March 06, 2018

Day 33 - A Course in Miracles

Day 33 - A Course in Miracles



ACIM Workbook Lesson 33 Insights

“There is another way of looking at the world.”

More and more I am seeing the connections between these lessons. Most of the time when I look at the world, I am not aware of God being there. But an earlier lesson says that God is in everything I see. I must be missing something. There is another way of seeing the world. When I affirm this, I am cracking the door open to receive the vision of the Holy Spirit, which will show me Love in everything I see. So today’s lesson is another step in opening my mind to be taught by my Inner Teacher, the Holy Spirit.

The fact that I am not aware of God in everything I see is proof that I need this reminder constantly. I go through most of my day assuming that I know the meaning of what I am seeing. I assume that what I see is true and rarely stop to question what I see or how I am interpreting what I see. Using this lesson frequently through the day is another step that is essential to learn if I want the peace of God.

The peace of God cannot be found by excluding Him from everything I see. Along with remembering that there is another way to see the world, it is helpful to also remember that God is in everything I see. If I’m not seeing Love, I need help. I am grateful for the Course and all the help it offers. The more I work with it, the more I appreciate its compassionate genius in offering me the means to see anew.

Today’s lesson, “There is another way of looking at the world,” helps me step back from my past way of seeing things. It helps me remember that I do not know what anything is for. It’s a helpful wake up call reminding me to step back and ask the Holy Spirit for a new kind of vision. I need this practice because I forget often.
I need to remember that there is another way of looking at this a hundred times a day. This practice will help jar me out of simply repeating the past. I want a new way of looking at the world. But first I must remember that there is another way of looking at the world. I want to be happy. I want to wake up. I want to remember the one Self that is eternal. Today’s lesson is an important step in this process.

As I work with this lesson I have a nice feeling of being gently led along a path where I can easily see that what seems so real in the world is not what it seems since it can literally change from moment to moment. We can also see that the pictures we see in our mind are not different from those we think we see with our eyes. They’re not different and they’re equally unreal. We can learn this by simply observing the shifting nature of these perceptions.

The Correction for Lack of Love

After taking the first corrective step, i.e., “Knowing it IS fear,” you might benefit temporarily by adding another next step BEFORE going on with the corrective process. Try saying to yourself that you MUST have willed not to love somehow or somewhere, or that fear which arises from behavior-will conflict could not have happened. Then follow previous instructions.

If you consider what the process really means, it is nothing more than a series of pragmatic steps in the larger process of accepting the Atonement as THE remedy. From this viewpoint, the steps can be reworded as follows:

1.) Know first this is fear.
2.) Fear arises from lack of love.
3.) The ONLY remedy for lack of love is perfect love.
4.) Perfect love IS the Atonement.

The final procedural step (3) is inherent in the last statement (4). We have emphasized that the miracle, or the EXPRESSION of Atonement, is always a sign of real respect from the worthy TO the worthy. This worth IS reestablished by the Atonement.

It is obvious, then, that when you are afraid you have placed yourself in a position where you NEED Atonement BECAUSE you have DONE something loveless because you WILLED without love. This is precisely the situation for which the Atonement was offered. The need for the remedy inspired its CREATION.

As long as you recognize only the NEED for the remedy, you will remain fearful. However, as soon as you REMEDY it, you have also abolished the fear. This is how TRUE healing occurs.

Everyone experiences fear, and nobody enjoys it. Yet, it would take very little Right-thinking to know why it occurs. Neither you nor Bill have thought about it very much, either. (I object (at this point) to the use of plural verb with a properly singular subject—Helen—and remember that last time in a very similar sentence, He said it correctly and I remembered it with real pleasure. This real grammatical error makes me suspicious of the genuineness of these notes.

ANSWER: What it really shows is that YOU are not very receptive. The reason it came out that way, is because you are projecting (in the inappropriate way) your own anger, which has nothing to do with these notes. YOU made the error, because you are not feeling loving, so you want me to sound silly, so you won’t have to pay attention. Actually, I am trying to get through against considerable opposition, because you are not very happy, and I wish you were. I thought I’d take a chance, even though you are so resistant, because I MIGHT be able to help you feel better. You may be unable not to attack at all, but do try to listen a little, too.)



Urtext – Use of Terms


6. EPILOGUE

Forget not once this journey is begun the end is certain. Doubt along the way will come and go and go to come again. Yet is the ending sure. No‐one can fail to do what God appointed him to do. When you forget, remember that you walk with Him and with His Word upon your heart. Who could despair when hope like this is his? Illusions of despair may seem to come, but learn how not to be deceived by them. Behind each one there is reality and there is God. Why would you wait for this and trade it for illusions, when His Love is but an instant farther on the road where all illusions end? The end IS sure and guaranteed by God. Who stands before a lifeless image when a step away the Holy of the Holies opens up an ancient door that leads beyond the world?



Urtext – Workbook for Students


33. “There is another way of looking at the world.” 

Today’s idea is an attempt to recognize that you can shift your perception of the world in both its outer and inner aspects. A full five minutes should be devoted to the morning and evening application. In these practice periods, the idea should be repeated as often as you find profitable, though unhurried applications are essential. 

Alternate between surveying your outer and inner perceptions, but without an abrupt sense of shifting. Merely glance casually around the world you perceive as outside yourself, then close your eyes and survey your inner thoughts with equal casualness. 

Try to remain equally uninvolved in both, and to maintain this detachment as you repeat the idea throughout the day. The shorter exercise periods should be as frequent as possible.

 Specific applications of today’s idea should also be made immediately when any situation arises which tempts you to become disturbed. For these applications, say:

 “There is another way of looking at this.” 

Remember to apply today’s idea the instant you are aware of distress. It may be necessary to take a minute or so to sit quietly and repeat the idea to yourself several times. Closing your eyes will probably help in this form of application.


365 Days Through A Course in Miracles
            A Daily Devotional


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* simple TABLE of CONTENTS! ...  with published posts until this moment.

START DAY: You can begin any time with the Teachings! Read, meditate and make the daily exercises, one by one, every day ... for 365 days! Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, ... until the completion of the 365 lessons!
LOVE, LIGHT & BLESSINGS    ~ SOPHIA ~