[acimlessons_list] LESSON 352 - DECEMBER 18

[Sue Roth]

LESSON 352 - DECEMBER 18

"Judgment and love are opposites. From one 
Come all the sorrows of the world. But from 
The other comes the peace of God Himself."

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

In the introduction to the Text, Jesus says, "The opposite of love is fear,
but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite" (T-In.1:8). Here, he says
that love's opposite is judgment. If you relax your mind and let your
thinking go loosely associative, it is fairly easy to see that judgment and
fear are the same thing. If I judge something as bad, dangerous, or evil, I
will fear it. If I fear something I will judge it as bad. In "The Two
Emotions" (T-13.V), it is clear that both love and fear are "a way of
seeing," and that "different worlds arise from their different sights"
(T-13.V.10:2). The same thought is expressed here about judgment and love.
And in the surrounding sections of Chapter 13 it is very clear that in
giving up the past, we are being asked to give up judgment. The same network
of thoughts is there that is found here.

I think in this lesson, the Holy Spirit is viewing two <attitudes> or two
<activities> rather than two <emotions>. It is the attitude I have towards
others that is in focus, and how I extend myself towards them. Do I love, or
do I judge? Rather than how the other person impacts on me, which is the
focus in the "Two Emotions" section, the focus here is on how I impact on
the other person. The difference is in the direction of the flow of energy;
here, the flow being considered is from me to the other person.

All the sorrows of the world come from judgment; no wonder the Course asks
us to relinquish it. To love is not to judge; to judge is not to love.
Loving brings us peace; judging only sorrow. How to find peace? Give love.

	Forgiveness looks on sinlessness alone, and judges
	not. Through this I come to You.	(1:1-2)

Forgiveness means not judging; how can you judge and forgive at the same
time? Forgiveness sees only sinlessness, because only sinlessness is what we
are (see W-pII.14.1:6). And through such forgiveness we approach God.

	Judgment will bind my eyes and make me blind. Yet love,
	reflected in forgiveness here, reminds me You have
	given me a way to find Your peace again.    (1:3-4)

The Course makes a point, several times, of what is implied here by the
phrase "love, reflected in forgiveness here." Love in purity is impossible
in this world. "No love in this world is without.ambivalence" (T-4.III.4:6).
The closest reflection of love in this world is forgiveness. So the contrast
here is really between judgment and forgiveness. By choosing to forgive my
brothers rather than to judge them, I find my own peace again, the peace of
God.

Peace is lost to us through judgment; it blindfolds us to the truth. Love,
which is perfect only in Heaven, is still reflected perfectly here in
forgiveness. There is a way to find our way out of blindness, and the way is
forgiveness. It is affirming the unreality of our perception of sin in
anyone and everyone.

	I am redeemed when I elect to follow in this way. You
	have not left me comfortless. I have within both the
	memory of You, and One Who leads me to it.	(1:5-7)

We were lost, "sold" into slavery by our own hand. But God did not abandon
us. He gave us two things. It's interesting to notice the distinction here.
He gave us 1) the memory of God in our minds, and 2) the Holy Spirit Who
leads us to discover that memory. Many times I've heard people say that the
Holy Spirit is the memory of God within us; that isn't how it appears here.
The memory of God is something that is truly my own, part of me; my own
right mind remembers God. The Holy Spirit is the Guide Who leads me back to
rediscover the hidden treasure within my Self.

	Father, I would hear Your Voice and find Your peace
	today. For I would love my own Identity, and find in
	It the memory of You.	(1:8-9)

The memory of God lies in my own Identity. In remembering my Self I remember
God. Let His Voice lead me to that remembrance as I sit, quietly, with Him
today. I have very powerful help. And where that help leads me is to the
point of loving my own Identity. I cannot love what I am unless I love-in
the form of forgiveness-everyone else. That is so because what I am is
identical to what everyone is; we are all the Son of God, the Christ. If I
judge others I am judging myself, because I am what they are.

WHAT AM I?

Part 2: W-pII.14.1:4-6

	I am the holy Home of God Himself.	(1:4)

Wow! That makes more of an impact on us, put that way, than simply saying,
"God is in me." I am God's Home. Home is not just some place God happens to
be; it is where He resides, where He chooses to be, where He can make
Himself comfortable, so to speak. In Psalm 132:14, God is said to have
proclaimed about Zion, or Jerusalem, "This [is] my rest for ever: here will
I dwell; for I have desired it." Now, <we> are His home. Now, He speaks to
you, and to me, saying that we are His rest forever, that He will dwell in
us because He has desired it. That was His intention all along when He
created us.

	I am the Heaven where His Love resides.	(1:5) 

We may have naively believed that God lives in Heaven and not in us. Here,
we see that, yes, God lives or resides in Heaven, but <we are Heaven>. What
a mind-blower that is! I'll bet you have thought, for most of your life,
that if you were good enough, or if you were holy enough, or if you had
enough faith, you'd get to go to Heaven. Sorry, no go. You can't <go> to
Heaven because you <are> Heaven, where God's Love resides.

	I am His holy Sinlessness Itself, for in my purity
	abides His own.	(1:6) 

Did you notice that all three of these sentences use words about God's place
of residence? "...the holy Home...where His Love resides.in my purity abides
His own." God isn't just passing through! He isn't just visiting. He <lives>
here, in me, in you; this is His home. He <abides> [stays, remains] here, in
us.

I have to confess that I can't quite yet wrap my mind around the idea that I
<am> God's holy Sinlessness. "Sinlessness" seems like a rather abstract
concept; I have a little trouble understanding how I can <be>. sinlessness.
The second half of the sentence helps me out a little: "for in my purity
abides His own." 

I can sort of grasp it by an analogy. A parent who gives his or her time and
energy to raising a child, teaching it all they know, finds their own
success and happiness in that child's success and happiness. "My child's
happiness is my own. My child's success is my own." I think it is similar to
that. God extended Himself as us. What we are is His extension. Our purity
<is> His; if we are not sinless, no more is He. We are what He is, extended
outward. If I am not pure, He is not, for our nature is His. If we are what
He is, then it is true in reverse; He is what we are. Therefore, "I am His
holy Sinlessness Itself."