ACIM Chapter 7. II. The Law of the Kingdom, P 6, 7. No one questions the connection of learning and memory. Learning is impossible without memory since it must be consistent to be remembered.
ACIM Chapter 7. II. The Law of the Kingdom, P 6, 7
II. The Law of the Kingdom, P 6
6 No one questions the connection of learning and memory. Learning is impossible without memory since it must be consistent to be remembered. That is why the Holy Spirit’s teaching is a lesson in remembering. I said before that He teaches remembering and forgetting, but the forgetting is only to make the remembering consistent. You forget in order to remember better. You will not understand His translations while you listen to two ways of interpreting them. Therefore you must forget or relinquish one to understand the other. This is the only way you can learn consistency, so that you can finally be consistent.
First, I learned to recognize the ego thoughts when they appeared in my mind. Then, I learned through contrast that these are not the thoughts I want to believe. I then learned that the Holy Spirit will reinterpret for me if I wish and that I can let my mind be healed. As I have gone through this process, learning to be very vigilant and very consistent, I have experienced more peace than I ever would have believed possible.
This process worked very well until I became confused and listened to both voices.
One night, this is what happened to me. I was reading from the Course one of the promises. I had the thought that I was never going to experience this, that if I hadn’t succeeded by now, it was never going to happen. It felt really discouraging to think about this.
I almost immediately heard the Voice for Truth reassure me that I could trust the words of Jesus, and I wanted to believe that. But then the ego voice piped in with its “proof” that I am lost. It reminded me of how long I have been doing this, and yet, am I awake? No. Even though I could hear Spirit quietly reassuring me, I could also hear the fear thoughts.
What I did was put on the audio version of the Course and let myself fall asleep listening to the truth. This was my way of making a choice for the Voice I would listen to and believe. It was my way of forgetting the other voice, relinquishing it in favor of the Holy Spirit. I woke up several times during the night to the uplifting words from the Course.
This morning, one of the first things I did was visit a new group I joined.
It is a study of the book, “40 Days with Jesus: Celebrating His Presence”
It said, in part:
Concentrate on keeping in step with Me, instead of trying to anticipate My plans for you. If you trust that My plans are to prosper you and not to harm you, you can relax and enjoy the present moment.
And:
Sometimes I grant you glimpses of your glorious future, to encourage you and spur you on. But your main focus should be staying close to Me. I set the pace in keeping with your needs and My purposes.
This was such a perfect answer to my upsetting thoughts! First, I cried because I needed to release the tension that was caused when I was at war in my own mind. I know the truth, but when I listened to both voices and gave credence to both, I was confused.
Then I completely let go of the ego thoughts and having been given permission by my choice, the Holy Spirit healed my mind. There is no conflict now. The dark thoughts dissolved as my mind was illuminated. Once my mind was focused on only the one Voice, it was a certain and simple thing.
II. The Law of the Kingdom, P 7
7 What can the perfect consistency of the Kingdom mean to those who are confused? It is apparent that confusion interferes with meaning, and therefore prevents the learner from appreciating it. There is no confusion in the Kingdom, because there is only one meaning. This meaning comes from God and is God. Because it is also you, you share it and extend it as your Creator did. This needs no translation because it is perfectly understood, but it does need extension because it means extension. Communication is perfectly direct and perfectly united. It is totally free, because nothing discordant ever enters. That is why it is the Kingdom of God. It belongs to Him and is therefore like Him. That is its reality, and nothing can assail it.
Within the world, there is confusion.
This is because there are meanings from which to choose. Because there are meanings, we have preferences, and so when we don’t get what we prefer, we feel unhappy. For instance, I prefer an early bedtime and a leisurely morning in which to do my writing before I go to work. When this happens, I feel good, but when my plans are thwarted, I feel unhappy.
Because there are meanings, we choose one, and our brother chooses another, and so our differences are further emphasized, and instead of being in love, we are in competition. Even within the Course community, there is a tendency to interpret A Course in Miracles differently and to defend the interpretation we choose. This leads to conflict and so to unhappiness.
The different meanings vie for our attention and distract and confuse. On every level, we are given choices. We have fashion choices, political choices, and relationship choices. We choose what job we want, where we will go on vacation, what we will do with our free time, and who we will do it with. It sounds interesting and exciting, but it is actually just distractions to keep us from noticing how unsatisfying and often painful and even tragic our life really is.
We either fight for our meaning or enlist other believers to fortify our choice.
Whether it is the religion of choice, the political party we prefer, or the cause of the day, we are called to convince others and get them to support our side. If we are for one thing, that implies we are also against the other, which is just war cloaked in righteousness.
It becomes confusing because the more we support, even in our thoughts, one side or another, the more apparent it seems that we should do something. And I am not saying we shouldn’t do something. I am saying, though, that if we do something, let it be from love, not from fear of what would happen if we did nothing. Let our actions be guided by One Who will direct us to the next link in the chain of Atonement, rather than by the ego that only wants to win at the loser’s expense.
In this world, we think that the right to choose is worth fighting for. After making choices for 74 years, I realize I have never made a choice that led to perfect peace. I give up. I surrender the ego’s “right” to choose and ask the Holy Spirit to choose for me. Now I see that I have always chosen one illusion over another, and thus, nothing has actually happened, so why should I expect satisfaction? I see now that filling my mind with endless varieties of nothing is only confusing. Now, I make the only choice that involves reality, the only choice for peace. I choose God over ego and wait in trust to see how that unfolds.
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