[acimlessons_list] Lesson 281 - Octboer 8

[Sue Carrier Roth]

Lesson 281 * October 8

"I CAN BE HURT BY NOTHING BUT MY THOUGHTS."

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: Think of something that seems to be hurting you, and
say:

<This outer thing cannot hurt me.

Only my thoughts about it hurt me.

Let me see it through God's Thoughts, for they can only bring me happiness>.

COMMENTARY

If I am perfect I cannot be hurt; it would make me less than perfect. Our
reasoning tells us our life would be perfect if it were free from pain, but
we are not free from pain, and therefore we must not be perfect. The
Course's reason works in the opposite direction: we are perfect; pain would
mean imperfection; therefore the pain must be some kind of illusion. "When I
think that I am hurt in any way, it is because I have forgotten who I am,
and that I am as You created me" (1:2). In other words, we only <think> we
are hurt. If we remembered who we really are, we could not be hurt.

Another way of thinking about this is to say that my true Self cannot be
hurt; only my illusory self can be hurt, and that, only by my own thoughts.
Granted, we make some pretty darn good illusions! But that is all they are:
illusions.

Pain comes when we put our own thoughts in place of the Thought of God
(1:4). The cause is always in my thinking and nowhere else; nothing outside
my mind can hurt me. When I feel attacked, it is always me attacking me. Not
even the unloving thoughts of my brothers can hurt me if my mind is thinking
God's Thoughts with Him. Early in the Text we are told:

In reality you are perfectly unaffected by all expressions of lack of love.
These can be from yourself and others, from yourself to others, or from
others to you. Peace is an attribute <in> you. You cannot find it outside.
(T-2.I.5:6-9)

What I am in truth is "far beyond all pain" (2:2). The Holy Spirit is our
Teacher to help us remember that this is who we are. As Lesson 248 tells us:

Whatever suffers is not part of me. What grieves is not myself. What is in
pain is but illusion in my mind. (W-pII.248.1:3-5)

Not only is pain an illusion; the illusion of pain is experienced by an
illusion of myself. It is my thoughts, specifically my thoughts about
myself, that cause this illusion. When I think I am what God created not, I
experience pain.

Let the words "I will not hurt myself today" be much in my mind today, my
Father.

WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

PART 1: W-PII.7.1:1-2

"The Holy Spirit mediates between illusions and the truth" (1:1). He bridges
"the gap between reality and dreams" (1:2). Illusions and truth are mutually
exclusive; reality and dreams can never meet. Our minds are caught in
illusions, and in order to restore them to truth, something or Someone is
needed who can act as a bridge, somehow connecting the unconnectable. This
is the purpose served by the Holy Spirit. He bridges the gap because He is
able to operate in both arenas; He touches on illusion without losing
contact with the truth. He is the One Who "mediates," bringing illusion back
to truth.

Because He is what He is, "those who turn to Him for truth" (1:2) can be led
to truth by means of the very perception which is part of their illusion.
Without Him, perception would lead only to more perception, the illusion
continually reinforcing itself. Because the Holy Spirit, Who is within us
and part of our minds (as well as part of God's), is linked eternally to
truth, He can guide our perception in such a way as to undo our illusions
and restore us to knowledge. This ability is "the grace that God has given
Him" (1:2).

Our part in the equation, then, is simply to "turn to Him for truth." We
bring our perceptions to Him, and He translates them into true perception,
which leads straight to knowledge. He plays a very clear and crucial role in
the Course's prescription for healing our minds. If He were not there,
within us, there would be no bridge between reality and illusion. The more
actively we cooperate with Him, consciously and willingly bringing our
perceptions to Him, asking for the truth instead of our illusions, the more
He can help us.

The word "turn" is an interesting one. It is a mental turning, a mental
change of direction that can be almost physically felt when it occurs.
Sometimes it feels as though we must literally tear our minds away from
their focus on fear, and impel our thoughts towards the light like a flower
turning to the sun. When I am distraught, I have found great power in simply
closing my eyes and saying, "I turn to You." Almost at once, if these words
are heartfelt, there comes a great sense of peace, a great widening of the
horizons of my mind. I sense the Presence of infinite Help and Wisdom,
waiting to assist. I feel the nearness of the Great Mediator, filled with
the grace God has given Him, ready to purify my perception and lead me
towards the truth. May we learn, more and more often, to turn to Him for
truth.