"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists.
Herein Lies the peace of God."
|
|
A
Course in Miracles
TEXT
CHAPTER 9
The Correction of Error
PAUSED FOR WEEKEND
IX. The Decision to Forget
68
Unless you
know
something, you
cannot
dissociate it. Knowledge therefore
precedes
dissociation, and dissociation is nothing more than a
decision to forget
. What has been forgotten then appears to be fearful, but
only
because the dissociation was an
attack
on truth. You are fearful
because
you have forgotten. And you have
replaced
your knowledge by an awareness of dreams because you are
afraid
of your dissociation,
not
of what you have dissociated. Even in this world's therapy, when dissociated material is
accepted
,it ceases to be fearful, for the laws of mind always hold.
69
Yet to give up the dissociation of
reality
brings more than merely lack of fear. In
this
decision lie joy and peace and the glory of creation. Offer the Holy Spirit only your will to remember, for He retains the knowledge of God and of yourself
for
you, waiting for your acceptance. Give up gladly
everything
that would stand in the way of your remembering, for God is in your memory, and His Voice will tell you that you are part of Him when you are willing to remember Him and know your own reality again. Let nothing in this world delay your remembering of Him, for in this remembering is the knowledge of
yourself
.
70
To remember is merely to restore to your mind
what is already there
. You do not
make
what you remember; you merely accept again what has been made but was rejected. The ability to accept truth in this world is the perceptual counterpart of creating in the Kingdom. God will do His part if you will do yours, and
His
return in exchange for yours is the exchange of knowledge
for
perception.
Nothing
is beyond His Will for you. But signify your will to remember Him and behold! He will give you everything but for the asking.
71
When you attack, you are denying
yourself
. You are specifically teaching yourself that you are
not
what you are. Your denial of reality precludes the
acceptance
of God's gift because you have accepted something
else
in its place. If you understand that the misuse of defenses always constitutes an attack on truth and truth is God, you will realize why this is
always
fearful. If you further recognize that you are
part
of God, you will understand why it is that you always attack yourself
first
.
72
[
All
attack is self-attack. It cannot
be
anything else. Arising from your
own
decision
not
to be what you
are, it is an attack on your identification
. Attack is thus the way in which your identification is lost because, when you attack, you
must
have forgotten what you are. And if your reality is God's, when
you
attack you are not remembering
Him
. This is not because He is gone, but because you are willing
actively not to remember Him
.]
73
If you realized the complete havoc this makes of your peace of mind, you could not make such an insane decision. You make it only because you still believe that it can
get
you something you
want
. It follows, then, that you want something
other
than peace of mind, but you have not considered what it must be. Yet the logical outcome of your decision is perfectly clear if you will
look
at it. By deciding
against
your reality, you have made yourself vigilant
against
God and His Kingdom. And it is
this
vigilance that makes you afraid to remember Him.
74
You have
not
attacked God, and you
do
love Him. Can you change your reality? No one can will to destroy himself. When you think you are attacking your self, it is a sure sign that you hate what you
think
you are. And this, and
only
this, can
be
attacked by you. What you
think
you are can be hateful, and what this strange image makes you do can be very destructive. Yet the destruction is no more real than the image, although those who make idols
do
worship them. The idols are nothing, but their worshipers are the Sons of God in sickness.
75
God would have them released from their sickness and returned to His Mind. He will not
limit
your power to help them because He has
given
it to you. Do not be afraid of it because it is your salvation. What Comforter can there be for the sick Children of God except His power through
you
? Remember that it does not matter
where
in the Sonship He is accepted. He is
always
accepted for all, and when
your
mind receives Him, the remembrance of Him awakens throughout the Sonship. Heal your brothers simply by accepting God
for
them.
76
Your minds are not separate, and God has only one channel for healing because He has but one Son. His remaining communication link with all His Children joins them together and them to Him. To be aware of this is to heal them because it is the awareness that no one is separate, and so no one is sick. To believe that a Son of God
can
be sick is to believe that part of God can suffer. Love
cannot
suffer because it cannot attack. The remembrance of love therefore brings invulnerability with it.
