ACIM Daily Lesson 93 Light and joy and peace abide in me.
Light and joy and peace abide in me.
ACIM Daily Lesson 93
Lesson 93
Light and joy and peace abide in me.
1. You think you are the home of evil, darkness and sin. ²You think if anyone could see the truth about you he would be repelled, recoiling from you as if from a poisonous snake. ³You think if what is true about you were revealed to you, you would be struck with horror so intense that you would rush to death by your own hand, living on after seeing this being impossible.
2. These are beliefs so firmly fixed that it is difficult to help you see that they are based on nothing. ²That you have made mistakes is obvious. ³That you have sought salvation in strange ways; have been deceived, deceiving and afraid of foolish fantasies and savage dreams; and have bowed down to idols made of dust,—all this is true by what you now believe.
Jesus Helps Us Face Our Guilt
I made many mistakes in my life and I did think I was so guilty that I didn’t want anyone to know who I really was. Likely, the buried guilt was even worse. Even after I began studying the Course, this guilt lingered for a long time. There is a story from Helen’s notes that talks about Esther’s guilt. Esther is someone Helen worked with. She made a mistake that Helen corrected.
Here is what Jesus told Helen. Some day I want to tell Esther that not only is she forgiven, but that the effects of all her sins are canceled. This is what I have already told you. When I can tell her, she will be afraid for a long time, because she will remember many things, consciously and unconsciously, including the Shield Report, a sin which you canceled out in advance by a miracle of devotion.
I found this fascinating in several ways but in this case, it showed me how we could actually think of ourselves as the home of evil, darkness, and sin. Lately, memories of things I did in this life that need forgiveness have been coming up for me. Some of them go back to when I was just a child. I Imagine how many mistakes I have made over the vast expanse of time. So, yes, I can imagine feeling like people would recoil from me if they knew.
The Truth That Saves Us
3. Today we question this, not from the point of view of what you think, but from a very different reference point, from which such idle thoughts are meaningless. ²These thoughts are not according to God’s Will. ³These weird beliefs He does not share with you. ⁴This is enough to prove that they are wrong, but you do not perceive that this is so.
This is the truth that saves us from our sins. God knows us as His Son, as perfect as He was created. I think that these memories are surfacing for me now because while I feel intense regret for them, there is not fear. I know that these many stories do nothing to change me. They do nothing to change God’s love for me. When a memory comes up, I am sitting with it and feeling whatever I feel. Then I give it to Jesus so that the effects can be undone. In so doing, I forgive myself and everyone involved.
We Are Still Holy
4. Why would you not be overjoyed to be assured that all the evil that you think you did was never done, that all your sins are nothing, that you are as pure and holy as you were created, and that light and joy and peace abide in you? ²Your image of yourself cannot withstand the Will of God. ³You think that this is death, but it is life. ⁴You think you are destroyed, but you are saved.
Why, indeed. I suppose that the hesitancy we feel to look at our perceived sins is caused by believing God is as unforgiving as we are. If we did stain our souls with our evil deeds that would mean we damaged what God created perfect. Surely, that in itself would be a sin and better not to think about it. Better to find someone else to be the sinner. But Jesus assures us that in spite of the story, nothing was done and we are still as holy as we were created.
Our Sinlessness Is Guaranteed by God
5. The self you made is not the Son of God. ²Therefore, this self does not exist at all. ³And anything it seems to do and think means nothing. ⁴It is neither bad nor good. ⁵It is unreal, and nothing more than that. ⁶It does not battle with the Son of God. ⁷It does not hurt him, nor attack his peace. ⁸It has not changed creation, nor reduced eternal sinlessness to sin, and love to hate. ⁹What power can this self you made possess, when it would contradict the Will of God?
6. Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. ²Over and over this must be repeated, until it is accepted. ³It is true. ⁴Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. ⁵Nothing can touch it, or change what God created as eternal. ⁶The self you made, evil and full of sin, is meaningless. ⁷Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God, and light and joy and peace abide in you.
