Graphic by ©Deposit Photos
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 10 "GOD AND THE EGO"
IV. FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT
30All your brothers must enter with you, for until you have accepted them, you cannot enter. For you cannot understand Wholeness unless you are whole, and no part of the Son can be excluded if he would know the Wholeness of his Father. In your mind, you can accept the whole Sonship and bless it with the light your Father gave it. Then you will be worthy to dwell in the temple with Him because it is your will not to be alone. God blessed His Son forever. If you will bless him in time, you will be in eternity. Time cannot separate you from God if you use it on behalf of the eternal.
|
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK Part I ~ REVIEW III
INTRODUCTION
<AUDIO> Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
*
IAMBIC PENTAMETER BEGINS*
Our third review begins today. We will
review two of the last twenty ideas
each day, until we have reviewed them all.
We will observe a special format for
these practice periods, which you are urged
to follow just as closely as you can.
We understand, of course, that it may be
impossible for you to undertake
what is suggested here as optimal
each day and every hour of the day.
Learning will not be hampered when you miss a practice period because it is impossible at the appointed time. Nor is it necessary that you make excessive efforts to be sure that you catch up in terms of numbers. Rituals are not our aim, and would defeat our goal.
But learning will be hampered when you skip
a practice period because you are unwilling to devote the time to it which you are asked to give. Do not deceive yourself in this. Unwillingness can be most carefully concealed behind a cloak of situations you cannot control. Learn to distinguish situations which are poorly suited to your practicing from those which you establish to uphold the camouflage for your unwillingness.
Those practice periods which you have lost because you did not want to do them for whatever reason should be done as soon as you have changed your mind about your goal. You are unwilling to cooperate in practicing salvation only if it interferes with goals you hold more dear. When you withdraw the value given them, allow your practice periods to be replacements for your litanies to them. They gave you nothing. But your practicing can offer everything to you. And so accept their offering, and be at peace.
The format you should use for these reviews is this: Devote five minutes twice a day, or longer if you would prefer, to considering the thoughts that are assigned. Read over the ideas and comments which are written first in each day's exercise. And then begin to think about them while letting your mind relate them to your needs, your seeming problems and all your concerns.
Place the ideas within your mind, and let it use them as it chooses. Give it faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who gave the thoughts to you. What can you trust but what is in your mind? Have faith, in these reviews, the means the Holy Spirit uses will not fail. The wisdom of your mind will come to your assistance. Give direction at the start, and then lean back in quiet faith, and let the mind employ the thoughts you gave as they were given you for it to use.
You have been given them in perfect trust; in perfect confidence that you would use them well; in perfect faith that you would see their messages, and use them for yourself. Offer them to your mind in that same trust and confidence and faith. It will not fail. It is the Holy Spirit's chosen means for your salvation. Since it has His trust, His means must surely merit yours as well.
We emphasize the benefits to you if you devote the first five minutes of the day to your review and also give the last five minutes of your waking day to it. If this cannot be done, at least try to divide them so you undertake one in the morning, and the other in the hour just before you go to sleep.
The exercises to be done throughout the day are equally important, and perhaps of even greater value. You have been inclined to practice only at appointed times and then go on your way to other things, without applying what you learned to them. As a result, you have gained little reinforcement, and have not given it the opportunity to prove how great are its potential gifts to you.
Here is another chance to use it well. In these reviews we stress the need to let your learning not lie idly by between your longer practice periods. Attempt to give your daily two ideas a brief but serious review each hour. Use one on the hour, and the other one a half an hour later. You need not give more than just a moment to each one.
Repeat it, then allow your mind to rest a little time in silence and in peace. Then turn to other things, but try to keep the thought with you, and let it serve to help you keep your peace throughout the day as well. If you are shaken, think of it again. These practice periods are planned to help you form the habit of applying what you learn each day to everything you do.
Do not repeat it and then lay it down. Its usefulness is limitless to you. And it is meant to serve you in all ways, all times and places, and whenever you need help of any kind. Try, then, to take it with you in the business of the day, and make it holy, worthy of God's Son, acceptable to God and to your Self.
Each day's review assignment will conclude with a restatement of the thought to use each hour, and the one to be applied on each half hour as well. Forget them not. This second chance with each of these ideas will bring such large advances that we come from these reviews with learning gains so great that we begin again on solid ground with firmer footsteps and with stronger faith.
Do not forget how little you have learned. Do not forget how much you can learn now. Do not forget your Father's need of you, as you review these thoughts He gave to you.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
|
A COURSE IN MIRACLES DAILY LESSON
L e s s o n 114 ~ REVIEW III
[Review Lesson 97 and Lesson 98]
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
*
IAMBIC PENTAMETER BEGINS*
1 For morning and evening review:
[97] I am Spirit.
