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A little laugh
So here I was on my computer looking at a post a friend made. I went to click the like button, but it kept showing me a list of people who had liked it, rather than let me click. I finally made the click, after having gotten pretty irritated. Then I remembered that this was an opportunity for forgiveness. Right after that thought, I realized that here I was getting irritated about clicking a like button for a post on gratitude, and I just started laughing. How ridiculous is it that I would get so irritated over something so little that was reminding me about gratitude?! I love it when H. S. cracks me up like that! |
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Lesson 348. I have no cause for anger or for fear,
Lesson 348. I have no cause for anger or for fear, For You surround me. And in every need That I perceive, Your grace suffices me. Father, let me remember You are here, and I am not alone. Surrounding me is everlasting Love. I have no cause for anything except the perfect peace and joy I share with You. What need have I for anger or for fear? Surrounding me is perfect safety. Can I be afraid, when Your eternal promise goes with me? Surrounding me is perfect sinlessness. What can I fear, when You created me in holiness as perfect as Your Own? God's grace suffices us in everything that He would have us do. And only that we choose to be our will as well as His. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 348. "I have no cause for anger or for fear, For You surround me. And in every need That I perceive, Your grace suffices me." * "I have no cause for anger or for fear" because I am invulnerable, and thus no longer have to defend myself -- preserving my individuality by getting angry, fearful of what others will do to me. This reflects the ego's belief that God's grace is not enough, the antithesis of St. Paul's experience of Jesus telling him: "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Corinthians 12:9a). Thus we want to realize that whenever we get angry or indulge our specialness, we are saying to Jesus: "Your love and peace are not sufficient; I desire <special> love and <my> peace. I want things my way, not yours, and if you insist on helping me, be assured it will be the way I want it done." Realizing the insanity of this position, we are finally free to make another choice -- <his> .* (1:1-5) "Father, let me remember You are here, and I am not alone. Surrounding me is everlasting Love. I have no cause for anything except the perfect peace and joy I share with You. What need have I for anger or for fear? Surrounding me is perfect safety." *When we indulge our specialness, are angry or fearful, it is the ego's god that is with us, not the true God. What makes A Course in Miracles unique among world spiritualities is Jesus' teaching that there is specific motivation for anger, fear, and specialness: to block awareness of his love and the memory of God.* (1:6-8) "Can I be afraid, when Your eternal promise goes with me? Surrounding me is perfect sinlessness. What can I fear, when You created me in holiness as perfect as Your Own?" *When I am afraid, angry, and filled with judgments, I deny my invulnerability and safety because the Love of God is within. I thus have denied the Love that is my only need, and the promise God gave when He created me. The second stanza of Helen's poem, "The Promise," also speaks of our Creator's promise: "Throughout the years, throughout the arc of time, What was still is, and yet will be again; Your single promise, never to be changed. Hear me, my Lord! I cannot call in vain." (The Gifts of God, p.14) * (2) "God's grace suffices us in everything that He would have us do. And only that we choose to be our will as well as His." *We need realize how much we do not choose God's Will in our everyday life, and yet have the power to choose His grace as the blessed guide in our daily activity, as we read again from the manual's closing verse: "And now in all your doings be you blessed. God turns to you for help to save the world. Teacher of God, His thanks He offers you, And all the world stands silent in the grace You bring from Him." (M-29.8:1-3)* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 347 Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is The weapon I would use against myself, To keep the miracle away from me.
Lesson 347 Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is The weapon I would use against myself, To keep the miracle away from me. Father, I want what goes against my will, and do not want what is my will to have. Straighten my mind, my Father. It is sick. But You have offered freedom, and I choose to claim Your gift today. And so I give all judgment to the One You gave to me to judge for me. He sees what I behold, and yet He knows the truth. He looks on pain, and yet He understands it is not real, and in His understanding it is healed. He gives the miracles my dreams would hide from my awareness. Let Him judge today. I do not know my will, but He is sure it is Your Own. And He will speak for me, and call Your miracles to come to me. Listen today. Be very still, and hear the gentle Voice for God assuring you that He has judged you as the Son He loves. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 347. "Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is The weapon I would use against myself, To keep the miracle away from me." *Lesson 347 is another opportunity for us to realize the insanity of our choices, here exemplified by judging ourselves, the cause of our anger. Thus we again see the importance of recognizing the purpose behind our making the world and judging everything in it. Such judgments hold us in a state of mindlessness, which keeps the Holy Spirit's miracle away from us.* (1:1-3) "Father, I want what goes against my will, and do not want what is my will to have. Straighten my mind, my Father. It is sick." *This passage calls to mind the well-known lament of St. Paul: "Why is it that the good that I would, I do not do, and the evil that I would not do, I do do?" (Romans 7:19) In other words, why I am insane? Why is it that part of me wants to do the right thing, and yet I always end up doing the wrong thing; and the wrong things I do not want to do, are the very things I find myself doing? This is Jesus' point here, making clear to us our insanity in doing the very things that keep us from being happy. We think happiness comes through holding grievances or worshipping the gods of specialness. Yet they only bring us sadness, and our minds are sick to think otherwise. Humility helps us realize this sick insanity, the precursor to letting it go.* (1:4-8) "But You have offered freedom, and I choose to claim Your gift today. And so I give all judgment to the One You gave to me to judge for me. He sees what I behold, and yet He knows the truth. He looks on pain, and yet He understands it is not real, and in His understanding it is healed. He gives the miracles my dreams would hide from my awareness." *Interestingly, in the context of this passage the Holy Spirit sees the world through our eyes. Strictly speaking, of course, He does not see anything; the point being we should not deny what our eyes see, but rather look at the world through different lens. Jesus tells us, for example, that we should look on pain: "Do not deny the existence of wars, floods, and famine, from which people suffer. Do not deny the suffering. But let me help you to look at pain differently. Let me use your perception of suffering to show you that it mirrors your choice for an internal thought of suffering." This, then, is the world's only value -- there is no other way to return to the mind except through the world, because we made it and believe we are here. Though the world is not holy in itself, it can yet serve the holy purpose of reflecting back to us the repressed mind's choices, which correct the purpose served by the ego's dreams of anger, judgment, pain, and death: to hide the fact that we are the mind's decision maker, the dreamer of the dream.* (1:9-11) "Let Him judge today. I do not know my will, but He is sure it is Your Own. And He will speak for me, and call Your miracles to come to me." *I simply have to ask the Holy Spirit's help, and thus Jesus tells us:* (2) "Listen today. Be very still, and hear the gentle Voice for God assuring you that He has judged you as the Son He loves." *To be still means to silence my thoughts of judgment, anger, and specialness, and above all, my arrogant assertions that I am right.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 346. Today the peace of God envelops me, And I forget all things except His Love.
