There is nothing outside of you
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59 Nothing beyond yourself can make you fearful or loving because nothing is beyond you. Time and eternity are both in your mind and will conflict until you perceive time solely as a means to regain eternity. You cannot do this as long as you believe that anything which happens to you is caused by factors outside yourself.
ACIM Original Edition
Workbook for Students
Lesson 109
I rest in God.
1 We ask for rest today and quietness unshaken by the world's appearances. We ask for peace and stillness in the midst of all the turmoil born of clashing dreams. We ask for safety and for happiness, although we seem to look on danger and on sorrow. And we have the thought that will answer our asking with what we request.

2 "I rest in God." This thought will bring to you the rest and quiet, peace and stillness, and the safety and the happiness you seek. "I rest in God." This thought has power to wake the sleeping truth in you, whose vision sees beyond appearances to that same truth in everyone and everything there is. Here is the end of suffering for all the world and everyone who ever came and yet will come to linger for a while. Here is the thought in which the Son of God is born again, to recognize himself.

3 "I rest in God." Completely undismayed this thought will carry you through storms and strife, past misery and pain, past loss and death, and onward to the certainty of God. There is no suffering it cannot heal. There is no problem which it cannot solve. And no appearance but will turn to truth before the eyes of you who rest in God.

4 This is the day of peace. You rest in God, and while the world is torn by winds of hate, your rest remains completely undisturbed. Yours is the rest of truth. Appearances cannot intrude on you. You call to all to join you in your rest, and they will hear and come to you because you rest in God. They will not hear another voice but yours because you gave your voice to God and now you rest in Him and let Him speak through you.

5 In Him you have no cares and no concerns, no burdens, no anxiety, no pain, no fear of future, and no past regrets. In timelessness you rest, while time goes by without its touch upon you, for your rest can never change in any way at all.

6 You rest today. And as you close your eyes, sink into stillness. Let these periods of rest and respite reassure your mind that all its frantic fantasies were but the dreams of fever that has passed away. Let it be still and thankfully accept its healing. No more fearful dreams will come now that you rest in God. Take time today to slip away from dreams and into peace.

7 Each hour that you take your rest today, a tired mind is suddenly made glad, a bird with broken wings begins to sing, a stream long dry begins to flow again. The world is born again each time you rest, and hourly remember that you came to bring the peace of God into the world that it might take its rest along with you.

8With each five minutes that you rest today the world is nearer waking. And the time when rest will be the only thing there is comes closer to all worn and tired minds, too weary now to go their way alone. And they will hear the bird begin to sing and see the stream begin to flow again, with hope reborn and energy restored to walk with lightened steps along the road that suddenly seems easy as they go.

9 You rest within the peace of God today and call upon your brothers from your rest, to draw them to their rest along with you. You will be faithful to your trust today, forgetting no one, bringing everyone into the boundless circle of your peace, the holy sanctuary where you rest.

10 Open the temple doors, and let them come from far across the world, and near as well-your distant brothers and your closest friends-bid them all enter here and rest with you. You rest within the peace of God today, quiet and unafraid. Each brother comes to take his rest and offer it to you.

11 We rest together here, for thus our rest is made complete, and what we give today we have received already. Time is not the guardian of what we give today. We give to those unborn and those passed by, to every Thought of God, and to the Mind in Which these Thoughts were born and where they rest. And we remind them of their resting place each time we tell ourselves,

12 I rest in God.

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Lesson ARCHIVE
CIMS ACIM OE
Course in Miracles
Original Edition
Text
Chapter 9
 The Correction of Error

VIII. The Inclusiveness of Creation
 par 59-67
59 Nothing beyond yourself can make you fearful or loving because nothing is beyond you. Time and eternity are both in your mind and will conflict until you perceive time solely as a means to regain eternity. You cannot do this as long as you believe that anything which happens to you is caused by factors outside yourself. You must learn that time is solely at your disposal, and that nothing in the world can take this responsibility from you. You can violate God's laws in your imagination, but you cannot escape from them. They were established for your protection and are as inviolate as your safety.

