Unlearning Classroom

Lesson 56 – Review of Lessons 26-30

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

In Lesson 56, Jesus writes, “I would let the door behind this world be opened for me, tlight on waterhat I may look past it to the world that reflects the Love of God.”

I say it quietly to myself, “I would let the door behind this world be opened for me …”

and words cease completely.

LESSON 56

Our review for today covers the following:

1.  (26)  My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

How can I know who I am when I see myself under constant attack?  Pain, illness, loss, age and death seem to threaten me.  All my hopes and wishes and plans appear to be at the mercy of a world I cannot control.  Yet perfect security and complete fulfillment are my inheritance.  I have tried to give my inheritance away in exchange for the world I see.  But God has kept my inheritance safe for me.  My own real thoughts will teach me what it is.

2.  (27)  Above all else I want to see.

Recognizing that what I see reflects what I think I am, I realize that vision is my greatest need.  The world I see attests to the fearful nature of the self-image I have made.  If I would remember who I am, it is essential that I let this image of myself go.  As it is replaced by truth, vision will surely be given me.  And with this vision, I will look upon the world and on myself with charity and love.

3.  (28)  Above all else I want to see differently.

The world I see holds my fearful self-image in place, and guarantees its continuance.  While I see the world as I see it now, truth cannot enter my awareness.  I would let the door behind this world be opened for me, that I may look past it to the world that reflects the Love of God.

4.  (29)  God is in everything I see.

Behind every image I have made, the truth remains unchanged.  Behind every veil I have drawn across the face of love, its light remains undimmed.  Beyond all my insane wishes is my will, united with the Will of my Father.  God is still everywhere and in everything forever.  And we who are part of Him will yet look past all appearances,and recognize the truth beyond them all.

5.  (30)  God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

In my own mind, behind all my insane thoughts of separation and attack, is the knowledge that all is one forever.  I have not lost the knowledge of Who I am because I have forgotten it.  It has been kept for me in the Mind of God, Who has not left His Thoughts.  And I, who am among them, am one with them and one with Him.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 55 – Review of Lessons 21-25

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

hands_making_love_heart_with_shining_lightThe ego-person does not know who she really is.  The ego’s purpose is exactly that: to deliberately block true identity in order to maintain its illusion game.  All material things are witnesses to the “reality” of the ego.  Until grace arises within and we turn to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit uses all that the ego has made for God’s loving purpose.  The Holy Spirit now witnesses to Love, rather than fear.  We are responsible for choosing the Holy Spirit and uncluttering the mind by giving Him all ego-thoughts.

This one decision is all we need do.  The Holy Spirit then undoes the ego’s trickery and the Truth is revealed in Its natural, illumined state of Mind.

LESSON 55

Today’s review includes the following:

1.  (21)  I am determined to see things differently.

What I see now are but signs of disease, disaster and death.  This cannot be what God created for His beloved Son.  The very fact that I see such things is proof that I do not understand God.  Therefore I also do not understand His Son.  What I see tells me that I do not know who I am.  I am determined to see the witnesses to truth in me, rather than those which show me an illusion of myself.

2.  (22)  What I see is a form of vengeance.

The world I see is hardly the representation of loving thoughts.  It is a picture of attack on everything by everything.  It is anything but a reflection of the Love of God and the Love of His Son.  It is my own attack thoughts that give rise to this picture.  My loving thoughts will save me from this perception of the world, and give me the peace God intended me to have.

3.  (23)  I can escape from this world by giving up attack thoughts.

Herein lies salvation, and nowhere else.  Without attack thoughts I could not see a world of attack.  As forgiveness allows love to return to my awareness, I will see a world of peace and safety and joy.  And it is this I choose to see, in place of what I look on now.

4.  (24)  I do not perceive my own best interests.

How could I recognize my own best interests when I do not know who I am?  What I think are my best interests would merely bind me closer to the world of illusions.  I am willing to follow the Guide God has given me to find out what my own best interests are, recognizing that I cannot perceive them by myself.

5.  (25)  I do not know what anything is for.

