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Lesson 314. I seek a future different from the past. From new perception of the world there comes a future very different from the past. The future now is recognized as but extension of the present. Past mistakes can cast no shadows on it, so that fear has lost its idols and its images, and being formless, it has no effects. Death will not claim the future now, for life is now its goal, and all the needed means are happily provided. Who can grieve or suffer when the present has been freed, extending its security and peace into a quiet future filled with joy? Father, we were mistaken in the past, and choose to use the present to be free. Now do we leave the future in Your Hands, leaving behind our past mistakes, and sure that You will keep Your present promises, and guide the future in their holy light. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: Foundation for A Course in Miracles ? ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 314. "I seek a future different from the past." *This is the last of the series on the ego and its undoing. The emphasis here is on our future expectations. To the ego, a sinful past results in a guilty present and inevitable punishment in the future. To seek a future different from the past means to see the future as the extension of God's timeless Love, which means there is no future. Lesson 194 taught that placing the future in God's Hands corrects the ego's belief that in them we will be destroyed because of our sins. This lesson helps us undo that strange ego concept.* (1:1) "From new perception of the world there comes a future very different from the past." *Once we choose the new perception (Lesson 313), we look at everything differently -- from the perspective of timelessness extended into the dream of time. In Lesson 184, Jesus spoke of our need to use the world's symbols, but without regarding them as real. Thus we use time's symbols, yet knowing our reality is outside them.* (1:2-3) "The future now is recognized as but extension of the present. Past mistakes can cast no shadows on it, so that fear has lost its idols and its images, and being formless, it has no effects." *Love exists only in the present, with the future now being its right-minded extension. Outside the dream, we realize this extension is not a linear event, as were our past mistakes that cast a shadow on a future that held our punishment. In the holy instant there is no past or future -- only the Love of God. Thus everything that seemed to come from fear has disappeared into its own nothingness.* (1:4-5) "Death will not claim the future now, for life is now its goal, and all the needed means are happily provided. Who can grieve or suffer when the present has been freed, extending its security and peace into a quiet future filled with joy?" *The end of death is the end of the ego, along with its thought system of pain and misery.* (2:1) "Father, we were mistaken in the past, and choose to use the present to be free." *This idea of our mistakenness is implicit throughout A Course in Miracles, but here Jesus is explicit in asking us to admit we were wrong, not because God wants to lord it over us, but simply because being "right" has not resulted in our happiness. We want to reach the point where we can sincerely say we are glad and grateful we were mistaken.* (2:2) "Now do we leave the future in Your Hands, leaving behind our past mistakes, and sure that You will keep Your present promises, and guide the future in their holy light." *Once again, placing the future in God's Hands has nothing to do with giving Him our future. We simply correct the mistake of having given our future to the ego's god which we did to avoid the punishment that would prove our sin and demonstrate our existence. The body may not survive death, but the thought system of individuality remains alive and well in the mind. That is why Jesus speaks of undoing the mind's though

Lesson 313. Now let a new perception come to me. (1) Father, there is a vision which beholds all things as sinless, so that fear has gone, and where it was is love invited in. And love will come wherever it is asked. This vision is Your gift. The eyes of Christ look on a world forgiven. In His sight are all its sins forgiven, for He sees no sin in anything He looks upon. Now let His true perception come to me, that I may waken from the dream of sin and look within upon my sinlessness, which You have kept completely undefiled upon the altar to Your holy Son, the Self with which I would identify. (2) Let us today behold each other in the sight of Christ. How beautiful we are! How holy and how loving! Brother, come and join with me today. We save the world when we have joined. For in our vision it becomes as holy as the light in 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: Foundation for "A Course in Miracles"? ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 313. "Now let a new perception come to me." This is another important lesson, which follows the two preceding ones. Recall that we begin with a negative judgment about ourselves, which leads us to make up a negative world perceived outside ourselves. We eventually realize there must be another way, because ours is making us too unhappy. We thus pray: "Now let a new perception come to me." This is not meant to invoke a magical perception that comes to us, for we come to it. The source of this new perception -- Christ's vision -- is our right minds. We are the ones who wandered away by choosing against it; therefore, we are the ones who must return and choose again. (1:1-5) "Father, there is a vision which beholds all things as sinless, so that fear has gone, and where it was is love invited in. And love will come wherever it is asked. This vision is Your gift. The eyes of Christ look on a world forgiven. In His sight are all its sins forgiven, for He sees no sin in anything He looks upon." Love and fear are mutually exclusive, and cannot be present simultaneously. The same is true of forgiveness and judgment. Asking Jesus for help means looking through his forgiving eyes at love's reflection, and in that vision we are forgiven and