Village Square III
In our AcimVillage, we have the plane tree that stands in the central village square. Its enormous branches spread out to cover an area wide enough to provide shade on a warm day for many a traveller or tradesman. Water bubbles and trickles from a stone fountain on the eastern side. It is under the plane tree and by the fountain that wandering sages have traditionally lead conversation with the local people, before setting off again on their way; it is here that the townspeople come to exchange views and thoughts on their beloved spiritual philosophy, learning from each other in kindness and wisdom.
Rules to ponder…
Study of A Course In Miracles benefits greatly from sharing our experiences in its practice. Here you can talk about what works, or doesn’t, for you, taking obvious care not to be ‘preachy’, please. We all learn best when someone talks from their own experience, rather than tries to tell us what we should be doing differently. Let’s take the position that none of us are teachers, we are all at the same point returning on the path Homeward. All of us will still be making mistakes for a while yet, so let’s be particularly humble and caring in how we deal with each other. Please keep in mind that this is a site dedicated to the approach Kenneth Wapnick takes to teaching ACIM. I shall certainly do my best to bring everyone back to the core principles as taught by him.
I would also like to point out that AcimVillage is the place to come to explore our judgments, but not to express them as judgments. If you feel you need to gripe, criticize and vent, even subtly, then contact me privately (at bernard@pauloandthemagician.com) where I will receive you with kindness and understanding. Please do not do so in the forums where I will inevitably moderate out this kind of post. Remember, you will feel better only when you are able to move past the investment in your judgments, not simply by unloading them for everyone to see. This means taking responsibility for your perceptions and acknowledging that ultimately no one has prevented you from feeling completely peaceful and safe, despite what might appear to be the unfortunate conditions of your life at this time. (I know, this is hard. Contact me if you’re struggling.)
So, two basic rules here. One, we avoid mention of other approaches to the study of ACIM (non-Wapnickian) as well as to other philosophies we might be studying. This is purely to achieve a stable, comfortable learning forum where we are all aiming at the same goal, using the same symbols and language to get there. This is not to cast any judgment on any other approaches or philosophies. ACIM is a sufficiently difficult path to undertake without bringing more confusion into our study than our minds already contain! If you have benefited from other paths and would like to share your thoughts, by all means do so. Just please do this in the privacy of your personal emails. It’s also my personal opinion (take it or leave it) that at some point a student of ACIM is much better off sticking with one set of symbols and one teacher, and working with these thoroughly, instead of getting too dispersed. Rule two, we try not to play ‘teacher’ with each other here, reminding ourselves to be humble and always equal with our brother.
Enjoy the discussion!
Lesson 240
Fear is not justified in any form.
Fear is deception. It attests that you have seen yourself as you could never be, and therefore look upon a world which is impossible. Not one thing in this world is true. It does not matter what the form in which it may appear. It witnesses but to your own illusions of yourself. Let us not be deceived today. We are the Sons of God. There is no fear in us, for we are each a part of Love Itself.
How foolish are our fears! Would You allow Your Son to suffer? Give us faith today to recognize Your Son, and set him free. Let us forgive him in Your Name, that we may understand his holiness, and feel the love for him which is Your Own as well.
Planet Earth and all her loyal friends, fear, anger etc. .. are not justified in any form.
Ok- I can say these words and intellectually know them to be true.
And I should take great joy in that fact alone.
For all I know it took a thousand years to get to this point (:
Maybe if I pull back a little further, I can almost laugh at the absurdity.
I can sense the foolishness.
But I’m not kicking back and in total peace about it.
Like a tapestry, each stitch in time was placed there long ago
and its unraveling as well, is done.
present tense…
as in
now…
hmph…interesting
So I follow my next impulse (also referred to as ADD) that says …tapestry…Oh, I love that Carole King song…how does it go?
My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision of the ever-changing view
A wondrous, woven magic in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold
Once amid the soft silver sadness in the sky
There came a man of fortune, a drifter passing by
He wore a torn and tattered cloth around his leathered hide
And a coat of many colors, yellow-green on either side
He moved with some uncertainty, as if he didn’t know
Just what he was there for, or where he ought to go
Once he reached for something golden hanging from a tree
And his hand came down empty
Soon within my tapestry along the rutted road
He sat down on a river rock and turned into a toad
It seemed that he had fallen into someone’s wicked spell
And I wept to see him suffer, though I didn’t know him well
As I watched in sorrow, there suddenly appeared
A figure gray and ghostly beneath a flowing beard
In times of deepest darkness, I’ve seen him dressed in black
Now my tapestry’s unraveling – he’s come to take me back
He’s come to take me back
I’m playing the full album now and I’ll let the rest of the day unravel as it wills.
