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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 19 "BEYOND THE BODY"
V. d. THE FOURTH OBSTACLE: "THE FEAR OF GOD"
"The Lifting of the Veil"
107 Free your brother here, as I freed you. Give him the self-same gift, nor look upon him with condemnation of any kind. See him as guiltless as I look on you, and overlook the sins he thinks he sees within himself. Offer each other freedom and complete release from sin here in the garden of seeming agony and death. So will we prepare together the way unto the resurrection of God's Son and let him rise again to glad remembrance of his Father, Who knows no sin, no death, but only life eternal.
ON LINE: ACIM.OE.TX.CH 19.Vd
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
WORKBOOK Part I
REVIEW VI
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Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
With this review, we take but one idea
each day, and practice it as often as
is possible. Besides the time we give
morning and evening, which should not be less
than fifteen minutes, and the hourly
remembrances we make throughout the day,
use the idea as often as you can
between them. Each of these ideas alone
would be sufficient for salvation, if
it is learned truly. Each would be enough
to give release to you and to the world
from every form of bondage, and invite
the memory of God to come again.
With this in mind, we start our practicing
in which we carefully review the thoughts
the Holy Spirit has bestowed on us
in our last twenty lessons. Each contains
the whole curriculum, if understood,
practiced, accepted and applied to all
the seeming happenings throughout the day.
One is enough. But for that one there must
be no exceptions made. And so we need
to use them all, and let them blend as one
as each contributes to the whole we learn.
These practice lessons, like our last review,
are centered round a central theme with which
we start and end each lesson. It is this:
"
I am not a body. I am free.
For I am still as God created me."
The day begins and ends with this. And we
repeat it every time the hour strikes,
or we remember, in between, we have
a function that transcends the world we see.
Beyond this and a repetition of
the special thought we practice for the day,
no form of exercise is urged, except
a deep relinquishing of everything
that clutters up your mind, and makes it deaf
to reason, sanity and simple truth.
We will attempt to get beyond all words
and special forms of practicing for this
review. For we attempt this time to reach
a quickened pace along a shorter path
to the serenity and peace of God.
We merely close our eyes, and then forget
all that we thought we saw and understood.
For thus is freedom given us from all
we did not know and failed to understand.
There is but one exception to this lack
of structuring. Permit no idle thought
to go unchallenged. If you notice one,
deny its hold and hasten to assure
your mind that this is not what it would have.
Then gently let the thought which you denied
be given up in sure and quick exchange
for the idea we practice for the day.
When you are tempted, hasten to proclaim
your freedom from temptation, as you say:
"
This thought I do not want. I choose instead..."
And then repeat the idea for the day,
and let it take the place of what you thought.
Beyond such special applications of
each day's idea, we will add but few
formal expressions for specific thoughts
to aid your practicing. Instead we give
these times of quiet to the Teacher Who
instructs in quiet, speaks of peace, and gives
our thoughts whatever meaning they may have.
To Him I offer this review for you.
I place you in His charge, and let Him teach
you what to do and say and think each time
you turn to Him. He will not fail to be
available to you each time you call
to Him to help you. Let us offer Him
the whole review we now begin, and let
us also not forget to Whom it has
been given, as we practice, day by day,
advancing toward the goal He set for us;
allowing Him to teach us how to go,
and trusting Him completely for the way
each practice period can best become
a loving gift of freedom to the world.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM September 1, 1970
ACIM OE WORKBOOK REVIEW VI
CIRCLE OF ATONEMENT ~ COMMENTARY on INTRODUCTION
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSONS
L e s s o n 220
<AUDIO><VIDEO>
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
I am not a body. I am free.
For I am still as God created me.
[200] There is no peace except the peace of God.
Let me not wander from the way of peace,
for I am lost on other roads than this.
But let me follow Him Who leads me home,
and peace is certain as the Love of God.
I am not a body. I am free.
For I am still as God created me
.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 220 Review VI
[200] There is no peace except the peace of God.
Sarah's Commentary:
Today is our final day of the Review after twenty days in which we reminded ourselves over and over, "I am not a body." (W.RVI.3.3) Now we are asked to remember that any road but the road home takes us nowhere. "You are free to try as many as you wish, but all you will be doing is to delay your homecoming. For you will be content only in magnitude, which is your home." (T.15.III.2.5-6) (ACIM T.15.IV.23) There is no peace except the peace of God. (W.200) To delay is to suffer, but we are free to make that choice. Until we make Heaven a priority, we will wander many roads but go nowhere when we choose the ego as our guide. As long as we rely on our own will, we will remain lost. It is not because we are lost, but because we are not aware of our true reality as a Son of God, safe at home with God. We cannot separate from His Love, but we can choose to wander from it.
