COURSE IN MIRACLES SOCIETY
(non-profit)
Please Support this Mailing with a
|
|
The link to this exact MAILING
|
|
Graphic by ©Deposit Photos
|
|
20 This is the journey's end. We have referred to it as the real world. And yet there is a contradiction here in that the words imply a limited reality, a partial truth, a segment of the universe made true. This is because knowledge makes no attack upon perception. They are brought together, and only one continues past the gate where Oneness is. Salvation is a borderland where place and time and choice have meaning still, and yet it can be seen that they are temporary, out of place, and every choice has been already made.
CHAPTER 26: THE TRANSITION
IV.
THE BORDERLAND
|
|
Workbook for Students
Part II
What is the Christ?
|
1 Christ is God's Son as He created Him. He is the Self we share, uniting us with one another and with God as well. He is the Thought Which still abides within the Mind That is His Source. He has not left His holy home nor lost the innocence in which He was created. He abides unchanged forever in the Mind of God.
Continue to Read Online
here
Audio, Music, and Video
by CIMS SonShip Radio
|
|
Workbook for Students
Lesson 279
Creation's freedom
promises my own.
|
1 The end of dreams is promised me because God's Son is not abandoned by His Love. Only in dreams is there a time when he appears to be in prison and awaits a future freedom if it be at all. Yet in reality his dreams are gone, with truth established in their place. And now is freedom his already. Should I wait in chains which have been severed for release, when God is offering me freedom now?
2
I will accept Your promises today and give my faith to them. My Father loves the Son Whom He created as His own. Would You withhold the gifts You gave to me?
|
Audio, Music, and Video
by CIMS SonShip Radio
Lesson ARCHIVE
|
|
Course in Miracles
Original Edition
Text
Chapter 26
The Transition
III. The Forms of Error
par 10-17
[TEXT READING PAUSED FOR WEEKEND]
|
10 It is not difficult to understand the reasons why you do not ask the Holy Spirit to solve
all problems for you. He has not greater difficulty in resolving some than others. Every problem is the same to Him because each one is solved in just the
same respect and through the
same approach. The aspects which need solving do not change, whatever form the problem seems to take. A problem can appear in many forms, and it will do so while the problem lasts. It serves no purpose to attempt to solve it in a special form. It will recur and then recur again and yet again until it has been answered for all time and will not rise again in any form. And only then are you released from it.
11 The Holy Spirit offers you release from
every problem that you think you have. They are the same to Him because each one, regardless of the form it seems to take, is a demand that someone suffer loss and make a sacrifice that you might gain. And when the situation is worked out so no one loses, is the problem gone because it was an error in perception which now has been corrected. One mistake is not more difficult for Him to bring to truth than is another. For there
is but one mistake—the whole idea that loss is possible and could result in gain for anyone. If this were true, then God would be unfair, sin would be possible, attack be justified, and vengeance fair.
12 This one mistake in any form has
one correction. There
is no loss; to think there is, is a mistake. You
have no problems, though you think you have. And yet you could not think so if you saw them vanish one by one without regard to size, complexity, or place and time, or any attribute which you perceive that makes each one seem different from the rest. Think not the limits you impose on what you see can limit God in any way.
13 The miracle of justice can correct
all errors. Every problem
is an error. It does injustice to the Son of God and therefore is not true. The Holy Spirit does not evaluate injustices as great or small or more or less. They have no properties to Him. They are mistakes from which the Son of God is suffering, but needlessly. And so He takes the thorns and nails away. He does not pause to judge whether the hurt be large or little. He makes but one judgment—that to hurt God's Son
must be unfair and therefore is not so.
14 You who believe it safe to give but some mistakes to be corrected while you keep the others to yourself, remember this: justice is total. There is no such thing as partial justice. If the Son of God is guilty, then is he condemned, and he deserves no mercy from the God of justice. But ask not God to punish him because
you find him guilty and would have him die. God offers you the means to see his innocence. Would it be fair to punish him because you will not look at what is there to see? Each time you keep a problem for yourself to solve or judge that it is one which has no resolution, you have made it great and past the hope of healing. You deny the miracle of justice
can be fair.
15 If God is just, then can there be no problems that justice cannot solve. But you believe that some injustices are fair and good and necessary to preserve yourself. It is these problems that you think are great and cannot be resolved. For there are those you
want to suffer loss and no one whom you wish to be preserved from sacrifice entirely. Consider once again your special function.
