ACIM Workbook Daily Lesson 166, Year 2022

ACIM Daily Lesson 166 I am entrusted with the gifts of God.

Lesson 166

I am entrusted with the gifts of God.

1. All things are given you. ²God’s trust in you is limitless. ³He knows His Son. ⁴He gives without exception, holding nothing back that can contribute to your happiness. ⁵And yet, unless your will is one with His, His gifts are not received. ⁶But what would make you think there is another will than His? 

There is reality as God created it, and there is the world we made. They have nothing in common and only one is real. We choose the one we want to believe in and experience. And we do that with each thought we choose to believe. When we begin to realize this is what’s happening, it might be scary. It can appear that we have so little control over our thoughts. And yet this must be an error. 

God knows us and trusts us so it must be that we can and will accept His gifts. To do so our wills must be one. We think that there are two wills, our will and the Will of God. We are loathed to relinquish our own will. Jesus is asking us to reconsider our position. Notice that it is not our desire to hold onto our own will that upsets us. Rather it is the belief that there is any will other than the Will of God.  

The Paradox

2. Here is the paradox that underlies the making of the world. ²This world is not the Will of God, and so it is not real. ³Yet those who think it real must still believe there is another will, and one that leads to opposite effects from those He wills. ⁴Impossible indeed; but every mind that looks upon the world and judges it as certain, solid, trustworthy and true believes in two creators; or in one, himself alone. ⁵But never in one God. 

In the first stages of awakening, in those early days when we are just beginning to open our eyes and shake off the dreamy state we have long been in, it seems too far-fetched that there is no world. We want to believe it because there is a long forgotten memory in us that is stirring beneath the fog of forgetfulness. For a while, we tend to move back and forth between worlds as if they were both real and as if we were trying to make a choice between two real options.  Only creation is real, so actually, there is only the option to awaken or remain asleep.

The World You Chose

3. The gifts of God are not acceptable to anyone who holds such strange beliefs. ²He must believe that to accept God’s gifts, however evident they may become, however urgently he may be called to claim them as his own, is to be pressed to treachery against himself. ³He must deny their presence, contradict the truth, and suffer to preserve the world he made. 

Regardless of how evident it might seem in your life that you are helpless against the tide of time and often helpless against the forces of the world, this is not so. No matter how you seem to be an innocent bystander caught up in things you had no hand in making, it is not so. This is the world you chose to make. It is the world we, all as one chose to make. It is our beliefs that make it appear as if it is real.  

There is a resistance to releasing it no matter how evident that it is not what we really want. When I first started writing, I would start something and realize it was not expressing what I needed to convey and I would need to start over. But even the writing I rejected, I tended to hold onto as if deleting it would be a loss, as if I would be deleting myself.  

It was a weird feeling I didn’t want to think about too much. If I could become so attached to something so mundane and unimportant, how attached I must be to the self I made. And if I could confuse what I write with who I am, I can begin to understand why I cling to the world I made. I do this even if it no longer expresses what I want. But I can also begin to make a different choice. 

Amnesiacs

4. Here is the only home he thinks he knows. ²Here is the only safety he believes that he can find. ³Without the world he made is he an outcast; homeless and afraid. ⁴He does not realize that it is here he is afraid indeed, and homeless, too; an outcast wandering so far from home, so long away, he does not realize he has forgotten where he came from, where he goes, and even who he really is. 

We are like amnesiacs who have forgotten who we are and where we came from. We live in a world far from home, not knowing who we are. And we think we are human beings, bodies separate from each other in constant competition and unrelenting stress. But there is a memory that is rising to the surface and we can access that memory any time we want to. It is the memory of Home and the memory of Self. This is what is happening to us right now. 

God’s Gifts Go With Him

5. Yet in his lonely, senseless wanderings, God’s gifts go with him, all unknown to him. ²He cannot lose them. ³But he will not look at what is given him. ⁴He wanders on, aware of the futility he sees about him everywhere, perceiving how his little lot but dwindles, as he goes ahead to nowhere. ⁵Still he wanders on in misery and poverty, alone though God is with him, and a treasure his so great that everything the world contains is valueless before its magnitude. 

6. He seems a sorry figure; weary, worn, in threadbare clothing, and with feet that bleed a little from the rocky road he walks. ²No one but has identified with him, for everyone who comes here has pursued the path he follows, and has felt defeat and hopelessness as he is feeling them. ³Yet is he really tragic, when you see that he is following the way he chose, and need but realize Who walks with him and open up his treasures to be free? 

And this is the saving grace. We are not forced to walk the world in poverty of spirit, since we are free to make a different choice. We do so in little ways until we reach some sort of tipping point where we take a stronger stand. This is what is happening right now. 

Your Chosen Self

7. This is your chosen self, the one you made as a replacement for reality. ²This is the self you savagely defend against all reason, every evidence, and all the witnesses with proof to show this is not you. ³You heed them not. ⁴You go on your appointed way, with eyes cast down lest you might catch a glimpse of truth, and be released from self-deception and set free. 

