[acimlessons_list] LESSON 345 - DECEMBER 11

[Sue Roth]

LESSON 345 - DECEMBER 11

"I offer only miracles today, 
For I would have them be returned to me."

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.

COMMENTARY

The basic thought is similar to yesterday's: what I give is returned to me.
Realizing this is so, let me decide as this day starts, and as every day
starts, to offer only what I want. Miracles. To give a miracle means to see
past the illusions of my brothers, and to see them as they really are, as
God's creations. It means not to accept and support the image my brother has
of himself as a limited ego, a tiny fragment of mind trapped in a body.
Instead, I see him as an unlimited being of spirit, magnificent in glory. In
Chapter 8 of the Text we are told:

	But when you look upon a brother as a physical entity,
	his power and glory are "lost" to you and so are
	yours...Do not see him this way for your own salvation,
	which must bring him his. Do not allow him to belittle
	himself in your mind, but give him freedom from his
	belief in littleness, and thus escape from yours.
(T-8.VII.5:3, 5-6)

That is giving a miracle. Refusing to see my brother in the limited way he
sees himself; seeing the Christ in him, for him. The miracle thus blesses
both me and my brother, for as my mind is healed of illusions, it reflects
on him as well and brings light to his mind. I give him the opportunity to
see himself as God sees him.

	The law of love is universal. Even here, it takes a form
	which can be recognized and seen to work.	(1:2-3) 

The "law of love" was stated yesterday: "that what I give my brother is my
gift to me." The form this law takes here is something I can recognize. It
isn't merely abstract; it takes form, it becomes concrete. When I offer
miracles to those around me, they return to me, not in exactly the form in
which I offered them, but in just the form I need to meet my needs as I
perceive them (1:4). In Heaven there are no needs (1:5); here on earth, I do
perceive needs, and the law of love adapts to my perception (1:6).

I can offer a miracle with a profound act of forgiveness, or I can offer a
miracle with a smile to a passerby that tells him, "You are loveable." I
offer a miracle with every gesture of kindness, every token of courtesy,
every expression of respect, and every act of caring. Whatever the form, if
the content of the message is "You are loveable. You are worthy. You are
innocent," I have offered the miracle, and it will return to me.

Let me choose, Father, to enter into my day determined to offer nothing but
miracles to those around me. May I say, from the depth of my heart:

	Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light has come
	to offer miracles to bless the tired world.	(2:1-2)

And before I step out into the bustle of today, let me pause for a few
minutes and spend them simply offering peace to every seeking heart that
comes to mind. No such effort is ever wasted, and I will receive as much as
I am willing to give.

WHAT IS A MIRACLE?

Part 5: W-pII.13.3:1-3

	Forgiveness is the home of miracles. The eyes of
	Christ deliver them to all they look upon in mercy
	and in love. Perception stands corrected in His
	sight, and what was meant to curse has come to bless.	

A miracle corrects perception, and miracles live in forgiveness. When we
look with the eyes of Christ, we see with mercy and in love; we see with
forgiveness. And we then "deliver" miracles to everyone we see with that
corrected perception. It is not just that something changes within our
minds, not just that our perception is altered; something gets communicated
or "delivered" from us to those we look upon. A miracle here, and in many
places in the Course, seems to include an aspect in which something passes
from my forgiving mind to the minds of others. Miracles are said to be
"interpersonal" (T-1.II.1:4). When I accept forgiveness within my mind, for
myself or another, it extends to others. Indeed it is by extending it that I
accept it:

	Miracles are natural signs of forgiveness. Through
	miracles you accept God's forgiveness by extending
	it to others.	(T-1.I.21:1-2)

The phrase "and what was meant to curse has come to bless" reminds me of the
Bible story of Joseph and his brothers. Because Joseph was the favorite of
his father, his brothers, jealous of him, sold him into slavery in Egypt.
But Joseph, because of his ability to interpret the Pharaoh's dreams, rose
to great power in Egypt. Years later, in a famine, his family came to Egypt
seeking food, and Joseph was the man in control of the food supply. Instead
of taking vengeance on them, Joseph told them:

	God sent me before you to preserve life...it was not
	you who sent me here, but God..You meant evil against
	me, but God meant it for good.	(Gn 45:5, 8; 50:20)

When we have truly received forgiveness into our hearts, we will be able to
see the blessing even in actions that others intend for our harm. "What was
meant to curse has come to bless." We find that, as the Text says: 

	Gratitude is due him for both his loving thoughts and his
	appeals for help [that is, what we normally see as his
	attacks], for both are capable of bringing love into
	your awareness if you perceive them truly.	(T-12.I.6:2)

And <that> kind of perception is, indeed, a miracle.