2
I am the Son of God. No body can
Contain my spirit nor impose on me A limitation God created not.
[98] I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation.
3
What can my function be but to accept
The Word of God, Who has created me, For what I am and will forever be?
4
On the hour:
6
On the half hour:
7
I will accept my part in God's plan for salvation
.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
Hope you will click Heart to LIKE Us
|
ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 114
Review III ~ Lesson 97 and Lesson 98
Sarah's Commentary:
"I am spirit. I am the Son of God. No body can contain my spirit, nor impose on me a limitation God created not
." (W.114.(97)1.1-3) I was writing this commentary a few years ago, right after hearing the news that my brother and friend, James, had made his transition. These words registered deep in my mind. They were a beautiful reminder that the body simply can't contain the spirit. All we are is Spirit. The body was made by the ego, seemingly to bind us to the illusion, giving us the apparatus of the eyes, ears, and brain to fool us into thinking that what we see, hear, and process with our brains affirm what is real, but it is not. Now we know we have a choice. We do not have to buy into this dream. We are not limited by what the world shows us and says is true. In fact, what we see and think that we know blocks the truth. This occurs until we recognize that we don't know anything and that everything we have learned about the illusory world is false. Only then are we willing to be taught. Only when we let go of our false beliefs is truth revealed.
Jesus reminds us, "The lessons you have taught yourself have been so overlearned and fixed they rise like heavy curtains to obscure the simple and the obvious." (T.31.I.3.4) (ACIM T.31.I.3) Our minds, conditioned by past learning, are not simple and obvious. We have overlearned a very large number of complex messages. This is why the Course seems difficult to us, even though Jesus says it is our first language. The truth is already in our right minds where the Holy Spirit dwells. Our problem is that we have overlearned the false, which is what must be undone.
We think of ourselves as human beings, living in a body, contained by it, and constrained by its limitations. We think that as human beings we can have spiritual experiences from time to time if we are fortunate. We are, in truth, spiritual beings who happen to be dreaming this human existence. In this human existence, we have all kinds of fears, all associated with the body and its vulnerabilities, including the certainty of death. If we truly knew we were spirit, what could we fear? What could limit us? What kind of boundaries could contain what we are? What could then die? "Salvation seeks to prove there is no death, and only life exists." (T.29.VII.10.2) (ACIM T.29.VIII.51)
Our spiritual reality is the only one there is. There is nothing outside of God's power, and therefore, we are not outside of God. Even though we believe in the human experience, it can't alter the truth of our being as One Self, united with our Creator. Right now, we experience ourselves as bodies and personalities, so how do we transcend these seeming limitations? What is our path to freedom? Jesus tells us that instead of using our bodies for our own (ego) purposes, they can become a communication vehicle for extending love, and when used for this purpose, they become holy. Thus, we learn about our true nature as love and as spirit, for we receive what we give. We become instruments of healing in the world. Thus, we transcend all limitations.
We learn about the magnificence of the power of His love working through us. This is the basis for what we call the supernatural, although Jesus reminds us, "Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love." (T.1.I.3.1) (ACIM OE T.1.I.3) What is unnatural is the world of the ego. The miracle teaches us that we need not be limited by any laws of this world. Thus, the miracle is not subject to limitations of space and time, and neither are we.
When we accept this, we accept our part in God's plan for salvation. We become channels of His love and peace. We take His Word for what we are instead of hanging onto our own beliefs. Our self-concepts and our self-determined limitations have no reality. I am as God created me. He is the author of my life, not me. When I surrender my authority over my own life, I become ready to take His Word for what I am. That is all He is asking of us. He is asking us to accept His Word for who we are and will always be.
Step back today from your definitions of yourself, all your self-imposed limitations and descriptions, all your self-concepts, all the beliefs in your unworthiness limitations, and realize that all of them are wrong. Why try to fix and improve what is not the truth about you? This is not a self-improvement course. It is not about raising your self-esteem. It is not about becoming worthy for God. This is a course in having all our self-limiting thoughts and beliefs removed by accepting God's Truth. I am Spirit. The body can never contain me. I cannot be limited. God says so. The Atonement Principle affirms that we cannot and have not changed ourselves. As God created us, we still are.
