[acimlessons_list] Lesson 312 - November 8

[Susan Carrier]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ COMMENTARIES ON LESSONS FROM THE WORKBOOK OF A COURSE IN MIRACLES
+ by Allen Watson, with Practice Summaries by Robert Perry, 
+ of The Circle of Atonement
+ Visit our website at <http://www.circleofa.com <http://www.circleofa.com/>
>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
LESSON 312 - November 8

"I see all things as I would have them be."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

(See also Part II Introduction)

COMMENTARY

This lesson is the second in a pair. The previous lesson told us that we
judge all things as we would have them be. This lesson continues:
"Perception follows judgment" (1:1). Judgment is, in this context, nearly
synonymous with interpretation. We first want a certain thing to be true; we
therefore judge or interpret what is around us according to that desire; and
having judged (interpreted), we perceive what we wanted. "For sight can
merely serve to offer us what we would have" (1:3). The Course's
presentation of perception and how it works is consistent and insistent:
"You see what you believe is there, and you believe it there because you
want it there. Perception has no other law than this" (T-25.III.1:3-4).

If we want to see the real world, we will see it. If we join with the Holy
Spirit in His goal, we "cannot fail to look upon what Christ would have him
see, and share Christ's Love for what he looks upon" (1:6). The key is in
what we want.

It's hard to admit that what we are seeing we must have wanted to see, at
some level of our minds. The ego has a sick mind, quite literally; the
unrecognized ego thoughts and wishes manifest in the world even though we
are not conscious of them. But the world is our mind's mirror; what we see
is what we have chosen to see. The world does not change because we are
afraid to look within our minds and see the thoughts that caused it. If we
will look, He will heal.

I recall someone standing during an ACIM workshop, when Ken Wapnick was
sharing along these lines, and telling how, during the television reports on
a California earthquake, he became aware that there was a part of his mind
that was disappointed that the death toll was so low. Something in him
wanted it to be more dramatic, wanted to see more death. I remember once
realizing quite clearly that I wanted someone dead--someone quite close to
me. It was a shock, but when I let myself be aware of it I was also aware
that the thought was not new!

We need to be willing to find the cause of the world we see within our own
minds, so that we can change our minds about the world. With changed
thoughts, we will see a changed world.

If we will, we can look upon "a liberated world, set free from all the
judgments I have made" (2:1). Today we can choose to see the world
differently--if we want to. There is no guilt in choosing not to see it
differently, but think of how unhappy your perception of the world has made
you up till now and ask yourself if you don't want to see it differently.
Seeing the real world is your will. It is up to you, and to me, to choose to
see it today.

"Father, this is Your Will for me today, and therefore it must be my goal as
well" (2:2).


What is the Last Judgment? (Part 2)

W-pII.10.1:3-4

In two sentences we have what the Course calls the real world (sort of
combined with the Second Coming), the Last Judgment, and the final step:

"At first you see a world that has accepted this as true [the real world or
the Second Coming], projected from a now corrected mind. And with this holy
sight, perception gives a silent blessing [the Last Judgment] and then
disappears [the final step], its goal accomplished and its mission done"
(1:3-4).

The "this" which we see the world as having accepted is the statement from
the previous sentence: "what is false is false, and what is true has never
changed." If the world has accepted this statement, it indicates to me that
this is not simply the real world (the world seen through forgiving eyes)
but the Second Coming, in which all minds have been given to Christ. The
unified, healed mind of the Sonship is still projecting, but "from a now
corrected mind," and therefore what is being projected is a healed world.
When we see this "holy sight," we pronounce the Last Judgment, which is a
silent blessing, for as the Course says elsewhere, the Last Judgment is not
a meting out of punishment but a final healing (T-2.VIII.3:3).

With the "final healing," then, the goal and mission of perception itself
(as the Holy Spirit sees its purpose) is over, and so perception itself
vanishes, no longer needed. Here, perception vanishes; in the next paragraph
(2:3) the world itself, which is the object of all our perception, "slips
away to nothingness."