healed, and the world along with us. (1:6) "Now let His true perception come to me, that I may waken from the dream of sin and look within upon my sinlessness, which You have kept completely undefiled upon the altar to Your holy Son, the Self with which I would identify." The holy altar is our minds. Our inherent sinlessness has been kept pure and undefiled through the Holy Spirit's Presence, reminding us that reality is unchanged, our insane beliefs to the contrary. The key phrase in this passage is "look within." We cannot see our sinlessness until we first look at the image of evil, darkness and sin we believe is there. Only then do we realize this image is a thin veil that barely contains the light of sinlessness behind it. However, we must first look at the darkness within, choosing to do so by asking Jesus' help to look differently on the special relationships we made to be the repository of sin. (2:1-4) "Let us today behold each other in the sight of Christ. How beautiful we are! How holy and how loving! Brother, come and join with me today." If you want this vision, you must let Jesus teach you to see Christ's light in everyone -- not only to certain holy people -- but in everyone you have condemned and judged against. How beautiful the Sonship becomes when it is seen as it really is -- <one> ! (2:5-6) "We save the world when we have joined. For in our vision it becomes as holy as the light in us." *Jesus' concept of saving the world cannot be understood from the body's perspective, but only from outside the dream where we realize God has one Son, and that the world that seemed to arise from his mind has never left its source. If that mind believes it is separa

Lesson 312. I see all things as I would have them be. (1) Perception follows judgment. Having judged, we therefore see what we would look upon. For sight can merely serve to offer us what we would have. It is impossible to overlook what we would see, and fail to see what we have chosen to behold. How surely, therefore, must the real world come to greet the holy sight of anyone who takes the Holy Spirit's purpose as his goal for seeing. And he cannot fail to look upon what Christ would have him see, and share Christ's Love for what he looks upon. (2) I have no purpose for today except to look upon a liberated world, set free from all the judgments I have made. Father, this is Your Will for me today, and therefore it must be my goal as well. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: Foundation for "A Course in Miracles"? ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 312. "I see all things as I would have them be." *Since I judge all things as I would have them be (Lesson 311), I see all things as I would have them be. Remember that <projection makes perceptions> -- what I judge in my mind I project, and that is what I perceive and make real.* (1:1-2) "Perception follows judgment. Having judged, we therefore see what we would look upon." *The judgment of separation occurs in the mind, not the brain. Projecting it out in order to keep it, we judge the bodies around us: good or evil, victim or victimizer. We think we judge others, but we really judge a shadowy fragment projected from the thought of judgment within. Jesus helps us understand this dynamic and our need for it, which enables us to change our minds.* (1:3) "For sight can merely serve to offer us what we would have." *We have read this many times before. The body's eyes do not see, but simply report what they have been instructed to seek and find. They cannot see on their own because they are nothing, seeing nothing. Thus within the dream we have the illusion of seeing, for our sensory organs perceive the mind's projected illusion of separation they were made to preserve and protect.* (1:4-6) "It is impossible to overlook what we would see, and fail to see what we have chosen to behold. How surely, therefore, must the real world come to greet the holy sight of anyone who takes the Holy Spirit's purpose as his goal for seeing. And he cannot fail to look upon what Christ would have him see, and share Christ's Love for what he looks upon." *This principle works both ways. From the ego's point of view, this is an example of what Jesus refers to in The Song of Prayer as "forgiveness-to-destroy" (S-2.II.). We make sin real, and then pretend to forgive it. This is the question Jesus asks there, as he does now: "How could you overlook what you have made real?" To do so is to pretend what you have seen is not there. Yet since you have seen it, your pretense is merely denial. Therefore, again, the sin we choose to behold reflects the sin we have chosen to believe in. In the right mind, however, once we choose Jesus as our teacher, we look through his eyes of unity, love, and forgiveness, and that will be what we perceive as real in the world. Therefore how could we overlook it, when we have seen it?* (2) "I have no purpose for today except to look upon a liberated world, set free from all the judgments I have made. Father, this is Your Will for me today, and therefore it must be my goal as well." *I thus orient my day around this new purpose of learning the Holy Spirit's lessons. Recall this statement from the end of the manual for teachers: "Prepare for this each morning, remember God when you can throughout the day, ask the Holy Spirit's help when it is feasible to do so, and thank Him for His guidance at night." (M-29.5:9) In this way a day of freedom and peace is ensured, for I have chosen their Voice to be my Guide for perception.* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10. What Is the Last Judgment? (1) Christ's Seco