77
Do not side with sickness in the presence of a Son of God even if
he
believes in it, for
your
acceptance of God in him
acknowledges
the love of God which he has forgotten. Your recognition of him as
part
of God teaches him the truth about himself, which he is denying. Would you
strengthen
his denial of God and thus lose sight of
yourself
? Or would you remind him of his wholeness and remember your Creator
with
him? To believe a Son of God is sick is to worship the same idol he does. God created love,
not
idolatry. All forms of idolatry are caricatures of creation, taught by sick minds which are too divided to know that creation
shares
power and
never
usurps it. Sickness is idolatry because it is the belief that power can be taken
from
you. Yet this is impossible because you are part of God, Who
is
all power.
78
A sick god
must
be an idol, made in the image of what its maker thinks
he
is. And that is exactly what the ego
does
perceive in a Son of God; a sick god, self-created, self-sufficient, very vicious, and very vulnerable. Is
this
the idol you would worship? Is
this
the image you would be vigilant to
save
? [Are you
really
afraid of losing
this
?] Look calmly at the logical conclusion of the ego's thought system and judge whether its offering is really what you want, for this
is
what it offers you. To
obtain
this you are willing to attack the divinity of your brothers and thus lose sight of
yours
. And you are willing to keep it hidden and to protect this idol, which you think will save you from the dangers which the idol itself
stands for
, but which do not exist.
79
There are no idolaters in the Kingdom, but there is great appreciation for every Soul which God created because of the calm knowledge that each one is part of Him. God's Son knows no idols, but he
does
know his Father. Health in this world is the counterpart of value in Heaven. It is not my merit that I contribute to you but my love, for you do not value yourselves. When you do not value yourself, you become sick, but
my
value of you can heal you because the value of God's Son is one. When I said, "My peace I give unto you," I meant it. Peace came from God through me to
you
. It was for you, although you did not ask.
80
When a brother is sick, it is because he is
not
asking for peace and therefore does not know he
has
it. The
acceptance
of peace is the denial of illusion, and sickness
is
an illusion. Yet every Son of God has the power to deny illusions
anywhere
in the Kingdom merely by denying them completely in himself. I can heal you because I know you. I know your value
for
you, and it is this value that makes you whole. A whole mind is not idolatrous and does not know of conflicting laws. I will heal you merely because I have only
one
message, and it is true. Your faith in it will make you whole when you have faith in me.
81
I do not bring God's message with deception, and you will learn this as you learn that you always receive as much as you
accept
. You could accept peace
now
for everyone you meet and offer them perfect freedom from
all
illusions because
you
heard. But have no other gods before Him, or you will
not
hear. God is not jealous of the gods you make, but
you
are. You would save them and serve them because you believe that they made
you.
You think they are your father because you are projecting onto them the fearful fact that
you
made them to
replace
God. Yet when they seem to speak to you, remember that nothing
can
replace God, and whatever replacements you have attempted
are
nothing.
82
Very simply, then, you may
believe
you are afraid of nothingness, but you are really afraid of
nothing
. And in
that
awareness you are healed. You
will
hear the god you listen to. You
made
the god of sickness, and
by
making him, you made yourself able to hear him. Yet you did not create him because he is
not
the Will of the Father. He is therefore not eternal and will be
unmade
for you the instant you signify your willingness to accept
only
the eternal. If God has but one Son, there is but one God. You share reality with Him because reality is not divided. To accept other gods before Him is to place other images before
yourself.
83
You do not realize how much you listen to your gods and how vigilant you are on their behalf. Yet they exist only
because
you honor them. Place honor where it is due, and peace will be yours. It is your inheritance from your
real
Father. You cannot make your father, and the father you made did not make you. Honor is not due to illusions, for to honor them is to honor nothing. Yet fear is not due them either, for nothing cannot be fearful. You have chosen to fear love
because
of its perfect harmlessness, and because of this fear, you have been willing to give up your own perfect helpfulness and your own perfect Help.