Lesson 346. Today the peace of God envelops me, And I forget all things except His Love. Father, I wake today with miracles correcting my perception of all things. And so begins the day I share with You as I will share eternity, for time has stepped aside today. I do not seek the things of time, and so I will not look upon them. What I seek today transcends all laws of time and things perceived in time. I would forget all things except Your Love. I would abide in You, and know no laws except Your law of love. And I would find the peace which You created for Your Son, forgetting all the foolish toys I made as I behold Your glory and my own. And when the evening comes today, we will remember nothing but the peace of God. For we will learn today what peace is ours, when we forget all things except God's Love. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 346. "Today the peace of God envelops me, And I forget all things except His Love." *This is another important lesson that can be helpful as you go through your day. Realize how much you forget His Love and seek to remember everything else. If it is His Love you really want to remember, your specialness needs will recede into the background and His Love, as reflected through Jesus' teachings of forgiveness, will come to the foreground. If you realize that the purpose of this day is not to satisfy your ego's needs, but rather to be a classroom in which your only need of forgiveness is satisfied, that purpose will be in the foreground, and the daily events and relationships will reflect that changed purpose. They will thus have become the curriculum in which you learn the lessons that will speed you along your Atonement path. That is the meaning of "I forget all things except His Love." Jesus does not mean that you literally have to think of God's Love throughout the day; but he asks that you think of the gift Love's reflection offers you in very specific ways -- the opportunity of learning lessons in your classroom of forgiveness.* (1:1-2) "Father, I wake today with miracles correcting my perception of all things. And so begins the day I share with You as I will share eternity, for time has stepped aside today." *When I choose the holy instant I am outside time. That is how it has stepped aside. This does not mean I deny that I live in a world of time and space. It simply means that the world recedes into the background, its place taken by the lesson that comes from timelessness -- my reality is outside the dream. I now understand I chose the dream because I desired to keep my special dream figure alive and well, but am ready and willing to learn something else.* (1:3-4) "I do not seek the things of time, and so I will not look upon them. What I seek today transcends all laws of time and things perceived in time." *That is not meant to imply that you do not watch a news program, read a newspaper, or listen to someone's sad story, but that you look at them through Jesus' eyes. Remember that before you realize the perceptual world is an illusion, you first must reverse the perceived figure and ground. You do not want to skip steps, meaning that before you realize the illusory nature of everything, including yourself, you first must pay careful attention to what goes on here, but seen with a different purpose. The world of specialness, instead of being front and center, becomes the background of your new purpose. Thus what emerges in the forefront is Jesus' teaching that will help you realize that you can look on the world another way.* (1:5-7) "I would forget all things except Your Love. I would abide in You, and know no laws except Your law of love. And I would find the peace which You created for Your Son, forgetting all the foolish toys I made as I behold Your glory and my own." *These foolish toys, as we have seen elsewhere, are the ego's thoughts of sin and attack.* (2) "And when the evening comes today, we will remember nothing but the peace of God. For we will learn today what peace is ours, when we forget all things except God's Love." *This is the thought with which we should awaken, keep with us throughout the day, and with which we go to bed; namely, our only purpose here is learning we are not here. Our loving teacher helps us to remember this purpose when we forget.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 345. I offer only miracles today, For I would have them be returned to me.
