Lesson 143 ~ Review IV
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Light is Veiled
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   A COURSE IN MIRACLES
  CH 13 "FROM PERCEPTION TO KNOWLEDGE"
III. THE SHADOW OF GUILT
     
17 Guilt makes you blind, for while you see one spot of guilt within you, you will not see the light. And by projecting it, the world seems dark and shrouded in your guilt. You throw a dark veil over it and cannot see it because you cannot look within. You are afraid of what you would see there, but it is not there. The thing you fear is gone. If you would look within, you would see only the Atonement, shining in quiet and in peace upon the altar to your Father.   
 
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK Part I ~ REVIEW IV
INTRODUCTION
ACIM Review IV 
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
  
* IAMBIC PENTAMETER BEGINS*
   
   Now we review again, this time aware
   we are preparing for the second part
   of learning how the truth can be applied.
   Today we will begin to concentrate
   on readiness for what will follow next.
   Such is our aim for this review and for
   the lessons following. Thus we review
   the recent lessons and their central thoughts
   in such a way as will facilitate
   the readiness which we would now achieve.|
 
   There is a central theme which unifies
   each step in the review we undertake.
   It can be simply stated in these words:
 
   " My mind holds only what I think with God."
 
   This is a fact. And represents the truth
   of What you are and What your Father is.
   It is this Thought by Which the Father gave
   creation to the Son, establishing
   the Son as co-creator with Himself.
   It is this Thought Which fully guarantees
   salvation to the Son. For in his mind
   no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares.
   Lack of forgiveness blocks this Thought from his
   awareness. Yet It is forever true.|
 
   Let us begin our preparation with
   some understanding of the many forms
   in which the lack of true forgiveness may
   be carefully concealed. Because they are
   illusions, they are not perceived to be
   but what they are; defenses which protect
   your unforgiving thoughts from being seen
   and recognized. Their purpose is to show
   you something else, and hold correction off
   through self-deception made to take its place.|
 
   And yet your mind holds only what you think
   with God. Your self-deceptions cannot take
   the place of truth. No more than can a child
   who throws a stick into the ocean change
   the coming in and going out of tides,
   the warming of the water by the sun,
   the silver of the moon on it by night.
   So do we start each practice period
   in this review with readying our mind
   to understand the lessons that we read
   and see the meaning which they offer us.|
 
   Begin each day with time devoted to
   the preparation of your mind to learn
   what each idea you will review that day
   can offer you in freedom and in peace.
   Open your mind and clear it of all thoughts
   that would deceive, and let this Thought alone
   engage it fully and remove the rest:
 
   " My mind holds only what I think with God."
 
   Five minutes with this Thought will be enough
   to set the day along the lines which God
   appointed, and to place His Mind in charge
   of all the thoughts you will receive that day.|
   They will not come from you alone, for they
   will all be shared with Him. And so each one
   will bring the message of His Love to you,
   returning messages of yours to Him.
   So will communion with the Lord of Hosts
   be yours, as He Himself has willed it be.
   And as His Own completion joins with Him,
   so will He join with you who are complete
   as you unite with Him and He with you.|
 
   After your preparation, merely read
   each of the two ideas assigned to you
   to be reviewed that day. Then close your eyes
   and say them slowly to yourself. There is
   no hurry now, for you are using time
   for its intended purpose. Let each word
   shine with the meaning God has given it
   as it was given to you through His Voice.
   Let each idea that you review today
   give you the gift which He has laid in it
   for you to have of Him. And we will use
   no format for our practicing but this:|
 
   Each hour of the day, bring to your mind
   the Thought with which the day began, and spend
   a quiet moment with It. Then repeat
   the two ideas you practice for the day
   unhurriedly, with time enough to see
   the gifts which they contain for you, and let
   them be received where they were meant to be.|
   We add no other thoughts, but let them be
   the messages they are. We need no more
   than that to give us happiness and rest
   and endless quiet, perfect certainty,
   and all our Father wills that we receive
   as the inheritance we have of Him.
 