84
Only at the altar of God will you find peace. And this altar is in you because God put it there. His Voice still calls you to return, and He will be heard when you place no other gods before Him. You can give up the god of sickness for your brothers; in fact, you would
have
to do so if you give him up for yourself. For if you see him anywhere, you have accepted him. And if you accept him, you
will
bow down and worship him because he was made as God's replacement. He is the belief that you can
choose
which god is real. Although it is perfectly clear that this has nothing to do with reality, it is equally clear that it has
everything
to do with reality as you perceive it.
Audio and Music
by CIMS SonShip Radio
ON LINE
SEARCHABLE Original Edition
Current Schedule [PDF]
|
|
A Course in Miracles
WORKBOOK
Part I
Review III
1 Our third review begins today. We will review two of the last 20 ideas each day until we have reviewed them all. We will observe a special format for these practice periods which you are urged to follow as closely as you can. We understand, of course, that it may be impossible for you to undertake what is suggested here as optimal each day and every hour of the day.
2 Learning will not be hampered when you miss a practice period because it is impossible at the appointed time. Nor is it necessary that you make excessive efforts to be sure that you catch up in terms of numbers. Rituals are not our aim and would defeat our learning goal.
3 But learning will be hampered when you skip a practice period because you are unwilling to devote the time to it which you are asked to give. Do not deceive yourself in this. Unwillingness can be most carefully concealed behind a cloak of situations you cannot control. Learn to distinguish situations which are poorly suited to your practicing from those which you establish to uphold a camouflage for your unwillingness.
4 Those practice periods which you have lost because you did not want to do them for whatever reason should be done as soon as you have changed your mind about your goal. You are unwilling to cooperate in practicing salvation only if it interferes with goals you hold more dear. When you withdraw the value given them, allow your practice periods to be replacements for your litanies to them. They gave you nothing. But your practice periods offer you everything. Accept their offering and be at peace.
5 The format you should use for these reviews is this: devote five minutes twice a day or longer if you would prefer to contemplating the ideas assigned. Read over the ideas and comments which are written first in each day's exercises. Then begin to think about them quietly, letting your mind relate them to your needs, your seeming problems, and all your concerns.
6 Place the ideas within your mind, and let it use them as it chooses. Give it faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who gave the thoughts to you. What can you trust but what is in your mind? Have faith, in these reviews, the means the Holy Spirit uses will not fail. The wisdom of your mind will come to your assistance. Give it direction at the start, then lean back in quiet faith, and let it use the ideas you have given it as they were given you.
7 You have been given them in perfect trust, in perfect confidence that you would use them well, in perfect faith that you would understand their messages and use them for yourself. Offer them to your mind in that same trust and confidence and faith. It will not fail. It is the Holy Spirit's chosen means for your salvation. And with His trust merits yours as well.
8 We emphasize the benefits to you if you devote the first five minutes of the day to your review and also give the last five minutes of your waking day to it. If this cannot be done, at least try to divide them so you undertake one in the morning, and the other in the hour just before you go to sleep.
9 The exercises to be done throughout the day are equally important and perhaps of even greater value. You have been inclined to do the exercises and then go on to other things, without applying what you learned to them. As a result, your learning has had little reinforcement, and you have not given it the opportunity to prove its worth to you.
10 Here is another chance to use it well. In these reviews we stress the need to let your learning not lie idly by between your longer practice periods. Attempt to give your daily two ideas a brief but serious review each hour. Use one on the hour and the other one a half an hour later. You need not give more than just a moment to each one.
11 Repeat it, and allow your mind to rest a little time in silence and in peace. Then turn to other things, but try to keep the thought with you and let it serve to help you keep your peace throughout the day. If you are shaken, think of it again. These practice periods are planned to help you form the habit of applying what you learn each day to everything you do.
12 Do not repeat it and then lay it down. Its usefulness is limitless to you. And it is meant to serve you in all ways, all times and places, and whenever you need help of any kind. Try, then, to take it with you in the business of the day and make it holy, worthy of God's Son, acceptable to God and to your Self.
