ACIM Chapter 10. V. The Denial of God, P 11, 12

ACIM Chapter 10. V. The Denial of God, P 11, 12

V. The Denial of God, P 11

11 Out of your gifts to Him the Kingdom will be restored to His Son. His Son removed himself from His gift by refusing to accept what had been created for him, and what he had created in the Name of his Father. Heaven waits for his return, for it was created as the dwelling place of God’s Son. You are not at home anywhere else, or in any other condition. Do not deny yourself the joy that was created for you for the misery you have made for yourself. God has given you the means for undoing what you have made. Listen, and you will learn how to remember what you are.

I am learning to remember what I am right now by becoming more aware of the attack thoughts in my mind and asking the Holy Spirit to remove them for me. It is amazing how many they are and how many forms they take. I see that I have attack thoughts directed at others. For instance, I might feel sorry for someone, and that is an attack thought. It says that they stand outside the Kingdom.

If I think I need to correct someone or give them advice, that is an attack thought that says they are not capable of finding their own path, which is not true. I was listening to Byron Katie this morning. She was saying that she never gives advice and for this very reason. When her kids ask her what they should do, she tells them she doesn’t know. She might tell them what she has done in similar circumstances. But she trusts them to find their path, just as she did.

Of course, sometimes, my attack is more overt.

It is seldom that I do this, but it can happen. I become angry and defensive, and this is an attack. I feel like someone is treating me unfairly, and this is an attack on them, too. It is an attack on myself as well. When I think I am a victim to someone else, I have attacked myself. I attack myself every time I feel unworthy, fearful, or guilty. I have made the choice to see myself outside the Kingdom all over again, just as I did in that tiny mad moment in which I detoured into fear in guilt and dreamed up this bit of hell I call the world.

Looking at these attack thoughts and taking responsibility for them can be very uncomfortable. It is tiring and sometimes discouraging, but it is what we must all do if we want to be free of them. In the past, I would do the work and sometimes cry in sheer frustration that I clung so tightly to these defenses. But I did the work. Today, I continue it with more ease as I do it without guilt. I want a clear mind, a free mind, a happy mind. I am glad to face what my attack thoughts try to hide, to see that I am not a victim and I am never unfairly treated. And I am ready to accept the Atonement for this. It is worth all the effort that is required of me to do this.

V. The Denial of God, P12

12 If God knows His children as wholly sinless, it is blasphemous to perceive them as guilty. If God knows His children as wholly without pain, it is blasphemous to perceive suffering anywhere. If God knows His children to be wholly joyous, it is blasphemous to feel depressed. All of these illusions, and the many other forms that blasphemy may take, are refusals to accept creation as it is. If God created His Son perfect, that is how you must learn to see him to learn of his reality. And as part of the Sonship, that is how you must see yourself to learn of yours.

I haven’t taken part in traditional religion in so long that I had to look up blasphemy to remember what is typically meant by the word. This is what I found.

Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, to religious or holy persons or things, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable.

In this paragraph, Jesus is telling us what truly constitutes blasphemy. When we perceive anything that is not as God created it, this is blasphemy. While I was looking up the religious definition of blasphemy, I saw that some religions take this idea very seriously, indeed, even calling it a religious crime. Jesus tells us that it is blasphemy to deny God, but He does not tell us that we are guilty of doing so. We are just confused, and our confusion is hurting us, so he wants us to see what we are doing so we can change our minds.

At first, it seems the impossible is being asked of us.

We are to see no suffering, no depression, neither in others nor ourselves. How the heck are we supposed to do that? Everywhere you look, someone is suffering. I remind myself that when Jesus says we are not to see, what he means is we are not to perceive. We are not to look at apparent suffering, believe what we see, and thus strengthen the belief in suffering for all of us.

Sometimes, this is easy to correct. I see in the news that people have died in a fire. I pray that they will transition gently and their loved ones will know the comfort and love of God in this difficult time. While I know that it seems bad, especially to all involved, I know it is all right. Everyone involved is innocent and deeply loved by God. I know that what is happening is not real. I know that when someone “dies,” the only thing that has changed is that they have ceased to animate this body with their awareness, and that awareness has been placed elsewhere.

When a friend or family member dies, it feels different to me.

It is harder to remember the truth. I feel shock and grief. The truth did not cease to be the truth; it was just harder for me to remember it. The emotions seem to temporarily overwhelm what I know to be true. It helps sometimes to have others who are not so directly involved remember the truth for me. This strengthens my ability to remember.

However I feel, when I see and believe what is not truth, I ask for the Atonement. I ask that the Holy Spirit correct my thinking and give me a different way to see the situation. He never fails to fulfill his function, and even when I have to return for correction repeatedly, He is always there, always ready to heal at the slightest invitation from me.

When someone is suffering, if I see their suffering as real and justified, I am not helping them. I am just making it worse for all of us as I make it real within the mind. But if I see that they are suffering without believing in their suffering or in the reality of the situation, I can be helpful. I can strengthen the light within their mind with the light in my mind.

While the world’s woes are not real, I still respond to a need.

I send my condolences, give a hug, cry with my friend, and become a quiet listener. I can ask the Holy Spirit if there is some way I can be helpful. He might ask me to do something or to say something that encourages and lets them know they are loved and cared for. I could even be the answer to their prayer.

Taking these actions doesn’t mean that I am joining them in the error of believing in the problem. It means that I have compassion for their confusion because I have suffered the same confusion. It means I love and care for them, just as God loves and cares for me, even though He does not believe in my problems.

Today, Holy Spirit, may I be aware of what I am giving my faith to. I want the peace of God, and I cannot have that if I perceive suffering to be real. I open my mind to You and ask that You remove those thoughts that justify the belief in what could never be true because it stands outside creation. Help me to do that for myself and for everyone else you send my way. Thank you.

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