Lesson 177
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Reality is Safe and Sure
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   A COURSE IN MIRACLES
  CH 16 "THE FORGIVENESS OF ILLUSIONS" 
III. THE MAGNITUDE OF HOLINESS
      
19 Reality is safe and sure and wholly kind to everyone and everything. There is no greater love than to accept this and be glad. For love asks only that you be happy and will give you everything that makes for happiness. You have never given any problem to the Holy Spirit He has not solved for you, nor will you ever do so. You have never tried to solve anything yourself and been successful. Is it not time you brought these facts together and made sense of them?   
 
              ON LINE: ACIM.OE.TX.CH 16.III         AUDIO: TEXT CH 16, III     
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK Part I ~ REVIEW V
INTRODUCTION
Part I Review V
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio

*IAMBIC PENTAMETER*
WHAT IS IAMBIC PENTAMETER? 
 
   Now we review again. This time we are
   ready to give more effort and more time
   to what we undertake. We recognize
   we are preparing for another phase
   of understanding. We would take this step
   completely that we may go on again
   more certain, more sincere, with faith upheld
   more surely. Our footsteps have not been
   unwavering, and doubts have made us walk
   uncertainly and slowly on the road
   this course sets forth. But now we hasten on,
   for we approach a greater certainty,
   a firmer purpose and a surer goal.
 
   " Steady our feet, our Father; let our doubts   
   be quiet and our holy minds be still,
   and speak to us. We have no words to give
   to You. We would but listen to Your Word
   and make it ours. Lead our practicing
   as does a father lead a little child
   along a way he does not understand.
   Yet does he follow, sure that he is safe
   because his father leads the way for him.
 
   "So do we bring our practicing to You.
   And if we stumble, You will raise us up.
   If we forget the way, we count upon
   Your sure remembering. We wander off,
   but You will not forget to call us back.
   Quicken our footsteps now, that we may walk
   more certainly and quickly unto You.
   And we accept the Word You offer us
   to unify our practicing as we
   review the thoughts that You have given us ."
 
   This is the thought which should precede the thoughts
   that we review. Each one but clarifies
   some aspect of this thought, or helps it be
   more meaningful, more personal and true,
   and more descriptive of the holy Self
   we share and now prepare to know again:
 
   " God is but love, and therefore so am I."
 
   This Self alone knows love. This Self alone
   is perfectly consistent in Its thoughts;
   knows Its Creator, understands Itself,
   is perfect in Its knowledge and Its love,
   and never changes from Its constant state
   of union with Its Father and Itself.
 
   And it is This that waits to meet us at
   the journey's ending. Every step we take
   brings us a little nearer. This review
   will shorten time immeasurably, if
   we keep in mind that This remains our goal,
   and as we practice it is This to which
   we are approaching. Let us raise our hearts
   from dust to life as we remember This
   is promised us, and that this course was sent
   to open up the path of light to us,
   and teach us, step by step, how to return
   to the Eternal Self we think we lost.
 
   I take the journey with you. For I share
   your doubts and fears a little while, that you
   may come to me who recognize the road
   by which all doubts and fears are overcome.
   We walk together. I must understand
   uncertainty and pain, although I know
   they have no meaning. Yet a Saviour must
   remain with those he teaches, seeing what
   they see, but still retaining in his mind
   the way which led him out, and now will lead
   you out with him. God's Son is crucified
   until you walk along the road with me.
 
   My resurrection comes again each time
   I lead a brother safely to the place
   at which the journey ends and is forgot.
   I am renewed each time a brother learns
   there is a way from misery and pain.
   I am reborn each time a brother's mind
   turns to the light in him and looks for me.
   I have forgotten no-one. Help me now
   to lead you back to where your journey was
   begun, and make another choice with me.
 
   Release me as you practice once again
   the thoughts I brought to you from Him Who sees
   your bitter need, and knows the answer God
   has given Him. Together we review
   these thoughts. Together we devote our time
   and effort to them. And together we
   will teach them to our brothers. God would not
   have Heaven incomplete. It waits for you,
   as I do. I am incomplete without
   your part in me. And as I am made whole,
   we go together to our ancient home,
   prepared for us before time was and kept
   unchanged by time, immaculate and safe,
   as it will be at last, when time is done.
 
   Let this review be then your gift to me.
   For this alone I need; that you will hear
   the words I speak, and give them to the world.
   You are my voice, my eyes, my feet, my hands,
   through which I save the world. The Self from Which
   I call to you is but your Own. To Him
   we go together. Take your brother's hand,
   for this is not a way we walk alone.
   In him I walk with you and you with me.
   Our Father wills His Son be One with Him.
   What lives but must not then be one with you?
 
