[acimlessons_list] Review II, Lesson 85 - March 26

[Sue Roth]

Review II, Lesson 85 - March 26

"My grievances hide the light of the world in me."

"My salvation comes from me."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

Longer: 2 times (once for each of the ideas), for about 15 minutes

* For 3 or 4 minutes, slowly read over the idea and comments (repeatedly if
you wish) and think about them. 
* Close your eyes and spend the remainder listening for the message the Holy
Spirit has for you. We can see this time of listening as having the
following components:

1. Listen "quietly but attentively" (3:1)-listen in stillness and with all
your attention.

2. Hold an attitude of confidence ("this message belongs to me"), desire ("I
want this message"), and determination ("I'm determined to succeed").

3. Listening for ten minutes can easily be one big invitation to mind
wandering, and so the majority of instruction for this exercise deals with
this issue. For out-of-control mind wandering, go back and repeat the first
phase. For more minor wandering, realize the distracting thoughts have no
power and that your will has all the power, and then replace the thoughts
with your will to succeed. Do so with firmness. "Do not allow your intent to
waver" (4:1). "Refuse to be sidetracked" (5:2).

This is not mentioned in the instructions, but you may find it helpful to
actually ask for the message, at the beginning and then periodically
throughout. You may say, for instance, "What is Your message for me today?"
You may even want to use this request as the specific vehicle for dispelling
wandering thoughts.

REMARKS: Regard these exercises as dedication to God. Refuse to be
distracted. Be determined to assume your function today.

SHORTER: Frequent

First half of day: "My grievances hide the light of the world in me."

Second half of day: "My salvation comes from me."

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION:

You may use these specific forms or your own words:

First half of day: "Let me not use this as a block to sight." "The light of
the world will shine all this away." "I have no need for this. I want to
see."

Second half of the day: "Let this not tempt me to look away from me for my
salvation. "I will not let this interfere with my awareness of the Source of
my salvation." "This has no power to remove salvation from me."

COMMENTARY

What is the "this" referred to in the six specific applications in this
lesson? What is it that might block my sight, that the light will shine
away? What is it that I have no need for, and which tempts me to look away
from me for my salvation? What is "this" that could interfere with my
awareness of the Source of salvation, and which seems to have power to
remove salvation from me?

"This" is grievances: anything I react to with less than the perfect love
which is my reality. Anything I do not like, or push away from me, or blame
for my problems, or look upon as less than God's creation. Anything within
myself I hold with something other than compassion and forgiveness. "My
grievances show me what is not there" (1:2). They cause me to see something
that is not real, and I react with fear or hatred or anger. My reactions are
as inappropriate as the fear of a child in the dark at a flapping curtain. I
am seeing something that isn't there, because only what God created is real.
I am jumping at shadows when the reality is sheer beauty. The grievances not
only show me things that aren't real, they hide what I really want.

If this is what my grievances really do, why would I want them? I do not
really want them; I have used them in a mistaken attempt to protect myself,
but I can recognize now that I no longer want them nor need them. I do not
blame myself for having chosen them in the past but I do not need to
continue to choose them now. <I want to see> and so I lay them aside
joyfully, without guilt, without regret.

What I am looking for is in my Self (3:3). I won't look outside of myself
today. "It is not found outside and then brought in. But from within me it
will reach beyond, and everything I see will but reflect the light that
shines in me and in itself" (3:6-7). My grievances tempt me to look outside
for salvation, thinking I know what must change out there to bring me peace,
feeling anger or sorrow or betrayal as I look on the things I blame for my
loss of peace. But I recognize today that the answer is in my Self. Rather
than seeking for the light, I will <be> the light today, and lighten my
whole world.