Lesson 345. I offer only miracles today, For I would have them be returned to me. Father, a miracle reflects Your gifts to me, Your Son. And every one I give returns to me, reminding me the law of love is universal. Even here, it takes a form which can be recognized and seen to work. The miracles I give are given back in just the form I need to help me with the problems I perceive. Father, in Heaven it is different, for there, there are no needs. But here on earth, the miracle is closer to Your gifts than any other gift that I can give. Then let me give this gift alone today, which, born of true forgiveness, lights the way that I must travel to remember You. Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light has come to offer miracles to bless the tired world. It will find rest today, for we will offer what we have received. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 345. "I offer only miracles today, For I would have them be returned to me." *The theme of oneness of giving and receiving is discussed here in the context of miracles. The miracles we offer correct our projected thoughts. They are nothing external; not beautiful, kind, holy, and pure -- not something to brag about. They are but withdrawals of the projection, reflecting the change of mind about our original guilt. They <undo>, reversing what the ego has done. Thus we look upon the ego's dream of devastation -- internal and external -- and smile gently as we accept they are not the truth. It is therefore our right-minded goal to teach each other, by showing that attacks have no effect on our love for those who sought to hurt us. As we teach that miracle to others, we reinforce its truth in ourselves.* (1:1) "Father, a miracle reflects Your gifts to me, Your Son." *God's gift is His Love; the miracle Its reflection. At the beginning of the text Jesus says that the source of miracles is love (T-1.I.3), which means the miracle is not love, but the Holy Spirit's correction principle in our minds -- our right-minded Atonement thought that reflects Heaven's love.* (1:2-4) "And every one I give returns to me, reminding me the law of love is universal. Even here, it takes a form which can be recognized and seen to work. The miracles I give are given back in just the form I need to help me with the problems I perceive." *The law of love is universal, holding for everyone; the Atonement principle is universal, holding for everyone. Yet the specific ways in which we practice the Atonement will differ for each of us, the meaning of Jesus' words at the end of the manual that the curriculum is highly individualized (M-29.2:6). It is what he means here by saying we will experience the correction in the forms we need. Since we wrote our scripts of special relationships, and these differ from the scripts of others, our experiences of undoing the ego will also differ. The underlying principle is always the same, however -- the mind has dreamt the dream, and therefore it is the mind alone that can change it.* (1:5-7) "Father, in Heaven it is different, for there, there are no needs. But here on earth, the miracle is closer to Your gifts than any other gift that I can give. Then let me give this gift alone today, which, born of true forgiveness, lights the way that I must travel to remember You." *Our only need is forgiveness or the miracle, for, as the text states, we already have all that we need as God's Son (T-3.V.6). The miracle reminds us of our prior choice for nothing, which now can be reconsidered in light of truth's reflection of the Everything. In the end, making the right choice is inevitable, as we recall: "Who with the Love of God upholding him could find the choice of miracles or murder hard to make?" (T-23.IV.9:8)* (2) "Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light has come to offer miracles to bless the tired world. It will find rest today, for we will offer what we have received." *Again, the miracle is not needed in Heaven. However, as long as I believe I am in this weary world, I need the rest that only miracle's healing light can provide.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 344. Today I learn the law of love; that what I give my brother is my gift to me.
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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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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Lesson 343. I am not asked to make a sacrifice To find the mercy and the peace of God.
Lesson 343. I am not asked to make a sacrifice To find the mercy and the peace of God. The end of suffering can not be loss. The gift of everything can be but gain. You only give. You never take away. And You created me to be like You, so sacrifice becomes impossible for me as well as You. I, too, must give. And so all things are given unto me forever and forever. As I was created I remain. Your Son can make no sacrifice, for he must be complete, having the function of completing You. I am complete because I am Your Son. I cannot lose, for I can only give, and everything is mine eternally. The mercy and the peace of God are free. Salvation has no cost. It is a gift that must be freely given and received. And it is this that we would learn today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 343. "I am not asked to make a sacrifice To find the mercy and the peace of God." *Continuing the theme of the unity of giving and receiving, this lesson focuses specifically on sacrifice, which is based on the idea that if I am to receive something, I have to give something away; if I am to receive love, I have to pay for it.* (1:1-4) "The end of suffering can not be loss. The gift of everything can be but gain. You only give. You never take away." *This is our prayer to God, but the ego has us believe the exact opposite: the world's God gives life and takes it away. Funeral services almost always affirm that thinking, and behind it is the idea we stole from God, and now He is justified in taking back from us -- through our death -- the life we believed we stole from Him.* (1:5-11) "And You created me to be like You, so sacrifice becomes impossible for me as well as You. I, too, must give. And so all things are given unto me forever and forever. As I was created I remain. Your Son can make no sacrifice, for he must be complete, having the function of completing You. I am complete because I am Your Son. I cannot lose, for I can only give, and everything is mine eternally." *This corrects the ego thought system that says the way to win God's mercy and peace is to pay Him for it -- the birth of the strange notion that God demands sacrifice. In biblical times God demanded animal sacrifice, then the sacrifice of His Son. Following along, we sacrifice the pleasure of our own bodies. All this makes perfect sense from the ego's view of truth, which knows nothing of such insanity: "Sacrifice is a notion totally unknown to God. It arises solely from fear, and frightened people can be vicious. Sacrificing in any way is a violation of my injunction that you should be merciful even as your Father in Heaven is merciful." (T-3.I.4:1-3) In other words, "God thinks otherwise" (T-23.I.2:7), and so our thought system of guilt and punishment, vengeance and sacrifice, is quietly undone through forgiveness, which restores to our awareness the completion of God's Son. The ego's dream of sacrifice -- <one or the other> -- ends in our embrace of the Holy Spirit's principle -- <together or not at all>. Thus we remember our Identity, the eternal Christ God created like Himself.* (2) "The mercy and the peace of God are free. Salvation has no cost. It is a gift that must be freely given and received. And it is this that we would learn today." *God's Love is total, and is totally present to <all> Sons, who in their delusions believe they are separate. Thus they believe their separation from God must be brought at a price -- the compromise of the Oneness of God and His Son. Yet does Jesus save us from this insanity by gently teaching that reality cannot be compromised, for Heaven's love is not diminished by our belief in the hell of judgment: "Salvation is no compromise of any kind. To compromise is to accept but part of what you want; to take a little and give up the rest. Salvation gives up nothing. It is complete for everyone." (T-23.III.3.1-4). Recall this comforting statement: "The Word of God has no exceptions" (M-13.7:5) Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 342. I let forgiveness rest upon all things, For thus forgiveness will be given me.