To me, the purpose of everything is to prove that my illusions about myself are real.  It is for this purpose that I attempt to use everyone and everything.  It is for this that I believe the world is for.  Therefore I do not recognize its real purpose.  The purpose I have given the world has led to a frightening picture of it.  Let me open my mind to the world’s real purpose by withdrawing the one I have given it, and learning the truth about it.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 54 – Review of Lessons 16-20

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

The theme of Lesson 54 is that nothing is neutral.  There is no such thing as neutrality or objectivity.  Everything boils down to two subjective choices:  separation or Unity.  Separation or Unity can also be described as fear or Love; imprisonment or Freedom; suffering or Joy; abandonment or Embrace; conflict or Peace; many or One; death or Life, etc.

The process of awakening to our true nature as Oneness is accomplished by choosing forgiveness.  By giving everything we believe in, both bad and good, to the Holy Spirit, we re-establish connection with God.  By holding onto what we believe in, we maintain the illusion of being entities separate from God.

Jesus says, Life is Thought.  But not the kind of thought we as people take for granted.  God-Thought is an ongoing expansion of Life.  Ego thought is analytical, interpretive, based on survival, in other words, anti-Life.  Our state of mind can change simply by requesting that we see with God’s Vision rather than ego eyesight  “Let me look on the world I see as the representation of my own state of mind.”  This state of mind witnesses, or reflects, the teacher we have chosen: ego or Holy Spirit.

The ego thought system mimics God yet distorts what it mimics in order to be “creative.”  The ego “shares” the idea of separation by calling it multiplication and assuming that “more” is plentiful when actually “more” is divisive.  The review of Lesson 18 tells us that even the mad idea of separation had to be shared before it could form the basis of the world we see.  Happily, we can also call upon our “real thoughts, which share everything with everyone.”  This “everything” is not material; it is Formless Love, Light, Harmony, Beauty, Peace, Joy … the everything of No Thing.

We are not alone in experiencing the effects of which teacher we choose; we see and think accordingly: fear or Love.  Knowing this makes us determined to see with the Holy Spirit’s Vision because aligning with God’s Will brings us Perfect Peace and True Happiness.  “I would look upon the real world [the world the true perception of the Holy Spirit offers me] and let it teach me that my will and the Will of God are one.”  Amen.

LESSON 54

These are the review ideas for today:

1.  (16)  I have no neutral thoughts.

Neutral thoughts are impossible because all thoughts have power.  They will either make a false world or lead me to the real one.  But thoughts cannot be without effects.  As the world I see arises from my thinking errors, so will the real world arise before my eyes as I let my errors be corrected.  My thoughts cannot be neither true nor false.  They must be one or the other.  What I see shows me which they are.

2.  (17)  I see no neutral things.

What I see witnesses to what I think.  If I did not think I would not exist, because life is thought.  Let me look on the world I see as the representation of my own state of mind.  I know that my state of mind can change.  And so I also know the world I see can change as well.

3.  (18)  I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

If I have no private thoughts, I cannot see a private world.  Even the mad idea of separation had to be shared before it could form the basis of the world I see.  Yet that sharing was a sharing of nothing.  I can also call upon my real thoughts, which share everything with everyone.  As my thoughts of separation call to the separation thoughts of others, so my real thoughts awaken the real thoughts in them.  And the world my real thoughts show me will dawn on their sight as well as mine.

4.  (19)  I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.

I am alone in nothing.  Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe.  A Son of God cannot think or speak or act in vain.  He cannot be alone in anything.  It is therefore in my power to change every mind along with mine, for mine is the power of God.

5.  (20)  I am determined to see.

Recognizing the shared nature of my thoughts, I am determined to see.  I would look upon the witnesses that show me the thinking of the world has been changed.  I would behold the proof that what has been done through me has enabled love to replace fear, laughter to replace tears, and abundance to replace loss.  I would look upon the real world, and let it teach me that my will and the Will of God are one.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 53 – Review of Lessons 11-15

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

What-are-you-sinking-about-print.tifI ask God to help me sink beneath the meaningless thoughts of the world to the real Thoughts in His Mind.

I lay on my back, my favorite meditating posture, and allow the mind to unfurl like a sail in the wind.

Distracting thoughts come but I let them drift by. Then, the spiritual eye appears … peaceful calm unthinking … no ego “thinking”, no fear, no grudges, no tempting beautiful shadows either … everyone everywhere is in God’s Hands because … we are not bodies, we are formless God-Thoughts extending from His One Thought which overflows as One.purple swirl

A message comes: the future is over because it is a projection within a projection.  The future is the past inverted.  Ego fixates on the past and further complicates its pseudo-thinking by predicting “future” outcomes based on the past.

