn to Spirit. And when feelings come up, take time to be with them and inquire as to their source. What must you be believing in order for these feelings to arise? This is not a Course in denial. What are you projecting onto others? Realize that whatever the judgments you put on your brother, there is some form of this judgment you are accusing yourself of. We are being invited to accept responsibility for our reactions and judgments as having their origin in our own unhealed minds. Now we come to a place of acceptance of everything as helpful for our healing. With willingness in seeing we have been wrong about our interpretations, we ask for help of the Holy Spirit to give us His interpretation. Only my own mind gives strength and power to the thoughts in my mind. We remind ourselves today with each disturbing situation, "Today belongs to love. Let me not fear." (W.274)
We may wonder how we could ever see the innocence in our brothers, who seem to betray us, hurt us, make demands on us, or attack us. How could we see them with the eyes of Christ, which is to see their purity? Ultimately, we bring to mind that the judgments we lay on our brothers for their sins originate in our own minds. Thus, to continue to hold judgments against anyone is to hurt ourselves. We only see in others our own self-judgment and self-attack. Love sees only innocence regardless of the behaviors exhibited, and when we see guilt, it is our own guilt projected out. Yet, with each blessing we give a brother instead of judgment, we take a step in the direction of truly seeing who he is and thus claiming our own sinlessness.
Why do we not know the truth about ourselves now? The truth is unknown because we have chained ourselves to our specialness. In other words, we are hostage to the ego rather than host to God. We are hostage to our obsessive thoughts. We try to maintain control and we insist on holding grievances. Specialness seems like a good thing in the world, but Jesus takes a different perspective on it. Specialness not only sets us apart, but it sets us above our brothers. It is winning at someone else's expense. It is a thought system of "one or the other." This thought system is what seemed to buy our separate identities by annihilating God. It is a thought system where we seemed to have waged war against God and won our special, individual self. It is a thought system of win and lose. God had to lose for us to win our separate identity. Now we bring this thought system into every encounter and when we do, we put our own needs ahead of anyone else's. It is all about bargaining to get our needs met.
None of this makes us guilty. Jesus says all that has happened is we have just failed to gain. "Here is deception doubled, for the one who is deceived will not perceive that he has merely failed to gain." (W.133.9.3) In other words, we actually want to keep the guilt and to suffer as a way to keep our separate identity and our specialness. This is what we think we gained in our separation from God. When we see we have just made a mistake and are willing to take responsibility by withdrawing all blame from our brother, we become willing to see our own mind as the cause of our experience. Now we can make a different choice. We can use every situation for healing. We can allow all things to be exactly as they are. By honoring our brothers, we see our equality with them, and with each joining with a brother, we heal our belief that we are these separate beings in competition with each other. In every opportunity we have to bring our misperceptions of our brother back to our own minds for healing, we reclaim the Oneness which is reflected in this world as sameness.
Today, our way to God is through extending love, blessings and, yes, honor to our brothers. We give them the appreciation they deserve because of who they are in their creation. With love, there can be no fear. The choice for love casts out all fear. At the core of our identity and the identity of all of our brothers is our divine innocence, which is the love of a brother for a brother in recognition of our sameness and the recognition of our Friend. To love God is to love our brother. Thus, when we devote a day to God, we are devoting it to our brothers. When we give a day committed to forgiveness, which is a reflection of God's Love, we can experience peace, joy, patience, gentleness, and contentment, which is our inheritance. Our self-absorption with our problems keeps us from extending love to our brothers.
Today, our goal is to make space for blessings to extend through us. Set your intention to give this day to God, and whenever fear thoughts come up, or any feelings of dismay, discouragement or depression, allow them to be given over so they can be washed away. Remind yourself that Love is your goal today and thus, "Let me not fear." (W.274) Fear is a sign we have chosen against the love we are. It is a sign we have turned to the ego as our teacher. Yet what is wonderful is how easily we can choose to correct our mistake and return to love. It does not matter how long it takes as long as we are using time for its intended purpose for healing the minds. Ultimately, we start to experience so much joy, which is not based on getting anything we think will satisfy us. We remember our purpose. We remember why we came here. And everything we previously thought was important starts to fall away.
Love and blessings, Sarah
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X. The Justice of Heaven
78 What can it be but arrogance to think your little errors cannot be undone by Heaven's justice? And what could this mean except that they are sins and not mistakes, forever uncorrectable, and to be met with vengeance not with justice? Are you willing to be released from all effects of sin? You cannot answer this until you see all that the answer must entail. For if you answer "yes," it means you will forego all values of this world in favor of the peace of Heaven. Not
one sin would you retain. And not
one doubt that this is possible will you hold dear that sin be kept in place. You mean that truth has greater value now than
all illusions. And you recognize that truth must be revealed to you because you know not what it is.
