A Course In Miracles Lesson 81
A Course In Miracles Lesson 81
Review Teachings For Today:
A Course In Miracles lesson 81 reviews:
1. (61) I am the light of the world.
2. (62) Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
Wellness is within me, that is where I find it.
For the long session today, sit for 15 minutes and consider:
1. (61) I am the light of the world
What is light? What is this world? Who/what are you?
Light is the release from darkness. ACIM teaches that light is not the opposite of darkness. Light does not have an opposite. That which is not light is not yet real, not yet awakened to Itself. We are not in a battle between light and dark, good or bad. We are in a process of learning inclusion. Light includes all and dissolves away that which is not real. Darkness is not real. In this world, it seems that light and dark are equals where day follows night round and round. But in the Greater Reality, there is only a Creative, loving, inclusive Force that includes even the impossible… which is what darkness is.
Light is the quality of creation. Darkness is that which is unknown. Light transforms the unknown into the known. Darkness can not ever transform light because, being nothing, darkness has no power to do anything real. It can only suggest and cast illusions. Our belief in the power of dark is the only way darkness is able to have any effect. When we withdraw that power that which seemed real is rendered powerless. And that power to choose between light and dark comes from Light and is therefore not a problem.
I am that who ends the belief in the cycle of light and dark by choosing to believe only in the light. I am that which brings light, clarity, and peace to the cycles of this world. Choosing light is my only way to live. It is my choice to step into illusions or to step into qualities of truth. Even when it may feel like I do not have a choice, I can choose to believe there is a choice for me to choose a better way.
I choose light today. I choose to hold qualities of light within my thoughts today and to move towards a world with no shadows. A new world, transcendent of the world of shadows into a realm that has no opposites. Such a realm of light is difficult for me to understand or even believe is possible because of how I have invited in ideas of shadow and illusion for so long. Today I shift my attention and see that I am not made of shadows. I am the light of the world.
Today I will not let any challenge I face keep me from locating peace within.
Today I will invite light into every challenge I face. I will put down the need to understand that which can not be understood. I will turn my attention away from the insane towards the sane, towards the light.
Today I will seek out the understandable.
Today I will bring quiet, still listening to everything I encounter.
When a shadow of confusion or conflict arises today, I will not fixate or fear that it has any real power. I will recognize that the power of darkness vanishes when I choose light. Today I take my place as the light of this world.
My job on earth is to release pain
2. (62) Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
The word forgiveness is not easy to understand. In this lesson, we are informed that we do not have to understand what forgiveness is in order to develop its capacity. Forgiveness is the path that leads to a release from pain. We do not yet know how to release ourselves from pain. That is why we need help doing so. This means we must ask for that help, and learn how to receive it rather than block it.
How to free ourselves from anger is what we are learning in this course. In this review lesson, we are taught that we do not yet grasp the capacity of forgiveness and that is okay. We do not need to understand or like the concept of forgiveness. We need only be willing to learn about it as the pathway to freedom from pain. When we hold a willingness to learn about forgiveness even while also holding our reservations about it, we do not have to feel responsible for figuring out how to make forgiveness happen. We recognize that it is something that will be done for us when we locate the willingness to let go of being angry about what has happened.
In this world, we do not see any situation accurately. Everyone and every event is seen as if through a glass, darkly. It is the same as when a flower is placed in a tall vase. The stem seems to be off set and in an impossible situation. But we know as we look at the stem that it is not broken. It only appears broken through the glass, darkly. The water casts an illusion and we are not fooled by it.
Think of all the painful events you encounter today like a flower in a glass of water. Whatever situation you encounter today is not as it seems. There is more to it than you can see. Whatever is before you is not really distorted. It is whole and so are you.
Perhaps I do not want to forgive a certain person or group because to do so feels like letting them get away with how they wronged me. And so to punish them for their crime I hold my own self in pain, remembering, never forgetting the wrong they committed. And in the process of trying to get them to remember the pain I feel, I live in that suffering, punishing no one but myself. If those that wronged me think of me at all, their thoughts are their own to navigate. My thoughts are mine and in my power to navigate. Wanting another person to admit what they did wrong requires I place my attention constantly on unhappy things. I wait for them to learn so that I can be released.
I can release myself by letting go of wanting them to learn. I can learn for myself and leave others to their own learning path. If they do not learn how their behavior causes pain, this does not mean they live a pain-free life. They do not “get away with” harmful actions just as I do not get away from my own harmful behaviors.
Because I too have behaved in ways that caused pain to another, I can understand how difficult perfect conduct is to achieve. Needing another forgiveness is a heavy pain and longing. When I give my willingness to put down the cage of anger I use to hold people accountable, I make it possible to feel released by others anger towards me as well. If I can release those I hold in anger, I can be released by those who hold me in anger.
Holding someone in anger will never lead to them taking responsibility for the harm they caused. The actions have been done. Through the glass, darkly they appear to have gotten away with their behavior. But know as we know the flower is whole, that they have not gotten away with violence or harm. Their actions forge a path they alone must walk, as do your actions. How they release themselves from their pain is not in your power to influence or decide. You can not make them feel regret. No amount of shame or punishment will prompt their decision to take up the path of light. We do not know what inspires people to begin seeking the qualities of peace and wellness. We only know when we have had enough of pain and wish to seek those qualities for ourselves by releasing those we hold in anger.
You do not need to know how to technically “release” them. You need only acknowledge within yourself if you are willing to have that anger lifted. You can not lift the anger yourself. You can only ask that it be lifted for you.
Who do we ask? The Light within.
When you do not know how to solve a problem or release a frustration, ask the light in you and the light in others for help. Find that light within yourself and your fellow beings, and you step into your function in this off set, dark glass world.
Today we will spend 15 minutes sitting in quiet contemplation of todays two lessons. We will also bring these lessons to mind throughout the day as often as we can remember them.
I have a light within my mind that connects me to the light of the whole cosmos. When I connect with that light within, I begin to learn what forgiveness is. I am willing to learn what forgiveness is. I am willing to step into my function as the light of the world.
About the Author
Hi, I’m Jess. This blog is an ongoing discussion and practice of A Course In Miracles. All content is based on and cited from the original publication. Learn more about Jess…