Peace and Love and all good things from the 70’s I send your way ♡
Section 3. What is the World?
…The world was made as an attack on God. It symbolizes fear. And what is fear except love’s absence? Thus the world was meant to be a place where God could enter not, and where His Son could be apart from Him…
Here we go. We have met salvation, and now the universe disappears. Ready for sanity!
Lesson 241
This holy instant is salvation come.
What joy there is today! It is a time of special celebration. For today holds out the instant to the darkened world where its release is set. The day has come when sorrows pass away and pain is gone. The glory of salvation dawns today upon a world set free. This is the time of hope for countless millions. They will be united now, as you forgive them all. For I will be forgiven by you today.
We have forgiven one another now, and so we come at last to You again. Father, Your Son, who never left, returns to Heaven and his home. How glad are we to have our sanity restored to us, and to remember that we all are one.
“For I will be forgiven by you today.”
I guess I needed to start my day with a psychic reading by J.
Joining hands with you my Village family – today, this moment of now, I claim my sanity.
Amen
Lesson 242
This day is God’s. It is my gift to Him.
I will not lead my life alone today. I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life alone must be but foolishness. But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is glad to make no choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for I would not delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God.
And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by us. You know all our desires and our wants. And You will give us everything we need in helping us to find the way to You.
What a yummy lesson!!
” This day is God’s”…but yesterday was your day Katrina!!!
Happy Belated Birthday!
And of all the gifts we can give in this world it is the gift we give to Him that brings us true Joy.
I hope yesterdays cake was as yummy as this lesson is for you today!
You are such a ray of light and joy to me. ♡
I am grateful for your presence and generous contributions of time, encouragement and mostly wonderful humor here at the Village.
I wish you all the best and a year of great health and many wonderful family memories.
Your Friend,
Annie
Thank you, Annie. Looking forward to that year of good health! Your wishes are as mighty as your warm and fun heart. I am so very lucky to have you my friend!!
Lesson 243
Today I will judge nothing that occurs.
I will be honest with myself today. I will not think that I already know what must remain beyond my present grasp. I will not think I understand the whole from bits of my perception, which are all that I can see. Today I recognize that this is so. And so I am relieved of judgments that I cannot make. Thus do I free myself and what I look upon, to be in peace as God created us.
Father, today I leave creation free to be itself. I honor all its parts, in which I am included. We are one because each part contains Your memory, and truth must shine in all of us as one.
I am going with Annie’s post 606 and taking a stand that it is the right date, she wouldn’t mislead me.
The Year Ahead
Forecast for August 2014 to August 2015
If You Were Born Today, August 29:
You are passionate and ardent, and you work hard towards success in life. A natural leader, your charisma attracts others. You are success-oriented, but your warmth keeps you from becoming hardened or overly practical. You are seeking emotional fulfillment in life, and you enjoy starting new projects that you may not always follow through to completion. Optimistic and straightforward, you don’t readily beat around the bush, and others usually find your manner charming rather than abrupt. You are typically very willing to work for reforms that better people’s quality of living and open people’s minds to progress. You stand by your convictions and humanitarian ideals. Bringing inspiration and uniqueness to whatever work you do, you enjoy making people see things in new ways. You are attracted to busy, hard-working people like yourself. It is relatively easy for you to mix business and pleasure, and you are more than willing to work on relationships. You tend to thrive in partnerships. Famous people born today: Michael Jackson, Ingrid Bergman, Elliott Gould, Lea Michele, Carla Gugino, Liam Payne, Rebecca De Mornay.
Your Birthday Year Forecast:
With the Sun and Moon in a waxing semi-square at the time of your birthday this year, the period ahead is one of new initiatives and action. You possess quite a bit of energy, but you must be aware that emotions color much of what you do this year. It can be hard to be objective as a result.
Neptune’s challenging transit to your Sun is winding down and finally passes in January – an influence that has been with you for some time and that may have at times confused you as to what direction your life should take. As this transit lifts, life tends to become considerably clearer.
Watch for competitiveness or tension in your social life, as your passions are ignited this year, whether your feelings are of love or anger. For some, there can be endings and new beginnings in relationships this year, and for others, obstacles to deal with followed by a sense of beginning anew in existing relationships. Striking a balance between tradition and innovation is the challenge. Setbacks tend to be temporary and often lead to new, more creative paths or solutions. There can be some ambivalence to deal with in love relationships.
