ACIM Lesson 252 The Son of God is my Identity.1. My Self is holy beyond all the thoughts of holiness of which I now conceive.
The Son of God is my Identity.
Lesson 252
The Son of God is my Identity.
1. My Self is holy beyond all the thoughts of holiness of which I now conceive. ²Its shimmering and perfect purity is far more brilliant than is any light that I have ever looked upon. ³Its love is limitless, with an intensity that holds all things within it, in the calm of quiet certainty. ⁴Its strength comes not from burning impulses which move the world, but from the boundless Love of God Himself. ⁵How far beyond this world my Self must be, and yet how near to me and close to God!
2. Father, You know my true Identity. ²Reveal 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.
Oh, my dear God, what a lesson!
I often sat with the idea of knowing my Self, but I realize now that I had no idea what that meant. I just wanted to rise above the world we made to be free of the limits of the ego. But I had not thought to rise so high! How am I supposed to relate to the Self that this lesson describes? It makes me cry to think of it. I don’t know if they are tears of regret that I have come so far from reality or tears of love that I am my Self, still. Maybe both.
How many of us think of ourselves in this way?
Not many relative to the present world population, but far more than there ever has been in history, I think, and the number is growing. Every one of us studying and diligently practicing these words from Jesus is beginning to awaken to this glorious truth. When I become discouraged with myself and begin to wonder if I will ever become willing to let go of this personal self, I read a lesson like this, and my hope and determination are renewed.
The actual work involved, the practice itself, is very simple.
I am doing a Pathways of Light course with some people, and we are looking at this passage from the Text, Chapter 13.
3. The world can give you only what you gave it, for being nothing but your own projection, it has no meaning apart from what you found in it and placed your faith in. ²Be faithful unto darkness and you will not see, because your faith will be rewarded as you gave it. ³You will accept your treasure, and if you place your faith in the past, the future will be like it. ⁴Whatever you hold dear you think is yours. ⁵The power of your valuing will make it so. (ACIM, T-13.IX.3:1-5)
The world will always give us what we gave it.
We need to be sure we are giving what we want to receive. We will give it what we place our faith in. Therefore, it would behoove us to question where it is that we put our faith. If we are faithful to guilt, fear, anger, or hatred, this is what we will project and what we will receive. If we give these things today because that is always what we gave, then the future will be like the past, and nothing changes.
What do we value? If we value something, we will think it is ours, and so it will be. Too often, we value the valueless, and our world is very dark. We can change this by forgiving what we chose before and by choosing again. This is the kind of work, the kind of practice that helps us to clear away the dark thoughts that keep us bound to the world and keep us from knowing our Self and thus knowing God.
Sometimes, our dreams can help us understand in a new way.
One night I had a dream in which I received very frightening threats, and there seemed no way out of the situation. I woke from the dream in the middle of the night. I seldom have scary dreams, but when I do, I usually wake myself completely so I won’t go right back into the dream. This time was different, though. I lay there while the Holy Spirit explained the dream to me. He helped me to see the attacker in my dream was symbolic of the ego and that it could not actually hurt me.
I went back to sleep, and the attacker took on the form of someone I know who scares me and who I avoid at all costs. I became very loving toward this person, and I allowed him to lie at my back, which seemed to symbolize my willingness to trust. Though I knew he was still unpredictable, I chose to treat him with love rather than fear and suspicion. Then in the dream, I heard someone say he was dying. I woke up understanding that all my fears are just ego beliefs symbolized by the situations and people in my life and that the way to healing is to forgive, to join and to love despite appearances. This is how the ego dies.
To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 252 click here.
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