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Study of Text, Chapter 11:IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son, P 8. 9-30-15

IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son P 8

8 Blessed is the Son of God whose radiance is of his Father, and whose glory he wills to share as his Father shares it with him. There is no condemnation in the Son, for there is no condemnation in the Father. Sharing the perfect Love of the Father the Son must share what belongs to Him, for otherwise he will not know the Father or the Son. Peace be unto you who rest in God, and in whom the whole Sonship rests.

Journal
Who am I, God? This is the question. It is a question that is asked and answered and to find the answer, I must release all condemnation toward the Son, that is, toward myself and toward my brothers. There is no condemnation in the Son, so I cannot know myself while my awareness is focused on what is not me. There is no condemnation in my Father and so I can rest assured that finding Him in my mind is safe.

This section is devoted to telling us that our inheritance is a Self that is part of God and so like God in every way. It is my inheritance to know my brilliance, my loveliness, my beauty, my power, my perfect and uninterrupted peace. All of this is in me because I am in God where nothing exists that is not God.

It also tells us why it is that we don’t feel like Sons of God, why we don’t see our loveliness when we look on each other, why we don’t feel our power, but rather we feel weakness and vulnerability. It is because we have forgotten that we are incomplete without each other. We are so confused that we believe condemnation protects us and provides a very needed defense against all who would hurt us.

In truth, condemnation is what keeps us in hell. It is what keeps us from knowing our Self and knowing our God. Condemnation has become so much a part of our mind that it passes for normal in our thoughts. I saw how this works this morning when I woke up. I woke up much earlier that I meant to, and since I have a long day and then a meeting tonight, I felt like I should go back to sleep.

I lay there waiting for sleep to overtake me and nothing happened. In that place of nearly awake but not quite, it seems that I am most likely to listen to ego. I had thoughts about what happens when I don’t get enough sleep and began to worry. This, of course, woke me all the way up, and so there was no more going back to sleep.

These thoughts that I was awake and shouldn’t be, that I was going to suffer because I didn’t get a certain amount of sleep, and all the thoughts that followed along that line are attack thoughts. They condemn the Son of God to frailty and prove she is helpless against what she cannot control. Could this be true of the Son of God? Surely, I must be dreaming of frailty.

Since I couldn’t sleep, I woke completely and I asked Holy Spirit how to see this. Immediately, I remembered that I am no longer in charge of this body, this story of Myron. I am surrendered. I told the ego to take it up with the boss. ~smile~ I got out of bed looking forward to discovering why it is I need to be up early this morning. I left the concerns behind me. I will not condemn myself to something less that what God created.

There are so many little ways I condemn all day long. Yesterday, I was vigilant for those opportunities to choose differently. I noticed that I would think about someone I know and dismiss them as not important because I had made a judgment about them long ago. I was passively allowing the judgment to remain in place by not questioning it. I had not even realized I was doing it until I began asking Holy Spirit to undo this kind of thinking in my mind.

Now that I no longer condemn myself for the ego thoughts I find in my mind, I am able to enjoy these opportunities for healing. When I used to judge myself when I found condemnation I would avoid looking and so I saw only the most obvious thoughts. Without judgment, I look forward to a day of undoing with the Holy Spirit.

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Study of Text, Chapter 11: IV: The Inheritance of God’s Son, P 7. 9-29-15

IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son P 7

7 At God’s altar Christ waits for the restoration of Himself in you. God knows His Son as wholly blameless as Himself, and He is approached through the appreciation of His Son. Christ waits for your acceptance of Him as yourself, and of His Wholeness as yours. For Christ is the Son of God, Who lives in His Creator and shines with His glory. Christ is the extension of the Love and the Loveliness of God, as perfect as His Creator and at peace with Him.

Journal
What do I say to this? Christ, of which I am a part, is waiting for me at God’s altar. He is waiting for me because he is incomplete without me. Do I hesitate because the illusion is so fascinating that I can’t tear myself away from it? Am I so enamored with pain, suffering and death that I cannot bring myself to let it go? Or am I just plain afraid to face God?

God knows His Son as wholly blameless as Himself, Jesus tells us. I am blameless. I have done nothing wrong. Exploring illusions of separation was not a sin, and stories of wrongdoing are not the truth. I am blameless and so I have nothing to fear from my God. If God finds me blameless, perhaps I can learn to see myself as innocent as well.

I approach God through my appreciation of His Son, not through judgment of Him. If I judge myself for my stories, I cannot appreciate myself. No one appreciates that which it finds guilty and unworthy. I am part of the Son, so judging myself is judging the Son and finding Him undeserving. And if I judge any other part of the Son, any other person, I will judge myself because I will believe in judgment.