However, with Venus sextile the Moon’s North Node in your Solar Return chart, you are very likely to attract loving relationships and/or new warm social contacts into your life. Efforts to smooth over challenges in partnerships are likely to succeed. You can also find it far easier this year to find people who share common interests and concerns, and this can be the source of much pleasure this year.
Your social life is certainly more active this year, but you are also tuned in to working towards practical goals. This is a time when dedication and commitment to goals runs high. You derive special satisfaction from a job well done. This is an excellent time to cultivate patience.
With Mars conjunct Saturn in your Solar Return chart, you are more determined and hard-working than usual. This is an excellent time to get organized and to stick with projects through to the end. When you face obstacles to your goals, which is a likely scenario this year, you are likely to just keep on pushing. Progress may be slow, but it’s steady and solid. What you accomplish now will benefit you for years to come.
This is a strong year for focus and commitment, but you should watch for a tendency to work yourself too hard. When it comes to your social life, try not to set up unhealthy expectations. Ups and downs are possible, but ultimately your social life is pleasurable and growth-oriented. There can be an increased ability to focus on those things that truly matter, and you can be very productive as a result. This is a strong period for better organizing significant areas of your life.
2014 is a Number Eight year for you. Ruled by Saturn. This is a year of power and accomplishment. Actively seeking to expand, taking educated risks, and moving forward are highlighted. This is a year of opportunity, particularly in the material and business world, and opportunities need to be seized. It’s generally not a year to find a new love partner, simply because the focus is on the material world and your place in the world. This is a problem-solving year in which you can expect real, tangible results. Advice – take action, plan ahead, seize opportunities.
2015 will be a Number Nine year for you. Ruled by Mars. This is a year of completion and transition. It is a time when we need to let go of things that no longer serve their purpose, and hold on to things that have a future. It is a time of cleaning out dead wood, not necessarily for new beginnings. It can be a time when a burden has been taken off your shoulders, and it can be a year of giving of yourself. Advice – let go of things that are holding you back, give of yourself and express your sympathetic, compassionate side.
Lesson 244
I am in danger nowhere in the world.
“… when we no longer identify with the ego’s thought system of sin and attack, we share in the inherent invulnerability as the Son God created at one with Him.
We can be hurt only within the dream, which begins with the thought of hurt: I hurt God, Who will hurt me in return.
Let me be still for just a moment, for just a glimpse of that invulnerability!
That is my sincere prayer today.
Let Joy keep at bay the thought that I know what will save me.
I love the last line of Helen’s poem…
It is secured by every loving thought,
Made more apparent by each loving glance,
Brought nearer by forgiving words, and kept
Untroubled, cloudless, open to the light,
Redeemed, restored and holy in Christ’s sight.
Belated hugs, Katrina!
Lesson 245
Your peace is with me, Father. I am safe.
Annie, your lesson is here, I am safe. Computer has been hidden under the pillow for the l.o.n.g weekend. I always reacted with aversion from ‘computer based training’ since it started to be the only way offered. BUT the new babies seem to be drawn to it like a puppy to bacon. And all self intuitive. Steinbeck wrote that his passion for books came from his aunt who wouldn’t allow him to touch them. So he had to be fertive about it.
Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. Hedda and Nina and Anil and Michele and Annie and Bernard and lawrence and Peggy when she flows in again, and all in the reading only eddy times.
Lawrence, it is the 29th so you intuited perfectly. The next morning I remembered I didn’t get to read my if-my-birthday, i came here, and there it was! Wonderful! I loved it. I did find that site but i forget to check except from time to time. I like to know when sh**] ] is flying so i can be more attentive to choose who to listen to. I get Mark’s Power Peak in my email each week. Nice course relation with the astro angle plan the ego is pulling the strings with. I am so happy to hear from you. Always need the blessing!
Bernard, your latest is so warming. I feel the last warm breezes of Summer bracing us to steady on. So, now come the holy days, and tax prep, and changes, I’ll thank you for reminding me “that a cool and peaceful presence, just like a lovely breeze by the ocean, still accompanies us at every moment.” And since I am not in any danger anywhere and we are safe in Love, it will all be easy. The progress of your French education center is leaps and bounds! Lucky Frenchies — and Beljeeks too, I see!
I watched ‘Admissions’, a shot film~ 20 min. My jaw dropped, I’m saying,, this is Course, some phrases verbatim. Then in the Thanks To credits as #2 and #3 are Gloria and Kenneth Wapnick and then, Found for a Course in Miracles. (Nina, hilariously apt for a forgiveness chortle, I found the link on Raj’s chatroom TGP. ). Anyway, it is really great. Very helpful for me as our illusion is looking warred up.
