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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 30 "THE NEW BEGINNING"
I. INTRODUCTION
1 The new beginning now becomes the focus of the curriculum. The goal is clear, but now you need specific methods for attaining it. The speed by which it can be reached depends on this one thing alone---your willingness to practice every step. Each one will help a little every time it is attempted. And together will these steps lead you from dreams of judgment to forgiving dreams and out of pain and fear. They are not new to you, but they are more ideas than rules of thought to you as yet. So now we need to practice them awhile, until they are the rules by which you live. We seek to make them habits now, so you will have them ready for whatever need.
CHAPTER 30 I-II, 1-32
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSON
WHAT IS THE LAST JUDGMENT?
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Christ's Second Coming gives the Son of God
the gift to hear the Voice for God proclaim
that what is false is false, and what is true
has never changed. And this the judgment is
in which perception ends. At first you see
a world which has accepted this as true,
projected from a now corrected mind.
And with this holy sight, perception gives
a silent blessing and then disappears,
its goal accomplished and its mission done.
The final judgment on the world contains
no condemnation. For it sees the world
as totally forgiven, without sin,
and wholly purposeless. Without a cause,
and now without a function in Christ's sight,
it merely slips away to nothingness.
There it was born, and there it ends as well.
And all the figures in the dream in which
the world began go with it. Bodies now
are useless, and will therefore fade away,
because the Son of God is limitless.
You who believed that Gods last judgment would
condemn the world to hell along with you,
accept this holy truth: God's judgment is
the gift of the Correction He bestowed
on all your errors, freeing you from them,
and all effects they ever seemed to have.
To fear His saving grace is but to fear
complete release from suffering, return
to peace, security and happiness,
and union with your own Identity.
God's final judgment is as merciful
as every step in His appointed plan
to save His Son, and call Him to return
to the eternal peace He shares with him.
Be not afraid of Love. For It alone
can heal all sorrow, wipe away all tears,
and gently waken from his dreams of pain
the Son whom God acknowledges as His.
Be not afraid of this. Salvation asks
you give it welcome. And the world awaits
your glad acceptance, which will set it free.
This is God's final judgment: "You are still
My holy Son, forever innocent,
forever loving and forever loved,
as limitless as Your Creator, and
completely changeless and forever pure.
Therefore awaken and return to Me.
I am Your Father, and you are My Son.
~ Original Hand Script
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSON
L e s s o n 311
I judge all things as I would have them be.
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Judgment was made to be a weapon used
against the truth. It separates what it
is being used against, and sets it off
as if it were a thing apart. And then
it makes of it what you would have it be.
It judges what it cannot understand,
because it cannot see totality,
and therefore judges falsely. Let us not
use it today, but make a gift of it
to Him Who has a different use for it.
He will relieve you of the agony
of all the judgments you have made against
yourself, and re-establish peace of mind
by giving you God's Judgment of His Son.
Father, we wait with open mind today,
to hear Your Judgment of the Son You love.
We do not know him, and we cannot judge.
And so we let Your Love decide what he
whom You created as Your Son must be.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 311
I judge all things as I would have them be.
