[acimlessons_list] Lesson 345 - December 11

Fri Dec 10 06:47:32 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 345 - December 11

"I offer only miracles today, For I would have them be returned to me."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

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

COMMENTARY

The basic thought is similar to yesterday's--what I give is returned to me.
Realizing this is so, let me decide as this day starts, and as every day
starts, to offer only what I want. Miracles. To give a miracle means to see
past the illusions of my brothers, and to see them as they really are, as
God's creations. It means not to accept and support the image my brother has
of himself as a limited ego, a tiny fragment of mind trapped in a body.
Instead, I see him as an unlimited being of spirit, magnificent in glory. In
Chapter 8 of the Text we are told:

"But when you look upon a brother as a physical entity, his power and glory
are 'lost' to you and so are yours. ...Do not see him this way for your own
salvation, which must bring him his. Do not allow him to belittle himself in
your mind, but give him freedom from his belief in littleness, and thus
escape from yours" (T-8.VII.5:3, 5-6).

That is giving a miracle. Refusing to see my brother in the limited way he
sees himself; seeing the Christ in him, for him. The miracle thus blesses
both me and my brother, for as my mind is healed of illusions, it reflects
on him as well and brings light to his mind. I give him the opportunity to
see himself as God sees him.

"The law of love is universal. Even here, it takes a form which can be
recognized and seen to work" (1:2-3). The "law of love" was stated
yesterday: "that what I give my brother is my gift to me." The form this law
takes here is something I can recognize. It isn't merely abstract; It takes
form, it becomes concrete. When I offer miracles to those around me, they
return to me, not in exactly the form in which I offered them, but in just
the form I need to meet my needs as I perceive them (1:4). In Heaven there
are no needs (1:5); here on earth, I do perceive needs, and the law of love
adapts to my perception (1:6).

I can offer a miracle with a profound act of forgiveness, or I can offer a
miracle with a smile to a passerby that tells him, "You are loveable." I
offer a miracle with every gesture of kindness, every token of courtesy,
every expression of respect, and every act of caring. Whatever the form, if
the content of the message is, "You are loveable. You are worthy. You are
innocent," I have offered the miracle, and it will return to me.

Let me choose, Father, to enter into my day determined to offer nothing but
miracles to those around me. May I say, from the depth of my heart:

"Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light has come to offer miracles to
bless the tired world" (2:1-2).

And before I step out into the bustle of today, let me pause for a few
minutes and spend it simply offering peace to every seeking heart that comes
to mind. No such effort is ever wasted, and I will receive as much as I am
willing to give.

WHAT IS A MIRACLE? (Part 5)

W-pII.13.3:1-3

"Forgiveness is the home of miracles. The eyes of Christ deliver them to all
they look upon in mercy and in love. Perception stands corrected in His
sight, and what was meant to curse has come to bless."

A miracle corrects perception, and miracles live in forgiveness. When we
look with the eyes of Christ, we see with mercy and in love; we see with
forgiveness. And we then "deliver" miracles to everyone we see with that
corrected perception. It is not just that something changes within our
minds, not just that our perception is altered; something gets communicated
or "delivered" from us to those we look upon. A miracle here, and many
places in the Course, seems to include an aspect in which something passes
from my forgiving mind to the minds of others. Miracles are said to be
"interpersonal" (T-1.II.1:4). When I accept forgiveness within my mind, for
myself or another, it extends to others. Indeed it is by extending it that I
accept it:

"Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness. Through miracles you accept
God's forgiveness by extending it to others" (T-1.I.21:1-2).

The phrase, "...and what was meant to curse has come to bless," reminds me
of the Bible story of Joseph and his brothers. Because he was the favorite
of his father, his brothers, jealous of him, sold him into slavery in Egypt.
But Joseph, because of his ability to interpret the Pharoah's dreams, rose
to great power in Egypt. Years later, in a famine, his family came to Egypt
seeking food, and Joseph was the man in control of the food supply. Instead
of taking vengeance on them, Joseph told them that "God sent me before you
to preserve life...it was not you who sent me here, but God...you meant evil
against me, but God meant it for good."

When we have truly received forgiveness into our hearts, we will be able to
see the blessing even in actions that others intend for our harm. "What was
meant to curse has come to bless." We find that, as the Text says,
"Gratitude is due him for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for help
[that is, what we normally see as his attacks], for both are capable of
bringing love into your awareness if you perceive them truly" (T-12.I.6:2).
And <that> kind of perception is, indeed, a miracle. 

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+ Commentary by Allen Watson
+ Practice Summary: Robert Perry
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