Lesson 358
HEADER
ACIM Original Edition
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
MANUAL FOR TEACHERS  
#20. HOW IS THE PEACE OF GOD?

4 How is the peace of God retained once it is found? Returning anger in whatever form will drop the heavy curtain once again, and the belief that peace cannot exist will certainly return. War is again accepted as the one reality. Now must you once again lay down your sword, although you may not recognize that you have picked it up again. But you will learn, as you remember even faintly now what happiness was yours without it, that you must have taken it again as your defense. Stop for a moment now, and think of this: is conflict what you want, or is God's peace the better choice? Which gives you more? A tranquil mind is not a little gift. Would you not rather live than choose to die?   
  
Divider Line
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK for STUDENTS
What Am I
WHAT AM I?
 
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio

    I am God's Son, complete and healed and whole,
    shining in the reflection of His Love.
    In me is His creation sanctified
    and guaranteed eternal life. In me
    is love perfected, fear impossible,
    and joy established without opposite.
    I am the holy home of God Himself.
    I am the Heaven where His Love abides.
    I am His holy Sinlessness Itself,
    for in my purity abides His own.
 
   Our use for words is almost over now.
   Yet in the final days of this one year
   we gave to God together, you and I,
   we found a single purpose that we shared.
   And thus you joined with me. So what I am
   are you as well. The truth of what we are
   is not for words to speak of nor describe.
   Yet we can realize our function here,
   and words can speak of this, and teach it, too,
   if we exemplify the words in us.
 
   We are the bringers of salvation. We
   accept our part as Saviours of the world,
   which through our joint forgiveness is redeemed.
   And this, our gift, is therefore given us.
   We look on everyone as brother, and
   perceive all things as kindly and as good.
   We do not seek a function that is past
   the gates of Heaven. Knowledge will return
   when we have done our part. We are concerned
   only with giving welcome to the truth.
 
   Ours are the eyes through which Christ's vision sees
   a world redeemed from every thought of sin.
   Ours are the ears which hear the Voice of God
   proclaim the world as sinless. Ours the minds
   which join together as we bless the world.
   And from the oneness that we have attained
   we call to all our brothers, asking them
   to share our peace and consummate our joy.
 
   We are the holy messengers of God,
   who speak for Him. And carrying His Word
   to everyone whom He has sent to us,
   we learn that It is written on our hearts.
   And thus our minds are changed about the aim
   for which we came and which we seek to serve.
   We bring glad tidings to the Son of God,
   who thought he suffered. Now is he redeemed.
   And as he sees the gate of Heaven stand
   open before him, he will enter in
   and disappear into the Heart of God.
 
    ~ Original Hand Script  
 
  
CIRCLE OF ATONEMENT ~ COMMENTARY
          
Click this Heart and then click heart
on SoundCloud page
to LIKE Us

LIKE US 
Divider Line
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSONS
SonShip Workbook

L e s s o n 358
No call to God can be unheard nor left unanswered. And of this I can be sure---His answer is the one I really want.

Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
 
    You Who remember what I really am
    alone remembers what I really want.
    You speak for God, and so You speak for me.
    And what You give me comes from God Himself.
    Your Voice, my Father, then is mine as well,
    and all I want is what You offer me
    in just the form You chose that it be mine.
    Let me remember all I do not know,
    and let my voice be still, remembering.
    But let me not forget Your Love and care,
    but keep Your promise to Your Son in my
    awareness always. Let me not forget
    myself is nothing, but my Self is all
.  
 
    ~ Original Handscript of ACIM     
         
          
LESSON AUDIO RECORDINGS
Click this Heart and then click heart   on SoundCloud page   to LIKE Us   
LIKE US 
Divider Line
ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections 
ACIM Edmonton, CA
LESSON 358
  No call to God can be unheard nor left
Unanswered. And of this I can be sure---
His answer is the one I really want.