One is given you to see in him his perfect sinlessness. And you will ask no sacrifice of him because you could not will he suffer loss. The miracle of justice you call forth will rest on you as surely as on him. Nor will the Holy Spirit be content until it is received by everyone. For what you give to Him
is everyone's, and by your giving it can He ensure that everyone receives it equally.
16 Think then how great your own release will be when you are willing to receive correction for all your problems. You will not keep one, for pain in any form you will not want. And you will see each little hurt resolved before the Holy Spirit's gentle sight. For all of them
are little in His sight and worth no more than just a tiny sigh before they disappear, to be forever undone and unremembered. What seemed once to be a special problem, a mistake without a remedy, or an affliction without a cure, has been transformed into a universal blessing. Sacrifice is gone. And in its place the love of God can be remembered and will shine away all memory of sacrifice and loss.
17 God cannot be remembered until justice is loved instead of feared. He cannot be unjust to anyone or anything because He knows that everything that is belongs to Him and will forever be as He created it. Nothing He loves but must be sinless and beyond attack. Your special function opens wide the door beyond which is the memory of His love kept perfectly intact and undefiled. And all you need to do is but to wish that Heaven be given you instead of hell, and every bolt and barrier that seems to hold the door securely barred and locked will merely fall away and disappear. For it is not your Father's Will that you should offer or receive less than He gave when He created you in perfect love.
|
Audio, Music, and Video
by CIMS SonShip Radio
|
|
Course in Miracles
Original Edition
Text
Chapter 26
The Transition
IV. The Borderland
par 18-24
[TEXT READING PAUSED FOR WEEKEND]
|
18 Complexity is not of God. How could it be, when all He knows is one? He knows of
one creation,
one reality,
one truth, and but
one Son. Nothing conflicts with oneness. How, then, could there be complexity in Him? What is there to decide? For it is conflict that makes choice possible. The truth is simple—it is one, without an opposite. And how could strife enter in its simple presence and bring complexity where oneness is? The truth makes no decisions, for there is nothing to decide
between. And only if there were could choosing be a necessary step in the advance toward oneness. What is everything leaves room for nothing else.
19 Yet is this magnitude beyond the scope of this curriculum. Nor is it necessary we dwell on anything that cannot be immediately grasped. There is a borderland of thought which stands between this world and Heaven. It is not a place, and when you reach it is apart from time. Here is the meeting-place where thoughts are brought together—where conflicting values meet and all illusions are laid down beside the truth where they are judged to be untrue. This borderland is just beyond the gate of Heaven. Here is every thought made pure and wholly simple. Here
is sin denied and everything that is received instead.
20 This is the journey's end. We have referred to it as the real world. And yet there is a contradiction here in that the words imply a limited reality, a partial truth, a segment of the universe made true. This is because knowledge makes no attack upon perception. They are brought together, and only one continues past the gate where Oneness is. Salvation is a borderland where place and time and choice have meaning still, and yet it can be seen that they are temporary, out of place, and every choice has been already made.
21 Nothing the Son of God believes can be destroyed. But what is truth to him must be brought to the last comparison that he will ever make, the last evaluation that will be possible, the final judgment upon this world. It is the judgment of the truth upon illusion, of knowledge on perception—it has no meaning and does not exist. This is not your decision. It is but a simple statement of a simple fact. But in this world, there
are no simple facts because what is the same and what is different remain unclear. The one essential thing to make a choice at all is this distinction. And herein lies the difference between the worlds. In this one, choice is made impossible. In the real world is choosing simplified.
22 Salvation stops just short of Heaven, for only perception needs salvation. Heaven was never lost and so cannot be saved. Yet who can make a choice between the wish for Heaven and the wish for hell unless he recognizes they are
not the same? This difference is the learning goal this course has set. It will not go beyond this aim. Its only purpose is to teach what is the same and what is different, leaving room to make the only choice which
can be made.
23 There is no basis for choice in this complex and over-complicated world. For no one understands what is the same and seems to choose where no choice really is. The real world is the area of choice made real, not in the outcome but in the perception of
alternatives for choice. That there
is choice is an illusion. Yet within this one lies the undoing of
every illusion, not excepting this.
24 Is not this like your special function, where the separation is undone by change of purpose in what once was specialness and now is union?
