Graphic by ©Deposit Photos
A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 10 "GOD AND THE EGO"
II. PROJECTION VERSUS EXTENSION
4 My brother, you are part of God and part of me. When you have at last looked at the ego's foundation without shrinking, you will also have looked upon ours. I come to you from our Father to offer you everything again. Do not refuse it in order to keep a dark cornerstone hidden, for its protection will not save you. I give you the lamp and I will go with you. You will not take this journey alone. I will lead you to your true Father, Who hath need of you as I have. Will you not answer the call of love with joy?
|
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 112 ~ REVIEW III
[Review Lesson 93 and Lesson 94]
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
*
IAMBIC PENTAMETER BEGINS*
1 For morning and evening review:
[93] Light and joy and peace abide in me.
2
I am the home of light and joy and peace
I welcome them into the home I share With God because I am a part of Him.
[94] I am as God created me.
3
I will remain forever as I was,
Created by the Changeless like Himself. And I am one with Him, and He with me.
4
On the hour:
5
Light and joy and peace abide in me
.
6
On the half hour:
7
I am as God created me
.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
Hope you will click Heart to LIKE Us
|
ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 112
Review III ~ Lesson 93 and Lesson 94
Sarah's Commentary:
We affirm today, "Light and joy and peace abide in me," (W.112.(93).1.1) and allow related thoughts to come to mind. We remember too, that light and joy and peace abide in our brothers. I ask for help today to release the impatience that so often seems to rule my life by seeing it for what it is. When I am impatient, I am giving reality to things in the illusion that I believe get in my way. I recognize that I am giving away my power willingly, and I am holding the belief that things should be different than they are. Let all things be exactly as they are. I realize I have made life all about me. I have made it about what I want, what my fears are, and what my needs are, and this is the false self, which is not a bad "me" but simply not real. I can see it for what it is and choose to recognize that I can see through the disguise of this false self. Jesus reminds me that I can choose again to see the illusion for what it is. It has no power except what I give it. If I give it power, I can question why I would want to throw my peace away by giving power to what is outside of the mind. My mind is cause and the world is effect, not the other way around.
I choose today to release expectations of how the day should go. I choose to be content, knowing I am the home of light, and there is nothing I can do to change that fact. I choose to remember that peace is already mine and joy lights up my mind. Only my dark ego thoughts obscure what is already mine. I am as God created me. That is the truth of my existence. I get caught up and lost in the illusion, believing in its reality. Thank you, God, for showing me the doorway back to my Self, back to the truth of who I really am. My nature, when unhindered by illusions, radiates light. If I am the home of joy, then sorrow and sadness are unnatural to me. My nature is of God. He is my home. His is my Will. "I welcome them [light and joy and peace] into the home I share with God because I am a part of Him." (W.112.(93).1.3)
I commit today to be a day when I bring this peace and joy to every encounter. Everyone I meet today offers me another opportunity to see them through the eyes of Christ. Every encounter is one where love is extended, or we hear the call for love. We are all One. If I am to understand this, I must see each brother as the same as me, with the same insane ego, and the same Christ Self. Differences affirm that I am separate. Judgment of my brother shows me that I am trying to achieve my innocence at the expense of another. The truth is that we are both innocent and both share the same ego and the same Spirit. When I judge and see guilt and differences, I willingly bring these to awareness and ask to see each brother truly. Sincerity and desire will take us a long way today.
I recently experienced how important conviction and dedication are to this process. I experienced the power in absolutely choosing to refuse to tolerate my worry thoughts. After that experience, I came across miracle Principle 14: "Miracles bear witness to truth. They are convincing because they arise from conviction. Without conviction they deteriorate into magic, which is mindless and therefore destructive; or rather, the uncreative use of mind." (T.1.I.14.1-3) (ACIM OE T.1.I.14)
There will not be much commentary from me on these short Review Lessons. However, I will comment briefly on the Introduction to the Review daily to keep us focused on what Jesus says to motivate us, as part of this Review. His focus is on having us bring the thoughts from each Lesson summary into our day so we don't just do a long morning and evening practice and then get on with the business of the day and not apply the Lesson. In the introduction to Review III, Jesus tells us, "The exercises to be done throughout the day are equally important, and perhaps of even greater value." (W. RIII.IN.9.1)
Clearly, this is true because it means we are applying them to every situation, every problem, and every difficulty we encounter. It means we are staying very vigilant in watching our thoughts and monitoring our feelings throughout the day. It means we are applying the Lessons and not setting them aside after our morning meditation. Thus, they have untold worth in proving the value of the whole curriculum that he has so carefully laid out for us. "In these reviews, we stress the need to let your learning not lie idly by between your longer practice periods." (W. RIII.IN.10.1)
He is helping us to establish the practice as a habit we bring to everything we do. He urges, "Do not repeat the thought and lay it down." (W.RIII.IN.11.3) We will experience limitless value when we keep the thought active in the repertoire of responses available to us with regard to problems, needs, and concerns that arise. It can seem like just a little thought of anxiety, a small upset, or a seemingly little irritation, yet each thought such as this disturbs our peace of mind. Don't let any disturbing thought go by without bringing it to awareness and willingly releasing it. Be determined today not to use any person, any situation, or any difficulty you perceive, to abandon your Self. I love the way Eckhart Tolle puts it when he says, "Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. This will miraculously transform your whole life." In fact, we are the ones who have chosen it. Life is orchestrated for us and by us for our highest good. We are the ones who set it up to facilitate our awakening to the truth. That is what our lives offer us when used as a classroom for undoing the false self--- to die to the ego before we die.