   Each day of practicing, as we review,
   we close as we began, repeating first
   the Thought that made the day a special time
   of blessing and of happiness for us;
   and through our faithfulness restored the world
   from darkness to the light, from grief to joy,
   from pain to peace, from sin to holiness.|
   God offers thanks to you who practice thus
   the keeping of His Word. And as you give
   your mind to the ideas for the day
   again before you sleep, His gratitude
   surrounds you with the peace wherein He willed
   you be forever, and are learning now
   to claim again as your inheritance.
 
   ~ Original Handscript of ACIM
  
  ACIM OE WORKBOOK LESSON REVIEW IV

CIRCLE OF ATONEMENT ~ COMMENTARY
          
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSONS
SonShip Workbook
L e s s o n  143 ~ REVIEW IV
  [Review Lesson 125 and Lesson 126]

<AUDIO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio

* IAMBIC PENTAMETER BEGINS*


My mind holds only what I think with God. 
  
   [125] "In quiet I receive God's Word today."
 
   [126] "All that I give is given to myself."  
 
     

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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections 
ACIM Edmonton, CA
LESSON 143
Review IV ~ Lesson 125 and Lesson 126
 
Sarah's Commentary:

The Review Lessons are now very succinct, but the intent is powerfully focused on receiving our inheritance from God (W.RIV.9.2) and feeling His gratitude. This gratitude is really for ourselves for having the motivation to learn to remember who we really are and what our function is in the world. Jesus reminds us, "It is as though you wandered in without a plan of any kind except to wander off, for only that seems certain." (T.22.I.1.7) (ACIM OE T.22.II.5) Our purpose is to be willing to use everything in this world as an opportunity for awakening from this dream of separation.
 
We are here for a divine purpose. We are called to do what is required for healing so we can be the purveyors of God's love in the world. We can only do this if we do not block our divine love with thoughts of worry, anger, frustration, despair, revenge, and specialness. When the fear is released, our loving, peaceful Self can shine through us. Our minds are preoccupied with past thinking patterns, which are a maze of conflicting thoughts. We use these thinking patterns to "solve" problems we believe have come to us from outside of our own minds. We formulate plans we think will address our problems. These problems are part of the ego thought system. There are no answers given by the thinking mind. Our only problem is the belief that we have separated from the love we are, and therefore, the answer is not in the world but given us in the mind. The only answer is to accept the Correction; it is to accept our inheritance as the Son of God, outside this dream. Until we accept the Answer, our problems will persist in different forms in the world, and we will continue to look for solutions outside our own mind where they don't exist.
 
The world was made to keep us preoccupied with problems that will never be solved. This process keeps us engaged in the world and it keeps us distracted from seeking the only real answer. We experience fear as our attention stays focused on how we might solve similar problems from the past, or anticipate similar circumstances in the future. We keep trying to fix things on the screen where we can have no real effect. We do anything we can to protect ourselves through control and manipulation of circumstances that arise, but our preoccupation with alleviating problems keeps us from the peace available now. Only by focusing on this very instant, where there is no past or future, is space made for God, truth, and holiness. "My mind holds only what I think with God." (W.RIV.2.2) (ACIM OE W.RIV.3)
 
It is a process of going back to the mind where the problem can be solved. What is the problem? Our only problem is that we turn to the ego for answers. Whenever we make that decision, we keep ourselves invested in the illusion where there are no answers. When we choose to look at our false beliefs with the Holy Spirit, He invites us to step out of the dream and recognize that the answer to every problem is within. There is a doorway in the mind that we are invited to step through, and when we do, the miracle shows us that there is no problem. This means we are looking at our perceived problems without judging ourselves.
 
Yes, there are "problems" to be addressed while we think we are in this world. Yet they dissipate when given over to the Holy Spirit. Then, whatever is to be done in the world is guided by His Love and easily addressed. "There is nothing my holiness cannot do." (W.38) The important thing is to stop and go back to the mind and do the forgiveness work by looking at the ego and bringing it to the light. Now there can be true healing of the guilt, which is the cause of all of our distress.
 