The only reason I would hold onto a judgment of myself or someone else is that I think there is some value in doing so. Here is an example of how this works in the mind. I paid someone to do some work for me and I realized he did a poor job of it. I thought about approaching him about this and asking that he correct his work. But I also noticed that the more I thought about it, and what I would say to him, the more judgment entered into my thoughts and the words I planned to use.

When I asked Holy Spirit about this, I understood that I hate confrontation and that I felt resentful toward this person because he was forcing me into this position. I judged him and found him guilty. Then I felt guilty for judging him. You see what an endless and futile circle judgment creates?

I felt tense and unhappy while I was doing this.  My discomfort was not about what got done or was left undone in the story. The ego has a home in my mind for now, but so does the Truth. I know - even if I hide it from myself - I know that I cannot enter the presence of God if I attack His Son. There is no judgment or guilt in God and I cannot bring any with me into Him. If I could, I would indeed be destroying what God is.

As I let go of the idea that judgment or guilt has any place in my holy mind, I see myself and everyone else differently. I see them as they are, pure and innocent as they were created. I then appreciate them. How could I not? How could I not appreciate what is so lovely and so glorious, that which is an extension of our Creator and as perfect. I have had moments of clarity and that has been enough to make me want the real deal, the return of Self, never ending love and joy.

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Study of Text, Chapter 11: IV: The Inheritance of God’s Son, P 6. 9-28-15

IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son P 6

6 Christ is at God’s altar, waiting to welcome His Son. But come wholly without condemnation, for otherwise you will believe that the door is barred and you cannot enter. The door is not barred, and it is impossible that you cannot enter the place where God would have you be. But love yourself with the Love of Christ, for so does your Father love you. You can refuse to enter, but you cannot bar the door that Christ holds open. Come unto me who holds it open for you, for while I live it cannot be shut, and I live forever. God is my life and yours, and nothing is denied by God to His Son.

Journal
I cry when I read this. Brother Jesus is holding the door open for us, and this invitation is open for as long as we need it to be. I feel so much gratitude for him, and for God who would deny me nothing. I cannot enter, though it is held open for me, if I come with condemnation in my heart. This hits home especially this morning, because I have been condemning myself.

I read a quote by Mooji that felt very important to me. This is what it said:

Once you have surrendered yourself then you should not be worried about any of these things. If you have surrendered yourself to the supreme existence, then you are not to take excessive care of yourself anymore. Otherwise you’re not really surrendered. Either this thing about surrendering is a joke; it’s just in the mind and we’re playing games, or it’s true. If you surrender, you surrender—you know? There can’t be surrendering and still waiting to see if it works or it doesn’t work. Then these thoughts don’t have a landing place. If they come, you say, “Take it up with the boss, okay? I don’t deal with it anymore; it’s not my business anymore. I’ve handed myself in.” – Mooji

I love the way Mooji says this, with humor and certainty. Take it up with the boss. I’ve turned myself in. I have been trying this idea of surrender, and have moved in that direction so that I know that surrender is a peaceful, happy state. But I don’t stay there. When I read what Mooji had to say about it, I knew surrender was right and what I want. Then a thought surfaced and I felt fear.

I remembered standing in front in the mirror yesterday and thinking that I have gained more weight recently than I have in a very long time. In that moment I felt panicked and all I wanted was to lose some weight. I also felt conflicted because I am not comfortable with the old way of doing so.  I felt afraid because I didn’t want to go back to the old story of the body is in charge of my life and I just have to find a way to control it from within the story, the right diet, the right exercise.

On the other hand, I am not completely convinced that I want to surrender this obsession with the body. I don’t know if I can trust this to God. How interested is He going to be in fashion and the image I present to others? Not at all, right? And it doesn’t help that Mooji is kind of a chubby guy himself. Proof that God doesn’t read GQ and Cosmopolitan. This is a problem.

Bear with me here. I am trying to work this out in my mind and can only do so if I am completely honest about my thoughts. I feel real fear at the thought that I turn over everything, completely surrender the self and become the follower, the instrument of supreme existence. On the other hand, I feel really shallow and a bit embarrassed that the sticking point is my body image. But I have to go there because that is where the ego grabs my attention and so it must be true for me at this moment.

I am also aware that I am receiving guidance about what I eat, and I am being guided away from heavy foods and a lot of meat. I have no idea why this matters at all, but then there are lots of things I don’t know, so no surprise there. I also know that I asked that my mind be healed about this business of the body and food. I want to be free of my life long obsession about food and how it affects my body as if my mind had nothing to do with it. Ever since then, nothing has worked the way it did before, and while that is good, it is also frightening to someone who is still attached to body image.

