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Study of Manual for Teachers 3-6-12

Day 66

4 Peace is impossible to those who look on war. Peace is inevitable to those who offer peace. How easily, then, is your judgment of the world escaped! It is not the world that makes peace seem impossible. It is the world you see that is impossible. Yet has God’s Judgment on this distorted world redeemed it and made it fit to welcome peace. And peace descends on it in joyous answer. Peace now belongs here, because a Thought of God has entered. What else but a Thought of God turns hell to Heaven merely by being what it is? The earth bows down before its gracious Presence, and it leans down in answer, to raise it up again. Now is the question different. It is no longer, “Can peace be possible in this world?” but instead, “Is it not impossible that peace be absent here?”

I loved yesterday, and not because great things happened. Actually it was the usual mixed bag, but no matter what the appearance, I remembered the truth. I would notice a loss of peace and would remind myself that peace is possible in every circumstance. I would remember to disregard the appearance.

A really helpful reminder came through my friend, Deborah, as we were doing a course together. Remember the lesson that says,” I think I am _______. But my mind is part of God’s. I am very holy.” This was part of the course and it stuck with me all during the day. Here is an example that occurred at the end of the day.

It was getting near 4:00 and I realized that I was going to have to drive part way to my morning destination if I were to get everything done the next day. I could drive about half-way there which would take two and a half hours. So I left the office and went home to pack. There were a couple things to take care of before I left and with that and the packing, I started getting anxious about the time. I had been tired during the day and now was more tired. It was dark and I don’t have good night vision and that was a concern, too.

I noticed the anxiety and stopped a moment to check in with Holy Spirit. I said to myself, “I am late. I am tired. I am uncomfortable driving at night. But my mind is part of God’s. I am very holy.” My heart leapt with joy at the memory. I can’t be tired or late or fearful of night driving. My mind is part of God’s and these things cannot be part of him, so they cannot be part of me. I can simply disregard the appearance of these things in my life because they cannot possibly be true.

In peace, I continued to gather my things and to do the little chores that had to be done. Time continued to pass and I continued to be undisturbed even though it was now thirty minutes past my original goal for leaving. And that turned out to be a blessing. In my rush to get going, I had forgotten I had a couple coming by to discuss their wedding.

When they got to the house I was surprised, and I was grateful that while I had forgotten, the Holy Spirit had not. I was also calm and happy which I would not have been had I continued being worried and fretful about the time. We had a wonderful visit and without anxiety taking up space in my mind, I was able to be there fully for them.

As we spoke they decided to do the ceremony right then and there rather than wait. They realized, I think, that it was the only way they were going to keep it simple and uncomplicated. I like to have time to plan and design just the right ceremony for my couples, and this could have thrown me, but tonight I was in perfect peace. I trusted that whatever I said was the perfect thing to say and needed no planning.

They were very happy with the wedding and said it was just exactly what they had hoped for. When it came time for them to pay me, I offered to take half my fee because it was so little work for me, but they wouldn’t hear of it. They said it was too precious to them and insisted on writing a check for the full amount. I was grateful to the Holy Spirit who guided me through the whole process, and was not unaware of how different this would have all turned out if I had been in a fearful, anxious state.

Now it was a great deal later than I had planned to leave and I considered not going but when I thought about it, I realized that was not an option. Those conflicting thoughts - I don’t want to go/I must go – are the war in my mind that Jesus talks about. And with that war, the tiredness set in again. Then I remembered that this need not be. My mind is part of God’s. Is there loss of energy and loss of clarity in God’s Mind? Then that cannot be true for me either. Those feelings must be an illusion.  I drove and I felt alert and very peaceful and happy the whole way. Thank you, God! I love you, God.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 3-5-12

Day 65

3 The text explains that the Holy Spirit is the Answer to all problems you have made. These problems are not real, but that is meaningless to those who believe in them. And everyone believes in what he made, for it was made by his believing it. Into this strange and paradoxical situation,—one without meaning and devoid of sense, yet out of which no way seems possible,—God has sent His Judgment to answer yours. Gently His Judgment substitutes for yours. And through this substitution is the un-understandable made understandable. How is peace possible in this world? In your judgment it is not possible, and can never be possible. But in the Judgment of God what is reflected here is only peace.