79 To give reluctantly is not to gain the gift because you are reluctant to
accept it. It is saved for you until reluctance to receive it disappears, and you are willing it be given you. God's justice warrants gratitude, not fear. Nothing you give is lost to you or anyone, but cherished and preserved in Heaven, where all of the treasures given to God's Son are kept for him and offered anyone who but holds out his hand in willingness they be received. Nor is the treasure less as it is given out. Each gift but
adds to the supply. For God is fair. He does not fight against His Son's reluctance to perceive salvation as a gift from Him. Yet would His justice not be satisfied until it is received by everyone.
80 Be certain any answer to a problem the Holy Spirit solves will always be one in which no one loses. And this must be true because He asks no sacrifice of anyone. An answer which demands the slightest loss to anyone has not resolved the problem but has added to it and made it greater, harder to resolve, and
more unfair. It is impossible the Holy Spirit could see unfairness as a resolution. To Him, what is unfair must be corrected
because it is unfair. And every error is a perception in which one at least is seen unfairly. Thus is justice not accorded to the Son of God. When anyone is seen as losing, he has been condemned. And punishment becomes his due instead of justice.
81 The sight of innocence makes punishment impossible and justice sure. The Holy Spirit's perception leaves no ground for an attack. Only a
loss could justify attack, and loss of any kind He cannot see. The world solves problems in another way. It sees a resolution as a state in which it is decided who shall win and who shall lose---how much the one shall take and how much can the loser still defend.
82 Yet does the problem still remain unsolved, for
only justice can set up a state in which there is no loser, no one left unfairly treated and deprived, and thus with grounds for vengeance. Problem solving cannot be vengeance, which at best can bring another problem added to the first, in which the murder is not obvious. The Holy Spirit's problem solving is the way in which the problem
ends. It has been solved
because it has been met with justice. Until it has, it will recur because it has not yet been solved. The principle that justice means no one can lose is crucial to this course. For miracles
depend on justice. Not as it is seen through this world's eyes, but as God knows it, and as knowledge is reflected in the sight the Holy Spirit gives.
83
No one deserves to lose. And what would be unjust to him cannot occur. Healing must be for everyone
because he does not merit an attack of any kind. What order can there be in miracles, unless someone deserves to suffer more and others less? And
is this justice to the wholly innocent? A miracle
is justice. It is not a special gift to some to be withheld from others as less worthy, more condemned, and thus apart from healing. Who is there who can be separate from salvation if its
purpose is the end of specialness? Where is salvation's justice if some errors are unforgivable and warrant vengeance in place of healing and return of peace?
84 Salvation cannot seek to help God's Son be more unfair than
he has sought to be. If miracles, the Holy Spirit's gift, were given specially to an elect and special group and kept apart from others as less deserving, then is He
ally to specialness. What He cannot perceive He bears no witness to. And everyone is equally entitled to His gift of healing and deliverance and peace. To give a problem to the Holy Spirit to solve for you means that you
want it solved. To keep it for yourself to solve without His help is to decide it should remain unsettled, unresolved, and lasting in its power of injustice and attack. No one
can be unjust to you, unless you have decided first to
be unjust. And then must problems rise to block your way and peace be scattered by the winds of hate.
85 Unless you think that all your brothers have an equal right to miracles with you, you will not claim your right to them because you were unjust to one with equal rights. Seek to deny, and you
will feel denied. Seek to deprive, and you
have been deprived. A miracle can
never be received because another could receive it
not. Only forgiveness offers miracles. And pardon must be just to everyone.
86 The little problems that you keep and hide become your secret sins because you did not choose to let them be removed for you. And so they gather dust and grow until they cover everything that you perceive and leave you fair to no one. Not one right do you believe you have. And bitterness, with vengeance justified and mercy lost, condemns you as unworthy of forgiveness. The unforgiven
have no mercy to bestow upon another. That is why your sole responsibility must be to take forgiveness for yourself. The miracle that you receive you
give. Each one becomes an illustration of the law on which salvation rests---that justice must be done to all if anyone is to be healed. No one can lose, and everyone
must benefit.
87 Each miracle is an example of what justice can accomplish when it is offered to everyone alike. It is received and given equally. It is awareness that giving and receiving are the same. Because it does not make the same unlike, it sees no differences where none exist. And thus it is the same for everyone because it sees no differences in
them. Its offering is universal, and it teaches but one message:
88 What is God's
belongs to everyone and
is his due.
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