All illusions are but one. And in the recognition this is so lies the ability to give up all attempts to choose between them and to
make them different. [How simple is the choice between two things so clearly
unalike.] There
is no conflict here. No sacrifice is possible in the relinquishment of an illusion
recognized as such. Where all reality has been withdrawn from what was never true, can it be hard to give it up and choose what
must be true?
|
Audio, Music, and Video
by CIMS SonShip Radio
ONLINE
SEARCHABLE Original Edition
Current Schedule of
|
|
ACIM Edmonton
Sarah's Reflections
Lesson 279
Creation's freedom
promises my own.
|
Sarah's Commentary:
"The end of dreams is promised me, because God’s Son is not abandoned by His Love."
(W.279.1.1) It is a promise that God makes because His Love is with us now. We have not been abandoned in the dream. Whenever we are ready to accept that we are at home in God now, we will awaken. This dream has had no effect on our reality. We may be feeling impatient and discouraged along the way if peace and ultimately enlightenment still seems to be a long way off, but Jesus urges patience. He says in the Manual for Teachers,
"Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety. Patience is natural to the teacher of God. All he sees is certain outcome, at a time perhaps unknown to him as yet, but not in doubt. The time will be as right as is the answer. And this is true for everything that happens now or in the future. The past as well held no mistakes; nothing that did not serve to benefit the world, as well as him to whom it seemed to happen. Perhaps it was not understood at the time."
(M.4.VIII.Patience.1.1-7)
Isn't that a terrific reminder? I especially love that nothing that happens is wrong in our seeming journey through time. Everything along the way is exactly as it needs to be for our awakening. Jesus tells us that the past held no mistakes, and where we are, right now, is perfect! This world is all a perfect classroom, with everything and everyone in our lives perfectly orchestrated for our healing. And it has all been orchestrated by our own minds. There is nothing and no one outside of us. Where there seem to be setbacks or events that are painful to the ego, they are actually taking us deeper to another layer that is being brought up for healing. This is so perfectly illustrated in the movie,
Thank You for Sharing
.
I am currently reading,
I Married a Mystic,
and something that struck me and related to the above was that when the author, Kirsten Buxton, doubted the value of her contribution, the Holy Spirit assured her that it was perfect by saying, "You don’t know what kind of effect your reply (to a question) has had on others, and I can assure you that what was said was perfect. Trust in divine order. When you doubt, you block your awareness of me---even doubting after an event blocks your awareness. Every moment is an opportunity to ask me for guidance. Trust that all things work together for good."
This is a good reminder when we start to become impatient or even discouraged, when we get angry about our current situation, or when we critique or second guess ourselves about what we should have said or done. We can rest in the knowledge that there is no doubt the dream will end when the time is right, which is when our minds are ready. And our readiness comes as we learn that anything we think we have done or have not done has had any impact on the truth of who we really are. In fact, this dream that we are dreaming has no reality at all! Yes, it does seem to have an impact on us while we still believe we are in it; but we have a choice---to move outside of the dream, above the battleground. When we do this, we leave the battleground of our own thoughts and look at the dream as if we were watching a movie in which we play a character, but it is not who we are but simply a role we have assumed. From this place of awareness, we become the observers of the dream figures. When we identify with the dream and the dream figures, we believe we are imprisoned in the world and in this body. The truth is that our only reality is the Christ Self. This is the source of our freedom that we experience in the holy instant.
The chains have been severed. Jesus offers us freedom now, but he reminds us,
"Prisoners bound with heavy chains for years, starved and emaciated, weak and exhausted, and with eyes so long cast down in darkness they remember not the light, do not leap up in joy the instant they are made free. It takes a while for them to understand what freedom is. You groped but feebly in the dust and found your brother's hand, uncertain whether to let it go or to take hold on life so long forgotten. Strengthen your hold and raise your eyes unto your strong companion, in whom the meaning of your freedom lies. He seemed to be crucified beside you. And yet his holiness remained untouched and perfect, and with him beside you, you shall this day inter with him to Paradise, and know the peace of God."
