[acimlessons_list] Lesson 342 - December 8
Susan Carrier
suelegal at theteks.com
Tue Dec 7 06:38:23 EST 2004
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+ 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/>
>
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Lesson 342 - December 8
"I let forgiveness rest upon all things, For thus forgiveness will be given
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 also Part II Introduction)
COMMENTARY
As the fourth sentence says, "The key is in my hand." Forgiveness is the
key. As I forgive, I receive forgiveness--not from God as a reward for my
good deed (God has no need to forgive, never having condemned), but--from
myself. Forgiveness really means no more than that I "let creation be as You
would have it be and as it is" (1:7). In my ego mind, I am the only one who
has overlaid an illusion of "sin" onto the world around me. When I look with
condemnation on the world, I am not seeing reality as it is. There is
nothing to condemn, and that fact is my own salvation. If what I think is so
of the world is true, then I am damned with it. Only when I let creation be
as God would have it be--innocent--can I be free of condemnation.
This is God's plan "to save me from the hell I made" (1:1). I made the hell;
God gives me forgiveness as the way out. The hell I made is not real, thank
God. In this Course I have come right up to the door to the end of dreams
(1:4). I hold forgiveness, the key, in my hand. "I stand before the gate of
Heaven, wondering if I should enter in and be at home" (1:5). In every
instant today when I face the choice between judgment and forgiveness,
between murder and a miracle, I am standing at that gate, holding the key in
my hand, wondering if I should go in.
"Let me not wait again today. Let me forgive all things, and let creation be
as You would have it be and as it is. Let me remember that I am Your Son,
and opening the door at last, forget illusions in the blazing light of
truth, as memory of You returns to me" (1:6-8). Forgiveness is the key; the
choice to open the door is mine. To open it I must be willing to forget all
illusions. I must be willing to let go of my investment in seeing my own
sins in my brother and to release him.
"Brother, forgive me now. I come to you to take you home with me. And as we
go, the world goes with us on our way to God" (2:1-3). Let me think of these
lines with every person I meet today. "Forgive me now. I come to take you
home with me." Oh, let that be the way I greet everyone in my mind! Let us
all go home together!
WHAT IS A MIRACLE? (Part 2)
W-pII.13.1:4-6
"It [a miracle] undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception,
nor exceed the function of forgiveness" (1:4). A miracle relates to
perception, and not to direct revelation. It causes a change in my
perception, undoing my perceptual errors.
"Wholeness is the perceptual content of miracles. They thus correct, or
atone for, the faulty perception of lack" (T-1.I.41:1-2).
When my mind experiences a miracle, I see wholeness instead of lack. In
regard to "sin," which is a perception of lack of love in someone, the
miracle causes me to see their love instead of their "sin." I see them as
whole, rather than as lacking. The miracle undoes my error, but it does not
attempt to go beyond that. Miracles occur within the context of perception
and of time; they do not try to carry me to the realm of knowledge and of
eternity. They correct my perception but they do not give knowledge. "Thus
it stays within time's limits" (1:5).
The Course makes this point over and over; it seems to be an important one.
I think it is important to us because, when we turn to a spiritual path, we
often become over-anxious. We want or expect a miracle to translate us
immediately into the realm of pure spirit. We want a quick fix. But we
cannot make a transition directly from false perception to pure knowledge.
We have to go through the stage of corrected perception. We can't skip
steps. The Text says it clearly: "... perception must be straightened out
before you can know anything" (T-3.III.1:2). That is what miracles are for:
correcting our perception. Once our perception is corrected, God can take us
the rest of the way, from perception to knowledge.
"Redeemed perception is easily translated into knowledge, for only
perception is capable of error and perception has never been. Being
corrected it gives place to knowledge, which is forever the only reality"
(T-12.VIII.8:6-7).
"Yet it [the miracle] paves the way for the return of timelessness and
love's awakening, for fear must slip away under the gentle remedy it brings"
(1:6). The "gentle remedy" of the miracle, in correcting our perception,
"paves the way" for a return to full knowledge, outside of time completely.
Without the undoing of our false perception, we will resist knowledge and
reject love; we will be afraid of it. Our twisted perception of love, for
instance, believes that love means sacrifice, and that total Love would mean
total sacrifice. We therefore run away from it; we fear it. Such perceptions
need to be changed before we would even be willing to let real love awaken
within us. Because the miracle removes our fear, it opens the way for love.