Lesson 311. I judge all things as I would have them be. Judgment was made to be a weapon used against the truth. It separates what it is being used against, and sets it off as if it were a thing apart. And then it makes of it what you would have it be. It judges what it cannot understand, because it cannot see totality and therefore judges falsely. Let us not use it today, but make a gift of it to Him Who has a different use for it. He will relieve us of the agony of all the judgments we have made against ourselves, and re-establish peace of mind by giving us God's Judgment of His Son. Father, we wait with open mind today, to hear Your Judgment of the Son You love. We do not know him, and we cannot judge. And so we let Your Love decide what he whom You created as Your Son must be. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: Foundation for "A Course in Miracles"? ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 311."I judge all things as I would have them be." *This lesson and the three that follow: 311 through 314, are one piece, centering on the dynamics of the ego thought system and its undoing: We first look within our minds, choose the ego as our teacher, and then project out its judgment, perceiving in others what is really within us. Ultimately realizing our mistake, we ask the Holy Spirit for help to accept His correction. Our mind's mistake has thus been brought to the holy instant, and we are healed. Now Lesson 311: "I judge all things as I would have them be" is true from the ego's point of view as well as the Holy Spirit's. If I want to reinforce my belief in the reality of the separation, that is how I will perceive and judge the world. If, on the other hand, I want to know I was mistaken -- the separation from God never happened and therefore nothing here is real -- I perceive and judge only the correction.* (1:1-3) "Judgment was made to be a weapon used against the truth. It separates what it is being used against, and sets it off as if it were a thing apart. And then it makes of it what you would have it be." *We defend ourselves against the truth through judging, just as we do through sickness, guilt, and depression. We set off the special person or object we judge as desirable or undesirable, seen through the lens of our specialness. Yet this judgment comes from our original self-condemnation that we exist by having stolen God's Self and life, appropriating Them for ourselves and leaving Him lifeless. Projecting our own judgment, we then see others taking from us what we secretly believe we took from God.* (1:4) "It judges what it cannot understand, because it cannot see totality and therefore judges falsely." *The only way we can see totality is to release the thought system of separation that diminished it. If we originally were part of wholeness and now believe we exist outside it, totality can no longer be totality, which means we can never know it.* (1:5-6) "Let us not use it today, but make a gift of it to Him Who has a different use for it. He will relieve us of the agony of all the judgments we have made against ourselves, and re-establish peace of mind by giving us God's Judgment of His Son." *In this important statement, Jesus does not say we should not judge. He tells us, rather, to bring our judgment to the Holy Spirit, our dark cornerstones to His Light. Moreover, it is pointless even to try to give up judgment, for if we do, it is only because we first made it real, which ensures its survival. We thus ask Jesus' help to look at the consequences of judgment, not only within the dream, but because of the harm it brings to us by keeping us in the dream. The Holy Spirit's value, therefore, does not lie in telling us what to do with our lives, but simply in being the loving Presence to which we go with our judgments. When we see that these do not give us what we want, they are undone. The Holy Spirit is thus the beacon of li

This is the tenth special instruction for those doing the workbook lessons. This is to be read daily prior to practicing this section of the workbook lessons. 10. What Is the Last Judgment? (1) Christ's Second Coming gives the Son of God this gift: to hear the Voice for God proclaim that what is false is false, and what is true has never changed. And this the judgment is in which perception ends. At first you see a world that has accepted this as true, projected from a now corrected mind. And with this holy sight, perception gives a silent blessing and then disappears, its goal accomplished and its mission done. (2) The final judgment on the world contains no condemnation. For it sees the world as totally forgiven, without sin and wholly purposeless. Without a cause, and now without a function in Christ's sight, it merely slips away to nothingness. There it was born, and there it ends as well. And all the figures in the dream in which the world began go with it. Bodies now are useless, and will therefore fade away, because the Son of God is limitless. (3) You who believed that God's Last Judgment would condemn the world to hell along with you, accept this holy truth: God's Judgment is the gift of the Correction He bestowed on all your errors, freeing you from them, and all effects they ever seemed to have. To fear God's saving grace is but to fear complete release from suffering, return to peace, security and happiness, and union with your own Identity. (4) God's Final Judgment is as merciful as every step in His appointed plan to bless His Son, and call him to return to the eternal peace He shares with him. Be not afraid of love. For it alone can heal all sorrow, wipe away all tears, and gently waken from his dream of pain the Son whom God acknowledges as His. Be not afraid of this. Salvation asks you give it welcome. And the world awaits your glad acceptance, which will set it free. (5) This is God's Final Judgment: "You are still My holy Son, forever innocent, forever loving and forever loved, as limitless as your Creator, and completely changeless and forever pure. Therefore awaken and return to Me. I am your Father and you are My Son. