My thoughts* on ACIM Urtext Lesson 278 for 5 October 2023. I am NOT My Story
If I am bound, my Father is not free.
* Hmm. Interesting. And what can truly bind me but my thoughts?
* And how do I keep others from “getting in my head” who WOULD bind me if they could?
* Remember, it is only a result of the belief in separation from God and could NEVER be REAL or TRUTH.
* As simple and relatively “threat-free,” I still need to work through this. The dental assistant telling me about the nut “she” bit on that broke her tooth is a story she tells to warn me without being direct. “I do not wear xyz.” Is the same thing. Someone “warning me” about who or what I need to be from THEIR perspective of …. Yep, LACK. Then there is the eyes of the adult child who looks at the clutter on a table or the dust on my flat TV stand and draws her conclusions and “right” to be better than me, “Thank God!” she declares with resolve to make sure it stays that way. Funny thing is, they think you are too stupid to hear or see what they are thinking. Just wait till they are nearing 70. I suspect they will have their “eyes opened” as well.
* Might I not do better by aligning with Heavenly Father’s view of me than to accept just any old “idol” out there? (Debra, I hope you are listening to this!!!)
1. If I accept that I am prisoner within a body, in a world in which all things that seem to live appear to die, then is my Father prisoner with me.
* Really!? Well, the Father and the Son ARE One. I DO NEED a FATHER FIGURE Who is GREATER than I am. I do not know about you, but I could not stand it any other way. HE is the one that I CHOOSE to “CLING TO!” NO ONE stands before Him in my mind and heart.
²And this do I believe, when I maintain the laws the world obeys must I obey; the frailties and the sins which I perceive are real, and cannot be escaped.
* This is an interesting “I maintain the laws the world obeys must I obey.” When I maintain that the laws the world obeys are ones that I must obey. Hmm. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU HAVE PERMISSION FROM GOD TO BREAK ALL THE LAWS OF YOUR CURRENT CULTURE.
* I am not the “laws of the world.” I am not the “story” that I tell myself.
³If I am bound in any way, I do not know my Father nor my Self.
* The complete forgiveness of the belief in the possibility of separation from God gives you the foundation to start from. However, we will each have a ways to go as the Holy Spirit shows us the way to unhook ourselves from the traditions and entanglements of the confusing depravity of the ego.
⁴And I am lost to all reality. ⁵For truth is free, and what is bound is not a part of truth.
* Absolutely, but DO NOT beat yourself up if you are not “there,” however you interpret that, right away. God wants you to be a light of faith in Him here in “egoland” after all.
2. Father, I ask for nothing but the truth.
²I have had many foolish thoughts about myself and my creation, and have brought a dream of fear into my mind.
³Today, I would not dream.
⁴I choose the way to You instead of madness and instead of fear.
⁵For truth is safe, and only love is sure.
(ACIM, W-278.1:1–2:5)
If I am bound, my Father is not free.
1. If I accept that I am prisoner within a body, in a world in which all things that seem to live appear to die, then is my Father prisoner with me. ²And this do I believe, when I maintain the laws the world obeys must I obey; the frailties and the sins which I perceive are real, and cannot be escaped. ³If I am bound in any way, I do not know my Father nor my Self. ⁴And I am lost to all reality. ⁵For truth is free, and what is bound is not a part of truth.
2. Father, I ask for nothing but the truth. ²I have had many foolish thoughts about myself and my creation, and have brought a dream of fear into my mind. ³Today, I would not dream. ⁴I choose the way to You instead of madness and instead of fear. ⁵For truth is safe, and only love is sure.
(ACIM, W-278.1:1–2:5)
Till next time, God bless, debi.