In the Manual for Teachers, Section 25, on psychic powers, we are told that psychic powers are not ends in themselves, but they are there to help free us from limitation by making the illusion of limitation less solid. Even if we don't currently claim to have psychic powers, we have probably all experienced that "Communication is not limited to the small range of channels the world recognizes." (M.25.2.2) We have many examples of this in our own lives: when we think of someone and they call; when we forgive someone in our own thoughts by reclaiming our projections and releasing them, and our relationship miraculously shifts in a dramatic way; when we are in the flow and everything comes easily without any intervention or planning on our part; or when we experience miraculous healing. All these kinds of events help us recognize that the limits of the world do not apply.
To have these experiences, we must get out of our own way. "I will step back and let Him lead the way." (W.155) As long as we think of ourselves as responsible for our lives, in control and relying on the tiny wings of the sparrow, we limit ourselves and bind ourselves to this illusion. As Jesus says, "Who would attempt to fly with the tiny wings of a sparrow when the mighty power of an eagle has been given him?" (M.4.I.2.2) Today, we remind ourselves that we are Spirit, and we have a part to play in God's plan for salvation. Our part is to accept the truth about ourselves, which means I accept you as part of me, and together, we are One Self.
Again, remember to bring the idea to any perceived needs, problems, or concerns that arise during the day. Whenever you are not at peace, apply the idea to any upsets that come up. Look at any limitations in your mind today. If you are not feeling well, recognize that suffering is not part of you. This Lesson, when applied, truly offers us reprieve from whatever we are feeling.
Today, you might want to watch for times when you are missing the practices and deceiving yourself about the other activities and goals you are making more important, recognizing this is resistance. This requires self-reflection and great honesty. The goals we set for ourselves offer us nothing while applying these Lessons offer us everything. How much do we want this? Doing the Lessons diligently can put us on ". . . more solid ground, with firmer footsteps and with stronger faith." (W.RIII.12.3) (ACIM OE W.RIII.13)
Love and blessings, Sarah
|
Chapter Ten
God and the Ego
<TEXT AUDIO
>
Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio
III. The Willingness For Healing
16 If sickness is separation, the will to heal and be healed is the first step toward
recognizing what you truly want. Every attack is a step away from this, and every healing thought brings it closer. The Son of God
has both Father and Son because he
is both Father and Son. To unite having and being is only to unite your will with His, for He wills you Himself. And you will yourself to Him because, in your perfect understanding of Him, you
know there is but One Will. Yet when you attack any part of God and His Kingdom, your understanding is not perfect, and what you will is therefore lost to you.
17 Healing thus becomes a lesson in
understanding, and the more you practice it, the better teacher
and learner you become. If you have denied truth, what better witnesses to its reality could you have than those who have been healed by it? But be sure to count yourself among them, for in your willingness to join them is
your healing accomplished. Every miracle which you accomplish speaks to you of the Fatherhood of God. Every healing thought which you accept, either from your brother or in your own mind, teaches you that you are God's Son. In every hurtful thought you hold, wherever you perceive it, lies the denial of God's Fatherhood and your Sonship.
18 And denial is as total as love. You cannot deny part of yourself because the remainder will seem to be unintegrated and therefore without meaning. And being without meaning to you, you will not understand it. To deny meaning
must be to fail to understand. You can heal only yourself, for only God's Son
needs healing. He needs it because he does not understand himself and therefore knows not what he does. Having forgotten his will, he does not know what he wants.
19 Healing is a sign that he wants
to make whole. And this willingness opens his
own ears to the Voice of the Holy Spirit, whose message
is wholeness. He will enable you to go far beyond the healing
you would undertake, for beside your small willingness to make whole, He will lay His own
complete Will and make
yours whole. What can the Son of God
not accomplish with the Fatherhood of God in him? And yet the invitation must come from you, for you have surely learned that whom you invite as your guest
will abide with you.
20 The Holy Spirit cannot speak to an unwelcoming host because He will
not be heard. The Eternal Guest remains, but His Voice grows faint in alien company. He needs your protection, but only because your care is a sign that you
want Him. Think like Him ever so slightly, and the little spark becomes a blazing light that fills your mind so that He becomes your
only Guest. Whenever you ask the ego to enter, you lessen His welcome. He will remain, but
you have allied yourself
against Him. Whatever journey you choose to take, He will go with you, waiting. You can safely trust His patience, for He cannot leave a part of God. Yet you need far more than patience.
21 You will never rest until you know your function
and fulfill it, for only in this can your will and your Father's be wholly joined. To
have Him is to be
like Him, and He has given Himself to you. You who have God
must be as God, for
His function became
yours with His gift. Invite this knowledge back into your minds, and let nothing that will obscure it enter. The Guest whom God sent you will teach you how to do this if you but recognize the little spark and are willing to
let it grow. Your willingness need not be perfect because His
is. If you will merely offer Him a little place, He will lighten it so much that you will gladly extend it. And by
this extending, you will begin to remember creation.
