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Lesson 302. Where darkness was I look upon the light. Father, our eyes are opening at last. Your holy world awaits us, as our sight is finally restored and we can see. We thought we suffered. But we had forgot the Son whom You created. Now we see that darkness is our own imagining, and light is there for us to look upon. Christ's vision changes darkness into light, for fear must disappear when love has come. Let me forgive Your holy world today, that I may look upon its holiness and understand it but reflects my own. Our Love awaits us as we go to Him, and walks beside us showing us the way. He fails in nothing. He the End we seek, and He the Means by which we go to 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 302. "Where darkness was I look upon the light." *We continue with the idea that, having recognized we have been wrong, we now begin to see everything through the eyes of forgiveness.* (1:1-2) "Father, our eyes are opening at last. Your holy world awaits us, as our sight is finally restored and we can see." *Our eyes are opening in the sense that we realize we are mistaken. We misperceived everyone and everything, but now come to the Teacher Who will teach us how to see the world through His eyes. When that process is complete, the real world dawns in our vision as we look upon the innocence of God's Son, and recognize his sinlessness is ours.* (1:3-6) "We thought we suffered. But we had forgot the Son whom You created. Now we see that darkness is our own imagining, and light is there for us to look upon. Christ's vision changes darkness into light, for fear must disappear when love has come." *We realize everything we perceive comes from our thoughts, and they have been thoughts of darkness instead of light. Yet in the light, the shadowy world of guilt disappears.* (1:7) "Let me forgive Your holy world today, that I may look upon its holiness and understand it but reflects my own." *This prayer is directed to ourselves, that we realize we have seen wrongly -- our grievances will never make us happy.* (2) "Our Love awaits us as we go to Him, and walks beside us showing us the way. He fails in nothing. He the End we seek, and He the Means by which we go to Him." *This is a lovely rendering of the journey: its process and its end. The journey's goal is God's Love, which waits for us beyond the real world. Jesus' love symbolizes this abstract Love in the dream, and as long as we believe we are bodies, our minds translate the abstract into the specific. Thus Jesus' tells us that Love is the End we seek, and also the Means that will take us There. He is not asking us to accept truth in its fullness, for it is still too threatening, but he does ask us to accept truth's specific reflection, which undoes the shadow of illusion we have made into ourselves. However, the Love of God remains our true reality, and ultimate goal, and at the same time is our companion and comfort as we make our way to Him: "He the End we seek," but also "the Means by which we go to Him." In this sense, we have salvation's cake and enjoy it, too. We are thus not asked to give up our individual identity, but only to have it be reinterpreted by the loving presence that walks with us each step along the way.* 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 301. And God Himself shall wipe away all tears. Father, unless I judge I cannot weep. Nor can I suffer pain, or feel I am abandoned or unneeded in the world. This is my home because I judge it not, and therefore is it only what You will. Let me today behold it uncondemned, through happy eyes forgiveness has released from all distortion. Let me see Your world instead of mine. And all the tears I shed will be forgotten, for their source is gone. Father, I will not judge Your world today. God's world is happy. Those who look on it can only add their joy to it, and bless it as a cause of further joy in them. We wept because we did not understand. But we have learned the world we saw was false, and we will look upon God's world 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 301 "And God Himself shall wipe away all tears." *This title repeats the biblical verse first stated in Isaiah (23:8) and then again in Revelation (7:17;21:4). Since God does not see tears, let alone wipe them away, the meaning here is that His Love, present in our minds through the Holy Spirit, undoes the tears that are the inherent effects of the ego's thought system.* (1:1-2) "Father, unless I judge I cannot weep. Nor can I suffer pain, or feel I am abandoned or unneeded in the world." *All our pain and sorrow come from judging. I first judge myself as separate from God and better than He -- in fact being God Himself -- and then, feeling overwhelmed by the guilt over knowing I did this by destroying Heaven, I project my judgment of self-hatred, judging everyone else instead. This is the true cause of all the sorrowful and painful things we are tempted to believe in.* (1:3-6) "This is my home because I judge it not, and therefore is it only what You will. Let me today behold it uncondemned, through happy eyes forgiveness has released from all distortion. Let me see Your world instead of mine. And all the tears I shed will be forgotten, for their source is gone." *My home away from home -- the forgiven world -- is established when I let go of my investment in the ego's sorrowful world of condemnation. The source of all tears is judgment, and implicit here is that I am right and God and the Holy Spirit are wrong. This original judgment suffuses all thinking, until at some point I realize my mistake and understand that judgment does not make me happy. Only then can I let it go.* (1:7) "Father, I will not judge Your world today." *God's world is the real world. If I judge God and myself, I must judge His world. Remember that the real world undoes everything the ego has ever thought, and thus corrects our mistaken decision. Therefore, judging that the world is to assert that I alone know what is true, thereby rendering false Jesus' non-judgmental vision of forgiveness.* (2) "God's world is happy. Those who look on it can only add their joy to it, and bless it as a cause of further joy in them. We wept because we did not understand. But we have learned the world we saw was false, and we will look upon God's world today." *We failed to understand that we were wrong, actually believing our separated existence as special individuals was real; moreover, we were convinced the world that came from separation was true. However, recognizing the pain this belief brought us, we happily realize our mistake and that it was the Holy Spirit's Voice that spoke the truth. We thus choose His truth through the holy instant, and experience the limitless joy God's real world holds out to us as our tears gently disappear into His Love.* 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

