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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
CH 27 "THE BODY AND THE DREAM"
II. THE PICTURE OF THE CRUCIFIXION
3 Whenever you consent to suffer pain, to be deprived, unfairly treated, or in need of anything, you but accuse your brother of attack upon God's Son. You hold a picture of your crucifixion before his eyes that he may see his sins are writ in Heaven in your blood and death and go before him, closing off the gate and damning him to hell. Yet this is writ in hell and not in Heaven, where you are beyond attack and prove his innocence. The picture of yourself you offer him you show yourself and give it all your faith. The Holy Spirit offers you to give to him a picture of yourself in which there is no pain and no reproach at all. And what was martyred to his guilt becomes the perfect witness to his innocence.
CHAPTER 27 I-II, 1-12 Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSON
WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio <VIDEO>
The Holy Spirit mediates between
illusions and the truth. As He must bridge
the gap between reality and dreams,
perception leads to knowledge through the grace
that God has given Him, to be His gift
to everyone who turns to Him for truth.
Across the bridge that He provides, are dreams
all carried to the truth, to be dispelled
before the light of knowledge. There are sights
and sounds forever laid aside. And where
they were perceived before, forgiveness has
made possible perception's tranquil end.
The goal the Holy Spirit's teaching sets
is just this end of dreams. For sights and sounds
must be translated from the witnesses
of fear to those of love. And when this is
entirely accomplished, learning has
achieved the only goal it has in truth.
For learning, as the Holy Spirit guides
it to the outcome He perceives for it,
becomes the means to go beyond itself,
to be replaced by the Eternal Truth.
If you but knew how much your Father yearns
to have you recognize your sinlessness,
you would not let His Voice appeal in vain,
nor turn away from His replacement for
the fearful images and dreams you made.
The Holy Spirit understands the means
you made, by which you would attain what is
forever unattainable. And if
you offer them to Him, He will employ
the means you made for exile to restore
your mind to where it truly is at home.
From knowledge, where He has been placed by God,
the Holy Spirit calls to you, to let
forgiveness rest upon your dreams, and be
restored to sanity and peace of mind.
Without forgiveness will your dreams remain
to terrify you. And the memory
of all your Father's Love will not return
to signify the end of dreams has come.
Accept your Father's gift. It is a call
from Love to Love, that It be but Itself.
The Holy Spirit is His gift, by Which
the quietness of Heaven is restored
to God's beloved Son. Would you refuse
to take the function of completing God,
when all He wills is that you be complete.
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A COURSE IN MIRACLES
DAILY LESSON
L e s s o n 283 My true Identity abides in You.
Voice and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
Father, I made an image of myself,
and it is this I call the Son of God.
Yet is creation as it always was,
for Your creation is unchangeable.
Let me not worship idols. I am He
my Father loves. His holiness remains
the light of Heaven and the Love of God.
Is not what is beloved of God secure?
Is not the light of Heaven infinite?
Is not God's Son my true Identity,
when He created everything that is?
Now are we one in shared Identity,
with God our Father as our only Source,
and everything created part of us.
And so we offer blessing to all things,
uniting lovingly with all the world
which our forgiveness has made one with us.
~ Original Handscript of ACIM
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ACIM Edmonton - Sarah's Reflections
LESSON 283 My true Identity abides in You.
Sarah's Commentary:
We might feel like we are being attacked when anyone says, "Who do you think you are?" Yet that is exactly what Jesus is asking us to question all the time. It is to question who we think we are. He tells us, "Take not the judgment of the world as answer to the question, 'What am I'?" (T.20.III.6.7) (ACIM OE T.20.IV.21) Yet that is precisely what we have done. We think we have made ourselves by what others have said about us and by our own self-assessments. When we speak, we say, "I am this, and I think that." We are talking about ourselves as we have defined ourselves. Our ideas about ourselves reflect all our values, self-concepts, and ideas we hold that we think define us. This self we talk about includes our personality, our body, our history, our gender, our status, our roles, our beliefs, our desires, what we value, and all the thoughts we hold. They are all changeable, unstable aspects that fluctuate over time. They are subject to all kinds of situational influences that seem to cause many emotional highs and lows.
