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Lesson 298. I love You, Father, and I love Your Son. My gratitude permits my love to be accepted without fear. And thus am I restored to my reality at last. All that intruded on my holy sight forgiveness takes away. And I draw near the end of senseless journeys, mad careers and artificial values. I accept instead what God establishes as mine, sure that in that alone I will be saved; sure that I go through fear to meet my Love. Father, I come to You today, because I would not follow any way but Yours. You are beside me. Certain is Your way. And I am grateful for Your holy gifts of certain sanctuary, and escape from everything that would obscure my love for God my Father and His holy 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 298. "I love You, Father, and I love Your Son." *This love is not based upon the principle of <one or the other>. We have said many times that if we truly love God we must love everyone -- not in <form>, but <content>. If we do not love all-inclusively -- holding grievances and justifying blame -- we are really saying we do not love God. The guilt over this statement is horrendous. Here we are, devoted students of A Course in Miracles, the goal of which is to reach God and remember our Self, and we do the exact opposite of what it says. It is important not to minimize the guilt this induces in both our study and practice of the Course. Yet what helps eliminate the guilt is becoming aware we have conflicting goals: God versus ego survival. If we are aware of this conflict we will not repress it, and without repression there is nothing to project. Thus, whenever we find ourselves becoming angry or sick, we need recall that there is a secret guilt that has escaped our attention. The right-minded gift of anger or sickness, then, is that they become red flags unveiling our choice for the ego instead of God. In truth, if we loved God unequivocally we would also love His Son and not attack him -- ourselves or another.* (1:1) "My gratitude permits my love to be accepted without fear. *I am grateful I have been wrong, and need only recognize my stubborn insistence in being right about my perception.* (1:2-5) "And thus am I restored to my reality at last. All that intruded on my holy sight forgiveness takes away. And I draw near the end of senseless journeys, mad careers and artificial values. I accept instead what God establishes as mine, sure that in that alone I will be saved; sure that I go through fear to meet my Love." *Forgiveness does not give or teach us anything positive. It merely shines away the negative -- a most important distinction. Its light reflects the Love of God by dissolving the darkness of the ego's sin, guilt, and fear. In and of itself, therefore, forgiveness does nothing but be the radiance that dispels the thoughts of specialness, leading us on a journey to resurrection and life and away from the ego's useless journey to crucifixion and death, as the reader recalls Jesus telling us in this early passage from the text: "The journey to the cross should be the last "useless journey". Do not dwell upon it, but dismiss it as accomplished. If you can accept it as your own last useless journey, you are also free to join my resurrection. ... Do not make the pathetic error of "clinging to the old rugged cross"... This is not the Gospel I intended to offer you. We have another journey to undertake ... (T-4.in.3:1-3,7,10-11).* (2) "Father, I come to You today, because I would not follow any way but Yours. You are beside me. Certain is Your way. And I am grateful for Your holy gifts of certain sanctuary, and escape from everything that would obscure my love for God my Father and His holy Son." *I thus recognize the way I chose to find God was specialness. I realize with gladness and gratitude I was wrong, and now happily choose to undo my mistake by

Lesson 297. Forgiveness is the only gift I give. Forgiveness is the only gift I give, because it is the only gift I want. And everything I give I give myself. This is salvation's simple formula. And I, who would be saved, would make it mine, to be the way I live within a world that needs salvation, and that will be saved as I accept Atonement for myself. Father, how certain are Your ways; how sure their final outcome, and how faithfully is every step in my salvation set already, and accomplished by Your grace. Thanks be to You for Your eternal gifts, and thanks to You for my Identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 297. "Forgiveness is the only gift I give." *This reflects the important idea that giving and receiving are the same.* (1:1) "Forgiveness is the only gift I give, because it is the only gift I want." *This gift is our change of mind. We must realize that the gifts we have chosen in place of forgiveness -- the gifts of specialness, <one or the other>, being right -- have not brought us what we truly want: the undoing of fear. Bringing the Holy Spirit our secret gifts -- the essence of forgiveness -- allows His gifts to be ours forever, and -- through us -- the world's as well. Recall this previously quoted passage: "Extension of forgiveness is the Holy Spirit's function. Leave this to Him. Let your concern be only that you give to Him that which can be extended. Save no dark secrets that He cannot use, but offer Him the tiny gifts He can extend forever. He will take each one and make of it a potent force for peace. He will withhold no blessing from it, nor limit it in any way. He will join to it all the power that God has given Him, to make each little gift of love a source of healing for everyone. Each little gift you offer to your brother lights up the world." (T-22.VI.9:2-9)* (1:2-3) "And everything I give I give myself. This is salvation's simple formula." *The ego principle of salvation is that I escape from what I give: I am saved from my guilt by giving it to you. The Holy Spirit undoes that cruel insanity by having me realize that when I blame you I blame myself, a silly and self-defeating thing to do! Seeing that silliness helps me realize how wrongly I have been looking at everything.* (1:4) "And I, who would be saved, would make it mine, to be the way I live within a world that needs salvation, and that will be saved as I accept Atonement for myself." *I happily remember that God's Son is one, and by forgiving my brother I forgive myself. That is salvation's joyful message, and one I gladly accept for myself and for the world.* (2) "Father, how certain are Your ways; how sure their final outcome, and how faithfully is every step in my salvation set already, and accomplished by Your grace. Thanks be to You for Your eternal gifts, and thanks to You for my Identity." *Who would not be grateful for the gift of God's grace, when through its gentle forgiveness salvation comes? The Son who wandered lonely and alone is made whole, and thanks his Father for His gift of love, seen in himself and all his brothers -- the vision that heals the world.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 http://www.mlynjohnson.com/ https://www.facebook.com/sweedreamz ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 296. The Holy Spirit speaks through me today. The Holy Spirit needs my voice today, that all the world may listen to Your Voice, and hear Your Word through me. I am resolved to let You speak through me, for I would use no words but Yours, and have no thoughts which are apart from Yours, for only Yours are true. I would be savior to the world I made. For having damned it I would set it free, that I may find escape, and hear the Word Your holy Voice will speak to me today. We teach today what we would learn, and that alone. And so our learning goal becomes an unconflicted one, and possible of easy reach and quick accomplishment. How gladly does the Holy Spirit come to rescue us from hell, when we allow His teaching to persuade the world, through us, to seek and find the easy path to 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 296. "The Holy Spirit speaks through me today." *We see here the idea expressed so beautifully in the Introduction to the fifth review, where Jesus tells us he needs our voice, eyes, feet, and hands through which he saves the world (W-p1.rV.in.9:3). In fact this important theme is repeated many times throughout A Course in Miracles -- the world and body are illusions, yet since we believe we are here, they can reflect the truth that is in our minds.* (1:1-2) "The Holy Spirit needs my voice today, that all the world may listen to Your Voice, and hear Your Word through me. I am resolved to let You speak through me, for I would use no words but Yours, and have no thoughts which are apart from Yours, for only Yours are true." *We have seen this idea frequently in our journey through the workbook: realizing the mistake in choosing our words instead of the Holy Spirit's -- ours the words of separation, His the Word of Atonement that says there is no separation. Thus do we become His teachers, the manifestation in <form> of His Voice of forgiveness -- the <content> of salvation: "Yet what makes God's teachers is their recognition of the proper purpose of the body. As they advance in their profession, they become more and more certain that the body's function is but to let God's Voice speak through it to human ears. And these ears will carry to the mind of the hearer messages that are not of this world, and the mind will understand because of their Source. From this understanding will come the recognition, in this new teacher of God, of what the body's purpose really is; the only use there really is for it." (M-12.4:1-4).