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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/cgi-bin/facimcart.cgi?a=prod&p=b-23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. What Is the Last Judgment? *In the Second Coming, God's Son realizes he is one Son -- not a fragment -- and thus makes the Last Judgment that undoes the original judgment of separation. We need to remember that A Course in Miracles is focused on undoing the error, which originated in the one Son's judgment against God and His Son, and for the ego. At the very end of the Atonement process, again as one Son, we look at the ego and the Holy Spirit, and remember to laugh as we recall our original judgment that we now happily correct. It is thus a synonym for our correction within the dream, which undoes the dream entirely: "The Last Judgment is generally thought of as a procedure undertaken by God. Actually it will be undertaken by my brothers with my help. It is a final healing ... The Last Judgment might be called a process of right evaluation. It simply means that everyone will finally come to understand what is worthy and what is not.... The first step toward freedom involves a sorting out of the false from the true. This is a process of separation in the constructive sense, and reflects the true meaning of the Apocalypse." (T-2.VIII.3:1-3,5-6;4:1-2) In this summary, however, Jesus uses the term <Last Judgment> in another way as well, speaking of the Last or Final Judgment of God. This has nothing to do with correction or undoing; indeed it has nothing to do with the world at all. God's Judgment simply expresses the truth that is beyond the dream; God loves us, we love Him, and we are one in that Love. Recall the previously cited openin

Lesson 310. In fearlessness and love I spend today. This day, my Father, would I spend with You, as You have chosen all my days should be. And what I will experience is not of time at all. The joy that comes to me is not of days nor hours, for it comes from Heaven to Your Son. This day will be Your sweet reminder to remember You, Your gracious calling to Your holy Son, the sign Your grace has come to me, and that it is Your Will I be set free today. We spend this day together, you and I. And all the world joins with us in our song of thankfulness and joy to Him Who gave salvation to us, and Who set us free. We are restored to peace and holiness. There is no room in us for fear today, for we have welcomed love into our hearts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 310 "In fearlessness and love I spend today." *The ego, of course, would have me spend this day in fear and hate, believing it is justified. I therefore am afraid of you because you are wicked and sinful. Moreover, I want you to be abusive because that proves the separation is real, but you are responsible for it, not me.* (1:1) "This day, my Father, would I spend with You, as You have chosen all my days should be." *Jesus uses this symbolism of God as Father to teach that our day should be spent in learning lessons of forgiveness. God does not choose anything for us, but forgiveness is the means by which His memory is restored to our awareness through the Holy Spirit.* (1:2-4) "And what I will experience is not of time at all. The joy that comes to me is not of days nor hours, for it comes from Heaven to Your Son. This day will be Your sweet reminder to remember You, Your gracious calling to Your holy Son, the sign Your grace has come to me, and that it is Your Will I be set free today." *In A Course in Miracles, joy has nothing to do with anything external, which is most often associated with what makes the body feel happy. True joy, on the other hand, is the result of learning our reality is not of this world, and comes as we gratefully awaken to that thought. Paragraph 2 begins with another plea from Jesus that we spend the day with him:* (2:1) "We spend this day together, you and I." *We spend the day with Jesus by choosing him to instruct us in the proper way of perceiving our lives. We choose him as our teacher, not to ask his help that we be wonderfully happy here, because part of us actually wants to be wonderfully <un>happy. We ask his help, rather, that we perceive the world as a vehicle for returning to our minds, that we may see what is there and thus make an informed choice against our unhappiness, and for our quiet joy.* (2:2-4) "And all the world joins with us in our song of thankfulness and joy to Him Who gave salvation to us, and Who set us free. We are restored to peace and holiness. There is no room in us for fear today, for we have welcomed love into our hearts." *This is another reference to the verse from John's first letter, "Perfect love casts out fear" (1Jn 4:18). When we choose Jesus as our teacher, we are filled with his love and fear is gone. It is, in fact, impossible to experience fear in the presence of love, which is why the ego's secret goal for us is to be afraid -- its secret weapon against love: "For though the ego takes many forms, it is always the same idea. What is not love is always fear, and nothing else." (T-15.X.4:4-5). Thus Jesus asks us to choose his love over the ego's fear. Once chosen, it becomes our savior from fear, which cannot touch us as long as we identify with his love, which unites the Sonship in its peace and holiness. With love in our hearts, how can we be afraid?* 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 309. I will not fear to look within today. Within me is eternal innocence, because it is God's Will that it be there forever and forever. I, His Son, whose will is limitless as is His Own, can will no change in this. For to deny my Father's Will is to deny my own. To look within is but to find my will as God created it, and as it is. I fear to look within because I think I made another will that is not true, and made it real. Yet it has no effects. Within me is the Holiness of God. Within me is the memory of Him. The step I take today, my Father, is my sure release from idle dreams of sin. Your altar stands serene and undefiled. It is the holy altar to my Self, and there I find my true 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 309 "I will not fear to look within today." *This lesson is a reflection of "The Fear to Look Within" (T-21.IV), which describes the ego's counsel that what is within us is not eternal innocence, but eternal guilt and sin, so horrid that if we ever looked in our minds we would be destroyed, as we read again: "Loudly the ego tells you not to look inward, for if you do your eyes will light on sin, and God will strike you blind." (T-21.IV.2:3). Yet the truth is that if we look within we would find only the Atonement, which we sought to bury under veils of sin, guilt, and fear.