Commentary on ACIM Lesson 170

©2010 Rev. David Seacord

There is no cruelty in God and none in me.

Dad had, as usual, slept through Mom receiving her flowers. "Let him sleep", I said, as I left Mom beaming with her flowers, "I'll be back later...". My voice just spoke itself, even though I hadn't known until that instant that, yep, that's the plan. I walked down the hall way from their apartment which leads to the common dining room and main entrance, wondering what I would do for Dad... and 'right on time' I had a nano-seconds-brief vision of some of my art lining the hall I was in, so that each time Dad shuffles to a meal, he'd be able to enjoy my work. A couple of seconds of thinking about the idea, getting a yes, I have a good many stored pieces he would enjoy etc, and the plan was on.

Went 'home' (to their home, which I am taking care of) and started sorting out a big box of paintings, making selections. Received a thought that it would be good to get administrative approval, so I made the call, explained the plan, and got the approval. Somehow though, the yes wasn't a real yes, which I noted as a clue to 'be flexible'.

As I arrived at my parents door again, I realized I'd best 'do this' outside the apartment in the wide carpeted hall. Got Dad into his wheelchair just saying, 'OK Dad, time to get up, it's Fathers Day'. Ohhh, where are we going? You'll see... and rolled him out into the hall. OK Dad, this is my Fathers Day present to you.... I'm going to give you an art show! Ohhhh! Wonderful!...He exclaims...

So one by one, I unwrapped painting after painting, many that my Dad had never seen, held them up in front of him for as long as he liked, told him the titles of each one and when I had painted it, and then placed them against the hall walls so that we could all see them. A few people gathered. Mom joined us. Dad went 'Wow', and 'Amazing' and 'Wonderful', laughing like a little child in delight. Mom (beaming) told everyone several times 'He's our eldest son... he's an artist'....

Then Dad said, like he'd just climbed Everest, "Son, as far back as I can remember, I've never had a Fathers Day gift like this. Thank you." You're welcome Dad. And to myself, I thought, "Sorry it took me this long to get to it... "

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Clearly, we all 'won big'. Everyone had been honored, everyone had been acknowledged, 'family' was present. Life was 'at peace', the way it 'should' be. :-)

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Epitaph:

The point of 'service to others' is to provide God's peace 'from us to them', that they may know the peace of God that we know. God doesn't care how this is done, He gives Himself to everyone as they will receive. It's the best example we have.....

Namaste,

David

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Lesson 170

There is no cruelty in God and none in me.

No one attacks without intent to hurt. This can have no exception. When I think that I attack in self-defense, I mean that to be cruel is protection; I am safe because of cruelty. I mean that I believe to hurt another brings me freedom. And I mean that to attack is to exchange the state in which I am for something better, safer, more secure from dangerous invasion and from fear.

How thoroughly insane is the idea that to defend from fear is to attack! For here is fear begot and fed with blood, to make it grow and swell and rage. And thus is fear protected, not escaped. Today I learn a lesson which can save me more delay and needless misery than I can possibly imagine. It is this:

I make what I defend against, and by my own
defense against it is it real and inescapable. I will lay down my arms, and only then do I perceive it false.

It seems to be the enemy without that I attack. Yet my defense sets up an enemy within; an alien thought at war with me, depriving me of peace, splitting my mind into two camps which seem wholly irreconcilable. For love now has an "enemy," an opposite; and fear, the alien, now needs my defense against the threat of what I really am.

If I consider carefully the means by which my fancied self-defense proceeds on its imagined way, I will perceive the premises on which the idea stands. First, it is obvious ideas must leave their source, for it is me who is making the attack, and I must have first conceived of it. Yet I attack outside myself, and separate my mind from him who is to be attacked, with perfect faith the split I made is real.

Next, are the attributes of love bestowed upon its "enemy." For fear becomes my safety and protector of my peace, to which I turn for solace and escape from doubts about my strength, and the hope of rest in dreamless quiet. And as love is shorn of what belongs to it and it alone, love is endowed with attributes of fear. For love would ask me lay down all defense as merely foolish. And my arms indeed would crumble into dust. For such they are.

With love as enemy, must cruelty become a god. And gods demand that those who worship them obey their dictates, and refuse to question them. Harsh punishment is meted out relentlessly to those who ask if the demands are sensible or even sane. It is their enemies who are unreasonable and insane, while they are always merciful and just.

Today I look upon this cruel god dispassionately. And I note that though his lips are smeared with blood, and fire seems to flame from him, he is but made of stone. He can do nothing. I need not defy his power. He has none. And those who see in him their safety have no guardian, no strength to call upon in danger, and no mighty warrior to fight for them.

This moment can be terrible. But it can also be the time of my release from abject slavery. I make a choice, standing before this idol, seeing him exactly as he is. Will I restore to love what I have sought to wrest from it and lay before this mindless piece of stone? Or will I make another idol to replace it? For the god of cruelty takes many forms. Another can be found.

Yet do not think that fear is the escape from fear. Let me remember what the text has stressed about the obstacles to peace. The final one, the hardest to believe is nothing, and a seeming obstacle with the appearance of a solid block, impenetrable, fearful and beyond surmounting, is the fear of God Himself. Here is the basic premise which enthrones the thought of fear as god. For fear is loved by those who worship it, and love appears to be invested now with cruelty.

Where does the totally insane belief in gods of vengeance come from? Love has not confused its attributes with those of fear. Yet must the worshippers of fear perceive their own confusion in fear's "enemy"; its cruelty as now a part of love. And what becomes more fearful than the Heart of Love Itself? The blood appears to be upon His Lips; the fire comes from Him. And He is terrible above all else, cruel beyond conception, striking down all who acknowledge Him to be their God.

The choice I make today is certain. For I look for the last time upon this bit of carven stone I made, and call it god no longer. I have reached this place before, but I have chosen that this cruel god remain with me in still another form. And so the fear of God returned with me. This time I leave it there. And I return to a new world, unburdened by its weight; beheld not in its sightless eyes, but in the vision that my choice restored to me.

Now do my eyes belong to Christ, and He looks through them. Now my voice belongs to God and echoes His. And now my heart remains at peace forever. I have chosen Him in place of idols, and my attributes, given by my Creator, are restored to me at last. The Call for God is heard and answered. Now has fear made way for love, as God Himself replaces cruelty.

Father, I am like You. No cruelty abides in me, for there is none in You. Your peace is mine. And I bless the world with what I have received from You alone. I choose again, and make my choice for all my brothers, knowing they are one with me. I bring them Your salvation as I have received it now. And I give thanks for them who render me complete. In them I see Your glory, and in them I find my peace. Holy am I because Your Holiness has set me free. And I give thanks. Amen.