[acimlessons_list] Lesson 269 - September 26

Sat Sep 25 09:17:29 EDT 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
+ Visit our website at <http://www.circleofa.com <http://www.circleofa.com/>
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LESSON 269 - September 26

"My sight goes forth to look upon Christ's face."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

(See also Part II Introduction)

COMMENTARY

Today's lesson is about forgiveness; about purposing to see innocence in
others. Let's recall a few things that earlier lessons have taught us about
forgiveness.

Lesson 126: Giving forgiveness is how I receive it.

How is this lesson on "giving is receiving" related to forgiveness? It
discusses how, in the world's understanding of forgiveness, there is no room
for us to receive anything from forgiveness. "When you 'forgive' a sin,
there is no gain to you directly" (W-pI.126.3:1). If I believe in the
reality of someone's sin but 'forgive' it, it is just an act of charity to
someone unworthy of it. I am giving him a gift he does not deserve. It could
easily appear that I in fact am losing something, not gaining anything.
There is no release for me in doing something like this.

Only when I have truly received forgiveness for myself can I give it; and
only in giving it do I recognize I have received it. I don't even know what
it is! How could I recognize it? So in order to know what forgiveness is,
and to know that I have it, I have to give it away. I have to see it 'out
there' to recognize it 'in here.' When I do I will also begin to understand
that there is no difference between out there and in here.

The idea that giving is receiving, that the "giver and receiver are the
same," is a necessary preparation for releasing our minds from every bar to
what forgiveness really is. Judgment is based on separation and differences:
the sin is in someone else and not in me. He is bad, I am better.
Forgiveness is based on unity and sameness: there is no 'other' to be done
to or to do it to me. We are both innocent. There never was any sin. We are
all part of the same Heart of Love.

Lesson 134: True forgiveness forgives illusions, not real sins.

Here we learn that the major obstacle to learning true forgiveness is the
belief that we must forgive something real. We believe that sin really
exists, that injury has really been done. It is impossible to forgive a sin
that we believe is real. "It is impossible to think of sin as true and not
believe forgiveness is a lie" (W-pI.134.4:2). "Guilt cannot be forgiven"
(W-pI.134.5:3).

This is really a major obstacle. I can testify that it is possible for
something you once thought of as sin to be seen as no more than a mistake, a
call for love. I've experienced that. I didn't make the shift myself. We
can't do it ourselves. But we do need to be willing to have the shift occur.
I know there are many things that, consciously or unconsciously, I still
judge and condemn as sin, as evil. Every time I encounter judgment in my
mind, I need do nothing but recognize that it is there and believe that
there is another way to perceive it. I affirm I am willing to see it
differently. I ask for help in understanding forgiveness through this
experience. And I wait.

I allow myself to look at the anger, the fear, the resentment I may be
feeling. I don't hide it; that just perpetuates the wrong-mindedness. I am
willing to see my own feelings differently as well. I recognize that perhaps
I am judging myself for feeling them. So, as I did with the external
judgment, I do with the internal: I affirm I am willing to see it
differently and ask for help. And I wait.

What happens then is of God. A shift occurs in my mind. It may occur first
in regard to the other, the 'sinner;' it may occur first in regard to
myself. Since the other and myself are one and the same it doesn't matter
how it is experienced, or in what order. In the shift, I come to see
something I am judging, in the other or in myself, as a call for love. I
come to see that regardless of the appearance it takes, innocence lay behind
the act. I may see that I was angry because I wanted to be close to the
other person and they pushed me away; I wanted joining, oneness. There is
nothing to be guilty of there. I thought I saw attack and attacked back. Now
I see there was no attack, we both want the same thing, so I let go of my
attack and respond with love. Or I may see how the other person was fearful,
felt threatened by me somehow (and I know I am not a threat), and so flipped
out. My return attack was just the same mistake. I see there was no sin in
what happened, and the whole thing can simply be dropped from my mind.

TODAY'S LESSON: #269, "My sight goes forth to look upon Christ's face."
"Today I choose to see a world forgiven" (1:5). Seeing the "face of Christ"
is a symbolic way of saying we see innocence, we see a world forgiven.

In this lesson we see that forgiveness is a choice. When we decide that what
we want to see is innocence, we will see innocence. The Holy Spirit will
give us the gift of that sight. "What I look on belongs to me" (1:5). If I
see mistakes out there, they are my mistakes. If I see innocence, it too is
my own. If I can see innocence--and I will if I choose to, I will if I ask
to--it is the proof of my own innocence. Only the innocent can perceive
innocence. Only those who perceive innocence in others know their own
innocence. The guilty will always perceive guilt. Perceiving innocence in
others is the means God has given us to discover our own innocence. We can't
find it if we look directly. It's like trying to see your own face; you must
have a mirror. The world is my mirror; it shows me the state of my own mind.
The image in the glass is only an image, only an illusion, but in this world
it is a necessary illusion, and will be until there is a knowing that exists
without perception.

What is the Body? (Part 9)

W-pII.5.5:1-3

As is pointed out in Lesson 261, "You will identify with what you think will
make you safe" (5:1; see W-pII.261.1). If we think our physicality and
individual identity are what make us safe, we will identify with them; if we
understand that being the love that we are is what gives us safety, we will
identify with that, rather than the body and ego. If we identify with the
body, our life becomes a cramped, futile attempt to preserve and protect it.
If we identify with love, the body becomes simply a tool used to express our
own loving being, which is God expressed through us.

"Your safety lies in truth, and not in lies" (5:3). The body is a lie about
us; it is not what we are. The truth about us is that we are love: "Teach
only love, for that is what you are" (T-6.I.13:2). That is where our true
safety lies, and that is what we must learn to identify with.

What seems "more real" to me today? My body, or my loving Self? Where does
my emphasis lie? On what do I center most of my time and attention? What
takes most of my care and concern? The practice of the Workbook lessons can
be very revealing in this regard, as I begin to realize that rarely, if
ever, do I fail to take care of my body, giving it food, clothing,
cleansing, and sleep. How well do I care for my spirit? When my attention to
my spiritual needs and to the expression of my inner nature has become
paramount, when I would rather miss breakfast than miss my quiet time with
God, I will know that I have begun to shift my identity from lies to truth.

If in observing myself I realize that this is not yet the case, let me not
make myself guilty about it. Guilt accomplishes nothing positive. My
identification with the body is not a sin. It is simply a mistake, and an
indication that I need to practice unlearning that identification, and
learning to identify with love instead. When I practice guitar and notice
that I am missing a certain chord, I do not feel guilty about it; I just
intensify my practice of that particular song until I learn it.

I can even use my habit of identifying with the body to help me form a new
focus. When I shower or wash my face I can use the time to mentally repeat
the day's lesson and thin about its meaning to me. (What other more valuable
thing is occupying your mind at those times, anyhow?) When I eat, I can
remember to give thanks, and let it be a trigger to remember God. If I am
alone, perhaps I can read a page from the Course, or a Lesson card, while I
eat. I can make the body into a tool to help me walk the road to God.

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+ Commentary by Allen Watson
+ Practice Summary: Robert Perry
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