"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists.
Herein Lies the peace of God."
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A
Course in Miracles
TEXT
CHAPTER 28
The Undoing of Fear
VIII. The Beautiful Relationship
60
God asks for nothing, and His Son, like Him, need ask for nothing. For there is no lack in him. An empty space, a little gap, would be a lack. And it is only there that he could want for something he has not. A space where God is not, a gap between the Father and the Son is not the Will of either, who have promised to be one. God's promise is a promise to
Himself
, and there is no one who could be untrue to what He wills as part of what He
is.
The promise that there is no gap between Himself and what He is cannot be false. What will can come between what
must
be one, and in Whose wholeness there can
be
no gap?
61
The beautiful relationship you have with all your brothers is a part of you because it is a part of God Himself. Are you not sick if you deny yourself your wholeness and your health, the Source of help, the Call to healing, and the Call to heal? Your savior waits for healing, and the world waits with him. Nor are you apart from it. For healing will be one or not at all, its oneness being where the healing lies. What could correct for separation but its opposite? There is no middle ground in any aspect of salvation. You accept it wholly or accept it not. What is unseparated must be joined. And what is joined cannot be separate.
62
Either there is a gap between you and your brother, or you
are
as one. There is no in between, no other choice, and no allegiance to be split between the two. A split allegiance is but faithlessness to both and merely sets you spinning round, to grasp uncertainly at any straw that seems to hold some promise of relief. Yet who can build his home upon a straw and count on it as shelter from the wind? The body can be made a home like this because it lacks foundation in the truth. And yet,
because
it does, it can be seen as
not
your home but merely as an aid to help you reach the home where God abides.
63
With
this
as purpose
is
the body healed. It is not used to witness to the dream of separation and disease. Nor is it idly blamed for what it did not do. It serves to help the healing of God's Son, and for
this
purpose it cannot
be
sick. It will not join a purpose not your own, and you have
chosen
that it not be sick. All miracles are based upon this choice and given you the instant it is made. No forms of sickness are immune because the choice cannot be made in terms of form. The choice of sickness
seems
to be a form, yet it is one, as is its opposite. And
you
are sick or well accordingly.
64
But never you alone. This world is but the dream that you can
be
alone and think without affecting those apart from you. To be alone must mean you are apart, and if you are, you cannot
but
be sick. This seems to prove that you must be apart. Yet all it means is that you tried to keep a promise to be true to faithlessness. Yet faithlessness
is
sickness. It is like the house set upon straw. It seems to be quite solid and substantial in itself. Yet its stability cannot be judged apart from its foundation. If it rests on straw, there is no need to bar the door and lock the windows and make fast the bolts. The wind
will
topple it, and rain
will
come and carry it into oblivion.
65
What is the sense in seeking to be safe in what was
made
for danger and for fear? Why burden it with further locks and chains and heavy anchors when its weakness lies not in itself but in the frailty of the little gap of nothingness whereon it stands? What
can
be safe which rests upon a shadow? Would you build your home upon what will collapse beneath a feather's weight?
66
Your home is built upon your brother's health, upon his happiness, his sinlessness, and everything his Father promised him. No secret promise you have made instead has shaken the Foundation of his home. The winds will blow upon it, and the rain will beat against it but with no effect. The world will wash away, and yet this house will stand forever, for its strength lies not within itself alone. It is an ark of safety, resting on God's promise that His Son is safe forever in Himself. What gap can interpose itself between the safety of this shelter and its Source? From here the body can be seen as what it is and neither less nor more in worth than the extent to which it can be used to liberate God's Son unto his home. And with this holy purpose is it made a home of holiness a little while because it shares your Father's Will with
you.
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A Course in Miracles
WORKBOOK
Part II
What is the Second Coming?
1
Christ's Second Coming, which is sure as God, is merely the correction of mistakes and the return of sanity. It is a part of the condition which restores the never lost and re-establishes what is forever and forever true. It is the invitation to God's Word to take illusion's place, the willingness to let forgiveness rest upon all things without exception and without reserve.
