CIM Lessons 285-291 and Miracles Principle #42

Miracles Principle #42: “A major contribution of miracles is their strength in releasing you from your false sense of isolation, deprivation and lack.” We feel isolated from God and from each other. When we feel separate, we project the blame onto others. Deprivation is the feeling that you are depriving me of something I need or want. CIM says the secret of salvation/happiness is but this: that you are doing this to yourself and are free to choose again.

Lesson 285—“My holiness shines bright and clear today.” The only reason I experience pain or loss is that somewhere in my mind I think I deserve punishment. In some way, I think suffering is good for me. When I accept my holiness, the idea that suffering is necessary becomes poppycock. My mind has complete power to create the experience of life I want. Today I choose to create joy!

Lesson 286—“The hush of Heaven holds my heart today.” We are at home in God, dreaming of exile. We are all already in Heaven. In fact, we never left it. The Christ nature isn’t something I have to develop. The Christ nature is Who I am! If I feel I have to struggle and make difficult changes, I’m listening to the ego. My only problem is thinking that I have a problem! The thought that I don’t “have it yet” is the problem. In the stillness of today, I can taste the reality of the journey’s end, even in the midst of my traveling.

Lesson 287—“You are my goal, my Father. Only you.” This lesson comes from a very high place. It’s something that would be spoken by a person ready to live in the real world, a prayer from the heart of Christ within me. If I feel today I cannot say this without simple honesty, let me ask myself what gift I would prefer over the peace of God. Am I looking to find and keep something I think is more valuable than my own Identity? Recognizing my unwise goals is the beginning of wisdom.

Lesson 288—“Let me forget my brother’s past today.” I cannot come to God without my brother because my brother is me. We all have people we just can’t seem to let off the hook. But the bottom line is, I can’t see myself as having any gift of God that I’m not willing to give to everyone else. “You cannot be holier than your brother.” If I hold him to the past then I am held to the past.

Lesson 289—“The past is over. It can touch me not.” My mind is the cause of the world I see. Past events are not the cause of my feelings. Bringing thoughts of the past into the now cause my misery. When I recognize that my present feeling is caused by viewing the present events through the filter of a memory of the past, I can begin to detach my feelings from what is happening now. The past doesn’t exist. Only my thoughts of the past can affect me now, and so I drop them gladly into the Sea of Nothingness from which I dredged them. The forgiven world can only be seen now.

Lesson 290—“My present happiness is all I see.” If I continue to see through the eyes of the ego, I’m going to continue to see evil, guilt, and danger. If I keep doing what I’m doing, I keep getting what I’ve got. If I can stop for a moment looking at past or future, I will see my present happiness. I’m not being asked to bury my head in the sand. I’m being asked to willingly put on corrective lenses and see the world differently, as a witness to love, joy, and peace. As thoughts of the past or the future come up, I will let them gently float by. If I can do that, what I will discover is my present happiness. I don’t have to manufacture it because it already exists.

Lesson 291—“This is a day of stillness and of peace.” How do we find peace in the midst of the turmoil of the day? This lesson speaks of “Christ’s vision,” which “looks through me today.” (1:1) The peace being spoken of here is the peace that comes from a different perspective, an inner peace. Though my busy “doing” may not cease, my mind can be at peace in the midst of busy doing, a “quiet center” from which I operate. I do not have to understand everything perfectly or fix everything that appears broken. The Father within me is fully in charge of all that matters.

What Is the Real World? CIM’s discussion of the real world seems paradoxical. If there is no world, how can there be a “real” world? The real world is a symbol. Just as the word “tree” is not actually a tree, likewise, the real world is not the thing it represents. The real world symbolizes the opposite of what we made. We made separation; the real world symbolizes unity. We made fear; the real world symbolizes love. We made error; the real world symbolizes truth. The world itself is not the reality of anything. It merely stands for something that exists in the mind, as all perception does. It is the “outside picture of an inward condition.” What changes in the transformation made possible by Spirit is not the world itself, but how we see it; what it symbolizes for us. That is why CIM says this” “Seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. (T-21.In.1:7)” The real world we seek then is not a changed world, but a changed perception of the world.

Assignment: Miracles Principle #43. Lessons 292-298. Read as directed by Spirit.

Practical Application: We’ve done this before but cannot do it too often. Find a time and a place where you can be quiet for a while. In your mind, list what you feel are your darkest “transgressions” one by one, pausing on each one and asking Spirit to help you see this in a different way. When you feel a sense of peace, which signals Spirit’s “answer,” mentally/visually drop that “sin” into the Sea of Nothingness from which you dredged it. Then move on to the next “transgression” and repeat the process.