Lesson 344. Today I learn the law of love; that what I give my brother is my gift to me.
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Lesson 344.
Today I learn the law of love; that what
I give my brother is my gift to me.
This is Your law, my Father, not my own. I have not understood what giving
means, and thought to save what I desired for myself alone. And as I looked upon
the treasure that I thought I had, I found an empty place where nothing ever was
or is or will be. Who can share a dream? And what can an illusion offer me? Yet
he whom I forgive will give me gifts beyond the worth of anything on earth. Let
my forgiven brothers fill my store with Heaven's treasures, which alone are
real. Thus is the law of love fulfilled. And thus Your Son arises and returns to
You.
How near we are to one another, as we go to God. How near is He to us. How close
the ending of the dream of sin, and the redemption of the Son of God.
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Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey
Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the
following site: ~ M. Street.
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Lesson 344.
"Today I learn the law of love; that what
I give my brother is my gift to me."
*This reiterates the idea that giving and receiving are the same, both from the
wrong-minded and right-minded points of view. It holds for the law of hate <and>
for the law of love, and so the guilt I give my brother is the guilt I give to
myself, as is the case with forgiveness.*
(1:1-2) "This is Your law, my Father, not my own. I have not understood what
giving means, and thought to save what I desired for myself alone."
*We have a secret place in our minds where we hold onto what we cherish and call
our own. We will never give it up, and therefore we can never give love
entirely. Whether we are conscious of this thinking or not, it is in all of us.
We will not give Jesus or A Course in Miracles everything: we will not give God
everything. There remains a piece of our individuality we hold back. That is
<our> law, because if we lose this special identity we lose our very selves.*
(1:3-4) "And as I looked upon the treasure that I thought I had, I found an
empty place where nothing ever was or is or will be. Who can share a dream?"
*This is the dream of specialness, beginning with the dream of our own
existence. We seek above all to preserve this special existence, even if it
means killing one who threatens it. After all, we killed God in order to exist,
and this <kill or be killed> mentality is reflected each and every day of our
lives. If we do not do it physically, we do it psychologically -- others have
what we want, and we must kill to get it. When we succeed, or believe we have,
we must continue to protect our treasure by the same hate-filled tactic that
seemed to win it in the first place.*
(1:4-9) "And what can an illusion offer me? Yet he whom I forgive will give me
gifts beyond the worth of anything on earth. Let my forgiven brothers fill my
store with Heaven's treasures, which alone are real. Thus is the law of love
fulfilled. And thus Your Son arises and returns to You."
*The gifts you give me when I forgive are the gifts of remembering my
sinlessness. When I forgive you, I realize the light of Christ shines in you as
it does in me, and your unkindness is but a call for the love that mirrors my
own. We are united in that call for love, as we are united in the love that is
our true Self.*
(2) "How near we are to one another, as we go to God. How near is He to us. How
close the ending of the dream of sin, and the redemption of the Son of God."
*We need learn as we make our way home how close we are to each other, and at
the journey's end we realize we are not close to each other at all, we <are>
each other; not the individual selves we seem to share, but the one Son of God
who remained awake within his Father. Recall this passage from The Song of
Prayer:
"The ladder ends with this, for learning is no longer needed. Now you stand
before the gate of Heaven, and your brother stands beside you there. The lawns
are deep and still, for here the place appointed for the time when you should
come has waited long for you. Here will time end forever. At this gate eternity
itself will join with you. Prayer has become what it was meant to be, for you
have recognized the Christ in you." (S-1.V.4.)*
Love and Blessings,
Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822
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