Remember, we are asked to take five minutes the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night to reflect on the Lessons. "Light and peace and joy abide in me. I am the home of light and joy and peace. I welcome them into the home I share with God, because I am a part of Him." (W.112.(93).1.1-3) And, "I am as God created me. I will remain forever as I was, created by the Changeless like Himself. And I am one with Him, and He with me." (W.112.(94).2.1-3) There is nothing we can do to change the truth about ourselves. All we have done is remain unaware of who we are but all of that can now be changed with dedication and motivation.
"And then begin to think about them
[these ideas], while letting your mind relate them to your needs, your seeming problems and all your concerns." (W.RIII.IN.5.3) We are basically letting related thoughts come to address any need, problem, or concern that we bring to this practice. Let the thoughts come up without your effort. Simply allow them to emerge. They are prompts from the Holy Spirit, providing you with guidance throughout the day. We already have the answer to any problem we perceive.
Do this practice with these ideas in your mind, and "Give it faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who gave the thoughts to you." (W.RIII.IN.6.2) "Have faith, in these reviews, the means the Holy Spirit uses [forgiveness] will not fail." (W.RIII.IN.6.4) The means are given us to release all the thoughts that block our peace as we take responsibility for them. It is never about forgiving anyone; but it is about bringing the thoughts we project onto others back into our own minds and forgiving ourselves for using others to block our own peace and joy.
Remind yourself to do the Lesson frequently throughout the day: on the hour for the first idea and on the half hour for the second idea, giving the idea a brief but serious review.
Love and blessings, Sarah
|
PAUSED FOR WEEKEND
A Course in Miracles
TEXT
Chapter Ten
God and the Ego
<TEXT AUDIO>
Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio
I. Introduction
1 Either God or the ego is insane. If you will examine the evidence on both sides fairly, you will realize that this must be true. Neither God nor the ego proposes a partial thought system. Each is internally consistent, but they are diametrically opposed in all respects so that partial allegiance is impossible. Remember, too, that their results are as different as their foundations, and their fundamentally irreconcilable natures
cannot be reconciled by your vacillations. Nothing alive is fatherless, for life is creation. Therefore, your decision is always an answer to the question, "Who is my father?" And you will be faithful to the father you choose.
2 Yet what would you say to someone who really believed this question involves conflict? If
you made the ego, how can the ego have made you? The authority problem remains the only source of perceived conflict because the ego was made out of the wish of God's Son to father Him. The ego, then, is nothing more than a delusional system in which you made your own father. Make no mistake about this. It sounds insane when it is stated with perfect honesty, but the ego never looks upon what it does with perfect honesty. Yet that
is its insane premise, which is carefully hidden in the dark cornerstone of its thought system. And either the ego, which you made,
is your father, or its whole thought system will not stand.
II. Projection Versus Extension
3 You have made by projection, but God has created by extension. The cornerstone of God's creation is you, for His thought system is light. Remember the rays that are there unseen. The more you approach the center of His thought system, the clearer the light becomes. The closer you come to [the foundation of] the ego's thought system, the darker and more obscure becomes the way. Yet even the little spark in your mind is enough to lighten it. Bring this light fearlessly with you and hold it up to the foundation of the ego's thought system bravely. Be willing to judge it with perfect honesty. Open the dark cornerstone of terror on which it rests and bring it out into the light. There you will see that it rests on meaninglessness and that everything of which you have been afraid was based on nothing.
4 My brother, you are part of God and part of me. When you have at last looked at the ego's foundation without shrinking, you will also have looked upon
ours. I come to you from our Father to offer you everything again. Do not refuse it in order to keep a dark cornerstone hidden, for
its protection will not save you. I
give you the lamp and I will go
with you. You will not take this journey alone. I will lead you to your true Father, Who hath need of you as I have. Will you not answer the call of love with joy?
5 You have learned your need of healing. Would you bring anything else to the Sonship, recognizing your need of healing for yourself? For in this lies the beginning of knowledge, the foundation on which God will help you build again the thought system which you share with Him. Not one stone you place upon it but will be blessed by Him, for you will be restoring the holy dwelling place of His Son, where He wills His Son to be and where he is. In whatever part of the mind of God's Son you restore this reality, you restore it to yourself. For you dwell in the Mind of God with your brother, for God Himself did not will to be alone.
