ACIM Daily Lesson 280 What limits can I lay upon God’s Son? 1. Whom God created limitless is free. ²I can invent imprisonment for him, but only in illusions, not in truth.
Lesson 280
What limits can I lay upon God’s Son?
1. Whom God created limitless is free. ²I can invent imprisonment for him, but only in illusions, not in truth. ³No Thought of God has left its Father’s Mind. ⁴No Thought of God is limited at all. ⁵No Thought of God but is forever pure. ⁶Can I lay limits on the Son of God, whose Father willed that he be limitless, and like Himself in freedom and in love?
2. Today let me give honor to Your Son, for thus alone I find the way to You. ²Father, I lay no limits on the Son You love and You created limitless. ³The honor that I give to him is Yours, and what is Yours belongs to me as well.
The body will follow.
Sometimes by the end of the day, this body is a little stiff and sometimes a little achy. This morning, though, I was surprised that I was starting this way. I felt a momentary sense of discouragement. I have been working diligently to replace ego thoughts about the body with thoughts that reflect the truth. This felt like I was failing to do so. I was reminded of this passage from Chapter 31.
6. Let us be glad that you will see what you believe, and that it has been given you to change what you believe. ²The body will but follow. (ACIM, T-31.III.6:1-2)
Is the body a prison or a communication device?
I shared my disappointment with Jesus and He returned me to a true thought; I will not yield to this illusion. Then l forgave the idea of disappointment and got on with my morning. I was happy to see this lesson that reminds me I am free. While I can invent a prison for myself, I cannot make it true.
4. Yet is the body prisoner, and not the mind. (ACIM, T-31.III.4:1) ⁵It holds in prison but the willing mind that would abide in it. ⁶It sickens at the bidding of the mind that would become its prisoner. (ACIM, T-31.III.4:5-6)
The body can be seen as a useful vehicle and communication device for as long as it is needed. Or we can make of it a prison house for the guilty and careless. I choose not to imprison what God created free. Today I will watch my mind carefully for thoughts of guilt, knowing that the guiltless do not suffer. I will also watch for the careless declarations that become form in the world. I will release them to the Holy Spirit, and He will replace them with something closer to the truth.
Power is of God.
I have discovered that there is power in gratitude, so I begin those replacement thoughts with thanksgiving for what I am. I am finding this easy to do now that I gave over the idea that I am discouraged and accepted the idea that I am blessed. There is not the power of pain nor the power of sickness. I am grateful there is but one power, the power of God. That power is within me and given to me to use. I have returned to my peaceful and happy self. I have freed my mind to follow in the way He guides me.
This is simple and easy to understand, though not always easy to implement. The fact is, every time I judge anything about anyone else, I am deciding what they are, and my judgments are laying limits on them. This can only be done in my imagination because what God created cannot be changed by me. However, in my mind, I have changed my brother, and now I believe in that change, and if I believe they are not as God created them, I will believe that I am not as I was created.
I am paying close attention to the careless judgments as well as to the more focused judgments so that I can decide against doing this anymore. I use this passage from Lesson 149 to help me change this bad habit.
“Heaven is chosen consciously. The choice cannot be made until alternatives are accurately seen and understood. All that is veiled in shadows must be raised to understanding, to be judged again, this time with Heaven’s help.”
Regina’s Tips
If someone were to try to punch you in the face and if you would normally duck, you will also duck while practicing the Loving All Method.
You also love the fact that you are ducking to avoid being punched.
The Loving All Method is about emotional acceptance.
The Loving All Method is not about changing your actions.
If someone says something mean to you and if you feel bad emotionally because of what they said, then love your negative emotion and love yourself for having the negative emotion.
Love as much as you can love.
What you wish to change, you will still change.
The Loving All Method is developing a new feeling habit.
The Loving All Method is developing the habit of feeling love towards everything you perceive.
My Thoughts
Regina quotes the Loving All Method in this lesson, and it is worth reading the whole thing to get a real feel for this very effective process. I had a hard time accepting it at first, but then I realized that I am not being asked to act foolishly; this isn’t about action at all. It is about changing our feeling response.
An example of this is when I knocked over my glass coffee carafe, I was upset, but then I remembered that I could feel differently if I chose to. I chose to love that I broke it. I appreciate how this removes all judgment from what happened. Love is what is left when judgment is gone. I might want to change things about the situation. For instance, after that incident, I decided not to put the carafe in that place anymore but to move it to a more secure position. The thing to know is that only love heals, so love is all I want in my mind.
Regina also reminds us that the way to remember our source is to remember our truth. And the way to remember our truth is to continually focus on awareness (consciousness). And I am discovering how very important that is. Focusing on the thoughts in my mind is a hard habit to break, but knowing that there is something else infinitely more beautiful to focus on helps. What we are, the Self, life-awareness, is beautiful and perfect and pure Love. Today, I set the intention of keeping my focus on the only real thing there is to focus on. I ask the Holy Spirit to help me remember this intention.