60 God created nothing beside you, and nothing beside you exists, for you are part of Him. What except Him can exist? Nothing beyond Him can happen because nothing except Him is real. Your creations add to Him as you do, but nothing is added that is different because everything has always been. What can upset you except the ephemeral, and how can the ephemeral be real if you are God's only creation, and He created you eternal? Your holy will establishes everything that happens to you. Every response you make to everything you perceive is up to you because your will determines your perception of it.

61 God does not change His Mind about you, for He is not uncertain of Himself. And what He knows can be known because He does not know only for Himself. He created you for Himself, but He gave you the power to create for your self so you could be like Him. That is why your will is holy. Can anything exceed the love of God? Can anything, then, exceed your will? Nothing can reach you from beyond it because, being in God, you encompass everything. Believe this, and you will realize how much is up to you. When anything threatens your peace of mind, ask yourself,

62 Has God changed His Mind about me?

63 Then accept His decision, for it is indeed changeless, and refuse to change your mind about yourself. God will never decide against you, or He would be deciding against Himself.

64 The reason you do not know your creations is simply that you would decide against them as long as your minds are split, and to attack what you have created is impossible. But remember that it is as impossible for God. The law of creation is that you love your creations as yourself because they are part of you. Everything that was created is therefore perfectly safe because the laws of God protect it by His Love. Any part of your mind that does not know this has banished itself from knowledge because it has not met its conditions.

65 Who could have done this but you? Recognize this gladly, for in this recognition lies the realization that your banishment is not of God and therefore does not exist. You are at home in God, dreaming of exile but perfectly capable of awakening to reality. Is it your will to do so? You know from your own experience that what you see in dreams you think is real as long as you are asleep. Yet the instant you waken, you know that everything that seemed to happen did not happen at all. You do not think this mysterious, even though all the laws of what you awakened to were violated while you slept. Is it not possible that you merely shifted from one dream to another, without really wakening?

66 Would you bother to reconcile what happened in conflicting dreams, or would you dismiss both together if you discovered that reality is in accord with neither? You do not remember being awake. When you hear the Holy Spirit, you merely feel better because loving seems possible to you, but you do not remember yet that it once was so. And it is in this remembering that you will know it can be so again. What is possible has not yet been accomplished. Yet what has once been is so now if it is eternal. When you remember, you will know what you remember is eternal and therefore is now.

67 You will remember everything the instant you desire it wholly, for if to desire wholly is to create, you will have willed away the separation, returning your mind simultaneously to your Creator and your creations. Knowing them, you will have no wish to sleep but only the will to waken and be glad. Dreams will be impossible because you will want only truth, and being at last your will, it will be yours.

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Sarah Huemmert
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Sarah's Reflections
Lesson 109
I rest in God.
This Lesson in one I love and takes me into a place of peace as I breathe into the experience of just resting in God. Certainly, in this world, we experience "turmoil born of clashing dreams . " (W.109.1.2) When we can step back from the challenges, problems, and conflicts of our lives and release our attachment to how things should be for us in this dream to feel at peace, we can sink into the place of complete rest with no dismay about anything in this illusory world. Jesus tells us that this place of rest in us is a sanctuary where we invite our brothers to rest with us and join with us, as we release the turmoil of our clashing dreams. As we rest our minds, we open to the healing always poised in readiness when we are willing to accept it. When we do, the peace in our minds extends to all minds. We take this temporary withdrawal from the world in our meditation time, so when we reenter the world we bring the peace in our minds to every person and every situation we encounter. It is a way of living in the world, while not getting caught up in the conflicts of this world.
 
Meditation is not a withdrawal into drowsiness, although that can be a big temptation for us. This is why Jesus suggests that we not lie down when we meditate. It is an alert kind of meditation where we stay aware of our thoughts, but we don’t engage with them. When distracting thoughts show up, we can see them as passing clouds and continue to rest the mind. Our focus in meditating on the Lessons is on awakening rather than withdrawing. The purpose is not to escape from the world but to bring this peace into our everyday lives. The everyday events of our lives are what trigger reactions in us. We are constantly being tempted to respond with fear or anger. Now, through this lesson, we are given a practice to bring all fear thoughts to this inner altar in the mind, this quiet place of rest, where our distressing thoughts are quietly dissolved within the light.
 
