[acimlessons_list] LESSON 297 - OCTOBER 24

[Sue Roth]

LESSON 297 - OCTOBER 24

"Forgiveness is the only gift I give."

PRACTICE INSTRUCTIONS 

See complete Part II practice 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: The opening lines of this lesson are pure gold. I find
them very powerful if used as a kind of practice. Here is how I have done
that. Pick a particular person in your life, especially someone important to
you, and apply the following to him/her:

     Forgiveness is the only gift I give,
       (Think of seeing past that person's flawed body and personality and
seeing the pure Son of God in him/her.)
     Because it is the only gift I want.
       (Think about the guilt you feel in this relationship, about how much
you want to feel forgiven for all your mistakes in the relationship.)
     And everything I give I give myself. 
       (Feel your gift of forgiveness returning to you. Let yourself feel
absolved from all your own mistakes in the relationship. See past your own
flaws to the pure Son of God in you.)

I highly recommend doing this practice every hour today. It will bring
wonderful benefits.

COMMENTARY

What do I want to have? Whatever it is, to give it is the way to have it.
And the more I grow, the more I realize that "Forgiveness..is the only gift
I want" (1:1).

What can I possibly want more than absolute freedom from the burden of
self-judgment? What can I possibly want besides this? To be free of
self-condemnation is to acknowledge my perfection and completion as God
created me. It is to recognize that nothing I have ever done, ever thought,
or ever said has ever diminished, even in the slightest, my value and
loveliness in God's sight.

If this is what I want, let me give it today, because "everything I give I
give to myself" (1:2). Let me extend this recognition to everyone I meet
today, that nothing they have ever done, ever thought, or ever said has ever
diminished, even in the slightest, their worth and value in my sight.

Every step in my salvation is already set (2:1). Nothing has been
overlooked. There is no need to be restless or anxious, concerned about
whether I will make it or when I will make it. I will. That is all I need to
know. It is accomplished already, and I can travel this illusory journey in
peace knowing that in reality it is already over.

WHAT IS THE REAL WORLD?

Part 7: W-pII.8.4:1

The real world is the symbol that the dream of sin and guilt is over, and
God's Son no longer sleeps.	(W-pII.8.4:1)

The world that is seen by a mind that is at peace, having forgiven itself,
is a symbol. A symbol represents something, or stands for something; it is
not the thing itself, but something that indicates it or pictures it. What
does the real world symbolize? "That the dream of sin and guilt is over, and
God's Son no longer sleeps."
The real world is a symbol telling us that our dream of sin and guilt is
already over, and in reality, we are already awake. The sight of the real
world is a sign to us that what perception sees is only a dream, and there
is a higher reality beyond it. When we see nothing to condemn, that sight is
telling us of a higher order of reality. When we perceive only safety, love,
and joy surrounding us, with no danger lurking anywhere, that perception is
communicating to us that we are not these bodies, nor does life have an end.
It is telling us that only love is real, and fear does not exist. Within the
illusion of perception, we are seeing something that speaks of an eternal
reality. What we see reminds us that we are not the dream. Our mind is
already awake, because: 
God creates only mind awake. He does not sleep, and His creations cannot
share what He gives not, nor make conditions which He does not share with
them.	(W-pI.167.8:1-2)

Mind exists only awake, because God created it awake. What He creates can't
be asleep if He did not give us that sleep. Nor can we make ourselves be
asleep. Therefore we must be already awake. That is what the real world
symbolizes to us. Within the illusion it speaks to us of our eternal
reality. Within the world, the perception of this symbol is our only goal.
Anything more than this takes us beyond the world of perception entirely.
Our ultimate destination <is> beyond this world. But although it is our
ultimate destination, what lies beyond perception is not our concern <now>.
Our work lies in the realm of perception: "Perception must be straightened
out before you can know anything" (T-3.III.1:2). "Instruction in perception
is your great need" (T-11.VIII.3:5).
We are engaged in the process of letting our perception be straightened out,
which is what forgiveness does. As we do this, we will see the real world
more clearly and more frequently, until it is all we see. And then our work
will be done, and God will reach down and take us home.

Forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. It is the
reflection of God's Love on earth. It will bring me near enough to Heaven
that the Love of God can reach down to me and raise me up to Him.
(W-pI.60.1:4-6)