2
It is the all-inclusive nature of Christ's Second Coming that permits it to embrace the world and hold you safe within its gentle advent, which encompasses all living things with you. There is no end to the release the Second Coming brings, as God's creation must be limitless. Forgiveness lights the Second Coming's way because it shines on everyone as one.
3
The Second Coming ends the lessons which the Holy Spirit teaches, making way for the Last Judgment, in which learning ends in one last summary that will extend beyond itself and reaches up to God. The Second Coming is the time in which all minds are given to the hands of Christ, to be returned to Spirit in the name of true creation and the Will of God.
4
The Second Coming is the one event in time which time itself cannot affect. For everyone who ever came to die or yet will come or who is present now is equally released from what he made. In this equality is Christ restored as one identity, in which all Sons of God acknowledge that they all are one. And God the Father smiles upon His Son, His one creation and His only joy.
5
Pray that this Second Coming will be soon, but do not rest with that. It needs your eyes and ears and hands and feet. It needs your voice. And most of all it needs your willingness. Let us rejoice that we can do God's Will and join together in its holy light. Behold, the Son of God is one in us, and we can reach our Father's Love through him.
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A Course in Miracles
WORKBOOK
Lesson 303
The holy Christ is born in me today.
1
Watch with me, angels; watch with me today. Let all God's holy Thoughts surround me and be still with me while Heaven's Son is born. Let earthly sounds be quiet and the sights to which I am accustomed disappear. Let Christ be welcomed where He is at home, and let Him hear the sounds He understands and see but sights which show His Father's Love. Let Him no longer be a stranger here, for He is born again in me today.
2
Your Son is welcome, Father. He has come to save me from the evil self I made. He is the Self that You have given me. He is but what I really am in truth. He is the Son You love above all things. He is my Self as You created me. It is not Christ that can be crucified. Into Your world let me receive Your Son.
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ACIM Edmonton
Sarah's Reflections
Lesson 303
The holy Christ is born in me today.
Sarah's Commentary:
What happens in your mind as you say these words? Do you feel the presence of Christ within or do you dismiss these words and feel unworthy of them? Any thoughts that come up, whether of guilt or fear, reflect the
"evil self I made,"
(W.303.2.2) (the ego) and not who I am. In order to know who we are as the Christ, we must open our hearts and welcome Him in by surrendering all we think we know and all we think we are. We don't have to understand how all this happens. Our part is to keep bringing our dark thoughts to the light so we can welcome the Christ within. How can the unforgiving thoughts in our subconscious minds be recognized? We recognize them in whatever we see reflected back at us and what triggers an emotional response in us to the events and people in our life.
Since nothing outside our own mind can upset us, it is the realization that everything is coming from our unhealed thoughts. The world is neutral. We project our judgments onto what we perceive in the world and see it as malevolent. Healing happens with our willingness to look at our emotions, judgments, thoughts, beliefs, and the false concepts we hold about ourself. In releasing our misperceptions to the Holy Spirit and welcoming His presence, we experience more and more peace and joy until we come to a place of total safety.
"Safe in Your Arms let me receive Your Son,"
(W.303.2.8) who is our true Self.
Any opposing thoughts we have to the truth of what we are as God's holy Son keep us in resistance to the truth. Today, I saw how I allow myself to be crucified. Recently, I had suggested that several of us see a movie, which no one liked. Not one of us felt it was worth our time. What played in my mind as I listened to the perspectives of my friends was that this movie had been my suggestion. I felt it was my fault that no one enjoyed this experience. I crucified myself for not doing more research prior to suggesting the movie and "ruining" everyone's evening. When I inquired into my upset, I saw that I was holding onto a belief that I am responsible for what other people experience. The belief that I was holding onto was that if I could not make them happy, I was not loveable. I needed their approval because, without it, I saw myself as unworthy. It was a very valuable opportunity to give this belief in unworthiness to the Holy Spirit.
When we see mistakes as sins, we believe we are guilty and deserve punishment. It is a decision to keep ourselves from the love we are. It is a decision to crucify ourselves, believing that now God won't have to punish us because we have delivered our own self-punishment. In order to forgive, we must first see that we are mistaken in what we are thinking.