Our freedom is in remembering the truth about ourselves, which requires that we bring all of the ways we block love to awareness. These blocks are based entirely on our egoic thought system. Thus, it is up to us to remain vigilant in watching the mind and redirecting our thoughts, asking for help from God, and keeping our mind focused on the blessing. Peace does not come from a change in behavior, or anything outside of ourselves, but only from a change of mind. "You may believe that you are responsible for what you do, but not for what you think. The truth is that you are responsible for what you think, because it is only at this level that you can exercise choice. What you do comes from what you think." (T.2.VI.2.5-7) (ACIM OE T.2.IV.73) Further, in the same section, Jesus says that behavior "is controlled by me [Jesus] automatically as soon as you place what you think under my guidance." (T.2.VI.2.9) (ACIM OE T.2.IV.74) Thus, it is all about changing our minds and the behavior will follow.
When we do the healing work and become a clear channel for the Holy Spirit, the body can be used by Him for His holy purpose. Peace will only come when we "follow Him Who leads me home." (W.220.1.3) There is no question about the certainty of our homecoming, but it requires that we join with our brothers in equality. As Jesus reminds us:
"This brother neither leads nor follows us, but walks beside us on the selfsame road. He is like us, as near or far away from what we want as we will let him be. We make no gains he does not make with us, and we fall back if he does not advance. Take not his hand in anger but in love, for in his progress do you count your own. And we go separately along the way unless you keep him safely by your side."
(T.31.II.6.5-9) (ACIM OE T.31.II.20)
"Together is your joint inheritance remembered and accepted by you both. Alone it is denied to both of you. Is it not clear that while you still insist on leading or on following, you think you walk alone, with no one by your side? This is the road to nowhere, for the light cannot be given while you walk alone, and so you cannot see which way you go. And thus there is confusion, and a sense of endless doubting as you stagger back and forward in the darkness and alone. Yet these are but appearances of what the journey is, and how it must be made. For next to you is One Who holds the light before you, so that every step is made in certainty and sureness of the road. A blindfold can indeed obscure your sight, but cannot make the way itself grow dark. And He Who travels with you has the light."
(T.31.II.11.1-9) (ACIM OE T.31.II.25)
The ego keeps assuring us that we can find peace if we keep looking for it outside of ourselves: whether it is through a special relationship, by making more money, getting the right job, or achieving power, fame, and status in the world. Yet there is no peace to be found in any of these worldly pursuits. Peace comes only when we are willing to look within. It reflects our dedication to the healing of our minds. The Lesson reminds us to "Let me not wander from the way of peace" (W.220.1.2) because, indeed, we do this when we pursue various distractions. Let us focus on remembering our dedication to finding the peace within that is only available to us by following the way given us by "Him Who leads us home." (W.220.1.3) His light will guide us, and our brothers will walk with us.
This means that we must be disciplined and engage in mind watching. We must keep affirming the truth about our reality, stay open to guidance, and follow in the way we are led by the Holy Spirit. It means we must stay very vigilant about how the ego disguises itself behind special relationships in which we limit love to part of the Sonship and thus bring guilt to our relationships. The ego also can fool us by appearing loving, exhibiting false empathy, giving to get, "lovingly" correcting others, debating issues, seeing differences, holding opinions, and trying to control both events and people in our lives. They are all subtle ways of attacking, which we keep hidden from awareness.
How we come to see our attacks is by looking at the effects on others. Any problem or conflict we experience can be investigated to see how we are responsible for what we elicit in others. When we try to resolve, on our own, any issue that we perceive, we are turning to the ego for an answer. What this does is to continue to keep the problem and throw away our peace.
"The ego always tries to preserve conflict. It is very ingenious in devising ways that seem to diminish conflict, because it does not want you to find conflict so intolerable that you will insist on giving it up."
(T.7.VIII.2.2-3) (ACIM OE T.7.IX.84) I was recently at a function where the conversation turned to a discussion about breaking and entering. A request was made, by one of those attending, that the group not discuss this topic because it created anxiety in this person, whose son was involved in a crime. This is an example of how we try to control external events, rather than going back to the mind and inquiring more deeply about the real cause of the upset, where the answer is. The only way to peace is within, not by trying to change the forms of the world. Changing anything in form will never address the problem. There is only one problem and one solution. It is all the same.