For those who are doing the daily lessons, this should be read daily along with the lesson. 9. What Is the Second Coming? Christ's Second Coming, which is sure as God, is merely the correction of mistakes, and the return of sanity. It is a part of the condition that restores the never lost, and re-establishes what is forever and forever true. It is the invitation to God's Word to take illusion's place; the willingness to let forgiveness rest upon all things without exception and without reserve. It is the all-inclusive nature of Christ's Second Coming that permits it to embrace the world and hold you safe within its gentle advent, which encompasses all living things with you. There is no end to the release the Second Coming brings, as God's creation must be limitless. Forgiveness lights the Second Coming's way, because it shines on everything as one. And thus is oneness recognized at last. The Second Coming ends the lessons that the Holy Spirit teaches, making way for the Last Judgment, in which learning ends in one last summary that will extend beyond itself, and reaches up to God. The Second Coming is the time in which all minds are given to the hands of Christ, to be returned to spirit in the name of true creation and the Will of God. The Second Coming is the one event in time which time itself can not affect. For every one who ever came to die, or yet will come or who is present now, is equally released from what he made. In this equality is Christ restored as one Identity, in which the Sons of God acknowledge that they all are one. And God the Father smiles upon His Son, His one creation and His only joy. Pray that the Second Coming will be soon, but do not rest with that. It needs your eyes and ears and hands and feet. It needs your voice. And most of all it needs your willingness. Let us rejoice that we can do God's Will, and join together in its holy light. Behold, the Son of God is one in us, and we can reach our Father's Love through Him. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries from his book set called: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. What Is the Second Coming? *This is a companion to the next summary, "What is the Last Judgment?" These two terms are used infrequently in A Course in Miracles, and <the Second Coming> only in the early chapters of the text. There, Jesus explains that the First Coming of Christ was the creation, after which the Son seemed to fall asleep and wander into the ego's dream of materiality, bringing about this need to be awakened. On the individual level, this awakening occurs through the attainment of the real world. The <total> undoing of the Son's dream, however, is the Second Coming, when the entire Sonship has made the right choice, <as one Son>, to awaken to the Fact of its Identity as Christ. The Last (or Final) Judgment is our acceptance, again, <as one Son>. that we were wrong and the Holy Spirit was right. Here is the first of the two places in the text where Jesus discusses the Second Coming and revises the traditional Christian view: "The First Coming of Christ is merely another name for the creation, for Christ is the Son of God. The Second Coming of Christ means nothing more than the end of the ego's rule and the healing of the mind. I was created like you in the First, and I have called you to join me in the Second. I am in charge of the Second Coming ...." (T-4.IV.10:1-4) We can see that A Course in Miracles' teachings about the Second Coming and Last Judgment are corrections for the Christian concepts, which are heavily laden with thoughts of fear and punishment. Every Christian has dreaded the time when Jesus would return -- the Second Coming. His miraculous birth is his "First Coming," and the Second is his arrival on clouds of glory to judge the living and the dead (Matthew 16:27,25:31). God help you if are on the wrong side! -- and of c

Lesson 300. Only an instant does this world endure. This is a thought which can be used to say that death and sorrow are the certain lot of all who come here, for their joys are gone before they are possessed, or even grasped. Yet this is also the idea that lets no false perception keep us in its hold, nor represent more than a passing cloud upon a sky eternally serene. And it is this serenity we seek, unclouded, obvious and sure, today. We seek Your holy world today. For we, Your loving Sons, have lost our way a while. But we have listened to Your Voice, and learned exactly what to do to be restored to Heaven and our true Identity. And we give thanks today the world endures but for an instant. We would go beyond that tiny instant to eternity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 300. "Only an instant does this world endure." *We see here another stylistic example of Jesus making a statement and then presenting the ego's interpretation. This is instructive, for it reminds us how often we do that with the Course. We often misinterpret Jesus' words in order to prove our thought system right, thus succeeding in making Jesus part of <our> thinking, and in the process misunderstand his teaching. The lesson begins by Jesus explaining how the ego would take this statement, "Only an instant does this world endure," and use it to convince us we are justified in feeling hopeless. The ego encourages us to conclude that perhaps we can be happy for an instant, but that is as far as we will get. In the end we die, hopeless because there was never any justification for hope. Needless to say, Jesus hope-filled message teaches the opposite.