If what I believe is true for me, and I believe that peace is not possible then the first thing I want to do is to let God’s word substitute for mine. He says peace is possible therefore it is. I am fully ready to accept God’s judgment of this. I may have trouble doing the rest, but I accept that peace is possible regardless of the appearance of things.

The next step is to accept God’s judgments in place of mine. First I would have to be aware of my problems and willing to look with Holy Spirit at my judgments, then allow new thoughts about them to take their place in my mind. When we get down to specifics like that I notice that it is sometimes harder. After all, the reason I have these problems is because I believe in them, and now I will be asked to see them as meaningless. This may sometimes require a significant shift in my thinking.

For instance, when I lost a large customer and at the same time was threatened by the loss of another, I knew that I could see peace instead of the panic that was in my mind. But I was having trouble letting go of my belief that this was a real problem. The solution seemed to be out of my hands, while the boss still expected a solution, or at least someone to accept the blame. It seemed such an impossible situation that I didn’t see how I could have peace. Every time I reminded myself that I could see peace instead of this the ego showed me another objection to peace.

What Holy Spirit was finally able to help me see is that I was trying to find peace within the situation. I was trying to find a way to change what was happening so that I could be peaceful, and when I couldn’t change it, I thought I couldn’t be peaceful. I knew I was making a mistake but my mind was so confused that I couldn’t figure out what the mistake was. But I did continue to ask for help, and my consistent desire for correction finally out-weighed my desire to judge what was happening.

As soon as I stopped trying to fix the situation and instead let go of what I thought the situation meant, I felt the peace of God flood me. I gave it words later, or maybe the Holy Spirit gave me words because I still need them, but the peace was simply there. I only needed to stop what I was doing in order to have the peace of God.

The other kind of judgment I deal with is the habitual ones. They don’t necessarily come with a lot of drama, but are simply there in what seems small, and often insignificant, problems, and there are lots of those judgments. The mistake I make is to think that because they don’t upset me as much that they are not important, but all forms of judgment on my part must be let go if I am to have peace.

I see a person at the store act rudely and there is an instant judgment. I am for a moment out of peace as I believe she is guilty and I am her victim. I have just taught the mind that we are separate, we are guilty and we are victims. This is not the way to peace, and I do this sort of thing many times a day. But now that I am more aware, I see what is happening and this gives me many opportunities to choose differently. Each time I notice I practice my willingness to let go of my judgment so that God can give me His judgment instead and with it, His peace.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 3-4-12

Day 64

2 Again we come to the question of judgment. This time ask yourself whether your judgment or the Word of God is more likely to be true. For they say different things about the world, and things so opposite that it is pointless to try to reconcile them. God offers the world salvation; your judgment would condemn it. God says there is no death; your judgment sees but death as the inevitable end of life. God’s Word assures you that He loves the world; your judgment says it is unlovable. Who is right? For one of you is wrong. It must be so.

When you put it like that, Jesus, what else can I do but acquiesce to your logic? My vision of this world is so completely different from God’s Vision that I cannot do anything to bring it in alignment. All I can do is accept that I am totally wrong. To say that I am right would be saying that God is wrong. Am I going to try to school God now?

The most helpful practice I have been given lately (I think it came from Regina) is to remind myself to disregard appearances. I cannot accept God’s judgment of the world if I believe what I see with the body’s eyes, and hear with the body’s ears. I cannot accept God’s judgment if I insist on making my own judgments.

I find it helpful to frequently remind myself that what I see is the effect of a thought in my mind. It is so easy to forget this. If I confuse cause and effect, I use the effect to prove a lie is the truth. I met someone new. When I met him my mind did that little judgment trick where it placed him in a box. This box was labeled “not all that smart”. When he would talk to me I would see the error in his words, and his inability to clearly express himself, and the box would get smaller and smaller. He even looked like he wasn’t all that bright. Everything he said and did confirmed my judgment.

Then one day we were playing a game that required a lot of knowledge and reasoning to win. There were probably a hundred questions and he knew the answer to every one of them. Oops, wrong box! I had to take him out of that box and put him in another one. This is one smart guy. From that point on I began to hear his words differently. He started to sound smart to me, and in fact, I began to see his strange answers as being above my head rather than confused or unknowing.