13 Each day's review assignment will conclude with a restatement of the thought to use each hour and the one to be applied on each half hour as well. Forget them not. This second chance with each of these ideas will bring such large advances that we come from these reviews with learning gains so great that we begin again on solid ground.
14 Do not forget how little you have learned. Do not forget how much you can learn now. Do not forget your Father's need of you as you review these thoughts He gave to you.
Audio and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
ON LINE
SEARCHABLE Original Edition
|
|
A Course in Miracles
WORKBOOK
Lesson 112
[Review of Lessons 93-94]
1
For morning and evening review:
[93] Light and joy and peace abide in me.
2
I am the home of light and joy and peace. I welcome them into the home I share with God because I am a part of Him.
[
94] I am as God created me.
3
I will remain forever as I was, created by the Changeless like Himself. And I am one with Him, and He with me.
4
On the hour:
5
Light and joy and peace abide in me.
6
On the half hour:
7
I am as God created me.
Audio and Music by CIMS SonShip Radio
ON LINE
SEARCHABLE Original Edition
|
|
ACIM Edmonton
Sarah's Reflections
Lesson 112
Review III ~ Lessons 93-94
We affirm today,
"Light and joy and peace abide in me,"
(W.112.(93).1.1) and allow related thoughts to come to mind. We remember too, that light and joy and peace abide in our brothers. I ask for help today to release the impatience that so often seems to rule my life by seeing it for what it is. When I am impatient, I am giving reality to things in the illusion that I believe get in my way. I recognize that I am giving away my power willingly, and I am holding the belief that things should be different than they are. Let all things be exactly as they are. I realize I have made life all about me. I have made it about what I want, what my fears are, and what my needs are, and this is the false self, which is not a bad "me" but simply not real. I can see it for what it is and choose to recognize that I can see through the disguise of this false self. Jesus reminds me that I can choose again to see the illusion for what it is. It has no power except what I give it. If I give it power, I can question why I would want to throw my peace away by giving power to what is outside of the mind. My mind is cause and the world is effect, not the other way around.
I choose today to release expectations of how the day should go. I choose to be content, knowing I am the home of light, and there is nothing I can do to change that fact. I choose to remember that peace is already mine and joy lights up my mind. Only my dark ego thoughts obscure what is already mine. I am as God created me. That is the truth of my existence. I get caught up and lost in the illusion, believing in its reality. Thank you, God, for showing me the doorway back to my Self, back to the truth of who I really am. My nature, when unhindered by illusions, radiates light. If I am the home of joy, then sorrow and sadness are unnatural to me. My nature is of God. He is my home. His is my Will.
"I welcome them
[light and joy and peace]
into the home I share with God because I am a part of Him."
(W.112.(93).1.3)
I commit today to be a day when I bring this peace and joy to every encounter. Everyone I meet today offers me another opportunity to see them through the eyes of Christ. Every encounter is one where love is extended, or we hear the call for love. We are all One. If I am to understand this, I must see each brother as the same as me, with the same insane ego, and the same Christ Self. Differences affirm that I am separate. Judgment of my brother shows me that I am trying to achieve my innocence at the expense of another. The truth is that we are both innocent and both share the same ego and the same Spirit. When I judge and see guilt and differences, I willingly bring these to awareness and ask to see each brother truly. Sincerity and desire will take us a long way today.
I recently experienced how important conviction and dedication are to this process. I experienced the power in absolutely choosing to refuse to tolerate my worry thoughts. After that experience, I came across miracle Principle 14:
"Miracles bear witness to truth. They are convincing because they arise from conviction. Without conviction they deteriorate into magic, which is mindless and therefore destructive; or rather, the uncreative use of mind."
(T.1.I.14.1-3) (ACIM OE T.1.I.14)
There will not be much commentary from me on these short Review Lessons. However, I will comment briefly on the Introduction to the Review daily to keep us focused on what Jesus says to motivate us, as part of this Review. His focus is on having us bring the thoughts from each Lesson summary into our day so we don't just do a long morning and evening practice and then get on with the business of the day and not apply the Lesson. In the introduction to Review III, Jesus tells us,
"The exercises to be done throughout the day are equally important, and perhaps of even greater value."