   Let this review become a time in which
   we share a new experience for you,
   yet one as old as time and older still.
   Hallowed your name. Your glory undefiled
   forever. And your wholeness now complete,
   as God established it. You are His Son,
   completing His extension in your own.
   We practice but an ancient truth we knew
   before illusion seemed to claim the world.
   And we remind the world that it is free
   of all illusion every time we say,
 
   " God is but love, and therefore so am I."

   With this we start each day of our review.
   With this we start and end each period
   of practice time. And with this thought we sleep,
   to waken once again with these same words
   upon our tongue to greet another day.
   No thought that we review but we surround
   with it, and use the thoughts to hold it up
   before our minds and keep it clear in our
   remembrance throughout the day. And thus
   when we have finished this review, we will
   have recognized the words we speak are true.
 
   Yet are the words but aids, and to be used,
   except at the beginning and the end
   of practice periods, but to recall
   the mind, as needed, to its purpose. We
   place faith in the experience that comes
   from practice, not the means we use. We wait
   for the experience, and recognize
   that it is only here conviction lies.
   We use the words, and try and try again
   to go beyond them to their meaning, which
   is far beyond their sound. The sound grows dim
   and disappears, as we approach the Source
   of meaning. It is here that we find rest.
 
        ~ The Original Handscript Notes
   

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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSONS
SonShip Workbook
L e s s o n  177 ~ Review V
[Lesson 163 and Lesson 164]  

<AUDIO> 
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio 
      
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
 
   [163] There is no death. The Son of God is free.   
  
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
 
   [164] Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.
      
God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
 
                            ~ The Original Handscript Notes
   

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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections 
ACIM Edmonton, CA
LESSON 177
Review V  ~ Lesson 163 and Lesson 164
  
Sarah's Commentary:

[163] There is no death. the Son of God is free.
[164] Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.
 
We are on our final week of the Review. It is helpful, I find, during this review period, to go back to the introduction and remind ourselves of the practice instructions. Jesus is speaking lovingly to us throughout this introduction, reminding us, "Let this review be then your gift to me." (W.R.V.9.1) He asks us to hear the words he speaks so we, in turn, can be his eyes, hands, and feet needed to help save the world. In other words, we are to become a clear channel for his message with the body now serving its purpose to be a communication device. What was made by the ego for attack is now being used by the Spirit to extend blessings. We now commit to being a light in the world. By allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us, we become a conduit for His healing; but we must clear the way by bringing our dark thoughts for healing. It is our dark thoughts that block our connection to the truth of who we are.
 
"If you cannot hear the Voice for God, it is because you do not choose to listen. That you do listen to the voice of your ego is demonstrated by your attitudes, your feelings and your behavior. Yet this is what you want. This is what you are fighting to keep, and what you are vigilant to save." (T.4.IV.1-4)(ACIM OE T.4.V.56) It is important to see our resistance because it is what keeps us from the awareness of the Christ Self we are. We still want to hold onto our separate existence, which can only be maintained by our investment in our own thoughts. Jesus reminds us that whatever we are experiencing, this need not be. In every case, where our mood is less than joyous, he says it is because we have made a judgment we refuse to let go of; but we can be as vigilant against the ego's dictates as for them. It is up to us.
 
This journey to the truth may feel like a new experience for us, yet it is ". . . as old as time and older still." (W.R.V.10.1) In other words, it is a journey we already know and have already experienced but have forgotten. "We practice but an ancient truth we knew before illusion seemed to claim the world." (W.R.V.10.6) What is that ancient truth? It is "God is but Love and therefore so am I."
 
We cannot leave our Source. We are always a part of God, which is why there can be no death. The eternal cannot die. Yes, we do leave the body in what we call death, but Jesus reminds us there is no life outside of Heaven. There is only one death, which is our final release when we have given up all investment in illusions and returned to Oneness. That death is not of our Self but of the ego identity. It is not even a death, because the ego is nothing. When we awaken to the truth of who we have always been, we realize there has always only been life. Yes, we seem to have had many dream sequences in that one life. These dream sequences seem to have unfolded over billions of years with a variety of characters in our dream, yet the reality is there is only one life. Our Oneness with our Source is certain and cannot be altered by anything we do or anything we currently believe. It is a certainty to which we are called to awaken.
 
