[acimlessons_list] LESSON 346 - DECEMBER 12

[Sue Roth]

LESSON 346 - DECEMBER 12

"Today the peace of God envelops me, 
And I forget all things except His Love."

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.

Practice suggestion: This is one of the most beautiful prayers in the
Workbook. It speaks of a day in which I am so caught up in the experience of
God's Love that I forget everything else. The things of time fade away and
the laws of time no longer bind me. This prayer is very similar to the
prayers for Lesson 232 ("Be in my mind, my Father, through the day") and
Lesson 310 ("In fearlessness and love I spend today"). All three speak of
spending our day with God rather than with all our earthly tasks and
happenings. I highly recommend taking some time this morning and praying
this prayer over and over. Let it usher you into the joyous day of which it
speaks. Fix a line in your mind, close your eyes, and say that line to God,
as sincerely as you can. Then open your eyes and do the same with the next
line. You may want to write the prayer down on a card so you can use it each
hour. You may even want to memorize it. The beauty of memorization is that
it enables you to use the prayer anytime, anywhere, and do so without
opening your eyes to read each line, thus allowing you to absorb yourself in
the prayer more fully.

COMMENTARY

Before I begin to comment on the lesson, let me share a few thoughts in
preparation.

Many of the lessons in the latter part of the Workbook, particularly this
one, are coming to us from a state of right-mindedness. That state is the
goal of the Course's curriculum. Therefore, for most of us, probably all of
us, it represents a state of mind we do not normally live in. I know there
is a part of me that resonates in perfect harmony with this lesson, but
there is also another part that stands off cynically and says to me, "Forget
all things except His Love? Hah! More likely you will remember everything
except His Love. How long will this high-falutin' attitude last after you
walk out the door?" And if this is so, why bother with the lesson at all?

Why bother? Because there is a part of my mind that sings in harmony with
the lesson, and it is the only "part" that is real. Each time I seek to
align myself with thoughts like these, and to let the significance of them
wash over me and draw me with them, something happens. Even if after reading
and quietly meditating on them I feel as though nothing has happened,
something <has> happened. And if, even for an instant, I can harmonize my
mind with them so that, just for that instant, I mean the words as I say
them, I may have saved as much as a thousand years in my spiritual
development. Truly, truly, it is worth the effort. <We> are worth the
effort.

So as we read this lesson now, let us simply attempt to suspend our
disbelief for just an instant, and let these words be true for us. Let us
believe that what we say represents our true Self, for it does. Let us be in
the spirit of these words.

It all seems so simple sometimes. All there is to do is to be happy.
Sometimes I feel as if I could simply "be there" right now, with no more
effort or struggle. All the strain and struggle comes from resistance, not
from any effort to be enlightened or holy. Simply forget all things except
His Love. Simply remember nothing but the peace of God.

When those thoughts come to me, I notice, still, a fear of loss. It feels as
if I am giving up something valuable when I give up struggle. Yet all I am
giving up is pain.

What if I simply started being happy all the time? What if I let go of all
insistence that anything be different?

	Father, I wake today with miracles correcting my
	perception of all things. And so begins the day I
	share with You as I will share eternity, for time
	has stepped aside today.	(1:1-2)

I can share this day with God just as I will share eternity with Him. There
is nothing to do, nothing to achieve. Salvation asks nothing of me that I
cannot give <right now>.

	I do not seek the things of time, and so I will not look
	upon them. What I seek today transcends all laws of time
	and things perceived in time. I would forget all things
	except Your Love.	(1:3-5)

In all my seeking, Father, what I seek is really Your Love. The things of
time will never satisfy me; in this moment I gladly forget them all. I come
to You, needing only Your Smile to fill my heart to overflowing.

	I would abide in You, and know no laws except Your
	law of love. And I would find the peace which You 
	created for Your Son, forgetting all the foolish toys 
	I made as I behold Your glory and my own.	(1:6-7)

Only my belief that I am not worthy of Your Love keeps me from enjoying it
in every moment. Your Love is not lacking. I let myself relax in It and lean
back on It. I am sustained by Your Love. There is nothing else. In Your
Love, I behold not only Your glory, but my own glory as well, for Love is
what I am.

	And when the evening comes today, we will 
	remember nothing but the peace of God. For we 
	will learn today what peace is ours, when we 
	forget all things except God's Love.	(2:1-2)

What is there to prevent me from having a day like this? Nothing. I open my
heart to Love. The Love of God rolls over me like a mighty ocean, and I am
carried in Its current, surrounded by It, afloat in It.

WHAT IS A MIRACLE?

Part 6: W-pII.13.3:4-5

	Each lily of forgiveness offers all the world
	 the silent miracle of love.	(3:4)

Love is the real miracle. 

	Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love.
	The real miracle is the love that inspires them. 
	In this sense everything that comes from love is
	a miracle.	(T-1.I.3:1-3) 

The symbol of the lily represents a gift of forgiveness I give to a brother
or sister. Each time I offer this gift, I am offering God's Love to the
entire world. I am opening a floodgate and allowing that Love to flow into
the world through me. Wherever that river of Love comes, life springs up;
and that is the miracle.

	And each [lily] is laid before the Word of God, upon the
	universal altar to Creator and creation in the light of
	perfect purity and endless joy.	(3:5) 

My gift of forgiveness given to my brother is also a gift to God. My
gratitude to my brothers is my gift to God. In acknowledging His creation, I
acknowledge Him. Opening to this current of Love is the source of perfect
purity and endless joy. There is nothing so joyful as a loving heart.