Lesson 342. I let forgiveness rest upon all things, For thus forgiveness will be given me. I thank You, Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I made. It is not real. And You have given me the means to prove its unreality to me. The key is in my hand, and I have reached the door beyond which lies the end of dreams. I stand before the gate of Heaven, wondering if I should enter in and be at home. Let me not wait again today. Let me forgive all things, and let creation be as You would have it be and as it is. Let me remember that I am Your Son, and opening the door at last, forget illusions in the blazing light of truth, as memory of You returns to me. Brother, forgive me now. I come to you to take you home with me. And as we go, the world goes with us on our way to God. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on the lessons. It is taken from his eight volume work: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." which can be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 342. "I let forgiveness rest upon all things, For thus forgiveness will be given me." *Lessons 342 through 345 revisit the theme of giving and receiving, so prominent in the workbook, not to mention the text. The fact that giving and receiving are the same undoes the ego's principle of < one or the other > -- if I give you something, you have it and I do not; if I take it from you, you do not have it and I do. Thus to the ego, giving and receiving are <not> the same. This is patently true of the world of materiality, but not in thought, where the equality of giving and receiving holds for both the ego and the Holy Spirit. If I give you my guilt to you and attack, I still receive it. Likewise, when I undo guilt and forgive, I teach myself I am forgiven too: "I let forgiveness rest upon all things. For thus forgiveness will be given me." I therefore learn that my sin of separating from God is undone through recognizing there is no sin in my brother. I begin there because that is where my ego taught me I am -- the attacking world of bodies -- at the bottom of its ladder of guilt and hate: Asking Jesus to help me look differently on my perceptions of separate bodies in relationship, I learn that what I perceived outside is simply what I made real inside, a mistaken choice for separation I can now happily correct through forgiveness -- the gift I both give and receive as one.* (1:1-4) "I thank You, Father, for Your plan to save me from the hell I made. It is not real. And You have given me the means to prove its unreality to me. The key is in my hand, and I have reached the door beyond which lies the end of dreams." *The hell of the external world of suffering and death is not real, and neither is the hell of the internal world of sin, guilt, and fear. Metaphorically speaking, God gives us the means to prove this unreality through the Holy Spirit in our minds. The "key" is not in Jesus' hand, God's Hands, or the Course's hands, it is in <our> hands. It was our choice to leave Heaven, and it is now our choice to return to it. "Forgiveness is the key to happiness" (W-pI.121), but we can only turn the key when our hands are joined with Jesus'. We cannot do it without him, and he cannot do it without us. Patiently, he awaits our decision to have him help us.* (1:5-8) "I stand before the gate of Heaven, wondering if I should enter in and be at home. Let me not wait again today. Let me forgive all things, and let creation be as You would have it be and as it is. Let me remember that I am Your Son, and opening the door at last, forget illusions in the blazing light of truth, as memory of You returns to me." *As he is want to do, Jesus lets us know there is a part of us that is still uncertain this is what we want, for we fear that if we do what he asks, we will lose.* (2) "Brother, forgive me now. I come to you to take you home with me. And as we go, the world goes with us on our way to God." *Jesus says to us, "I cannot help you return home if you still hold grievances against me, thinking I am a tyrant who demands sacrifice of you, insisting you do it my way instead of yours. You must realize these projections you have placed on me, and have nothing to do with my love for you." Needless to say, as we walk home with Jesus we walk with everyone else. God's Son is one, and through our forgiveness of the one who represents the One, we remember the Christ Who is our home.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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13. What is a Miracle?
Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 341 I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me safe.
Lesson 341 I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me safe. Father, Your Son is holy. I am he on whom You smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your Holiness. How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile, with all Your Love bestowed upon us, living one with You, in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete; in sinlessness so perfect that the Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a universe of Thought completing Him. Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God to us. And in its kind reflection we are saved. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary on this lesson is by Kenneth Wapnick, from his books: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." Book set may be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 341 "I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me safe." *Beginning with Lesson 341, the next ten lessons differ from what we have been accustomed to seeing in Part II. First, the lesson titles increase, beginning with two lines instead of one, and then shifting to three with Lesson 347. Second, each lesson begins with a prayer to God, the dominant part of the lesson. Thus, the number of words Jesus says to us decreases, while he increases what we say to God in our prayer. In this first lesson is an extension of Lesson 135, "If I defend myself I am attacked." If I see myself as vulnerable and needing defense, I must see myself as separated and sinful. Therefore, when I hold grievances against others, I attack not only their sinlessness but mine as well, since we are one.* (1) "Father, Your Son is holy. I am he on whom You smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your Holiness. How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we, abiding in Your Smile, with all Your Love bestowed upon us, living one with You, in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete; in sinlessness so perfect that the Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a universe of Thought completing Him." *This is a lovely rendering of the Oneness of the Sonship as Christ, and Its Oneness with God. God's smile -- a metaphor, of course -- tells us that nothing happened in the separation, for we are the ones who took the tiny mad idea seriously, making a world based upon the ego's mistaken correction. The gentle laughter of the Holy Spirit -- the expression of the Atonement principle -- reflects God's smile that undoes this foolishness, as we see in this important and familiar passage from the text: "In gentle laughter does the Holy Spirit perceive the cause, and looks not to effects. How else could He correct your error, who have overlooked the cause entirely? He bids you bring each terrible effect to Him that you may look together on its foolish cause and laugh with Him a while. You judge effects, but He has judged their cause. And by His judgment are effects removed. Perhaps you come in tears. But hear Him say, "My brother, holy Son of God, behold your idle dream, in which this could occur". And you will leave the holy instant with your laughter and your brother's joined with His." (T-27.VIII.9) * (2) "Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God to us. And in its kind reflection we are saved." *We attack our sinlessness by attacking our brothers, which is why we attack them: to keep sin intact in our deluded minds, and therefore maintain the reality of the separation. Thus Jesus asks us, again, to choose what we want -- sin or sinlessness, imprisonment or freedom, blindness or vision: "Your question should not be, "How can I see my brother without the body?" Ask only, "Do I really wish to see him sinless?" And as you ask, forget not that his sinlessness is your escape from fear. Salvation is the Holy Spirit's goal. The means is vision. For what the seeing look upon is sinless. No one who loves can judge, and what he sees is free of condemnation. And what he sees he did not make, for it was given him to see, as was the vision that made his seeing possible." (T-20.VII.9) * Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 340. I can be free of suffering today.
