ACIM Workbook Daily Lesson 237, Year 2022

ACIM Daily Lesson 237. Now would I be as God created me.

Lesson 237

Now would I be as God created me.

1. Today I will accept the truth about myself. ²I will arise in glory, and allow the light in me to shine upon the world throughout the day. ³I bring the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as God my Father speaks to me. ⁴And I behold the world that Christ would have me see, aware it ends the bitter dream of death; aware it is my Father’s Call to me.

2. Christ is my eyes today, and He the ears that listen to the Voice for God today. ²Father, I come to You through Him Who is Your Son, and my true Self as well. ³Amen.

Awakening happens right here, right now.

Again, we see that when Jesus says we awaken, he does not mean we do this in death, but now, right here where we think we are. We awaken to a world that looks different because we perceive it differently. We see it with Christ’s vision. We see it the way the Holy Spirit sees it. Here is how it looks to me now.

I used to be anxious and worried about things, especially as they affected my children, and now, I am not. I used to be afraid of everything, and now I am not. The world was a dark and dangerous place, and now it is not. Clearly, the world hasn’t changed, but the way I perceive it has very much changed. As my friend, Donna often says, “It’s all part of the plan.” This attitude is one of trust in God’s plan for our salvation.

All things are in my best interest, even if I don’t recognize them as such.

Everything that happens to me and to those I love is part of His plan to wake us up. All things help us return Home, even those very uncomfortable experiences, Even those in which we think we failed are helping us. All of it is a lesson God would have us learn. It is the Plan of Atonement. He gave us the Holy Spirit to speak for Him.

He gives us all the help we need to return our awareness to what is real. As I gave my dark thoughts to the Holy Spirit, my mind became lighter. And so, the world that is reflected from my mind is lighter too. As I continue to forgive whatever shows up, there is more light in my mind and thus in my world.

³I bring the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as God my Father speaks to me. 

As my mind shifted from fear to love, I shared that with the world as we have been asked to do. In doing so, I can help others have this wonderful experience for themselves. Sometimes I do this with words and sometimes through my actions. Sometimes it occurs simply because the love I feel is felt by others. It is not up to me how the miracle is given. I just stay miracle ready, and it flows through me to wherever it needs to go.

I don’t do this perfectly, but as Jesus says about his teachers: ⁵They are not perfect, or they would not be here. ⁶Yet it is their mission to become perfect here, and so they teach perfection over and over, in many, many ways, until they have learned it. (ACIM, M-in.5:5-6)

No, the world I see has not changed, but the way I see it has, and that makes all the difference. It is the difference between suffering and peace. It also allows me to be the light the world needs now more than ever. And while I don’t do any of this perfectly yet, I have seen such a significant difference in my life that I know perfection is forthcoming. I wonder what that will look like.

Here is something I wrote a few years ago. 

Today’s lesson says I will accept the truth about myself and allow the light in me to shine upon the world. The truth is some days I don’t feel like a light. Some days I have something on my mind that needs to be healed. It may take time to get to that place of acceptance. So I may not feel like the person Jesus speaks to in the lesson. Some days I don’t feel like I am allowing the light in me to shine upon the world. 

Ego mind wants to point this out as proof that I am not the one Jesus speaks of in this lesson. But Spirit reminds me that there is no past, so each moment is all there is; there is only now. At this very moment, I have the opportunity to release the past moment and choose again. And so, each moment of each day is a blank slate upon which is written the script of my life as I experience it. How I experience it depends on which teacher I choose to hear. 

I am grateful that I have only two choices and one is not a choice at all.

I am grateful that now is all the time there is and that I always have the opportunity to change my mind. Each time I choose God, I am more aware of my true Self. I am grateful to all my brothers and sisters who make that choice daily and so point the way for me. Gratitude lifts me up, and I begin to feel like the light that I am. 