Our self-image is a false identity, which we are constantly trying to fix, change, and defend because it seems to be so very fragile. All it takes is: for something to go wrong in our lives, as we judge it, and we are thrown into a panic, or for someone to say something unkind about us, and we crumble, or for someone to leave us and we fall apart. What crumbles and gets hurt is this unstable character in the dream. It is not our true Self behind this character that is the dreamer of this dream. The Self we are is serene and unchangeable, always in a state of peace, and One with God. When we are not experiencing that state, we are listening, instead, to the voice of the false self.
Jesus says that when just one word, just a whisper of what someone might have said about us, upsets our world and hurls us into chaos, it is because of this made-up identity that has no real foundation. It is simply not the truth about us. Yet he says, "It is not you who are so vulnerable and open to attack that just a word, a little whisper that you do not like, a circumstance that suits you not, or an event that you did not anticipate upsets your world, and hurls it into chaos." (T.24.III.3.1) (ACIM OE T.24.IV.28) It is in a vulnerable state because it has no foundation. "Without foundation nothing is secure. Would God have left His Son in such a state, where safety has no meaning? No, His Son [our true Identity] is safe, resting on Him." (T.24.III.4.1-3) (ACIM OE T.24.IV.29) Our true Identity is not vulnerable at all.
"Father, I made an image of myself, and it is this I call the Son of God."
(W.283.1.1) This image is what we identify with and what we think is our reality. It is an idol, which seems to have taken the place of our divinity. "There is a stranger in him, who wandered carelessly into the home of truth and who will wander off." (T.20.III.7.2) (ACIM OE T.20.IV.22) Our divinity is holy, infinite, unchangeable, and beloved of the Father. Our true Identity simply cannot be changed, no matter what we think we have done. Our true Self is completely invulnerable to the vicissitudes of this world.
From our true reality, blessings flow through us to all things, "uniting lovingly with all the world, which our forgiveness has made one with us." (W.283.2.2) The way back to Oneness, while we are seemingly in this world, is through forgiveness. It is the only way we are given as the means to wake up to who we really are. When thoughts come up today that interfere with our peace---thoughts that bring pain, loss, grief of any kind, anger, impatience, anticipation, or frustration---we remind ourselves that this is not the truth. All thoughts we think apart from God mean that we are not thinking at all. We are instead sending forth the appeal of fear and guilt. "Under fear's orders the body will pursue guilt, serving its master whose attraction to guilt maintains the whole illusion of its existence. This, then, is the attraction of pain. Ruled by this perception the body becomes the servant of pain, seeking it dutifully and obeying the idea that pain is pleasure. It is this idea that underlies all the ego's heavy investment in the body." (T.19.IV.Bi.13.2-5) (ACIM OE T.19.Vb.72)
Whenever we are upset it is because of the meaning we are giving to the meaningless. It is all about our interpretations, which are never right. Only the Holy Spirit's interpretation reflects God's love for us. Our part is to bring our thoughts of fear and attack and our thoughts of specialness to the Holy Spirit for healing. It really is that simple. Our egoic mind makes it all appear difficult and complicated. The ego urges us to hold onto our hurts, disappointments, and anger, as well as our dreams, fantasies, and wishes and put our body in their service, but we don't have to listen.
"Where could your peace arise but from forgiveness? The Christ in you looks only on the truth, and sees no condemnation that could need forgiveness. He is at peace because He sees no sin. Identify with Him, and what has He that you have not? He is your eyes, your ears, your hands, your feet. How gently are the sights He sees, the sounds He hears. How beautiful His hand that holds His brother's, and how lovingly He walks beside him, showing him what can be seen and heard, and where he will see nothing and there is no sound to hear."