* (1:1-3) "Within me is eternal innocence, because it is God's Will that it be there forever and forever. I, His Son, whose will is limitless as is His Own, can will no change in this. For to deny my Father's Will is to deny my own." *My innocence as God's Son is beyond all change, and so I have never ceased to remain at one with the Will that created me as part of Itself: "If God's Will for you is complete peace and joy, unless you experience only this you must be refusing to acknowledge His Will. His Will does not vacillate, being changeless forever. When you are not at peace it can only be because you do not believe you are in Him. Yet He is All in all. His peace is complete, and you must be included in it." (T-8.IV.1:1-5) * (1:4-8) "To look within is but to find my will as God created it, and as it is. I fear to look within because I think I made another will that is not true, and made it real. Yet it has no effects. Within me is the Holiness of God. Within me is the memory of Him." *The will we made is the false self the ego equates with sin, behind which is the wrathful God Who wants nothing less than to destroy us as punishment for what we did to Him. It is imperative as we work with A Course in Miracles to understand that the ego's thought system of sin, guilt, and fear is a ploy, part of its strategy to convince us that the mind is dangerous, and that we are safe outside it in the body -- thus our fear of looking within. However, the real fear is that we would find nothing within except the resplendent light of God's Son, in the presence of which the ego disappears: "The Holy Spirit teaches only that the "sin" of self-replacement on the throne of God is not a source of guilt. What cannot happen can have no effects to fear. ... Madness may be your choice, but not your reality. Never forget the Love of God, Who has remembered you. For it is quite impossible that He could ever let His Son drop from the loving Mind wherein he was created, and where his abode was fixed in perfect peace forever." (T-14:III.15:3-4,6-8).* (2) "The step I take today, my Father, is my sure release from idle dreams of sin. Your altar stands serene and undefiled. It is the holy altar to my Self, and there I find my true Identity." *The altar is the mind, which we believe we sullied with sin and guilt, then destroyed with fear. Yet, all that is in our minds is the Atonement principle, serenely reminding us that nothing happened. Jesus asks us not to be afraid to look within, nor to fear the

Lesson 308. This instant is the only time there is. I have conceived of time in such a way that I defeat my aim. If I elect to reach past time to timelessness, I must change my perception of what time is for. Time's purpose cannot be to keep the past and future one. The only interval in which I can be saved from time is now. For in this instant has forgiveness come to set me free. The birth of Christ is now, without a past or future. He has come to give His present blessing to the world, restoring it to timelessness and love. And love is ever-present, here and now. Thanks for this instant, Father. It is now I am redeemed. This instant is the time You have appointed for Your Son's release, and for salvation of the world in 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: Foundation for "A Course in Miracles"? ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 308. "This instant is the only time there is." *Unlike the ego's present, the holy instant -- the true present -- is outside time, wherein we suspend belief in the reality of the ego's thought system of separation: sin, guilt, and fear.* (1:1-3) "I have conceived of time in such a way that I defeat my aim. If I elect to reach past time to timelessness, I must change my perception of what time is for. Time's purpose cannot be to keep the past and future one." *The ego's purpose for time is to prove its thought system of sin, guilt, and fear are true, for linear time is but their shadowy projection. Having chosen the ego's purpose as our own, we hold onto the sins of the past, especially reveling in holding onto the sins of <someone else's > past, whether they were committed within the past five minutes, five months, five years, or five decades. Thus is sin proven real, but existing in another. Our experience of guilt in what the ego calls the present justifies our belief in sin, and leads to guilt's projection, followed by the belief in future punishment. That is why we love to be unhappy, and why we do the very things we will fail at so we will be reprimanded. Punishment proves time is real, as are sin, guilt, and fear. Thus time -- past, present, and future -- is in league with the ego, which has proven that Jesus lied and A Course in Miracles does not work. We need to see this makes no sense, for its insanity leaves us miserable and uhappy. Yet there is another use for time -- to help us realize there is no sin in the past, and so there is nothing to forgive. Moreover guilt in the present is not justified, and so there is no basis for fear of future punishment.* (1:4-5) "The only interval in which I can be saved from time is now. For in this instant has forgiveness come to set me free." *No one can save me -- not God, Jesus, A Course in Miracles, nor my special loves. Only the decision-making part of my mind can help me by choosing the Holy Spirit in the holy instant -- "the only interval in which I can be saved." Forgiveness is the Course's means of bringing the problem from the world where I placed it, back to my mind where I sought to hide it.* (1:6-8) "The birth of Christ is now, without a past or future. He has come to give His present blessing to the world, restoring it to timelessness and love. And love is ever-present, here and now." *Jesus continues the Christmas theme with this reference to the "birth of Christ," the change of mind that occurs <now> -- not in the past or some unforeseen future, but in the holy instant: "The holy instant is truly the time of Christ. For in this liberating instant no guilt is laid upon the Son of God, and his unlimited power is thus restored to him. ... The time of Christ is the time appointed for the gift of freedom, offered to everyone. And by your acceptance of it, you offer it to everyone." (T-15.X.2:1-2;3:6-7) * (2) "Thanks for this instant, Father. It is now I am redeemed. This instant is the time You have appointed for Your Son's release, and for s