When we think that we know how to solve the problems that we perceive in our lives, we are turning to the ego, which is not interested in resolution. Its goal is to maintain the guilt, rather than to connect with our innocence. The only sanity is within. Jesus reminds us of this when he says, "Inward is sanity; insanity is outside you." (T.18.I.7.4) (ACIM OE T.18.II.7) We are being called to stay focused on what is going on within; otherwise, we step right back into the delusion, which is affirmed by our senses. Our moments of sanity come from this inward focus. As soon as we get caught up in the world with feelings of anger, impatience, annoyance, and jealousy, we are focusing our attention outside, where there can be no healing. It is always about bringing everything back into the mind.
Recently, I took a walk with Don, and he decided to go through a rocky, muddy area. I was wearing sandals and told him I did not want to go there, but he went anyway. So, I continued on a different path where I felt guided to go and I met up with him down the road when our paths joined. Annoyance flared up in me that he would disregard my request to stay on the sidewalk. I took a moment to go within and looked at my feelings in which I felt disrespected, disregarded, unimportant to him, and so on. Rather than act on those feelings, I chose to go within and give them over to the Holy Spirit. I applied the practice by saying, "This feeling I do not want. I choose instead to remember there is no peace except the peace of God." How easy it is to do and yet how resistant we can be. I shared my process with him, as a lesson for myself of what I wanted to practice more and more so the ego's dominance in my life could be increasingly diminished. And in that sharing, love was not disrupted by attack.
This Lesson ends the Part I of the Workbook. It is now the final reminder of the importance of listening to the Holy Spirit and not the ego. Jesus is urging us not to get lost in the illusion, but to keep focused on opening up to real peace. We are urged to turn to the truth, already in our minds, and not to listen to the thoughts coming from the ego. We are also urged to maintain a willingness to have our thoughts be corrected. I cannot overemphasize the importance of willingness and daily application, as situations and events show up in our lives to be brought to truth. Otherwise, we are just holding lovely thoughts when it is convenient for us to do so, rather than doing the work of undoing the ego with the support of our Inner Teacher and Guide. It is all about our purpose that we must monitor throughout the day. Is the world a classroom for undoing our misperceptions, or do we look to it for support of our false self?
Everything in our day is another opportunity to look at purpose more deeply and truly recognize that our freedom has nothing to do with the demands of the day. It is all about maintaining vigilance and staying focused on our purpose, which is to awaken and not to get lost on the roadways of this world. Every situation is just a backdrop to how we can best learn the lesson---that we are One with all there is. This gives meaning to our day and helps us to remember our Father's love for us.
Let us watch our thoughts today with honesty and courage and recognize our projections that maintain guilt. They block our awareness of the truth. We do not have to ask for peace. We already have it. All we need to do is recognize, moment-by-moment, how we are blocking the reality of what we are from our awareness. As we do this, we keep asking Holy Spirit, "What would you have me do?" This question includes other questions such as, "How would you have me think about this?" "How would you have me see this situation?" "What would you have me know?" "How shall I respond to this?" We are going beyond our own perspectives and are willing to be wrong about the way we currently see.
Love and blessings, Sarah
Printable Document
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Chapter Nineteen
Beyond the Body
Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio
V. Obstacles to Peace
d. The Fourth Obstacle: The Fear of God
The Lifting of the Veil
97 Forget not that you came this far together. And it was surely not the ego that led you here. No obstacle to peace can be surmounted through its help. It does not open up its secrets and bid you look on them and go beyond them. It would not have you see its weakness and learn it has no power to keep you from the truth. The Guide Who brought you here remains with you, and when you raise your eyes, you will be ready to look on terror with no fear at all. But first lift up your eyes and look upon each other in innocence born of complete forgiveness of each other's illusions and through the eyes of faith, which sees them not.
98 No one can look upon the fear of God unterrified unless he has accepted the Atonement and learned illusions are not real. No one can stand before this obstacle alone, for he could not have reached thus far unless his brother walked beside him. And no one would dare to look on it without complete forgiveness of his brother in his heart. Stand you here a while and tremble not. You will be ready. Let us join together in a holy instant, here in this place where the purpose given in a holy instant has led you. And let us join in faith that He Who brought us here together will offer you the innocence you need and that you will accept it for my love and His.
99 Nor is it possible to look on this too soon. This is the place to which everyone must come when he is ready. Once he has found his brother, he is ready. Yet merely to reach the place is not enough. A journey without a purpose is still meaningless, and even when it is over, it seems to make no sense. How can you know that it is over unless you realize its purpose is accomplished? Here, with the journey's end before you, you
see its purpose. And it is here you choose whether to look upon it or wander on, only to return and make the choice again.
100 To look upon the fear of God
does need some preparation. Only the sane can look on stark insanity and raving madness with pity and compassion but not with fear. For only if they share in it does it seem fearful, and you do share in it until you look upon each other with perfect faith and love and tenderness. Before complete forgiveness, you still stand unforgiving. You are afraid of God
because you fear each other. Those you do not forgive
you fear. And no one reaches love with fear beside him.