Sarah's Commentary:
Now we are being introduced to the idea of the Last Judgment. An important aspect of the discussion is that it undoes the association we have made of the Last Judgment with death. On the contrary, the Last Judgment is the recognition that there is only life. Nothing is accomplished or achieved through death. "When the Will of the Sonship and the Father are one, their perfect accord is Heaven." (T.3.II.4.6) (ACIM OE T.2.II.21) There is no condemnation in the Last Judgment, and thus, there is nothing fearful about it. Yet Jesus says, "The Last Judgment is one of the most threatening ideas in your thinking." (T.2.VIII.2.1) (ACIM OE T.2.VI.106) He also says, "It is a final healing rather than a meting out of punishment, however much you think that punishment is deserved." (T.2.VIII.3.3) (ACIM OE T.2.VI.108)
The Last Judgment signifies the end of false perception. It is the final proclamation that has always been: "This is God's Final Judgment: 'You are still My holy Son, forever innocent, forever loving and forever loved, as limitless as your Creator, and completely changeless and forever pure.'" (W.PII.Q10.What is the Last Judgment?5.1) We have been misguided in who we think we are. The separation was the decision not to know ourselves as we are. With the Last Judgment comes the recognition that we have never changed ourselves. The concepts we hold of ourselves and others are all false. When we come to this realization through the process of undoing all we have held to be true, we come to see that "what is false is false, and what is true has never changed." (W.PII.Q10.1.1)
This is the end of perception and the final realization that it is impossible to have ever changed ourselves from the magnificence of our creation. Here is the end of learning. It is our return to the beginning. "All your difficulties stem from the fact that you do not recognize yourself, your brother or God. To recognize means to 'know again,' implying that you knew before." (T.3.III.2.1-2) (ACIM OE T.3.V.31) This is the end of conflict. We no longer vacillate "between free and imprisoned will." (T.2.VIII.3.8) (ACIM OE T.2.VI.109) We are now guided only by the Voice of the Holy Spirit. All our former, inner conflict has dissipated. This is what is meant by accepting the Atonement for ourselves, for this is the Correction that ends the separation.
In the sorting out of what is false and what is true, Jesus says, "It simply means that everyone will finally come to understand what is worthy and what is not." (T.2.VIII.3.6) (ACIM OE T.2.VI.109) It is a process of letting go of all our false perceptions, recognizing that we have been wrong about everything. What we have called "life" has actually been a dream. As Jesus says, "No one who lives in fear is really alive." (T.2.VIII.5.4) (ACIM OE T.2.VI.111)
Life is eternal and not defined by the body. While we appear to be in the body and the world, it gives us a seeming experience of time. "When everything you retain is lovable, there is no reason for fear to remain with you. This is your part in the Atonement." (T.2.VIII.5.10-11) (ACIM OE T.2.VI.111) Then, we can look on everything with love because love is in the mind, extending to all.
When the mind is healed, the world has no cause. "Without a cause, and now without a function in Christ's sight, it merely slips away to nothingness." (W.PII.Q10.2.3) That is because the world is a reflection of the guilt in the mind. When guilt is gone, there is no more need for the world to be a classroom for the undoing of guilt.
Lesson 311 says, "I judge all things as I would have them be." In other words, I project my state of mind onto everything I see, making everything over in my image. What I am seeing is a hallucination. It is a projection of what is in my mind. "There are no strange images in the Mind of God, and what is not in His Mind cannot be in yours, because you are of one mind and that mind belongs to Him." (T.10.IV.6.2) (ACIM OE T.9.X.90) Yet in our minds, there are many strange images. Jesus tells us, "It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do not recognize them as nothing." (W.15.1.1)
As thoughts show up in our minds, we start to run a movie. It may be a movie of disaster based on fear thoughts that we hold, a fantasy movie based on hopes and wishes, a happy movie or sad movie based on our mood at the time, or any variety of themes. I notice that I may be watching a program on TV and before I know it, I am watching my own inner movie based on some random thoughts. My mind is the cause of everything I see. It is all internal.
Lesson 304 reminds us, all we see is our state of mind reflected outward. It is the way we keep truth away from us because all we do is make of everything what we would have it be. As I think of a disturbance in my experience today, I am reminded to turn away from the idea that something or someone is the cause of this disturbance. I am the only source of my experience. Jesus urges us to "Come without all thought of what you ever learned before, and put aside all images you made." (T.31.II.8.2) (ACIM OE T.31.II.22)
Whenever we like or dislike what is happening, have opinions about anything, have differing views with someone, or judge a situation as good or bad, we assume that we know what it is for. To know what is good or bad about anything, we would have to be aware of an inconceivably wide range of things, past, present, and yet to come. Clearly, this is an impossibility. We would also have to be certain that there is no distortion in our perception---also an impossibility. How many times have we experienced how wrong we have been about our judgments? How many times have we changed our minds when new information was provided or when time passes and we saw things differently? How can we trust that we know anything of what is good or bad or right or wrong?