Lesson 307. Conflicting wishes cannot be my will. Father, Your Will is mine, and only that. There is no other will for me to have. Let me not try to make another will, for it is senseless and will cause me pain. Your Will alone can bring me happiness, and only Yours exists. If I would have what only You can give, I must accept Your Will for me, and enter into peace where conflict is impossible, Your Son is one with You in being and in will, and nothing contradicts the holy truth that I remain as You created me. And with this prayer we enter silently into a state where conflict cannot come, because we join our holy will with God's, in recognition that they are the same. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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: Foundation for "A Course in Miracles"? ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 307."Conflicting wishes cannot be my will." *Being in a perpetual state of conflict is common to all of us. Part of us recognizes our misery and wants to return home. As its students, we recognize in A Course in Miracles our form of truth, and so we sincerely want to practice and live it. <Yet we don't >. Thus the conflict within our split minds: one part wants to return to our Self, while the other part -- usually out of awareness -- is terrified of losing its identity and being wrong.* (1:1-3) "Father, Your Will is mine, and only that. There is no other will for me to have. Let me not try to make another will, for it is senseless and will cause me pain." *We have seen how Jesus hopes to gain our allegiance through our selfishness. We do not want to be unhappy, nor do we want to be in pain. He tells us that if we let go of judgment and our stubborn insistence we are right, we will be happy. "You do not think like that now," he tells us, "because you think you know better than I. But your pain comes from thinking you have a will that is in conflict with mine, and so you believe it is in conflict with God's." That belief is how the separation began, and our acceptance of the Atonement -- "Your Will is mine, and only that" -- is its end.* (1:4-5) "Your Will alone can bring me happiness, and only Yours exists. If I would have what only You can give, I must accept Your Will for me, and enter into peace where conflict is impossible, Your Son is one with You in being and in will, and nothing contradicts the holy truth that I remain as You created me." *Again, Jesus wants us to understand and accept that we can never be happy if we are in conflict, believing that God (or any authority) is our enemy. Not only is our will one with God's, it is also one with our brothers', since the one Will of Heaven is our Self. Only through accepting our united mind will we find the real pleasure of happiness, and peace, as this early statement from the text explains: "All real pleasure comes from doing God's Will. This is because not doing it is a denial of Self. Denial of Self results in illusions, while correction of the error brings release from it." (T-1.VII.1:4-6).* (2) "And with this prayer we enter silently into a state where conflict cannot come, because we join our holy will with God's, in recognition that they are the same." *The end of conflict is the acceptance of the unity of will -- Father and Son -- that undoes all thoughts of pain and suffering. Indeed, our prayer for this silent state of peace is the only meaningful words we can utter, for there is nothing else we need. Forgiveness is the means the Holy Spirit uses to answer our prayer for help, by correcting our misperceptions of our brothers and ourselves. This inevitably leads to the healing of the split mind through the vision that reflects the Oneness of God and His Son.* Foundation for "A Course in Miracles"? Religious and educational materials promoting understanding and application of the teachings of A Course in Mira... Love and Blessings, Lyn Johnson 719-369-1822 http://www.mlynjohnson.com/ https://ww

Lesson 306. The gift of Christ is all I seek today. What but Christ's vision would I use today, when it can offer me a day in which I see a world so like to Heaven that an ancient memory returns to me? Today I can forget the world I made. Today I can go past all fear, and be restored to love and holiness and peace. Today I am redeemed, and born anew into a world of mercy and of care; of loving kindness and the peace of God. And so, our Father, we return to You, remembering we never went away; remembering Your holy gifts to us. In gratitude and thankfulness we come, with empty hands and open hearts and minds, asking but what You give. We cannot make an offering sufficient for Your Son. But in Your Love the gift of Christ is his. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 306. "The gift of Christ is all I seek today." *Again, the gift of Christ's vision: looking at the world through the Holy Spirit's eyes that see no justification for separation.* (1:1) "What but Christ's vision would I use today, when it can offer me a day in which I see a world so like to Heaven that an ancient memory returns to me?" *This is the real world, which, though illusory, reflects Heaven's oneness since it opposes nothing. It is the state of mind that symbolizes the truth that is just beyond our dreams of separation.* (1:2-3) "Today I can forget the world I made. Today I can go past all fear, and be restored to love and holiness and peace." *This is yet another way of saying we are wrong and the Holy Spirit is right. By choosing our new Teacher, we forget the thought system we made and the world that arose from it. In their place in our awareness dawn the gifts of love, holiness, and peace -- harbingers of the awakening of our Self.* (1:4) "Today I am redeemed, and born anew into a world of mercy and of care; of loving kindness and the peace of God." *We are born anew when we choose the Teacher of forgiveness, Who reminds us that our brother's sinlessness illuminates our own. "Yet every instant can you be reborn, and given life again. His holiness gives life to you, who cannot die because his sinlessness is known to God; and can no more be sacrificed by you than can the light in you be blotted out because he sees it not." (T-26.1.7:1-2).