101 This brother who stands beside you still seems to be a stranger. You do not know him, and your interpretation of him is very fearful. And you attack him still, to keep what seems to be yourself unharmed. Yet in his hands is your salvation. You see his madness, which you hate because you share it. And all the pity and forgiveness that would heal it gives way to fear. Brothers, you need forgiveness of each other, for you will share in madness or in Heaven together. And you will raise your eyes in faith together or not at all.
102 Beside each of you is one who offers you the chalice of Atonement, for the Holy Spirit is in him. Would you hold his sins against him or accept his gift to you? Is this giver of salvation your friend or enemy? Choose which he is, remembering that you will receive of him according to your choice. He has in him the power to forgive your sins, as you for him. Neither can give it to himself alone. And yet your savior stands beside each one. Let him be what he is and seek not to make of love an enemy.
103 Behold your Friend, the Christ Who stands beside you. How holy and how beautiful He is! You thought He sinned because you cast the veil of sin upon Him to hide His loveliness. Yet still He holds forgiveness out to you to share His holiness. This "enemy," this "stranger" still offers you salvation as His Friend. The "enemies" of Christ, the worshipers of sin, know not Whom they attack. This is your brother, crucified by sin, and waiting for release from pain. Would you not offer him forgiveness, when only he can offer it to you? For his redemption, he will give you yours as surely as God created every living thing and loves it. And he will give it truly, for it will be both offered and received.
104 There is no grace of Heaven that you cannot offer to each other and receive from your most holy Friend. Let him withhold it not, for by receiving it you offer it to him. [For he
will receive of you what
you received of him.] Redemption has been given you to give each other, and thus receive it. Whom you forgive is free, and what you give you share. Forgive the sins your brother thinks he has committed and all the guilt you think you see in him.
105 Here is the holy place of resurrection to which we come again; to which we will return until redemption is accomplished and received. Think who your brother is before you would condemn him. And offer thanks to God that he is holy and has been given the gift of holiness for you. Join him in gladness and remove all trace of guilt from his disturbed and tortured mind. Help him to lift the heavy burden of sin you laid upon him and he accepted as his own, and toss it lightly and with happy laughter away from him. Press it not like thorns against his brow, nor nail him to it unredeemed and hopeless.
106 Give each other faith, for faith and hope and mercy are yours to give. Into the hands that give the gift is given. Look on your brother, and see in him the gift of God you would receive. It is almost Easter, the time of resurrection. Let us give redemption to each other and share in it that we may rise as one in resurrection and not separate in death. Behold the gift of freedom that I gave the Holy Spirit for both of you. And be you free together, as you offer to the Holy Spirit this same gift. And giving it, receive it of Him in return for what you gave. He leadeth you and me together that we might meet here in this holy place and make the same decision.
107 Free your brother here, as I freed you. Give him the self-same gift, nor look upon him with condemnation of any kind. See him as guiltless as I look on you, and overlook the sins he thinks he sees within himself. Offer each other freedom and complete release from sin here in the garden of seeming agony and death. So will we prepare together the way unto the resurrection of God's Son and let him rise again to glad remembrance of his Father, Who knows no sin, no death, but only life eternal.
108 Together we will disappear into the Presence beyond the veil, not to be lost, but
found; not to be seen, but
known. And knowing, nothing in the plan God has established for salvation will be left undone. This is the journey's purpose, without which is the journey meaningless. Here is the peace of God, given to you eternally by Him. Here is the rest and quiet that you seek, the reason for the journey from its beginning. Heaven is the gift you owe each other, the debt of gratitude you offer to the Son of God in thanks for what he is and what his Father created him to be.
109 Think carefully how you would look upon the giver of this gift, for as you look on him, so will the gift itself appear to be. As he is seen as either the giver of guilt or of salvation, so will his offering be seen and so received. The crucified give pain because they are in pain. But the redeemed give joy because they have been healed of pain. Everyone gives as he receives, but he must choose what it will
be that he receives. And he will recognize his choice by what he gives and what is given him. Nor is it given anything in hell or Heaven to interfere with his decision.
110 You came this far because the journey was your choice. And no one undertakes to do what he believes is meaningless. What you had faith in still is faithful and watches over you in faith so gentle yet so strong that it would lift you far beyond the veil and place the Son of God safely within the sure protection of his Father. Here is the only purpose that gives this world and the long journey through this world whatever meaning lies in them. Beyond this they
are meaningless. You stand together, still without conviction they have a purpose. Yet it is given you to see this purpose in your holy Friend and recognize it is your own.
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