Morning Everyone,
Katrina, I used to get Mark’s Power Peak…I can’t remember now why it stopped. Have you ever had a reading done by him? and I checked out the Admissions video. Well done. I forgot to look for Ken and Gloria’s names in the credits…will have to watch it again.
Anyways, good for you to place your computer outta sight and focus on family fun. Makes surfing the web feel exciting again (:
Lesson 246
To love my Father is to love His Son.
The Admission short film syncs perfectly with today’s lesson.
There is nothing to do but change our mind.
…”God does not see form, but only His content of love.”
Lesson 247
Without forgiveness I will still be blind
These reminders that I am insane and blind must be true.
Such a level of delusion I operate under.
The answer is so gentle and kind that I question -how doing nothing will undo the madness-
From Helen’s “A Brother’s Prayer”:
What need we do to let forgiveness come?
Nothing. We need but realize that we
And all the world together are the sum
Of all salvation’s promise. I am he
Who speaks God’s Word, and you along with me>
(The Gifts of God, p.63)
Lesson 248
Whatever suffers is not part of me
A Course in Miracles is difficult to practice only because we are so identified with our physical selves. Yet, the Course gently leads us step by step as we grow into acceptance of its truth: we remain as God created us. (JTTWB)
Yesterday I read the Susan Dugan interview with Loral Reeves and her recollection and disbelief that Ken had left them. Today there is a funeral service of a family friend I wanted to attend but I was not able to find someone to work my shift…not even the whole shift. I was willing to work 7am to noon (5hrs of an 8hr shift) and they are not sure if they can let me go.
So the death theme and suffering is very much a part of my psyche these days.
Todays lesson so timely.
It’s tricky this honoring a life-when one is studying a philosophy that no one ever dies because they never lived.
Nevertheless, I see the perfection of these events. The gentleman that passed away was a good friend of my Father’s. My Father passed away on his Birthday. I happened to call his wife on Tuesday and she opened the conversation with I was going to call you, Niko passed away last night.
She was a dutiful wife and an exemplary model of the long suffering spouse. She took care of him for years but when dementia was added to the medical challenges she found that she could no longer care for him at home. There is some great shame in the Croatian culture to not be able to take care of ones own. I wanted to let her know it was ok and I understood and I made a point of visiting him in the residential home. Ironically, I sensed she would have rather I not come. It’s amazing how much we can beat ourselves up with guilt…but it was good for me to see…that the judgements come not from outside- rather it is done to us as we believe…just like the good book says.
I had called Tuesday morning wanting to let her know that I too have surrendered to the fact that my sister and I could no longer care for my mother at home. But when she opened with Niko’s passing I realized that information was not necessary to share.
So wether I am allowed to attend this memorial service today or not I will exercise the lesson at hand “Whatever suffers is not part of me. What grieves is not myself. What is in pain is but illusion in my mind.” “Now I disown self-concepts and deceits and lies about the holy Son of God. Now am I ready to accept him back as God created him, and as he is.”
Lesson 249
Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss.
From the JTTWB:
“We were unfaithful to the truth in our minds, and instead substituted the vise of bitterness for the lovely haven of Love. Now we choose again and happily realize our mistake, for which no penalty is exacted; only the rewards of Heaven’s love are ours.”
The ultimate bailout…”no penalty exacted” nothing happened. (:
I have to believe it to see it.
Oh that…
Lesson 235
God in His mercy wills that I be saved.
I need but look upon all things that seem to hurt me, and with perfect certainty assure myself, “God wills that I be saved from this,” and merely watch them disappear. I need but keep in mind my Father’s Will for me is only happiness, to find that only happiness has come to me. And I need but remember that God’s Love surrounds His Son and keeps his sinlessness forever perfect, to be sure that I am saved and safe forever in His Arms. I am the Son He loves. And I am saved because God in His mercy wills it so.
Father, Your Holiness is mine. Your Love created me, and made my sinlessness forever part of You. I have no guilt nor sin in me, for there is none in You.
Good morning, Annie. I’m up late tonite. Tomorrow will be my usual morning hustle and bustle, I’m sure. Sometimes I don’t even remember ther is a new lesson till ~2-3 pm. Luckily, I am saved and safe forever in His Arms.
Lesson 250
Let me not see myself as limited.
Let me behold the Son of God today, and witness to his glory. Let me not try to obscure the holy light in him, and see his strength diminished and reduced to frailty; nor perceive the lacks in him with which I would attack his sovereignty.