8. You cower fearfully lest you should feel Christ’s touch upon your shoulder, and perceive His gentle hand directing you to look upon your gifts. ²How could you then proclaim your poverty in exile? ³He would make you laugh at this perception of yourself. ⁴Where is self-pity then? ⁵And what becomes of all the tragedy you sought to make for him whom God intended only joy? 

Nightmare

Jesus is showing us in stark detail how truly awful is the world we made. We can hide this truth from ourselves and point to the beauty of the world and the kindness. We can hold our precious babies and think of the miracle they seem to be. And we can be in awe of the natural wonders and rave at the awesome wonder of the great music and paintings. We can point to the scientific advancements and all the nifty gadgets we have made. And wonder how much more there is to come.  

And yet, we are afraid. We know that it can all go up in smoke at any moment. Our precious children might die. Our natural wonders might be destroyed. Nature turns on us. Our paintings and music can become lost to us, our scientific advancements often turn against us or are used for destructive purposes. Our greed is destroying the very planet we live on. There is nothing we have made in this world that is perfect or that doesn’t turn to dust. And no matter what parody of happiness we manage to carve out of this mess, we die. 

But there is that persistent memory that won’t leave us alone. That nudge from within that keeps moving us toward something else. Yes, that is the Christ, the Self that is gently shaking us awake from this nightmare, reminding us that we made this up but it is not eternal and we can choose again. We are so much more than this. We are that right now. 

Your Ancient Fear

9. Your ancient fear has come upon you now, and justice has caught up with you at last. ²Christ’s hand has touched your shoulder, and you feel that you are not alone. ³You even think the miserable self you thought was you may not be your Identity. ⁴Perhaps God’s Word is truer than your own. ⁵Perhaps His gifts to you are real. ⁶Perhaps He has not wholly been outwitted by your plan to keep His Son in deep oblivion, and go the way you chose without your Self. 

We are not now entirely lost in our illusory world. Our mind is opening and we are more receptive to the truth. We may even be considering the possibility that God’s Word is truer than our own. He says that He created us and that He holds us in His Mind safe and perfect. And maybe this is sinking in and taking hold in our mind. Maybe you are noticing this difference right now. 

The Wish for Death Is Answered

10. God’s Will does not oppose. ²It merely is. ³It is not God you have imprisoned in your plan to lose your Self. ⁴He does not know about a plan so alien to His Will. ⁵There was a need He did not understand, to which He gave an Answer. ⁶That is all. ⁷And you who have this Answer given you have need no more of anything but this. 

11. Now do we live, for now we cannot die. ²The wish for death is answered, and the sight that looked upon it now has been replaced by vision which perceives that you are not what you pretend to be. ³One walks with you Who gently answers all your fears with this one merciful reply, “It is not so.” ⁴He points to all the gifts you have each time the thought of poverty oppresses you, and speaks of His Companionship when you perceive yourself as lonely and afraid. 

What is God’s Answer to the world we made? It is very simple; you are as God created you. You are that, still. Nothing we made can change that. Nothing we do, nothing we fear can alter what God created. We are loved and cherished by our Creator and we are held safe in Him. Right here, right now, this is true. This is all that is true.

He Made You Like Himself

12. Yet He reminds you still of one thing more you had forgotten. ²For His touch on you has made you like Himself. ³The gifts you have are not for you alone. ⁴What He has come to offer you, you now must learn to give. ⁵This is the lesson that His giving holds, for He has saved you from the solitude you sought to make in which to hide from God. ⁶He has reminded you of all the gifts that God has given you. ⁷He speaks as well of what becomes your will when you accept these gifts, and recognize they are your own. 

13. The gifts are yours, entrusted to your care, to give to all who chose the lonely road you have escaped. ²They do not understand they but pursue their wishes. ³It is you who teach them now. ⁴For you have learned of Christ there is another way for them to walk. ⁵Teach them by showing them the happiness that comes to those who feel the touch of Christ, and recognize God’s gifts. ⁶Let sorrow not tempt you to be unfaithful to your trust. 

Our Responsibility

As our mind heals and we learn to turn to the Holy Spirit in all things rather than to the ego, we learn to accept God’s gifts of joy, love, and peace. It then becomes our responsibility and our joy to give as we have been given. There are still many who are lost in their dreams and they need to see what it looks like to awaken. Even when we are just in the early stages of awakening, we can share what we have accomplished so far.  

We can do this in our sharing in groups and in writing and speaking. We can do it when a group is gossiping and we turn away or speak up about something admirable about the object of the speculation. And we can do it when everyone is upset and we choose to let the peace of God envelop us instead of “catching” the anxiety around us. Just as we can feel and sometimes pick up anxiety from others, so can they pick up our peace. We share the gifts of God best through living a life of peace and happiness, showing others what they can have. 

Be Witness In Your Happiness

14. Your sighs will now betray the hopes of those who look to you for their release. ²Your tears are theirs. ³If you are sick, you but withhold their healing. ⁴What you fear but teaches them their fears are justified. ⁵Your hand becomes the giver of Christ’s touch; your change of mind becomes the proof that who accepts God’s gifts can never suffer anything. ⁶You are entrusted with the world’s release from pain. 

