[acimlessons_list] Lesson 244 - September 1

Tue Aug 31 07:26:26 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 <http://www.circleofa.com/>
>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 Lesson 244 - September 1

"I am in danger nowhere in the world."

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

Who I have believed myself to be is in danger <everywhere> in the world. We
are assaulted constantly with signals of danger. Smoking can kill me; even
residual smoke is deadly. Our water is unsafe, I need a purifier.
Preservatives and coloring in foods cause cancer. Stay well away from your
microwave while using it. Don't sit too close to your TV or computer screen
(and watch out for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome). Beware of computer viruses; even
more, beware of HIV viruses. Don't feed bears when camping. Don't use your
telephone in a lightning storm. Don't drink and drive, and watch out for
those who do.

In order to even begin to accept today's idea, I have to realize that I am
not who I have believed myself to be. This little identity of Allen Watson,
wrapped in a very fragile body, is not the one who is in danger nowhere in
the world: "Your Son is safe wherever he may be" (1:1). It is the Son Who is
safe; the Son Who is beloved of God, held "in the safety of Your embrace"
(1:3). In my quiet times today I will recall that this is Who I really am,
and, at least in these moments, I will let go of my sense of danger, relax
my defensiveness, and enjoy the awareness of the Father's Love and
protection (1:2). I will realize that Who I really am "cannot suffer, be
endangered, or experience unhappiness" (1:3).

Let me attempt to feel my safety today. What would I feel like if I truly
knew, to the depths of my being, that I can never suffer, or be in danger,
or experience unhappiness? What effect would that have on the tension in my
shoulders, the knot in my stomach, or the rapid beating of my heart? Let me
thoughtfully consider this. Let me try to imagine the peace I would feel.
Let me experience the softening in every part of my body, and more
importantly, the melting of the hardness of my mind. I would feel, I think,
like the very young child who, when Mommy or Daddy says, "Everything will be
all right now," really believes it. The shuddering stops, the little body
relaxes, and the child falls asleep in Mommy's arms.

"And there we are in truth," "in the safety of Your Fatherly embrace" (2:1,
1:3). "In God we are secure" (2:3). Yes.

WHAT IS THE WORLD? (Part 4)

The world is where perception was born (2:5). It was born because
<knowledge> could not give birth to thoughts of fear; knowledge knows only
the peace of God. Knowledge, in the Course, always speaks of Heaven and its
oneness; perception, on the other hand, is the only means of "knowing" in
this world. The two are often contrasted in the Text. Perception is
inherently unreliable: "Eyes deceive, and ears hear falsely" (2:6). We all
know this to be true. One has only to engage in one marital argument about
what was seen and said the evening before to demonstrate it to ourselves.
(Of course it is always the other person who seems to be perceiving
falsely!)

Has it ever occurred to me, in all the times my senses have deceived me,
that they were made deliberately to do so? "They were made to look upon a
world that is not there; to hear the voices that can make no sound"
(T-28.V.5:4; the rest of the paragraph is relevant also). "The body's eyes
see only form. They cannot see beyond what they were made to see. And they
were made to look on error and not see past it" (T-22.III.5:3-6). With our
dependence on our eyes and ears, we have made ourselves very vulnerable to
error: "Now mistakes become quite possible, for certainty has gone" (2:7).

Perception, with all its unreliability and deceptiveness, is what enables
the ego to make this world seem real. Perception is what shows us the sight
of a world full of danger, demanding defensiveness and constant vigilance
against attack. "The world <is> false perception" (1:1, my emphasis). Only
the vision of Christ, which sees the Light of God, can reveal anything
different.

"The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of
forgiveness, and provide you with a justification for forgetting it. It is
the temptation to abandon God and His Son by taking on a physical
appearance. It is this the body's eyes look upon.

"Nothing the body's eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of
temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. Yet we have
learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have
made, and therefore He sees another purpose in them. To the Holy Spirit, the
world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as
your sins. In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes
the spiritual recognition of salvation." (W-pI.64.1:2-2:4)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ 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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