ACIM II. Miracles As True Perception, P 1, 2. I have stated that the basic concepts referred to in this course are not matters of degree.
ACIM II. Miracles As True Perception, P 1, 2
1 II. Miracles As True Perception, P 1
1 I have stated that the basic concepts referred to in this course are not matters of degree. Certain fundamental concepts cannot be understood in terms of opposites. It is impossible to conceive of light and darkness or everything and nothing as joint possibilities. They are all true or all false. It is essential that you realize your thinking will be erratic until a firm commitment to one or the other is made. A firm commitment to darkness or nothingness, however, is impossible. No one has ever lived who has not experienced some light and some thing. No one, therefore, is able to deny truth totally, even if he thinks he can.
It was when I really understood that my commitment had to be total that the most recent shifts in my understanding occurred. Even though Jesus tells us this early in the Course, I just could not seem to grasp the idea for a long time. I am so used to the idea of “choices” that I could not understand a lack of degree or the idea of no opposites.
Power of Decision
Maybe the first time I began to accept that there could be no opposite or degree was when I read Lesson 152, The power of decision is my own. It says in part:
1 No one can suffer loss unless it be his own decision. No one suffers pain except his choice elects this state for him. No one can grieve nor fear nor think him sick unless these are the outcomes that he wants. And no one dies without his own consent. Nothing occurs but represents your wish, and nothing is omitted that you choose. Here is your world, complete in all details. Here is its whole reality for you. And it is only here salvation is.
2 You may believe that this position is extreme, and too inclusive to be true. Yet can truth have exceptions? If you have the gift of everything, can loss be real? Can pain be part of peace, or grief of joy? Can fear and sickness enter in a mind where love and perfect holiness abide? Truth must be all-inclusive, if it be the truth at all. Accept no opposites and no exceptions, for to do so is to contradict the truth entirely.
3 Salvation is the recognition that the truth is true, and nothing else is true.
No Exceptions
I was a long way from fully accepting this as true when I read it, but something in me responded to this Lesson. Some part of me recognized the truth of it and knew how important these words were. Of course, the ego responded by reminding me that if this is true, then I am one guilty woman. It completely ignored that it was saying that I can only be what God created, and everything else must be false. All the ego mind heard was that I had made a mess of things and had no one but myself to blame. Even so, I recognized that this lesson was my way Home.
At first, I spent some time insisting there must be exceptions to it. After all, I reasoned, so many things have been part of my life that have nothing to do with me and my actions. And so many things I could not possibly be responsible for. I finally came to understand that this Lesson was absolutely true, but to do that, I had first to accept that it is true always and in every case, no matter what it looks like. I had to learn to disregard appearances and know that Jesus would not say this unless it were true.
Firmly Committed
From this place of rock-steady faith, I began to understand how it is that I am responsible for all things in my awareness. And how knowing this can help me let go of the things that are not true. I learned to accept no opposites and no exceptions. When I became confused and could not understand how it is I was responsible, I learned not to say, “This can’t be true,” but instead, I would say, “How could this be true?” This represents a simple change in attitude, but the change that made the difference.
I am now firmly committed to certain principles. This certainty makes it easier to allow my mind to be healed. Yes, sometimes my first thought is that someone is guilty, preferably someone else, but I don’t believe it. And that thought is quickly followed by the conviction that I have done this to myself and that it is meaningless. I gladly accept the Atonement in this situation and open my heart to Love asking that all I have done be undone.
II. Miracles As True Perception, P 2
2 Innocence is not a partial attribute. It is not real until it is total. The partly innocent are apt to be quite foolish at times. It is not until their innocence becomes a viewpoint with universal application that it becomes wisdom. Innocent or true perception means that you never misperceive and always see truly. More simply, it means that you never see what does not exist, and always see what does.
When I read this paragraph, I felt a longing for innocence to be total, to look at innocence no matter what seems to be happening. I felt a prayer rise up in me, but I also felt sadness because I feel like I have not met this goal. Nothing is beautiful when I project guilt on it, and I still do this sometimes. One of the things I have been doing lately to help me choose differently is to call it guilt when it is guilt.
Here is an example of what I mean. What if I were to say, or even think, that my friend shouldn’t have forgotten my birthday? That would be saying she is guilty of disappointing me. What if I were shopping at Walmart and was disturbed by the woman in front of me? She is casually shopping while her baby is crying relentlessly. My thoughts that she should take care of her child translates into she is guilty of not being a good mom. Once I see the error clearly, I can ask that Love heal me of the belief in guilt.
