[acimlessons_list] Lesson 250 - September 7

Tue Sep 7 13:11:21 EDT 2004

Lesson 250-September 7

"Let me not see myself as limited."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

See the practice instructions on page 4, or the Practice Card bound into
this volume.

COMMENTARY

There is really nothing to see but myself. If I see those around me as
limited, I am seeing myself that way, for "as I see him so I see myself"
(2:3). The lesson is not talking so much about the kind of limitlessness
that is touted in self-help seminars ("I can do anything I set my mind to. I
can achieve all my goals."), as it is talking about the limitations we place
on holiness, goodness and love when we view others and ourselves. Do I see
my brothers and sisters today as the Son of God in glory? Or do I see them
with "strength diminished and reduced to frailty"? (1:2). Do I see the holy
light (1:2) shining in all those around me, or is it obscured by the
darkness I have projected onto them? Do I behold the sovereignty of God's
Son, or do I continue to attack that majesty by perceiving lacks where there
are none?

If I am honest with myself, I will be aware of how consistently I perceive
lack in everyone, or almost everyone, I meet. Nobody quite lives up to my
high standards. My mind is constantly comparing myself to others as well,
and perceiving lacks in me. The perception of lack is one; as I see myself I
see others; as I see others I see myself. Perhaps the problem lies in the
perceiver, and not in what is being perceived?

Yet I can choose a different perception; I can choose to see with the vision
of Christ. I can choose to see light, to see love, to see gentleness. Let
this be my choice today, Father. When I become aware that I am perceiving
your Son as less than You created him to be (in others or myself), let me
recognize those thoughts as illusions born of fear, and bring them to Your
Love. I choose today to watch my mind for these scraps of fear, and to ask
Your Spirit to step around them to reveal what they have been hiding from my
sight (T-4.IV.7:4-5).

Today I would see truly, that this day I may at last identify with him
(2:4).

WHAT IS THE WORLD? (Part 10)

W-pII.3.5:3-5

We are not to rest or to be satisfied until forgiveness has been made
complete, and all the world has joined our changed perception. And in
addition:

Let us not attempt to change our function. We must save the world (5:3-4).

Have you noticed how often the Course talks about our function or our
purpose? The word "purpose" occurs 666 times in the Course; the word
"function," 460 times. Some of those occurrences, of course, refer to other
things, such as the function of the Holy Spirit, but a vast majority of them
are referring to <our> function.

I am the light of the world. That is my only function. That is why I am here
(W-pI.61.5:3-5).

There is no other reason for being in this world, except to be its light.
There is no other reason to live on earth except to save the world, and to
bring forgiveness to every mind. In fulfilling my function I find my
happiness: "My happiness and my function are one" (W-pI.66). In fulfilling
my function I discover the light within myself: "It is through accepting my
function that I will see the light in me" (W-pI.81.3:2). Fulfilling our
function is an integral and key part of the Course's program for our own
enlightenment.

Why would we "attempt to change" our function? What are the ways we do that?
We attempt to change our function when we try to find some other purpose for
living in the world, whether it be career, family, pleasure, power, or
anything that is "of" the world. And we do so in an insane attempt to make
this world a substitute for God, to make the illusion real and thus
substantiate our ego identity. "We must save the world." This is our only
function; this is the only purpose for the world itself and for me in it.
"The healing of God's Son is all the world is for" (T-24.VI.4:1).

This does not mean that everyone must enter a recognized "healing
profession," although some of us may indeed do so. (The Manual says that
immediate changes in life situations are asked of only a small minority; see
Chapter 9.) Rather, it means we must learn to translate every profession
into a healing profession ("The Atonement ... is the natural profession of
the children of God," T-1.III.1:10). As Marianne Williamson says, every job
can become a front for a church. Our first priority is the healing of our
minds and attitudes, especially in our relationships, right where we are.

Our function is to behold the world through the eyes of Christ (5:5). We
made the world. We made it to die. It is our responsibility now to restore
it to everlasting life (5:5).

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