22 Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God? You will accept only whom
you invite. You are free to determine who shall be your guest and how long he shall remain with you. Yet this is not
real freedom, for it still depends on how you see it. The Holy Spirit is
there, although He cannot help you without your invitation, and the ego is nothing whether you invite it in or not. Real freedom depends on welcoming
reality, and of your guests, only He is real. Know, then, who abides with you merely by recognizing what is there
already and do not be satisfied with imaginary comforters, for the Comforter of God is in you.
IV. From Darkness to Light
23 When you are weary, remember you have hurt yourself. Your Comforter will rest you, but
you cannot. You do not know
how, for if you did you could never have grown weary. Unless you have hurt yourselves, you could never suffer in
any way, for that is not God's Will for His Son. Pain is not of Him, for He knows no attack and His peace surrounds you silently. God is very quiet, for there is no conflict in Him. Conflict is the root of all evil, for being blind, it does not see whom it attacks. Yet it
always attacks the Son of God, and the Son of God is
you.
24 God's Son is indeed in need of comfort, for he knows not what he does, believing his will is not his own. The Kingdom is his, and yet he wanders homelessly. At home in God, he is lonely, and amid all his brothers, he is friendless. Would God
let this be real if He did not will to be alone Himself? And if your will is His, it cannot be true of you
because it is not true of Him. Oh, my children, if you knew what God wills for you, your joy would be complete! And what He wills
has happened, for it was
always true.
25 When the light comes and you have said, "God's Will is mine," you will see such beauty that you will
know it is not of you. Out of your joy you will create beauty in His name, for
your joy could no more be contained than His. The bleak little world will vanish into nothingness, and your heart will be so filled with joy that it will leap into Heaven and into the Presence of God. I cannot tell you what this will be like, for your hearts are not ready. Yet I
can tell you and remind you often that what God wills for Himself He wills for
you, and what He wills for you
is yours.
26 The way is not hard, but it
is very different. Yours is the way of pain, of which God knows nothing.
That way is hard indeed and very lonely. Fear and grief are your guests, and they go with you and abide with you on the way. But the dark journey is not the way of God's Son. Walk in light, and do not see the dark companions, for they are not fit companions for the Son of God, who was created
of light and
in light. The Great Light always surrounds you and shines out
from you. How can you see the dark companions in a light such as this? If you see
them, it is only because you are
denying the light. But deny
them instead, for the light is here, and the way is clear.
27 God hides nothing from His Son, even though His Son would hide himself. Yet the Son of God cannot hide his glory, for God wills him to be glorious and gave him the light that shines in him. You will never lose your way, for God leads you. When you wander, you but undertake a journey which is not real. The dark companions, the dark way, are all illusions. Turn toward the light, for the little spark in you is part of a light so great that it can sweep you out of all darkness forever. For your Father
is your Creator, and you
are like Him.
28 The children of light cannot abide in darkness, for darkness is not in them. Do not be deceived by the dark comforters, and never let them enter the mind of God's Son, for they have no place in His temple. When you are tempted to deny Him, remember that there
are no other gods that you can place before Him, and accept His Will for you in peace. For you
cannot accept it otherwise.
29 Only God's Comforter
can comfort you. In the quiet of His temple, He waits to give you the peace that is yours.
Give His peace that you may enter the temple and find it waiting for you. But be holy in the Presence of God, or you will not know that you are there. For what is unlike God cannot enter His Mind because it was not His Thought and therefore does not belong to Him. And
your minds must be as pure as His if you would know what belongs to
you. Guard carefully His temple, for He Himself dwells there and abides in peace. You cannot enter God's Presence with the dark companions beside you, but you also cannot enter alone.
30
All your brothers must enter
with you, for until you have accepted them,
you cannot enter. For you cannot understand Wholeness unless
you are whole, and no part of the Son can be excluded if he would know the Wholeness of his Father. In your mind, you can accept the whole Sonship and bless it with the light your Father gave it. Then you will be worthy to dwell in the temple
with Him because it is
your will not to be alone. God blessed His Son forever. If you will bless him in time, you will
be in eternity. Time cannot separate you from God if you use it on
behalf of the eternal.
ON LINE SEARCHABLE Original Edition
Hope you will click Heart to LIKE Us Click this Heart and then click heart on SoundCloud page to LIKE Us
|
|
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"
|
|
|