I recognize today how easy it is to fall into fear and confusion when I hold the belief that it is difficult to let go of the guilt and fear that keep us focused on the future. Holding onto guilt is painful but only to the degree that we unconsciously cling to it. The clinging to opinions and beliefs that we hold does not serve us and maintains our suffering. When we hold only what we think with God, we give ourselves a gift of great magnitude.
 
Just as I was writing this Lesson, my computer screen froze and then my computer would not reboot. It seemed to die. This has always been a great source of stress for me, as it brings up feelings of frustration, impatience, blame, and fear. When I take the time to step back, breathe, and recognize that this is showing up for my healing, I can choose to turn my mind back to Source and ask to be shown how to look on this. Everything was resolved when I recognized that the only problem was my inclination to get distressed and to immediately try to figure out what to do in my own way. It was just another learning opportunity to remember to turn to God and ask for peace. The only answer is in Him. How much do we trust that? In this particular instance, as I chose peace, eventually all was resolved with Don's assistance, as we joined in prayer and let Holy Spirit lead the way. Don took my computer in for repair, and then returned home to tell me there was nothing wrong with it! They had put it on the bench to look at it, and it simply came back to life! What does one make of that? Do miracles show up in form? The biggest miracle for me was peace of mind, regardless of the outcome, and deep gratitude for my brother.
 
I was listening to Regina Dawn Akers speak about her website being hacked and all of her material was lost. I often visited her website and felt a sense of loss at not having access to her material any longer. After she reported on this event, she shared how she felt gratitude that the material was gone. She saw it as an opportunity to let go of the past and start anew. She saw it as a gift. I marveled at how easily she moved on in accepting that there was no problem but rather a sign for her to let go. I like how Byron Katie puts it when she says, "How do you know this should be happening?" And her answer is, "Because it is here for you now. There is nothing wrong. It just is."
 
Let us commit today to take time to remind ourselves throughout the day, "My mind holds only what I think with God." (W.RIV.2.2) (ACIM OE W.RIV.3) Today, we spend as much time as we can in stillness, noticing our blocks to love as they show up, and listening to guidance throughout the day. As we bring awareness to our judgments of what is wrong, how things should be, and what concerns us, we willingly place these thoughts on the inner altar and ask to see the miracle instead. The miracle is an inner shift that happens as we willingly let go of our way and turn toward the truth within.
 
We spend so much of our lives searching for love from others, but it is a search that will always end in disappointment. Whatever is lacking in any situation is what we have failed to give it. Now, through this teaching, we are encouraged to ask for help to unblock the wellspring of love within us and let this love radiate to the world. "All that I give is given to myself." (W.126) As we give love, we now know it is in us. We need this experience to recognize the truth of who we are. As long as we seek for what we think we lack, we will seek but never find. There is nothing "out there." It is a futile search. Through the miracle, the abundance of love within is unveiled. The mind that has been bound in chains is now released.
 
Today, we remind ourselves that God's Word is received by the quiet mind, as interfering thoughts are released. We listen to the Voice that knows us and has our best interests at heart. It is our own loving Voice, asking no sacrifice and demanding nothing from us. It brings us only the peace, joy, wholeness, and unity of the One Self to our awareness. It is our own Voice. It is not outside our own minds. "In quiet I receive God's Word today." (W.125) "All that I give is given to myself." (W.126) There is no separation and therefore no one is outside our own minds.
 
This Lesson reminds us that forgiveness brings peace, release, and joy to our minds. We become aware of our unity with each other. We are released from the judgment of ourselves and others. We see that nothing is outside our own minds. What we see in our brothers is some version of the same "sin" we believe is in ourselves. Now we are given an opportunity to remove the "unconscious warriors" that battle within our minds and that we project onto our brothers. These unconscious warriors are our own self-attacking thoughts. Through forgiveness, we join with our brothers and recognize our interests are the same. This sameness is the reflection of the Oneness of God. This is the gift available to us with the help of the Holy Spirit so our minds might be transformed.
 