He is Your Son, my Father. And today I would behold his gentleness instead of my illusions. He is what I am, and as I see him so I see myself. Today I would see truly, that this day I may at last identify with him.
Well, after reading that lesson under Annie’s, I can see that being up late can be misleading, seemingly reduced to frailty. Oh, farewell illusions, i need only rest in Your gentleness! Giving another try. I guess #235 wanted an extra shout out.
The World JTTWB
Be lifted up, and from a higher place look down upon it. From there will your perspective be quite different…. And God Himself and all the lights of Heaven will gently lean to you, and hold you up.
(T-23.IV.5:1-2; 6:6-7) IV: Above the Battleground
Ken connectsThe World with the True alternative above the battleground. Everything in the ego wants to renounce that perspective. Yeah, but!! … Look at the horror of all this.
Yes, I made a mistake and now can choose correctly.”
IV. **what is sin ?****
lesson 251.
I am in need of nothing but the truth.
I sought for so many things, and found despair. Now do I seek but one, for in that is all I need,…..
Thanks Anil for preparing todays lesson for us. xoxo Annie
Yes, thanks, Anil. I really like it when you prepare the way, like waving palm fronds as we approach on donkeys. It doesn’t throw me off at all. I often do my lesson very late on the night before to give me something to think about when i wake up in the middle of the night.
Lesson 252
The Son of God is my Identity
Father, You know my true Identity. Reveal It now to me who am Your Son, that I may waken to the truth in You, and know that Heaven is restored to me.
Lesson 252
The Son of God is my Identity.
My Self is holy beyond all the thoughts of holiness of which I now conceive. Its shimmering and perfect purity is far more brilliant than is any light that I have ever looked upon. Its love is limitless, with an intensity that holds all things within it, in the calm of quiet certainty. Its strength comes not from burning impulses which move the world, but from the boundless Love of God Himself. How far beyond this world my Self must be, and yet how near to me and close to God!
Father, You know my true Identity. Reveal It now to me who am Your Son, that I may waken to the truth in You, and know that Heaven is restored to me.
I think i must be getting dingy, Annie! I didn’t see your post at all. Did you get to go to your father’s friend’s memorial?
You just got right down to work yesterday with the lessons Katrina (: I call that dedicated not dingy. So we needed to hear 252 twice…if not a thousand times more!
…I find it kinda cool that we both italicized the same sentence.
I never did get to go to the service. Thanks for asking.
But that reminds me of a wee incident that occurred. It was a very busy day …as they always are. I happened to bring a left over piece of pizza for lunch and placed it in the toaster oven to warm up. It was a little crispy and just the faintest wisp of smoke rose from it when I removed it…and you guessed it, the smoke alarm went off! (They recently placed a smoke detector in the kitchenette).
When I heard the operator announcing the code red, I immediately called and said it was a false alarm…but too late, in ran security, maintenance dept. reps, the MRI nurse with a fire extinguisher, the house nursing supervisor…sheeesh….and protocol states that the Fire Department is dispatched with every alarm trigger. Although I never did see them …I’d hate to think that my cheapo lunch cost the hospital monies for triggering a false alarm.
After all the hoopla subsided, I made a snarky remark that if they just gave me the day off I wouldn’t have been tempted to burn the place down!
There is always a half-truth to these poorly veiled jokes isn’t there?
Lesson 253
My Self is ruler of the universe.
“When we realize it is not the world that caused us, but that we caused the world, we can change our minds.”
Lesson 254
Let every voice but God’s be still in me.
“The memory of God comes to the quiet mind.” (T-23.I.1:1).
Lesson 255
This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.
“It does not seem to me that I can choose to have but peace today.”
This is the first line of the lesson, and J must be psychic (: that is exactly how I feel as I embark on the day. Two hours since I started today’s lesson, and I’ve been almost glued to this lesson, seeking, seeking for that seemingly elusive place in the mind where Heaven is.
This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.
Anil and all my dear friends, I am home From the hospital, ended up with another stint. I feel good just kind of cracked out if you know what I mean. It is a less than a good expression but I am a less than good example at times.
Sharon brought me home and I, for yet another time looked at my station in life. I mean what if I passed the great divide or as we course students might say “A Journey Without Distance”. I don’t worry about it usually, but found myself doing so. Single bypass, triple bypass, balloon angioplasty…
I wasn’t centered at all at first but realized it was pretty much my call. My call was straight forward. Those I love don’t have to think or believe as I do. They Love me and show it, and for that I am eternally grateful and it gives me much needed strength. I appreciate all your good wishes/prayers and the the extra oxygen Katrina wished me, it came in handy. I went from 60 to 70 percent oxygen, to my heart getting up to 100 percent.
