[acimlessons_list] Lesson 276 - October 3

[Sue Carrier Roth]

LESSON 276 - OCTOBER 3

The Word of God is given me to speak.

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.

Practice suggestion: The following is a visualization inspired by this
lesson.

	Imagine that you have traveled to the Middle East, far out into the
desert.
	You have come all this way to visit an ancient temple, which
contains a holy relic.
	See yourself standing before it. Perhaps it is one of those temples
carved from the rock of a cliff.
	You walk through the entrance and into a massive room, with lofty
ceilings and shafts of sunlight shining through high apertures.
	You walk down the central aisle and reach a flight of stairs on the
other side of this room.
	As you walk up the stairs you are filled with anticipation for what
you are about to see, the artifact you have journeyed all this way to look
upon.
	At the top of the stairs is a corridor. You walk down this and reach
a heavy, ancient curtain, on the other side of which is the inner sanctum of
this temple, the holy of holies.
	You pause, thinking about what lies on the other side of the
curtain, in this room.
	For in this room is the very stone tablet on which God wrote His
Word in the time of Moses.
	What artifact could be holier?
	You walk through the curtain and there, in the middle of a room
filled with candles, is the stone tablet. 
	Hardly breathing, you walk up to it and read the words carved into
it so long ago by the Hand of God.
	It says, <My Son, known as...> and here, to your astonishment, you
see your own name, <is pure and holy as Myself.>
	Your eyes are rooted. You can scarce believe what you read. What can
it mean that this was God's Word to humanity, that this was God's message
for the ages?
	While you are looking at the tablet and seeing its words-<My Son,
known as [name], is pure and holy as Myself>-try to take it in. Try to let
the magnitude of this truth sink all the way in. Let it wash over you like a
wave of realization.
	Now look around and see that the perimeter of the room is lined with
other stone tablets. 
	As you walk over to these you see that they have the same line
carved on them, only with a different name on each one. Each one has the
name of someone you know.
	Spend a minute or two now, going around the room, looking at each
tablet and seeing there the name of a different person in your life: <My
Son, known as [name], is pure and holy as Myself.>
	After you have spent time looking at each tablet, and have had one
last sacred look at the one in the middle with your name on it, you are
ready to leave the room.
	Being here and seeing what you've seen has been a holy experience,
one that will leave you forever changed.
	You realize now, as you stand before the curtain, ready to exit,
that your life has changed. Your job now is to bring this message to the
world, not just by talking about the truth you've discovered, but mainly by
conveying this stupendous truth with the way you behave towards people. 

Say, <The Word of God is given me to speak, with my lips, my hands, my eyes,
my deeds, my life, my love.>

COMMENTARY

The phrase <the Word of God> in A Course in Miracles is defined here as <My
Son is pure and holy as Myself> (1:2). In another place it is said to be <I
am as God created me> (W-pI.110.11:4-6). We were created by this Word; as in
the Bible, He spoke, and it was so. <God said, 'Let there be light,' and
there was light> (Gn 1:3). Even so, God spoke, <My Son is pure and holy as
Myself,> and the Son, pure and holy as God, came into being. God's Thought
of us was His creative act of Fatherhood; it stands unaltered and
unalterable. I cannot make my Self other than God created me.

	Let us accept His Fatherhood, and all is given us.	(1:5)

Hearing His Word is accepting His Fatherhood, accepting that we were created
in His Love and can be no other than what He created us to be. It is to
accept the Atonement (see M-22.1:6), the unassailable fact that I-that is,
my true Self and not my ego image of myself-am as pure and as holy as God
Himself.

	And it is this that I would speak to all my brothers, who are given
me to cherish as my own.	(2:2) 

What I want to communicate to my brothers and sisters is that they all share
this innocence with me. My grievances, my judgments, or my criticisms
communicate guilt. My forgiveness communicates their innocence. Father, show
me how to communicate the Atonement today; show me how, in word and deed, to
speak the Word of God: <You are as pure and holy as God.>

This clearly relates to the lead-in page on the Christ: 

	Christ is God's Son as He created him. He is the Self we share.
(W-pII.6.1:1-2)
	This is the only part of you that has reality in truth. The rest is
dreams.	(W-pII.6.3:2-3)

WHAT IS THE CHRIST?

Part 6: W-pII.6.3:4

	The rest is dreams. Yet will these dreams be given unto Christ, to
fade before His glory and reveal your holy Self, 	the Christ, to you
at last.	(3:3-4)

I may think, <Okay. Christ is the only real part of me. All the rest, the
stuff I think is really me most of the time, is just dreams. But these
dreams seem very, very real to me. What the heck do I do about all these
dreams?> The answer is in three words: the dreams are <given unto Christ.>
The Course often asks us to do this in varying forms; it speaks of bringing
our darkness to the light, of bringing our fantasies to reality, our
illusions to the truth. We, in our confusion, cannot see the truth about
ourselves or others, because we are blinded by our illusions. The Holy
Spirit was created for us to see the truth on our behalf until we can see it
for ourselves (see T-17.II.1:6-8). He represents Christ for us, in us. We
bring our dreams to Him, and He translates them into truth (4:1).

In practical terms this means that when I become aware that I am seeing from
the ego's standpoint of separation and attack, I need to become quiet, and
gently expose these beliefs to the Holy Spirit within my mind. I need to
tell Him, <This is how I am seeing things. Show me how You see them. I am
willing to see them differently.>

Our natural (read <egoic>) response when we discover dark thoughts in our
minds, thoughts like anger, jealousy, self-pity, and despair, is to hide
them, unless we are so blind as to totally identify with them and justify
them. Embarrassed at our misthoughts, we attempt to sweep them under the rug
and pretend they are not there. This does not dispel them, it merely causes
them to go underground. For instance, in speaking of the ego's hatred, the
Course teaches that we seek special love relationships to offset our hatred.
It says:

    	You cannot limit hate. The special love relationship will not offset
it, but will merely drive 	it underground and out of sight. It is
essential to bring it [the hate] into sight, and to 	make no attempt to
hide it.	(T-16.IV.1:5-7)

Hiding our unpleasant thoughts is denial. It leads straight to projection-we
see our hidden thoughts played out by others. We think we gain ego points by
condemning the other people. When we are upset by the mistakes of others,
this is what is happening (see T-17.I.6:5).

When, instead, we make no attempt to hide our own ego, but willingly bring
it to the light within us to be dispelled, it is dispelled. We don't have to
understand how this happens, because we do not do it; the Holy Spirit does
(see T-17.I.6:3-4). All we need be concerned about is being willing to have
it happen. When the illusions which are hiding the truth are dispelled, our
holy Self, the Christ, is revealed to us at last (3:4).