This Course is only about remembering our true reality, which is love. Forgiveness is the means, and all events and circumstances in our lives become a classroom for undoing our wrong perceptions. To use time in any other way is to distract ourselves from our function. Having said that, using time in distractions and pursuits of worldly pleasures does not make us guilty. We are the Christ and nothing we do in the illusion will change that fact. We have been given freedom to choose how to use time. Yet when we become disillusioned with the world and our own pursuits, we will choose the healing available to us in each moment.
 
In truth, there is nowhere to go and nothing to do. We can truly bloom where we are, whatever the circumstances. We are where we are supposed to be at this moment. The people we need are with us now and are brought to us for our healing. It is all part of our script. Our function is to open ourselves to this flow of love that we are and extend it so that through extension we will know our reality. We have forgotten who we are as we were created, but we can't change the truth about ourselves. The Atonement Principle is the guarantee of our perfection. Our part is to be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom as we watch our minds. We must do this work ourselves, as we are the ones who are constantly choosing the ego as our teacher. The original choice was made outside this dream, but now we can learn to make another choice for the Holy Spirit as our Teacher, reflected in the form of our Brother Jesus, who is always standing by and eager to help us. To do this, we must become as little children, asking to be taught.
 
" Outside the Kingdom, the law that prevails inside is adapted to 'What you project you believe'. " (T.7.II 3.1) (ACIM OE T.7.III.14) This form implies that you will learn what you are from what you have projected onto others, and therefore believe they are." (T.7.II 3.3) (ACIM OE T.7.III.14) As we take responsibility for our projections by seeing them as our own self-attack thoughts, we are able to see where healing is needed in our own minds.
 
"Begin each day with time devoted to the preparation of your mind to learn what each idea you will review . . . can offer you in freedom and in peace ." (W.RIV.5.1) (ACIM OE RIV.7) Let us commit today to raise every judgment to doubt. Watch your mind and be willing to give over all thoughts that would deceive.
 
Let the thought, "My mind holds only what I think with God," (W.RIV.2.2) (ACIM OE W.RIV.3) engage your mind fully in His Word, which is Love. The attributes of His Love are peace and joy. This is what shines through our minds when we let go of the maze of conflicting thoughts. Peace can only come to the quiet mind.
 
Take the ideas for today, "In quiet I receive God's Word today," (W.125) and "All that I give is given to myself," (W.126) and close your eyes. Say them slowly to yourself. Really take your time with these thoughts. "Let each word shine with the meaning God has given it, as it was given you through His Voice." (W.RIV.7.4) (ACIM OE RIV.10) Let the Holy Spirit open their meaning for you and "Let each idea which you review . . . give you the gift that He has laid in it for you to have of Him." (W.RIV.7.5) (ACIM OE RIV.10)
 
Use the time today to commune with God. Turn these thoughts into prayers. Do what works. The idea is to go beyond the words themselves and really take the meaning in. Receive the message of His Love for you today.
 
Take a moment of quiet, hourly, to review the central thought, "My mind holds only what I think with God," (W.RIV.2.2) (ACIM OE W.RIV.3) and then repeat the two review ideas slowly and "unhurriedly, with time enough to see the gifts that they contain for you, and let them be received where they were meant to be." (W.RIV.8.2) Let your day be guided by the Holy Spirit, listening to His Voice. His Love will be reflected in the symbols most helpful to you. It will only be "heard" when you release any blocks to love that show up throughout the day, and remember that you have everything and you are everything.
 
Then close the day as you began, "And as you give your mind to the ideas for the day again before you sleep, His gratitude surrounds you in the peace wherein He wills you be forever, and are learning now to claim again as your inheritance." (W.RIV.10.2) (ACIM OE RIV.12) Let's be grateful for the powerful Companions and recognize, with our faithfulness, that the world is restored "from darkness to the light, from grief to joy, from pain to peace, from sin to holiness."  

