"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists.
Herein Lies the peace of God."
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A
Course in Miracles
TEXT
CHAPTER 9
The Correction of Error
PAUSED FOR WEEKEND
IX. The Decision to Forget
68
Unless you
know
something, you
cannot
dissociate it. Knowledge therefore
precedes
dissociation, and dissociation is nothing more than a
decision to forget
. What has been forgotten then appears to be fearful, but
only
because the dissociation was an
attack
on truth. You are fearful
because
you have forgotten. And you have
replaced
your knowledge by an awareness of dreams because you are
afraid
of your dissociation,
not
of what you have dissociated. Even in this world's therapy, when dissociated material is
accepted
,it ceases to be fearful, for the laws of mind always hold.
69
Yet to give up the dissociation of
reality
brings more than merely lack of fear. In
this
decision lie joy and peace and the glory of creation. Offer the Holy Spirit only your will to remember, for He retains the knowledge of God and of yourself
for
you, waiting for your acceptance. Give up gladly
everything
that would stand in the way of your remembering, for God is in your memory, and His Voice will tell you that you are part of Him when you are willing to remember Him and know your own reality again. Let nothing in this world delay your remembering of Him, for in this remembering is the knowledge of
yourself
.
70
To remember is merely to restore to your mind
what is already there
. You do not
make
what you remember; you merely accept again what has been made but was rejected. The ability to accept truth in this world is the perceptual counterpart of creating in the Kingdom. God will do His part if you will do yours, and
His
return in exchange for yours is the exchange of knowledge
for
perception.
Nothing
is beyond His Will for you. But signify your will to remember Him and behold! He will give you everything but for the asking.
71
When you attack, you are denying
yourself
. You are specifically teaching yourself that you are
not
what you are. Your denial of reality precludes the
acceptance
of God's gift because you have accepted something
else
in its place. If you understand that the misuse of defenses always constitutes an attack on truth and truth is God, you will realize why this is
always
fearful. If you further recognize that you are
part
of God, you will understand why it is that you always attack yourself
first
.
72
[
All
attack is self-attack. It cannot
be
anything else. Arising from your
own
decision
not
to be what you
are, it is an attack on your identification
. Attack is thus the way in which your identification is lost because, when you attack, you
must
have forgotten what you are. And if your reality is God's, when
you
attack you are not remembering
Him
. This is not because He is gone, but because you are willing
actively not to remember Him
.]
73
If you realized the complete havoc this makes of your peace of mind, you could not make such an insane decision. You make it only because you still believe that it can
get
you something you
want
. It follows, then, that you want something
other
than peace of mind, but you have not considered what it must be. Yet the logical outcome of your decision is perfectly clear if you will
look
at it. By deciding
against
your reality, you have made yourself vigilant
against
God and His Kingdom. And it is
this
vigilance that makes you afraid to remember Him.
74
You have
not
attacked God, and you
do
love Him. Can you change your reality? No one can will to destroy himself. When you think you are attacking your self, it is a sure sign that you hate what you
think
you are. And this, and
only
this, can
be
attacked by you. What you
think
you are can be hateful, and what this strange image makes you do can be very destructive. Yet the destruction is no more real than the image, although those who make idols
do
worship them. The idols are nothing, but their worshipers are the Sons of God in sickness.
75
God would have them released from their sickness and returned to His Mind. He will not
limit
your power to help them because He has
given
it to you. Do not be afraid of it because it is your salvation. What Comforter can there be for the sick Children of God except His power through
you
? Remember that it does not matter
where
in the Sonship He is accepted. He is
always
accepted for all, and when
your
mind receives Him, the remembrance of Him awakens throughout the Sonship. Heal your brothers simply by accepting God
for
them.
76
Your minds are not separate, and God has only one channel for healing because He has but one Son. His remaining communication link with all His Children joins them together and them to Him. To be aware of this is to heal them because it is the awareness that no one is separate, and so no one is sick. To believe that a Son of God
can
be sick is to believe that part of God can suffer. Love
cannot
suffer because it cannot attack. The remembrance of love therefore brings invulnerability with it.