We experience glimpses of the truth when we choose to release a judgment and respond to someone's attack with forgiveness. We experience it when we make the decision not to react in anger but choose peace instead. We experience the love when we give up our need to be right and choose stillness instead. We experience it when we feel no sense of deprivation or lack. We experience it when we let go of expectations of how things should be and, "Let all things be exactly as they are." (W.268) We experience it when we release our striving and simply rest in God. We experience it deeply when we have a holy instant of connecting with the peace, joy, and love we are. With each of these experiences comes a rebirth when we no longer react as we have always done, but we recognize a new found freedom. We are now open to new possibilities, and we increasingly trust the process and recognize how all things are perfectly orchestrated for our healing. With these experiences, which come from willingness to release our misperceptions, conviction comes and our motivation is enhanced.
 
For me, the Course was a leap of faith when I started with the Lessons. I was unhappy in my life and had tried everything in the world of self-help and healing that I could think of. When the Course came into my life through the Director of the Institute for Noetic Sciences, Willis Harmon, I somehow trusted the answer was given, yet the Christian terminology initially put me off. I obviously had a lot of healing to do of the judgments I had about my religious upbringing. At the time, I was experiencing deep unhappiness and feeling desperate about my life, so when Willis Harmon showed up I was ready for a new direction. Dr. Harmon, a physicist now deceased, was the perfect person to speak to me about the Course, because he had a certain credibility as a scientist that I trusted. Thus, he seemed the perfect person to open up this path for me, and I continue to be grateful that he was brought into my life at the perfect time.
 
Interestingly enough, in spite of my immediate enthusiasm, it took several months before I actually started the Course. Clearly something in me recognized its power to change my life. Initially, I had resistance to it, although I was not conscious of my fear nor where it would take me. Something in me kept me from what I had really wanted. As things were falling apart in my life, the motivation to do something about it became more compelling, and I finally took the plunge. I started with the Workbook, as the Text seemed too daunting. By doing the practices called for in each Lesson, my life started to change without my trying to change it. Something miraculous was happening and working in my life that I did not understand. I felt a power beyond my limited self and experienced changes that were quite miraculous. With these experiences, my trust and conviction grew. Since then, my commitment to this path has never wavered.
 
I also learned that life, as the ego evaluates it, does not necessarily get better in this classroom. This Course does not guarantee a better illusion but only a more peaceful response to whatever seems to be happening. It provides us with more opportunities to forgive. I found I had more peace in my life, and I had more faith and trust that it was all showing up for my good. Relationships were healed, and I felt more prepared for the challenges in my life. Life became softer and sweeter, although not always easier because the ego will find ways to resist. After all, the challenge is ultimately about letting go of the ego. Without divine assistance, the ego could not be undone, but with spiritual intention and devotion, the dominance of the ego in our lives can be significantly lessened. That dominance is what keeps us suffering. As David Hawkins says, the ego likes to suffer. We get juice out of our experiences and out of our stories. That juice is about being a victim, which allows us to refuse responsibility for anything that seems to be happening in our lives. The ego provides us with the reasons for all our complaints, putting responsibility for what we have called into our lives onto others, whom we can blame with impunity.
 
When we set our focus on God, we recognize there is nothing outside of our own minds. We see we are supported on every step of the way. Our investment in the experiences of this world begins to change over time. What we once valued starts to subside and fall away on its own, until eventually we experience "Now are we one with Him Who is our Source." (W.164) Now we know there is no death. That which is created by God cannot end, and love is for all eternity.
 
For five to thirty minutes or more, morning and evening, start with the central thought, "God is but [only] Love and therefore so am I." Review the two Lessons for the day that support the central idea, and reflect on how they connect and tie together. Use the prayer in paragraphs two and three, if you find it helpful, to dedicate the review time to God, and ask God to lead you in your practicing.
 
Take some time in silent meditation. If your mind wanders, use the central thought to bring the mind back into focus, releasing any thoughts that show up in the meditation time. Whenever you are tempted to be upset about anything during the day, remind yourself that, "This need not be." (T.4.IV.2.2)(ACIM OE T.4.V.57)
 
We can do this practice as we fall into our nighttime sleep, reminding ourselves of the truth, and again as we awake, until the thoughts now become a part of a continuing practice. "And thus, when we have finished this review, we will have recognized the words we speak are true." (W.R.V.11.5)

Love and blessings, Sarah
[email protected]

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A Course in Miracles
TEXT
ACIM Original Edition
Chapter Sixteen

The Forgiveness of Illusions 

   Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio

III. The Magnitude of Holiness    
 
10 You still think holiness is difficult because you cannot see how it can be extended to include everyone. And you have learned that it must include everyone to be holy. Concern yourselves not with the extension of holiness, for the nature of miracles you do not understand. Nor do you do them. It is their extension, far beyond the limits you perceive, that demonstrates you did not do them. Why should you worry how the miracle extends to all the Sonship when you do not understand the miracle itself? One attribute is no more difficult to understand than is the whole. If miracles are at all, their attributes would have to be miraculous, being part of them.
 