I don’t actually know anything about him. I only see the proof of what I decide is true. If someone says something to me and I have decided that person is not very smart then the words I hear prove they are not very smart. If I think they are smart then I hear words that prove they are smart. This is true no matter what the words are.

If someone who is a genius says something that doesn’t make sense to me then I hear those words as so far ahead of me that I can’t understand them. How I see the person has nothing to do with him, and is actually a reflection of my thoughts about him, my judgment of him. My belief comes first and the appearance comes second and that appearance seems to prove my judgment. I use the appearance to convince me of what I already decided. Its crazy and its how the ego works.

I will not see the world as it is by regarding appearances as true, by believing what I see. I will not see the world as it is by learning to be a better judge. I will only learn to see the world as it is by not judging at all. I will see the real world as I lay aside my judgment and allow truth to take its place.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 3-3-12

Day 63

11. HOW IS PEACE POSSIBLE IN THIS WORLD?

1 This is a question everyone must ask. Certainly peace seems to be impossible here. Yet the Word of God promises other things that seem impossible, as well as this. His Word has promised peace. It has also promised that there is no death, that resurrection must occur, and that rebirth is man’s inheritance. The world you see cannot be the world God loves, and yet His Word assures us that He loves the world. God’s Word has promised that peace is possible here, and what He promises can hardly be impossible. But it is true that the world must be looked at differently, if His promises are to be accepted. What the world is, is but a fact. You cannot choose what this should be. But you can choose how you would see it. Indeed, you must choose this.

This paragraph reassures us of God’s promises in the face of a world that seems to be the opposite of all He promises. More often than not, I fail to see a peaceful world, and yet God says that this is possible. God loves the world and I have to wonder how this could be. I don’t love the world and often wish to be free of it. Obviously, there is a disconnect between what I see and what exists.

How do I get from the world I see to the world God loves? The world as it is a fact and cannot be changed, but how I see the world is variable and I can choose to see differently. I have already become very aware of how unreliable my vision is. I used to very often be depressed and when I was depressed I saw everything from a darkened and gloomy perspective. Then when the depression lifted, I saw things differently.

I used to have little regard for myself and everything that happened was colored by this low self-esteem. When I began to accept that nothing I do or say can determine my worth because that was established in my creation, the world I see changed. Where once I saw everything that happened as proof of my low self-worth, now I saw it as a school room with many opportunities to allow the Holy Spirit to help me choose God over ego.

A Course in Miracles has given me a very simple process to transform the world I see. It has given me the opportunity to perceive differently. Perception will never be truth, but it will get close if I allow about my mind to be healed through forgiveness. I am supposed to live a life of peace, joy, and happiness. If what I see does not create those effects then I am wrong about what I see. I ask the Holy Spirit to join me in the experience and to show me what He sees. I am asking for true Vision rather than ego vision.

I was listening to people talking about politics and it was making me feel irritable. I asked the Holy Spirit how to see this. He showed me that the irritation was not about the subject, or the people talking, but about my judgment and the meaning I was giving the conversation. Without that judgment it was just words, sometimes interesting, but just words. It’s amazing how quickly and dramatically the world changes when I let go of the meaning I give it. 

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 3-2-12

Day 62
6 It is not difficult to relinquish judgment. But it is difficult indeed to try to keep it. The teacher of God lays it down happily the instant he recognizes its cost. All of the ugliness he sees about him is its outcome. All of the pain he looks upon is its result. All of the loneliness and sense of loss; of passing time and growing hopelessness; of sickening despair and fear of death; all these have come of it. And now he knows that these things need not be. Not one is true. For he has given up their cause, and they, which never were but the effects of his mistaken choice, have fallen from him. Teacher of God, this step will bring you peace. Can it be difficult to want but this?

I can imagine how all this is true. I have judged everything I see and know based on false information. No judgment I make will bring me to the truth and only the truth will bring me peace. My judgment has convinced me that I am in constant danger and must always be on the defense if not actually on the attack.

I saw someone I know at a restaurant with a woman I don’t know. I know this man as a customer, so only casually, but I have known him for a number of years. He’s friendly, smart, very nice, a genuinely kind and helpful person. As I walked away a different view of this man began to form in my mind as I wondered if he was cheating on his wife. I wondered if he saw me and if he was concerned about that. I wondered what is going on in his marriage and if he does this sort of thing a lot. I took him out of the category of nice guy and put him into one of philandering spouse.

