[acimlessons_list] Lesson 237 - August 25

Tue Aug 24 06:35:50 EDT 2004

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ COMMENTARIES ON LESSONS FROM THE WORKBOOK OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES
+ by Allen Watson, with Practice Summaries by Robert Perry, 
+ of The Circle of Atonement
+ Visit our website at <http://www.circleofa.com>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lesson 237 - August 25

"Now would I be as God created me.

PRACTICE SUMMARY

Purpose: To take the last few steps to God. To wait for Him to take the
final step.

Morning/Evening Quiet Time: as long as needed.

Read the written lesson.

Use idea and prayer to introduce time of quiet. Do not depend on the words.
Use them as a simple invitation to God to come to you.

Sit silently and wait for God. Wait in quiet expectancy for Him to reveal
Himself to you. Seek only direct, deep, wordless experience of Him. Be
certain of His coming, and unafraid. For He has promised that when you
invite Him, He will come. You ask only that He keep His ancient promise,
which He wills to keep. These times are your gift to Him.

Hourly Remembrance: Do not forget.

Give thanks to God that He has remained with you and will always be there to
answer your call to Him.

Frequent Reminder: As often as possible, even every minute.

Remember the idea. Dwell with God, let Him shine on you.

Response To Temptation: When you are tempted to forget your goal.

Use idea as a call to God and all temptation will disappear.

Reading: preceding one of the day's moments of practice.

Slowly read "What is...?" section.

Think about it a while.

Overall Remarks: Now, in this final part of the year that you and Jesus have
spent together, you begin to reach the goal of practicing and of the course.
Jesus is so close that you cannot fail. You have come far along the road. Do
not look back. Fix you eyes on the journey's end. You could not have come
this far without realizing that you want to know God. And this is all He
requires to come to you.

(See Part II Practice Summary, and also Part II Introduction)

COMMENTARY

These lessons in Part II all seem to be about realizing Who or What I really
am. As the Introduction says,

"The workbook is divided into two main sections, the first dealing with the
undoing of the way you see now, and the second with the acquisition of true
perception."

So the emphasis in this entire last section of the workbook, the last 165
lessons, is on true perception. The assumption is that the reader has at
least become aware of the ego thought system in his life, although by no
means is it supposed that the ego is entirely undone. If that were the case,
additional lessons would not be needed.

What we are doing in these last lessons is putting the positive side of the
Course into practice, and attempting to bring it into application. "Now I
would be as God created me." The goal is not just to understand the idea and
file it away under "Facts: human nature, true," but <to be> the Son of God.
Bringing that truth to my awareness throughout the day, and living
accordingly.

"I will arise in glory" (1:2). Each day can begin in glory. Radiance, bright
outshining. Glory means "majestic beauty and splendor; resplendence." It is
not a word we easily associate with ourselves. Today I can make a conscious
effort to be aware of my glory. I am a radiant being. The light of love and
joy shines out from me to bless the world. Let me sit a moment in silence,
just picturing that, being aware of my own shining.

As I go through the day, let me "allow the light in me to shine upon the
world" (1:2). "I bring the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as
God my Father speaks to me" (1:3). This has more to do with being than with
doing. It has more to do with radiating than with speaking. We teach peace
by <being> peaceful, not so much by talking about it. If I am joyful,
restful, loving, and accepting of those around me, my attitude will speak
louder than my words or actions.

So in this day, as I work and visit with friends, let me be radiant. I am as
God created me, so I <am> radiant; I don't need to do anything to become
radiant. All that is needed is to notice what my thoughts would do to dim
that radiance, and to choose otherwise.

In a certain sense this supersedes the earlier lesson where I ask the Holy
Spirit where to go, what to do and what to say. Now the emphasis is on what
I am. It really doesn't matter so much where I go, what I do, or what I say,
as long as I am acting as the being whom God created rather than my
independent self.

I come to see "the world that Christ would have me see" (1:4), and I see it
as "my Father's call to me" (1:4). Seen through the eyes of Christ the world
can become a constant call to be who I am, to shine, to radiate His Love, to
be His Answer to the world.

WHAT IS SALVATION? (Part 7)

If the altar to God is within me, yet remains largely hidden from my
habitual awareness, what I need to do is to "come daily to this holy place"
(4:1). This is the practice of the holy instant recommended by the Text
(T-15.II.5,6; T-15.IV), a premeditated turning aside from our routine
activities to bring our minds into this holy place, with Jesus at our side
("Let <us> come...and spend a while together" (4:1)). If you are open to it,
it seems to me that Jesus is here asking us to spend some time, daily, with
him, in God's presence. If the figure of Jesus is somehow dischordant for
you, picture an anonymous spiritual guide, perhaps representing your higher
self. With him or her, you enter this temple, stand by the altar, and spend
time there in communion with God.

We need to form this habit of bringing our minds into the holy instant,
reminding ourselves of the presence of Jesus (or the Holy Spirit),
remembering this altar to God within ourselves, with His Word written on it
(3:4). That Word, I think, is the Word of salvation, the promise He made
that we would find our way to Him (1:1). It is the Thought of Peace, which
will replace our thoughts of conflict. This meeting place is where we
experience the unbroken communication between ourselves and God. This is
where we bath in the flow of love that streams constantly between the Father
and the Son.

Chapter 14, Section VIII, of the Text describes this holy meeting place, and
says:

"All this is safe within you, where the Holy Spirit shines. He shines not in
division, but in the meeting place where God, united with His Son, speaks to
His Son through Him. Communication between what cannot be divided cannot
cease. The holy meeting place of the unseparated Father and His Son lies in
the Holy Spirit and in you. All interference in the communication that God
Himself wills with His Son is quite impossible here. Unbroken and
uninterrupted love flows constantly between the Father and the Son, as Both
would have it be. And so it is" (T-14.VIII.1:10-16).

<And so it is.> This is what I want to know and experience daily, in coming
to this place. Here I bring my guilt and fear and lay it down, accepting
Atonement for myself. Here my mind renews its contact with its Source. Here
I rediscover the unending communion which is mine, my inheritance as God's
Son. Here my nightmares are all banished, and I breath the fragrant air of
Heaven and of home.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Commentary by Allen Watson
+ Practice Summary: Robert Perry
+ Available in book format from The Circle
+ of Atonement (Vol. 1 reprint due by end of 2004, write us for info)
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