The light has come.
I am under no laws but God’s.
A major premise of A Course in Miracles is that the only choice actually available to us is between reality and illusion. All peace lies in choosing reality; all fear in choosing illusion.
Illusion appears multi-faceted. There are many people to choose between. There are many jobs. There are many places to live, meals to eat, hobbies to practice. Just look at all the spiritual paths and healing modalities the world offers! Yoga, tantric sex, cognitive behavioral therapy, tarot, Buddhism, A Course in Miracles . . .
It feels like choosing between them is real but it’s not. The only actual choice rests on seeing the sameness of all aspects of the illusion and then choosing reality instead. We don’t want the lie, we want the truth.
Thus, salvation is simply recognizing that there is really no alternative to joy and peace – only the illusion that there is. And since we are projecting the illusion in all its apparent variety, we can simply stop doing it.
The light has come. I can but choose the light, for it has no alternative. It has replaced the darkness, and the darkness has gone (W-pI.88.1:6-8).
The light is simply clear seeing; it is perceiving the simplicity of the choice between truth and illusion. Darkness is slipping into the illusion and thinking that choosing one aspect over the other is the answer to our problems.
Our practice of A Course in Miracles has brought us to a space of clear seeing, empowering us to make an effective choice for the peace and happiness.
The choice we make is already accomplished (e.g., W-pI.88.1:3). This is what we learn when we “choose” truth. We remember that we are under no laws but God’s law, and therefore only love is real, and what opposes love – no matter how apparently powerful or convincing – is nothing at all.
I am perfectly free of the effects of all laws save God’s. And His are the laws of freedom (W-pI.88.3:7-8).
Freedom and reality are synonymous. We cannot be bound; we cannot be contained; we cannot be conditioned. Our true self – the self that is an extension of God’s Will in Creation – is beyond both description and explanation.
The radical nature of A Course in Miracles lies not in the way it improves our life in the world, but in the way it liberates us from that life by teaching us it is a horror show and torture chamber that we do not want. No matter how apparently good our lives in the world appear, they are nothing beside the glory of our real identity.
It is that identity to which we turn now, hand-in-hand, ready to be savior unto one another.
Wow! So clear, so eloquent, so beautiful. …thank you, as always, Sean! Happy Holidays
I did lesson number 75 today ‘The light has come’. The exercise was for me to say, ‘The light has come. I have forgiven the world’, during the longer exercise period. l was supposed to see with ‘true vision’ It did not work. In the lesson it stipulates that ‘the Holy Spirit never fails to give the gift of sight to the forgiving’. It would be easy to say ‘You did not forgive everyone, so you did not see the lights’. However, I have forgiven everyone. This has happened before with an earlier lesson ‘I will there be light. Let me behold the light…’ There were no lights. And it has happened with earlier lessons as well when I was supposed to see ‘the light of the world’ in me, so l’m feeling disgruntled.
Disgruntled . . . I hear that. Honestly if we’re not frustrated with the course at certain junctures then we’re not really practicing it. So yeah that feeling sucks but also . . . it gets better.
My gentle suggestion – which you should absolutely ignore if that feels right – is to consider that you have NOT forgiven everybody, and then forgive YOURSELF for not forgiving everybody.
I mean, you’re describing ego here, right? It’s ego that says “I did my part, God – now you do yours.” It’s ego that says “where are my lights? I didn’t see any lights. I want my lights.”
What if the light in this case is simply seeing that forgiving everyone is really really hard, you’re not as far along with it as you hoped, and you may have to make a real practice of it? Sometimes we think we’ve forgiven everybody and then another couple turtles down remember somebody we didn’t forgive. Or realize that we forgave SOME of what so-and-so did but not everything.
Ego wants salvation on its terms. That’s the only way it can allow us to have a spiritual practice. It will dictate everything – what we need to do, what we’ve already done, and what God/Jesus/HOly Spirit needs to do in return.
And it never works! Never ever. We always end up . . . disgruntled. Or angry. Or hurling ACIM across the room. Or quitting altogether.
So I hear you. I do. But also? It sounds like you’re right where you’re supposed to be, learning the lesson that you’re supposed to learn. If you stick with it – which means forgiving yourself, which means letting go of your expectations of what the light will be like or what it will feel like or when it will show up – then you will become happier and more peace-filled and lights won’t matter much at all.
Baby steps, unfortunately. At least in my experience. But I’m glad you’re here Jayne. Thank you for sharing and reminding me not to give up myself.
Love,
Sean
Hi Sean,
Thanks for your detailed and considered response. l appreciate your kindness and prompt reply. Also your sincerity.
I liked your comments about the ego and found them helpful. l was quite exasperated when l wrote the above message and l was really wanting to see a little bit of ‘evidence’, that l am not making it all up, or exaggerating the things that have been happening since starting the Course, even though deep down inside l know it’s true. However, there is the nagging voice that still manages to find the exact right time to ‘throw a spanner in the works’, so to speak.
ln the mean time, l did and have had the light shown to me in a substantial way.
Sending you blessings,
Jayney.
Blessings are always welcome – and needed 🙂
Thanks for sharing this path with me, Jayney.
🙏🙏
Sean