"I must have decided wrongly, because I am not at peace."
(T.5.VII.6.7) (ACIM OE T.5.V.96) Forgiveness requires that we look at our thoughts without judgment. When we judge ourselves, we are accusing ourselves of sins. This was the error that led to the separation, and we continue this error whenever we judge anything or anyone, including ourselves, as wrong. When we realize our mistake, we can ask for the Correction. Thus, we can shorten our suffering. The Answer is within. We can't heal what we don't want to admit to ourself or take responsibility for. It is all about willingness. Even when things seem to be going exceedingly well for us, the ego is whispering that it is too good to be true, or it can’t last.
When we hold onto self-accusing thoughts, fantasies, dreams, wishes, plans, doubts, feelings of unworthiness, and demands, we place on ourselves to be perfect, we can't be at peace. Jesus tells us this need not be. In that statement, we can declare our independence from the ego. Our mood tells us when we have chosen the ego.
"To the ego’s dark glass you need but say ‘I will not look there because I know these images are not true.’ Then let the Holy One shine on you in peace, knowing that this and only this must be."
(T.4.IV.9.2-3) (ACIM OE T.4.V.65) It is not helpful to justify the reasons for how we are feeling because when we do, we make up a story that could never be true. Choose instead to see that you must be wrong about the way you are seeing the situation or person. You are dreaming the dream, and are thus the dreamer of your situation.
We choose today to be released from all the things that distract us from the love we are. In everything that we see and hear today, let us be reminded of the Call within that we have answered. Let us be reminded that this is the true Christmas that we celebrate. Not the birth of Jesus in a manger, but Christ's birth in us. Let us dwell on our brother's kindnesses today and not on his mistakes. When we choose to judge, let us not crucify ourselves, but welcome instead another aspect of the ego mind that has been revealed to us for healing. When our purpose is healing, everything that shows up in our day is perfect.
"What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past, present and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good?"
(W.135.18.1) (ACIM OE W.135.19) How willing are you to welcome it all?
With every blessing that we give, we will know we are blessed. The only reason we deprive ourselves of miracles is because we do not feel our brothers are worthy of them. We have crucified our brothers instead of making them welcome. We have forgotten that they have been sent as our saviors from the
"
evil self I made,
"
(W.303.2.2) by revealing what is unhealed in us.
The Second Coming is the Correction of mistakes and paves the way for the truth. It is when God’s Word takes the place of all illusions. Everything is embraced and all mistakes are released. It establishes that the truth was never lost. The Second Coming is not as described in the Bible, where Jesus is said to come at some future time to judge the living and the dead. That is a fear-based perspective and has been corrected by his teaching in the Course, where the Second Coming is simply the undoing of this dream. It is the end of this space-time movie.
We are finding our way out of the maze of this illusory world, and we do so through forgiveness. How can this possibly be fearful when the Last Judgment is the declaration of our complete innocence? We will finally know the truth about ourselves and every brother, without exception. Our sleeping minds have been restored and returned to sanity. To commit to the healing, we must take every opportunity to allow our mistaken perceptions to be corrected. We can choose to let go of all bondage and all limits that we hold in our minds and instead experience the power of the holy Thoughts surrounding us in every moment.
"Your Son is welcome, Father. He has come to save me from the evil self I made. He is the Self that You have given me. He is but what I really am in truth. He is the Son You love above all things. He is my Self as You created me. It is not Christ that can be crucified. Safe in Your Arms let me receive Your Son."
(W.303.2.1-8)
The sin and guilt we hold in our minds are not real. Only love is real. Everything else is an illusion. The suffering and pain we see all around us have not changed the truth that there is only love and nothing else exists, except in the dream. The dream has not changed who I really am. The holy Christ is born in me today if I should choose. If not today, then when I am ready, but the day will come. It is a certainty.
"Infinite patience calls upon infinite love, and by producing results
now
it renders time unnecessary."
(T.5.VI.12.3) (ACIM OE T.5.VIII.81)
Love and blessings, Sarah
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