6 To be alone is to be separated from infinity, but how can this be if infinity has no end? No one can be
beyond the limitless because what has no limits must be everywhere. There are no beginnings and no endings in God, Whose universe is Himself. Can you exclude yourself from the universe or from God, Who
is the universe? I and my Father are one with
you, for you are part of
us. Do you really believe that part of God can be missing or lost to Him.
7 If you were not part of God, His Will would not be unified. Is this conceivable? Can part of His Mind contain nothing? If your place in His Mind cannot be filled by anyone
except you, and your filling it
was your creation,
without you there would be an empty place in God's Mind. Extension cannot be blocked, and it
has no voids. It continues forever, however much it is denied. Your denial of its reality arrests it in time but
not in eternity. That is why your creations have not ceased to be extended and why so much is waiting for your return.
8 Waiting is possible
only in time, but time has no meaning. You who made delay can leave time behind simply by recognizing that neither beginnings nor endings were created by the Eternal, Who placed no limits on His creation nor upon those who create like Him. You do not know this simply because you have tried to limit what
He created, and so you believe that
all creation is limited. How, then, could you know your creations, having
denied infinity? The laws of the universe do not permit contradiction. What holds for God holds for
you. If you believe
you are absent from God, you
will believe that He is absent from
you.
9 Infinity is meaningless
without you, and
you are meaningless without God. There
is no end to God and His Son, for we
are the universe. God is not incomplete, and He is not childless. Because He did not will to be alone, He created a Son like Himself. Do not deny Him His Son, for your unwillingness to accept His Fatherhood has denied you
yours. See His creations as
His Son, for yours were created in honor of Him. The universe of love does not stop because you do not see it, and your closed eyes have not lost the ability to see. Look upon the glory of His creation, and you will learn what God has
kept for you.
10 God has given you a place in His Mind which is yours forever. Yet you could keep it only by
giving it, as it was given
you. Could
you be alone there if it was given you because God did not will to be alone? God's Mind cannot
be lessened. It can
only be increased, and everything He creates has the function of creating. Love does not limit, and what it creates is not limited. To give without limit is God's Will for you because only this can bring you the joy which is His and which He wills to
share with you. Your love is as boundless as His because it
is His.
11 Could any part of God be
without His love and could any part of His love be contained? God is your heritage because His one gift is Himself. How can you give except like Him if you would know His gift to
you? Give, then, without limit and without end to learn how much
He has given
you. Your ability to
accept Him depends on your willingness to give as He gives. Your fatherhood and your Father
are one. God willed to create, and your will is His. It follows, then, that
you will to create since your will follows from His. And being an extension of His Will, yours must be the same.
12 Yet what you will you do not know. This is not strange when you realize that to deny is to "
not know." God's Will is that you are His Son. By denying this, you denied your
own will and therefore do
not know what it is. The reason you must ask what God's Will is in everything is merely because it
is yours. You do not know what it is, but the Holy Spirit remembers it
for you. Ask Him, therefore, what God's Will is for you, and He will tell you
yours. It cannot be too often repeated that you do
not know it. Whenever what the Holy Spirit tells you appears to be coercive, it is only because you do not
recognize your own will.
13 The projection of the ego makes it appear as if God's Will is
outside yourself and therefore
not yours. In this interpretation, it
is possible for God's Will and yours to conflict. God then may
seem to demand of you what you do not want to give and thus deprive you of what you want. Would God, who wants
only your will, be capable of this? Your will is His Life, which He has given to you. Even in time you cannot live apart from Him, for sleep is not death. What He created can sleep, but it
cannot die. Immortality is His Will for His Son and His Son's will for
himself. God's Son cannot will death for himself because His Father is Life and His Son is like Him. Creation is your will
because it is His.
14 You cannot be happy unless you do what you will truly, and you cannot change this because it is immutable. It is immutable by God's Will
and yours, for otherwise His Will would not have been extended. You are afraid to know God's Will because you believe it is
not yours. This belief is your whole sickness and your whole fear. Every symptom of sickness and fear arises here because this is the belief that makes you
want not to know. Believing this, you hide in darkness, denying that the light is in you.
15 You are asked to trust the Holy Spirit only because He speaks for
you. He is the Voice for God, but never forget that God did not will to be alone. He
shares His Will with you; He does not thrust it
upon you. Always remember that what He gives, He holds, so that nothing He gives can contradict Him. You who share His Life must share it to know it, for sharing
is knowing. Blessed are you who learn that to hear the Will of your Father is to know your
own. For it is
your will to be like Him, Whose Will it is that it be so. God's Will is that His Son be one, and united with Him in His Oneness. That is why healing is the beginning of the recognition that your will
is His.
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"
|
|
|