Lesson 58. These ideas are for review today:
1. My holiness envelops everything I see.
From my holiness does the perception of the real world come. Having forgiven, I
no longer see myself as guilty. I can accept the innocence that is the truth
about me. Seen through understanding eyes, the holiness of the world is all I
see, for I can picture only the thoughts I hold about myself.
2. My holiness blesses the world.
The perception of my holiness does not bless me alone. Everyone and everything I
see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me. There is
nothing that is apart from this joy, because there is nothing that does not
share my holiness. As I recognize my holiness, so does the holiness of the world
shine forth for everyone to see.
3. There is nothing my holiness cannot do.
My holiness is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited in its
power to save. What is there to be saved from except illusions? And what are all
illusions except false ideas about myself? My holiness undoes them all by
asserting the truth about me. In the presence of my holiness, which I share with
God Himself, all idols vanish.
4. My holiness is my salvation.
Since my holiness saves me from all guilt, recognizing my holiness is
recognizing my salvation. It is also recognizing the salvation of the world.
Once I have accepted my holiness, nothing can make me afraid. And because I am
unafraid, everyone must share in my understanding, which is the gift of God to
me and to the world.
5. I am blessed as a Son of God.
Herein lies my claim to all good and only good. I am blessed as a Son of God.
All good things are mine, because God intended them for me. I cannot suffer any
loss or deprivation or pain because of Who I am. My Father supports me, protects
me, and directs me in all things. His care for me is infinite, and is with me
forever. I am eternally blessed as His Son.
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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 58. "These ideas are for review today:"
*This next series of lessons is about our holiness, the other side of our minds
that is kept hidden by the ego and the unholiness of its thought system.*
(1:1) (36) "My holiness envelops everything I see."
(1:2) "From my holiness does the perception of the real world come."
*When we make the internal shift and identify with Jesus' love instead of the
ego's hate, his love extends through us. We may perceive the exact same world --
the dream in <form> does not necessarily change -- but now it is perceived
through the love that is within ourselves. This marks the birth of true
compassion. We do not feel sorry for people's bodies, but for the real source of
pain: the belief they are orphaned and will never return home. In that
compassionate vision are <all> people recognized as sharing the same suffering.*
(1:3-5) "Having forgiven, I no longer see myself as guilty. I can accept the
innocence that is the truth about me. Seen through understanding eyes, the
holiness of the world is all I see, for I can picture only the thoughts I hold
about myself."
*This is a succinct summary of forgiveness. We first shift our perception so
that by looking differently at another's sin -- recognizing it is but a
projection of a belief about ourselves -- we accept the illusory nature of the
ego's thought system of separation and attack. This allows the innocence of the
Atonement to return to our awareness and then become the basis of our new
perception of the world.
Innocent or true perception is all-inclusive, as we now see:*
(2:1) (37) "My holiness blesses the world."
(2:2-5) "The perception of my holiness does not bless me alone. Everyone and
everything I see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me. There is
nothing that is apart from this joy, because there is nothing that does not
share my holiness. As I recognize my holiness, so does the holiness of the world
shine forth for everyone to see."
*We are not only one in the ego thought system, we are also one in the Holy
Spirit's. With this recognition, born of our new perception, is the ego's belief
in separation undone by the vision of Christ that embraces the Sonship (and thus
the world) with its holiness. If our vision is not all-inclusive, it is not
vision. By excluding even one part of the Sonship, the Whole is excluded as
well, and so we can never remember we are God's Son. That is why Jesus gives us
these words as a reminder:
"To your tired eyes I bring a vision of a different world, so new and clean
and fresh you will forget the pain and sorrow that you saw before. Yet this a
vision is which you must share with everyone you see, for otherwise you will
behold it not. To give this gift is how to make it yours. And God ordained, in
loving kindness, that it be for you." (T-31.VIII.8:4-7).*
(3:1) (38) "There is nothing my holiness cannot do."
(3:2-3) "My holiness is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited
in its power to save. What is there to be saved from except illusions?"
*We are not saved from the world, nor from some terrible fate, and we do not
save the world for other people. We are saved from our misthoughts, the mistakes
coming from having chosen the ego instead of the Holy Spirit. That has nothing
to do with the world, but everything to do with our illusory thoughts. Again, it
is salvation that heals as <one>, because there is only <one> illusion in <one>
Son.*
(3:4-6) "And what are all illusions except false ideas about myself? My holiness
undoes them all by asserting the truth about me. In the presence of my holiness,
which I share with God Himself, all idols vanish."
*Again and again we see Jesus returning to this central point. Our
misperceptions are caused by the <one> misperception of ourselves -- we are not
as God created us. When this <one> misthought is healed, all the ego's mistaken
images -- the idols of specialness -- are undone as well: <one> problem, <one>
misperception of unholiness; one solution, one vision of holiness.*
(4:1) (39) "My holiness is my salvation."
(4:2-3) "Since my holiness saves me from all guilt, recognizing my holiness is
recognizing my salvation. It is also recognizing the salvation of the world."
*Jesus' symphonic theme continues, in an almost endless <series> of wonderful
variations. The <one> problem of guilt disappears in the <one> solution of
holiness, which causes all problems to disappear as well. Thus is my perception
of myself healed and saved, as well as my perception of the world, which has
never left its source in my mind.*
(4:4-5) "Once I have accepted my holiness, nothing can make me afraid. And
because I am unafraid, everyone must share in my understanding, which is the
gift of God to me and to the world."
*The source of <all> fear is our having chosen the unholiness of our separate
individuality instead of the holiness of the oneness of God's Son. Since minds
are joined, acceptance of my holiness reminds others to make the same choice.
This does not mean that everyone <will> make that choice now. However it does
mean that in my holiness I recognize the choice has <already> happened because
the separation has been undone. <When> that choice is accepted throughout the
Sonship is only a matter of time.*
(5:1) (40) "I am blessed as a Son of God."
(5:2-8) "Herein lies my claim to all good and only good. I am blessed as a Son
of God. All good things are mine, because God intended them for me. I cannot
suffer any loss or deprivation or pain because of Who I am. My Father supports
me, protects me, and directs me in all things. His care for me is infinite, and
is with me forever. I am eternally blessed as His Son."
*All loss, deprivation, and pain arise because we have forgotten who we are.
That is the problem, without exception, which is why there is no order of
difficulty in miracles (T-1.I.1:1). When we drop Jesus' hand and take the ego's
instead, we are automatically in pain. Following the ego's strategy to protect
our wrong decision, we put a gap between the cause of the pain and our
experience of it, and think we understand its source -- the world, our special
partner, our bodies, our food, or whatever -- and thus are never able to
recognize the real cause in our minds. When we at last come to our senses and
realize our mistake, we return to the thought of the Atonement that reflects our
true Self, an Identity that is perfectly safe because It is beyond all thoughts
of pain and loss. Awakening from the ego's dream of suffering, we are at home
with the God we never truly left.*