What's the point of understanding these eschatological events? (Eschatology
is "The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of
humankind" (American Heritage Dictionary).) They represent the goal towards
which the Course is leading us. As the Course itself says, in Chapter 17
Section VI ("Setting the Goal"), when you accept a certain goal you begin to
overlook or discount everything that stands in its way, and start to focus
on the things that will bring the goal about. It says: "The value of
deciding in advance what you want to happen is simply that you will perceive
the situation as a means to make it happen. You will therefore make every
effort to overlook what interferes with the accomplishment of your
objective, and concentrate on everything that helps you meet it"
(T-17.VI.4:1-2).

If we have even some small understanding that the final goal is a silent
blessing, a final healing, an overlooking of all error and a recognition of
the innocence of all of God's creation, and of all of our own creations, we
will begin to perceive our day-to-day situations as "a means to make it
happen." We will make every effort to overlook attack thoughts and
condemning judgments, whether in our own minds or in others, because we will
see them as something that interferes with the goal we are seeking.

Another value of this understanding of the Last Judgment is that it
eliminates one of the sources of our fear. We'll see more about this further
on in this section, but for now, just realizing that God will NOT be running
an inquisition and punishing us for every minuscule transgression of His
laws will come as a great relief to many of us, influenced by our immersion
in a culture where religion is often filled with fear of God's wrath. The
idea of a wrathful, vengeful God is something the Course goes out of its way
to counteract. 
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Commentary by Allen Watson
+ Practice Summary: Robert Perry
+ Available in book format from The Circle
+ of Atonement (Vol. 1 reprint due by end of 2004, write us for info)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ The Workbook Commentaries are Copyright 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003 by The 
+ Circle of Atonement, P.O. Box 4238,
+ W. Sedona, AZ 86340.
+ All rights reserved.
+
+ Please notify us of any intent to use them beyond the scope of this 
+ e-mail list; write to info at circleofa.com.
+
+ WWW: <http://www.circleofa.com/>
+ Email: <info at circleofa.com>
+ Back Issues Lesson Archive: <http://www.circleofa.com/curwkbk.html>
+ or <http://five.pairlist.net/pipermail/acimlessons_list/>, click "Date"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To unsubscribe from ACIMLESSONS_LIST send email to
acimlessons_list-request at circleofa.com with "unsubscribe" as the subject

To unsubscribe from ACIMWKBK_LIST send email to
acimwkbk_list-request at circleofa.com with "unsubscribe" as the subject

For more information about unsubscribing, subscribing, and changing settings
for your subscription, send an e-mail message to the same address with the
word "help" as the subject. You can also change your subscription options by
visiting the list website:
<http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/acimlessons_list> OR
<http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/acimwkbk_list>
Scroll to the bottom to change your personal options. 
____________________________________________

Tell your friends to subscribe. They can simply send an e-mail message to
<acimwkbk_list-request at circleofa.com> with the word "subscribe" in the
subject, changing "acimwkbk" to "acimlessons" if they want only the
commentaries, without member discussion.
_______________________________________________

Please support the Workbook commentaries! Make a donation to the Circle:
<https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=info%40circleofa.com&item_name=donat
ion+to+support+Workbook+commentaries&image_url=http%3A//www.circleofa.coion+
to+support+Workbook+m/images/main_title.gif&return=http%3A//www.circleofa.co
m&cancel_return=http%3A//www.circleofa.com&cn=Note+to+the+Circle&tax=0&curre
ncy_code=USD>
(If clicking the above link does not work, try copying it and pasting it
into the address field of your web browser, and clicking on "Go".)
_______________________________________________

Portions from Clarification of Terms, Copyright 1975, Psychotherapy:
Purpose, Process and Practice, (c) 1976, The Song of Prayer, (c) 1978, are
copyrighted by The Foundation for "A Course in Miracles," 41397 Buecking
Drive, Temecula, CA 92590.