All of this happened at the speed of thought, and had little impact on me since I don’t know him or his wife very well, but since I asked Holy Spirit to help me let go of judgment, He called my attention to this judgment. Yikes! It all had happened so quickly and with so little emotional attachment that I hardly noticed I was judging.

I made a decision about him that was based on an assumption which I came to based on things that have happened in the past, in books I have read and movies I have seen. I based that judgment on the flimsiest of evidence since he could have been sitting with his sister for all I know. Even if he was cheating how could I know what his story is supposed to look like.

It is tempting to believe that this kind of “minor” judgment is not really important. I didn’t act on it and I may not even think of it again. But judgment is judgment and the story I tell around it is not important to the effect of judgment on the mind. In my judgment of this man I made him separate from me. I am not one who would cheat on a spouse and he is. In my judgment I added to the illusion when I could have added to the Kingdom. In my judgment I turned my back on my Self, and walked away from peace, love and eternal joy. And I thought this judgment was unimportant.

Even my previous view of him as a really nice man was based on all sorts of false criteria. It was merely a judgment based on perception and projection and thus not reliable. The only judgment that is true is the judgment of the Holy Spirit, which says this man is the Son of God, perfect and whole and exactly as he was created. I notice that neither this man’s actions nor his words nor personality have any bearing on the judgment of the Holy Spirit.

As the burden of judgment slid from my shoulder, I felt relieved. I felt such gratitude! Later when I was walking to my car, I saw two people that would have normally elicited a judgment from me, but all I felt was loving curiosity. I wondered what their story was, and how it fits into the plan of Atonement. I felt grateful to them for their part in helping us all wake up. Then I realized how different this was for me and how much happier it made me not to judge. This feeling of love that flows in me and through me in the place of judgment could be mine all the time. I pray for that grace.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 3-1-12

Day 61
5 Therefore lay judgment down, not with regret but with a sigh of gratitude. Now are you free of a burden so great that you could merely stagger and fall down beneath it. And it was all illusion. Nothing more. Now can the teacher of God rise up unburdened, and walk lightly on. Yet it is not only this that is his benefit. His sense of care is gone, for he has none. He has given it away, along with judgment. He gave himself to Him Whose judgment he has chosen now to trust, instead of his own. Now he makes no mistakes. His Guide is sure. And where he came to judge, he comes to bless. Where now he laughs, he used to come to weep.

I feel such a relief that I am free to lay aside all judgment. I am very far from perfect at remembering to do so, and sometimes still, I feel a stubborn resistance to give it up. But I have done it often enough to be convinced of what Jesus says. While I was still in thrall to the ego belief that I should and even must judge, I had become so accustomed to the burden that I didn’t realize how heavy it was.

When I first started trying not to judge, I had trouble getting past the person’s behavior or their words. If it was a situation I was judging I had trouble getting past what I thought I knew. When I began to truly understand projection, I realized that I was never judging the other person’s behavior anyway, but only judging my thoughts about their behavior. I began to accept that I would never know anyone, only what I believed about that person and that was not really about that person, but about me. So really, I was learning to forgive myself my projections onto others.

What relief it was when I took the next step, and began to accept that I am innocent, and so is everyone else. Within that perfect innocence what is there to judge? Now when I notice I am judging someone, I don’t have to find some way to love them anyway (spiritual ego), or torture myself with “trying” not to judge them even though I still believe in their guilt (impossible). I just have to be willing to accept the simple truth that they are innocent. This sets the ego aside, and invites in the Holy Spirit. There is so little for me to do to be at peace.

Not only is my mind at peace because it has already reached the only true conclusion there is, it is now free to love and be loved. Without judgment blocking love, it flows naturally as is its nature. It flows through me and to everyone else. Without my judgment standing between us, my brother feels this freedom, too. Though he may not realize why, he feels a natural attraction, a desire to be in the presence of love. If he is too afraid of love to accept it he may retreat, but a seed is planted, and will one day grow.

