ACIM Workbook Lesson 311 – for Monday, November 7, 2011
Affirmation: “I judge all things as I would have them be.”
“Judgment was made to be a weapon used against the truth. It separates what it is being used against, and sets it off as if it were a thing apart. And then it makes of it what you would have it be. It judges what it cannot understand, because it cannot see totality and therefore judges falsely. (WB456)”
Reflections:
1 – We Do Not Know All the Circumstances
This passage reflects something that I said in this blog a few days ago. We cannot judge rightly, because, unlike the Holy Spirit, we do not know all the circumstances surrounding us in our world in the past, present, and future. Only the Holy Spirit, the Universal Inspiration, can lead us rightly.
2 – Projection Makes Perception
The affirmation points to yet another point, not made the well-known Manual passage on judgment. We make things as we would have them be in our own judging. This is because projection makes perception, and we will think we see what we want. We see bad things sometimes, even when we do not think we want to see these things. But somewhere in our consciousness is the germ of an idea that manifests.
3 – Bad Things Happen in Our World
Of course, we are part of a mass hallucination (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM), and many bad things happen in our world that we do not think we have any control over. We do not have direct control in many instances, but we can control–with guidance and the help of God–how we react. The only proviso that I would make is that we can be so overcome with negative emotions that we are out of control and cannot effectively moderate our temperament. Then we can reach out to others at the same time that we ask for help from God. God can speak through another person when He seems (but is not actually) inaccessible to us. We are not meant to walk our way alone.
4 – Ask for Divine Guidance
We would know the truth today. We would not judge. If we are tempted to indulge in judgment, let us pull ourselves up short and try again. We ask for divine guidance in such ties. We cannot see the truth of ourselves and others if we are caught in judgment. This in itself is reason enough to let judgment, like the ego, wither away from lack of support.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
I would not judge today, because not only do I know that it is wrong, but also that I know that it is always inaccurate. I would not live in the world that I would judge, for as projection makes perception, I make a world that is not worthy of God’s Daughter/Son. And we are the Self, in our highest essence, that is a Daughter/Son. Thank You for leading me to understand this, and may the ego not intrude in this characterization. It is nothing that I have ever done that has given me this designation. I would have stayed lost if it had not been for Your Guide, the Holy Spirit. May I not fall into error today, which can still happen. May I walk the narrow way to salvation.
Be with me as I seek to love, not to judge, my brothers and sisters. It is true that we all try as hard as we can, and if we had lived the life of another, we would make the decisions that he/she is making. May I live a life in Your shadow only. May I live the peaceful, joyous approach that is so carefully pointed out to me in A Course in Miracles.
Thank You for Jesus’s role in bringing these understandings to our world. May we reach out to others, as they are ready, with the message of ACIM.
Amen.
MIRACLES EACH DAY 