[acimlessons_list] Lesson 237 - August 25

[Sue Roth]

Lesson 237 - August 25

"NOW WOULD I BE AS GOD CREATED ME."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS

See complete Part II practice instructions. 
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

These lessons in Part II all seem to be about realizing Who or What I really
am. As the introduction to the Workbook says:

The workbook is divided into two main sections, the first dealing with the
undoing of the way you see now, and the second with the acquisition of true
perception. (W-In.3:1)

So the emphasis in this entire last section of the Workbook, the last 145
lessons, is on true perception. The assumption is that the reader has at
least become aware of the ego thought system in his life, although by no
means is it supposed that the ego is entirely undone. If that were the case,
additional lessons would not be needed.

What we are doing in these last lessons is putting the positive side of the
Course into practice, and attempting to bring it into application. "Now I
would be as God created me." The goal is not just to understand the idea and
file it away under "Facts: human nature, true," but <to be> the Son of God,
by bringing that truth to my awareness throughout the day, and living
accordingly.

"I will arise in glory" (1:2). Each day can begin in glory. Radiance, bright
outshining. Glory, according to my dictionary, means "majestic beauty and
splendor; resplendence." It is not a word we easily associate with
ourselves. Today I can make a conscious effort to be aware of my glory. I am
a radiant being. The light of love and joy shines out from me to bless the
world. Let me sit a moment in silence, just picturing that, being aware of
my own shining.

As I go through the day, let me

allow the light in me to shine upon the world throughout the day. I bring
the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as God my Father speaks to
me. (1:2-3)

This has more to do with being than with doing. It has more to do with
radiating than with speaking. We teach peace by <being> peaceful, not so
much by talking about it. If I am joyful, restful, loving, and accepting of
those around me, my attitude will speak louder than my words.

So in this day, as I work and visit with friends, let me be radiant. I am as
God created me, so I <am> radiant; I don't need to do anything to become
radiant. All that is needed is to notice what my thoughts would do to dim
that radiance, and to choose otherwise.

In a certain sense this supersedes the earlier lesson where I ask the Holy
Spirit where to go, what to do, and what to say. Now the emphasis is on what
I am. It really doesn't matter so much where I go, what I do, or what I say,
as long as I am acting as the being whom God created rather than my
independent self.

I come to see "the world that Christ would have me see" (1:4), and I see it
as "my Father's Call to me" (1:4). Seen through the eyes of Christ the world
can become a constant call to be who I am, to shine, to radiate His Love, to
be His Answer to the world.

WHAT IS SALVATION?

PART 7: W-PII.2.4:1

If the altar to God is within me, yet remains largely hidden from my
habitual awareness, what I need to do is to "come daily to this holy place"
(4:1). This is the practice of the holy instant recommended by the Text (see
T-15.II.5-6 and T-15.IV), a premeditated turning aside from our routine
activities to bring our minds into this holy place, with Jesus at our side
("Let <us> come...and spend a while together" [4:1, emphasis mine]). If you
are open to it, it seems to me that Jesus is here asking us to spend some
time, daily, with him, in God's presence. If the figure of Jesus is somehow
discordant for you, picture an anonymous spiritual guide, perhaps
representing your higher Self. With him or her, you enter this temple, stand
by the altar, and spend time there in communion with God.

We need to form this habit of bringing our minds into the holy instant,
reminding ourselves of the presence of Jesus (or the Holy Spirit),
remembering this altar to God within ourselves, with His Word written on it
(3:4). That Word, I think, is the Word of salvation, the promise He made
that we would find our way to Him (1:1). It is the Thought of peace, which
will replace our thoughts of conflict. This meeting place is where we
experience the unbroken communication between ourselves and God. This is
where we bathe in the flow of love that streams constantly between the
Father and the Son.

Chapter 14, Section VIII of the Text describes this holy meeting place, and
says:

All this is safe within you, where the Holy Spirit shines. He shines not in
division, but in the meeting place where God, united with His Son, speaks to
His Son through Him. Communication between what cannot be divided cannot
cease. The holy meeting place of the unseparated Father and His Son lies in
the Holy Spirit and in you. All interference in the communication that God
Himself wills with His Son is quite impossible here. Unbroken and
uninterrupted love flows constantly between the Father and the Son, as Both
would have it be. And so it is. (T-14.VIII.2:10-16)

<And so it is>. This is what I want to know and experience daily, in coming
to this place. Here I bring my guilt and fear and lay it down, accepting
Atonement for myself. Here my mind renews its contact with its Source. Here
I rediscover the unending communion which is mine, my inheritance as God's
Son. Here my nightmares are all banished, and I breathe the fragrant air of
Heaven and of home.