[acimlessons_list] Lesson 352 - December 18

Susan Carrier suelegal at theteks.com
Fri Dec 17 06:06:43 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
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Lesson 352 - December 18

"Judgment and love are opposites. From one 
Come all the sorrows of the world. But from 
The other comes the peace of God Himself."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

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

COMMENTARY

In the Introduction to the Text, Jesus says, "The opposite of love is fear.
But what is all-encompassing can have no opposite." Here, he says that
love's opposite is judgment. If you relax your mind and let your thinking go
loosely associative, it is fairly easy to see that judgment and fear are the
same thing. If I judge something as bad, dangerous, or evil, I will fear it.
If I fear something I will judge it as bad. In "The Two Emotions" (T-13.V)
it is clear that both love and fear are "a way of seeing" and that
"different worlds arise from their different sights" (T-13.V.10:2). The same
thought is expressed here about judgment and love. And in the surrounding
sections of Chapter 13 it is very clear that in giving up the past, we are
being asked to give up judgment. The same network of thoughts is there that
is found here.

I think in this lesson, the Holy Spirit is viewing two <attitudes> or two
<activities> rather than two <emotions>. It is the attitude I have towards
others that is in focus, and how I extend myself towards them. Do I love, or
do I judge? Rather than how the other person impacts on me, which is the
focus in "The Two Emotions" section, the focus here is on how I impact on
the other person. The difference is in the direction of the flow of energy;
here, the flow being considered is from me to the other person.

All the sorrows of the world come from judgment (Lesson Title, line 2); no
wonder the Course asks us to relinquish it. To love is not to judge; to
judge is not to love. Loving brings us peace (line 3); judging only sorrow.
How to find peace? Give love.

"Forgiveness looks on sinlessness alone, and judges not. Through this I come
to You" (1:1).

Forgiveness means not judging; how can you judge and forgive at the same
time? Forgiveness sees only sinlessness, because only sinlessness is what we
are (see W-pII.14.1:6). And through such forgiveness we approach God.

"Judgment will bind my eyes and make me blind. Yet love, reflected in
forgiveness here, reminds me You have given me a way to find Your peace
again" (1:3-4).

The Course makes a point, several times, of what is implied here by the
phrase, "love, reflected in forgiveness here." Love in purity is impossible
in this world. "No love in this world is without ambivilance" (T-4.III.4:6).
The closest reflection of love in this world is forgiveness. So the contrast
here is really between judgment and forgiveness. By choosing to forgive my
brothers rather than to judge them, I find my own peace again, the peace of
God.

Peace is lost to us through judgment; it blindfolds us to the truth. Love,
which is perfect only in Heaven, is still reflected perfectly here in
forgiveness. There is a way to find our way out of blindness, and the way is
forgiveness. It is affirming the unreality of our perception of sin in
anyone and everyone.

"I am redeemed when I elect to follow in this way. You have not left me
comfortless. I have within both the memory of You, and One Who leads me to
it" (1:5-7).

We were lost, "sold" into slavery by our own hand. But God did not abandon
us. He gave us two things. Its interesting to notice the distinction here.
He gave us (1) the memory of God in our minds, and (2) the Holy Spirit Who
leads me to discover that memory. Many times I've heard people say that the
Holy Spirit is the memory of God within us; that isn't how it appears here.
The memory of God is something that is truly my own, part of me; my own
right mind remembers God. The Holy Spirit is the Guide Who leads me back to
rediscover the hidden treasure within my Self.

"Father, I would hear Your Voice and find Your peace today. For I would love
my own Identity, and find in It the memory of You" (1:8-9).

The memory of God lies in my own Identity. In remembering my Self I remember
God. Let His Voice lead us to that remembrance as we sit, quietly, with Him
today. We have very powerful help. And where that help leads us is to the
point of loving our own Identity. I cannot love What I am unless I love--in
the form of forgiveness--everyone else. That is so because What I am is
identical to what everyone is; we are all the Son of God, the Christ. If I
judge others I am judging myself, because I am what they are.


WHAT AM I? (Part 2)

W-pII.14.1:4-6

"I am the holy Home of God Himself" (1:4). Wow! That makes more of an impact
on us, put that way, than simply saying, "God is in me." I am God's Home.
Home is not just some place God happens to be; it is where He resides, where
He chooses to be, where He can make Himself comfortable, so to speak. In
Psalm 132:14, God is said to have proclaimed about Zion, or Jerusalem, "This
[is] my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it." Now, <we>
are His home. Now, He speaks to you, and to me, saying that we are his rest
forever, that He will dwell in us because He has desired it. That was His
intention all along when He created us.

"I am the Heaven where His Love resides" (1:5). We may have naively believed
that God lives in Heaven and not in us. Here, we see that, Yes, God lives or
resides in Heaven, but <we are Heaven>. What a mind-blower that is! I'll bet
you have thought, for most of your life, that if you were good enough, or if
you were holy enough, or if you had enough faith, you'd get to go to Heaven.
Sorry, no go. You can't <go> to Heaven because you <are> Heaven, where God's
Love resides.

"I am His holy Sinlessness Itself, for in my purity abides His own" (1:6).
Did you notice that all three of these sentences use words about God's place
of residence? "...the holy Home...where His Love resides...in my purity
abides His own." God isn't just passing through! He isn't just visiting. He
<lives> here, in me, in you; this is His home; He <abides> [stays, remains]
here, in us.

I have to confess that I can't quite yet wrap my mind around the idea that
<I am> God's holy Sinlessness. "Sinlessness" seems like a rather abstract
concept; I have a little trouble understanding how I can <be> sinlessness.
The second half of the sentence helps me out a little: "...for in my purity
abides His own." I can sort of grasp it by an analogy. A parent who gives
his or her time and energy to raising a child, teaching it all they know,
finds their own success and happiness in that child's success and happiness.
"My child's happiness is my own. My child's success is my own." I think it
is similar to that. God extended Himself as us. What we are is His
extension. Our purity <is> His; if we are not sinless, no more is He. We are
what He is, extended outward. If I am not pure, He is not, for our nature is
His. If we are what He is, then it is true in reverse; He is what we are.
Therefore, "I am His holy Sinlessness Itself."
 
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+ Commentary by Allen Watson
+ Practice Summary: Robert Perry
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