ACIM Workbook Lesson 60 – for Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Affirmation: “God is the love in which I forgive.”
Selected Passage:
“. . .[F]orgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. It is the reflection of God’s Love on earth. (WB100)”
Reflections:
We do not need to be justified in the sight of God; He has already forgiven us. But, frequently, we do need to be justified in our own sight, because we have not forgiven ourselves. When we forgive another, we also recognize that we ourselves are worthy of forgiveness. It is the gift of God, but it is one that we all too often withhold from ourselves. And when we withhold it from ourselves, we also withhold forgiveness from others. This is the way of “Love thy neighbor as thyself” (a biblical tenet).
When we forgive, we recognize that we too are innocent. We have not changed or altered in any way the Self that is truly us, the Self that is beyond the little self in this world. We have not “sinned,” because sin, however irrationally, will continue to be attracting to us if we believe that we are committing sin. But call the error just a “mistake,” and we will want to correct it (a Text tenet). Then we are free to recognize that we are always as God created us; we have not altered our real identity at all (a Workbook tenet).
Our innocence reflects God’s love on earth. When we forgive, we help ourselves and others to see that love, that all-embracing love. God wants to communicate with us, and when we don’t pray to him, He is lonely (a Text tenet). The Text also calls this prayer, at its highest, “communion.” When we commune with God, we are at our best. May we commune (i.e., pray) often today.
Affirmation: “God is the strength in which I trust.”
Selected Passage:
“. . .I begin to remember the Love I chose to forget, but Which has not forgotten me. (WB100)”
Reflections:
God never forgets His own, and all of us are His own. And we need to remember that He loves us with an totally committed, totally unconditional, love at all times.
Affirmation: “There is nothing to fear.”
Selected Passage:
“How safe the world will look to me when I can see it! It will not look anything like what I imagine I see now. (WB100)”
Reflections:
Safety, being safe, is a big issue for many of us. We may have been reared in an atmosphere of fear, a sense that if we did not have our parents to protect us from the fearful world where bad things happen, we would be lost.
This childhood memory is not really true, and it is unlikely that we believe it consciously now. But the subconscious speaks strongly sometimes. May we see the world as safe today. The Workbook says elsewhere, “When I have let all my grievances go, I will know that I am perfectly safe.” May we have this assurance today.
Affirmation: “God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.”
Selected Passage:
“There is not a moment in which His Voice fails to direct my thoughts, guide my actions and lead my feet. (WB101)”
Reflections:
This passage, in my estimation, is a very important one. We are guided, moment by moment, by the Voice of the Holy Spirit. Normally, there is no “voice” as such, but instead what may be called simply intuition, or a “knowing” of what we should do next. A Manual tenet is that it is not wise to become preoccupied with each step of the way. The right mind slant, on the other hand, adopted early in the day, and followed as possible, will set us on the right pathway. If we listen, though, the moment-by-moment guidance is there. The only caveat is if one is emotionally disturbed; then the “guidance” may be awry, and we need to test out the rightness of what we perceive to be our guidance.
Affirmation: “I am sustained by the Love of God.”
Selected Passage:
“As I listen to God’s Voice, I am sustained by His Love. As I open my eyes, His Love lights up the world for me to see. (WB101)”
Reflections:
This passage highlights the wonderful benefit of following God’s guidance. Our days are brighter and better; we live in grace. Do focus on the words of this affirmation and the passage. Little more needs to be said.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
If we forgive, we will feel better about ourselves. We might even feel that we are worthy of seeing ourselves as innocent. This interpretation is not the full truth, but thank You for letting me see how forgiveness might pave the way for my own understanding of my innate innocence.
Help me to listen to guidance today. Even when I have lived a number of days, consistently following guidance, I am still tempted to turn aside from this quiet inner Voice. My feelings become suspect to scrutiny, and then I find myself doing what the ego wants–not what You want. Help me to do what You want today.
Amen.