* (1:3-4) "I would be savior to the world I made. For having damned it I would set it free, that I may find escape, and hear the Word Your holy Voice will speak to me today." *We damned the world by projecting our self-damnation onto it. This occurred in the mind, where it can be undone -- the <only> place it can be undone.* (2) "We teach today what we would learn, and that alone. And so our learning goal becomes an unconflicted one, and possible of easy reach and quick accomplishment. How gladly does the Holy Spirit come to rescue us from hell, when we allow His teaching to persuade the world, through us, to seek and find the easy path to God." *Our unequivocally asking the Holy Spirit for help invites His vision of forgiveness to heal our minds and the world as one, leading us from the self-deceptive hell of separation -- the world's "hopeless and closed learning situation" -- to the Heaven of our perfect Oneness: "The purpose of the course might be said to provide you with a means of choosing what you want to teach on the basis of what you want to learn. You cannot give to someone else, but only to yourself, and this you learn through teaching... Into this hopeless and closed learning situation, which teaches nothing but despair and death, God sends His teachers. And as they teach His lessons of joy and hope, their learning finally becom

Lesson 295. The Holy Spirit looks through me today. Christ asks that He may use my eyes today, and thus redeem the world. He asks this gift that He may offer peace of mind to me, and take away all terror and all pain. And as they are removed from me, the dreams that seemed to settle on the world are gone. Redemption must be one. As I am saved, the world is saved with me. For all of us must be redeemed together. Fear appears in many different forms, but love is one. My Father, Christ has asked a gift of me, and one I give that it be given me. Help me to use the eyes of Christ today, and thus allow the Holy Spirit's Love to bless all things which I may look upon, that His forgiving Love may rest on 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 295. "The Holy Spirit looks through me today." *This lesson appears to be about the Holy Spirit, but is another example of how Jesus uses <Christ> as a synonym for God's Voice. The title says that the Holy Spirit looks through me, but Jesus begins by speaking of Christ looking; not Christ as He is in Heaven, but as a symbol for the Atonement principle -- the Holy Spirit's Presence that is itself the correction.* (1:1-3) "Christ asks that He may use my eyes today, and thus redeem the world. He asks this gift that He may offer peace of mind to me, and take away all terror and all pain. And as they are removed from me, the dreams that seemed to settle on the world are gone." *All I need do is shift my vision or teacher, and the ego's dream world of specialness -- the pain, sadness, joy, and pleasure -- is gone. We now return the theme of oneness.* (1:4-5) "Redemption must be one. As I am saved, the world is saved with me." *To say this again, a statement like this makes no sense unless you understand the underlying metaphysics of A Course in Miracles. There is no world outside the mind, which is one -- one Mind in Heaven, and one mind within the dream. This latter is the ego self -- God's one Son who fell asleep. The physical universe arose from that mind, which is why it is all one -- dream and dreamer are not separate, and thus are redeemed together.* (1:6) "For all of us must be redeemed together." *When your mind is healed and you have accepted the undoing of sin that is your redemption, you know God's Son is one and everyone has been saved with you. You look out upon the dream, being now outside it, and you see the dream figures as split-off parts of one thought: "I am separate from God." This allows you to hear the single Voice of redemption tell you it was all a dream.* (1:7) "Fear appears in many different forms, but love is one." *Therefore there is no order of difficulty in miracles. The miracle reflects the Love of God, healing all problems as one for there is but one problem. As an earlier lesson said: "One problem; one solution. Salvation is accomplished" (W-p1,80.1:5-6).* (2) "My Father, Christ has asked a gift of me, and one I give that it be given me. Help me to use the eyes of Christ today, and thus allow the Holy Spirit's Love to bless all things which I may look upon, that His forgiving Love may rest on me." *Seeing the face of Christ in our brothers allows us to see it in ourselves and all the world. "Behold your Friend, the Christ Who stands beside you. How holy and how beautiful He is! You thought He sinned because you cast the veil of sin upon Him to hide His loveliness. Yet still He holds forgiveness out to you, to share His holiness. ..." "This is your brother, crucified by sin and waiting for release from pain. Would you not offer him forgiveness, when only he can offer it to you?" (T-19.IV.-D.14:1-4;15:1-2).* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 http://www.mlynjohnson.com/ https://www.facebook.com/sweedreamz ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 294. My body is a wholly neutral thing. I am a Son of God. And can I be another thing as well? Did God create the mortal and corruptible? What use has God's beloved Son for what must die? And yet a neutral thing does not see death, for thoughts of fear are not invested there, nor is a mockery of love bestowed upon it. Its neutrality protects it while it has a use. And afterwards, without a purpose, it is laid aside. It is not sick nor old nor hurt. It is but functionless, unneeded and cast off. Let me not see it more than this today; of service for a while and fit to serve, to keep its usefulness while it can serve, and then to be replaced for greater good. My body, Father, cannot be Your Son. And what is not created cannot be sinful nor sinless; neither good nor bad. Let me, then, use this dream to help Your plan that we awaken from all dreams we made. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 294. "My body is a wholly neutral thing." *This important lesson deserves more extensive discussion than the others in Part II. It will be particularly helpful in clarifying the distinction between the two levels of discourse reflected in A Course in Miracles, which we now briefly review: Level One is the metaphysical basis for the Course, teaching that only spirit is true, and everything else, including the body, is false. On this level, everything in the world is symbolic of sin, which means the body is hardly neutral. It is sin's repository, for in our pain and desperation we seek to find projected sin in everyone except ourselves. The purpose of this projection is to keep the thought of sin alive, but buried in our minds. Carrying out this ego strategy, we are driven to perceive sin all around us, thereby establishing the body's sinfulness. This accounts for people's unending attempts to make the body holy, and, most importantly, why the pillar of religious thought, especially in the West, is that God is the creator of the world and body. Psychologically, we refer to that dynamic as reaction formation, where we perceive and believe the opposite of what we have made real in our minds. We first establish sin's reality, deny it, and then project it onto the body. To counter our devastating self-image, we regard the body not as sinful, but as sinless and holy -- in fact so holy that God Himself created it. This strange notion of the creator God has had a remarkable hold on society because it conceals the ego's use for the body -- making it the source of sin, thereby protecting the ego's existence in the mind. Yet Jesus tells us here and elsewhere in A Course in Miracles that the body is neither sinful nor sinless -- it is nothing. However, because we have made it real -- moving us to the Level Two discourse -- the body can be used either to root us still further in the dream, or be the means by which the Holy Spirit awakens us from it. In that sense the body is neutral, because it merely awaits the split mind's decision to project the ego's purpose of reinforcing the dream of sin, or extend the Holy Spirit's purpose of our learning through the body that the world is an illusion -- not evil, wicked, or sinful, just an illusion.* (1:1-4) "I am a Son of God. And can I be another thing as well? Did God create the mortal and corruptible? What use has God's beloved Son for what must die?" *This is a clear refutation of the foundation of Western thought -- all systems of theology, philosophy, psychology, and science that rest on the premise that the world and body are real.* (1:5) "And yet a neutral thing does not see death, for thoughts of fear are not invested there, nor is a mockery of love bestowed upon it." *From the ego's point of view, death proves the reality of separation and guilt, and that God's punishment has been accomplished. Therefore death is hardly neutral within the syste