In the past, I felt overwhelmed with all that needed to change.
Though they are only in my own mind and far beyond the reach of Truth, I place limits on God’s Son so much that it is hard to keep up with it. I do it to myself and to those I know, and to those I just happen to run across. It doesn’t matter since each different body is just a symbol of the separation thought. Sometimes the limit is obvious. I think someone is too fat, dresses badly, or has a terrible haircut.
I think someone is rude or obnoxious. Or I think someone cannot write well or speak well. Maybe I believe in someone’s sickness, suffering, or death. I look at someone else and think they are someone else, unconnected to me, alone and separate. Sometimes it is just a fleeting thought, hardly in my mind long enough for me to notice, but since I believe it, it shows me that I believe in limitation and would impose it on myself and others.
These limits are sometimes behind humility or behind a compliment.
I limit as I compare one person to another. For instance, I could never do what that one is doing or look what an advanced soul she is. And right then, I have limited everyone else and even her because while she has gone so far, she is not there. I hide it behind “love” as I tell my children they cannot do something by doing it for them or giving unneeded advice.
I limit through worry. What if I cannot do this, or if that happens? How will I handle something? Will I have enough money or enough time? The implication always being there is a limit. How often have I said that I can no longer do that because I am too old, or my memory is not as good as it used to be, or I just tend to be that way or this way?
Today I sat here thinking that I can’t understand why I hold onto the ego as I do. Why can’t I just let it go? I see what I am doing, and yet I keep doing it. The limitation implied is that I have no control over this, that something is keeping me in this place. I think of the many times the Holy Spirit has encouraged me to be patient, and I think, there I go again, trying to rush things; another limitation – I’m not able to be patient, never have been.
I wonder how I can make all these changes.
The Holy Spirit reminds me that there are not a million changes in behavior that I need to make, but only one change. In choosing the wrong teacher, I learned to believe in limitation.
Holy Spirit: Dear one, you forget who you are, and all that implies. You are the holy Son of God dreaming of bodies, pretending to be limited. You don’t need to learn to be unlimited, or even, as you were thinking, learn to not be limited. Your only need is to decide to be what you are instead of what you pretend to be.
Each time you notice one of the many forms that limitation can take, you decide to remember who you are. Each time you use that moment to express your willingness to return to your true nature, you undo the belief in limitation. It does not matter if the limitation seems to be on you or on someone else, as it is not a particular behavior that needs correction but the thought that caused the behavior.
Remember that you are completely responsible for everything you see in your world.
If there seem to be limits everywhere you look, those limits are there because you want them there. Do not be discouraged by this discovery, but rejoice that you have decided to realize what is going on. Your willingness to accept responsibility is your freedom. It is the key to freedom from the belief in limits.
Me: Holy Spirit, I feel very frustrated. I accept responsibility for my world. Well, really, I don’t a lot of times because as soon as I said that, I remembered just yesterday thinking I felt bad because of something someone else said. But I do understand the concept of self-responsibility. What I don’t understand is why I cannot simply let go of the belief in limits. Why can’t I just wake up from this dream? I think I really want to, and yet if I wanted to, I would. What is wrong with me?
Holy Spirit: Precious child of God, remember that I said you forget who you are.
That forgetfulness is not accidental. You choose to forget that you are holy beyond measure, perfect in a way that, in your forgetfulness, you can no longer even imagine. It is that you choose forgetfulness because you believe what you have now is preferable. You would rather be ruler of a broken and limited kingdom than be part of God’s kingdom. As long as you place some value in being separate from God, you will remain (in your mind only) separate from God. You are created to be free, which means you are free to be miserable if that is what you want.
Remember, though, that you are equally free to be joyful. There are no magic words to bring you to your joy. I know you want Me to give you those words which will free you from your own choices, but you do not need Me to do this for you. I will not teach you that you are limited in this way by doing for you what you can do for yourself. That would not be a kindness. Returning to your natural state, which I remind you, does not change despite your dreams to the contrary, returning to your natural state is as simple as changing your mind. When you cease to value your dream, it will end. Just like that.
And yes, again, I will remind you be patient with yourself.
There are steps that must be taken, and you are taking them. Patience does not imply doing nothing. Continue to use every possible opportunity to become fully aware of your resistance. Continue to give Me what willingness you have in every moment. Though it seems small indeed, you may rest assured I will use it well. The little you do has a powerful effect on your mind. You are in the process of deciding differently. It seems to you to take a long time, but that is just an illusion.
Me: Thank you, Holy Spirit.
Here are three other past entries from my journals.