Whether we are frightened by speculating catastrophes or tempted with desires of glorious outcomes, neither are real.  The future is just another insane way of deliberately staying in the past, rather than  returning to the sanity and reality of the Timeless Present.

LESSON 53

Today we will review the following:

1.  (11)  My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.
Since the thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything, the world that pictures them can have no meaning.  What is producing this world is insane, and so is what it produces.  Reality is not insane, and I have real thoughts as well as insane ones.  I can therefore see a real world, if I look to my real thoughts as my guide for seeing.

2.  (12)  I am upset because I see a meaningless world.
Insane thoughts are upsetting. They produce a world in which there is no order anywhere. Only chaos rules a world that represents chaotic thinking, and chaos has no laws. I cannot live in peace in such a world. I am grateful that this world is not real, and that I need not see it at all unless I choose to value it. And I do not choose to value what is totally insane and has no meaning.

3.  (13)  A meaningless world engenders fear.
The totally insane engenders fear because it is completely undependable, and offers no grounds for trust. Nothing in madness is dependable. It holds out no safety and no hope. But such a world is not real. I have given it the illusion of reality, and have suffered from my belief in it. Now I choose to withdraw this belief, and place my trust in reality. In choosing this, I will escape all the effects of the world of fear, because I am acknowledging that it does not exist.

4. (14)  God did not create a meaningless world.
How can a meaningless world exist if God did not create it? He is the Source of all meaning, and everything that is real is in His Mind. It is in my mind too, because He created it with me. Why should I continue to suffer from the effects of my own insane thoughts, when the perfection of creation is my home? Let me remember the power of my decision, and recognize where I really abide.

5. (15)  My thoughts are images that I have made.
Whatever I see reflects my thoughts. It is my thoughts that tell me where I am and what I am. The fact that I see a world in which there is suffering and loss and death shows me that I am seeing only the representation of my insane thoughts, and am not allowing my real thoughts to cast their beneficent light on what I see. Yet God’s way is sure. The images I have made cannot prevail against Him because it is not my will that they do so. My will is His, and I will place no other gods before Him.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 52 – Review of Lessons 6-10

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

My whole life is a game of pretend.  Make-believe.  I have dreamed up a scenario involving space and time, the world and bodies, special relationships and life and death.  But I am confused.  What I consider real is only illusion, and illusion is actually nothing.

What I call seeing is actually a condemnation of the world.  The text says that what the ego calls a question is actually an accusation disguised as a question.  It’s the same thing.  By “seeing” anything other than God, I am disguising my error from myself by projecting terror, anger, shame, blame and the need for punishment upon my brothers, the world and God Himself.

When I turn to the Holy Spirit for help, my seeing is transformed into true perception and God’s Vision filters through everything I think I see, transforming my view of the world and other people into a Loving experience.

The past is the way that I keep the present out of my awareness.  I do this to forget God.  In that sense, I made up time to use it against God Who Is Timeless.  Part of the forgiveness process is giving time back to God, just like anything else.

I give my sense of being separate and individual to God.  I give my attachment to the ego thought system to God.  I give my conviction that duality is true to God.  I give God every grievance I seem to have, every pain I seem to have, everything that seems real to me in order to clear a space where I recognize what I already am.

Giving to God is the undoing process which ACIM offers us.  Yes, I would rather join the thinking of my Creator than to obscure what is really mine with a pitiful and meaningless false sense of privacy.  Wow.  Review is powerful.

LESSON 52

Today’s review covers these ideas:

1.  (6)  I am upset because I see what is not there.
Reality is never frightening.  It is impossible that it could upset me.  Reality brings only perfect peace.  When I am upset, it is always because I have replaced reality with illusions I made up.  The illusions are upsetting because I have given them reality, and thus regard reality as an illusion.  Nothing in God’s creation is affected in any way by this confusion of mine.  I am always upset by nothing.

2.  (7)  I see only the past.