Lesson 293. All fear is past and only love is here. All fear is past, because its source is gone, and all its thoughts gone with it. Love remains the only present state, whose Source is here forever and forever. Can the world seem bright and clear and safe and welcoming, with all my past mistakes oppressing it, and showing me distorted forms of fear? Yet in the present love is obvious, and its effects apparent. All the world shines in reflection of its holy light, and I perceive a world forgiven at last. Father, let not Your holy world escape my sight today. Nor let my ears be deaf to all the hymns of gratitude the world is singing underneath the sounds of fear. There is a real world which the present holds safe from all past mistakes. And I would see only this world before my eyes 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 293. "All fear is past and only love is here." *As we have seen many times, if perfect love casts out fear, and we have accepted love through the Holy Spirit in our minds, the fear that is the heart of the ego thought system must be gone. Only the Love of God and His Son will remain.* (1:1) "All fear is past, because its source is gone, and all its thoughts gone with it." *The source of fear is sin, the belief that the separation is real and deserves punishment. When we join with Jesus, the dream's symbol of God's Love, we are no longer separate from him or our Source. Therefore there is no sin of separation, and so there could be no fear. Gone as well is the thought system of the ego, with its thoughts of sin, specialness, sacrifice, and suffering.* (1:2-5) "Love remains the only present state, whose Source is here forever and forever. Can the world seem bright and clear and safe and welcoming, with all my past mistakes oppressing it, and showing me distorted forms of fear? Yet in the present love is obvious, and its effects apparent. All the world shines in reflection of its holy light, and I perceive a world forgiven at last." *This beautiful light-filled passage is echoed in an equally beautifully passage from the text, which describes the world of light that greets our decision for the inner light: "Nothing around you but is part of you. Look on it lovingly, and see the light of Heaven in it. So will you come to understand all that is given you. In kind forgiveness will the world sparkle and shine, and everything you once thought sinful now will be reinterpreted as part of Heaven. How beautiful it is to walk, clean and redeemed and happy, through a world in bitter need of the redemption that your innocence bestows upon it!" (T-23.in.6:1-5) * (2:1) "Father, let not Your holy world escape my sight today." *When in the holy instant we choose Christ's vision instead of the ego's, we perceive the world from our new perspective outside of the dream -- the real world.* (2:2) "Nor let my ears be deaf to all the hymns of gratitude the world is singing underneath the sounds of fear." *The sounds of fear -- the thought system of the ego and its world -- are a cover for the prayerful hymns of gratitude that are within everyone's mind. We thus see again a reference to the core of Jesus' teaching: the ego thought system is nothing more or less than a defense against the truth, already in our minds. Using the image of layering, we can view the Atonement principle at the bottom of the mind, covered by layers and layers of the ego's specialness until we are so far removed from the truth that we end up believing only what the body's eyes tell us is the truth. Blind and deaf, we await our change of mind that truly lets us see: * (2:3-4) "There is a real world which the present holds safe from all past mistakes. And I would see only this world before my eyes today." *We cannot make the choice to see the real world unless we first recognize our minds have the power to

Lesson 292. A happy outcome to all things is sure. God's promises make no exceptions. And He guarantees that only joy can be the final outcome found for everything. Yet it is up to us when this is reached; how long we let an alien will appear to be opposing His. And while we think this will is real, we will not find the end He has appointed as the outcome of all problems we perceive, all trials we see, and every situation that we meet. Yet is the ending certain. For God's Will is done in earth and Heaven. We will seek and we will find according to His Will, which guarantees that our will is done. We thank You, Father, for Your guarantee of only happy outcomes in the end. Help us not interfere, and so delay the happy endings You have promised us for every problem that we can perceive; for every trial we think we still must meet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 292. "A happy outcome to all things is sure." *You may recall the sentence that is stated twice in the text: "The outcome is as certain as God" (T-2.II.3:10; T-4.II.5:8). To the ego the outcome is also as certain, but it is the ego's god whose certainty is unhappiness and misery. It tells us that the way we achieve happiness is at someone else's expense -- another must suffer. Since we are different, if you are unhappy then I am not, for my happiness comes only when yours is sacrificed. The happy correction leading to the happy outcome is that happiness is our inheritance -- yours <and> mine -- and is safely held for us in minds that await our decision to accept it.* (1:1) "God's promises make no exceptions." *This means I cannot forgive some people and exclude the rest. The Sonship of God is one, and He does not recognize a fragmentation that never happened.* (1:2-3) "And He guarantees that only joy can be the final outcome found for everything. Yet it is up to us when this is reached; how long we let an alien will appear to be opposing His." *In the Introduction to A Course in Miracles Jesus tells us that <free will> means that we are free to choose the time when we accept the truth that is already present in us: "Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take a given time." (T-in.1:4-5) This is not something Jesus does for us. We must be willing to recognize our prior mistakes and then choose to have them be undone for us. The truth, which is the reflection of God's Will, is already present in our right minds. We have chosen to substitute the alien will of the ego in its place, and it is our responsibility as to when we recognize we were mistaken, and to be grateful we were wrong so we can finally make the correct choice that ensures the joyful outcome.* (1:4-7) "And while we think this will is real, we will not find the end He has appointed as the outcome of all problems we perceive, all trials we see, and every situation that we meet. Yet is the ending certain. For God's Will is done in earth and Heaven. We will seek and we will find according to His Will, which guarantees that our will is done." *We cannot fail when we call upon the One Who cannot fail. Seeking only a happy outcome, that is all we shall find when we call upon the Teacher of happiness, thanking God for His Love.* (2) "We thank You, Father, for Your guarantee of only happy outcomes in the end. Help us not interfere, and so delay the happy endings You have promised us for every problem that we can perceive; for every trial we think we still must meet." *From the end of the text we read word that can only bring us comfort in the world of pain: "Trials are but lessons that you failed to learn presented once again, so where you made a faulty choice before you now can make a better one, and thus escape all pain that what you chose before has brought to you. In every difficulty,

Lesson 291. This is a day of stillness and of peace. Christ's vision looks through me today. His sight shows me all things forgiven and at peace, and offers this same vision to the world. And I accept this vision in its name, both for myself and for the world as well. What loveliness we look upon today! What holiness we see surrounding us! And it is given us to recognize it is a holiness in which we share; it is the Holiness of God Himself. This day my mind is quiet, to receive the Thoughts You offer me. And I accept what comes from You, instead of from myself. I do not know the way to You. But You are wholly certain. Father, guide Your Son along the quiet path that leads to You. Let my forgiveness be complete, and let the memory of You return to 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 291. "This is a day of stillness and of peace." *We return now to two familiar themes: Christ's vision and the mind's stillness and peace:* (1:1-3) "Christ's vision looks through me today. His sight shows me all things forgiven and at peace, and offers this same vision to the world. And I accept this vision in its name, both for myself and for the world as well." *When the Course's metaphysics has been understood, it is apparent that Jesus is reflecting the principle that the world and mind are one. Thus, vision has nothing to do with what our eyes see, but with the teacher with whom we have chosen to see. When Jesus is our choice, our minds will be at peace and everything we look at will be peaceful as well.