[acimlessons_list] Review II, Lesson 90 - March 31

[Sue Roth]

Review II, Lesson 90 - March 31

"Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved."

"Let me recognize my problems have been solved."

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: "Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved."
Second half of day: "Let me recognize my problems have been solved."

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION:

You may use these specific forms or your own words:

First half of day: "This presents a problem to me which I would have
resolved." "The miracle behind this grievance will resolve it for me." "The
answer to this problem is the miracle that it conceals."

Second half of the day: "I need not wait for this to be resolved." "The
answer to this problem is already given me, if I will accept it." "Time
cannot separate this problem from its solution."

COMMENTARY

This review places a different slant on these two ideas than in the original
lessons. There, the only problem was defined as separation. Here, more
directly in synch with the preceding lessons about grievances, "the problem
is always some form of grievance that I would cherish" (1:2). Of course
there is a close relationship between separation and grievances. A grievance
separates me from whatever or whoever I hold the grievance against. So we
could see a grievance as a thought or belief that separates me from my
brothers.

Later in the Workbook the same thought is stated slightly differently, in
terms of forgiveness or unforgiveness: "Certain it is that all distress does
not appear to be but unforgiveness. Yet that is the content underneath the
form" (W-pI.193.4:1-2). The problem is a grievance, or an unforgiveness. And
it doesn't always seem that way to us. Sometimes, when I feel distress of
some sort, or experience what seems to me to be a problem, I cannot for the
life of me see any grievance or unforgiveness in it. The ego is an expert at
camouflage. It survives by trickery and misdirection: "How can it maintain
the trick of its existence except with mirrors?" (T-4.IV.1:7) Its
temptations to attack or unforgiveness are often so well disguised I don't
detect them as such, although it is "certain" that is what they are. The
form deceives; the content is the same.

When I come to the Holy Spirit with my problems or my distress, I must be
willing to be shown the grievance or unforgiveness lurking in them. For me,
so often, what I find is a form of grievance against <myself>, some form of
self-judgment. Other times, I don't understand the connection between my
form of problem and forgiveness, but I assert my willingness to be shown,
and I consciously choose a miracle for all concerned, including myself. "The
problem is a grievance; the solution is a miracle" (1:5). If I can't see the
exact instance of unforgiveness in what I perceive as a problem, at least I
can choose a miracle instead of the problem. That willingness is enough.

The idea that the problem and the answer are "simultaneous in their
occurrence" (3:4) seems strange. It seems "natural" to separate them by
time: first the problem, then the answer. But if the problem is separation,
or a grievance, the concept becomes easier to understand. God answered the
separation with the Holy Spirit the instant the separation entered the mind
of God's Son (M-2.2:6). Every problem I perceive, therefore, has already
been resolved before I perceive it. "It is impossible that I could have a
problem which has not been solved already" (3:7), because separation--the
only problem there ever is--has already been resolved. Therefore I don't
have to wait for circumstances to change; I can accept the peace of complete
resolution <now>, without anything changing at all. "I need not wait for
this to be resolved" (4:2).

I have a long-standing relationship problem that, in time, has been going on
for over fifteen years (even longer), and which shows no outward signs of
resolution. The other party has absolutely no interest in--more properly,
has an aversion to--talking with me, so resolution, within time, seems
impossible. Yet I can let go of the tension this could produce in me. I can
be free of the stigma of "an unhealed relationship." In the holy instant I
can know that problem, that rift in relationship, has already been healed.
Down at the core of my mind and her mind, we are already one in love;
everything has been forgiven. The disease of separation has already been
innoculated, and the medicine of forgiveness is slowly and inexorably
spreading through both of our minds, moving from the invisible sphere of
spirit into the more concrete, thicker sphere of manifestation in the
material world. There is no cause for concern. "It is the destiny of all
relationships to become holy" (M-3.4:6). Today, I can recognize that this
problem has already been solved. I believe my doing so speeds the day that
healing will manifest in form. It may not be in this lifetime; what does
that matter? The healing has already taken place.

One thing I notice as I think this way about this relationship, even as I
write: Accepting that the problem is already solved frees me from the
temptation to blame the other person for her refusal to make peace. Aha! a
grievance was there, wasn't it, Allen? I accept a miracle in its place;
thank You.