* (2:1) "And so, our Father, we return to You, remembering we never went away; remembering Your holy gifts to us." *We believe we went away from Heaven, which is the meaning of sin -- the thought we separated from God and destroyed His Love so we could exist. That is the source of the ego's gift of guilt, which we now choose to replace with Heaven's gifts of love and eternal life.* (2:2-4) "In gratitude and thankfulness we come, with empty hands and open hearts and minds, asking but what You give. We cannot make an offering sufficient for Your Son. But in Your Love the gift of Christ is his." *We discussed earlier the theme of thankfulness, the core of which is our gratitude that we were wrong and the Holy Spirit was right. It is essential we realize the scope of our mistake. We have been wrong about absolutely everything: all we ever thought about ourselves or anyone else -- bodies, life and death, the meaning of the universe, etc. -- is wrong. We experience this gratitude, however, only when we come with "empty hands and open hearts and minds," as expressed in the lovely prayer in Lesson 189 (W-pI.189.7). This emptiness means we hold our hands and cling to; otherwise, the letting go makes no sense. Thus we bring our offerings of guilt and hate to the altar, where they are gently replaced by Christ's gift of innocence. Gratefully and happily we are born again!* 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 305. There is a peace that Christ bestows on us. Who uses but Christ's vision finds a peace so deep and quiet, undisturbable and wholly changeless, that the world contains no counterpart. Comparisons are still before this peace. And all the world departs in silence as this peace envelops it, and gently carries it to truth, no more to be the home of fear. For love has come, and healed the world by giving it Christ's peace. Father, the peace of Christ is given us, because it is Your Will that we be saved. Help us today but to accept Your gift, and judge it not. For it has come to us to save us from our judgment on ourselves. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 305. "There is a peace that Christ bestows on us." (1:1) "Who uses but Christ's vision finds a peace so deep and quiet, undisturbable and wholly changeless, that the world contains no counterpart." *Once we experience the peace of Christ, we realize it has no parallel in the world. Nothing here -- regardless of its seeming peace, happiness, or joy -- is comparable. Moreover, what seems to happen in the world's dreams of pain and death does not affect this peace at all, for the mind is totally unaffected by the world or body.* (1:2-4) "Comparisons are still before this peace. And all the world departs in silence as this peace envelops it, and gently carries it to truth, no more to be the home of fear. For love has come, and healed the world by giving it Christ's peace." *Jesus poetically describes what happens when we join with him and look at the world through his eyes. Everything literally disappears in terms of how it had heretofore been seen. Anger, depression, sickness, loss, and death -- all vanish because the underlying cause of separation from our teacher has gone. Once we change our minds, all effects of separation are no more. Comparison, which we discussed in Lesson 195, is a crucial dynamic in the ego's system; it is the heart of judgment. The original comparison was made between God and His Son, the horrid implications of which we repressed. We next projected the thought that we have what God lacks; and now spend our lives comparing and comparing and comparing. This dynamic of judgment and attack inevitably disappears once we bring our fear to God's Love.* (2:1) "Father, the peace of Christ is given us, because it is Your Will that we be saved." *We are saved from our belief in specialness and war as we accept our Father's peace. "To Him this judgment [of specialness] makes no sense at all, for only what His Father wills is possible, and there is no alternative for Him to see. Out of His lack of conflict comes your peace. And from His purpose comes the means for effortless accomplishment and rest." (T-24.VI.13:5-7).* (2:2) "Help us today but to accept Your gift, and judge it not." *This gift is Christ's vision, which we judge by denying its truth. Thus Christ's vision tells us that anger is never justified in any way, and sickness is not what it appears to be, for they both are defenses against the truth. Above all, vision tells us that our individuality and specialness are not real. As we have seen so often, and especially here in Part II of the workbook, Jesus teaches us not to judge against his gift to us -- the truth of our innocence -- thereby attempting to prove him wrong and ourselves right.* (2:3) "For it has come to us to save us from our judgment on ourselves." *It is not really our judgments of others that are our problem, because they are merely projections of our judgments of ourselves. It is this judgment that will be undone by the gift of Christ's vision, which heals the Sonship as one.* 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 304. Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ. I can obscure my holy sight, if I intrude my world upon it. Nor can I behold the holy sights Christ looks upon, unless it is His vision that I use. Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward. I would bless the world by looking on it through the eyes of Christ. And I will look upon the certain signs that all my sins have been forgiven me. You lead me from the darkness to the light; from sin to holiness. Let me forgive, and thus receive salvation for the world. It is Your gift, my Father, given me to offer to Your holy Son, that he may find again the memory of You, and of Your Son as You created 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 304. "Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ." *We come now to three lessons on vision -- "the sight of Christ," born of the Atonement principle that sees no separation. Thus any perception that reflects separation must be illusory.