* (1:1) "This is a thought which can be used to say that death and sorrow are the certain lot of all who come here, for their joys are gone before they are possessed, or even grasped." *Implicit here is that there is nothing but this in the world. We eke our a few moments of happiness, and then it is snuffed out as easily as the light of a candle -- the ego's understanding of this thought. The right-minded interpretation, however, is that the world endures only for an instant because that is all it is -- nothing: "Not one note in Heaven's song was missed" (T-26.V.5:4). In truth that instant never occurred -- a far too frightening thought because, if true, it means we do not exist. In order to keep our identities alive and well, therefore, we have to turn the Course upside down and have it say the exact opposite of what it means.* (1:2-3) "Yet this is also the idea that lets no false perception keep us in its hold, nor represent more than a passing cloud upon a sky eternally serene. And it is this serenity we seek, unclouded, obvious and sure, today." *Again, the world endures but an instant because it comes from a thought that endured but an instant. In the same moment the separation seemed to happen, God gave the answer, a metaphor for the Atonement. Try to see how mightily you strive to prove the Atonement wrong by making this world and body, and our passage through time and space, real and present; how you do not want to let the illusion go and step outside the dream and look at it differently. To do that would mean never again taking yourself seriously as a special self -- the ego's greatest fear.* (2:1-3) "We seek Your holy world today. For we, Your loving Sons, have lost our way a while. But we have listened to Your Voice, and learned exactly what to do to be restored to Heaven and our true Identity." *This is an admission of our mistake. The premise of every lesson in Part II -- implicit or explicit -- is the need to recognize our error, that we lost the way because we followed <our> way instead of the path of forgiveness Jesus holds out to us, and which leads ultimately to the real world.* (2:4-5) "And we give thanks today the world endures but fo

Lesson 299. Eternal holiness abides in me. My holiness is far beyond my own ability to understand or know. Yet God, my Father, Who created it, acknowledges my holiness as His. Our Will, together, understands it. And Our Will, together, knows that it is so. Father, my holiness is not of me. It is not mine to be destroyed by sin. It is not mine to suffer from attack. Illusions can obscure it, but can not put out its radiance, nor dim its light. It stands forever perfect and untouched. In it are all things healed, for they remain as You created them. And I can know my holiness. For Holiness Itself created me, and I can know my Source because it is Your Will that You be known. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 299. "Eternal holiness abides in me." (1) "My holiness is far beyond my own ability to understand or know. Yet God, my Father, Who created it, acknowledges my holiness as His. Our Will, together, understands it. And Our Will, together, knows that it is so." *As long as I think I am an individual, bodily self, I can never know my holiness, for the ego's self was made to conceal the holy Son that rests safely and comfortably in the right mind. His holiness can be known only by uniting my will with God's, which I do through the Holy Spirit's forgiveness. In this union I realize that everything I believed was false, because it was based on separation. We are more than familiar with these humbling lines, acceptance of which will bring us salvation: "You are still convinced that your understanding is a powerful contribution to the truth, and makes it what it is. Yet we have emphasized that you need understand nothing. Salvation is easy just because it asks nothing you cannot give right now." (T-18.IV.7:5-7). All we are asked to give is acknowledgment of our <un>holiness, releasing our identification with it. This allows the mind's natural holiness to shine through unimpeded by guilt. Our part is simply to bring unholiness to holiness, illusion to truth, and fear to love. Recall this important statement from the text: "Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. It is not necessary to seek for what is true, but it <is> necessary to seek for what is false."(T-16.IV.6:1-2)* (2:1-4) "Father, my holiness is not of me. It is not mine to be destroyed by sin. It is not mine to suffer from attack. Illusions can obscure it, but can not put out its radiance, nor dim its light." *The obscuring illusions of our thought system keep truth hidden in our minds, but they cannot remove its shining light. That is Jesus' real gospel. No matter how powerful the ego seems to be, it cannot take away the truth that is in us. When you are tempted to feel discouraged and despairing of hope, realize that you are saying the light of Christ in your mind has been extinguished -- what the ego has always maintained was true: separation is reality. However, the happy truth is that nothing has changed, sin has not destroyed holiness, and our perfection as God's Son remains as it was created. Thus our gratitude wells up within us as we read:* (2:5-8) "It stands forever perfect and untouched. In it are all things healed, for they remain as You created them. And I can know my holiness. For Holiness Itself created me, and I can know my Source because it is Your Will that You be known." *The opening to "What It Says" in the Course Preface states this well: "Truth is unalterable, eternal and unambiguous. It can be unrecognized, but it cannot be changed. It applies to everything that God created, and only what He created is real. It is beyond learning because it is beyond time and process. It has no opposite; no beginning and no end. It merely is." (p.x) What God created holy and perfect has never not been so, and for this Fact w

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