[acimlessons_list] Review VI, Lesson 205 - July 24

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+ COMMENTARIES ON LESSONS FROM THE WORKBOOK OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES
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+ of The Circle of Atonement
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Review VI, Lesson 205 - July 24

Central theme:

"I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me."

Review of:

(185) "I want the peace of God."

Practice instructions

See instructions in Lesson 201 commentary..

Commentary

The introduction to Review VI says that "each of these ideas alone would be
sufficient for salvation, if it were learned truly" (W-pI.rVI.In.1:3). It
adds, "Each contains the whole curriculum if understood, practiced,
accepted, and applied to all the seeming happenings throughout the day"
(W-pI.rVI.In.2:2). I find that easy to believe about today's lesson. If you
are into memorization (as I am), this lesson is an excellent one to add to
your repertoire.

It's worth noticing the list of four verb forms that are identified as steps
in making any of these ideas into "the whole curriculum":

Understood: No matter how strongly the Course advocates experience, and
points out that a universal theology is impossible (see C-In.2:5), you
cannot get around the fact that it makes understanding very important. How
can we enter into the experience of an idea if we do not understand it?
Understanding is here presented as the fundamental step. Before we can
really utilize the idea "I want the peace of God," we have to understand it.
Implied in the idea (and clearly presented in Lesson 185) is the fact that
there is a very strong thought in my mind, perhaps unacknowledged, that I do
not want the peace of God, and this is demonstrated by the fact that I do
not experience it. That contrary thought, however, is a mistaken one, to be
dismissed whenever we become aware of it, and replaced with the truth: I
<do> want the peace of God.

Practiced: That is what we are doing in these Workbook lessons. Practicing.
Repeating frequently. Spending some extended time allowing the thought to
soak in and penetrate the recesses of our minds.

Accepted: Notice that acceptance comes after practice. Our minds do not
accept the idea at the start, even after we understand the idea. When we
begin to practice, we do not truly accept that we want the peace of God. We
think we want something else, something more, something besides peace. It
takes a good deal of practice to retrain our minds, until we begin to
realize that "the peace of God is everything I want" (1:2).

Applied: Having accepted the idea, we can now begin to apply it to each
different "seeming happening" during the day. When the car cuts us off in
traffic: "I want the peace of God." When we find ourselves wistfully longing
for a more fulfilling relationship: "The peace of God is everything I want."
When we begin to feel driven to obtain some earthly goal at any cost: "The
peace of God is my one goal" (1:3). When we start to think we don't know
what to do or where to go: "The peace of God is the aim of all my living
here." And when we start to feel impelled to fulfill some need of our
bodies: "I am not a body. The peace of God is everything I want. I am free."

Thank You, Father, for today's reminder of Your peace. There is nothing else
I need, and nothing else I want. Oh, may today's lesson become the keynote
of my life, so that I can say and truly mean: "The peace of God is my <one>
goal." 
 
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+ Commentary by Allen Watson
+ Practice Summary: Robert Perry
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