77
Do not side with sickness in the presence of a Son of God even if
he
believes in it, for
your
acceptance of God in him
acknowledges
the love of God which he has forgotten. Your recognition of him as
part
of God teaches him the truth about himself, which he is denying. Would you
strengthen
his denial of God and thus lose sight of
yourself
? Or would you remind him of his wholeness and remember your Creator
with
him? To believe a Son of God is sick is to worship the same idol he does. God created love,
not
idolatry. All forms of idolatry are caricatures of creation, taught by sick minds which are too divided to know that creation
shares
power and
never
usurps it. Sickness is idolatry because it is the belief that power can be taken
from
you. Yet this is impossible because you are part of God, Who
is
all power.
78
A sick god
must
be an idol, made in the image of what its maker thinks
he
is. And that is exactly what the ego
does
perceive in a Son of God; a sick god, self-created, self-sufficient, very vicious, and very vulnerable. Is
this
the idol you would worship? Is
this
the image you would be vigilant to
save
? [Are you
really
afraid of losing
this
?] Look calmly at the logical conclusion of the ego's thought system and judge whether its offering is really what you want, for this
is
what it offers you. To
obtain
this you are willing to attack the divinity of your brothers and thus lose sight of
yours
. And you are willing to keep it hidden and to protect this idol, which you think will save you from the dangers which the idol itself
stands for
, but which do not exist.
79
There are no idolaters in the Kingdom, but there is great appreciation for every Soul which God created because of the calm knowledge that each one is part of Him. God's Son knows no idols, but he
does
know his Father. Health in this world is the counterpart of value in Heaven. It is not my merit that I contribute to you but my love, for you do not value yourselves. When you do not value yourself, you become sick, but
my
value of you can heal you because the value of God's Son is one. When I said, "My peace I give unto you," I meant it. Peace came from God through me to
you
. It was for you, although you did not ask.
80
When a brother is sick, it is because he is
not
asking for peace and therefore does not know he
has
it. The
acceptance
of peace is the denial of illusion, and sickness
is
an illusion. Yet every Son of God has the power to deny illusions
anywhere
in the Kingdom merely by denying them completely in himself. I can heal you because I know you. I know your value
for
you, and it is this value that makes you whole. A whole mind is not idolatrous and does not know of conflicting laws. I will heal you merely because I have only
one
message, and it is true. Your faith in it will make you whole when you have faith in me.
81
I do not bring God's message with deception, and you will learn this as you learn that you always receive as much as you
accept
. You could accept peace
now
for everyone you meet and offer them perfect freedom from
all
illusions because
you
heard. But have no other gods before Him, or you will
not
hear. God is not jealous of the gods you make, but
you
are. You would save them and serve them because you believe that they made
you.
You think they are your father because you are projecting onto them the fearful fact that
you
made them to
replace
God. Yet when they seem to speak to you, remember that nothing
can
replace God, and whatever replacements you have attempted
are
nothing.
82
Very simply, then, you may
believe
you are afraid of nothingness, but you are really afraid of
nothing
. And in
that
awareness you are healed. You
will
hear the god you listen to. You
made
the god of sickness, and
by
making him, you made yourself able to hear him. Yet you did not create him because he is
not
the Will of the Father. He is therefore not eternal and will be
unmade
for you the instant you signify your willingness to accept
only
the eternal. If God has but one Son, there is but one God. You share reality with Him because reality is not divided. To accept other gods before Him is to place other images before
yourself.
83
You do not realize how much you listen to your gods and how vigilant you are on their behalf. Yet they exist only
because
you honor them. Place honor where it is due, and peace will be yours. It is your inheritance from your
real
Father. You cannot make your father, and the father you made did not make you. Honor is not due to illusions, for to honor them is to honor nothing. Yet fear is not due them either, for nothing cannot be fearful. You have chosen to fear love
because
of its perfect harmlessness, and because of this fear, you have been willing to give up your own perfect helpfulness and your own perfect Help.
84
Only at the altar of God will you find peace. And this altar is in you because God put it there. His Voice still calls you to return, and He will be heard when you place no other gods before Him. You can give up the god of sickness for your brothers; in fact, you would
have
to do so if you give him up for yourself. For if you see him anywhere, you have accepted him. And if you accept him, you
will
bow down and worship him because he was made as God's replacement. He is the belief that you can
choose
which god is real. Although it is perfectly clear that this has nothing to do with reality, it is equally clear that it has
everything
to do with reality as you perceive it.
