ACIM Lesson 37 My holiness blesses the world.

Lesson 37

My holiness blesses the world.

1. This idea contains the first glimmerings of your true function in the world, or why you are here. ²Your purpose is to see the world through your own holiness. ³Thus are you and the world blessed together. ⁴No one loses; nothing is taken away from anyone; everyone gains through your holy vision. ⁵It signifies the end of sacrifice because it offers everyone his full due. ⁶And he is entitled to everything because it is his birthright as a Son of God.

We are to see the world through our own holiness. But what does that mean and how do we do it? Clearly, this is very important since he calls it our true function and says that this is why we are here. My experience tells me that it is done through choosing Holy Spirit rather than ego every time. Each choice I make is always proceeded by deciding that I will see this through the ego or through the Holy Spirit. I am not always consciously aware that I am making that choice, but I am.

The outer world and how I see the outer world both come from my thoughts. As I let go (forgive) the thoughts that are not coming from my holy mind, only my holiness is left. I then look out at the world through that holiness and it is blessed. What I give I receive and so I am blessed as well. In other words, both the world and I are blessed at the same time. It costs me nothing to look with Christ’s vision and we all gain as we are entitled to as God’s Son.

Ask Nothing of Him

2. There is no other way in which the idea of sacrifice can be removed from the world’s thinking. ²Any other way of seeing will inevitably demand payment of someone or something. ³As a result, the perceiver will lose. ⁴Nor will he have any idea why he is losing. ⁵Yet is his wholeness restored to his awareness through your vision. ⁶Your holiness blesses him by asking nothing of him. ⁷Those who see themselves as whole make no demands.

I love sentence six. ⁶Your holiness blesses him by asking nothing of him. Here is an example of this. I used to look forward to my youngest son’s calls. He called regularly and we chatted about his life and I shared some of my life with him. But if he didn’t call, I felt let down. I thought he should call me. Thinking someone owes you something for your kindness or love is a prison. Eventually, I let go of the idea that something or someone outside me could hurt me.

This freed me to forgive the idea that my son owed me a call. It freed me from the idea that my disappointment had anything to do with his behavior. I realized that I was disappointed by a story in my mind and I changed my story. When I no longer burdened myself with the story of being unfairly treated, I looked at the world through my holiness. I wanted nothing from my son except to love him. We were both blessed.

A Quiet Recognition

3. Your holiness is the salvation of the world. ²It lets you teach the world that it is one with you, not by preaching to it, not by telling it anything, but merely by your quiet recognition that in your holiness are all things blessed along with you.

I never mentioned any of this to my son. I didn’t tell him I felt hurt by his failure to call and I didn’t tell him that I changed my mind. What I know is that I am very holy. When I turn my focus away from the ego and toward God, I see the world as holy. I bless my son and I bless myself. On the level of the world, he may or may not feel anything different, but he receives it on some level. Over a period of time choosing the right mind repeatedly, I notice the difference, too. I notice my peace and happiness growing as my mind clears of ego thinking.

The Practice

4. Today’s four longer exercise periods, each to involve three to five minutes of practice, begin with the repetition of the idea for today, followed by a minute or so of looking about you as you apply the idea to whatever you see:

²My holiness blesses this chair.
³My holiness blesses that window.
⁴My holiness blesses this body.

⁵Then close your eyes and apply the idea to any person who occurs to you, using his name and saying:

⁶My holiness blesses you, [name].

5. You may continue the practice period with your eyes closed; you may open your eyes again and apply the idea for today to your outer world if you so desire; you may alternate between applying the idea to what you see around you and to those who are in your thoughts; or you may use any combination of these two phases of application that you prefer. ²The practice period should conclude with a repetition of the idea with your eyes closed, and another, following immediately, with your eyes open.

Offer Him Your Blessing

6. The shorter exercises consist of repeating the idea as often as you can. ²It is particularly helpful to apply it silently to anyone you meet, using his name as you do so. ³It is essential to use the idea if anyone seems to cause an adverse reaction in you. ⁴Offer him the blessing of your holiness immediately, that you may learn to keep it in your own awareness.

I do remind myself often that I am very holy and that the world needs my blessing. But I find it especially helpful to use this blessing whenever I feel an adverse reaction to someone. I thought about someone today who seemed to push whatever buttons I have left as if that is his full time job. My reaction to the thought of this person was definitely adverse. I immediately reminded myself of my function here. I told him that my holiness blesses him. This was done not out loud, but in my mind. I blessed him often until I felt only love for him. Then I knew my job was done.

To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 37 click here.

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