[acimlessons_list] Lesson 300 - October 27

Tue Oct 26 06:31:09 EDT 2004

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ 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 300 - October 27

"Only an instant does this world endure."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

Purpose: To take the last few steps to God. To wait for Him to take the
final step.

Morning/Evening Quiet Time: as long as needed.

Read the written lesson.

Use idea and prayer to introduce time of quiet. Do not depend on the words.
Use them as a simple invitation to God to come to you.

Sit silently and wait for God. Wait in quiet expectancy for Him to reveal
Himself to you. Seek only direct, deep, wordless experience of Him. Be
certain of His coming, and unafraid. For He has promised that when you
invite Him, He will come. You ask only that He keep His ancient promise,
which He wills to keep. These times are your gift to Him.

Hourly Remembrance: Do not forget.

Give thanks to God that He has remained with you and will always be there to
answer your call to Him.

Frequent Reminder: As often as possible, even every minute.

Remember the idea. Dwell with God, let Him shine on you.

Response To Temptation: When you are tempted to forget your goal.

Use idea as a call to God and all temptation will disappear.

Reading: preceding one of the day's moments of practice.

Slowly read "What is...?" section.

Think about it a while.

Overall Remarks: Now, in this final part of the year that you and Jesus have
spent together, you begin to reach the goal of practicing and of the course.
Jesus is so close that you cannot fail. You have come far along the road. Do
not look back. Fix you eyes on the journey's end. You could not have come
this far without realizing that you want to know God. And this is all He
requires to come to you.

(See also Part II Introduction)

COMMENTARY

What a great lesson with which to end a series of ten days in which we have
been thinking on the section, "What is the real world?"

The basic thought here is the flip side of the holy instant. This world is
nothing but the unholy instant. There are only two instants, and we are in
one or the other all the time.

The idea for today could be taken negatively. We could focus on the
transitory nature of life, "a brief candle" as Shakespeare called it in
Macbeth , where our "joys are gone before they are possessed" (1:1). On the
other hand, the brevity of this world's existence can be a very encouraging
thought! "Yet this is also the idea that lets no false perception keep us in
its hold, nor represent more than a passing cloud upon a sky eternally
serene" (1:2).

The hallucination that is this world is nothing more than a passing cloud
that is crossing the serenity of our right mind. Our false perceptions will
endure no more than an instant, and then they will be gone. Like a child on
a long automobile trip, "soon" can seem to us to be forever, but our Father
knows the end is certain. The clouds of false perception will dissipate, the
sun will come out again, having been hidden only for an instant. Our minds
will recognize their own serenity once more.

"It is this serenity we seek, unclouded, obvious and sure, today" (1:3).

Let me, then, seek that serenity. Now, and every time today I can remember
to do so. Let me open myself to that holy instant, and remember that beyond
the clouds that seem to darken my mind, the sun shines uninterrupted. Let me
be glad and grateful that "the world endures but for an instant" (2:4). Let
me "go beyond that tiny instant to eternity" (2:5). Let me do so NOW. Let me
reach to that other state of mind often today.

What is the Real World? (Part 10)

W-pII.8.5:3-4

"That instant," the instant in which God takes His final step (5:2), "is our
goal, for it contains the memory of God" (5:3). An analogy that comes to my
mind is that of a football team trying to win the Super Bowl. The "final
step" is the awarding the trophy, so to speak. That is the team's ultimate
goal. But they actually have nothing to do with the trophy; their part is to
win games and arrive at that moment in victory. The trophy then is given to
them by the officials of the NFL. Although the image of striving for a
victory over opponents does not really fit our attaining the real world, the
general idea does. Our part is only getting to the place (the real world) in
which the awarding of the trophy (the memory of God) is possible, but that
last step is taken by God Himself. We are not learning to remember God. We
are learning to forget everything that makes that memory impossible, to
remove all the false learning we have interposed between our minds and the
truth. When we have removed the barriers, with the help of the Holy Spirit,
the memory of God will return to us of itself.

"And as we look upon a world forgiven" (that is the outcome of the work we
have done with the Holy Spirit, learning to forgive), "it is He Who calls to
us and comes to take us home" (God is the One Who takes us on this final
step beyond the real world), "reminding us of our Identity Which our
forgiveness has restored to us" (5:4). When we have forgiven the world, the
memory of God is restored to us, and also the memory of our own Identity in
Him. This latter part is not something we do; "it is He Who...comes to take
us home."

This is not just an interesting theological point. It has practical
implications. Sometimes, once we have entered on a spiritual quest, the ego
can distract us by getting us to try to go directly to God. We can get
caught up in a struggle to try to remember God, to try to recall our
Identity as the Son of God. Although this is our ultimate goal (like the
trophy in the Super Bowl game), if we make it the object of our direct
efforts, we will never get there. That would be like setting out to steal
the trophy instead of winning it legitimately. Our attention needs to be
focused on doing that which, if done, will prepare us to receive the memory
of God from His own hand. Namely, forgiveness. If we make remembering God,
or our Identity, our immediate goal, we are really trying to bypass the
steps that are necessary to reach that goal. We cannot skip those steps.

"I will forgive, and this will disappear."

"To every apprehension, every care and every form of suffering, repeat these
selfsame words. And then you hold the key that opens Heaven's gate, and
brings the Love of God the Father down to earth at last, to raise it up to
Heaven. God will take this final step Himself. Do not deny the little steps
He asks you take to Him" (W-pI.193.13:3-7). 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ 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.