Lesson 340. I can be free of suffering today. Father, I thank You for today, and for the freedom I am certain it will bring. This day is holy, for today Your Son will be redeemed. His suffering is done. For he will hear Your Voice directing him to find Christ's vision through forgiveness, and be free forever from all suffering. Thanks for today, my Father. I was born into this world but to achieve this day, and what it holds in joy and freedom for Your holy Son and for the world he made, which is released along with him today. Be glad today! Be glad! There is no room for anything but joy and thanks today. Our Father has redeemed His Son this day. Not one of us but will be saved today. Not one who will remain in fear, and none the Father will not gather to Himself, awake in Heaven in the Heart of Love. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 340. "I can be free of suffering today." *This lesson provides us with another clear statement of what our experience can be if we choose the Teacher of freedom instead of the teacher of suffering.* (1:1-2) "Father, I thank You for today, and for the freedom I am certain it will bring. This day is holy, for today Your Son will be redeemed." *Our gratitude is not for whatever pain we experience this day -- that would be masochism. We thank our Father for His Love, which, through the Holy Spirit's Presence in our hurtful dream, reminds us that we can choose again. Our suffering is the effect of the mind's mistaken choice for a teacher, but we can change the cause to the Cause that alone will free us from our prison house of pain. Forgiveness is the Holy Spirit's means to liberate us from hell, for it reflects the Will of Heaven, the only Source of joy.* (1:3-6) "His suffering is done. For he will hear Your Voice directing him to find Christ's vision through forgiveness, and be free forever from all suffering. Thanks for today, my Father. I was born into this world but to achieve this day, and what it holds in joy and freedom for Your holy Son and for the world he made, which is released along with him today." *Choosing the Voice of forgiveness instead of the voice of guilt marks the end of suffering. There is no other way to remember our pain-free Self than to recognize that suffering's end comes with the separation's end, expressed through not seeing another's interests as separate from our own -- the essence of forgiveness. As Jesus reminds us in Psychotherapy : "Hear a brother call for help and answer him ... There is no other way to hear His Voice. There is no other way to seek His Son. There is no other way to find your Self." (P-2.V.8:4,6-8)* (2) "Be glad today! Be glad! There is no room for anything but joy and thanks today. Our Father has redeemed His Son this day. Not one of us but will be saved today. Not one who will remain in fear, and none the Father will not gather to Himself, awake in Heaven in the Heart of Love." *The only right-minded purpose for being here is to learn that suffering comes from a wish that in turn gives rise to a thought. This, then, gives rise to a projected experience. Recall these important lines from the text: "Perception seems to teach you what you see. Yet it but witnesses to what you taught. It is the outward picture of a wish; an image that you wanted to be true." (T-24.VII.8.8-10). If I am not happy with my suffering, I can return to my mind's decision maker and say: "I no longer wish this." Yet to say I no longer wish this pain must also mean I no longer wish its cause -- the decision to be on my own and separate from the Love of God. Thus I joyfully allow myself to hear God's loving Judgment on me, His Son: "Holy are you, eternal, free and whole, at peace forever in the Heart of God." (M-15.1:11) * Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 339. I will receive whatever I request.
Lesson 339. I will receive whatever I request. No one desires pain. But he can think that pain is pleasure. No one would avoid his happiness. But he can think that joy is painful, threatening and dangerous. Everyone will receive what he requests. But he can be confused indeed about the things he wants; the state he would attain. What can he then request that he would want when he receives it? He has asked for what will frighten him, and bring him suffering. Let us resolve today to ask for what we really want, and only this, that we may spend this day in fearlessness, without confusing pain with joy, or fear with love. Father, this is Your day. It is a day in which I would do nothing by myself, but hear Your Voice in everything I do; requesting only what You offer me, accepting only Thoughts You share with me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 339. "I will receive whatever I request." *If I feel pain it is because I chose pain, and I chose it because of its value in keeping God away. The suffering will never cease, therefore, until I change my mind about its purpose.* (1:1-4) "No one desires pain. But he can think that pain is pleasure. No one would avoid his happiness. But he can think that joy is painful, threatening and dangerous." *Jesus discusses this idea at the end of the first and second obstacles to peace (T-19.IV.-A.17:10-12); T-19.IV-B.15). He explains that we really do not understand the difference between pleasure and pain, and that if we believe the body can give us one, it can also give us the other. We are confused because we have taken instruction from a teacher with a vested interest in what we learn -- that we stay in pain but blame someone else for it. This is the ego's insane method of freeing us from guilt. Thus we need a Teacher Who will help us realize that anything of the ego is ultimately painful, and that the only real pleasure is in doing God's Will (T-1.VII.1:4), which in this world entails learning to forgive. Therefore, our real joy is giving up of the ego, which means giving up our individuality and self-importance. To our egos, however, this can only be perceived as painful. Jesus reminds us that babies will cry when the scissors they are playing with are taken from them (T-4.II.5:2). To the caring adult, a baby's enjoyment is courting danger, and so it removes the potential source of harm. Jesus is the caring adult trying to do the same with us, except he does not have the same power to effect change that an adult has over a child. Thus he waits patiently until we change our minds sufficiently to realize that he knows better than we. He is trying to take away our specialness, not by force, but by gently reminding us it will not make us happy.* (1:5-9) "Everyone will receive what he requests. But he can be confused indeed about the things he wants; the state he would attain. What can he then request that he would want when he receives it? He has asked for what will frighten him, and bring him suffering. Let us resolve today to ask for what we really want, and only this, that we may spend this day in fearlessness, without confusing pain with joy, or fear with love." *Once again, we all receive what we want, and we want happiness; but we do not understand that what we think will make us happy brings us only suffering and pain. We need a different definition of happiness, which comes when we step with Jesus outside of the dream -- outside our personal identity, wishes, and specialness -- and let him teach us what alone will give us what we want: the perceptual shift of relationships that forgiveness brings about. Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, as joy replaces pain, and love takes the place of fear.* (2) "Father, this is Your day. It is a day in which I would do nothing by myself, but hear Your Voice in everything I do; requesting only what You offer me, accepting only Thoughts You share with me." *When our day is given to the Holy Spirit, our plan is to do nothing ourselves. We need only be aware of how quickly we forget our right-minded intention as we are overwhelmed by the pressures the day brings. It will seem as if these are the causes of forgetting our Teacher, but constant practice helps us to remember that it is we who give power to these pressures to push Him away. No one and nothing can take the Holy Spirit from us except our fear of His Atonement and Love. At last we choose to hear His Voice and welcome Him to our shared home in the mind.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 338. I am affected only by my thoughts.
