A Course in Miracles Workbook Daily Lesson 352, Year 2022

ACIM Daily Lesson 352 Judgment and love are opposites. From one come all the sorrows of the world. But from the other comes the peace of God Himself.

Lesson 352

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

1. Forgiveness looks on sinlessness alone, and judges not. ²Through this I come to You. ³Judgment will bind my eyes and make me blind. ⁴Yet love, reflected in forgiveness here, reminds me You have given me a way to find Your peace again. ⁵I am redeemed when I elect to follow in this way. ⁶You have not left me comfortless. ⁷I have within me both the memory of You, and One Who leads me to it. ⁸Father, I would hear Your Voice and find Your peace today. ⁹For I would love my own Identity, and find in It the memory of You.

I can judge, or I can love. I cannot do both. We come here to judge, and so for a long time, I couldn’t figure out how to stop. I understand now that I can end judgment as I forgive. I forgive my judgmental thoughts as I look at them with the Holy Spirit. He comforts me in my confusion. He guides me out of the confusion as He heals my mind. In this way, I find my own Identity and, in it, my memory of God.

This lesson reminds me of Lesson 68.

I was thinking what a perfect sentence this is: 

⁷I have within me both the memory of You, and One Who leads me to it. We seem to be asleep but the truth is in our mind. Shut off from your Self, which remains aware of Its likeness to Its Creator, your Self seems to sleep, while the part of your mind that weaves illusions in its sleep appears to be awake. (ACIM, W-68.2:1)

And in today’s lesson also, Jesus assures us that the memory of God is still in our minds. We can find that memory because the Holy Spirit is also in our minds and will lead us to it. Further, in Lesson 68, we are given a big clue as to why we are so confused. ²Can all this arise from holding grievances? (ACIM, W-68.2:2) To remember the Self and to remember the Creator, we must let go of our grievances through forgiveness. I have identified with the ego, and now I am grateful to be led to my true Identity, an Identity I share with the Sonship.

Another lovely day of looking with love instead of judgment.

I should have started this long ago. Last year I wrote about a doctor’s visit. I hadn’t been able to kick bronchitis and had started feeling worse rather than better. I went to an urgent care clinic I had not been to before. While waiting for the doctor, I checked their reviews, and they were horrible. I checked within and didn’t find a no, so I stayed.

I was curious how this would go. The doctor said that I didn’t have pneumonia, but he was worried about that and gave me a shot and some antibiotics. He was such a nice cheery doctor, and I felt quite confident in his care. I’m glad I didn’t waste any time judging him or worrying about being at that particular clinic. And I think those guys felt better for my visit as well. I love my life. I love this path home.

Here is another time the ego wanted to judge, and I chose not to do so.

I went to a comedy show and stayed up past my bedtime. The next morning I noticed my energy level was low, and I also noticed that I judged this as being a bad thing. The mind began to make up stories about what this meant in terms of my day, how it will affect my plans, etc. Then I was given the thought of acceptance. I remembered the last time I felt like this, and I chose just to let it be, to accept that this is how I feel without judging it or trying to do anything about it. Having low energy is one thing; judging it as unacceptable and going to war with it is quite different.

Thank you, Holy Spirit.

The judgment habit can be a tough nut to crack.

I still see judgmental thoughts in my mind. On the other hand, I don’t have any judgmental thoughts I am not willing to release, though some of them seem to be more appealing to me than others. Those are the ones that feel “hard” to let go. I’m focused on simply noticing and then letting go of judgment, where it still has a hold on me.

If I am not careful, I will judge myself for judging, and that is not at all helpful. As I let go of judgment, I am beginning to understand that we can have judgment or love, but not both. Where there is judgment, there is not love. There is no justification for holding onto a judgment, no matter what story I have weaved around it to convince me of its value. I also see that it is a matter of desire. The stronger my desire to know God, the easier it is to let go of judgment.

This morning as I read this lesson and my past entries, I am reflecting.

I have changed in regard to judgment. What I see is those judgmental thoughts still come into my mind, but I am not very interested. Occasionally, I will notice that I am judging people or situations, and I will stop. I recognize that I am never upset for the reason I think, so I ask what it is that is upsetting me rather than continuing to project my discontent on others. I like that it happens seldom enough that I am surprised by it. Whatever it is about, it is a sign that I have abandoned love, and as soon as I realize this, I change my mind.

Contemplation 2025

To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 352 click here.

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