Sarah's Commentary:

The Course talks of healing the mind. It talks of healing our misguided thoughts so we can know our innocence, but here, as in Lesson 345, we are told miracles can show up in form. In Lesson 345, he says, "The miracles I give are given back in just the form I need to help me with the problems I perceive." (W.345.1.4) In this lesson, we are told, "Your Voice, my Father, then is mine as well, and all I want is what You offer me, in just the form You choose that it be mine." (W.358.1.4)
 
The important part of this line for me is that we don't know what is in our best interests or what will bring us peace and happiness. Therefore, we are invited to allow Him to choose. When we make our own choices based on the ego's directions, we will be hurt. We can't know our own best interests if we don't know who we are.
 
In Chapter 30 IV, Jesus is saying that what we think we want in this illusory world, including events, circumstances, people, relationships, jobs, toys, and other material things, may serve us for a while but inevitably disappoint us because, in fact, the ego set it up to keep us in its game. In this way, it has us continually look for what would satisfy us in the illusion, yet nothing ever will. These "toys" may ". . . dance a little while, according to the rules we set for them," (T.30.IV.4.4) (ACIM OE T.30.V.52) but, at some point, we get disillusioned with them. We attack them for not meeting our expectations, and then we say life sucks because it hasn't turned out our way.
 
That is when we become increasingly motivated to allow the Holy Spirit to choose for us. Only He knows what we truly want. We may think we really want what God wants for us, but so often, we end up taking our own initiative instead. Giving up control to Him is what we are learning to do. In Chapter 30, "The Rules for Decision," we are asked to commit to making no decisions by ourselves. "Today I will make no decisions by myself." (T.30.I.2.2) (ACIM OE T.30.II.4) We are called to take the time in the morning, before we get into the events of the day, and set this intention for ourselves. Humility helps me to acknowledge that the "little self" I think I am doesn't have a clue. It is important to look at what humility really is. To do that, we should perhaps look at what it is not. It is not about diminishing ourselves or accepting unworthiness as a value. Instead, it is to ". . . accept of Him that which we are, and humbly recognize the Son of God." (W.152.10.2) In other words, we are accepting our greatness, not as a self-concept but as who we are. Thus, our ideas about ourselves must be seen as false, and we ask in humility to be shown. We acknowledge "I do not know the thing I am, and therefore do not know what I am doing, where I am, or how to look upon the world or on myself." (T.31.V.17.7) (ACIM OE T.31.V.60)
 
Humility accepts our grandeur and not the grandiosity of the ego; it is our holiness. Our beloved teacher is gently showing us the way to remember who we really are. The Christ Self is our reality. Our self-image may seem humble, but it is actually arrogance, masking as humility. Anything of our own making is a false image, no matter what it may look like. In the Manual for Teachers, Jesus talks of our ". . . guilty embarrassment coming from false humility." (M.7.5.6) This comes from the self-image as a result of how we have been socialized by the norms of the world, rather than recognizing the truth of who we are beyond the image. When we recognize that "His answer is the one I really want," (W.358) we will be willing to release our own answers and humbly depend on His guidance for everything.
 
In Chapter 9, Sections I and II, Jesus discusses the reason prayer is not answered in the way we might expect. In one instance, we may not get an answer because we are asking for nothing; and in another instance, it is because we are asking for something that might hurt us or bring on more fear. Since the Course is about escape from fear, the Holy Spirit will not give us anything that will increase our fear or threaten our thought system. Further, there are many answers he says we have received but not yet heard. While all prayers are answered, they are not all accepted due to our own resistance.
 
That is why the Holy Spirit must look out for our interests. "You speak for God, and so You speak for me. And what You give me comes from God Himself." (W.358.1.2-3) Thus, God will only give us what is good for us since we really have no idea of our own needs and wants. How can we since we don't know what we are? When we listen to the ego, we reach out for pleasure but always receive pain.
 
