[acimlessons_list] PRACTICE SUMMAR--September 8

Tue Sep 7 06:55:10 EDT 2004

Lesson 251-September 8

"I am in need of nothing but the truth."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

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

COMMENTARY

Any one of us could, if asked, sit down right now and write a fairly long
list of things we think we need. Even if we restrict ourselves to things we
don't presently have, the list would be fairly extensive. For instance, I
need more memory on my computer (what computer owner doesn't?); I need new
pajamas; I need some dental work; I need a new bookcase; I need a new
mattress and box spring; I need a new pair of jeans; I need a better guitar.

At various times in my life, I've believed that I needed to be married, or
needed to be divorced. I needed a better job. I needed a brand new car, one
that would not break down all the time. I needed to move. "I sought many
things, and found despair" (1:1). I got most of what I was looking for
(never got quite all the money I wanted), but none of it made me happy. And
I know, with all the lists I can make of things I now "need," none of them
will make me happy, either.

Happiness is a choice I make. Nothing more, nothing less.

I think the reason why the Course appeals to me so much is that I can relate
to things like this lesson so well. Oh, I still make the mistake of thinking
something I "need" will bring happiness, but when I find myself thinking
that way, at least now I know I'm just kidding myself. I can honestly say,
when I pause to reflect, "Now do I seek but one, for in that one is all I
need, and only what I need" (1:2). I wander from that single direction
sometimes, I get suckered into going after something else, but I keep on
coming back to this one, central need, which is really the <only> need I
have: The truth. The truth about myself, about God, about the universe. That
which is real and everlasting.

Some of the things I sought before "I needed not, and did not even want"
(1:3). I usually found that out after I had them. I recall one night,
several years ago, when I was sitting home, alone, watching TV. I got the
munchies, so I got up to get something. I looked at the ice cream in the
fridge and thought, "No, that's not what I want." I looked at fruit, at
crackers and cheese, at popcorn, and with each one found myself saying, "No,
that's not what I want." Finally, literally scratching my head, I stood in
the middle of the kitchen and said aloud, "What is it I really want?" And it
hit me like a ton of bricks. What I really wanted was God. I was feeling
some kind of emptiness inside, and my little mind was translating that into
physical craving of some sort, trying to find a way to fill the emptiness by
means of my body. I actually laughed out loud! I suddenly realized that all
my "needs" and "wants" were substitutes for that one thing I really needed,
which was something I always had, only waiting for me to choose to recognize
it.

How can we ever be at peace when all our lives are filled with an endless
list of cravings? Can we not begin to see that the craving itself is a form
of unhappiness? That each thing I think I need that I do not have is a
burden, a nagging pain in the back of my mind, keeping me from peace? What I
really want is the peace. What I really want is to be at peace within
myself, content with Who I am. I want fulfillment. I want completion. And
these things are <instantly> available, whenever I choose them. They are
granted or withheld, not by anything external, but only by my own choice.

And now at last I find myself at peace.

And for that peace, our Father, we give thanks. What we denied ourselves You
have restored, and only that is what we really want (1:9-2:2).

WHAT IS SIN? (Part 1)

W-pII.4.1:1-3

"Sin" is the belief that I am evil, corrupted somehow by the mistakes I have
made, and forever disfigured by my misguided thoughts. "Sin" is the belief
that the perfect creation of a perfect God can somehow become imperfect,
warped and twisted and unworthy of its Creator. "Sin is insanity" (1:1).

Out of this belief comes guilt, which drives us mad, and leads us to seek
for illusions to take the place of truth (1:2). This is the source of the
world we see: "The world you see is the delusional system of those made mad
by guilt" (T-13.In.2:2). This is the cause behind the illusion. Because of
guilt we are afraid of the truth, afraid of God, afraid of our Self. We
believe we have forfeited Heaven, and so we must make up another place where
we can, or at least can hope we can, find satisfaction. Such is this world.
Because of sin we believe we cannot have Heaven, so we make a substitute.

Because of the madness induced by sin and guilt, we see "illusions where the
truth should be, and where it really is" (1:3). We hallucinate. We see
attack in love. We see love in attack. We seek satisfaction in mirages. We
seek eternal happiness in things that wither and die.

Our healing begins when we begin to recognize illusions as illusions. This
can be a time of great despair, when everything we thought we could trust in
turns to dust. Yet it is the beginning of wisdom, the start of a great
awakening.

The thoughts you hold are mighty, and illusions are as strong in their
effects as is the truth. A madman thinks the world he sees is real, and does
not doubt it. Nor can he be swayed by questioning his thoughts' effects. It
is but when their source is raised to question that the hope of freedom
comes to him at last (W-pI.132.1:3-7).

We are surrounded by illusions, the effects of our thoughts. We do not truly
doubt the reality of those effects. Only when their source "is raised to
question," only when we begin to question the thought of sin that induces
our madness, will "the hope of freedom" begin to arise.

    COMMENTARIES ON LESSONS FROM THE WORKBOOK OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES
    by Allen Watson, with Practice Summaries by Robert Perry
    The Circle of Atonement--Visit our website at <http://www.circleofa.com>

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