ACIM Workbook Lesson 284 – for Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Affirmation: “I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt.”
“Loss is not loss when properly perceived. Pain is impossible. There is no grief with any cause at all. And suffering of any kind is nothing but a dream.
“Father, what You have given cannot hurt, so grief and pain must be impossible. Let me not fail to trust in You today, accepting but the joyous as Your gifts; accepting but the joyous as the truth. (WB439)”
Reflections:
1 – Attend to This Message
Today’s lesson is a reiteration of earlier writing. We need to attend to this message and attend to it carefully. We may not believe it fully, so lost in the illusion are we.
2 – Loss, Pain, Grief, Suffering = Dreams, Illusions
This lesson says clearly that loss, pain, grief, and suffering are dreams, illusions. They are not real. It is true that all of us feel these emotions, and sometimes their physical manifestations, but I think that this passage is letting us know that we are mistaken in believing that such feelings and physical manifestations have to determine our destiny. We need only look to the religious dimensions of poverty-stricken peoples to realize that many of these individuals have a faith that has lifted them above the suffering. Not all of us have this kind of faith, but we can always ask for a strengthening of faith in the face of obstacles and disappointments, loss, pain, grief, suffering, to know that God is real and that He is always here for us.
3 – What Are Some Practical Ways to Change What Hurts?
The best thing that we can say is that we are still living in insanity, in an insane world. The comments that other people make may seem humorous to them, but they may sting us. We need to let go of this judgment, for judgment it is. And we will not know Awakening as long as we judge. Indeed, we are told that when we cease to judge, we are made ready for Awakening. Prayer helps, prayer that is a very practical way of turning aside from the insanity in which we find ourselves. Communing with our God is the very best way to change what hurts. He will lead us down a better pathway. And then we will be well on our way to joyously redeeming the day that we are about to rue. When we know in our hearts that judgment is keeping us from the joy of Awakening, we will turn aside from these negative thoughts and focus on the all-powerful messages of ACIM.
4 – The Uncompromising Truth of A Course in Miracles
This lesson is the uncompromising truth of ACIM. Not all of us are ready to accept the message of this passage, but to the extent that we do, even in hardship we can experience the peace of God and Heaven on earth.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
If I am tempted today to think that I am actually in pain or am suffering, may I realize that I am making the illusion too real. In this world, we experience many bad things, but with Your help, we can overcome. We do not have to turn negative experiences into anything that even remotely resembles true reality. We are living in a dream world.
May I experience in my dream today only happiness. This is what the Holy Spirit brings to me, when I am ready and open to receive His blessings. May I be open today. May I not turn a twinge of pain, of whatever degree, into a question about Your love. You are all Love, and may I never forget this.
Be with me as I plan to live a day free of suffering. I do not have to turn any negative aspect of life in this dream into something to make my day go badly. Let me rejoice in the knowledge that You are always there, carrying me when the despair gets bad.
Amen.