I haven’t written or talked to anyone but didn’t want to go to bed without letting you know, I feel pretty good!
“This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.” was the lesson I had to learn. I was feeling like, how many bullets could I dodge? But a good hour or two before the procedure (my second stint) I was thinking kind of negative thoughts.
But then a peace came over me that whether I made it or not, there was so much more of the story ahead, the real time between our thoughts. Sharon is a survivor and the grown children know from whence I come in my thinking. I am happy to report you are all stuck with me awhile longer. I am thankful to be included with such beautiful people, your lights sign bright.
God Bless us every One
Papa lawrence
Feeling pretty good sounds great Papa Lawrence!!
Glad you are home.
Speaking of thinking of negative thoughts, it reminds me of the movie, ‘A Beautiful Mind’.
The turning point for Russell Crowe’s character is when he realizes one of the people he has been engaging with never ages; through all the years, she has remained a young girl.
‘A Course in Miracles’, has lifted the veil so to speak, and I too recognize that my fearful thoughts/negative thoughts are like John Nash’s hallucination.
Always there. Always present.
Seems quite natural to me that before the procedure when you’re asked to sign the consent, all the possible outcomes race past your mind.
We are all a reflection of each other here.
Indeed we are beautiful people with a beautiful mind.
Love and Light Always,
Annie
Lawrence, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! While we hide out in these little fenced in circles of God, 100% oxygen is like a party in the Grotto. Step outside today, open up your arms and breathe in God. You will feel every pore pull in the oxygen, our ‘scientific definition’ to cloak the Prana of God.
I spent all of yesterday romping around with my cloaked rendition of little Christ. (I wonder if lil’ baby Jesus protested naptime. I think the nuns taught us NO to that. B.u.t what the heck did they know.)
Then, when my son got home and took over, i read all the 911 science reveals, accepted that, understood why others can’t, knew there was nothing to fear. Then, got pointed to som Nassim Haramein videos and from there, onto Abrahams, and peace returned.
As Boz Skaggs’ lullaby puts it,
“Well, the rain’s gonna fall and the wind may blow in the darkest night
Sometimes I cry, sometimes I fly like a bird.
A calm will descend and there’s peace at the end of the darkest night
Sometimes I cry, sometimes I fly like a bird.”
The Perfect 911 circle!
And so, my Father, would I pass this day with You. Your Son has not forgotten You. The peace You gave him still is in his mind, and it is there I choose to spend today.
Great news, Lawrence! Thanks for taking the time and effort to come back to us, and the report is so good. Great work on your part. “This day I choose to spend in perfect peace,” the perfect meditation to take with you.
Sending a warm smile and oxygenized hug from Norway, Lawrence. So warming to read your message. LOVE!
Nina
Oh what wonderful news Lawrence! Just logged into our Village for the first time this evening and so happy you were able to sign in before you took your back at home nap. Yes what a perfect present of a lesson for you today this day spent in Perfect Peace . LOVE!
Michele
So good to hear the happy news dear Lawrence ! Looking forward to reading ” God Bless us every One” many more times !!! <3
Lesson 256
God is the only goal I have today.
The way to God is through forgiveness here. There is no other way. If sin had not been cherished by the mind, what need would there have been to find the way to where you are? Who would still be uncertain? Who could be unsure of who he is? And who would yet remain asleep, in heavy clouds of doubt about the holiness of him whom God created sinless? Here we can but dream. But we can dream we have forgiven him in whom all sin remains impossible, and it is this we choose to dream today. God is our goal; forgiveness is the means by which our minds return to Him at last.
And so, our Father, would we come to You in Your appointed way. We have no goal except to hear Your Voice, and find the way Your sacred Word has pointed out to us.
Lesson 257
Let me remember what my purpose is.
If I forget my goal I can be but confused, unsure of what I am, and thus conflicted in my actions. No one can serve contradicting goals and serve them well. Nor can he function without deep distress and great depression. Let us therefore be determined to remember what we want today, that we may unify our thoughts and actions meaningfully, and achieve only what God would have us do this day.
Father, forgiveness is Your chosen means for our salvation. Let us not forget today that we can have no will but Yours. And thus our purpose must be Yours as well, if we would reach the peace You will for us.
