[acimlessons_list] Lesson 287 - October 14

Susan Carrier suelegal at theteks.com
Wed Oct 13 06:42:50 EDT 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/>
>
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LESSON 287 - October 14

"You are my goal, my Father. Only you."

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

This lesson comes from a very high place. It is something that would be
spoken by a person ready to live in the Real World, a prayer from the heart
of Christ within me. It is the mind of Christ, expressed in words; it is the
mind-set that I seek to listen to all the time. And so it is true of me; I
can speak these words with honesty, even though I know that at times I
listen to the ego, who has every other goal but God.

If I feel today that I cannot say with simple honesty, "You are my goal, my
Father. Only You," then let me look with honesty, and without fear, on what
other goals I still cherish. Let me ask myself, What could be a substitute
for happiness? What gift could I prefer before the peace of God? Any such
other goal is obviously a foolish one. Any goal that distracts me from the
peace of God is unworthy of me.

If I have another goal, if I cannot say "Only You," then I am desiring to go
someplace other than Heaven; I am looking for a substitute for happiness; I
am seeking something which I think is preferable to the peace of God; I am
looking to find and keep something which I think is better than my own
Identity; I am choosing to live with fear rather than with love.

It really is that simple.

In the Course, Jesus assures me that it is not shameful to recognize these
things about myself. Recognizing my false goals is the beginning of wisdom.
All that is needful is for me to recognize what I am doing, what other goals
I am choosing, and the power of those things will simply fall away.
Pretending to love only God while secretly holding on to other goals is a
sure guarantee of failure and unhappiness. Honest recognition of those other
goals, and of my responsibility in choosing them, is the sure way of
release.


What is the Holy Spirit? (Part 7)

W-pII.7.4:1

"From knowledge, where He has been placed by God, the Holy Spirit calls to
you, to let forgiveness rest upon your dreams, and be restored to sanity and
peace of mind."

The Holy Spirit has been placed in knowledge, by God. Knowledge is not a
place but a condition, a state of knowingness. The Holy Spirit knows the
truth; He knows reality. He knows our real being, what and who we really
are. On the one side He is firmly linked with God, knowledge and reality.
>From that place of knowingness, He calls to us within our dreams. He is
aware of our dreams, aware of what and who we think we are, as well as
knowing what and who we really are. He is perfectly equipped to lead us out
from those dreams and into the truth of full sanity.

If we listen, we can hear Him calling. We can become aware of something
within ourselves moving us to "let forgiveness rest upon [our] dreams." The
discipline of Workbook practice is teaching us, if we are doing the
exercises, to listen to that Voice, to respond to that inner urging.
Gradually we are becoming more and more aware of the times we are dreaming;
gradually we become aware we are dreaming most of the time. We can let
forgiveness rest on our dreams by bringing them to the Holy Spirit and
asking for His perception to replace our dreams. This is the way to sanity;
this is the way to peace of mind.

In Chapter Five, the first chapter in the Text which strongly presents the
Holy Spirit and His place in our return to God, He is often referred to as
"the Call." He is called "the Call to Atonement," "the Call to return," "the
call to joy," "the Call to awaken and be glad," and "the Call for God." This
Call is something within our own minds. Something is drawing us home; if you
are reading this Course, you have felt that Call and responded to it. We can
dissociate that Call and block it from our awareness, or we can deliberately
turn our attention to It, and listen. He always calls us to forgiveness,
both to forgive and to be forgiven. His goal is the end of guilt. He speaks
to us, always, of innocence. He seeks to turn us from the way of fear to the
way of love. If we give Him our full attention, He will safely guide us
home. He knows the way. 
 
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+ Commentary by Allen Watson
+ Practice Summary: Robert Perry
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