I cannot see myself returning to peace without full surrender. How this came up for me this morning is that as I read the lesson I realized that I am condemning myself. I feel guilty for my body image concerns and for not following clear guidance. I think I am wrong for that and other non-surrender thoughts come into my mind as the ego convinces me that body image is just the tip of the iceberg.

It is just a silly notion I can laugh at even while I guard it against God. There are other more serious ways in which I defend against God and the ego mind points them out so that I will know that it is useless for me to try to enter the door. I am too guilty; I am condemned and it will take me an untold amount of time to earn the right to enter that door. I feel so sad and so discouraged when I listen to that thought.

But I am not alone in my mind with the ego. I am with God. I share God’s thoughts. Some of them are rising up in my mind at my invitation. I see that I don’t have to undo each thought of separation. I don’t have to meet every thought that I am this separate self in control of life, with the desire to surrender. I only need to decide on surrender and all the thoughts of separation will cease to be meaningful. Thank you for that thought, God.  Everything was very dark there for a moment and now the sun has come from behind the clouds and it is light again.

I am more certain than ever right now that I surrender this life to the supreme existence, and if I slip back into separate-self decisions, I am not going to condemn myself for it. I will just take Mooji’s words as my own. If they come, I will say, “Take it up with the boss, okay? I don’t deal with it anymore; it’s not my business anymore. I’ve handed myself in.” ~big smile~

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 11: IV: The Inheritance of God’s Son, P 5. 9-25-15

IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son P 5
5 If your brothers are part of you and you blame them for your deprivation, you are blaming yourself. And you cannot blame yourself without blaming them. That is why blame must be undone, not seen elsewhere. Lay it to yourself and you cannot know yourself, for only the ego blames at all. Self-blame is therefore ego identification, and as much an ego defense as blaming others. You cannot enter God’s Presence if you attack His Son. When His Son lifts his voice in praise of his Creator, he will hear the Voice for his Father. Yet the Creator cannot be praised without His Son, for their glory is shared and they are glorified together.

Journal
Jesus is trying to help us to understand a very simple thing. We are all part of one Self. What we do to another we do to our self because the other is our self. He is trying to help us understand that blame, whether directed at ourselves or at others is ego identification. If I believe I am guilty, I will believe that others are guilty. If I believe others are guilty, I will believe in my own guilt. Either way, I forget who I am and accept the ego as my identity.
When blame is involved, whether we say something out loud or only think it, whether it seems to be a big grievance or just an idle thought, we are denying our true identity and choosing to align with the ego identity. It is helpful for awhile to look at each situation and let the Holy Spirit guide us to the truth about it, but eventually we must accept the Atonement for the belief in guilt and blame. Then all the stories of wrongdoing will lose their appeal, and so we will stop making them.

There is no way to be in the presence of God if we attack His Son. We cannot know God without His Son, and to see His Son as guilty is to separate His Son from Him. This is an attack on the Son and so an attack on the Father as well. There is nothing that will snap me out of my grievance faster than remembering that I cannot enter God’s Presence if I attack His Son.

It might take me a bit to completely let go of the grievance as I consider the ego justifications for holding onto it. I know that feeling of thinking that I must forgive and at the same time thinking that I can’t let this person off the hook because they really did this. If it is myself that I am blaming, I will have the same experience of thinking that I really did this bad thing and so I must be guilty.

But no matter the appearance, no matter the justification God’s Son is innocent, and no matter where I look I see only God’s Son. It’s up to me when I choose to acknowledge this indisputable fact, but until I do, I suffer the belief I am separated from God, and that is true suffering. It is the cause of all suffering and accepting that we are all innocent as God created us is the only relief we will ever get from this suffering. This is the only way to know my self.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 11,IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son, P 4. 9-24-15

IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son P 4
4 Only you can deprive yourself of anything. Do not oppose this realization, for it is truly the beginning of the dawn of light. Remember also that the denial of this simple fact takes many forms, and these you must learn to recognize and to oppose steadfastly, without exception. This is a crucial step in the reawakening. The beginning phases of this reversal are often quite painful, for as blame is withdrawn from without, there is a strong tendency to harbor it within. It is difficult at first to realize that this is exactly the same thing, for there is no distinction between within and without.

Journal
I absolutely accept that I am responsible for everything. I but do it to myself! And yet, I still notice a tendency to want to place blame. For instance, yesterday I got a call from a customer asking why he had not received his report on his water system. My first thought was that someone should have gotten this report to him and I felt anger. The ego always speaks first, but I don’t always listen, thank goodness. I let that thought go.

