ACIM Workbook Lesson 336 – for Friday, December 2, 2011
Affirmation: “Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined.”
“Forgiveness sweeps away distortions, and opens the hidden altar to the truth. Its lilies shine into the mind, and call it to return and look within, to find what it has vainly sought without. For here, and only here, is peace of mind restored, for this the dwelling place of God Himself. (WB470)”
Reflections:
1 – Peace of Mind Comes with Complete Forgiveness
These final passages in the Workbook choose to make firm the decision for forgiveness that is the central thesis of A Course in Miracles. These passages would firm up our decision for the peace of mind, something that can only come when we forgive completely. “Forgiveness sweeps away distortions,” and by this we can led to see that we have been looking with a distorted eye upon the mistakes of our brothers and sisters.
2 – Lilies Within
The theme of lilies is again found. There are many lyrical passages in ACIM, and the passages in the Text on lilies are particularly beautiful. We need to find the lilies within, to find within what we have vainly sought without. We have even sought without in sickness, because sickness is described in the Text as a form of external searching. We can be well, if not physically, then within our spirit. And often spiritual healing carries a physical component. When we rest in God’s peace, much that seems awry in our world gets corrected, and this passage gives the overview of how that miracle happens. Forgiveness reaches into the mind and heals it; we no longer look without for healing.
3 – This Illusory World
Our peace of mind is a true experience of reaching the “dwelling place of God Himself.”
This way of speaking emphasizes that God is within and that we project our world from without. The Text says that there is nothing outside of ourselves. While this may seem like a metaphysical tenet that we cannot comprehend, it is the easy way of teaching ourselves how to forgive If we are in a mass hallucination (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM), then we realize that the projected world is illusory; it is that mass hallucination.
4 – Very Little on Blind Faith
We are still as God created us. This is an oft-repeated sentence from the Workbook. Until and unless we believe this, we will not be in a good position to forgive fully. We will still harbor a secret thought that we have been hurt in some real way by the misdeeds of others. But this secret thought is healed, and we know that we too are forgiven, when we reach out with love from our hearts and forgiveness in both our hearts and the intellect of our minds. A Course in Miracles requires that we accept very little on blind faith. Belief in the absolute right of our brothers and sisters to our forgiveness may be as close as we come to needing to accept ACIM on faith.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
Thank You for allowing me to understand that You answer our questions without asking us to rely on a faith that is focused on mysteries. We need to forgive, and while we may not see that this one act will solve our problems, we can come to see this as we act it out. Help me to forgive today. Help me to refrain from both anger and attack, however tempting these negative emotions may sometimes appear. Your counsel is always the peaceful way. Never do we need to dwell on the negative.
May I see your lilies today. I would walk freely and easily in this world, and You are the instigator of my peace, the peace that allows me to walk freely and easily. Be with me throughout the day. Keep me focused on the positive, regardless of how many things may happen today that test my patience.
Bless my brothers and sisters. My relationship to them enables the means by which salvation comes–through special-turned-holy relationships.
Amen.