* (1:4-6) "What loveliness we look upon today! What holiness we see surrounding us! And it is given us to recognize it is a holiness in which we share; it is the Holiness of God Himself." *I want to stress again the importance of keeping the metaphysics of A Course in Miracles in mind. Without that grounding, you could be tempted to believe that Jesus is talking about seeing holiness with your eyes, and, moreover, that holiness exists here: holy bodies, holy places, holy objects. Moreover, if you think you are good student of the Course, you may seek to deny the horrible things that go on in this world, thinking instead that everything here is holy because you are looking through the eyes of holiness. This is the exact opposite of what Jesus is teaching, which has nothing to do with the holiness your eyes see, but only with the holiness you accept in your mind. This acceptance is preceded by realizing what has to be corrected and undone in your perception. Therefore, before you can truly see holiness around you, you first must realize how angry, despairing, and upset you are by what goes on in the world. Again, as long as you think you are a body, you can never be happy here. Bodies are the equivalent of pain, because they are made from the thought of pain -- the separation from God. Thus you cannot share in Christ's vision without first looking at what your sight has told you is true, bringing it to the Holy Spirit's correction in your mind. At that point you will have accepted the holiness that is your and everyone else's lens of holiness, you will see it all around you -- not because anything has changed externally, but because your mind has changed.* (2:1) "This day my mind is quiet, to receive the Thoughts You offer me." *I need to quiet my identification with the ego thought system. The stillness of the Atonement now takes the place of the ego's noise, and this is the Thought God offers me.* (2:2-6) "And I accept what comes from You, instead of from myself. I do not know the way to You. But You are wholly certain. Father, guide Your Son along the quiet path that leads to You. Let my forgiveness be complete, and let the memory of You return to me." *The phrase "I do not know the way to You" comes from the prayer at the end of Lesson 189, and we will find it referred to again in the

For those doing the actual lessons, this next section should be read once a day (along with following the lesson of the day) for the next ten lessons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8. What Is the Real World? The real world is a symbol, like the rest of what perception offers. Yet it stands for what is opposite to what you made. Your world is seen through eyes of fear, and brings the witnesses of terror to your mind. The real world cannot be perceived except through eyes forgiveness blesses, so they see a world where terror is impossible, and witnesses to fear can not be found. The real world holds a counterpart for each unhappy thought reflected in your world; a sure correction for the sights of fear and sounds of battle which your world contains. The real world shows a world seen differently, through quiet eyes and with a mind at peace. Nothing but rest is there. There are no cries of pain and sorrow heard, for nothing there remains outside forgiveness. And the sights are gentle. Only happy sights and sounds can reach the mind that has forgiven itself. What need has such a mind for thoughts of death, attack and murder? What can it perceive surrounding it but safety, love and joy? What is there it would choose to be condemned, and what is there that it would judge against? The world it sees arises from a mind at peace within itself. No danger lurks in anything it sees, for it is kind, and only kindness does it look upon. The real world is the symbol that the dream of sin and guilt is over, and God's Son no longer sleeps. His waking eyes perceive the sure reflection of his Father's Love; the certain promise that he is redeemed. The real world signifies the end of time, for its perception makes time purposeless. The Holy Spirit has no need of time when it has served His purpose. Now He waits but that one instant more for God to take His final step, and time has disappeared, taking perception with it as it goes, and leaving but the truth to be itself. That instant is our goal, for it contains the memory of God. And as we look upon a world forgiven, it is He Who calls to us and comes to take us home, reminding us of our Identity which our forgiveness has restored to us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this section from, "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 8. What Is the Real World? *The ultimate of A Course in Miracles is the attainment of the real world, where all learning leads and ends as the ego's thought system fades into nothingness. In the real world there is nothing further to learned, for true learning is <un>learning all the ego had taught us: "It is the function of God's teachers to bring true learning to the world. Properly speaking it is unlearning that they bring, for that is "true learning" in the world." (M-4.X.3:6-7). When we have completed this process of unlearning or undoing, the ego thought system simply disappears, and what remains is the state of mind we call the real world.* (1:1-2) "The real world is a symbol, like the rest of what perception offers. Yet it stands for what is opposite to what you made." *In the text, Jesus explains that the term <real world> is, in effect, an oxymoron, because it is <not> real: "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." (T-26.III.3:3) The world, seen through the eyes of forgiveness, reflects the reality of Heaven. Similarly, Jesus tells us that holiness is not possible here, yet we are asked to choose a <holy> instant, and to allow our relationships to be transformed into <holy> ones, which then reflect the holiness of our relationship with God, a process described in "The Reflection of Holiness": "In this world you can become a spotless mirror, in which the Holiness of your Creator shines forth from you to all around you. You can reflect Heaven here. Yet no reflections of the images of othe

Lesson 290. My present happiness is all I see. Unless I look upon what is not there, my present happiness is all I see. Eyes that begin to open see at last. And I would have Christ's vision come to me this very day. What I perceive without God's Own Correction for the sight I made is frightening and painful to behold. Yet I would not allow my mind to be deceived by the belief the dream I made is real an instant longer. This the day I seek my present happiness, and look on nothing else except the thing I seek. With this resolve I come to You, and ask Your strength to hold me up today, while I but seek to do Your Will. You cannot fail to hear me, Father. What I ask have You already given me. And I am sure that I will see my happiness 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 290. "My present happiness is all I see." *Lesson 290 continues the theme of the present and the holy instant.* (1:1) "Unless I look upon what is not there, my present happiness is all I see." *What is not there is unnatural, for it seeks to replace the naturalness of my present happiness. Thus if I see something that is not there -- attack, pain, or specialness -- I cannot be happy, which comes only by letting go of the ego's thought system that is the source of unhappiness. This unhappiness becomes the barometer that shows me I have elected to hold on to a thought system that says I am right and God is wrong.* (1:2) "Eyes that begin to open see at last." *Jesus is not talking about physical sight, but uses the symbolism of eyes to talk about the right-minded attitude that gives birth to Christ's vision. Recall this homage of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, which describes the process of opening one's eyes to the light: "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." (T-20.III.9:1-2).* (1:3-6) "And I would have Christ's vision come to me this very day. What I perceive without God's Own Correction for the sight I made is frightening and painful to behold. Yet I would not allow my mind to be deceived by the belief the dream I made is real an instant longer. This the day I seek my present happiness, and look on nothing else except the thing I seek." *Jesus tells us we will yet recognize that everything we perceive is a mistake, for it is a defense against Christ's vision that reflects the reality of our oneness in Heaven. This truth is kindly expressed in the dream by perception of our one purpose, the other point of view described in this excerpt from the Preface to A Course in Miracles: "Christ's vision is the Holy Spirit's gift, God's alternative to the illusion of separation and to the belief in the reality of sin, guilt and death....Its kindly light shows all things from another point of view, reflecting the thought system that arises from knowledge and making return to God not only possible but inevitable." (p.xiii).* (2) "With this resolve I come to You, and ask Your strength to hold me up today, while I but seek to do Your Will. You cannot fail to hear me, Father. What I ask have You already given me. And I am sure that I will see my happiness today." *This opening stanza of Helen's "The Promise" captures the feeling of this prayer to our brother Jesus, Helens's Lord: *Hear me, my Lord! I cannot call in vain. Such is Your promise. I but do Your Will to call on You. And You will answer me, Because Your promise holds the Answer still." (The Gifts of God, p.14)* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 http://www.mlynjohnson.com/ https://www.facebook.com/sweedreamz ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 289. The past is over. It can touch me not. Unless the past is over in my mind, the real world must escape my sight. For I am really looking nowhere; seeing but what is not there. How can I then perceive the world forgiveness offers? This the past was made to hide, for this the world that can be looked on only now. It has no past. For what can be forgiven but the past, and if it is forgiven it is gone. Father, let me not look upon a past that is not there. For You have offered me Your Own replacement, in a present world the past has left untouched and free of sin. Here is the end of guilt. And here am I made ready for Your final step. Shall I demand that You wait longer for Your Son to find the loveliness You planned to be the end of all his dreams and all his pain? