My thoughts* on ACIM Urtext Lesson 8, for January 8, 2024. This May Be One of the Most Dangerous for Those Still Addicted to the Frightened Ego Ideology

****THIS Lesson is extremely important to understand from Jesus’ perspective and not ONLY its recorded wording because it can steer you straight into the belly of hell where you suffer for eternity (or think you must for your betrayal of God) or into the Open Arms of Heavenly Father through the witness of the Holy Spirit that will Guide you safely Home.****

My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

* NOW, please, do not take this to mean that you have no business thinking at all OR that what you are thinking about has no purpose. Let the Holy Spirit be the judge of this. He will tell you what to hold on to and what to let go of and show you when and how to do this WHEN you are truly ready to be able to do so.

* This applies to us individually AND as a collective.

* What must be kept in mind is that God IS AND that He CARES about our well-being and our state of mind and He WILL DIRECT our path as we allow Him to do so.

* He, being God, could easily correct our course and put us in alignment with Him. HOWEVER, if He did this, WE WOULD LOSE our identity (and identities) ALTOGETHER.

* In other words, “THE SON” would no longer EXIST.

* Recognizing our will as HIS is what aligns us WITH the relationship that is Father and Son in the Mind and Will of God.

1. This idea is, of course, the reason why you see only the past. ²No one really sees anything. ³He sees only his thoughts projected outward.

* Bear in mind that this occurs BOTH individually AND collectively.

* This is why we MUST be personally RESPONSIBLE for what we choose to call “Truth.”

⁴The mind’s preoccupation with the past is the cause of the misconception about time from which your seeing suffers.

* TIME; the truth is we live in an eternal NOW that IS GLORIOUS and expands eternally.

* Anything else is ERROR/MISTAKE that can and will be corrected as we accept the Atonement for ourselves and forgive The Son of God for an instants belief in the idea of the possibility of separation from God.

⁵Your mind cannot grasp the present, which is the only time there is.

* Those who believe they have AND have not grasped the idea of and accepted the Atonement have NOT. Even with having accepted the Atonement at the end of February (approximate date) in 2020 I DO NOT have a grasp of the present OTHER THAN to #1 know that I know NOTHING and #2 lean into the Guidance of the Holy Spirit with EVERY breath and step that I take.

⁶It therefore cannot understand time, and cannot, in fact, understand anything.

* As I stated above.

2. The one wholly true thought one can hold about the past is that it is not here. ²To think about it at all is therefore to think about illusions. ³Very few have realized what is actually entailed in picturing the past or in anticipating the future. ⁴The mind is actually blank when it does this, because it is not really thinking about anything.

* THIS does NOT mean that we do not have ANY capacity to think for ourselves. It merely is opening our awareness to our NEED of RELIANCE on the Guidance of the Holy Spirit.

* I spent the past forty years recording my personal journal and history in some form or another. I am currently finishing up the process of putting the years of 1983 to 2009 that are in printed form into folders and sheet protectors for posterity so that my children’s-children’s-children have a recorded history of my life.

* I have three small boxes to finish up that are in non-digital form. I have to admit that I am hesitant to pay for further sheet protectors (which I was looking at in a department store yesterday) because I am not sure that the Holy Spirit WANTS me to preserve these documents.

* I will be looking for FURTHER INSTRUCTION — not from some random or specific priesthood holder but from the Holy Spirit Himself which I have a RIGHT to know and understand for myself.

* IS MY JOURNEY GOING TO BE OF VALUE TO HUMANITY???

* I personally expect that it MAY BE. ONLY IF they do not think of it as actually real but an example of how the consciousness of The Son of God is able to work through the trappings that the fabricated ego-persona it established to replace God and find comfort and assurance that they will also be able to push through the barriers that appear to be overwhelming at this time.

3. The purpose of the exercises for today is to begin to train your mind to recognize when it is not really thinking at all. ²While thoughtless ideas preoccupy your mind, the truth is blocked. ³Recognizing that your mind has been merely blank, rather than believing that it is filled with real ideas, is the first step to opening the way to vision.

* It is easy to understand HOW this has gotten so convoluted in its understanding in the sphere where students of A Course in Miracles meet.

* Currently, in the beginning of 2024, there are still many who think that our very existence is eliminated by the concepts taught by Jesus in A Course in Miracles.

* Do the exercises to release your hold on the IDEA that what you believe about the past is of ANY value and allow the Holy Spirit to begin to teach you how to look at your current existence as a way of lifting the Christ out of Its confusion brought on by the belief in separation from God.

* IF you proceed with any other objective you will enter the temptation of the frightened ego imagined by the Son of God when the idea of separation from God was first considered that believes that you do not exist and seeks only your destruction.

4. The exercises for today should be done with eyes closed. ²This is because you actually cannot see anything, and it is easier to recognize that no matter how vividly you may picture a thought, you are not seeing anything. ³With as little investment as possible, search your mind for the usual minute or so, merely noting the thoughts you find there. ⁴Name each one by the central figure or theme it contains, and pass on to the next. ⁵Introduce the practice period by saying:

⁶I seem to be thinking about _________.

5. Then name each of your thoughts specifically, for example:

²I seem to be thinking about [name of a person], about [name of an object], about [name of an emotion],

and so on, concluding at the end of the mind-searching period with:

³But my mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

6. This can be done four or five times during the day, unless you find it irritates you. ²If you find it trying, three or four times is sufficient. ³You might find it helpful, however, to include your irritation, or any emotion that the idea for today may induce, in the mind searching itself.

* Again, IF you proceed with any other objective you will enter the temptation of the frightened ego imagined by the Son of God when the idea of separation from God was first considered that believes that you do not exist and seeks only your destruction.

(ACIM, W-8.1:1–6:3)

• Free stock photo: PLEASE, note the warning I send with my understanding of this lesson at this time.

Till next time, God bless, debi.