(W. RIII.IN.9.1)
Clearly, this is true because it means we are applying them to every situation, every problem, and every difficulty we encounter. It means we are staying very vigilant in watching our thoughts and monitoring our feelings throughout the day. It means we are applying the Lessons and not setting them aside after our morning meditation. Thus, they have untold worth in proving the value of the whole curriculum that he has so carefully laid out for us.
"In these reviews, we stress the need to let your learning not lie idly by between your longer practice periods."
(W. RIII.IN.10.1)
He is helping us to establish the practice as a habit we bring to everything we do. He urges,
"Do not repeat the thought and lay it down."
(W.RIII.IN.11.3) We will experience limitless value when we keep the thought active in the repertoire of responses available to us with regard to problems, needs, and concerns that arise. It can seem like just a little thought of anxiety, a small upset, or a seemingly little irritation, yet each thought such as this disturbs our peace of mind. Don't let any disturbing thought go by without bringing it to awareness and willingly releasing it. Be determined today not to use any person, any situation, or any difficulty you perceive, to abandon your Self. I love the way Eckhart Tolle puts it when he says, "Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. This will miraculously transform your whole life." In fact, we are the ones who have chosen it. Life is orchestrated for us and by us for our highest good. We are the ones who set it up to facilitate our awakening to the truth. That is what our lives offer us when used as a classroom for undoing the false self--- to die to the ego before we die.
Remember, we are asked to take five minutes the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night to reflect on the Lessons.
"
Light and peace and joy abide in me.
I am the home of light and joy and peace. I welcome them into the home I share with God, because I am a part of Him."
(W.112.(93).1.1-3) And,
"
I am as God created me.
I will remain forever as I was, created by the Changeless like Himself. And I am one with Him, and He with me."
(W.112.(94).2.1-3) There is nothing we can do to change the truth about ourselves. All we have done is remain unaware of who we are but all of that can now be changed with dedication and motivation.
"And then begin to think about them
[these ideas],
while letting your mind relate them to your needs, your seeming problems and all your concerns."
(W.RIII.IN.5.3) We are basically letting related thoughts come to address any need, problem, or concern that we bring to this practice. Let the thoughts come up without your effort. Simply allow them to emerge. They are prompts from the Holy Spirit, providing you with guidance throughout the day. We already have the answer to any problem we perceive.
Do this practice with these ideas in your mind, and
"Give it faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who gave the thoughts to you."
(W.RIII.IN.6.2)
"Have faith, in these reviews, the means the Holy Spirit uses
[forgiveness]
will not fail."
(W.RIII.IN.6.4) The means are given us to release all the thoughts that block our peace as we take responsibility for them. It is never about forgiving anyone; but it is about bringing the thoughts we project onto others back into our own minds and forgiving ourselves for using others to block our own peace and joy.
Remind yourself to do the Lesson frequently throughout the day: on the hour for the first idea and on the half hour for the second idea, giving the idea a brief but serious review.
Love and blessings, Sarah
|
|
Join ACIM Students on Free Conference Calls
Circle of Atonement Commentaries
|
|
Course in Miracles Society (@ACIM_Original) | Twitter
Follow us on TWITTER and join the ACIM community. Just use the hashtag #ACIM when you post! Students share Inspirational Quotes, Events, Personal Insights, ACIM News, and more.
Read more
twitter.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
COURSE IN MIRACLES SOCIETY
non-profit
Tax-Deductible Donation
|
Presently all CIMS projects are supported by free will gifts of time, talent, and money. If you would like to support any of the activities of the Society in any way, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Because of the international character of CIMS, the internet is our primary means of communicating and collaborating.
To make a Tax-Deductible Donation in support of the Daily Lessons just click
Here or the "DONATION" Lily.
ALSO, by means of your will or other estate plan, you can name "Course in Miracles Society" as the beneficiary of a portion of your estate, or of particular assets in your estate. In this way, you are honoring your loved ones while also providing critical support to the extension of LOVE.
|
|
CIMS | 800-771-5056 | cims@jcim.net | jcim.net
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
