ACIM Lesson for Today
David Hoffmeister continues a journey through the spiritual classic A Course in Miracles. He reads the ACIM Workbook Lesson for the day and then provides insight reading on it from Pathways of Light.
The ego’s goals, related to form and appearances, are completely unrelated to reality. This lesson introduces a step towards understanding that they can be released through forgiveness. The Ego and False Autonomy
The ego is obsessed with its own separateness and thus sees everything that it perceives as related to it as a threat. It tries to protect itself by attacking the relationships that are the source of its perceived separateness. It believes that by doing this it will gain strength. It is this belief that leads to its endless battles.
This conflict is the cause of your distress. You need not look any further than your own experience to see that the ego is an insane attempt to make real an identity which is not you and is not God. It is your belief in this false identity that is the source of all fear.
Your goal must be to judge the ego truly and then withdraw allegiance, protection and love from it. In its place you must accept the truth that you are a part of God and cannot be separated from Him. Your true strength lies in union with Him and not in your own illusory independence from Him.
This is why the ego is terrified of union with others and with God. It does not want to admit its dependence on the Source of Life because that would mean that it is really weak and powerless. It has made a pact with the devil to be as strong and powerful as possible and does not recognize that the strength of innocence, gentleness and love is actually more powerful than attack.
The ego also does not understand equality. It thinks that it is more important than any other ego, and therefore has no equal to itself. This is why it is always trying to unite with other egos through identification or attack them to feel better and build up its own strength. It is this desire for power that makes it afraid of the true strength of unity and that drives it into war with Spirit.
The ego does not understand that it is not real and has no basis in reality. It is the result of your mind being made up of many distorted thoughts and beliefs. As you continue on your journey with ACIM, your goal is to remove the distortions and gain One-mindedness which is the state of mind in which your perception is one with Spirit. The Right to Heaven
In recent times there has been a vocal outcry against the long-held belief that Christians have a right to heaven. This is partly a reaction against the unbiblical gnosticism of some evangelical Christians who deny the material creation and denigrate the reality of a future bodily resurrection. But this outcry should not be allowed to obscure the fact that the resurrection of Christ is central to God's redemptive plan. That is why today's lesson is so important. It is a reminder to be grateful for your life now and set aside images of sin, regret, anger, depression, and suffering. You are perfect exactly as you are. The Purpose of a Day
It is so easy to let your days fill up or just slip by without a clear sense of purpose. What if you could learn to design your days for more freedom, peace and impact?
The exercises in the ACIM workbook are designed to help you engage with a different perspective. Many of the ideas will feel very new and radical to you, especially at first. The key is to read a lesson each day, and then reflect on it throughout the day. It also helps to engage with the insight pages that explain each lesson.
Each lesson includes practical insights to help you apply the lessons in your daily life. Lessons are published each day of the calendar year, and are based on the teachings of A Course in Miracles, edited and adapted by Pathways of Light staff and students. Each lesson includes a link to the insightful page on the Pathways of Light website. acim Forgiveness
Forgiveness is an active decision to let go of negative feelings whether the person who wronged you deserves it or not. As you move through the process, you may find that you begin to feel empathy, compassion and even affection for the person who hurt you. Forgiveness is a powerful healing tool that can help you to move forward in your life and in your relationship with God.
Forgiveness has been defined in different ways by researchers. Swartz defines it as “the cognitive letting go of resentment and bitterness and the desire for vengeance.” DiBalsio’s definition of forgiveness includes an intrapersonal and an interpersonal process. He says that “forgiveness is an active choice to stop withholding love” and that it’s a matter of priority. Forgiveness is also a spiritual practice. Many traditions, such as the Hawaiian practice of ho'oponopono, focus on forgiveness.
In the context of acim, we can think of forgiveness as a decision to allow love to triumph over anger and vengeance. It’s a choice to move out of a victim’s role and into the role of follower of Christ, where love is at the center of our relationships with others. Forgiveness takes time and can be difficult, especially for those who are wounded deeply.
Often, forgiving someone who has wronged you requires repairing the relationship with that person. This can take the form of reestablishing communication, expressing sincere sorrow and regret or making a gesture that is meaningful to the person who was hurt. Forgiveness can be a process that is revisited over and over, as the offending act or incident continues to affect your life. Forgiveness can lead to reconciliation, but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes, reconciliation isn’t possible, and it might be more beneficial to you to simply move on without a relationship with the offender. Forgiveness can be a difficult, but necessary, step on your path to wholeness. You can learn to forgive by practicing it, and by surrounding yourself with loving people who will support you in your decision. If you struggle with forgiving someone, seek out a support group or a counselor.
AUTHOR: JAZZY EXPERT – Search Engine Optimization Team Head at Linkendin