[acimlessons_list] Lesson 230--August 18

Allen Watson allen at circleofa.org
Wed Aug 17 05:55:10 EDT 2005 

Lesson 230 * August 18

"Now will I seek and find the peace of God."

Practice instructions

See complete instructions in separate document. A short summary:

* Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.

* Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.

* Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open
Mind Meditation.

* Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment
in meditation.

* Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.

* Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore
peace.

* Read the "What Is" section slowly and thoughtfully once during the
day.

Commentary

"In peace I was created. And in peace do I remain" (1:1-2). Jesus, in
his Course, never tires of reminding us that we remain as God created
us. He repeats it often because we so obviously do not believe it. We
may believe that God created us in peace. How, indeed, could we
believe otherwise? Would a God of Love have created us in pain and
agony, in turmoil and confusion, in conflict and strife? So the first
sentence isn't really a problem to us; we can accept that God created
us in peace.

The problem arises, in our minds, with the second sentence: "In peace
do I remain." Quite simply we don't believe it. In fact, we are firmly
convinced that we know otherwise. Perhaps this morning I am distraught
by something that happened yesterday, or worried about what may happen
today, or next week. I can look back on a lifetime that, in my
experience, has had very little, if any, peace. Some days it seems as
though life is conspiring against me to rob me of peace. It seems as
though, in most of my busy days, I rarely have a moment of peace. So
how can I accept this statement: "In peace do I remain"?

It seems incredible to us, unbelievable, when the Course insists that
since God created me in peace, I must still be in peace. God's
creation of me took place, the lesson says, "apart from time, and
still remains beyond all change" (2:2). It tells me, "It is not given
me to change my Self" (1:3). My experience of life in this world tells
me otherwise.

The question is, which one will I believe? God's Voice, or my
experience? One of them must be false. And it is earth-shattering,
mind-blowing, even to consider that my entire experience of this
world has been a lie, a mistake, and a hallucination. Yet what is the
alternative? Shall I believe, instead, that God is a liar? Shall I
believe that His creation was flawed, and capable of corruption?
Shall I believe that what He willed for me was overcome by my own
independent will? Yet this is what I <must> be believing if I insist
that I am not at peace, in this very moment.

If God is not a liar and His creation is not flawed, then what must
be true is that my own mind has deceived me and has manufactured an
entire lifetime of false experience. If I am willing to listen, this
is not as far-fetched as it sounds at first. In fact, if I simply
watch my mind, I can catch it in the act of doing that very thing. I
can watch and observe how I see what I expect to see. I can notice
how different people perceive the same events quite differently. I
can remember times when I was quite sure I understood things clearly,
only to have the whole situation turned on its head by some new fact
that I had been unaware of. I need only watch the sun rise, move
across the sky, and set, to realize that my perception is faulty. It
is not the sun that moves; it is me, as the earth turns. When night
comes and the sun is "gone" in my perception, the sun shines on; it
is my world that has turned its face from the light.

What if my apparent lack of peace does not mean what I think it
means? What if the peace of God has never left me, but shines on,
while I have turned my face from it? In the holy instant I can find
that this is the truth. Simply by turning my mind away from its mad
belief in unrest, I can discover the peace of God shining in me now.

WHAT IS FORGIVENESS?

PART 10: W-PII.1.5:3

There is another part to forgiveness. Since the Holy Spirit has
already forgiven me, carrying out His only function, I now
"must...share His function, and forgive whom He has saved" (5:3).

Consider what we have said about the way the Holy Spirit interacts
with us, how we can come to Him with our darkest thoughts and find
them absorbed and dissipated in His Love. The utter lack of judgment.
His gentleness with us, His acceptance of us, His knowledge of our
sinlessness, His honoring us as the Son of God, unchanged by our
foolish thoughts of sin. Now, we are to share His function in
relation to the world. Now, we are to be His representatives, His
manifestation in the lives of those around us. To them, we offer this
same gentle kindness, this same conviction of the inner holiness of
each one we deal with, this same quiet disregard for thoughts of
self-condemnation in everyone we see, or speak to, or think about.
"It is the privilege of the forgiven to forgive" (T-1.I.27:2).

What we reflect to the world is what we believe in for ourselves.
When we judge, condemn, and lay guilt on those around us, we are
reflecting the way we believe God is towards us. When we experience
the sweet forgiveness in the loving Presence of the Holy Spirit, we
reflect that same thing to the world. Let me, then, enter into His
Presence, allowing Him to look upon me, to find Him quietly doing
nothing, but simply looking, and waiting, and judging me not. Let me
hear Him tell me of His confidence in my ultimate success. And then,
let me turn and share this blessing with the world, giving what I
have received. Only as I share it will I know, for sure, that it is
mine.
    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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Portions from Clarification of Terms (c) Copyright 1975, Psychotherapy:
Purpose, Process and Practice, (c) 1976, The Song of Prayer, (c) 1978, are
used by permission of the copyright holder, The Foundation for "A Course in
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