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 289. "The past is over. It can touch me not." *This continues Lesson 288. When the past is over, the thought system of sin, guilty, and fear -- past, present, and future -- is over as well, and we are solely in our right minds, the entry point to the real world. The passing of the ego's world of time and space is this lesson's message.* (1:1) "Unless the past is over in my mind, the real world must escape my sight." *My fear of the real world stems from the realization that there is no individual self outside the dream of separation, and thus I can no longer be the dream figure I think of as myself. Therefore, the way to keep the real world away and eliminate the threat of loss of my separate identity is to hold on to the past. What better way to do this than to retain the belief in sin, as linear time is simply the projection into form of the thought system of sin, guilt, and fear.* (1:2) "For I am really looking nowhere; seeing but what is not there." *At the beginning of Chapter 28, Jesus gives us these words we know so well: "This world was over long ago. The thoughts that made it are no longer in the mind that thought of them and loved them for a little while." (T-28.I.1.6-7).* (1:3) "How can I then perceive the world forgiveness offers?" *Obviously I cannot, and I cannot because I do not want to. Looking at the world forgiveness offers mean I would confront my greatest fear: disappearing as a special and unique entity.* (1:4-6) "This the past was made to hide, for this the world that can be looked on only now. It has no past. For what can be forgiven but the past, and if it is forgiven it is gone." *Forgiveness is already present in us for the past is gone. We but seek to perpetuate it out of fear of what it means to be in the holy instant. However, as Jesus reflects in the prayer that follows, forgiveness marks the end of guilt. If there is no past there is no sin, and without sin there can be no guilt or fear. Being in the holy instant ends the thought system of sin, guilt, and fear and ushers in the real world: "The world that can be looked on only now." * (2) "Father, let me not look upon a past that is not there. For You have offered me Your Own replacement, in a present world the past has left untouched and free of sin. Here is the end of guilt. And here am I made ready for Your final step. Shall I demand that You wait longer for Your Son to find the loveliness You planned to be the end of all his dreams and all his pain?" *In the same spirit, Jesus closes the "new" Lord's Prayer: "The sleep of forgetfulness is only the unwillingness to remember Your forgiveness and Your Love. Let us not wander into temptation, for the temptation of the Son of God is not Your Will. And let us receive only what You have given, and accept but this into the minds which You created and which You love. Amen." Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 http://www.mlynjohnson.com/ https://www.facebook.com/sweedreamz ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 288. Let me forget my brother's past today. (1) This is the thought that leads the way to You, and brings me to my goal. I cannot come to You without my brother. And to know my Source, I first must recognize what You created one with me. My brother's is the hand that leads me on the way to You. His sins are in the past along with mine, and I am saved because the past is gone. Let me not cherish it within my heart, or I will lose the way to walk to You. My brother is my savior. Let me not attack the savior You have given me. But let me honor him who bears Your Name, and so remember that It is my own. (2) Forgive me, then, today. And you will know you have forgiven me if you behold your brother in the light of holiness. He cannot be less holy than can I, and you can not be holier than he. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 288."Let me forget my brother's past today." *This forgetting of the past occurs in the holy instant, as we return home through shifting our perceptions of others. By letting go of the sins of which my grievances accused you, I do the same for myself -- the sins I perceived in you are the projected sins I first made real in me. We thus again see the continuity of Jesus' teachings on forgiveness throughout the workbook.* (1:1-2) "This is the thought that leads the way to You, and brings me to my goal. I cannot come to You without my brother." *Jesus does not mean this behaviorally, for we do not need a literal partner to do this course. Since the world exists only in our minds, Jesus' message is to undo the thought system of <one or the other>: we attain the ego's heaven at someone else's expense. Yet true Heaven is reached by accepting the Holy Spirit's familiar correction: "together, or not at all" (T-19.IV-D.12:8).* (1:3-9) "And to know my Source, I first must recognize what You created one with me. My brother's is the hand that leads me on the way to You. His sins are in the past along with mine, and I am saved because the past is gone. Let me not cherish it within my heart, or I will lose the way to walk to You. My brother is my savior. Let me not attack the savior You have given me. But let me honor him who bears Your Name, and so remember that It is my own." *Jesus speaks of the Sonship as one, and so be aware of grievances that would say: "God's Sonship is fragmented and I have proof. Look at what these victimizers have done to me and other innocents. You are wrong, Jesus, and I am right -- the Son of God cannot be one, for there is a hierarchy of good and evil." We justify our position by using the past to make another's sins real, which becomes our defense against the holy instant where sinful bodies do not exist. Only the memory of God's Love remains in the healed mind, and it is this we fear. Our brother becomes our savior, not because of the special things he does for us, but because in him we see the memory of God's true Son that had been buried in our minds. We remember him to the extent we realize the grievances we hold are the grievances we hold against ourselves and against God. Such insanity cannot make us happy, nor can withholding forgiveness from Jesus, as he now tells us:* (2) "Forgive me, then, today. And you will know you have forgiven me if you behold your brother in the light of holiness. He cannot be less holy than can I, and you can not be holier than he." *If we hold grievances against Jesus, and the Sonship is one, we must hold them against everyone else. Likewise, we know we hold grievances against Jesus if we hold a grievance against another. Successful practice of the workbook rests on accepting the fact of our oneness: as Christ, but also as egos. If we truly love Jesus, therefore, and want to learn his lessons, how can we possibly do so if we do not apply what he teaches? When we attack another, we tell them he i

Lesson 287. You are my goal, my Father. Only You. Where would I go but Heaven? What could be a substitute for happiness? What gift could I prefer before the peace of God? What treasure would I seek and find and keep that can compare with my Identity? And would I rather live with fear than love? You are my goal, my Father. What but You could I desire to have? What way but that which leads to You could I desire to walk? And what except the memory of You could signify to me the end of dreams and futile substitutions for the truth? You are my only goal. Your Son would be as You created him. What way but this could I expect to recognize my Self, and be at one with my Identity? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 287. "You are my goal, my Father. Only You." *Jesus underscores what he taught us in Lesson 285. If God is our goal, then we must accept the means of forgiveness He has given us. As students of A Course in Miracles, the specific means includes the Course itself. It we are therefore serious about reaching God, we must be serious about what will help us attain our goal. This means that when we hold thoughts of anger, judgment, and specialness, we are stating that God is <not> our goal. At least not right now. Thus there is a method in the ego's madness. We do not get angry because of something external, for anger is a defense against the underlying thought of fear that says: "If I go home to God, I will disappear." Recall that in the manual for teachers Jesus talks about anger as the heavy curtain that quickly drops to cover the peace of God (M-20.4:2). If you fear this peace, you need only pick a fight with someone or with yourself by getting sick. The world is most adept at supplying innumerable opportunities for us -- once we seek them we will find them, and when we do, it is because we looked to them to support the ego's goal of separation instead of God's living Oneness.