ACIM Daily Lesson 354 We stand together, Christ and I, in peace and certainty of purpose. And in Him is His Creator, as He is in me.
We stand together, Christ and I, in peace and certainty of purpose. And in Him is His Creator, as He is in me.
Lesson 354
We stand together, Christ and I, in peace and certainty of purpose. And in Him is His Creator, as He is in me.
1. My oneness with the Christ establishes me as Your Son, beyond the reach of time, and wholly free of every law but Yours. ²I have no self except the Christ in me. ³I have no purpose but His Own. ⁴And He is like His Father. ⁵Thus must I be one with You as well as Him. ⁶For who is Christ except Your Son as You created Him? ⁷And what am I except the Christ in me?
While I experience myself as here in the world of time and space, I will not know my oneness, but I will learn of it. My purpose is to forgive the world so that there is nothing in my mind that separates us. In this way, I prepare myself to know myself as God created me. I do this in many little ways all during the day. I read something on Facebook and judge the person who wrote it. This is an opportunity to forgive. I will not say anything about it, and it seems a small thing. But there are no little judgments and big judgments. The thought of judgment separates me from others, so it matters that I forgive.
We had a Christmas party with extended family last year.
It was at my daughter’s house, and it was storming, so I had to drive in heavy rain. I got halfway there and realized I had left my purse at home. I turned back to get it, and for a moment, I was distressed that it was making me even later to get there. But I don’t give up my peace of mind that easily anymore. I reminded myself that this seems to be a problem, but it doesn’t have to be. Immediately, I was back in peace. I used to worry and fret over life, but now I just let it unfold without reacting to it. If I do react, I change my mind.
All through the day, I choose peace and love. I choose God. In this way, I am learning that I am free of every law but God’s and that I am as He created me. I am learning that I am the Christ and one with God. As I continue to do this, my mind is being freed of the belief in a separate self with a separate will. Today, I am standing together with Christ in peace and certainty of purpose. In the end, I will know myself as Christ.
I am part of Christ, and Christ is part of God. We are in God, and God is in us.
Today, I stand on that truth and live from it. Today, I am certain of my purpose. I love that this is the lesson today. I woke up a little early and decided to meditate before I got out of bed. Sometimes this is an excellent time to meditate before the mind has a chance to get busy, and other times I just fall back to sleep.
But this morning, I did something different. I stated what I wanted. That is, I wanted a good meditation and then to fall back to sleep, and that is exactly what happened. I am learning to state my desires clearly and to expect them to be honored. I keep getting what I ask for, so I must be doing this right. Starting the morning with a good meditation is lovely and really sets the tone for the day. Knowing that I am loved and honored and my mind is powerful, is wonderful, too.
Recently, I asked for clarity as to what I should be focused on now. I was told to stop listening to the chatter. I have been trying to do that for so very many years and with gathering success but still far from total success. But this is what I want, and so I expect it to happen. I have already noticed that I catch the chatter more quickly, and I have little interest in it. Most happily, it doesn’t feel like an endless chore anymore. I am truly standing with Christ in peace and certainty.
Regina’s Tips
Our special theme says, “We are the bringers of salvation. We accept our part as saviors of the world, which through our joint forgiveness is redeemed. And this, our gift, is therefore given to us. We look on everyone as brother and perceive all things as kindly and as good.”
Yesterday I addressed a confusion that forms in the minds of some students of A Course in Miracles. The confusion is that one is a divine individual, and the projection of the world comes from the divine individual mind. (For example, the idea that Sally and Sam are projections of Maria’s individual mind.)
We are not divine individuals. The individual is part of the projection of consciousness. That means that the healing of one individual mind does not end the projection of suffering in the world. That is why our special theme says the world is redeemed through our “joint forgiveness.” However, our special theme goes on to say:
And this, our gift, is therefore given to us. We look on everyone as brother and perceive all things as kindly and as good.
Even though the world will continue with its ego projections for humans who still believe the ego thought system, the one who awakens beyond the ego thought system will see God in all projections. This is what the Course calls “true perception.”
It is as Holy Spirit shared with me in one of my first scribal messages.
This message has been named “The Ego is Not the Devil.” In that message, Holy Spirit said:
Now you may ask, “If I change my belief about the world, will I see no more sickness, no more war, and no more threat?” I’ve answered this for you before in many ways, but I will put the answers together for you now so you may see what seem to be pieces as a whole.
You are not an individual. Everyone that you experience in the world is a part of you. You are aspects of one mind. When I say that the world you experience is made by you, I am not referring to you as an individual. That would indicate that separateness is truth. When I say that the world you experience is made by you, I am referring to all aspects of the mind that believe in separateness. As one aspect of the mind lets go of the belief in separateness, more Light is brought into the whole mind. It helps to rouse the Sonship, but as the Sonship continues to sleep, nightmares of separateness continue in the world.
When I indicate that what you will see will change, the word “see” and the word “perceive” are synonymous.
As long as you see a world, you perceive. I am not saying that a violent crime could occur around you and that others would see it and you would not. The body’s eyes will continue to show you the seeming actions within the world of illusion. When I say you will see differently, I mean that you will perceive differently, or to be even more clear, that you will feel differently about what you see. Your perspective will be different. Your feelings will be different, and therefore, your action will be different.
This message points to true perception, which is still perception, but it feels the presence of God, and it sees the reflection of God in all projections. Bernadette Roberts called this “unity consciousness.”
The Bible teaches that God is in all projections.
In the opening of the Book of John, it says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
When an individual awakens to consciousness, the world itself may not be healed, but the individual mind is healed. Therefore, it is able to see the light that “shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” This seeing is the essence of true perception. Although the world may not be renewed to the point of yesterday’s scripture from Isaiah, the one awakened to consciousness sees the real reflected in the world.
My Thoughts
I think this clarification is very important. Sometimes when students try to apply the principles of the Course from a standpoint of the separated individual, it can be confusing and even frightening or depressing.
A person might meet someone cruel and think, “This is my projection, and so I must be cruel.” It makes more sense to realize that this cruel person is a projection of the mind we all share, and that mind has the belief in cruelty. If this happens to me, what then is my individual part in healing the mind? I might ask if I have ever expressed that belief in my life.
Have I ever been cruel to anyone or to myself? I know that I have. Even if I have not, this energy of cruelty has shown up in my life. Therefore, it is for me to forgive whether it has shown up in my personal experience or not. I ask that the belief in cruelty be healed in all of consciousness.
As the individual mind heals more and more, the cruelty is still there, but the awakened mind sees it differently.
It is no longer personal, and the individual is no longer seen as guilty. They are simply choosing to express what is in the mind as a whole, and the reason for that choice is unknown to me, so I cannot judge, nor do I want to. Another thing I notice is that I might have a quick feeling of discouragement at the cruelty of man, but then I feel love and compassion for the individual who is manifesting a belief we all need to heal. All must be seen before it can be undone through forgiveness.
To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 354 click here.
If you found this content helpful, please share on social media so more people can read and learn.