* (1:1-2) "I can obscure my holy sight, if I intrude my world upon it. Nor can I behold the holy sights Christ looks upon, unless it is His vision that I use." *We are the ones who intrude our world on Christ's vision -- "The world stands like a block before Christ's face" (C-4.4:1). Vision, of course, does not disappear; but our Self seems to when we choose a thought system of sin, guilt, and fear, and then a world that substitutes for the truth in our minds.* (1:3-4) "Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward." *This is one of the more important themes in A Course in Miracles. What we seem to perceive outside is not a fact, but a mirror of our own state of mind. The right-minded value of the world and its special relationships -- our bodily preoccupations -- have only one true purpose: to remind us that what we are seeing outside is nothing more than a shadow of what we first made real inside. Their value is as a classroom in which our Teacher instructs us in the proper way of understanding what we are seeing, correcting the ego's illusory interpretations: " ... everyone sees only what he thinks he is. And what, your sight would show you, you will understand because it is the truth. Only your vision can convey to you what you can see. It reaches you directly, without a need to be interpreted to you. ... Nor will it ever be made understandable by an interpreter you cannot understand." (T-22.I.5:2-5,7).* (1:5-6) "I would bless the world by looking on it through the eyes of Christ. And I will look upon the certain signs that all my sins have been forgiven me." *This lovely passage from the text describes the blessed world of light that vision looks upon: "In you is all of Heaven. Every leaf that falls is given life in you. Each bird that ever sang will sing again in you. And every flower that ever bloomed has saved its perfume and its loveliness for you. What aim can supersede the Will of God and of His Son, that Heaven be restored to him for whom it was created as his only home? ... This can you bring to all the world, and all the thoughts that entered it and were mistaken for a little while. How better could your own mistakes be brought to truth than by your willingness to bring the light of Heaven with you, as you walk beyond the world of darkness into light?" (T-25.IV.5:1-5,11-12).* (2) "You lead me from the darkness to the light; from sin to holiness. Let me forgive, and thus receive salvation for the world. It is Your gift, my Father, given me to offer to Your holy Son, that he may find again the memory of You, and of Your Son as You created him." *What follows now echoes the lovely prayer from the workbook: " There is no living thing that does not share the universal Will that it be whole, and that you do not leave its call unheard. Without your

Lesson 303. The holy Christ is born in me today. Watch with me, angels, watch with me today. Let all God's holy Thoughts surround me, and be still with me while Heaven's Son is born. Let earthly sounds be quiet, and the sights to which I am accustomed disappear. Let Christ be welcomed where He is at home. And let Him hear the sounds He understands, and see but sights that show His Father's Love. Let Him no longer be a stranger here, for He is born again in me today. Your Son is welcome, Father. He has come to save me from the evil self I made. He is the Self that You have given me. He is but what I really am in truth. He is the Son You love above all things. He is my Self as You created me. It is not Christ that can be crucified. Safe in Your Arms let me receive Your Son. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site: http://www.facim.org/ ~ M. Street. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lesson 303. "The holy Christ is born in me today." *This is a most beautiful lesson. Written at Christmas time, its theme is the familiar one of being born again. It is borrowed from John's gospel (3:3,7), the well-known account of the Jewish leader Nicodemus stealing away to be with Jesus. "Born again" in A Course in Miracles is not meant in the Fundamentalist sense of religious conversion, but to denote "making another choice." Thus in choosing to see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus we are born again by virtue of having awakened to the truth that God is our Source, not the ego. Shifting from the ego to Jesus as our teacher is thus the underlying theme of this lesson, movingly expressed in symbolism of Christmas.* (1:1-3) "Watch with me, angels, watch with me today. Let all God's holy Thoughts surround me, and be still with me while Heaven's Son is born. Let earthly sounds be quiet, and the sights to which I am accustomed disappear." *The quieting of earthly sounds involves letting go of our investment in the ego and in listening to its raucous shrieks.* (1:4-6) "Let Christ be welcomed where He is at home. And let Him hear the sounds He understands, and see but sights that show His Father's Love. Let Him no longer be a stranger here, for He is born again in me today." *Recall this lovely theme as it was expressed in Lesson 182, where Christ is born again as a little Child each time a wanderer leaves his home and decides to return (W-p1.182.10). Christ is thus welcomed in our right minds.* (2) "Your Son is welcome, Father. He has come to save me from the evil self I made. He is the Self that You have given me. He is but what I really am in truth. He is the Son You love above all things. He is my Self as You created me. It is not Christ that can be crucified. Safe in Your Arms let me receive Your Son." *We are saved from "the evil self" by change in mind that undoes the ego belief that sin and guilt are real, and love and peace illusory. We have seen ourselves and others as we could never be -- a faulty image of God's Son -- each time we perceive crucified victims anywhere in the Sonship. Jesus helps us realize we were simply mistaken -- our evil dreams of murder, suffering, and pain have had no effect upon our reality as God's beloved Son, Who never left the safety of his Father's Arms.* 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 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