(T.20.III.9.1-6) (ACIM OE T.20.IV.25)
Our way to freedom is by freeing our brothers. We take a brother's hand and release him from the prison in which he sees himself by recognizing his innocence, which is how we can know our own. Thus, we go home together. We do it on this worldly plane by forgiving what our brother did
not
do. In giving, we receive. In loving, we know love. In healing, we are healed, and in seeing the innocence and perfection in our brother, we know our own. In other words, we see the Christ in our brother and thus come to know the Self we truly are. We can only see the Christ in him when we bring to awareness our own blocks to love that we hold in our own minds. We ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to reinterpret our misperceptions so we can see truly. We take responsibility for our misperceptions, recognizing that we are wrong about the way we see our brother, but we are willing to be taught.
There was a time when I felt superior on this journey, believing that those who did not embrace spirituality as I did were shallow and superficial. I had a limited interest in engaging with them. It was a way I kept myself in judgment. Now I see that it was a projection of my own superficiality and just another mistake. Any concept we hold about ourselves, including the concept of being spirituality elevated, has a shadow, which is what we project. The shadow in this instance was my fear of seeing my own superficiality. It was my own self-attack that was being projected rather than courageously being brought to the light. Bringing it back into my own mind was what needed to happen if it were to be healed. True, I feel more at home with my mighty companions on this journey and do seek them out for support, but our minds can never be healed as long as we choose to see ourselves as separate or different from any brother. There can be no exceptions in this.
Freedom is in joining, not in separating. We have been model prisoners for a very long time. We are now using the Course teaching to learn what real freedom is and how to achieve it. We need to be patient in the process and have faith that the end is certain. Salvation is simply to become aware that we are dreaming and are keeping ourselves bound to this dream by the belief in sin and guilt. We do so by keeping ourselves bound by our own thoughts and by holding onto our conditioned beliefs. Unwinding the mind is a process of taking responsibility for our minds. We have been given the means for undoing all that is false. We now need to apply them by being vigilant and mindful in watching our thoughts and taking responsibility for them. Nothing is outside of our own minds.
"Brother, take not one step in the descent to hell. For having taken one, you will not recognize the rest for what they are. And they
will
follow. Attack in any form has placed your foot upon the twisted stairway that leads from Heaven. Yet any instant it is possible to have all this undone. How can you know whether you chose the stairs to Heaven or the way to hell? Quite easily. How do you feel? Is peace in your awareness? Are you certain which way you go? And are you sure the goal of Heaven can be reached? If not, you walk alone. Ask, then, your Friend
[the Holy Spirit]
to join with you, and give you certainty of where you go."
(T.23.II.22.1-13) (ACIM OE T.23.III.40)
It is important to watch our minds and not indulge the story, which takes us down many steps into hell. When we notice the first few thoughts of anger or distress, it is much easier to release them than when we build a case. Let us commit to being vigilant today. Let us focus on the certainty of God's promise. Let us remember that all is perfect for our awakening. We are exactly where we need to be at this moment and can choose peace in whatever situation we find ourselves.
Practically then, how does this look? Well, imagine an event, circumstance, or person that you deem to be the cause of your upset. You feel a lot of conflict or experience fear. What do you do? The first thing is to stop, take a breath, and come into the present moment, inviting the Holy Spirit in. This may require removing yourself from the person or situation. Now, look at what has happened by inquiring what this is about for you. It is not about analyzing or beating up on yourself or making yourself guilty, but quietly looking at what is being triggered in you.
The answers may not come right away, but the inquiry is helpful. Why? It is helpful because identifying the issues that have resulted in the upset within you helps to bring them to your awareness so you can then turn them over to the Holy Spirit for healing. They are just mistaken notions about yourself. In every situation, we are being called to remember the truth of who we are. Ask for help from the Holy Spirit. This is a time to do the Lesson and be reminded of the truth. The truth will resonate with you because it is already in your mind. You can be at peace even with your upset because you are not your upset. You are the observer that sees the character in the dream that you identify as yourself. When you look at the character without judgment but with love and compassion, you are freed from the dream. In acceptance of the truth are we set free, and this always starts by simply looking at the ego from above the battleground.
Love and blessings, Sarah
|
|
Allen Watson's
Workbook Commentaries
Allen joined Robert Perry in forming the Circle of Atonement in 1993 in Sedona, Arizona where Allen led retreats and workshops and authored many books based on “A Course in Miracles.” One of his most popular books is:
|
|
Through
Tina Louise Spalding
|
|
LISTEN every day to Guidance on the ACIM Lessons from Jesus.
|
|
Join ACIM Students
on Free Conference Calls
|
|
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 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.
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.
|
|
SHARE THE BLESSING of ACIM!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