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A Course in Miracles
WORKBOOK
Part I
Review III
1 Our third review begins today. We will review two of the last 20 ideas each day until we have reviewed them all. We will observe a special format for these practice periods which you are urged to follow as closely as you can. We understand, of course, that it may be impossible for you to undertake what is suggested here as optimal each day and every hour of the day.
2 Learning will not be hampered when you miss a practice period because it is impossible at the appointed time. Nor is it necessary that you make excessive efforts to be sure that you catch up in terms of numbers. Rituals are not our aim and would defeat our learning goal.
3 But learning will be hampered when you skip a practice period because you are unwilling to devote the time to it which you are asked to give. Do not deceive yourself in this. Unwillingness can be most carefully concealed behind a cloak of situations you cannot control. Learn to distinguish situations which are poorly suited to your practicing from those which you establish to uphold a camouflage for your unwillingness.
4 Those practice periods which you have lost because you did not want to do them for whatever reason should be done as soon as you have changed your mind about your goal. You are unwilling to cooperate in practicing salvation only if it interferes with goals you hold more dear. When you withdraw the value given them, allow your practice periods to be replacements for your litanies to them. They gave you nothing. But your practice periods offer you everything. Accept their offering and be at peace.
5 The format you should use for these reviews is this: devote five minutes twice a day or longer if you would prefer to contemplating the ideas assigned. Read over the ideas and comments which are written first in each day's exercises. Then begin to think about them quietly, letting your mind relate them to your needs, your seeming problems, and all your concerns.
6 Place the ideas within your mind, and let it use them as it chooses. Give it faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who gave the thoughts to you. What can you trust but what is in your mind? Have faith, in these reviews, the means the Holy Spirit uses will not fail. The wisdom of your mind will come to your assistance. Give it direction at the start, then lean back in quiet faith, and let it use the ideas you have given it as they were given you.
7 You have been given them in perfect trust, in perfect confidence that you would use them well, in perfect faith that you would understand their messages and use them for yourself. Offer them to your mind in that same trust and confidence and faith. It will not fail. It is the Holy Spirit's chosen means for your salvation. And with His trust merits yours as well.
8 We emphasize the benefits to you if you devote the first five minutes of the day to your review and also give the last five minutes of your waking day to it. If this cannot be done, at least try to divide them so you undertake one in the morning, and the other in the hour just before you go to sleep.
9 The exercises to be done throughout the day are equally important and perhaps of even greater value. You have been inclined to do the exercises and then go on to other things, without applying what you learned to them. As a result, your learning has had little reinforcement, and you have not given it the opportunity to prove its worth to you.
10 Here is another chance to use it well. In these reviews we stress the need to let your learning not lie idly by between your longer practice periods. Attempt to give your daily two ideas a brief but serious review each hour. Use one on the hour and the other one a half an hour later. You need not give more than just a moment to each one.
11 Repeat it, and allow your mind to rest a little time in silence and in peace. Then turn to other things, but try to keep the thought with you and let it serve to help you keep your peace throughout the day. If you are shaken, think of it again. These practice periods are planned to help you form the habit of applying what you learn each day to everything you do.
12 Do not repeat it and then lay it down. Its usefulness is limitless to you. And it is meant to serve you in all ways, all times and places, and whenever you need help of any kind. Try, then, to take it with you in the business of the day and make it holy, worthy of God's Son, acceptable to God and to your Self.
13 Each day's review assignment will conclude with a restatement of the thought to use each hour and the one to be applied on each half hour as well. Forget them not. This second chance with each of these ideas will bring such large advances that we come from these reviews with learning gains so great that we begin again on solid ground.
14 Do not forget how little you have learned. Do not forget how much you can learn now. Do not forget your Father's need of you as you review these thoughts He gave to you.
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A Course in Miracles
WORKBOOK
Lesson 111
[Review of Lessons 91-92]
1 For morning and evening review:
[91] Miracles are seen in light.
2
I cannot see in darkness. Let the light of holiness and truth light up my mind, and let me see the innocence within.
[92] Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.
3
I see through strength, the gift of God to me. My weakness is the dark His gift dispels by giving me His strength to take its place.
4 On the hour:
5
Miracles are seen in light.
6 On the half hour:
7
Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.