* (1) "Where would I go but Heaven? What could be a substitute for happiness? What gift could I prefer before the peace of God? What treasure would I seek and find and keep that can compare with my Identity? And would I rather live with fear than love?" *In A Course in Miracles, the word <specialness> almost always stands behind the word <substitute>. We substitute for the reality of God, our only real relationship, which means we have chosen the goal of specialness as substitute for Heaven. We thus need to look at how we continually try to substitute for the truth, and how these attempts will always meet with futility because the substitutes will never bring us happiness, which God alone can bring. Recall: "To substitute is to accept instead. If you would but consider exactly what this entails, you would perceive at once how much at variance this is with the goal the Holy Spirit has given you, and would accomplish for you." (T-18.I.1:1-2) To achieve the Holy Spirit's goal, we need only change teachers and our perception of others, shifting our desire from judgment to forgiveness, fear to love, and hell to Heaven.* (2) "You are my goal, my Father. What but You could I desire to have? What way but that which leads to You could I desire to walk? And what except the memory of You could signify to me the end of dreams and futile substitutions for the truth? You are my only goal. Your Son would be as You created him. What way but this could I expect to recognize my Self, and be at one with my Identity?" *To attain our goal, we first must attain its condition of peace: "Forget not that the motivation for this course is the attainment and the keeping of the state of peace. Given this state the mind is quiet, and the condition in which God is remembered is attained. ... There is no substitute for peace.What God creates has no alternative. The truth arises from what He knows. And your decisions come from your

Lesson 286. The hush of Heaven holds my heart today. Father, how still today! How quietly do all things fall in place! This is the day that has been chosen as the time in which I come to understand the lesson that there is no need that I do anything. In You is every choice already made. In You has every conflict been resolved. In You is everything I hope to find already given me. Your peace is mine. My heart is quiet, and my mind at rest. Your Love is Heaven, and Your Love is mine. The stillness of today will give us hope that we have found the way, and travelled far along it to a wholly certain goal. Today we will not doubt the end which God Himself has promised us. We trust in Him, and in our Self, Who still is One with Him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 286. "The hush of Heaven holds my heart today." *The theme of this lesson is silence and stillness. The lovely phrase "hush of Heaven" appears only one other time in the Course, in "The Obstacles to Peace": "There is a hush in Heaven, a happy expectancy, a little pause of gladness in acknowledgement of the journey's end." (T-19.IV.-A.6:1) We have often referred to the raucous shrieks that echo through the ego's thought system, and thus we always scream: "I exist, I exist, I exist; but someone else did it to me." Every sound we utter, from the time we are born to the death rattle, issues from the idea that we exist, but another is held responsible for our fate. When we silence the ego's noise through forgiveness, having joined with the Holy Spirit, all that remains is stillness and quiet. Thus Jesus tell us in this lesson that this should be the mind's choice (recall that <heart> is a synonym for <mind>). Note, also, the soft alliterations of hush, Heaven, holds, and the heart.* (1:1-4) "Father, how still today! How quietly do all things fall in place! This is the day that has been chosen as the time in which I come to understand the lesson that there is no need that I do anything. In You is every choice already made." *In the truth of God, the choice for the Atonement has already been made, undoing the mind's original decision to be separate. This is the choice that happily states: "I am wrong and the Holy Spirit has been right all along." * (1:5-9) "In You has every conflict been resolved. In You is everything I hope to find already given me. Your peace is mine. My heart is quiet, and my mind at rest. Your Love is Heaven, and Your Love is mine." *Jesus asks again that we still the ego's raucous shrieking -- its screaming attacks at everyone and everything, including God. He asks us choose against the hate filled cacophony and replace it with the fervent desire that the hush of Heaven be our truth, God's peace be our own, and that we remember His love, for it is ours - as Helen reminds us in "Love Song" to her beloved Lord: "My Lord, my Love, my Life, I live in you. There is no life apart from what you are. ............................................................. The world I see is enemy to me When I forget my lovely Love is you." (The Gifts of God, p.53).* (2) "The stillness of today will give us hope that we have found the way, and travelled far along it to a wholly certain goal. Today we will not doubt the end which God Himself has promised us. We trust in Him, and in our Self, Who still is One with Him." *We therefore pray to Jesus, in Helen's poetic words from "The Last Prayer": "Hold out Your Hand at last, my Lord, to me, And lift me to the final Certainty." (The Gifts of God, p.47)* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 http://www.mlynjohnson.com/ https://www.facebook.com/sweedreamz ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 285. My holiness shines bright and clear today. Today I wake with joy, expecting but the happy things of God to come to me. I ask but them to come, and realize my invitation will be answered by the thoughts to which it has been sent by me. And I will ask for only joyous things the instant I accept my holiness. For what would be the use of pain to me, what purpose would my suffering fulfill, and how would grief and loss avail me if insanity departs from me today, and I accept my holiness instead? Father, my holiness is Yours. Let me rejoice in it, and through forgiveness be restored to sanity. Your Son is still as You created him. My holiness is part of me, and also part of You. And what can alter Holiness Itself? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 285. "My holiness shines bright and clear today." *Our unholiness brought to the holiness of Christ allows the radiant light of truth to shine in our minds.* (1:1-3) "Today I wake with joy, expecting but the happy things of God to come to me. I ask but them to come, and realize my invitation will be answered by the thoughts to which it has been sent by me. And I will ask for only joyous things the instant I accept my holiness." *We should awaken every morning in joy because of the happy things we will learn that day -- different forms of forgiveness. The aim of A Course in Miracles is thus to teach us that our daily joy comes from knowing we can take a few more steps toward our goal of awakening from the dream and returning home. If this is our orientation, nothing that happens during the day will dissuade us from being faithful to our goal. In cheerful confidence we begin our day because "All things are lessons God would have me learn," regardless of their seeming form -- happy or unhappy (W-p1.193). We are thus glad because we can once again learn the lesson that the world is a dream and our holy Self rests within, beyond all illusion. Our shared truth here reflects the truth of our unified state as Christ. Could anything be more joyful?* (1:4) "For what would be the use of pain to me, what purpose would my suffering fulfill, and how would grief and loss avail me if insanity departs from me today, and I accept my holiness instead?" *Jesus underscores the purposive nature of our suffering, grief, and loss in the terms he used in the previous lesson. He informs us these are purposely chosen to reinforce the seeming reality of the separated self. However, when we choose the holiness of our Self instead, and joyfully anticipate the lessons this day will bring, pain has no further use; its purpose gone, replaced by the Holy Spirit's forgiveness. Remember that life is our dream, and if we are in pain, it is to fulfill our wish to prove that the separation is real. Freud's theory of wish fulfillment was the key to his understanding dreams, and to Jesus, our lives are also a dream that fulfill a wish; not the wish that Freud identified, to be sure, but a wish nonetheless -- to preserve our identity as separated entities, and then hold someone else responsible for it. Pain persuasively fulfills that purpose, for it establishes the reality of our physical and psychological selves, but that someone or something external to us is the cause of our distress. We thus need to go through our day striving to identify the specific purpose our unhappiness serves, needing to keep in focus that pain is never caused by anything outside, but only by the mind's decision to be separate.* (2) "Father, my holiness is Yours. Let me rejoice in it, and through forgiveness be restored to sanity. Your Son is still as You created him. My holiness is part of me, and also part of You. And what can alter Holiness Itself?" *Thus we choose the light of holiness to be our reality instead of the darkness of sin, for we wish only to look upon the forgiven face