2011
Last night as I was driving home, I was mentally reviewing my practice for the day. The primary focus seemed to have been on remembering who I am and letting go of some of the blocks that prevent me from remembering. I let go of ego thoughts all day, watching them rise up and float away. Not very glamorous work or very exciting to the ego’s way of thinking, but very helpful to the Sonship.
Thinking about it, I was frustrated at how persistently the same thoughts returned all day and how hard it can be to remember that the world is not real and I am not the one who imagines I am here. I thought how much easier it would be if I could feel, really feel, like my true self more often. Only a few times have I ever really gotten a glimpse of this.
I remembered the first time it happened.
I had been driving then, as well. And I had been in such blissful joy. It was the first time, really understood that the Course was serious when it said I am not the dreamer but the one who dreams and that I am still as God created me. I was allowing the truth of this to settle into my mind when suddenly my awareness was outside the body, and I saw that I was not the body, and I panicked. As I felt the fear, everything shifted back to “normal.” I was sorry I had stopped it, but I couldn’t get it back. Obviously, I was not entirely ready.
Thinking about this, I realized that there has been a permanent shift. I don’t have that kind of vivid awareness of being outside the body, being the observer of the story, all the time, but when it occasionally happens, it is not frightening to me. It feels strange, and it is still too new to take in stride, but there is no fear. I felt grateful to the Holy Spirit for bringing this to my attention. And I don’t need to feel frustrated with myself. I am doing just what I need to do to wake up. It is happening. If I look at the world for proof that I am a body, I will find it. But if I look for proof that I am God’s Son, I will find that instead.
Thank you, God. I love you, God.
2015
Two things have been very helpful to me this year. The first is the decision to accept that the peace of God is everything I want. When I find my mind wandering to some drama or other or even to some pleasant fantasy, I remind myself that the peace of God is what I want. Then I give myself a moment to settle into that peace once again. Yes, that is what I want, what I value above all things in the world.
The second is that I surrender this body and this story to Jesus to use in the Atonement Plan. I will be far more useful if I don’t continually interfere by using the body to further the ego plan of separation. So, when that temptation occurs, I remember that I am not in charge anymore. I often do this when the mind is wandering.
It amazes me how often that mind chatter is about defense and attack.
I will be having this intense mental conversation with someone in which I feel attacked and so defend myself when I will suddenly wake up to what I am doing, and I give the whole thing to God. Defending myself is no longer my business.
Or I will become worried about a physical symptom, and I will remember this is no longer my business. If there is something to be done about it, I will be told. Often, it simply goes away once I stop obsessing about it. I don’t worry about my fading memory anymore. I ask that I be reminded when something needs my attention. Then I let go of the concern that I might forget.
Another thing I have been reminding myself regularly is that I am awake because I asked for this. But I have not yet experienced a significant shift in that direction. I still seem to resist, and while I find that to be ridiculous on my part, I am not particularly worried about it. I am doing what I am to do, watching my mind and releasing what I can. And I surrender to the timing of this and to the perfection of it—no need to worry. I asked my Father to wake me up, and so it is done.
2016
What I love about reading the postings from the past is seeing how I have grown. This is where the progress is obvious. I also see that I never go backward; I never lose what I have gained. I might have to continue working on certain beliefs, but what I gained is not lost.
This morning I can add that through the group study of a Pathways of Light course called Living in the World While Waking Up, I have gotten much better at noticing the desire to live in the past or the future. When I notice this happening, I return my mind to the moment.
This has helped me tremendously. I am at peace even more than before, and even when I have to work at it, as I did when I was worried about my child, it helps me. It helps by breaking that cycle of worry. After all, the only reason I am worried is that things happened in the past that makes me think something is going to happen in the future. So, I ask myself, “What is happening right now?” The anxiety melts away, and I see how much happier I am as I stay right here in the present.
Here is another thing that I have gained from the study of that course.
It is the realization that the Presence of Love can be found only in the present moment. When I first read about this, it was not really meaningful to me. But as I practiced being in the moment, I began to notice the peace and the love and that indescribable joy that occurs for which there is no story attached. When I began to think of the past or the future, I lost this. So the experience of it is what motivates me to continue the practice. I am in awe to realize that the present moment is where I meet God. Of course, I will keep practicing it until that is where I live.
2017
I was listening to a teaching by Bentinho Massaro, and he said something that was very helpful to me. I don’t remember his exact words, but what I got from it is this. The world is hypnotic, and if we don’t focus on our purpose, which is to overcome the world, if we don’t meditate every day to remember why we are here, we get sucked back into this hypnotic state.
It is helpful for me to think of it that way because it explains why I seem to still get pulled into the ego story. Getting pulled back into the story is normal. Nothing is wrong with me; I just need to do what it takes to stay anchored so this doesn’t happen.
Contemplation 2025
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