(T.24.V.3.1-7) (ACIM OE T.24.VI.42) Now the body is put to a different purpose. It is put to the purpose of healing, and thus it is made holy. "All things you made have use to Him, for His most holy purpose." (T.14.VI.5.3) (ACIM OE T.14.III.20)
"The Christ in you is very still. He knows where you are going, and He leads you there in gentleness and blessing all the way. His Love for God replaces all the fear you thought you saw within yourself. His Holiness shows you Himself in him
[every brother] whose hand you hold, and whom you lead to Him. And what you see is like yourself. For what but Christ is there to see and hear and love and follow home? He looked upon you first, but recognized that you were not complete. And so He sought for your completion in each living thing that He beholds and loves. And seeks it still, that each might offer you the Love of God." (T.24.V.6.1-9) (ACIM OE T.24.VI.40)
There are no accidents. Those who show up on our path are precisely here to help us. They are our saviors. They are our way back to the Self we are. They are our saviors simply because they give us another opportunity to see a reflection of our own minds. When we maintain our self-made identities, we don't know who we are. We don't know where we are going. We are filled with fear and feel lost and alone. We see everyone as separate and different from us, and we feel victimized by their attacks from which we feel a need to defend ourselves. Through forgiveness, we see that we all share the same need for truth. Our sameness is a reflection of the Oneness we share. Every attack is simply a call for love and a call for healing. The world is a mirror of everything going on in our minds that we have projected out. "Who would send messages of hatred and attack if he but understood he sends them to himself?" (T.19.IV.Bi.14.11) (ACIM OE T.19.IVb.73)
Positive self-concepts, such as always being helpful in every situation, can also have a dark side. We may start to see those we are helping as being demanding. We may judge their demands and feel we are being unfairly treated. This too is an opportunity to look at what we are demanding of ourselves when we try to please everyone. We can look at our own resentments. In looking at our self-made concepts, we can see how changeable they really are and therefore how unstable. Healing is about releasing them all, including what we see as positive as well as what we judge as negative, so the truth of who we are can radiate through us. All concepts are like clouds in front of the sun. They block the light of our Being from our awareness.
When we create a space for the Holy Spirit through our determination to release the thoughts that hold us back from the truth of who we are, He brings us the miracle which results in a shift from false perception to true perception. We don't have to understand how the miracle works. That is not something that can be known or understood. "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." (T.16.II.5.6) (ACIM OE T.16.III.15)We just need to release the tight grip we hold on our beliefs, values, concepts, and thoughts and be willing to see their falsity. When we step out of the battleground of our thoughts and observe them without judgment, space is made for truth to enter.
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Chapter Twenty Seven
The Body and the Dream
CHAPTER 27 I-II, 1-12 Voice and Music by Martin Weber, CIMS SonShip Radio
1 The wish to be unfairly treated is a compromise attempt that would combine attack and innocence. Who can
combine the wholly incompatible and make a unity of what can never join? Walk you the gentle way, and you will fear no evil and no shadows in the night. But place no terror symbols on your path, or you will weave a crown of thorns from which your brother and yourself will not escape. You cannot crucify yourself alone. And if you are unfairly treated, he must suffer the unfairness that you see. You cannot sacrifice yourself alone. For sacrifice is total. If it could occur at all, it would entail the whole of God's creation and the Father with the sacrifice of his beloved Son.
2 In your
release from sacrifice is his made manifest, and shown to be his own. But every pain you suffer do you see as proof that he is guilty of attack. Thus would you make yourself to be the sign that he has lost his innocence and need but look on you to realize that he has been condemned. And what to you has been unfair will come to him in righteousness. The unjust vengeance that you suffer now belongs to him, and when it rests on him are you set free. Wish not to make yourself a living symbol of his guilt, for you will not escape the death you made for him. But in his
innocence, you find your own.
II. The Picture of the Crucifixion
3 Whenever you consent to suffer pain, to be deprived, unfairly treated, or in need of anything, you but accuse your brother of attack upon God's Son. You hold a picture of your crucifixion before his eyes that he may see his sins are writ in Heaven in your blood and death and go before him, closing off the gate and damning him to hell. Yet this is writ in hell and not in Heaven, where you are beyond attack and prove his
innocence. The picture of yourself you offer him you show
yourself and give it all your faith. The Holy Spirit offers you to give to him a picture of yourself in which there is no pain and no reproach at all. And what was martyred to his guilt becomes the perfect witness to his innocence.
4 The power of witness is beyond belief because it brings conviction in its wake. The witness is believed because he points beyond himself to what he represents. A sick and suffering you but represents your brother's guilt---the witness which you send lest he forget the injuries he gave from which you swear he never will escape. This sick and sorry picture
you accept, if only it can serve to punish him. The sick are merciless to everyone, and in contagion do they seek to kill. Death seems an easy price if they can say, "Behold me, brother; at your hand I die." For sickness is the witness to his guilt, and death would prove his errors must be sins.