11 There is a tendency to fragment and then to be concerned about the truth of just a little part of the whole. And this is but a way of avoiding or looking away from the whole to what you think you might be better able to understand. For this is but another way in which you would still try to keep understanding to yourself. A better and far more helpful way to think of miracles is this: You do not understand them, either in part or whole. Yet you have done them. Therefore, your understanding cannot be necessary. Yet it is still impossible to accomplish what you do not understand. And so there must be something in you that does understand.
 
12 To you the miracle cannot seem natural because what you have done to hurt your minds has made them so unnatural that they do not remember what is natural to them. And when you are told about it, you cannot understand it. The recognition of the part as whole and of the whole in every part is perfectly natural. For it is the way God thinks, and what is natural to Him is natural to you. Wholly natural perception would show you instantly that order of difficulty in miracles is quite impossible, for it involves a contradiction of what miracles mean. And if you could understand their meaning, their attributes could hardly cause you perplexity.
 
13 You have done miracles, but it is quite apparent that you have not done them alone. You have succeeded whenever you have reached another mind and joined with it. When two minds join as one and share one idea equally, the first link in the awareness of the Sonship as one has been made. When you have made this joining as the Holy Spirit bids you and have offered it to Him to use as He knows how, His natural perception of your gift enables Him to understand it and you to use His understanding on your behalf. It is impossible to convince you of the reality of what has clearly been accomplished through your willingness, as long as you believe that you must understand it or else it is not real.
 
14 You think your lack of understanding is a loss to you, and so you are unwilling to believe that what has happened is true. But can you really believe that all that has happened, even though you do not understand it, has not happened? Yet this is your position. You would have perfect faith in the Holy Spirit and in the effects of His teaching if you were not afraid to acknowledge what He taught you. For this acknowledgment means that what has happened you do not understand but that you are willing to accept it because it has happened.
 
15 How can faith in reality be yours while you are bent on making it unreal? And are you really safer in maintaining the unreality of what has happened than you would be in joyously accepting it for what it is and giving thanks for it? Honor the truth that has been given you, and be glad you do not understand it. Miracles are natural to God and to the One Who speaks for Him. For His task is to translate the miracle into the knowledge which it represents and which is lost to you. Let His understanding of the miracle be enough for you, and do not turn away from all the witnesses that He has given you to His reality.
 
16 No evidence will convince you of the truth of what you do not want. Yet your relationship with Him is real and has been demonstrated. Regard this not with fear but with rejoicing. The One you called upon is with you. Bid Him welcome and honor His witnesses, who bring you the glad tidings He has come. It is true, just as you fear, that to acknowledge Him is to deny all that you think you know. But it was never true. What gain is there to you in clinging to it and denying the evidence for truth? For you have come too near to truth to renounce it now, and you will yield to its compelling attraction. You can delay this now but only a little while. The host of God has called to you, and you have heard. Never again will you be wholly willing not to listen.
 
17 This is a year of joy in which your listening will increase, and peace will grow with its increase. The power of holiness and the weakness of attack have both been brought into awareness. And this has been accomplished in minds firmly convinced that holiness is weakness and attack is power. Should not this be a sufficient miracle to teach you that your Teacher is not of you? But remember also that whenever you have listened to His interpretation, the results have brought you joy. Would you prefer the results of your interpretation, considering honestly what they have been? God wills you better. Could you not look with greater charity on whom God loves with perfect love?
 
18 Do not interpret against God's Love, for you have many witnesses which speak of it so clearly that only the blind and deaf could fail to see and hear them. This year, determine not to deny what has been given you by God[. Awake and share it], for that is the only reason He has called to you. His Voice has spoken clearly, and yet you have so little faith in what you heard because you have preferred to place still greater faith in the disaster you have made. Today let us resolve together to accept the joyful tidings that disaster is not real and that reality is not disaster.
 
19 Reality is safe and sure and wholly kind to everyone and everything. There is no greater love than to accept this and be glad. For love asks only that you be happy and will give you everything that makes for happiness. You have never given any problem to the Holy Spirit He has not solved for you, nor will you ever do so. You have never tried to solve anything yourself and been successful. Is it not time you brought these facts together and made sense of them?
 
20 This is the year for the application of the ideas which have been given you. For the ideas are mighty forces to be used and not held idly by. They have already proved their power sufficiently for you to place your faith in them and not in their denial. This year invest in truth, and let it work in peace. Have faith in what has faith in you. Think what you have really seen and heard and recognize it. Can you be alone with witnesses like these?
   
    ~ The Original Handscript Notes

 
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