What are we looking for when we ask for idols? Don't we all want happiness, peace, and joy? We think the things we are asking for will make us happy, yet they won't. Until we get that, we will keep seeking and will never find. It is interesting to watch our minds at this time of year when we see the commercial aspects of Christmas and perhaps our desires for certain things. We may also hold expectations of how our family gatherings should be. This can create tension and bring about disappointments. What a wonderful opportunity to watch what is in our minds and place our unhealed perspectives on the inner altar for forgiveness. We ask for help and guidance, trusting our call will be heard and answered when we ask for healing. Why can we be so sure about this? We can be sure because the answer is already in our own minds and we can choose it at any time we turn to the Voice that speaks for God and not the voice of the ego. The ego has written the script for our special relationships, and now we make the choice to forgive these relationships. Our function is to remember Jesus' teaching in every moment we can.
 
I was recently reading Michael Singer's book, "The Surrender Experiment," where he simply said "yes" to everything. In the process, he could see how much the ego resisted what was being presented to him. He looked past the resistance and chose to live in constant acceptance. This book really caught my attention and shifted my mind. I think it fits in very well with this lesson.

Love and blessings, Sarah
PAUSED FOR WEEKEND
ACIM Original Edition
#19. What is Justice?

1 Justice is the divine correction for injustice. Injustice is the basis for all the judgments of the world. Justice corrects the interpretations to which injustice gives rise and cancels them out. Neither justice nor injustice exists in Heaven, for error is impossible and correction meaningless. In this world, however, forgiveness depends on justice since all attack can only be unjust. Justice is the Holy Spirit's verdict upon the world. Except in His judgment, justice is impossible, for no one in the world is capable of making only just interpretations and laying all injustices aside. If God's Son were fairly judged, there would be no need for salvation. The thought of separation would have been forever inconceivable.
 
2 Justice, like its opposite, is an interpretation. It is, however, the one interpretation that leads to truth. This becomes possible because, while it is not true in itself, justice includes nothing that opposes truth. There is no inherent conflict between justice and truth; one is but the first small step in the direction of the other. The path becomes quite different as one goes along. Nor could all the magnificence, the grandeur of the scene and the enormous opening vistas that rise to meet one as he travels on, be foretold from the outset. Yet even these, whose splendor reaches indescribable heights as one proceeds, falls short indeed of all that awaits one when the pathway ceases and time ends with it. But somewhere one must start. Justice is the beginning.
 
3 All concepts of your brothers and yourself, all fears of future states, and all concern about the past stem from injustice. Here is the lens which, held before the body's eyes, distorts perception and brings witness of the distorted world back to the mind that made the lens and holds it very dear. Selectively and arbitrarily is every concept of the world built up in just this way. "Sins" are perceived and justified by this careful selectivity in which all thought of wholeness must be lost. Forgiveness has no place in such a scheme, for not one "sin" but seems forever true.
 
4 Salvation is God's justice. It restores to your awareness the wholeness of the fragments you perceive as broken off and separate. And it is this that overcomes the fear of death. For separate fragments must decay and die, but wholeness is immortal. It remains forever and forever like its Creator, being one with Him. God's Judgment is His justice. Onto this-a judgment wholly lacking in condemnation, an evaluation based entirely on love-you have projected your injustice, attributing to God the lens of warped perception through which you look. Now it belongs to Him and not to you. You are afraid of Him and do not see you hate and fear your Self as enemy.
 
5 Pray for God's justice, and do not confuse His mercy with your own insanity. Perception can make whatever picture the mind desires to see. Remember this. In this lies either Heaven or hell, as you elect. God's justice points to Heaven just because it is entirely impartial. It accepts all evidence that is brought before it, omitting nothing and assessing nothing as separate and apart from all the rest. From this one standpoint does it judge, and this alone. Here all attack and condemnation becomes meaningless and indefensible. Perception rests, the mind is still, and light returns again. Vision is now restored. What had been lost has now been found. The peace of God descends on all the world and we can see. And we can see!
 
 
#20. What is the Peace of God?

1 It has been said that there is a kind of peace that is not of this world. How is it recognized? How is it found? And being found, how can it be retained? Let us consider each of these questions separately, for each reflects a different step along the way.
 
