[acimlessons_list] Lesson 341 - December 7
Susan Carrier
suelegal at theteks.com
Mon Dec 6 06:15:25 EST 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 341 - December 7
"I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me
safe."
PRACTICE SUMMARY
(See Part II Practice Summary and also Part II Introduction)
COMMENTARY
Whenever I attack anyone I attack myself. When I see sin in another, my own
sinlessness is being attacked, and only that keeps me safe. God says I am
sinless; who am I to disagree? And why would I do that? "I am he on whom You
smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the universe smiles
back on You, and shares Your holiness" (1:2).
How foolish, then, to attack at all, when any attack is an attack on what I
am! How foolish to so attack the wonder of what I am in a vain quest for
some other, lesser identity! Why would I jeopardize my experience of God's
deep tenderness?
"...abiding in Your Smile..." (1:3).
What a wonderful thought! Sometimes I have met a person whose smile was so
radiant I felt as if I could sunbathe in it. Imagine basking in God's Smile!
What a warmth of love beams from such a smile! Let me spend a little time
now just luxuriating in its compassionate glow.
We live one with Him, "in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete" (1:3). The
oneness we enjoy is not just with the Father, but with all our brothers as
well. This is the state we are meant to abide in forever. It is the state we
<are> in forever, if we are only willing to enjoy it and set aside every
thought of attack. "The Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a
universe of Thought completing Him" (1:3). As such we can be only
sinlessness itself. My attack threatens nothing but my awareness of this
perfect sinlessness.
"Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God
to us. And in its kind reflection we are saved" (2:1-2).
WHAT IS A MIRACLE? (Part 1)
W-pII.13.1:1-3
"A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all"
(1:1-2). The miracle corrects; it does not create. It does not make anything
new; it merely adjusts a mistaken assessment of what already is. As Lesson
341 says, we already are sinless. We do not need to become sinless. All that
we need to do is to end our attack on our own sinlessness.
We think of a miracle as some amazing change in the way things are. But a
miracle, as the Course sees it, changes nothing. It simply takes away a
false perception. It removes the veneer of sin and guilt we have laid over
our innocence, and reveals the unchanging innocence we have attempted to
hide.
A miracle often has external effects, although not always (T-1.I.35,
"Miracles are expressions of love, but they may not always have observable
effects.") When there are such effects, something in the illusion seems to
change, often drastically. Someone who was sick gets well. Two people who
were at war suddenly make peace. Yet that is the <effect> of the miracle,
not the miracle itself. The effect simply reveals in form what has always
been true in reality--the "sick" person was always whole, the "warring"
friends were always joined as one mind. The observable effect shows us that
the form was never real in the first place; but the miracle is the
perception that <saw> that before it was an observable effect, and by
realizing the falsity of the illusion, changed the illusion.
"It [a miracle] merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what
it sees is false" (1:3). The miracle looks on the illusion, and reminds the
mind that it <is> illusion. We do see "devastation" in this world, but the
miracle reminds us that what we see is false. We see a person's mind twisted
with guilt; the miracle reminds us that the guilt is as unreal as its
apparent effects, and enables us to see the person's wholeness and innocence
behind the illusion they present to the world. Lesson 341 - December 7
"I can attack but my own sinlessness, And it is only that which keeps me
safe."
PRACTICE SUMMARY (See Part II Practice Summary, and also Part II
Introduction)
COMMENTARY
Whenever I attack anyone I attack myself. When I see sin in another, my own
sinlessness is being attacked, and only that keeps me safe. God says I am
sinless; who am I to disagree? And why would I do that? "I am he on whom You
smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the universe smiles
back on You, and shares Your holiness" (1:2).
How foolish, then, to attack at all, when any attack is an attack on what I
am! How foolish to so attack the wonder of what I am in a vain quest for
some other, lesser identity! Why would I jeopardize my experience of God's
deep tenderness?
"...abiding in Your Smile..." (1:3).
What a wonderful thought! Sometimes I have met a person whose smile was so
radiant I felt as if I could sunbathe in it. Imagine basking in God's Smile!
What a warmth of love beams from such a smile! Let me spend a little time
now just luxuriating in its compassionate glow.
We live one with Him, "in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete" (1:3). The
oneness we enjoy is not just with the Father, but with all our brothers as
well. This is the state we are meant to abide in forever. It is the state we
<are> in forever, if we are only willing to enjoy it and set aside every
thought of attack. "The Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a
universe of Thought completing Him" (1:3). As such we can be only
sinlessness itself. My attack threatens nothing but my awareness of this
perfect sinlessness.
"Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God
to us. And in its kind reflection we are saved" (2:1-2).
WHAT IS A MIRACLE? (Part 1)
W-pII.13.1:1-3
"A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all"
(1:1-2). The miracle corrects; it does not create. It does not make anything
new; it merely adjusts a mistaken assessment of what already is. As Lesson
341 says, we already are sinless. We do not need to become sinless. All that
we need to do is to end our attack on our own sinlessness.
We think of a miracle as some amazing change in the way things are. But a
miracle, as the Course sees it, changes nothing. It simply takes away a
false perception. It removes the veneer of sin and guilt we have laid over
our innocence, and reveals the unchanging innocence we have attempted to
hide.
A miracle often has external effects, although not always (T-1.I.35,
"Miracles are expressions of love, but they may not always have observable
effects.") When there are such effects, something in the illusion seems to
change, often drastically. Someone who was sick gets well. Two people who
were at war suddenly make peace. Yet that is the <effect> of the miracle,
not the miracle itself. The effect simply reveals in form what has always
been true in reality--the "sick" person was always whole, the "warring"
friends were always joined as one mind. The observable effect shows us that
the form was never real in the first place; but the miracle is the
perception that <saw> that before it was an observable effect, and by
realizing the falsity of the illusion, changed the illusion.
"It [a miracle] merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what
it sees is false" (1:3). The miracle looks on the illusion, and reminds the
mind that it <is> illusion. We do see "devastation" in this world, but the
miracle reminds us that what we see is false. We see a person's mind twisted
with guilt; the miracle reminds us that the guilt is as unreal as its
apparent effects, and enables us to see the person's wholeness and innocence
behind the illusion they present to the world.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ 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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