15. Betray it not. ²Become the living proof of what Christ’s touch can offer everyone. ³God has entrusted all His gifts to you. ⁴Be witness in your happiness to how transformed the mind becomes which chooses to accept His gifts, and feel the touch of Christ. ⁵Such is your mission now. ⁶For God entrusts the giving of His gifts to all who have received them. ⁷He has shared His joy with you. ⁸And now you go to share it with the world. 

And if we have not come so far on our path as to be always healthy and always happy, then let us share our process and our certainty that the truth is true no matter what seems to be happening.  

DAILY APPLICATION

The Thought of God created me, and so it remains who I am. I cannot change the Thought of God, but I can deny it. My happiness lies in my decision to come out of denial and accept the gifts of God. In accepting the gifts of God, I “become the living proof of what Christ’s touch can offer everyone.”

How do I deny the gifts of God? Every time I attack another, every time I defend myself, every time I look in the mirror and see a body and think, “That is me,” each of these times I am denying myself as a Thought of God. Every time I notice that I am attacking or defending, but choose differently, and every time I think I am a body but am willing to be wrong about that, I am removing blocks to my awareness of Love’s presence.

I Can Be Used by the Holy Spirit

As I watch rioting and looting, the ego-mind sees guilt but I see brothers in fear and confusion. I look within for fear and confusion and if I find it, I forgive it and in so doing, I forgive it in all our projections. I see political maneuvering at the expense of our country, our democracy, and our people. Or I see guilty people doing this and so look within for times when I have acted out of self-interest and I ask for correction so that I can become the example of love in action instead.

If I see people turning against each other letting fear drive their actions, I look within for fear-driven thinking on my part. May my thoughts always be peaceful so that my life reflects peace and is a beacon light for others to follow.

I rejoice that there are so many ways in which I can be used by the Holy Spirit in benefit to all my brothers. All I need to do is to accept the gifts of God.

INSIGHTS FROM HOLY SPIRIT

Here is a message I received from Holy Spirit when I was still working and still confused. It helped a lot.

There are a million little ways that you deny God in your life – in your being. When you forgot something important at work and wondered what was wrong with you that you didn’t think of it, you denied God. When you heard a call for love from your brother and saw it as an attack, you denied God. And When you worry about your son’s safety, and your daughter’s financial situation, and your brother’s anxiety level, you deny God.

Notice these thoughts, Myron, and realize that they are attacks upon yourself, and an attack upon God Who holds you in His Mind. God does not fear your attack nor believe in it, because He is not deceived by your careless dreams. But you, my precious child, imagine yourself lost in hellish nightmares where tragedy and failure dog your heels. This is not true. God would never give you fearful gifts.

The Ego’s Gifts or the Holy Spirit’s Gifts

Look on your world today and see all that the ego would give you. Are these the gifts you truly want? Is the sun shining, and a gentle breeze blowing? It will soon be hot and muggy, and the breeze will turn into a gale. Are your friends gathering to honor you? One day they will gather to condemn you. Do your children love and respect you? They have their own lives and will turn from you. The ego offers little, and nothing of lasting value.

Look again upon the world, but look with Me. I will show you how to see differently. The ego would use your life to prove your worthlessness, but God created you worthy and so the ego can only lie. Let us look at the error you made at work that so upsets you. The purpose the ego gave this situation was to show you how embattled you are on every front.

The ego seeks to show you that though you are only doing the best you can you are still failing, and everyone wants to see you brought down. The ego says that this situation proves that you are losing your memory and your mind cannot be far behind. It proves that those who care for you will quickly turn from you if it is in their best interests. The ego says that once again the world has attacked you and left you bloody. It seems that the only reasonable thing you can do is attack back before you are destroyed. This is the purpose the ego gives this situation.

Another Purpose

I see another purpose in this situation. I look with you at the seeming attacks. Together we see that it offers you an opportunity to see how the ego works to keep your thoughts directed away from God. It becomes clear that to the ego life is an eternal battleground, and that your purpose in life is to build battlements to keep everyone away. There is great value in seeing the ego’s motive clearly because this allows you to make a different choice.

As we look at the “enemy” we see the fear they are enmeshed in, their frightening cries of attack become calls to you for love. Now what had been seen as an attack against you is seen as a call to you for help. Would you answer a call for help with attack? Would you defend against a call for love? As your eyes soften and your heart opens, you ask for guidance to know how you can most be helpful at this moment. And you are healed with your brother. The ego sees everything as a reason to separate and attack. The Holy Spirit sees everything as an opportunity to unite in a common purpose.

Thank You

Me: Holy Spirit, I am very happy that I am able to detach from ego thoughts enough to look with You and see things differently. But sometimes it feels very hard to do, and it takes time for me to make that transition.

Holy Spirit: Myron, that is the good use of time. You have seen that it is easier to give me your willingness and to step back. When you try to make yourself see differently, you make this very hard indeed. Give me your willingness my dear one. That is all I need from you.

To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 166 click here.

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