As I look about, I condemn the world I look upon.  I call this seeing.  I hold the past against everyone and everything, making them my enemies.  When I have forgiven myself and remembered Who I am, I will bless everyone and everything I see.  There will be no past, and therefore no enemies.  And I will look with love on all that I failed to see before.

3.  (8)  My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

I see only my own thoughts, and my mind is preoccupied with the past.  What, then, can I see as it is?  Let me remember that I look on the past to prevent the present from dawning on my mind.  Let me understand that I am trying to use time against God.  Let me learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing.

4.  (9)  I see nothing as it is now.

If I see nothing as it is now, it can truly be said that I see nothing.  I can see only what is now.  The choice is not whether to see the past of the present; the choice is merely whether to see or not.  What I have chosen to see has cost me vision.  Now I would choose again, that I may see.

5.  (10)  My thoughts do not mean anything.

I have no private thoughts.  Yet is it only private thoughts of which I am aware.  What can these thoughts mean?   They do not exist, and so they mean nothing.  Yet my mind is part of creation and part of its Creator.  Would I not rather join the thinking of the universe than to obscure all that is really mine with my pitiful and meaningless “private” thoughts?

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 51 – Review of Lessons 1-5

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Nothing I see means anything.  I have given what I see all the meaning that it has for me.  I do not understand anything I see.  These thoughts do not mean anything.  I am never upset for the reason I think.

These thoughts do not mean anything stands out for me, so this is my practice today: “The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think without God.  What I call “my” thoughts are not my real thoughts.  My real thoughts are the thoughts I think with God.  I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take their place.  I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let them go.  I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace.  My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.”

As I absorb, “My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God,” a pleasant squeezing sensation pulls at the top of my head.  There is a magnetic pulsating sense of being lifted toward Heaven.  You could say my crown chakra is being activated … or you could say when I get out of my own way there is an alignment with God’s presence.

LESSON 51

The review for today covers the following ideas:

1.  (1)  Nothing I see means anything.

The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning.  It is necessary that I recognize this, that I may learn to see.  What I think I see now is taking the place of vision.  I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may take its place.

2.  (2)  I have given what I see all the meaning it has for me.

I have judged everything I look upon, and it is this and only this I see.  This is not vision.  It is merely an illusion of reality, because my judgments have been made quite apart from reality.  I am willing to recognize the lack of validity in my judgments, because I want to see.  My judgments have hurt me, and I do not want to see according to them.

3.  (3)  I do not understand anything I see.

How could I understand what I see when I have judged it amiss?  What I see is the projection of my own errors of thought.  I do not understand what I see because it is not understandable.  There is no sense in trying to understand it.  But there is every reason to let it go, and make room for what can be seen and understood and loved.  I can exchange what I see now for this merely by willing to do so.  Is not this a better choice than the one I made before?

4.  (4)  These thoughts do not mean anything.

The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think without God.  What I call “my” thoughts are not my real thoughts.  My real thoughts are the thoughts I think with God.  I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take their place.  I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let them go.  I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace.  My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.

5.  (5)  I am never upset for the reason I think.

I am never upset for the reason I think because I am constantly trying to justify my thoughts.  I am constantly trying to make them true.  I make all things my enemies, so that my anger is justified and my attacks are warranted.  I have not realized how much I have misused everything I see by assigning this role to it.  I have done this to defend a thought system that has hurt me, and I no longer want.  I am willing to let it go.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 50 – I am sustained by the Love of God.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

angel skyAnyone who is weary of the world understands the line, “Put not your faith in illusions.  They will fail you.”  Withdrawing faith in illusions does not result in cynicism.  Actually, it is our release from the nightmare of the world.  It is God’s wake-up call penetrating the coma-state the ego has established.

Lesson 50 reminds us where to place our faith.  Placing our faith in God sustains us.  Choosing to remember that we are sustained by the Love of God is an act of faith.  From this faith comes the realization that my brothers are my saviors and vice versa.

I am released by the Son of God.  And you are released by the Son of God.  As we recognize this, we become each others’ miracle workers.  Putting our faith in the Love of God proves to be the answer to every problem.  Jesus says, “It is a declaration of release from idols.  It is your acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.”

Choosing to be sustained by the Love of God is choosing to “allow peace to flow over you like a blanket of protection and surety.”  Yes, I choose to know that I am sustained by the Love of God.  What else could be better?