It is so easy to hear the ego’s voice of deep distress, whether it is world news of drastic or inhumane actions and illness or the discontent of stacked up chores or appliances going kaput or family with needs. It just blares in on you. These lessons of forgiveness help me set all of it in boxes out on the deck, along with all the chores stacked up behind my rotator cuff interlude, and know that i’m not the one solving the problems. What problems? Only one rung to climb at a time to reach the only goal i have.
From Ken’s JTTWB for this lesson:
Every time we are distressed it is because we are holding onto a grievance, for our ongoing temptation is to blame someone else.
We can say that the purpose of A Course in Miracles is to have us see our day as having a single, unified purpose: learning to recognize that our lives are classrooms in forgiveness, with a Teacher to guide and instruct us.
When we hold a grievance we say we have a will that is separate from our Father’s.
Again, as you go through your day, keep uppermost in your mind the need for vigilance. Observe how quickly you forget and cling to grievances, pettiness, and thoughts of specialness. Try to remember that they will not make you happy, for your purpose is to remember that God’s Will for you is perfect happiness (W-pI.101), and it is your own as well.
All from Ken. Hedda, I think you are going to love the Journey thru the Manual.
still hanging on in there! yayayayay
Lesson 258
Let me remember that my goal is God.
All that is needful is to train our minds to overlook all little senseless aims, and to remember that our goal is God. His memory is hidden in our minds, obscured but by our pointless little goals which offer nothing, and do not exist. Shall we continue to allow God’s grace to shine in unawareness, while the toys and trinkets of the world are sought instead? God is our only goal, our only Love. We have no aim but to remember Him.
Our goal is but to follow in the way that leads to You. We have no goal but this. What could we want but to remember You? What could we seek but our Identity?
Lesson 259
Let me remember that there is no sin.
(2:2-5)I would not be afraid of love, nor seek for refuge in its opposite. For love can have no opposite. You are the Source of everything there is. And everything that is remains with You, and You with it.
Fom Ken’s JTTTWB:
(2:1) Father, I would not be insane today.
The thread that runs through every lesson is the insanity of our mistaken thoughts – the source of our humility in realizing how wrong we have been about everything. Thus if we are the least bit upset, we know we judged wrongly and are insane. There is no hierarchy of illusions – being upset over a minor happening is the same as being upset over a major one. The minute we feel upset or unhappy, therefore, we need to think of the thought for the day and return to sanity.
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(Not part of Ken’s commentary)….
At the end of my street, the main road is Old County Rd. A couple blocks away down it is the elementary school. This is the main road folks take to this neighborhood area after exiting the freeway. (can you hear my case building?). When school gets out, mamas in their SUV’s freaking stop and PARK in their lane of the 2 lane street waiting for their lil’ muffin to toddle out to meet them. If I come along heading home, and get stuck sitting there behind them, I get livid! All the blocks around are lined with parked cars of other moms who have parked and walked over to the school to fetch their kids and walk them back to the cars, appropriately. But not these special prima donas who decide to simply shut down the road while their child does what lil’ kids do as they amble out of the schoolyard. Of course, my anger is justified. And I am right, they should not do that.
There IS another road I could take at that time of day, and if i paid attention to the time I could take it, so possibly my fury is at my overlooking that and choosing this route and getting stuck. Not that it matters who ai am mad at, since attack is attack, period.
It occurs to me, that Jesus wrote this lesson just-for-me.
Re: Not part of Ken’s commentary…
You know reading these lessons means nothing without an example and by golly Katrina, I needed a good laugh. Laughing, because yes, I could feel your case building. Giggling, because I could see the selfishness of those prima donnas who think their little one is more special than anyone else’s. And crying because it seems that the next generation of prima donnas will make todays mama’s look like rookies. How to break the spell?
Well, we have the answer don’t we? …Jesus’ lesson as you mentioned is to stop and remember to return to sanity.
Lately, I find myself locked in a deep groove of fury. And I found the perfect target for my rage. But its not sticking to her. These lessons seem to be coating my brothers & my sisters with a teflon like exterior. My projections just aren’t taking hold! They seem to boomerang back at me and the off switch is located in my heart and I can’t seem to open the door to get to it. It’s as if I’m slapping myself silly. Sure to the observer it seems easy to say just stop it.
I hope I tire soon and surrender to what IS.
Thank God for your SuV story, Katrina.
I was beginning to think that only I share my troubles on these pages ! (:
Who can be happy that they have murderous fury in them ?
And who cannot be happy to have a safe place where one can come share that story and have it be understood in a nonjudgmental way, common to all our fellow travelers in this journey.