It can feel difficult to be the light when things don’t go as we expect. One day, I was placed in a position that made it impossible to ignore the buried sense of shame and guilt that burdens all the separated ones. I let it play around me for that day, and then the next morning I finally sat with the Holy Spirit and looked at it. He helped me see that when I looked at my error, I immediately projected it onto someone else. I made that person a symbol of my shame, and then I couldn’t look at him without seeing guilt. This changed him, in my mind, from my brother to my enemy. 

The mind began to scramble around, trying to find some way to hide from this problem.

I thought of everyone involved in the situation and chose to show my “charity” to one of them. I forgave him for doing this to me (forgiveness to destroy). All of this I did without looking at my part in it, without acknowledging my secret machinations. Projection is a tempting way to hide what I don’t want to see. 

The way out is to look at the situation without judgment, but the ego-mind resists this. The ego always looks with judgment. Judgment is what created the problem, and judgment was what told me I was guilty. Guilt leads to fear, and fear is what drove me to such lengths to protect myself. At first, when I went to the Holy Spirit for help, I just wanted to feel better, to be at peace. 

But as I looked at the situation, I had a realization.

I don’t want to make an enemy of that brother. In fact, I don’t want anyone to be guilty. I want to forgive all my projections, the guilt I projected onto myself, and the guilt I projected onto others. I want to be at peace. Sure, the ego mind tried to pull me back into the projection game, but I will not compromise. I know what I want, I know my purpose, my function. 

Here is something that Cate Grieves wrote and that is helping me to stay the course. 

Be in a state of NO COMPROMISE. 

I will see EVERYONE as Christ today 

I will let Holy Spirit decide for me in EVERYTHING 

I will love and be kind to everyone 

I will not judge myself or anyone 

I will offer every unkind thought to spirit to heal it 

I will be uncompromising 

I will never, never, give up this path of A Course in Miracles. 

I will follow it no matter what happens or how I feel 

Even if doubt enters my mind, I will keep going 

I will NOT compromise. 

Holy Spirit, I am the Love I was created. Nothing can change that. I will not listen to the voice of darkness this day. I will listen to You only. And if I temporarily forget what I am, I will forgive that lapse and will turn to you again. I will not compromise. Thank you. 

REGINA’S TIPS 

Now would I be as God created me.

Today, as I write this tip, a number of events are in the American news:

Hurricane Harvey recently stalled over southeast Texas, resulting in the worst rainfall disaster in US history. Approximately 20,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by flooding, and tens of thousands of people were displaced.

Hurricane Irma, the largest and strongest hurricane to ever form in the Atlantic Ocean, has just pummeled islands in the Caribbean Sea and is heading straight for Florida.

An 8.1 magnitude earthquake just struck southern Mexico. It is the strongest earthquake to hit Mexico in a century. Tsunami warnings have been triggered.

North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is obsessed with the development of a nuclear warhead that is able to strike US soil.

On the day when you read this tip, there will be something else in the news, but there will be something. There may also be a challenge occurring in your personal life.

I am reminded of something Ramana Maharshi said when bandits broke into his ashram to rob it.

In the process of the robbery, they beat Ramana Maharshi. One of his devotees, upon seeing what the men had done to Maharshi, grabbed an iron instrument lying near by and wanted to go after the robbers and get revenge. Ramana Maharshi replied, “We are sadhus [spiritual disciples]. We should not give up our dharma [way of being].”

This, I feel, is the meaning of today’s workbook lesson.

Now would I be as God created me.

“Now” implies now, regardless of appearances and events. Even if I am being robbed and beaten, I will be as God created me. I will be the peace of God, because that is what I am. Through being peace, I “allow the light in me to shine upon the world throughout the day. I bring the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as God my Father speaks to me.”

Remaining as the peace that I am under all circumstances is the meaning of Jesus’ statement, “Turn the other cheek.”

Today, as you go through your day, there will be events in world news and circumstances that arise in your personal experience. As these things occur, remember to be the presence of peace. Even if you find yourself getting upset, remain the presence of peace throughout the upset by practicing rest-accept-trust or the Loving All Method.

Now would I be as God created me.

This is what the world needs from us. And this is what we need from us. This is the practice of our truth, our dharma.

Contemplation 2025

To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 238 click here.

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