LESSON 50

I am sustained by the Love of God.

Here is the answer to every problem that will confront you, today and tomorrow and throughout time.  In this world, you believe you are sustained by everything but God.  Your faith is placed in the most trivial and insane symbols; pills, money, “protective” clothing, influence, prestige, being liked, knowing the “right” people, and an endless list of forms of nothingness that you endow with magical powers.

All these things are your replacements for the Love of God.  All these things are cherished to ensure a body identification.  They are songs of praise to the ego.  Do not put your faith in the worthless.  It will not sustain you.

Only the Love of God will protect you in all circumstances.  It will lift you out of every trial, and raise you high above all the perceived dangers of this world into a climate of perfect peace and safety.  It will transport you into a state of mind that nothing can threaten, nothing can disturb, and where nothing can intrude upon the eternal calm of the Son of God.

Put not your faith into illusions.  They will fail you.  Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing.  This is the answer to whatever confronts you today.  Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence.  Tell yourself this often today.  It is a declaration of release from the belief in idols.  It is your acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.

For ten minutes, twice today, morning and evening, let the idea for today sink deep into your consciousness.  Repeat it, think about it, let related thoughts come to help you recognize its truth, and allow peace to flow over you like a blanket of protection and surety.  Let no idle and foolish thoughts enter to disturb the holy mind of the Son of God.  Such is the Kingdom of Heaven.  Such is the resting place where your Father has placed you forever.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

 

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Lesson 49 – God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Lesson 49 sums everything up.  God wants us to hear His Voice.  He has given It to us to be heard. We need to “listen up” … really listen UP. Rather than attempting to pull God down into our dream, we can change channels from W-EGO, so to speak, to W-GOD.

There is a part of mind — the Holy Spirit Bridge — in constant communication with God. The Holy Spirit, if we ask, guides our hand.

The Truth, the Memory of God within us, aka the Holy Spirit, is always in contact with God.  All we have to do is be still, open our minds and listen to the Unspoken.  rock door

Flow with Spirit … resistance is nothing but mist and clouds beyond which is the endless expanse of Heavenly Wilderness beckoning us Home, where we are truly welcome.

God’s Voice speaks to me and to you all through the day … the ACIM text tells us all are called, few choose to listen … let’s listen!  “Welcome to the Home you have never left …”

LESSON 49

God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.

It is quite possible to listen to God’s Voice all through the day without interrupting your regular activities in any way.  The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not.  It is the other part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys the world’s laws.  It is this part that is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain.

The part that is listening to the Voice for God is calm, always at rest and wholly certain.  It is really the only part there is.  The other part is a wild illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind.  Try today not to listen to it.  Try to identify with the part of your mind where stillness and peace reign forever.  Try to hear God’s Voice call to you lovingly, reminding you that your Creator has not forgotten His Son.

We will need at least four five-minute practice periods today, and more if possible.  We will try actually to hear God’s Voice reminding you of Him and of your Self.  We will approach this happiest and holiest of thoughts with confidence, knowing that in doing so we are joining our will with the Will of God.  He wants you to hear His Voice.  He gave It to you to be heard.

Listen in deep silence.  Be very still and open your mind.  Go past all the raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover your real thoughts and obscure your eternal link with God.  Sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond the frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world.  We are trying to reach the place where you are truly welcome.  We are trying to reach God.

Do not forget to repeat today’s idea very frequently.  Do so with your eyes open when necessary, but closed when possible.  And be sure to sit quietly and repeat the idea for today whenever you can, closing your eyes on the world, and realizing that you are inviting God’s Voice to speak to you.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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Lesson 48 – There is nothing to fear.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Jesus Walks on Water Ivan Aivazovsky 1888There is nothing to fear.  There is no thing to fear.  There are no things because things are made up by the ego.

Complete safety is our birthright.  In the Light which we really are, there is nothing but Radiance streaming through Timelessness.

When you know you are not a body, you feel safe in the world, even if the world is unsafe.

This is how Jesus walked on water — Light bodies obey the laws of God, not gravity!

LESSON 48

There is nothing to fear.

The idea for today simply states a fact.  It is not a fact to those who believe in illusions, but illusions are not facts.  In truth there is nothing to fear.  It is very easy to recognize this.  But it is very difficult to recognize it for those who want illusions to be true.