I looked his information up and saw that he had a problem. I felt frustrated again and felt like the new sales coordinator was never going to be as good as the old one who would have told me about this. Another attack thought. Another attempt to displace blame and deny responsibility. This one was a little stronger which means I liked that idea and was interested in it. But only for a moment, and then I let it go as well.

The truth is, the world I see is one of my own making. I began with a belief that I am a victim and that I am always besieged from without and unfairly treated. From that belief I made an image that represented these ideas, adding some guilt and fear as well. This would be the story of my customer blaming me for what someone else did, and maybe losing that customer as a result of their incompetence.  Then I projected the story outward where I pretend that I don’t know where it came from, but certainly it is handy to have it here. I tell myself that things go wrong and it’s not my fault, but, by golly, someone is guilty!

I let that thought go, too, and went to see the customer to reassure him as well as to find the source of the problem. It turned out to be a fruitful visit. I was calm and confident and at peace when I visited him because I had seen my projected image and chosen against it rather than defending it. I chose peace instead and so I gave peace.

I explained the delay in the report and I found his problem and all of it was done quickly and well. He thinks better of me now than he would have if the error had never occurred. Had I held onto the anger and blame, I am sure there would have been a different ending to this story, one where we both would likely have been out of peace and so looking for someone to blame.

As Jesus predicted, when I first began to understand this and started withdrawing my projections, I was dismayed at the resulting self-attacks. I felt so guilty and so hopeless about the whole thing. The more work I did in the Course, the worse I felt. But I kept doing the work and as my mind healed of the belief in guilt, I stopped projecting the guilt onto myself as well as letting others off the hook. Now I am happy to see the error and allow God’s Light to shine it away. I am the Son of God and cannot be guilty, cannot even know guilt. That’s the truth.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 11,IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son, P 3. 9-23-15

IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son P 3

3 Your peace lies in its limitlessness. Limit the peace you share, and your Self must be unknown to you. Every altar to God is part of you, because the light He created is one with Him. Would you cut off a brother from the light that is yours? You would not do so if you realized that you can darken only your own mind. As you bring him back, so will you return. That is the law of God, for the protection of the Wholeness of His Son.

Journal
Oh my gosh! I think of the lady at the office that I keep demonizing, and I realize what I am doing to my own mind and I am dismayed. In making her the guilty party I am limiting peace and leaving myself in darkness. I cannot deny a brother light and not experience the darkness myself because we are created whole. If I could do this, I would destroy the Wholeness of God’s Son and so destroy God. Because I am trying to do this I feel like I have destroyed the Son and the Father, and that is why I am afraid of God and why I stay here in the story even though I want to return home.

God has protected His creation, though, by giving me a way out of my dilemma. I made a choice to experience separation and I retain the power of choice. I can choose to bring each brother I have cast into darkness back into light. I do this as I withdraw my projections and accept the Atonement for my belief that I need him to be guilty. I do this through the help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the solution to all suffering. He is the undoer of the ego and the restorer of peace. And all He needs to do this is my permission.

© 2015, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
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Study of Text, Chapter 11: IV: The Inheritance of God’s Son, P 2. 9-22-15

IV. The Inheritance of God’s Son P 2
2 Could you try to make God homeless and know that you are at home? Can the Son deny the Father without believing that the Father has denied him? God’s laws hold only for your protection, and they never hold in vain. What you experience when you deny your Father is still for your protection, for the power of your will cannot be lessened without the intervention of God against it, and any limitation on your power is not the Will of God. Therefore, look only to the power that God gave to save you, remembering that it is yours because it is His, and join with your brothers in His peace.

Journal
My decision to be without God makes me feel homeless and my denial of God makes me feel like God is denying me. All of this can be undone in the moment I stop making that decision. I am powerful because I was created powerful, being an extension of God. I can end this sham any time I want to. I have been given the means to do so and created with the power to use the means. That I am still living a dream is the result of my desire to do so, and not because I can’t wake up.

Probably most Course students have had the thought that they just wish God would pluck them out of this nightmare; He is all powerful and certainly He could do this, so why doesn’t he? The answer to that question is that for God to intervene to get us out of something we chose to experience would be to lessen the power of our will. Jesus says that any limitation of our power is not God’s Will.

This does not leave us lost in our dreams because we do have the power to undo what we have done. We also have the means to do so because it is God’s Will that we have it. The means is in Him and so it is in us. That awakening is so simple causes us to doubt its effectiveness, because we are so accustomed to thinking with the ego mind that depends on complexity to hide its unreality. The truth is we only need to desire awakening to set in motion the means to awaken. From that desire flows the process of awareness of what is not God in our mind, and the release of the untrue beliefs to the Holy Spirit.

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