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ACIM Edmonton
Sarah's Reflections
Lesson 111
Review III ~ Lessons 91-92
The introduction makes some suggestions that require our attention. First, the importance of not ritualizing our practice periods is stressed.
"Rituals are not our aim, and would defeat our goal." (W. Review III.IN.2.4) They should not be rote activities,
"Nor is it necessary that you make excessive efforts to be sure that you catch up in terms of numbers." (W.RIII.IN.2.3) Instead, what is stressed here is willingness. There are many places in the Course that emphasize the importance of being willing. Our learning will not be hampered if we miss a practice because for some reason it is impossible to do what is suggested. However, learning will be hampered if we miss a practice period because we are unwilling to devote the time to it.
This is interesting because Jesus is helping us to see our resistance.
"Yet the wish for other experience will block its accomplishment, because God's Will cannot be forced upon you, being an experience of total willingness." (T.8.III.2.3) (ACIM OE T.8.IV.17) How important is this journey to peace for you? How devoted are you to your awakening to the truth of who you are? The answer will be reflected in how willing you are to do this practice. How willing are you to give time to it?
"But learning will be hampered when you skip a practice period because you are unwilling to devote the time to it that you are asked to give." (W.RIII.IN.3.1)
Jesus talks about how we can hide our unwillingness by telling ourselves that it is just not convenient to practice, and sometimes, this is the case. There are, however, other times when we lie to ourselves to camouflage our unwillingness. (W.RIII.IN.3.4) This is something we must look at, not only with the practice but in other ways, where we lie to ourselves and rationalize our behavior, which is a form of self-betrayal and self-deception. What we are lying about is that there are goals that we
"hold more dear" (W.RIII.4.2) when we skip our practice of the Lesson.
Application is the essential part of these Lessons. To be vigilant and diligently do our Lessons is great, but when things come up during the day and we don't apply the Lesson, he says that you
"have not given your learning a fair chance to prove how great are its potential gifts to you." (W.RIII.IN.9.3) Having said this, Jesus never wants us to feel guilty. On the contrary, he is very gentle and patient with us, as he wants us to be equally gentle with ourselves while still maintaining discipline. He knows how much guilt we continually place on ourselves, as well as the mountain of unconscious guilt we hold in our minds. His goal is not to add to that guilt but only to show us how much he loves us and wants us to have the gifts offered us through this practice. He wants us to experience the benefits so we can see how great are the gifts we receive in applying these Lessons. The reinforcement that we receive when we apply the Lessons throughout the day to situations that confront us, results in more peace. The Lessons are not intended as just an intellectual exercise. Every benefit we receive is in the application.
We do get off course regularly, but it is reassuring to remember that we need not beat ourselves up or get discouraged because once on the path, we can't turn back. In Gary Renard's book,
Disappearance of the Universe, Pursah says: "You should keep in mind that each of the four major attitudes of learning are long roads in themselves, and you will sometimes bounce around like a ping pong ball between them. The Holy Spirit will correct you along the way and set you back in the right direction. Do not feel bad when you temporarily lose your way. There is no one who has ever walked this earth, including Jesus, who did not give into temptation in some way. The myth of living a perfect life in terms of behavior is self-defeating and unnecessary. All that is necessary is to be willing to receive correction."
Pursah goes on to say: "Just as a navigator or computer constantly corrects the course of a jet airliner along its route, the Holy Spirit is always correcting you, no matter what you may appear to do or on what level of spiritual awareness you may appear to be. It may be possible to ignore Him, but it is never possible to lose Him. The jet airliner is always going off course, but through constant correction, it arrives at its destination. So will you arrive at your destination? It's a done deal. You couldn't screw up if you tried. The real question is, how long do you want to prolong your suffering?"
Whenever I have been willing to look at a grievance that I am holding and have given it over to the Holy Spirit, the miracle has always been present. When we are willing to be very honest with ourselves and look at our intentions, our needs, our expectations, and our motivations in any situation, we are given the correction. We are not responsible for the error, but we are responsible for choosing the correction. How would we ever learn if we weren't motivated to heal our minds when difficult events show up in our lives? Such events provide us with the perfect classroom where the healing can occur, and we have many opportunities throughout the day. Today, I noticed frustration showing up as I tried to respond to what seemed to me to be a long list of demands. I was feeling some resentment; yet when I looked deeper, I recognized these feelings came from my attempt to make myself worthy. The belief was that I needed to serve everyone’s needs if I were to see myself as a good person. This desire to be seen as good comes from a feeling of unworthiness. It was a desire to be the hero of the dream.