5 Sickness is but a "little" death; a form of vengeance not yet total. Yet it speaks with certainty for what it represents. The bleak and bitter picture you have sent your brother
you have looked upon in grief. And everything that it has shown to him have you believed because it witnessed to the guilt in him which you perceived and loved. Now in the hands made gentle by His touch, the Holy Spirit lays a picture of a different you. It is a picture of a body still, for what you
really are cannot be seen nor pictured. Yet this one has not been used for purpose of attack and therefore never suffered pain at all. It witnesses to the eternal truth that you cannot
be hurt and points beyond itself to both your innocence and his.
6 Show
this unto your brother, who will see that every scar is healed and every tear is wiped away in laughter and in love. And he will look on his forgiveness there and with healed eyes will look beyond it to the innocence that he beholds in you. Here is the proof that he has never sinned---that nothing which his madness bid him do was ever done or ever had effects of any kind; that no reproach he laid upon his heart was ever justified, and no attack can ever touch him with the poisoned and relentless sting of fear. Attest his innocence and
not his guilt.
Your healing is his comfort and his health because it
proves illusions are not true.
7 It is not will for life, but wish for death that is the motivation for this world. Its only purpose is to prove guilt real. No worldly thought or act or feeling has a motivation other than this one. These are the witnesses that are called forth to be believed and lend conviction to the system they speak for and represent. And each has many voices, speaking to your brother and yourself in different tongues. And yet to both the message is the same. Adornment of the body seeks to show how lovely are the witnesses for guilt. Concerns about the body demonstrate how frail and vulnerable is your life; how easily destroyed is what you love. Depression speaks of death and vanity of real concern with anything at all. The strongest witness to futility, which bolsters all the rest and helps them paint the picture in which sin is justified, is sickness in whatever form it takes.
8 The sick have reason for each one of their unnatural desires and strange needs. For who could live a life so soon cut short and not esteem the worth of passing joys? What pleasures could there be that will endure? Are not the frail entitled to believe that every stolen scrap of pleasure is their righteous payment for their little lives? Their death will pay the price for all of them if they enjoy their benefits or not. The end of life must come, whatever way that life be spent. And so take pleasure in the quickly passing and ephemeral.
9 These are not sins, but witnesses unto the strange belief that sin and death are real, and innocence and sin will end alike within the termination of the grave. If this were true, there
would be reason to remain content to seek for passing joys and cherish little pleasures where you can. Yet in this picture is the body not perceived as neutral and without a goal inherent in itself. For it becomes the symbol of reproach, the sign of guilt whose consequences still are there to see, so that the cause can never be denied.
10 Your function is to show your brother sin can
have no cause. How futile must it be to see yourself a picture of the proof that what your function is can never be! The Holy Spirit's picture changes not the body into something it is not. It only takes away from it all signs of accusation and of blamefulness. Pictured without a purpose, it is seen as neither sick nor well, nor bad nor good. No grounds are offered that it may be judged in any way at all. It has no life, but neither is it dead. It stands apart from all experience of fear or love. For now it witnesses to nothing yet, its purpose being open and the mind made free again to choose what it is
for. Now is it not condemned, but waiting for a purpose to be given that it may fulfill the function that it will receive.
11 Into this empty space, from which the goal of sin has been removed, is Heaven free to be remembered. Here its peace can come and perfect healing take the place of death. The body can become a sign of life, a promise of redemption, and a breath of immortality to those grown sick of breathing in the fetid scent of death. Let it have healing as its purpose. Then will it send forth the message it received and by its health and loveliness proclaim the truth and value that it represents. Let it receive the power to represent an endless life, forever unattacked. And to your brother let its message be, "Behold me, brother; at your hand I live."
12 The simple way to let this be achieved is merely this---to let the body have no purpose from the past, when you were sure you knew its purpose was to foster guilt. For this insists your crippled picture is a lasting sign of what it represents. This leaves no space in which a different view, another purpose, can be given it. You do not know its purpose. You but gave illusions of a purpose to a thing you made to hide your function from yourself. This thing without a purpose cannot hide the function that the Holy Spirit gave. Let, then, its purpose and your function both be reconciled at last and seen as one.
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