ACIM Workbook Lesson 172 – for Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Affirmation: “God is but Love, and therefore so am I.”
“1. In my defenselessness my safety lies.
“2. I am among the ministers of God. (WB332)”
Reflections:
1 – Defense Makes What It Would Defend Against
The first sentence of the above is particularly important. We will find that defense makes what it would defend against. The undesired attack, or anger, or whatever, will actually increase if we try to defend ourselves. Just be quiet, and we will note that the undesirable word or behavior will diminish. This does not mean that we accept real abuse. We are not asked to do that. We must remove ourselves from the scene in such cases; we do no good when we teach another that he/she can wrong us in such a personal way.
2 – We Are Ministers of God
We are ministers of God. How would He have us act? How would Jesus have us act? Jesus was totally without defense in his “trial” prior to his crucifixion. He knew that the actions being taken were actually illusion, that in his innermost Self he was not being harmed. So he did not try to respond to Pilate (as described in the New Testament). We would do as well in less extreme situations. Jesus is our example life (also a tenet of A Course of Love, viewed by some as a sequel to A Course in Miracles), but we are not called to live the life that he led. We do not have to be crucified in any way. We do not have to learn through pain (an ACIM tenet), which is a temporary learning experience at best.
3 – Higher Power Aids Us
In our defenselessness, we will see that a Higher Power will come to our aid. We do not accept abuse, as noted, but we remove ourselves from the scene. In less extreme ways, we can always choose defenselessness as the manner in which we conduct ourselves. We do not always have to remove ourselves from the scene. We can look within and ask for the right reaction. It will always be one of love. If this love is to leave, then so be it. If this love is to stay and rectify the situation, then let us also do that.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
May I be defenseless today, even when my ego calls to me to answer critical comments with a rejoinder of my own. I know that defense makes what it would defend against; help me to remember this when, in the midst of attack or anger, it seems very difficult to remember. Stop me before I say anything rash.
Be with me today, as always. May I feel good walking the world today–Your world. Even though You didn’t create what is temporal, still the real world, which I would walk, is Yours. And it is the real world that I want to inhabit.
Amen.
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/ October 15, 2011I could not agree with you more
Celia Hales
/ October 16, 2011Thank you! But I stay really close to A Course in Miracles. Most cordially, Celia