Whenever I take this stance, I realize I can never offer anything of value to my brother. Jesus is very firm in this when he says:
"Whenever you consent to suffer pain, to be deprived, unfairly treated or in need of anything, you but accuse your brother of attack upon God’s Son. You hold a picture of crucifixion before his eyes, that he may see his sins are writ in Heaven in your blood and death, and go before him, closing off the gate and damning him to hell." (T.27.I.3.1-2) (ACIM OE T.27.II.3) It is a stark picture, but as we look at our own behavior when we sigh about all we have to do, we are doing exactly what Jesus describes here. We are the victim and he becomes the victimizer who is seemingly making demands of us. Now he must be made to be guilty and guilt must be punished.
Jesus supports us through all our tribulations, holding our hands and always supporting us on this journey. We will, from time to time, lose faith in the process, especially during turbulent times in our lives; but knowing that we can always bring our thoughts back to truth brings sanity in the midst of the chaos.
I feel deep gratitude in the knowledge that whenever I am open to His presence in my life, miracles abound. I can choose this experience, and I do so by being willing to let go of the obstacles to peace that I hold in my mind. These obstacles show up as judgment, anger, worry, depression, attack, grievances, expectations, feelings of unworthiness, fear, and all manner of self-attack.
Each time I am willing to look at these blocks without judgment from outside the dream (above the battleground), I can smile at the dream figure (the image of Sarah). I have taken all this drama so seriously. Now, grace can flow in, and with each experience, my faith is strengthened. Even in the midst of turmoil, I know I have been given another opportunity to look at the next level coming up for healing. When I accept everything in my life as just a reflection of the thought system I am choosing in my mind, I am motivated to do this work, knowing the power is within me to change how I perceive everything. With willingness and readiness, I can take responsibility for everything that seems to be happening to me, and remind myself that I have chosen it all. I am not the victim of any situation I experience.
Jesus reminds us how to invite the Holy Spirit to use our minds.
"Read over the ideas and comments that are written down for each day's exercise. And then begin to think about them, while letting your mind relate them to your needs, your seeming problems and all your concerns." (W.RIII.IN.5.2-3) It is important not to let our egos manage this process because the ego will never undo itself. We need the Holy Spirit for that purpose.
"Place the ideas within your mind, and let it use them as it chooses. Give it faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who gave the thoughts to you. What can you trust but what is in your mind?" (W.RIII.IN.6.1-3) Today, we are asked to step back from the ego and simply try to give the mind over to the Holy Spirit, letting related thoughts come on their own. These are the healing thoughts now in our minds as a result of our work with the Course. We let these thoughts come to mind to address our needs, problems, and concerns.
"The wisdom of your mind will come to your assistance." (W.RIII.IN.6.5)
I am so grateful this Course is in my life and I have a way to get to peace by bringing my needs, my seeming problems, and all my concerns to His healing light, so I can know the truth of my own innocence and the innocence of others.
I am so grateful I don't need to rely on my own puny strength to try to figure a way through this illusion and all its seeming problems. Instead, God's strength and guidance are available to me. I do not need to be strong to come to the light. I simply bring my weakness to Him. I give him all my murderous, angry, bitter, and despairing thoughts, as well as my beliefs in my specialness, and by releasing them, I gain strength by connecting with the light in me. If I don't like what I feel now, I can use these feelings as a motivation to find my way to peace by applying them:
"Miracles are seen in light," (W.91) and
"Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one." (W.92) All these Lessons will only have value by applying them throughout the day and in every distressful situation.
These Lessons are not meant as pretty, inspirational words to be set aside. I know the only way to happiness is by getting in touch with my Self---the purely loving being I am. This is my motivation for doing the Lessons and applying them as often as I can to every situation in my life. Jesus says that if we consistently remember to do these Review Lessons, it is our second chance with each of these ideas and can bring great advances. Our learning gains will be
"so great that we will continue on more solid ground, with firmer footsteps and with stronger faith." (W.RIII.IN.12.3) We still have much to learn, but we have learned much already. What is important is not to forget that we are needed in God’s plan for salvation.
Love and blessings, Sarah
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