This is why we are saved. We made up a lot of stories and lived them as if they were real, actors on the stage reading their lines. Nothing actually happened. Actors are not guilty for the parts they play. The characters we made up cease to exist when we leave the stage. We are unaffected by any of it. It is madness to think that we could change creation, that we could contradict the Will of God.
What a Relief!
What a relief it is to know that our sinlessness is guaranteed by God! To know that the self I made who seems to be so full of sin isn’t bad after all. She is just meaningless. Jesus says that thinking about this feels like death, like being destroyed. If we believe in the self we made and think it is us, then yes, it would feel like death to lose the self. But we are not that self and it isn’t death and it isn’t destruction to let it go. It is freedom!
You Are As God Created You
7. Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought;—you are as God created you, not what you made of yourself. ²Whatever evil you may think you did, you are as God created you. ³Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is unchanged. ⁴Creation is eternal and unalterable. ⁵Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God. ⁶You are and will forever be exactly as you were created. ⁷Light and joy and peace abide in you because God put them there.
What we are is so different than what we made to take its place that it is hard to accept our innocence. It is difficult to even imagine what we must be if not separate bodies doing things. I used the metaphor of actors on the stage to understand how we could be innocent of our actions. But what we are is not bodies playing out parts. A better metaphor is that we are the screen on which the movie is projected. After the movie ends, the screen remains unaffected by the previous movie and accepts the next one without judging the content. If we accept the simple truth that we are as God created us and nothing can change that, we would be saved. Just that one thought, completely accepted, would ensure our salvation.
Experience What God Has Given
8. In our longer exercise periods today, which would be most profitable if done for the first five minutes of every waking hour, begin by stating the truth about your creation:
²Light and joy and peace abide in me.
³My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.
⁴Then put away your foolish self-images, and spend the rest of the practice period in trying to experience what God has given you, in place of what you have decreed for yourself.
Experience is the important word in this instruction. If we put aside what we think we know, we can have an experience of what is real, what God has given us.
Here you are; This is You
9. You are what God created or what you made. ²One Self is true; the other is not there. ³Try to experience the unity of your one Self. ⁴Try to appreciate Its Holiness and the love from which It was created. ⁵Try not to interfere with the Self which God created as you, by hiding Its majesty behind the tiny idols of evil and sinfulness you have made to replace It. ⁶Let It come into Its Own. ⁷Here you are; This is You. ⁸And light and joy and peace abide in you because this is so.
10. You may not be willing or even able to use the first five minutes of each hour for these exercises. ²Try, however, to do so when you can. ³At least remember to repeat these thoughts each hour:
⁴Light and joy and peace abide in me.
⁵My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.
⁶Then try to devote at least a minute or so to closing your eyes and realizing that this is a statement of the truth about you.
Making Great Strides
We have made great strides if we simply recognize that we have made a self to take the place of what God created. And another great stride if we recognize that the self we made is not what we want. Nor does this self in any way affect our true Self. Jesus asks us to acknowledge our idols so we can let them go. He also asks us to devote some time to experiencing our Self even if it is only a minute. In this way, we walk steadily onward at our own pace. This is my favorite part of this lesson and the end result of our process. He says: ⁶Let It come into Its Own. ⁷Here you are; This is You. ⁸And light and joy and peace abide in you because this is so.
Look at What We Can Do Today
11. If a situation arises that seems to be disturbing, quickly dispel the illusion of fear by repeating these thoughts again. ²Should you be tempted to become angry with someone, tell him silently:
³Light and joy and peace abide in you.
⁴Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God.
⁵You can do much for the world’s salvation today. ⁶You can do much today to bring you closer to the part in salvation that God has assigned to you. ⁷And you can do much today to bring the conviction to your mind that the idea for the day is true indeed.
How about that last paragraph! Look what we can do today simply by watching our thoughts and feelings and reminding ourselves of the truth.
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