Lesson 284. I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt. Loss is not loss when properly perceived. Pain is impossible. There is no grief with any cause at all. And suffering of any kind is nothing but a dream. This is the truth, at first to be but said and then repeated many times; and next to be accepted as but partly true, with many reservations. Then to be considered seriously more and more, and finally accepted as the truth. I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt. And I would go beyond these words today, and past all reservations, and arrive at full acceptance of the truth in them. Father, what You have given cannot hurt, so grief and pain must be impossible. Let me not fail to trust in You today, accepting but the joyous as Your gifts; accepting but the joyous as the truth. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 284. "I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt." *This is another important lesson for its concise description of the learning process of A Course in Miracles. The lesson's theme recalls Lesson 281, "I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts." This is further developed by emphasizing the aspect of decision: Since these hurtful thoughts were chosen by me, I can now elect -- i.e., choose -- to change them.* (1:1-4) "Loss is not loss when properly perceived. Pain is impossible. There is no grief with any cause at all. And suffering of any kind is nothing but a dream." *Loss, pain, grief, and suffering are made up. As we saw in Lesson 187, we can laugh at sickness, starvation, poverty, and death. We laugh, not because we are making fun of ourselves or others who are in pain, but because of the silliness in believing that a part of God could wrench itself from Him and therefore suffer. Our gentle laughter reflects the Atonement that says the separation never happened, and it is important to recognize our deep investment in pain and grief, for these prove that we are right and Jesus has lied to us. His response, however, is that deep down we do not believe this, and he now describes the process of our coming to this truth.* (1:5-6) "This is the truth, at first to be but said and then repeated many times; and next to be accepted as but partly true, with many reservations. Then to be considered seriously more and more, and finally accepted as the truth." *Jesus traces the course of every student's process. First we read the words and say them over and over, struggling to understand them. We then attempt to accept their truth -- perhaps they are true, but not all the time -- and even if we believe intellectually they are true, our daily lives certainly do not demonstrate that belief. Yet Jesus understands we are not going to accept this immediately, for it is a process spanning many, many years, not simply months. In fact, the Course's truth goes directly against everything we believe and stand for as separate entities. Thus considerable time and hard work are required to admit gratefully -- albeit begrudgingly at first -- we were wrong about everything, especially the person we think we see in our bathroom mirror every morning. When we finally accept our mistake -- and Jesus does not mean our intellectual acceptance -- we are in the real world, for we have learned everything our teacher can teach us. Jesus now returns to the message of the lesson.* (1:7-8) "I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt. And I would go beyond these words today, and past all reservations, and arrive at full acceptance of the truth in them." *Recognizing our fear, Jesus asks us to practice with this thought, for truth is terrifying to our separated ego's. Again, he does not expect us to accept his lesson without reservation, but he is asking for our little willingness to be taught.* (2) "Father, what You have given cannot hurt, so grief and pain must be impossible. Let me not fail

Lesson 283. My true Identity abides in You. Father, I made an image of myself, and it is this I call the Son of God. Yet is creation as it always was, for Your creation is unchangeable. Let me not worship idols. I am he my Father loves. My holiness remains the light of Heaven and the Love of God. Is not what is beloved of You secure? Is not the light of Heaven infinite? Is not Your Son my true Identity, when You created everything that is? Now are we One in shared Identity, with God our Father as our only Source, and everything created part of us. And so we offer blessing to all things, uniting lovingly with all the world, which our forgiveness has made one with us. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 283. "My true Identity abides in You." *We are reminded in this lesson of what we denied.* (1:1-3) "Father, I made an image of myself, and it is this I call the Son of God. Yet is creation as it always was, for Your creation is unchangeable. Let me not worship idols." *This false self we have made is an <idol>, a term used in A Course in Miracles for the special love object, the ego's substitute for the Love of God. The idol declares that His Love is not enough, and that this other person, event, or substance will make us happy and bring us peace. Yet we are asked to hear Heaven's Voice for Love speak to us -- "Whom God has called should hear no substitutes" (T-18.1.12:1) -- the call from the Unchanging to the unchangeable.* (1:4-8) "I am he my Father loves. My holiness remains the light of Heaven and the Love of God. Is not what is beloved of You secure? Is not the light of Heaven infinite? Is not Your Son my true Identity, when You created everything that is?" *These words, reflective of the Atonement, reassures us of the certainty of Heaven's Love, which softly embraces our holiness within its own -- the temple of Holiness Itself. "God has not left His altar, though His worshippers placed other gods upon it. The temple still is holy, for the Presence that dwells within it <is> Holiness. In the temple, Holiness waits quietly for the return of them that love it. ... The graciousness of God will take them gently in, and cover all their sense of pain and loss with the immortal assurance of their Father's Love. ... The Presence of Holiness lives in everything that lives, for Holiness created life, and leaves not what It created holy as Itself."(T-14.IX.3:8-9;4:1,3,7).* (2:1) "Now are we One in shared Identity, with God our Father as our only Source, and everything created part of us." *Here again is the theme of <oneness>: We are one with each other as Christ, and one with God -- "a oneness joined as one" (T-25.1.7:1).* (2:2) "And so we offer blessing to all things, uniting lovingly with all the world, which our forgiveness has made one with us." *We realize that God has only one Son, and even in his dream state he remains one Son. Since <ideas leave not their source>, everything we perceive outside us -- separate and differentiated -- remains what it always was: the Son's projection of his separated mind. We also see in this sentence a description of <extension>. We do not really offer blessings, but rather choose to see ourselves as blessed instead of cursed. In that decision, made in the holy instant, the Holy Spirit's Love extends that state of blessedness through us. It is essential to understand this distinction, otherwise we will walk around blessing everyone -- in thought or word -- thinking this is what Jesus teaches and advocates in his course. Yet this "blessing" will end up being nothing more than the scourge of specialness. Once again, we are not the ones who bless, but choose instead the Holy Spirit's blessing instead of the ego's curse. Thus His Love and blessing are freed to extend through our healed mind in an unending flow of love. There is nothing to say, do

Lesson 282. I will not be afraid of love today. If I could realize but this today, salvation would be reached for all the world. This the decision not to be insane, and to accept myself as God Himself, my Father and my Source, created me. This the determination not to be asleep in dreams of death, while truth remains forever living in the joy of love. And this the choice to recognize the Self Whom God created as the Son He loves, and Who remains my one Identity. Father, Your Name is Love and so is mine. Such is the truth. And can the truth be changed by merely giving it another name? The name of fear is simply a mistake. Let me not be afraid of truth 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 282. "I will not be afraid of love today." *Recall "The Fear of Redemption," which teaches that our real fear is not of crucifixion but of redemption (T-13.III.). Our fear is not what the world will do to hurt us, but the fact that <there is no world>. This means there is no <me>, but only God and Christ in Whom no individual identity can exist. No wonder, then, we are afraid of love -- choosing love is choosing against our self. The importance of this theme cannot be overemphasized, and it appears again and again -- sometimes explicit, as is the case here: other times implicit. Yet it runs through almost every page.* (1:1) "If I could realize but this today, salvation would be reached for all the world." *If I could realize I am afraid of love and this fear is a choice, the world would be saved. This lesson therefore is also about choice -- all pain comes from choosing to push away the love of Jesus, and behind him is the perfect unity of God's Love I push away as well.