[acimlessons_list] Lesson 324 - November 20

Fri Nov 19 06:04:36 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 324 - November 20

"I merely follow, for I would not lead."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

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

COMMENTARY

Learning to follow my inner guidance is a big part of doing the Course. That
guidance is the Voice for God, the Holy Spirit. It is part of me and part of
God. In the end all is One, but while I think of myself as separate I will
experience that Voice as a separate voice, calling me back home: "Your
loving Voice will always call me back, and guide my feet aright" (1:5).

Father, I need to learn that I am not on my own, and that Something or
Someone has planned "the way I am to go, the role to take, and every step in
my appointed path" (1:2). As Lesson 321 reminded me: "I have neither made
nor understood the way to find my freedom." In fact, You have set the way,
and the Holy Spirit is simply the Voice that speaks for You. So, then, let
me follow "One Who knows the way" (2:1). What a relief it is to have this
One to trust! When walking through a dark jungle with twisted and confusing
pathways, what a comfort to know I have a Guide Who knows every detail of
the path. Because of Him, "I cannot lose the way" (1:3).

Today let me remember that every step of my journey has been set by You. As
I look back with You, I know that this is true: nothing I have ever done has
ever been anything but for my own good; it has all worked together perfectly
to get me exactly where I am now. Even my wanderings were perfectly designed
to teach me the falsity of the illusions I was following. What I thought
were detours away from You were really lessons bringing me closer to Home,
and I am grateful for them all. Let me now look to the future with the
confidence imparted by that knowledge: I cannot lose the way. Every person,
every event and every circumstance of my life today can be, if seen with
vision, a step towards home, a means of finding my way back to You.

If I wander today, Father, bring me back. I thank you for the blessed relief
of knowing that I do not have to figure it all out. It's been figured for
me. I can let the day unroll in whatever way it does, trusting that it is
all perfectly planned by you to bring the memory of You most rapidly to my
mind.

"I would not lead" (Lesson heading). I don't want to be known as a leader of
others. I don't know the way for myself; how can I know for anyone else?
Some of my brothers may follow me; in fact You will bring them to me for
that purpose. But all I am doing is following Your Voice; if anyone follows
me in this path they are not following me, but You. Let me always remind
them of that and never make anyone dependent upon me.

"We cannot stray except an instant from His loving hand" (2:2). To Jesus,
six billion years is "a tiny tick of time" that is nothing in comparison to
eternity, so small that "not one note in Heaven's song was missed"
(T-26.V.3:5, 5:1, 4). To us it seems we stray much longer than an instant. A
mathematical example that comes to mind is this: When we divide one number
by another, we are, in a sense, comparing them. One hundred divided by ten
is ten; that means that compared to ten, one hundred is ten times bigger.
The interesting thing about the number zero is that any number, compared to
it, is infinite: one hundred divided by zero is infinity, and so is one
divided by zero.

The "tiny tick of time" is like zero. Eternity is infinite. There is no
comparison. The time we spend in wandering, which seems so long to us, is
nothing more than an instant, an infinitesimal piece of nothing, a fragment
of a dream. We've all experienced dreams that seemed to last for hours or
days, yet happened in a few seconds of "real" time. And that is all this
time is: "Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which
figures come and go as if by magic. Yet there is a plan behind appearances
that does not change. The script is written." (W-pI.158.4:1-3).

There is a plan behind the appearances, and that is what I can rely upon
today. Following the Holy Spirit, I know that the ending is sure. He
"guarantees a safe returning home" (2:4). I may feel really messed up and
confused, but I just can't really blow it! I've got a perfect Guide, and He
is going to stick with me until I reach the end and fall once again into my
Father's arms.

"I merely follow, for I would not lead."

WHAT IS CREATION? (Part 4)

W-pII.11.2:4

"What God has willed to be forever One will still be One when time is over;
and will not be changed throughout the course of time, remaining as it was
before the thought of time began."

God has willed all Creation to be one. Therefore it is one. Time cannot
change what God created in any way. Time and change seem inextricably
related: change is what signifies the passage of time, and it seems
impossible that time should pass without change. It is impossible that God's
creation should change. God's creation is outside of the realm of time
entirely, and time is simply an illusion, a dream in which change is
possible.

What we are, together, as the one Son of God, existed before time was
thought of, still exists during the apparent course of time, and will exist,
still one, when time is over. The Son of God is as unaffected by what seems
to occur during time as the sun is unaffected by my passing a few of its
rays through a magnifying glass, and deflecting their path, or as the ocean
is unaffected by a child who throws a stick into the water. In other words,
not at all. That is the power of Creation. It is immutable. Therefore, <I am
immutable> when I recognize my Creator.

"Your Self is radiant in this holy joy, unchanged, unchanging and
unchangeable, forever and forever" (W-pI.190.6:5). 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ 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)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ The Workbook Commentaries are Copyright 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003 by The 
+ Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238,
+ W. Sedona, AZ 86340.
+ All rights reserved.
+
+ Please notify us of any intent to use them beyond the scope of this 
+ e-mail list; write to info at circleofa.com.
+
+ WWW: <http://www.circleofa.com/>
+ Email: <info at circleofa.com>
+ Back Issues Lesson Archive: <http://www.circleofa.com/curwkbk.html>
+ or <http://five.pairlist.net/pipermail/acimlessons_list/>, click "Date"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To unsubscribe from ACIMLESSONS_LIST send email to
acimlessons_list-request at circleofa.com with "unsubscribe" as the subject

To unsubscribe from ACIMWKBK_LIST send email to
acimwkbk_list-request at circleofa.com with "unsubscribe" as the subject

For more information about unsubscribing, subscribing, and changing settings
for your subscription, send an e-mail message to the same address with the
word "help" as the subject. You can also change your subscription options by
visiting the list website:
<http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/acimlessons_list> OR
<http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/acimwkbk_list>
Scroll to the bottom to change your personal options. 
____________________________________________

Tell your friends to subscribe. They can simply send an e-mail message to
<acimwkbk_list-request at circleofa.com> with the word "subscribe" in the
subject, changing "acimwkbk" to "acimlessons" if they want only the
commentaries, without member discussion.
_______________________________________________

Please support the Workbook commentaries! Make a donation to the Circle:
<https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=info%40circleofa.com&item_name=donat
ion+to+support+Workbook+commentaries&image_url=http%3A//www.circleofa.coion+
to+support+Workbook+m/images/main_title.gif&return=http%3A//www.circleofa.co
m&cancel_return=http%3A//www.circleofa.com&cn=Note+to+the+Circle&tax=0&curre
ncy_code=USD>
(If clicking the above link does not work, try copying it and pasting it
into the address field of your web browser, and clicking on "Go".)
_______________________________________________

Portions from Clarification of Terms, Copyright 1975, Psychotherapy:
Purpose, Process and Practice, (c) 1976, The Song of Prayer, (c) 1978, are
copyrighted by The Foundation for "A Course in Miracles," 41397 Buecking
Drive, Temecula, CA 92590.