Love and blessings, Sarah
A Course in Miracles
TEXT
ACIM Original Edition
Chapter Thirteen

From Perception to Knowledge   

   Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio
III. The Shadow of Guilt                

11 Guilt remains the only thing that hides the Father, for guilt is the attack upon His Son. The guilty always condemn, and having done so, they will condemn, linking the future to the past as is the ego's law. Fidelity unto this law lets no light in, for it demands fidelity to darkness and forbids awakening. The ego's laws are strict, and breaches are severely punished. Therefore give no obedience to its laws, for they are laws of punishment. And those who follow them believe that they are guilty, and so they must condemn. Between the future and the past, the laws of God must intervene if you would free yourselves. Atonement stands between them like a lamp that shines so brightly that the chain of darkness in which you bound yourselves will disappear.
 
12 Release from guilt is the ego's whole undoing. Make no one fearful, for his guilt is yours, and by obeying the ego's harsh commandments, you bring its condemnation of yourself, and you will not escape the punishment it offers those who obey it. The ego rewards fidelity to it with pain, for faith in it is pain. And faith can be rewarded only in terms of the belief in which the faith was placed. Faith makes the power of belief, and where it is invested determines its reward. For faith is always given what is treasured, and what is treasured is returned to you.
 
13 The world can give you only what you gave it, for being nothing but your own projection, it has no meaning apart from what you found in it and placed your faith in. Be faithful unto darkness and you will not see, because your faith will be rewarded as you gave it. You will accept your treasure, and if you place your faith in the past, the future will be like it. Whatever you hold as dear, you think is yours. The power of your valuing will make it so.
 
14 Atonement brings a re-evaluation of everything you cherish, for it is the means by which the Holy Spirit can separate the false and the true, which you have accepted into your minds without distinction. Therefore, you cannot value one without the other, and guilt has become as true for you as innocence. You do not believe the Son of God is guiltless because you see the past and see him not. When you condemn a brother, you are saying, "I who was guilty choose to remain so." You have denied his freedom, and by so doing you have denied the witness unto yours. You could as easily have freed him from the past and lifted from his mind the cloud of guilt that binds him to it. And in his freedom would have been your own.
 
15 Lay not his guilt upon him, for his guilt lies in his secret that he thinks that he has done this unto you. Would you, then, teach him that he is right in his delusion? The idea that the guiltless Son of God can attack himself and make himself guilty is insane. In any form, in anyone, believe this not. For sin and condemnation are the same, and the belief in one is faith in the other, calling for punishment instead of love. Nothing can justify insanity, and to call for punishment upon yourself must be insane.
 
16 See no one, then, as guilty, and you will affirm the truth of guiltlessness unto yourself. In every condemnation that you offer the Son of God lies the conviction of your own guilt. If you would have the Holy Spirit make you free of it, accept His offer of Atonement for all your brothers. For so you learn that it is true for you. Remember always that it is impossible to condemn the Son of God in part. Those whom you see as guilty become the witnesses to guilt in you, and you will see it there, for it is there until it is undone. Guilt is always in your own mind, which has condemned itself. Project it not, for while you do, it cannot be undone. With everyone whom you release from guilt, great is the joy in Heaven, where the witnesses to your fatherhood rejoice.
 
17 Guilt makes you blind, for while you see one spot of guilt within you, you will not see the light. And by projecting it, the world seems dark and shrouded in your guilt. You throw a dark veil over it and cannot see it because you cannot look within. You are afraid of what you would see there, but it is not there. The thing you fear is gone. If you would look within, you would see only the Atonement, shining in quiet and in peace upon the altar to your Father.
 
18 Do not be afraid to look within. The ego tells you all is black with guilt within you and bids you not to look. Instead, it bids you look upon your brothers and see the guilt in them. Yet this you cannot do without remaining blind. For those who see their brothers in the dark, and guilty in the dark in which they shroud them, are too afraid to look upon the light within. Within you is not what you believe is there and what you put your faith in.
 
19 Within you is the holy sign of perfect faith your Father has in you. He does not value you as you do. He knows Himself and knows the truth in you. He knows there is no difference, for He knows not of differences. Can you see guilt where God knows there is perfect innocence? You can deny His knowledge, but you cannot change it. Look, then, upon the light He placed within you and learn that what you feared was there has been replaced with love.
   
 
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