As a parent, I felt I could protect my child from all kinds of unforeseen events. When I could not, and the situation seemed not to be in my control, I would worry about his well-being. I learned that my worry and my anxiety could never protect him. If anything, my fear thoughts were teaching him that the world is a place of extreme danger and that he is vulnerable. In trying to maintain undue diligence for the safety of our children, we project our own extreme sense of vulnerability onto them. The guilt and fear we hold in our minds make for poor parenting.
With guilt, we project our fears onto those we try to protect, but instead, we teach them this world is an unsafe place. In saying this, I am not speaking of the ordinary cautions and supportive behaviors we exhibit toward our children in creating safety for them. I am speaking of the kind of overbearing concerns that come from a mind (mine) that imagines all kinds of negative possibilities. It is my fear projected out. Yes, we must teach our children, but teaching is more effective when taught from a place of peace and accompanied by trust. It is teaching by demonstration and by choosing this for ourselves. The only healing to be undertaken is of my own mind.
Whatever was to happen to my son happened for reasons helpful for his soul's purpose here, and I certainly don't know what that is. We are urged not to take anyone's classroom away from them. We don't have the perspective to be able to judge what is in anyone's best interests, including our own. I could not prevent him from experiencing whatever was in his script. None of us are victims of the world we perceive. Therefore, my judgments were of no value. What our judgments do is create a burden on our minds, which keep us from the truth of what we are. Of course, that is precisely the ego's agenda.
When I look back at my own life, things seemed to happen that at the time felt hurtful and I judged them to be bad. Now in retrospect, I can see why they were there for me and why I chose them at the level of the mind for my soul's purpose. They took me deeper into my mind and brought a yearning to understand my purpose here. They took me on this journey where the deep Call of my heart has been answered. Would I change anything? No. All the things I thought should be different at the time I now see were perfect for my journey of spiritual awakening.
The book, Eyes of an Angel, reminded me of the perfection of the people who show up in our lives for our learning. Paul Elder, the author, is a Canadian, previously mayor of Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and a businessman who, through several near-death and out-of-body experiences, developed an understanding of why we have incarnated with the people who are in our lives. It was another example of a perspective gained through the experiences of others. Even in dire examples of abuse and neglect, as described by Jeannette Walls in her book, The Glass Castle, we can see the lesson God would have us learn. His lesson is always that God's Son is innocent and everything is unfolding perfectly for this truth of ourselves to be finally accepted. We cannot judge because we cannot see the totality. We cannot see the beginning from the end. We cannot change the past. It is already done. What we can do is look at our state of mind as the outward picture of our inward condition.
Our judgments hurt us. When we see that this is the case, we become motivated to give them up. When we judge anyone or think we know how to correct them, we are putting ourselves above them and making ourselves special. We make them guilty or wrong in the belief that we can look innocent by comparison and at their expense. This hurts us because in our condemnation of them, while we think we have elevated ourselves, in fact, we have condemned ourselves because whatever we give, we receive. Now we feel even more guilty, and with guilt, comes the belief that we deserve punishment. This is how "It separates what is being used against it, and sets it off as if it were a thing apart" (W.311.1.2) because it takes a small part of totality and sees it as truth. In other words, we make our brother separate from us, believe he is different than ourselves, and think what we are seeing in him is the truth. Until we let go of our judgments, we can't know the truth that we are all the same, and thus, we can't know ourselves when we see ourselves different from our brothers.
Today, we are called to ask for help. "He will relieve us of the agony of all the judgments we have made against ourselves, and re-establish peace of mind by giving us God's Judgment of His Son." (W.311.1.6) His judgment of us all is that we are the Christ Self, pure and innocent. The agony of judgment is how we keep ourselves prisoner to this world, in a state of guilt, and in fear of punishment. "Specialness is a lack of trust in anyone except yourself. Faith is invested in yourself alone. Everything else becomes your enemy; feared and attacked, deadly and dangerous, hated and worthy only of destruction. Whatever gentleness it offers is but deception, but its hate is real. In danger of destruction it must kill, and you are drawn to it to kill it first. And such is guilt's attraction." (T.24.IV.1.1-6) (ACIM OE T.24.V.34) In our desire for specialness and to triumph over others, we see them as dangerous combatants that we must conquer. The reason is that we have projected our sins onto them and now our own self-hatred is seen in others and we fear them. The world is now a battleground.