Guilt Glasses
I see that if I continue to believe in guilt, I will see guilt everywhere. It is like I wear “guilt glasses” so that it is not possible to see anything through them without also seeing guilt. Wearing guilt glasses every time I see someone with breathing problems, I will wonder if they smoke, or to say this more honestly, I will wonder if that person is guilty of smoking and so guilty of causing their own suffering.
Wearing these glasses, I read the paper, and I think how awful, how sad, how ridiculous. I hear about a politician making choices I can’t understand, and I wonder if he took a bribe or if he is just self-serving. Every thought that expresses a wish that things were different than they are is an expression of guilt. It is a wish for someone or something to be guilty.
It starts to feel overwhelming. How do I stop thinking like this? How do I stop finding everyone and everything guilty? Recognizing that it is not this person or that thing that is the problem is the first step. For instance, my friend who appears thoughtless is not the problem. It is my belief in guilt that is the problem. While I believe in guilt, seeing her thoughtless of my feelings triggers the fear I am not worthy and loved. Looking outward, it seems to be her fault I feel like this.
Changing My Mind
On the other hand, I can turn inward when I feel distressed and look for the answer there. It is the only place I will find it. If I feel unloved by someone else, I must not love myself. I can ask the Holy Spirit to remind me of who I am in God. I am His holy Son, created by Love as Love. How could I not be loveable? As my mind clears of the ego interpretation of the event, I am free of the need for others to prove my worth. Now I can extend the love I am to them, to everyone. I will start seeing everyone as innocent.
With guilt, someone is to blame. Without guilt, the story continues to unfold, and I use each moment as an opportunity to be the love that I am. Without guilt, all moments are peaceful. With guilt, all moments are a battle. It is not the moment that is a problem. It is the guilt.
Another Way to See This
Here is what I learned to do. I notice that I am blaming myself or someone else or some situation. I know this must be a mistake because there is only innocence. There is only God, and God is not guilty, so there cannot be anything but innocence. If I see something besides innocence there is a need for the Atonement. I open my mind and invite Love to enter. I ask that Love heal my mind of anything that is not like Itself.
The mind that believes in guilt and values guilt will not want to accept this. It will want to make exceptions so that it can hold onto guilt. It will want to say that my friend is thoughtless. It will say that the politician really is unscrupulous and that there is proof this is true. This ego mind that loves separation and specialness will cling to its judgments and find many uses for guilt.
I will disregard them all. No exceptions, no excuses, just innocence, no matter what. How do I respond? With love, no matter what. What do I do when I notice the desire to judge and to find guilty? I forgive it. I forgive myself. I forgive my projections. I do this by accepting the Atonement, that is, by accepting the healing power of Love. It is simple.
What Perspective Will I Choose?
Every time I do this, I wipe another smudge of guilt off my glasses, and I see things differently. I see more clearly. I see love instead of guilt because love was there all the time; the belief in guilt simply obscured it. As the belief in guilt is healed, the ego’s effort to convince me that guilt has a place and is justified becomes ridiculous.
It’s up to us from which perspective we view the world. Let us all toss the dirty, smudged guilt glasses. Instead, we can choose to view the world through clear love glasses. We will begin to see what is actually there rather than what the split mind imagines is there.
Foolish
I was also thinking about this sentence: The partly innocent are apt to be quite foolish at times. I remember when I was still learning that there is only innocence. I would see someone acting foolishly and would tell myself they were innocent. True enough. But it was not the ego that was innocent. In the world, the ego can be pretty awful. But that does in no way change who we are in truth.
When I was still confused about this, I was often conflicted. I had a woman who cleaned my house. She was a bipolar addict and would steal from me.
I let this behavior go on for a long time because I was trying to be a good Course student. I didn’t want to judge her, and in my mind, that meant it was ok for her to steal from me. I was foolish.
Now if that happened, I would not judge her. I would know she was not her story and that her true Self was not guilty of anything. I would forgive any thoughts in my mind that were judgmental. And I would let Love purify the relationship removing anything that was not love. Then I would fire her. I didn’t do either of us any favors by letting her steal from me. It only increased guilt in her and hid my judgments from myself. Hidden judgments cannot be corrected. I am no longer foolish.
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