Lesson 82. We will review these ideas today:
1.(63) The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.
My forgiveness is the means by which the light of the world finds expression
through me. My forgiveness is the means by which I become aware of the light of
the world in me. My forgiveness is the means by which the world is healed,
together with myself. Let me, then, forgive the world, that it may be healed
along with me.
2.Suggestions for specific forms for applying this idea are:
Let peace extend from my mind to yours, [name].
I share the light of the world with you, [name].
Through my forgiveness I can see this as it is.
3.(64) Let me not forget my function.
I would not forget my function, because I would remember my Self. I cannot
fulfill my function if I forget it. And unless I fulfill my function, I will not
experience the joy that God intends for me.
4. Suitable specific forms of this idea include:
Let me not use this to hide my function from me.
I would use this as an opportunity to fulfill my function.
This may threaten my ego, but cannot change my function in any way.
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The commentary on this lesson (below) is from Kenneth Wapnick's eight volume
series of books, called: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles,"
which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street
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Lesson 82. We will review these ideas today:
1.(63) "The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my
forgiveness."
*This lesson extends the previous one.*
(1:2-5) "My forgiveness is the means by which the light of the world finds
expression through me. My forgiveness is the means by which I become aware of
the light of the world in me. My forgiveness is the means by which the world is
healed, together with myself. Let me, then, forgive the world, that it may be
healed along with me."
*We see the by-now familiar theme that the mind of God's Son is one, the basis
for the world's healing. If I forgive you, I must be forgiving me because we
come from the same self. When I accept Jesus' love as my identity instead of the
ego's special love, I realize there is no separation in the Sonship without
forgiving all of it. This is an essential part of Course's message. To say it
again, Jesus is not talking about healing an external world. <There is no
external world!> That is why he says in the text, "seek not to change the world,
but choose to change your mind about the world." (T-21.in.1.7) The world, being
an idea, has never left its source in the mind; therefore it still exists there.
Thus, when my mind is healed of thoughts of separation -- sin, guilt, and attack
-- the world must be healed accordingly.
Next we see these three statements, to be applied in our daily practicing: *
(2:2-4) "Let peace extend from my mind to yours, [name].
I share the light of the world with you, [name].
Through my forgiveness I can see this as it is."
*If there is peace in your mind, it must extend to everyone. One clear way of
discerning whether you have chosen God's peace or the ego's hatred is to pay
attention to your perceptions. If you perceive anything in the world disturbing
you, peace cannot be in your mind. This reflects the early lessons that taught
that everything we perceive outside comes from our thoughts. We will thus
realize that if we are not peaceful outside, our minds cannot be peaceful. This
helps us understand the ego choice we have made, which we can correct and undo.
While at this point in our practice of A Course in Miracles we are not directly
in touch with our minds, we can recognize them by understanding that what
perceive outside directly reflects what we have made real inside. To say it
again, if we want to know whether we have chosen Jesus or the ego as our
teacher, we need but pay attention to our reactions in the world. We need to
remember that whenever we find ourselves making judgments or getting upset, this
is a red flag that says: "I have chosen my ego again. Rather than assume
responsibility for this decision, I choose to project it, seeing it in everyone
else, but not in me." This insane thinking is easily undone through
forgiveness.*
(3:1)(64) "Let me not forget my function."
*We return to the theme of our real Self.*
(3:2) "I would not forget my function, because I would remember my Self."
*If I truly want to remember Who I am and return home, I must forgive. My
function of forgiveness, then, is the means whereby I achieve the end of
remembering my Identity.
If you find yourself making judgments -- special hate or special love -- that is
a sure sign you have chosen not to awaken from the dream and remember your Self.
You have chosen instead to remain a prisoner, yet blaming others for your
condition. When you discover what you have done, you should not judge yourself
nor feel guilty. You simply ask Jesus for help to remember you are not happy
here, and that no judgment you have made, or specialness you have sought, has
brought you anything but the illusion of happiness and peace. Ask Jesus to help
you look without judging yourself, which also means looking at others without
judgment.
To repeat, if you want to know what is going on in your mind, pay attention to
what you are thinking, perceiving, and feeling. If there is peace and a spirit
of joining with others in a common goal, you know you have chosen the Holy
Spirit as your Teacher. On the other hand, if you are feeling disquieted, that
it is the certain sign you have chosen the ego.*
(3:3) "I cannot fulfill my function if I forget it."
*Thus we need a Teacher Who reminds us of our function of forgiveness, which can
be defined as letting go of judgment. Therefore, if you find yourself judging,
you are choosing -- it does not happen automatically -- to forget your function
because you do not want to return home. Forgetting is purposive.*
(3:4) "And unless I fulfill my function, I will not experience the joy that God
intends for me."
*Whenever we feel special, make judgments, or are engaged in anything of the ego
thought system, we are saying we do not want the joy that God intends for us,
accepting the ego's substitute instead. In our guilt over pushing the joy of God
away, we project it out and find fault with everyone else. The idea, once again,
is not to judge ourselves for projecting, but to be aware that this is what we
have done, and the tremendous cost to us of having done so.
We are then asked to practice applying this idea, saying:*
(4:2) "Let me not use this to hide my function from me."
* "This" is anything we are experiencing during the day; e.g., being unhappy
with the change of weather or with what someone did or did not do. We should
then say: "I am choosing the situation as excuse to hide my function from me,
which I want to do to keep the joy of God away." *
(4:3) "I would use this as an opportunity to fulfill my function."
*Rather than use a situation as an opportunity to deny our function, we can let
Jesus redefine it as an opportunity to forgive. In other words, we could look at
everything as a classroom the Holy Spirit can use to teach us that our happiness
does not lie in anything external, nor in being a separated self, but in
choosing Jesus as the teacher who leads us beyond our specialness and takes us
home. This, again, applies to anything that happens during the day. *
(4:4) "This may threaten my ego, but cannot change my function in any way."
* In other words, if I perceive what someone says or does as threatening, this
does not mean my function is gone. It means only that I have chosen to be upset
because I want to obscure it. Yet it rests safely within me because its Teacher
does. Therefore, nothing has the power to remove the function of forgiveness
from me, <except my own decision>. *
