Morning!
For me, today’s lesson signifies or represents a lovely pep talk from Jesus. In the text, he refers to Himself as an elder brother, he refutes the belief that He was/is the only begotten Son of God, stating instead we are as God created us, there is no one Son of God in form or formerly in form, if you will.
As a child and adolescent, religion was traditionally practiced, that is, we attended church faithfully, never missed a Sunday, sang in the choir, etc., and we read devotions every single day. Mom had been raised this way and that’s what she knew and we were no different than most families in the 50s and 60s. It never occurred to me to question the disparity between what we were taught to believe, how we were taught to behave/act, etc., and the behavior that we four daughters witnessed at home. Dad we thought to be a tyrant, Mom was silent, never intervened. Predominant among the concepts that were hammered home by our Mom was to always turn the other cheek and that she did as Dad berated us.
Not sure I knew what that meant other than I saw our Mom, observed her suffering in silence, perhaps, feeling, perhaps, terrified of confronting our father for his emotional abuse and feeling guilty for not coming to our defense. Gosh, we were just kids. Anyhow, Dad would be in his study doing whatever he did, keeping up with his profession of neurosurgery or practicing the piano, he took lessons for decades, and she would be reading the Bible or other religious books in another part of our home. Oh and as she did so, she drank a lot of wine, so much so she abused it.
Anyhow, as I think about today’s lesson, it appears that Jesus is stating the light within us has always been there and as we forgive others and ourselves, we come to the light, having forgiven our perceptions of what others have done to us and what we have done to them. We have released our past which is nothing but the belief that we separated from God, we didn’t, and we feel guilty about it and fear retribution.
As long as I harbor any lingering resentment, judgment, antipathy toward our parents, I am locked into darkness and will not see the light within me.
This lesson, for me, infers taking responsibility for my thoughts in every moment, being willing to relinquish them through forgiveness, trusting I will be shown how to do this, I cannot do it on my own or I tread in ego’s territory, and allowing the light to be experienced. Jesus referred to the light yesterday as our experiencing a joy beyond description, that job characterizes peace, they go hand in hand, they are the light!
Throughout the text, WB, Manual, etc., we are urged to be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom, Jesus provides us innumerable tools, practices with which to do this. The Holy Instant comes to mind here.
The pep talk Jesus provides to all of us speaks to me of the following:
He believes in us.
He is loving, patient and kind.
He is gentle.
He is my elder brother, He can be trusted.
He will lead me to peace, joy and light.
He will teach me how to forgive.
He is within me, lovingly leading me to the real world.
Hmmm, in these 75 lessons, Jesus is helping us to undo our beliefs that God is like us because as it stated in a previous lesson, we cannot conceive of a God without a body as long as we firmly believe that we are bodies.
Here’s to remembering the Introduction to ACIM where it is stated, “The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.”
I will ask for help in learning how to truly forgive throughout the day, remembering that by doing so, I bring all those blocks, illusions to the light of truth.
Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Gayle
Be sure to join the conversation either on our email group or our Facebook group.
******************
Since you’re here… …we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading our posts, listening to our audios and watching our videos than ever before but far fewer are donating for it. As an all-volunteer ministry, you can see why we need to ask for your help. MiraclesOne provides ACIM resources freely however it takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe in encouraging others to practically apply the Course principles in their lives – because it might just make the one difference in your life. If everyone who reads, listens or watches and likes what we offer helps to pay for it we can continue to afford our expenses and keep our resources FREE to all ACIM Students. Monthly Donors receive free gifts in appreciation for their support.