* (1:2-4) "This the decision not to be insane, and to accept myself as God Himself, my Father and my Source, created me. This the determination not to be asleep in dreams of death, while truth remains forever living in the joy of love. And this the choice to recognize the Self Whom God created as the Son He loves, and Who remains my one Identity." *All this, again, relates to choice: the fear of God's Love is a decision we have made not to be as He created us. A Course in Miracles helps us understand that such an insane choice preserves our identity, threatened by love. Recall this line: "You have built your whole insane belief system because you think you would be helpless in God's Presence, and you would save yourself from His Love because you think it would crush you into nothingness." (T-13.III.4:1). * (2:1-4) "Father, Your Name is Love and so is mine. Such is the truth. And can the truth be changed by merely giving it another name? The name of fear is simply a mistake." *We believe what the ego told us; namely, by changing truth and calling it illusion, changing love and calling it fear, we have actually changed reality. We then name the specific objects that reflect this fear, the names of everything in the universe. Because we perceive and name them, we believe they are real and have thus taken the place of truth However, the reality, reflected in the Atonement principle, is that this is simply a mistake, for nothing in Heaven has changed. The way out of fear, therefore, is to accept the truth of the Atonement. "The escape [from fear] is brought about by your acceptance of the Atonement, which enables you to realize that your errors never really occurred." (T-2.1.4:4).* (2:5) "Let me not be afraid of truth today." *This presupposes that we are afraid of truth. This lesson, then, will be meaningless -- in theory <and> practice -- without first becoming aware of our fear of love and truth. Only then can asking Jesus for help be meaningful.* Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 http://www.mlynjohnson.com/ https://www.facebook.com/sweedreamz ACIM Gather for "A Course in Miracles" Students & Teachers

Lesson 281. I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts. Father, Your Son is perfect. When I think that I am hurt in any way, it is because I have forgotten who I am, and that I am as You created me. Your Thoughts can only bring me happiness. If ever I am sad or hurt or ill, I have forgotten what You think, and put my little meaningless ideas in place of where Your Thoughts belong, and where they are. I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts. The Thoughts I think with You can only bless. The Thoughts I think with You alone are true. I will not hurt myself today. For I am far beyond all pain. My Father placed me safe in Heaven, watching over me. And I would not attack the Son He loves, for what He loves is also mine to 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: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 281. "I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts." *This is an important lesson, echoing what we have seen in the workbook and the text: placing responsibility for our lives solely in the mind. No one in this world has the power to truly hurt us except ourselves. Moreover, our hurtful thoughts come from our decisions to be separate from God and His Correction, and it is these that cause our perceptions of vulnerability and experiences of pain. * (1:1-2) "Father, Your Son is perfect. When I think that I am hurt in any way, it is because I have forgotten who I am, and that I am as You created me." *We feel hurt constantly, whether the distress is physical or psychological. It is difficult to get through a day, an hour, or even a minute without something bothering us. As we have seen, whenever we are in pain it is solely because we have made a decision to forget who we are. We made a decision -- ongoing and continually reinforced -- that says: "I am better off forgetting Who I am." That ego thought is the cause of all suffering, and why our thoughts alone hurts us: "Are thoughts, then, dangerous? To bodies, yes! The thoughts that seem to kill are those that teach the thinker that he <can> be killed." (T-21.VIII.1:1-3) It is essential, therefore, that we maintain a strict vigilance of our minds so as to catch our temptation to blame someone or something else for what <we> have chosen to think and feel.* (1:3-7) "Your Thoughts can only bring me happiness. If ever I am sad or hurt or ill, I have forgotten what You think, and put my little meaningless ideas in place of where Your Thoughts belong, and where they are. I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts. The Thoughts I think with You can only bless. The Thoughts I think with You alone are true." *God's Thoughts are only in Heaven, but in this context They are in our right minds, where we are when we choose to undo the ego's thought system. Our experience then reflects these loving Thoughts, the only source of happiness in this world. We know that our happiness and function are one, and fulfilling our function of forgiveness brings us the blessing of God's peace.* (2:1-3) "I will not hurt myself today. For I am far beyond all pain. My Father placed me safe in Heaven, watching over me." *When I ask Jesus for help I am with him in the right mind, which reminds me of my true Identity in Heaven. The first two sentences then mean: "I do not want to hurt myself again. I want to be mistaken and free of the pain of my arrogant assertions." * (2:4) "And I would not attack the Son He loves, for what He loves is also mine to love." *In this lesson "the Son" is each of us, since its theme is how we hurt ourselves. Yet it can also mean we will not attack God's Son in any form. Therefore, it is not only God's Son we see before us in the mirror, but God's Son whom we think about and with whom we live and work. If we attack him, we must perceive ourselves as vulnerable to counterattack, and our resultant guilt will reinforce the twin cycles of guilt-attack and attack-defense.* Love and Blessi

or those doing the lessons, this next section is to be read once a day for the next ten lessons, along with doing the actual lesson for the day. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7. What is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit mediates between illusions and the truth. Since He must bridge the gap between reality and dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the grace that God has given Him, to be His gift to everyone who turns to Him for truth. Across the bridge that He provides are dreams all carried to the truth, to be dispelled before the light of knowledge. There are sights and sounds forever laid aside. And where they were perceived before, forgiveness has made possible perception's tranquil end. The goal the Holy Spirit's teaching sets is just this end of dreams. For sights and sounds must be translated from the witnesses of fear to those of love. And when this is entirely accomplished, learning has achieved the only goal it has in truth. For learning, as the Holy Spirit guides it to the outcome He perceives for it, becomes the means to go beyond itself, to be replaced by the eternal truth. If you but knew how much your Father yearns to have you recognize your sinlessness, you would not let His Voice appeal in vain, nor turn away from His replacement for the fearful images and dreams you made. The Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it truly is at home. From knowledge, where He has been placed by God, the Holy Spirit calls to you, to let forgiveness rest upon your dreams, and be restored to sanity and peace of mind. Without forgiveness will your dreams remain to terrify you. And the memory of all your Father's Love will not return to signify the end of dreams has come. Accept your Father's gift. It is a Call from Love to Love, that It be but Itself. The Holy Spirit is His gift, by which the quietness of Heaven is restored to God's beloved Son. Would you refuse to take the function of completing God, when all He wills is that you be complete? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this section, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7. What is the Holy Spirit? *When we discuss the metaphysical level of A Course in Miracles we do not usually include the Holy Spirit, as His function relates only to our experience within the dream, where He is needed. Since the Holy Spirit is the correction for the ego, His function is unknown in Heaven. However, being the memory of God's Love that we took with us when we fell asleep, His Presence expresses the Atonement that says the separation from God was an illusion. Throughout the summary we are reminded that our daily function is to look at our illusions with His Love, bringing them to Its healing presence. Thus are they undone, for light automatically dispels the darkness. This summary therefore allows us to speak again about the practical applications of A Course in Miracles and the Holy Spirit's role in our healing.* (1:1-2) "The Holy Spirit mediates between illusions and the truth. Since He must bridge the gap between reality and dreams, perception leads to knowledge through the grace that God has given Him, to be His gift to everyone who turns to Him for truth." *One of the terms used in A Course in Miracles to describe the Holy Spirit is <bridge>, for, as this passage states, He is the Bridge between illusions and reality, needing only our willingness to follow His lead. Thus we bring to Him our illusions so that we leave them behind, remembering the truth of Who we are as Christ. In like fashion, Jesus asks us to follow him on the journey from time to timelessness. "Your Father can no more forget the truth in you than you can fail to remember it. The Holy Spirit is the Bridge to Him, made from your willingness to unite with Him and c