We can only know ourselves when we see with vision that excludes all judgment. With vision, we see no past in anyone. "And thus it serves a wholly open mind, unclouded by old concepts, and prepared to look on only what the present holds. It cannot judge because it does not know. And recognizing this, it merely asks, 'What is the meaning of what I behold?' Then is the answer given. And the door held open for the face of Christ to shine upon the one who asks, in innocence, to see beyond the veil of old ideas and ancient concepts held so long and dear against the vision of the Christ in you." (T.31.VII.13.3-7) (ACIM OE T.31.VII.80)
We must be vigilant and choose against the temptation to judge because it creates a burden and an agony for us and keeps us mired in guilt. There is no peace with judgment. Today, instead of concluding that we know, let us ask for the meaning of what we behold from Someone Who does know and let Him look on everything for us. This means that we must surrender our knowing mind so the Holy Spirit can reveal to us the innocence and the love in everything. Only then can we know peace.
Apply this Lesson specifically to someone in your life you hold judgments against. Look at how you see yourself elevated in light of your judgments and how you make yourself feel better as a result. That is the reason for the judgments in the first place---to make ourselves better by comparison. This is where we need the courage and honesty to look at the darkness of the ego thought system, but then to recognize that it has no effect and is not the truth. We willingly release these judgmental thoughts to the Holy Spirit. Judgment is a weapon we use against ourselves. Ask to be relieved of this weapon and ask for help to see your brother as he truly is so you can know your Self as One with him.
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Chapter Thirty
The New Beginning
CHAPTER 30 I-II, 1-32
Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio
I. Introduction
1 The new beginning now becomes the focus of the curriculum. The goal is clear, but now you need specific methods for attaining it. The speed by which it can be reached depends on this one thing alone---your willingness to practice every step. Each one will help a little every time it is attempted. And together will these steps lead you from dreams of judgment to forgiving dreams and out of pain and fear. They are not new to you, but they are more ideas than rules of thought to you as yet. So now we need to practice them awhile, until they are the rules by which you live. We seek to make them habits now, so you will have them ready for whatever need.
II. Rules for Decision
2 Decisions are continuous. You do not always know when you are making them. But with a little practice with the ones you recognize, a set begins to form which sees you through the rest. It is not wise to let yourself become preoccupied with every step you take. The proper set, adopted consciously each time you wake, will put you well ahead. And if you find resistance strong and dedication weak, you are not ready.
Do not fight yourself. But think about the kind of day you want and tell yourself there
is a way in which this very day can happen just like that. Then try again to have the day you want.
1.
3 The outlook starts with this:
4 Today I will make no decision by myself.
5 This means that you are choosing not to be the judge of what to do. But it must also mean you will not judge the situations where you will be called upon to make response. For if you judge them, you have set the rules for how you should react to them. And then another answer cannot but produce confusion and uncertainty and fear.
6 This is your major problem now. You still make up your mind and
then decide to ask what you should do. And what you hear may not resolve the problem as
you saw it first. This leads to fear because it contradicts what you perceive, and so you feel attacked. And therefore angry. There are rules by which this will not happen. But it does occur at first, while you are learning how to hear.
2.
7 Throughout the day, at any time you think of it and have a quiet moment for reflection, tell yourself again the kind of day you want, the feelings you would have, the things you want to happen to you, and the things you would experience and say,
8 If I make no decision by myself,
This is the day that will be
given me.
9 These two procedures, practiced well, will serve to let you be directed without fear, for opposition will not first arise and then become a problem in itself.
10 But there will still be times when you have judged already. Now the answer will provoke attack unless you quickly straighten out your mind to want an answer that will work. Be certain this has happened if you feel yourself unwilling to sit by and ask to have the answer given you. This means you
have decided by yourself and cannot see the
question. Now you need a quick restorative before you ask.
3.
11 Remember once again the day you want and recognize that something has occurred which is not part of it. Then realize that you have asked a question by yourself and must have set an answer in your terms. Then say,
12 I
have no question. I forgot what to decide.