As I have learned to accept that I cannot really judge anyway, and have been more willing to give up trying, I have learned that I don’t want to make my own decisions about what to do, where to go, what to say. The happy truth is that there is something outside the mind that moves through the mind to direct my decisions at the slightest invitation. It felt scary at first, to trust this “seemingly” alien presence, but slowly as I have continued my practice, I am learning to not only trust the Holy Spirit, but to realize it is the ego who is the usurper, and Spirit that is at home in my mind.

It seems I am not fully convinced that I want to live in uninterrupted peace and love. I often trade it for the dubious “right” to judge my brothers and allow the ego mind to make the decisions. But having tasted freedom, I am developing a strong desire to keep it, so I continue my vigilance and strengthen my willingness.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Manual for Teachers 2-29-12

Day 60
4 Remember how many times you thought you knew all the “facts” you needed for judgment, and how wrong you were? Is there anyone who has not had this experience? Would you know how many times you merely thought you were right, without ever realizing you were wrong? Why would you choose such an arbitrary basis for decision-making? Wisdom is not judgment; it is the relinquishment of judgment. Make then but one more judgment. It is this: There is Someone with you Whose judgment is perfect. He does know all the facts; past, present and to come. He does know all the effects of His judgment on everyone and everything involved in any way. And He is wholly fair to everyone, for there is no distortion in His perception.

It is absolutely astounding how stubbornly I have clung to my “right” to judge, especially when you consider how very often I have been wrong.  And as Jesus points out, that is just the times I am aware of my error. Even those times when the right choice for myself seems obvious, how could I know what would be best for everyone involved? What about those who would be affected by my decision of whom I am not even aware? Now that I am conscious of my union with everyone I am also mindful of the enormity of my responsibility to the Sonship.

I am deeply grateful that I have been awakened to my connection to the Holy Spirit in my mind. To know that I should not be judging and not to have an awareness of the alternative would have been too cruel. I see now why I so often chose denial in the past. When first reading about judgment my mind simply rejected the idea that I couldn’t and shouldn’t judge, then insisted that this didn’t make sense and that I couldn’t do this. As I continued to practice it anyway, I began to accept, but made exceptions, coming up with all sorts of silly justifications for my exceptions.

I see now that I was afraid of the alternative. I was afraid on so many levels. I was afraid to give up judgment because it would mean giving up self and that was the bottom line fear. Even as I began to embrace the idea of giving up self, I was afraid because I wasn’t very good at all at hearing the Holy Spirit on a consistent basis.

If I am not to judge, and if I can’t hear the Voice that would judge for me, what was I supposed to do? It felt so hopeless that I just wiped the idea from my mind. But even that would only work for a bit, and then the truth would be there in my awareness again. I had looked at the truth and now could not go back to not knowing the truth. Not knowing what I knew was about as easy as putting toothpaste back into the tube.

It is taking a lot of practice to let go of judgment, and it’s helpful to know that none of this is real and that I am completely innocent regardless of how many times I become confused. So I stumble through the process doing the best I can, and when I become discouraged with myself, I can often laugh knowing this is just another ego judgment. When I choose ego instead of Holy Spirit, I tend not to get too upset about that. After all, I have done it about a gazillion times without even knowing I had an alternative. What’s a few more?

I am learning to trust the Holy Spirit and to trust myself to hear His Voice. I’m learning not to second guess my intuition. The Holy Spirit is being very patient and very kind with me. I was at the store the other day picking up a few things on my list. I had a fleeting thought to buy copy paper, but in one of those lightening quick decision making processes I used to be so proud of, I decided against it.

A couple of days later I ran out of paper in the middle of an important project. I had the thought that it didn’t matter, but all the thoughts in my judgment arsenal pointed to the opposite answer. So I stopped everything and went to the store to buy the paper even though it was going to throw my whole schedule off to do so. I got the job finished, and then discovered it was completely unnecessary.

I am happy to see this error so clearly because this one and others are motivating me to pay closer attention to my Inner Guidance. I also see that a quiet mind would make it so much easier to be aware of the Inner Voice. I see why Holy Spirit has been so consistent in leading me to practices that have helped me to quiet the turmoil in my mind. I am determined to give my increased willingness to this practice, too. Now that I am experiencing the ease of being led, I cannot imagine going back to being my own guide, and I see that all the ego chatter in my mind is an obstruction to my awareness of that all-knowing Voice.

© 2012, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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