CIM Lessons 250-256 and Miracles Principle #37

Miracles Principle #37: “A miracle is a correction introduced into false thinking by me (Jesus). It acts as a catalyst, breaking up erroneous perception and reorganizing it properly. This places you under the At-one-ment principle, where perception is healed. Until this has occurred, knowledge of the Divine Order is impossible.” “Erroneous perception” is seeing a problem in the physical world, external to us. The miracle reorganizes perception because it shifts perception back to where the problem really is, in our minds. Jesus is the one who introduces the miracle. Our job is merely to choose to want him to, to ask his help to see the situation the way it really is. Jesus takes false perceptions (sickness, conflict, war, etc.) and turns them around so that we see each one as the same: a cry for love. The At-one-ment 

principle is the denial of the reality of separation and guilt.

Lesson 250: “Let me not see myself as limited.” There is nothing to see but myself. If I see others as limited, I am seeing myself that way, for “as I see him I see myself.” My limitlessness is not the kind touted in self-help seminars. (“I can do anything I set my mind to.) This is recognition of what God created me to be—co-creator of All That Is. I am without limit because God’s power is my unfailing and boundless Source. When I perceive God’s Son as less than God created him to be (in others or in myself), let me recognize those error thoughts are born of fear and bring them to Love for healing.

Lesson 251: “I am in need of nothing but the truth.” How can I ever be at peace when my life is filled with an endless list of cravings? A better job, a bigger house, a “prince” or “princess” to adore and complete me? Can I not begin to see that the cravings themselves are a form of unhappiness? That each thing I think I need is a burden keeping me from peace? What I really want is peace. And I can have that when I realize it is God’s good pleasure to give me the kingdom. All that I truly need is within me, instantly available. Happiness is a choice that I make. My salvation (happiness) is granted or withheld not by anything external, but only by my own choice. But what if I don’t have rent money for this month? It’s imperative to ask for Spirit’s help, turn the problem over to Spirit, and have faith that Loving Omnipotence can be relied upon. As Emmett Fox says in The Golden Key, I must then keep my powerful mind OFF the problem (Where the mind goes the power flows!) and keep it on God. I can do that by rehearsing in my mind everything I know about God. (God is love. God is omnipotence. God is everywhere present, etc., etc.)

What is Sin? “Sin” is the belief that I am corrupted somehow by the mistakes that I make. It’s missing the mark of truth by thinking that what God created perfect can somehow be corrupted and become unworthy of its Creator.  Out of this belief comes guilt so intense it literally drives us mad and leads us to seek escape in illusions. We are surrounded by mad illusions, which are the effects of our thoughts of guilt. Only when we are willing to accept that we are the source of our mad mis-creation will “the hope of freedom” begin to arise.

Lesson 252: “The Son of God is my Identity.” As insane as it may seem, we don’t know Who we are! My Self is so much grander than I can even imagine. No matter how high my thoughts may go, I can only scratch the surface of my reality. The beauty and strength of my Self “comes not from burning impulses which move the world, but from the boundless Love of God Himself.” What I am is God’s own Love and Strength. To know myself as Love is Heaven. To know myself as Love is peace.

Lesson 253: “My Self is ruler of the universe.” Today’s idea is perhaps the most “outrageous” in the ego’s eyes. There’s an odd paradox in that the ego wants to be the ruler of the universe yet views that assertion as the height of blasphemy. Asserting that I am the ruler of the universe actually cuts the legs out from under the ego and destroys everything it stands on. The whole idea of projection, or placing blame for what is wrong outside myself, is done away with. Nothing comes to me that I have not asked for. That seems a harsh truth, but what it is, in actuality, is the golden key to my freedom.

Lesson 254: “Let every voice but God’s be still in me.” Inner silence as well as outer silence is something most of us are not used to. CIM is constantly inviting us to engage in the practice of silence. Mental silence is an acquired habit and takes a great deal of practice and determination. It is in the silence that we “hear” God’s voice. Some call it intuition—that “voiceless voice” or BS detector that perpetually nudges us to higher ground. As we begin to learn the practice of silence, it spills over into our lives during the day. We discover that we are able, in the throes of some disturbing situation, to step back from the reactive thoughts of our minds, note the reactions, and simply choose, with Spirit’s help, to let them go.

Lesson 255: “This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.” Peace does not seem to be purely a matter of choice. Our egos would have us believe that peace can be taken from us, or given to us, by things outside our minds. It is not so. If I am God’s Son, and therefore like Himself, I have the power of decision, the power to simply choose peace. God says it is so; so let me have faith in God and act upon that faith. The peace of God is in our minds, where God put it. It can be hidden beneath a cloud of ego babble, like the sun behind a storm cloud, but it cannot be lost.

Lesson 256: “God is the only goal I have today.” The title of this lesson defines our goal. The next two sentences spell out the means to that goal.

            The way to God is through forgiveness here. There is no other way.

Read those two sentences ten thousand times. Or until you “get” it. If you are holding onto a single grudge (I forgive everyone except Sue Ellen.) and still wondering why you just can’t get a break, read the sentence ten thousand more times.

Assignment: Miracles Principle # 38. Lessons 257-263. Manual for Teachers. Review pp. 9-16, “What Are the Characteristics of God’s Teachers?” and read pp. 17-19, “How Is Healing Accomplished?”

Practical Application: Many CIM students read the daily lesson, think they’ve “got” it, and close the book. Then they wonder why they’re not experiencing miracles. If you are currently spending zero time each day meditating on the day’s message in the silence, see if you can start spending 5 minutes each day doing so. If you’re spending 5 minutes in the silence, see if you can stretch it to 10 this week. If you’re spending 10 minutes, try 15—and so on. You cannot spend too much time with God.