13 This cancels out the terms which you have set and lets the answer show you what the question must have really been.
14 Try to observe this rule without delay despite your opposition. For you have
already gotten angry, and your fear of being answered in a different way from what your version of the question asks will gain momentum until you believe the day you want is one in which you get
your answer to
your question. And you will not get it, for it would destroy the day by robbing you of what you
really want. This can be very hard to realize when once you have decided by yourself the rules which promise you a happy day. Yet this decision still can be undone by simple methods which you can accept.
4.
15 If you are so unwilling to receive you cannot even let your question go, you can begin to change your mind with this:
16 At least I can decide I do not
like what I feel now.
17 This much is obvious and paves the way for the next easy step.
5.
18 Having decided that you do not like the way you feel, what could be easier than to continue with,
19 And so I
hope I have been wrong.
20 This works against the sense of opposition and reminds you that help is not being thrust upon you but is something that you want and that you need, because you do not like the way you feel. This tiny opening will be enough to let you go ahead with just a few more steps you need to let yourself be helped.
21 Now you have reached the turning point, because it has occurred to you that
you will gain if what you have decided is not so. Until this point is reached, you will believe your happiness depends on being
right. But this much reason have you now attained---you would be better off if you were
wrong.
6.
22 This tiny grain of wisdom will suffice to take you further. You are not coerced but merely hope to get a thing you want. And you can say in perfect honesty,
23 I
want another way to look at this.
24 Now you have changed your mind about the day and have remembered what you
really want. Its purpose has no longer been obscured by the insane belief you want it for the goal of being right when you are wrong. Thus is the readiness for asking brought to your awareness, for you cannot be in conflict when you ask for what you want and see that it
is this for which you ask.
7.
25 This final step is but acknowledgment of lack of opposition to be helped. It is a statement of an open mind, not certain yet, but willing to be shown:
26 Perhaps there
is another way to look at this.
What can I
lose by asking?
27 Thus you now can ask a question that makes sense, and so the answer will make sense as well. Nor will you fight against it, for you see that it is
you who will be helped by it.
28 It must be clear that it is easier to have a happy day if you prevent unhappiness from entering at all. But this takes practice in the rules which will protect you from the ravages of fear. When this has been achieved, the sorry dream of judgment has forever been undone. But meanwhile, you have need for practicing the rules for its undoing. Let us, then, consider once again the very first of the decisions which are offered here.
29 We said you can begin a happy day with the determination not to make decisions by yourself. This seems to be a real decision in itself. And yet, you
cannot make decisions by yourself. The only question really is with
what you choose to make them. That is really all. The first rule, then, is not coercion but a simple statement of a simple fact. You will not make decisions by yourself
whatever you decide. For they are made with idols or with God. And you ask help of Christ or anti-Christ, and which you choose will join with you and tell you what to do.
30 Your day is not at random. It is set by what you choose to live it with and how the friend whose counsel you have sought perceives your happiness. You always ask advice before you can decide on anything. Let
this be understood, and you can see there cannot be coercion here nor grounds for opposition that you may be free. There
is no freedom from what must occur. And if you think there is, you must be wrong.
31 The second rule as well is but a fact. For you and your advisor must agree on what you want before it can occur. It is but this
agreement which permits all things to happen. Nothing can be caused without some form of union, be it with a dream of judgment or the Voice for God. Decisions cause results
because they are not made in isolation. They are made by you and your advisor for yourself and for the world as well. The day you want you offer to the world, for it will be what you have asked for and will reinforce the rule of your advisor in the world. Whose kingdom is the world for you today? What kind of day will you decide to have?
32 It needs but two who would have happiness this day to promise it to all the world. It needs but two to understand that they cannot decide alone to guarantee the joy they asked for will be wholly shared. For they have understood the basic law that makes decision powerful and gives it all effects that it will ever have. It needs but two. These two are joined before there
can be a decision. Let this be the one reminder that you keep in mind, and you will have the day you want and give it to the world by having it yourself. Your judgment has been lifted from the world by your decision for a happy day. And as you have received, so must you give.
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