So many things in our lives seem to need our attention. In the midst of all the fear, guilt, and pain, where we "seem to look on danger and on sorrow," (W.109.1.3) the Holy Spirit gently brings our attention to the reality that there is a place in our minds where peace, happiness, and safety constantly abide. We are reminded to learn to see past appearances. In each circumstance, we can choose peace, but if we don’t do well with whatever situation confronts us, we will always have other opportunities presented to us to choose again. In this choice, we are renewed and are born again.
 
To be born again is to die to the ego. With the choice for the ego came the choice for death. Now, we can choose life, which has no end but speaks to our eternal nature. It requires that we see the illusion for what it is. When we look beyond appearances, we look beyond what the body's eyes show us to be true. We recognize that we are deceived in what we see. It is all illusory. Our reality and that of every brother is one of perfect stillness and peace, which is the only reality. Behind all forms in this world is the content of love.
 
You may feel it is selfish to take this kind of time for yourself when there seems to be so much to be attended to. It may seem self-indulgent to take time for rest. I know for me, sometimes taking time to do the meditation during the day seems to be taking me away from what I think is important to get done in my day. The ego can get very raucous and demanding, telling us there are more important things to attend to than taking time for stillness. We may feel guilty for taking this time for ourselves. Yet Jesus is telling us that we are doing immense good for the world and for all those who suffer and experience lack of hope, as we take time to rest. The rest he is talking to us about is the "rest of truth . " (W.109.4.3) In this place in our minds where the Holy Spirit dwells, there are no "cares and no concerns, no burdens, no anxiety, no pain, no fear of future and no past regrets . " (W.109.5.1) We increasingly recognize, through our practice, that nothing in the world can affect the love and the peace within.
 
Taking time for rest may be unproductive from the perspective of the world, but Jesus says this thought alone can carry us through "storms and strife, past misery and pain, past loss and death, and onward to the certainty of God." (W.109.3.2) It is so very powerful! Yet, even more, the peace that comes from our rest in God has the power to solve every problem and address every concern, anxiety, pain, fear, and regret that we are holding onto. "There is no suffering it cannot heal. There is no problem that it cannot solve. And no appearance but will turn to truth before the eyes of you who rest in God . " (W.109.3.3-5)
 
When there are difficulties and problems in my life, I always feel like I should get into action and do something; yet Jesus urges us to stop the doing and rest in God where everything is resolved. The one that is doing is the false self. It has no answers for us that will resolve any problem. Peace is always in the mind, and when we connect with it, all issues are quietly addressed. This is where the miracle is given birth. When I stop the activity and go into this quiet place of rest, the answer comes. Yes, this serves me, but it also serves those who came and are yet to come because there is no linear time. The body is now used in the service of the Holy Spirit as a communication device. We become a conduit of love. It is not about denial of the problems we face or what we see in the world, but when we look at them with the Holy Spirit, we see with vision, and now we are seeing everything differently. It does not mean we don't see the problems, nor deny their effect on us, but we bring our misperceptions to truth so we can truly look beyond what things appear to be. Now our minds can rest on a foundation of God's Love, rather than on the ego's interpretations.
 
Peace is our natural state. It is not something to seek. It is something to uncover and discover in ourselves. Frenzy, on the other hand, is unnatural. In Chapter 29, "The Changeless Dwelling Place," we are reminded of this place in us where we find our rest. "There is a place in you where this whole world has been forgotten; where no memory of sin and of illusion lingers still. There is a place in you which time has left, and echoes of eternity are heard. There is a resting place so still no sound except a hymn to Heaven rises up to gladden God the Father and the Son. Where Both abide are They remembered, Both. And where They are is Heaven and is peace . " (T.29.V.1.1-4) (ACIM OE T.29.VI.31)
 
No matter what stories we have made up in this dream or how we experience ourselves, we can't change what God created. We are still a thought of Love in the Mind of Love. In the unhealed places in my mind, I experience unhealed wounds of the past. While they don't feel good, when I don’t resist them but welcome them as opportunities for healing, the process does not bring more suffering. I know that as I release the grievances and place them on the inner altar, more and more peace is given me. There is nothing for me to do or fix, for there is nothing I can fix. The false self has no power to do anything. All that is needed is to bring awareness to the blocks to love and welcome in the truth.
 