Lesson 338. I am affected only by my thoughts. It needs but this to let salvation come to all the world. For in this single thought is everyone released at last from fear. Now has he learned that no one frightens him, and nothing can endanger him. He has no enemies, and he is safe from all external things. His thoughts can frighten him, but since these thoughts belong to him alone, he has the power to change them and exchange each fear thought for a happy thought of love. He crucified himself. Yet God has planned that His beloved Son will be redeemed. Your plan is sure, my Father,--only Yours. All other plans will fail. And I will have thoughts that will frighten me, until I learn that You have given me the only Thought that leads me to salvation. Mine alone will fail, and lead me nowhere. But the Thought You gave me promises to lead me home, because it holds Your promise to Your Son. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 338. "I am affected only by my thoughts." *In this lesson and the two that follow, Jesus reminds us how to be free of suffering. Since pain does not originate outside, release from it cannot be sought there. We think we are affected by everything but our thoughts -- weather, germs, insults, the body's deterioration, etc. Yet since this is our dream, we can be affected only by our thoughts. This realization marks the end of pain. As Jesus says in "The Dreamer of the Dream," the way to be free of all suffering is to see the problem as it is, not the way we set it up (T-27.VII.2). Our setup was to attribute the cause of our distress to something external. To see the problem as it is, however, is to accept the internal cause of suffering -- the mind's decision for guilt and unforgiveness.* (1:1-4) "It needs but this to let salvation come to all the world. For in this single thought is everyone released at last from fear. Now has he learned that no one frightens him, and nothing can endanger him. He has no enemies, and he is safe from all external things." *Salvation comes when I understand I am affected only by my thoughts. If the world is nothing but a projection of my thought, when this thought changes, my perception of the world changes, too. Within the dream our bodies are not safe; indeed, they were made to be vulnerable. However, we are not talking about the dream's bodily hero. Jesus' teachings can be understood only when we are able to step outside the dream and no longer see ourselves as figures within it. Being above the battleground with Jesus (T-23.IV), we understand we have brought this on ourselves, for our purpose was to prove we are innocent victims, not sinful victimizers. Thus do we see that we can be affected only by our victimizing thoughts, and nothing else, and therefore are made safe from all threat and released from fear.* (1:5-7) "His thoughts can frighten him, but since these thoughts belong to him alone, he has the power to change them and exchange each fear thought for a happy thought of love. He crucified himself. Yet God has planned that His beloved Son will be redeemed." *God's plan -- the Atonement -- undoes our misthoughts. Our first step is realizing that the problem is not outside, but our <thoughts> about what is outside. That is why A Course in Miracles gives us true hope, for we can do something about our thoughts. Since it is our dream, we can change it, but if we are the victim of another's dream, there is no hope for us -- except attack.* (2) "Your plan is sure, my Father,--only Yours. All other plans will fail. And I will have thoughts that will frighten me, until I learn that You have given me the only Thought that leads me to salvation. Mine alone will fail, and lead me nowhere. But the Thought You gave me promises to lead me home, because it holds Your promise to Your Son." *God's plan is to return the problem to the mind, because that is where it is undone. The world's plans -- religious, economic, political, educational -- are aimed at making the dream better. That is why they ultimately fail. The only plan that will work -- the Atonement -- leads us outside the body and wrong mind to the decision maker where the dream began, and where we choose to awaken from the dream. We humbly recognize that our plans to minimize pain and maximize pleasure will never work. In one way or another, that is everyone's plan when they awake each morning: How can I make myself better? We may get what we want during the day, but in the end the pleasure or happiness will never last. God's plan of Atonement is the only one that can fulfill His promise of eternal happiness for His Son.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 337. My sinlessness protects me from all harm.
