ACIM Daily Lesson 240. Fear is not justified in any form.
Lesson 240
Fear is not justified in any form.
1. Fear is deception. ²It attests that you have seen yourself as you could never be, and therefore look upon a world which is impossible. ³Not one thing in this world is true. ⁴It does not matter what the form in which it may appear. ⁵It witnesses but to your own illusions of yourself. ⁶Let us not be deceived today. ⁷We are the Sons of God. ⁸There is no fear in us, for we are each a part of Love Itself.
2. How foolish are our fears! ²Would You allow Your Son to suffer? ³Give us faith today to recognize Your Son, and set him free. ⁴Let us forgive him in Your Name, that we may understand his holiness, and feel the love for him which is Your Own as well.
It can sure seem like fear is justified.
When I think of myself as a person separate from others and from God, living in a body in a world of time and space, today’s lesson makes no sense. I seem to be justified in my fears. We watch every year during hurricane season to see if we will be hit. Will there be damage to my home if we do get one? Where will I evacuate to, and how long will I have to stay? Will it hit the other side of the state where my son lives?
How is it that fear is not justified in this form? It is because we are not people living in bodies in a world of time and space. We are spirit, we Sons of God. We are replaying an ancient memory, and to make it feel very real, we place it before our eyes. You know, the eyes in the body that doesn’t exist?
Within the story, there are things to do in preparation. Because this is a memory, it will unfold, and it will feel like I am doing these things. But I know that even as this happens, I am really the observer watching my thoughts and feelings for the lesson that it holds for me.
Last year when I was facing hurricane season, I had to look at my fears.
I immediately felt overwhelmed when I heard that Hurricane Ida might be heading for us. My house is not even completely repaired from the two hurricanes that hit us last year. I started to cry and almost stopped myself because I know the truth, but I also saw the Holy Spirit’s instruction not to deny the feelings. So I cried. Then I expressed my feelings to someone else, and all that energy was released, and I very quickly returned to peace.
What is there to fear, after all? There is no house, and there is no body so what could possibly be lost? Fear is a deception. Not one thing in this world is true. The ego loves this kind of distraction because it is easy to get so lost in the story that we are observing that one forgets it’s not true. Now all our attention is on the world, and that is where the ego wants it.
Instead, I turned my attention to my mind.
There I could see what yet needs to be healed. No matter what happens in the world over the next couple of days, no matter what losses might occur in this story of Myron and hurricanes, I have done what I came to do. I looked with the Holy Spirit at my thoughts and He is healing my mind. How foolish are our fears! Who we are cannot be harmed because we are divine, Eternal beings. We are greatly loved and forever safe. ⁷We are the Sons of God. ⁸There is no fear in us, for we are each a part of Love Itself.
I sometimes feel fear, but I know I am not my feelings.
Feelings come, and feelings go because they are not eternal and, therefore, they are not real. The ego mind argues that some fear is justified. It argues that it makes sense to be afraid of certain things like fire or, in my case, heights. But that is not true. It pays to be cautious, perhaps, but fear is not needed or justified.
Ultimately, nothing is happening in this world that is eternal and, therefore, nothing that is real. All of the fear in the mind is about the image of the separate self, which is not me, so I have nothing to fear. Should I be afraid of what people think of me? We are talking about the image of a separated self, and why should I care what people think about that image? It is here for a while, and then it is gone. I am that which is aware of it, and I am that which witnesses it but is unaffected by it. I cannot be harmed by anyone’s opinion.
Even the loss of the body image is not a loss to me.
It has a short run anyway, and I am eternal. Maybe I will choose another or maybe I will not want or need this world again. Who knows? But how could an eternal being be affected by losing a temporary illusion of a body? When this happens, it is because I have forgotten who I am. Sometimes there is a feeling of fear that doesn’t seem to be connected to anything in particular. That is just the ego awareness of unconscious guilt. It can be disregarded as equally unreal.
There is no justification for fear, so when it appears in my mind, I treat it as the temporary aberration it is. I look at it with the Holy Spirit. I ask if there is anything for me to know about this feeling. Then I let it be, and soon it passes on through, as do all temporary illusions.
If I get hooked by a fear thought, I might have to talk myself through the moment. I might have to call on spiritual help for the strength and fortitude to remember the truth. But these days are rare now, and I see that fear no longer rules me. I forgive my belief in it and release it, usually sooner rather than later, but always eventually.
Regina’s Tips
Two days ago, we noticed that our decisions are based on who we think we are. Fear is a decision. Whenever we are afraid, it is because we have decided to believe fearful thoughts in the mind. We have decided those thoughts are true, and this decision is based on who we think we are.
Look at some fearful situations. You may look at current fears or fearful situations that you remember. What is the identification that is the basis of the fear?
My Thoughts
Regina goes on to give some examples, like feeling rejectable. She asks us to look at that idea and to ask ourselves if nothing in the world is true could I be rejectable? Is this idea with me always or is it just a passing idea or feeling? I am not a passing idea so rejection cannot be me. If someone were unclear about the idea of how there could be nothing to fear and why that is, it might be helpful to read her tip in full. Here is the link. https://awakening-together.org/tips-regina-lesson-240/
Here is an example of how I overcame fear by relinquishing a special relationship.