Thank you again, for sharing that story.
And Annie, that deep groove of fury you feel, I share too. In my case, it bubbles up suddenly and without warning. Am yet to feel its constant presence. But. Know I probably will. And when that happens, I hope I can remember also that God is my refuge and my security.(my lesson for the day, in the as yet early hours of Sept 18)
You are s right, it is so easy for the observer to say Stop It. Darnedest thing to do when that ego groove takes over.
I am very tired these days, so am finding it easier to just say….God is my refuge and my security. (Or whatever those son for that day happens to be).
Like a mantra.
Like the religions of old, counting beads on a rosary, it’s all the same….sounds that bring us peace, as we try to stabilize our minds in an ever changing world.
Take care, dear Annie and Katrina, and thank you for sharing your story. Hope you are both feeling the joys this path keeps bringing is again and again…..
Love,
Anil
Lesson 260
Let me remember God created me.
Father, I did not make myself, although in my insanity I thought I did. Yet, as Your Thought, I have not left my Source, remaining part of Who created me. Your Son, my Father, calls on You today. Let me remember You created me. Let me remember my Identity. And let my sinlessness arise again before Christ’s vision, through which I would look upon my brothers and myself today.
Now is our Source remembered, and Therein we find our true Identity at last. Holy indeed are we, because our Source can know no sin. And we who are His Sons are like each other, and alike to Him.
————–
Just a compulsive placeholder. I guess I needed the Let me remember . . . As my ipad was not recharged today and I forgot all about my lesson. Furtively imaginative ego. Thank you guys for forgiving my thinly veiled murderousness.
Only God knows us, and God knows us as neither good or evil mad or calm, but rather as She or He (same being) knows self. The Holy Spirit that Jesus called down to earth (biblically speaking)I believe is the vibration or energy or movement of our mother/father God, that we need to better understand. I believe Jesus embodied the Christ, who is one with God as is the Holy Spirit as our we, when as One
I don’t feel emptying ourselves to be more receptive is wrong or is what I wish to do on a daily basis, but quieting the mind and losing my mind are not that far apart. I believe I am the lost sheep listening for a familiar but not forgotten sound. When the time comes to blow this joint, way in the future of course. I wish to take one thing away with me from this life, and that is “God Is” and then everything else can be what it appears to be, it doesn’t matter, in good times and in bad.
God Is
Disclaimer, this has nothing to do with any post really but I have had another crazy day. But knowing you all are still putting up with my nonsense brings me great pleasure
God bless us every One
Papa lawrence
Lesson 261
Section 5. What is the Body?
JTTWB:
The body is a fence the Son of God imagines he has built, to separate parts of his Self from other parts. It is within this fence he thinks he lives, to die as it decays and crumbles. For within this fence he thinks that he is safe from love. Identifying with his safety, he regards himself as what his safety is.
The summary begins with the image of a fence we saw in “The Little Garden”:
“The body is a tiny fence around a little part of a glorious and complete idea. It draws a circle, infinitely small, around a very little segment of Heaven, splintered from the whole, proclaiming that within it is your kingdom, where God can enter not (T-18.VIII.2:5-6).”
(3:5) But we can change the purpose that the body will obey by changing what we think that it is for.
JTTWB:
The all-important theme of purpose returns. Once again, Jesus is not asking us to deny our bodies, but simply to choose him as our teacher. Thus will we learn the proper use of the body – a classroom to help us question the ego’s purpose and change our minds.
This is the question [What for?] that you must learn to ask in connection with everything. What is the purpose? Whatever it is, it will direct your efforts automatically. When you make a decision of purpose, then, you have made a decision about your future effort; a decision that will remain in effect unless you change your mind (T-4.V.6:8-11).
(4:1) The body is the means by which God’s Son returns to sanity.
JTTWB:
Even more to the point, they are projections of a wish that we be proven right and God wrong – the ego’s ultimate purpose for the body. Indeed that is the purpose of the body’s death – to allow us to say to God: “Eternal life is a lie. You are wrong again.”
(4:1-5) The body is the means by which God’s Son returns to sanity. Though it was made to fence him into hell without escape, yet has the goal of Heaven been exchanged for the pursuit of hell. The Son of God extends his hand to reach his brother, and to help him walk along the road with him. Now is the body holy. Now it serves to heal the mind that it was made to kill.
———
I agree so heartily, Lawrence. In our village here we persist in reaching to our brothers, denying space and time and bodily defined limits, even the quiet times of our many loved ones we know from here. The joy of our hearts joined is palpable and more real than the ego’s lie.