Lesson 337. My sinlessness protects me from all harm. My sinlessness ensures me perfect peace, eternal safety, everlasting love, freedom forever from all thought of loss; complete deliverance from suffering. And only happiness can be my state, for only happiness is given me. What must I do to know all this is mine? I must accept Atonement for myself, and nothing more. God has already done all things that need be done. And I must learn I need do nothing of myself, for I need but accept my Self, my sinlessness, created for me, now already mine, to feel God's Love protecting me from harm, to understand my Father loves His Son; to know I am the Son my Father loves. You Who created me in sinlessness are not mistaken about what I am. I was mistaken when I thought I sinned, but I accept Atonement for myself. Father, my dream is ended now. Amen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 337. "My sinlessness protects me from all harm." *The belief that our sinful attack against God will be used against us causes us to walk the world in a state of vulnerability and fear. However, choosing to be sinless helps us to realize there is nothing to fear, because there is no projection of guilt that demands attack in return.* (1:1-4) "My sinlessness ensures me perfect peace, eternal safety, everlasting love, freedom forever from all thought of loss; complete deliverance from suffering. And only happiness can be my state, for only happiness is given me. What must I do to know all this is mine? I must accept Atonement for myself, and nothing more." *I find peace, safety, love, and happiness, not through the world changing or my manipulating others to meet my special needs, but rather by changing my mind's thought system or teacher. Accepting the Holy Spirit's Atonement for myself remains my one and only responsibility." (T-2.V.5:1).* (1:5-6) "God has already done all things that need be done. And I must learn I need do nothing of myself, for I need but accept my Self, my sinlessness, created for me, now already mine, to feel God's Love protecting me from harm, to understand my Father loves His Son; to know I am the Son my Father loves." *To cite the important section from the text: I need do nothing (T-18.VII). All I need do is <undo> what my ego has taught me, which I accepted instead of the Atonement's truth. Reversing my decision allows me to shift my identification from sin to sinlessness, guilt to innocence, and fear to love, for I have accepted Jesus' now-familiar words as truth: "Walk you in glory, with your head held high, and fear no evil. The innocent are safe because they share their innocence. Nothing they see is harmful, for their awareness of the truth releases everything from the illusion of harmfulness. And what seemed harmful now stands shining in their innocence, released from sin and fear and happily returned to love." (T-23.in.3:1-4).* (2:1) "You Who created me in sinlessness are not mistaken about what I am." *This calls to mind Jesus' reassuring statements in the text: "My trust in you is greater than yours in me at the moment ...You are asked to live so as to demonstrate that you are not an ego, and I do not choose God's channels wrongly. The Holy One shares my trust, and accepts my Atonement decisions because my will is never out of accord with His. I have said before that I am in charge of the Atonement. This is only because I completed my part in it as a man, and can now complete it through others. My chosen channels cannot fail, because I will lend them my strength as long as theirs is wanting." (T-4.VI.6:1,3-4) In Jesus' certainty we rest content -- safe from guilt, safe from attack, safe for love.* (2:2-4) "I was mistaken when I thought I sinned, but I accept Atonement for myself. Father, my dream is ended now. Amen." *Once more we see the crucial idea that we must recognize our mistakes -- we were wrong and God was right. Again and again throughout the workbook -- both explicitly and implicitly -- Jesus leads us to the realization that though we perceive, think, and understand incorrectly, there is Someone within us Who knows the truth. He is the one to Whom we go to awaken unto Heaven from the ego's dreams of hell.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Re: A "Timely" Article
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On Nov 30, 2024, at 10:43?PM, Natalie McNeil <nmcneil@...> wrote:
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Re: A "Timely" Article
开云体育Thanks Dave. There were a couple of things Ken points out that really went deep for me even though I have listened to this class many times before.Natalie? On Nov 25, 2024, at 12:08?PM, DK via groups.io <emaildk@...> wrote:
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Re: A "Timely" Article
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On Nov 24, 2024, at 6:42?AM, Marcy <marcybk@...> wrote:
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Lesson 336. Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined.
Lesson 336. Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined. Forgiveness is the means appointed for perception's ending. Knowledge is restored after perception first is changed, and then gives way entirely to what remains forever past its highest reach. For sights and sounds, at best, can serve but to recall the memory that lies beyond them all. Forgiveness sweeps away distortions, and opens the hidden altar to the truth. Its lilies shine into the mind, and call it to return and look within, to find what it has vainly sought without. For here, and only here, is peace of mind restored, for this the dwelling place of God Himself. In quiet may forgiveness wipe away my dreams of separation and of sin. Then let me, Father, look within, and find Your promise of my sinlessness is kept; Your Word remains unchanged within my mind, Your Love is still abiding in my heart. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 336. "Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined." *In A Course in Miracles, sin and separation are virtually synonymous. Sin is the belief that separation is real, and is deplorable because it was attained through vicious attack. Yet if minds are joined, there can be no separation or differences, and therefore no sin. Indeed, there is nothing but God and Christ. Their Oneness totally unaffected by what never happened. Asking for help in shifting our perception of the world -- the meaning of forgiveness -- allows us to understand we are truly one: in mind and in Mind.* (1:1-2) "Forgiveness is the means appointed for perception's ending. Knowledge is restored after perception first is changed, and then gives way entirely to what remains forever past its highest reach." *We first ask for help to shift from the ego's false perception to the Holy Spirit's true perception. When His vision has cleansed all mistaken thoughts held in our minds, all that remains is for God to take His final step. Thus perception ends, as the clarification of terms says, in a "blazing light," and what takes its place is the changeless knowledge of our Self (C-4.7.)* (1:3) "For sights and sounds, at best, can serve but to recall the memory that lies beyond them all." *The sights and sounds of the perceptual world can serve to help undo illusion. In itself, perception is not true, and when the body has served its function as an instrument of communication and classroom for learning, both disappear. The memory of God dawns on our forgiven minds, and we are at rest.* (1:4) "Forgiveness sweeps away distortions, and opens the hidden altar to the truth." *The hidden altar is within the mind, where the decision maker chooses truth instead of illusion. Forgiveness unveils the altar so we can present the gift of lilies to our self.* (1:5-6) "Its lilies shine into the mind, and call it to return and look within, to find what it has vainly sought without. For here, and only here, is peace of mind restored, for this the dwelling place of God Himself." *The call to return is the call for our decision maker to change its mind; another way of saying we are asked not to look without, but to allow what our eyes perceive to reflect what we have first chosen to see within. Only then can we change our minds about their false perceptions, and open the door to God and His peace.* (2) "In quiet may forgiveness wipe away my dreams of separation and of sin. Then let me, Father, look within, and find Your promise of my sinlessness is kept; Your Word remains unchanged within my mind, Your Love is still abiding in my heart." *God's Word is the Atonement, the acceptance of which undoes the ego thought system. We need first ask Jesus for help that we shift our perception of our brother, which allows our projected sin to be brought back to the mind where it originated. We then look within at the mind's wrong-minded decision for the ego, recognize our mistaken choice and choose correctly, returning home at last to the love in our hearts.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 335. I choose to see my brother's sinlessness.