This is something that happened around 16 years ago.
I set an intention to allow fear thoughts to come up for healing as I was ready to look at them with the Holy Spirit, and certainly, that has been happening. It has been lovely as I go through this process. It is not always easy, but I feel very supported. Yesterday I had a more difficult fear belief surface triggered by one of my children. Special relationships tend to feel complicated to me because they have so many fear elements. And of course, because I mistakenly think of them as vital to my survival.
Is there any special relationship so rich in forgiveness opportunities as the relationships we have with our children? This lesson comes at a very opportune time since, in September, I will be conducting a workshop on enlightened parenting. Any lessons I learn now will find a place in that workshop. I firmly believe in recycling my lessons!
I was shocked!
One of my children said something to me that seemed so selfish and self-centered that I could hardly believe I had heard it. It also seemed like a direct attack on me. I felt like someone had just knocked me down, and I was having trouble getting my breath. I felt the fear go through me like a shock of adrenaline. While in ego distress, there was no opening for Holy Spirit to give me His. And so, I fumbled for words which adds to the upset.
There followed guilt as I began to consider what he had said. I felt the parent’s guilt about having made a bad mistake as I raised this child. I spoiled him, and now I had to see the results. Later, I felt anger and resentment, the “how could he” syndrome. But as the lesson says, there is no justification for fear, which applies to its different forms, such as anger and resentment.
This occurred at the perfect time, really.
I had been working on fear, and I had set the intention of releasing fear in all its forms as I was made aware of them. It seemed as if I was as ready as I was likely to be. So as all these emotions washed over me, I was still aware of the need to heal. I immediately asked the Holy Spirit to help me with this. I asked Him to look with me and help me see a different way of looking at it. It took a while, and I was like a diver having to rise from a great depth in stages so I wouldn’t get the bends.
At first, all I could do with it was ask for help. So much deeply buried fear arose that I felt stunned by it and could not sort it out. Slowly I was able to see what the anger and resentment in him were masking. I saw that he was in unacknowledged fear he was trying to project out of himself. As I began to realize what was going on with him, I could step out of myself and see him with compassion.
I began to see us both differently.
I was no longer looking at him as my enemy but as my brother with whom I shared the purpose of awakening. He was no longer another person competing with me for the dab of happiness available in this world. I was no longer even singling him out as my son who owed me something. Instead, I saw him as another aspect of myself working in perfect harmony with me to return us home.
Then I looked at my own feelings. I saw that he was mirroring for me my fears of failing as a mother and of being unloved. I recognized the nature of the special relationship we had bargained for. My anger stemmed from the thought that he had broken that agreement. I was supposed to spoil, adore, and give him all my attention. He, in return, was supposed to be forever my special child who loved, admired, and respected me.
As I looked at it closely, I could see where his anger came from.
I had first broken the unspoken agreement when I began gently pushing him from the nest. It must have been quite a shock to see a change in his most significant special relationship to date. I asked the Holy Spirit to help me loosen the binds that tie in a way that would be gentle and loving to both of us. And in a way that would help each of us understand the nature of the special relationship.
No special relationship, regardless of how loving it seems, will ever be without elements of fear and loss because it is based on separation. Not even our special relationships with our children that seem so necessary and so loving. They will end in chaos, guilt, and fear if we do not accept healing. When we do, the Holy Spirit transforms them into holy relationships.
I still feel a twinge of fear at the thought of giving up the special relationship.
The ego mind sees this as a loss of a magnitude that is hard to seriously consider. It would have me find a way to restore the relationship’s balance and return it to the way it has always been. And of course, if I give up this special relationship, what about the others? Will their loss quickly follow? The ego is frightened of life without its primary bargains and wonders how it will exist without them.
Holy Spirit, I am willing to believe that I am wrong to side with the ego; that is, to see special relationships as necessary and good. I am willing to see relationships differently. I am willing to walk through this fear to get to the other side. And I am willing to believe that what You offer me in the place of the special relationship will be better than what I cling to now. The ego keeps saying I had a good thing and I should go back to what I know works, but I don’t believe those lies anymore. It does not work, and I will no longer live in denial about that.
This is the message I received as I meditated on this situation.
Holy Spirit: Dear one, letting go of your special relationships is not painful; it is only the decision to let go that seems to bring you pain, and that is true only until you decide it is not. Do not be concerned about how to be in a holy relationship with your precious son. The holy relationship reflects the only true relationship, and what is true flows naturally as you remove the impediments to its flow.
Do not think of the loss of your special relationships as a sacrifice. God never asks for sacrifice, and I assure you that you lose nothing in its relinquishment. I further assure you that the holy relationship is joyful and loving without the elements of fear and guilt that are part of every special relationship. Within the holy relationship, you are free.
We thank you for being willing to walk through your fear in trust that We would be there with you and that the walk would bring you to peace. As more layers of the fear surface, continue to look at them with Me. In this way, you will see that fear is a lie. It is a cloud, it is even less substantial than a cloud, and it cannot impede the Son of God nor affect His Son in any way. Do not decide that it can, for it is this decision that binds you to the world.
Contemplation 2026
To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 240 click here.
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