ACIM Chapter 13. VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 13-15

ACIM Chapter 13. VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 13-15

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 13

13 Leave, then, your needs to Him. He will supply them with no emphasis at all upon them. What comes to you of Him comes safely, for He will ensure it never can become a dark spot, hidden in your mind and kept to hurt you. Under His guidance you will travel light and journey lightly, for His sight is ever on the journey’s end, which is His goal. God’s Son is not a traveller through outer worlds. However holy his perception may become, no world outside himself holds his inheritance. Within himself he has no needs, for light needs nothing but to shine in peace, and from itself to let the rays extend in quiet to infinity.

Again, I am reminded to leave my needs to the Holy Spirit. I can rest easy knowing that everything is taken care of if I do this. When my retirement date got very close, I wondered if I was going to be financially ready for that. Sometimes, I started planning what to do about this bill or that obligation. Then I started to worry.

Reviewing this section of the Course was so helpful then.

When I noticed I was thinking ahead and fretting, I reminded myself that the Holy Spirit is in charge of my needs in this world, so why would I be concerned? This helped me back out of something that did not need my attention. I realized that I don’t know what I need, nor do I know how to ask for that which will not distract me or in some other way delay me.

The Holy Spirit has His eye on the journey’s end, and that is not always true about me. Sometimes, often, really, I know that the peace of God is everything I want. But then, other times, I think I really need something else. This neediness diverts my attention from what matters, sometimes turning me completely away from my purpose. I don’t always realize what has happened for a while, only that I am no longer happy and at peace. So yes, I need the Holy Spirit’s help. It is never confused about what matters.

Here, I seem to have many obligations and responsibilities. The world can be confusing. I suffer, and I die. It is a harsh illusion in many ways. The absolute best I can do is to experience relief from this but never be free of it for as long as I hold the illusion in place with my desire for a personal self and with my fear of looking at the unconscious guilt I have buried so deeply in my mind. Sometimes, it makes me tired just thinking about it. Maybe that is why I am so attracted to the last line.

“Within himself he has no needs, for light needs nothing but to shine in peace, and from itself to let the rays extend in quiet to infinity.”

I can rest in that promise. I feel unburdened just thinking about it. Perhaps I am not “within myself” right now, but I can get a taste of this as I step back from my plans and my worries and let the Holy Spirit provide for me. Something that has helped me with this is to realize that the world is just the projection of the thoughts in the mind we all share. So, no matter what seems to be happening, it is just thought given form.

No matter how upset I seem to be, the upset is just thought experienced as emotion. It feels upsetting and frightening when I think it is real, but it is just thought. So, instead of reacting as if I am in danger, I am reminding myself of this. There is no world except as images of thoughts, and I am safe in God. Nothing is happening except thought, and I don’t need to do anything about the thought. I remember that forgiveness is always the answer and that forgiveness does nothing.

So, I do nothing about the thought. I don’t try to change it. Nor do I try to choose different thoughts. I am not these thoughts or the feelings they generate, so I can just let them be without reacting to them. Yesterday, I became aware of a thought about a news article that frightened me. I didn’t try to get rid of the fear or the thought. Instead, I acknowledged it was a thought and let it be. I am beyond thought and beyond fear and cannot be hurt by either. “That was a thought” is my new mantra. It is the way I forgive now.

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 14

14 Whenever you are tempted to undertake a useless journey that would lead away from light, remember what you really want, and say:

The Holy Spirit leads me unto Christ, and where else would I go? What need have I but to awake in Him?

I can still wander away from the light, but I find that I don’t like the darkness any longer. So, I change my mind as soon as I notice what I have done. I don’t want to take any more useless journeys. One time at work, I had to explain something to a new employee. She had done it wrong, and I was showing her how to correct it. She began to argue with me and tried to show me that I was the one who was wrong. I told her no. I told her this is the way it must be done, and then I walked away.

She does this kind of thing all the time, and I thought I was over allowing it to bother me, but I kept thinking how foolish it was for her to argue with me. I thought about telling my boss that this is the reason I don’t work with her. After a few minutes of this, I stopped and thought about it. I just don’t want to feel like this. I don’t want to judge anyone because I have to give up peace in order to do so. Nor do I want to teach myself or anyone else that there is more value in being right than there is in being in union.

I recognized I had taken a wrong turn.

I was on another useless journey that was not leading me unto Christ. At first, I kept being pulled back into my righteous indignation. I reminded myself that I chose to be in union with the Holy Spirit, and that I want an unbroken union with Him. I asked the Holy Spirit to purify my mind of any thoughts that are opposed to joining. As I allowed my mind to be healed and soothed by the Holy Spirit, the whole situation became absurd to me.

This woman is just trying to find peace, and this is what I am doing. When she feels wrong about something, it upsets her, and she doesn’t feel peaceful. So she thinks she has to be right about everything. Being right feels like salvation to her. I can certainly understand that. Wasn’t I just doing the same thing? I wanted to be right more than I wanted to walk in the light. Isn’t that the same as believing that being right is my salvation?

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for enlightening my mind.

VII. Attainment of the Real World, P 15

15 Then follow Him in joy, with faith that He will lead you safely through all dangers to your peace of mind this world may set before you. Kneel not before the altars to sacrifice, and seek not what you will surely lose. Content yourself with what you will as surely keep, and be not restless, for you undertake a quiet journey to the peace of God, where He would have you be in quietness.

I appreciate that Jesus says to follow the Holy Spirit in joy. This was not always my experience, and it is not always entirely true for me even now. I went about awakening as if it was the hardest thing I could ever do and as if it needed my very serious concentration at all times. I often talk about vigilance being key, and I am not wrong about that. But here is how it is changing for me.

I am vigilant for the ego in my mind and very willing for it to be undone.

What I have discovered is that vigilance and willingness do not require serious concentration. I don’t have to exhaust myself doing this. I don’t have to grit my teeth and go about it as if failure were chasing me every step of the way. More and more, I understand and accept that failure is not possible, and God does not want or need my grim determination.

In fact, often lately, I have noticed ridiculous ego thoughts in my mind and laughed at the absurdity. I see that beliefs I thought had been released are still showing up, and I just smile at the tenacity of my ego mind. This means I am no longer afraid of myself. There is no fear that I will not return my mind to God because I already have. I am just awakening to that indisputable fact, and I no longer feel a need to struggle. I am no longer frightened of failure.

While I do feel anxious sometimes, and while I do get frustrated with my own stubbornness, it doesn’t last, and mostly, I don’t have that old sense of urgency I had before. I am earnest in my desire for God, and I am determined to return Home, but the determination is not so somber nor so severe. The work is more peaceful now, and when I try to let go of an ego belief that feels obstinate, I still know that I am the Son of God, and I cannot be denied. This helps me return to peace as I remember that there is nothing to fear. I am only becoming aware of what has always been my reality. How could that not be possible?

Here is an excellent teaching by Keith Kavanagh: Forgiveness is Still and Does Nothing.