Lesson 335. I choose to see my brother's sinlessness. Forgiveness is a choice. I never see my brother as he is, for that is far beyond perception. What I see in him is merely what I wish to see, because it stands for what I want to be the truth. It is to this alone that I respond, however much I seem to be impelled by outside happenings. I choose to see what I would look upon, and this I see, and only this. My brother's sinlessness shows me that I would look upon my own. And I will see it, having chosen to behold my brother in its holy light. What could restore Your memory to me, except to see my brother's sinlessness? His holiness reminds me that he was created one with me, and like myself. In him I find my Self, and in Your Son I find the memory of You as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary (an excerpt) on this lesson by Ken Wapnick, from his books: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." Book set may be purchased at the following site: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 335. "I choose to see my brother's sinlessness." *This reaffirms what Jesus had us choose at the end of the previous lesson. We now choose the vision of our brother's sinlessness instead of sin, because we choose to see the innocence in ourselves.* (1:1-3) "Forgiveness is a choice. I never see my brother as he is, for that is far beyond perception. What I see in him is merely what I wish to see, because it stands for what I want to be the truth." *Beyond perception is my reality as Christ, yet within the dream I can perceive sin or sinlessness as the truth, depending on the teacher I choose and the lessons I wish to learn: those that reinforce my dream of individuality, or those that help me awaken from it. Thus the way I see you comes from the way I see myself -- <projection makes perception>. What I have judged real and important in my mind is what I will see as real and important outside of me in the body. If I judge my individuality to be valuable, that is what I will see in you; but I will see sin there as well, and not within. As we learned in Lesson 161, the ego had us make the world of specifics precisely so we could have persons onto whom we could project responsibility for our individual and separate existence.* (1:4) "It is to this alone that I respond, however much I seem to be impelled by outside happenings." *This is one of the seminal principles in A Course in Miracles. We seem to be affected by what is outside us; but in truth we are affected only by the mind's decision for the ego's specialness or the Holy Spirit's forgiveness.* (1:5-7) "I choose to see what I would look upon, and this I see, and only this. My brother's sinlessness shows me that I would look upon my own. And I will see it, having chosen to behold my brother in its holy light." *On a practical level, this does not mean we should feel guilty because we see murder, pain, death, and sickness all around us. Remember that perception is an interpretation. (e.g.,M-17.4:1-2). It is not what our eyes "objectively" see that is the issue, but the interpretation of what our eyes see. Thus we do not deny the ego's interpretation, which would be that sin is rampant, either in ourselves or others. The change we want to effect in our minds is to see in ourselves and others expressions of love or calls for love, not sin and evil.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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Lesson 334. Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives.
Lesson 334. Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives. I will not wait another day to find the treasures that my Father offers me. Illusions are all vain, and dreams are gone even while they are woven out of thoughts that rest on false perceptions. Let me not accept such meager gifts again today. God's Voice is offering the peace of God to all who hear and choose to follow Him. This is my choice today. And so I go to find the treasures God has given me. I seek but the eternal. For Your Son can be content with nothing less than this. What, then, can be his solace but what You are offering to his bewildered mind and frightened heart, to give him certainty and bring him peace? Today I would behold my brother sinless. This Your Will for me, for so will I behold my sinlessness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Commentary on this lesson by Ken Wapnick, from his books: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles." Book set may be purchased at the following site: ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 334. "Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives." *Lessons 334 through 337 center on the theme of perceiving sinlessness in our brothers, which allows us to realize we are sinless, too. They roughly parallel the two sections that end Chapter 20, "The Consistency of Means and End" and "The Vision of Sinlessness" (T-20.VII,VIII). Forgiveness' gift awakens in us the memory of our innocence, for by undoing the belief in the sin we perceive in others, we give ourselves the opportunity to choose the sinlessness the Holy Spirit offers over the ego's gift of sinfulness.* (1:1) "I will not wait another day to find the treasures that my Father offers me." *Here again, Jesus appeals to us to recognize how unhappy we are living under the ego's guidance, and how happy we would be if we let him be our teacher instead.* (1:2) "Illusions are all vain, and dreams are gone even while they are woven out of thoughts that rest on false perceptions." *In other words, the world is already over. The Atonement principle has never ceased to be, and everything we have ever dreamt, thought, or experienced is an illusion that never happened -- "This world was over long ago" (T-28.1.1:6).* (1:3-6) "Let me not accept such meager gifts again today. God's Voice is offering the peace of God to all who hear and choose to follow Him. This is my choice today. And so I go to find the treasures God has given me." *We saw the importance of choosing the second place, that we may remember that we -- an aspect of God's Son -- are part of the first. If we are unhappy with the ego's gifts of anger, depression, or pain, we need but remember these were our choice, and thus we can choose again.* (2:1) "I seek but the eternal." *The ego will always have us seek after the ephemeral: the world's gifts of specialness. Jesus reminds us that what we truly want, and want alone, is the love that never ends: "Let, then, your dedication be to the eternal, and learn not to interfere with it and make it slave to time." (T-19.1.16:1)* (2:2-5) "For Your Son can be content with nothing less than this. What, then, can be his solace but what You are offering to his bewildered mind and frightened heart, to give him certainty and bring him peace? Today I would behold my brother sinless. This Your Will for me, for so will I behold my sinlessness." *The way we find the eternal in ourselves is to forgive. Jesus, as we have seen repeatedly, has us work backwards. We begin where we think we are -- in special relationships fraught with neediness and grievances. We learn to use these as classrooms under the guidance of our new teacher, in which we come to understand that the sin we perceive around us, or even in our own bodies, is a projection of the mind's belief in sin. Once we return to the source of the error, we can, as the decision maker, choose differently. We begin by asking for help to shift our perception of someone perceived external to us, and gently move to our bewildered mind and frightened heart, there to accept our inherent sinlessness as God's true Son.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 |
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