It reminds me of the Section in Chapter 18, where Jesus talks of our "busy doings" while our minds are at peace. It is a way of living in this world where we attend to what is in front of us to do, but all the time, we carry the peace, love, and joy that we are into every circumstance. The goal of this Course is peace. Jesus reminds us, "Yet there will always be this place of rest to which you can return. And you will be more aware of this quiet center of the storm than all its raging activity. This quiet center, in which you do nothing, will remain with you, giving you rest in the midst of every busy doing on which you are sent. For from this center will you be directed how to use the body sinlessly." (T.18.VII.8.1-4) (ACIM OE T.18.VIII.70) From this place, the experience of "burnout" would be impossible, as everything is done without any effort on our part.
 
Now we call to all our brothers to rest with us. "You rest within the peace of God today, and call upon your brothers from your rest to draw them to their rest, along with you . " (W.109.8.1) Our sacred mission and our reason for being here is to bring peace to everyone. We were born for this purpose. Our peace can then extend from us to all the world because there is only One Mind. What we give, we receive. The peace we offer is the peace we receive as we offer it. By the same token, when we attack, we are hurting ourselves. As we rest, we draw in our brothers because this rest embraces all brothers as one Son of God. This experience is sacred. Jesus tells us we enter a "holy sanctuary." (W.109.8.2) "Open the temple doors and let them come from far across the world, and near as well; your distant brothers and your closest friends; bid them all enter here and rest with you . " (W.109.8.3) This is how we might approach this holy time of resting in God.
 
It is our desire and devotion at the center of our minds that will bring us home. It is the desire for our true home where we rest in God. We are reminded in Lesson 182 of this place in us where we yearn to know the Self we are. "It is this Child in you your Father knows as His Own Son. It is this Child Who knows His Father. He desires to go home so deeply, so unceasingly, His voice cries unto you to let Him rest a while. He does not ask for more than just a few instants of respite; just an interval in which He can return to breathe again the holy air that fills His father's house. You are His home as well. He will return. But give Him just a little time to be Himself, within the peace that is His home, resting in silence and in peace and love . " (W.182.5.1-7)
 
I feel this so poignantly today. The Child is crying out for rest. It is a deep rest of the mind that we are crying out for, where there are no cares, no concerns, no anxiety, no pain, no fear of the future and, in fact, no time. In this state of timelessness, we can know the truth, feel totally safe, and yet not feel alone. We can know this state when we know we are everything and have everything and that all that swirls and distracts from outside this sanctuary, no matter the appearance, is not real.
 
"This thought will bring to you the rest and quiet, peace and stillness, and the safety and the happiness you seek . " (W.109.2.2) "This thought has power to wake the sleeping truth in you, whose vision sees beyond appearances to that same truth in everyone and everything there is." (W.109.2.4) It is a thought that puts us back on track, reminding us of God's peace and power in our lives and how the truth within us helps all minds. Others will accept this peace as they are ready.
 
"Each hour that you take your rest today, a tired mind is suddenly made glad, a bird with broken wings beings to sing, a stream long dry begins to flow again. The world is born again each time you rest, and hourly remember that you came to bring the peace of God into the world, that it might take its rest along with you . " (W.109.6.1-2) These are beautiful symbols of the power available to us all, in the quiet center of our minds where truth abides. It is our divinity. It is what we are.
 
Today, bring your pain, anxiety, depression, sadness, frantic fantasies, and fearful thoughts to the place of rest within. If we truly desire a quiet mind, we must release thoughts that bring suffering. They are thoughts of the false self. We need not identify with these thoughts, as they do not define us. To forgive is to release the false. Without forgiveness, the beauty of the words of this Lesson won't truly serve you. We are meant to use these thoughts to remind us that peace is available to us in every moment. We suffer because we hold onto untrue thoughts that we give meaning to. Use the time today to bring them to His loving presence, and know you are safe. You are engaging in a sacred experience. This is about letting grievances go and entering into the temple of your mind where peace abides.
 
For the longer practice period of five minutes on the hour, say "I rest in God . " (W.109) Repeat these words slowly to yourself right now. Don't you feel more at peace? The words "I rest in God" put us in a state of willingness and receptivity. Now sink into the kind of rest where there are no cares and no concerns and the turmoil of the world can't touch you. In this state, call to "your distant brothers and your closest friends , " (W.109.8.3) and welcome them into your holy temple where you rest in God.

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Love and blessings, Sarah
 
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