It ends our resistance; it removes the interference.Lesson 342 - December 8
"I let forgiveness rest upon all things, For thus forgiveness will be given
me."
PRACTICE SUMMARY (See Part II Practice Summary, and also Part II
Introduction)
COMMENTARY
As the fourth sentence says, "The key is in my hand." Forgiveness is the
key. As I forgive, I receive forgiveness--not from God as a reward for my
good deed (God has no need to forgive, never having condemned), but--from
myself. Forgiveness really means no more than that I "let creation be as You
would have it be and as it is" (1:7). In my ego mind, I am the only one who
has overlaid an illusion of "sin" onto the world around me. When I look with
condemnation on the world, I am not seeing reality as it is. There is
nothing to condemn, and that fact is my own salvation. If what I think is so
of the world is true, then I am damned with it. Only when I let creation be
as God would have it be--innocent--can I be free of condemnation.
This is God's plan "to save me from the hell I made" (1:1). I made the hell;
God gives me forgiveness as the way out. The hell I made is not real, thank
God. In this Course I have come right up to the door to the end of dreams
(1:4). I hold forgiveness, the key, in my hand. "I stand before the gate of
Heaven, wondering if I should enter in and be at home" (1:5). In every
instant today when I face the choice between judgment and forgiveness,
between murder and a miracle, I am standing at that gate, holding the key in
my hand, wondering if I should go in.
"Let me not wait again today. Let me forgive all things, and let creation be
as You would have it be and as it is. Let me remember that I am Your Son,
and opening the door at last, forget illusions in the blazing light of
truth, as memory of You returns to me" (1:6-8). Forgiveness is the key; the
choice to open the door is mine. To open it I must be willing to forget all
illusions. I must be willing to let go of my investment in seeing my own
sins in my brother and to release him.
"Brother, forgive me now. I come to you to take you home with me. And as we
go, the world goes with us on our way to God" (2:1-3). Let me think of these
lines with every person I meet today. "Forgive me now. I come to take you
home with me." Oh, let that be the way I greet everyone in my mind! Let us
all go home together!
WHAT IS A MIRACLE? (Part 2)
W-pII.13.1:4-6
"It [a miracle] undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception,
nor exceed the function of forgiveness" (1:4). A miracle relates to
perception, and not to direct revelation. It causes a change in my
perception, undoing my perceptual errors.
"Wholeness is the perceptual content of miracles. They thus correct, or
atone for, the faulty perception of lack" (T-1.I.41:1-2).
When my mind experiences a miracle, I see wholeness instead of lack. In
regard to "sin," which is a perception of lack of love in someone, the
miracle causes me to see their love instead of their "sin." I see them as
whole, rather than as lacking. The miracle undoes my error, but it does not
attempt to go beyond that. Miracles occur within the context of perception
and of time; they do not try to carry me to the realm of knowledge and of
eternity. They correct my perception but they do not give knowledge. "Thus
it stays within time's limits" (1:5).
The Course makes this point over and over; it seems to be an important one.
I think it is important to us because, when we turn to a spiritual path, we
often become over-anxious. We want or expect a miracle to translate us
immediately into the realm of pure spirit. We want a quick fix. But we
cannot make a transition directly from false perception to pure knowledge.
We have to go through the stage of corrected perception. We can't skip
steps. The Text says it clearly: "... perception must be straightened out
before you can know anything" (T-3.III.1:2). That is what miracles are for:
correcting our perception. Once our perception is corrected, God can take us
the rest of the way, from perception to knowledge.
"Redeemed perception is easily translated into knowledge, for only
perception is capable of error and perception has never been. Being
corrected it gives place to knowledge, which is forever the only reality"
(T-12.VIII.8:6-7).
"Yet it [the miracle] paves the way for the return of timelessness and
love's awakening, for fear must slip away under the gentle remedy it brings"
(1:6). The "gentle remedy" of the miracle, in correcting our perception,
"paves the way" for a return to full knowledge, outside of time completely.
Without the undoing of our false perception, we will resist knowledge and
reject love; we will be afraid of it. Our twisted perception of love, for
instance, believes that love means sacrifice, and that total Love would mean
total sacrifice. We therefore run away from it; we fear it. Such perceptions
need to be changed before we would even be willing to let real love awaken
within us. Because the miracle removes our fear, it opens the way for love.
It ends our resistance; it removes the interference.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ 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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