2 First, how can the peace of God be recognized? God's peace is recognized at first by just one thing---in every way it is totally unlike all previous experiences. It calls to mind nothing that went before. It brings with it no past associations. It is a new thing entirely. There is a contrast, yes, between this thing and all the past. But strangely, it is not a contrast of true differences. The past just slips away and in its place is everlasting quiet. Only that. The contrast first perceived has merely gone. Quiet has reached to cover everything.
 
3 How is this quiet found? No one can fail to find it who but seeks out its conditions. God's peace can never come where anger is, for anger must deny that peace exists. Who sees anger as justified in any way or any circumstance proclaims that peace is meaningless and must believe that it cannot exist. In this condition peace cannot be found. Therefore forgiveness is the necessary condition for finding the peace of God. More than this, given forgiveness there must be peace. For what except attack will lead to war? And what but peace is opposite to war? Here the initial contrast stands out clear and apparent. Yet when peace is found, the war is meaningless. And it is conflict now that is perceived as non-existent and unreal.
 
4 How is the peace of God retained once it is found? Returning anger in whatever form will drop the heavy curtain once again, and the belief that peace cannot exist will certainly return. War is again accepted as the one reality. Now must you once again lay down your sword, although you may not recognize that you have picked it up again. But you will learn, as you remember even faintly now what happiness was yours without it, that you must have taken it again as your defense. Stop for a moment now, and think of this: is conflict what you want, or is God's peace the better choice? Which gives you more? A tranquil mind is not a little gift. Would you not rather live than choose to die?
 
5 Living is joy, but death can only weep. You see in death escape from what you made. But this you do not see---that you made death, and it is but illusion of an end. Death cannot be escape because it is not life in which the problem lies. Life has no opposite, for it is God. Life and death seem to be opposites because you have decided that death ends life. Forgive the world, and you will understand that everything which God created cannot have an end, and nothing He did not create is real. In this one sentence is our course explained. In this one sentence is our practicing given its one direction. And in this the Holy Spirit's whole curriculum is specified exactly as it is.
 
6 What is the peace of God? No more than this-the simple understanding that His Will is wholly without opposite. There is no thought that contradicts His Will yet can be true. The contrast between His Will and yours but seemed to be reality. In truth there is no conflict because His Will is yours. Now is the mighty Will of God Himself His gift to you. He does not seek to keep it for Himself. Why would you seek to keep your tiny, frail imaginings apart from Him? The Will of God is one and all there is. This is your heritage. The universe beyond the sun and stars and all the thoughts of which you can conceive belong to you. God's peace is the condition for His Will. Attain His peace, and you remember Him.
 

  ON LINE SEARCHABLE Original Edition
 2015 Schedule of Lessons & Text Readings   
 
 
TEXT CONFERENCE CALL RECORDINGS

Hope you will click Heart to LIKE Us
Click this Heart and then click heart on SoundCloud page
to LIKE Us 

LIKE US 
Divider Line
To make a Tax-Deductible Donation in support of the Daily Lessons
just click the "DONATION" button below.

DAILY LESSONS

  To GIVE and to RECEIVE are One in Truth.  Lesson 108

Presently all CIMS projects are wholly supported by free will gifts of time, talent, and money. If you would like to support any of the activities of the Society in any way, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Because of the international character of CIMS, the internet is our primary means of communicating and collaborating.
  
CIMS is a section 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, and donations are tax deductible.
  
ALSO, by means of your will or other estate plan, you can name "Course in Miracles Society" as the beneficiary of a portion of your estate, or of particular assets in your estate.

In this way, you are honoring your loved ones while also providing critical support to the extension of LOVE.
 
Namaste and Thank You!
Send all inquiries to:
Donation to CIMS
 
____________________________ 
COURSE IN MIRACLES SOCIETY
7602 Pacific Street, Suite 200
Omaha, NE 68114 USA
Voice: 800-771-5056
Fax: 402-391-0343

Course in Miracles Society | 800-771-5056 | http://jcim.net