Today’s practice periods will be very short, very simply and very frequent.  Merely repeat the idea as often as possible.  You can use it with your eyes open at any time and in any situation.  It is strongly recommended, however, that you take a minute or so whenever possible to close your eyes and repeat the idea to yourself slowly several times.  It is particularly important that you use the idea immediately, should anything disturb your peace of mind.

The presence of fear is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own strength.  The awareness that there is nothing to fear shows that somewhere in your mind, though not necessarily in a place that you recognize as yet, you have remembered God, and let His strength take the place of your weakness.  The instant you are willing to do this there is indeed nothing to fear.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

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Lesson 47 – God is the strength in which I trust.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

“God is your safety in every circumstance.  His Voice [the Holy Spirit within] speaks for Him in all situations and in every aspect of all situations, telling you exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection.”  I notice that His Voice does not tell us what to do, but what to do to call upon God.

dont look under the bedIn Chapter 2, Jesus explains, “The correction of fear is your responsibility.  When you ask for release from fear, you are implying that it is not.  You should ask, instead, for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about.  These conditions always entail a willingness to be separate.  At that level you can help it.”  It is difficult to believe that we are afraid because we have actively chosen to be afraid.

Jesus told Helen he could not remove her fear (read Absence from Felicity by Kenneth Wapnick) and that she should ask instead for help with the conditions that result in fear. The conditions are turning to the ego for guidance and the consequences of that choice: belief in sin, guilt and fear.

Fear is an effective ego defense against God’s Truth.  As long as the ego distracts itself with fear, it need not know it doesn’t really exist.  As the memory of God emerges from the shallow roots of the ego, which seem deep but in truth are not, there is the opportunity to shift our attention from distrust to trust, and weakness to strength.  How?

Call upon God.  Use the daily lesson to call upon God.  Every day Jesus spells out for you how to call upon God.  Use his tools.  Today we are given, “God is the strength in which I trust.”  When we practice this, we find out that God truly is our safety in every circumstance because circumstance is illusory and Reality is formless.

This kind of trust reminds me of a game my father played with me as a child — read my blogpost, “Who Is My Father?”.

LESSON 47

God is the strength in which I trust.

If you are trusting in your own strength you have every reason to be apprehensive, anxious and fearful. What can you predict or control? What is there in you that can be counted on? What would give you the ability to be aware of all the facets of any problem, and to resolve them in such a way that only good can come of it? What is there in you that gives you the recognition of the right solution, and the guarantee that it will be accomplished?

Of yourself you can do none of these things. To believe that you can is to put your trust where trust is unwarranted, and to justify fear, anxiety, depression, anger and sorrow. Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? Yet who can put his faith in strength and feel weak?

God is your safety in every circumstance. His Voice speaks for Him in all situations and in every aspect of all situations, telling you exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection. There are no exceptions because God has no exceptions. And the Voice which speaks for Him thinks as He does.
Today we will try to reach past your own weakness to the Source of real strength. Four five-minute practice periods are necessary today, and longer and more frequent ones are urged. Close your eyes and begin, as usual, by repeating the idea for the day. Then spend a minute or two in searching for situations in your life which you have invested with fear, dismissing each one by telling yourself:

God is the strength in which I trust.

Now try to slip past all concerns related to your own sense of inadequacy. It is obvious that any situation that causes you concern is associated with feelings of inadequacy, for otherwise you would believe that you could deal with the situation successfully. It is not by trusting yourself that you will gain confidence. But the strength of God in you is successful in all things.

The recognition of your own frailty is a necessary step in the correction of your errors, but it is hardly a sufficient one in giving you the confidence which you need, and to which you are entitled. You must also gain an awareness that confidence in your real strength is fully justified in every respect and in all circumstances.

In the latter phase of the practice period, try to reach down into your mind to a place of real safety. You will recognize that you have reached it if you feel a sense of deep peace, however briefly. Let go all the trivial things that churn and bubble on the surface of your mind, and reach down and below them to the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. There is a place in you where nothing is impossible. There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.

During the day, repeat the idea often. Use it as your answer to any disturbance. Remember that peace is your right, because you are giving your trust to the strength of God.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

 

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