Read on the ACIM CE App: https://acimce.app/:W-107
Lesson 107
Truth will correct all errors in my mind.
Practice Instructions
Purpose: To let Christ lead you to an experience of the truth, so that you can join Him in His function of bringing truth to the world.
Longer: Every hour on the hour, for five minutes (if you cannot do this, at least do the alternate).
- Start by asking your Self, the Christ, to go with you—which makes sense for you can never be apart from Him. While asking, also pledge to Him “to let His function [of saving the world] be fulfilled through you” (10:3). That is the point of today’s exercise: to let Him fill you with the truth, so you can bring it to the world (this is very similar to yesterday’s exercise).
- Then ask that the truth come into your mind. Ask with confidence, with certainty of success. Count on truth to be there, for it belongs to you. State your request this way: “Truth will correct all errors in my mind, and I will rest in Him Who is my Self” (10:6).
- “Then let Him lead you gently to the truth, which will envelop you and give you peace so deep and tranquil that you will return to the familiar world reluctantly” (10:7). This appears to be a meditation much like those in 69, 73, and 91, in which you rely upon a strength beyond your own to carry you to your inner goal.
Frequent reminders: Do not forget today.
Repeat the idea with confidence, realizing that you are speaking for yourself (for your own desire for release), for the world (for its desire for release), and for Christ, “Who would release the world” (12:2).
Encouragement to practice: Be aware that by letting truth into your mind you will indeed benefit the world. During the practice period, the truth will go out from your mind to other minds to correct their errors. And then, after the practice period, the truth will go with you as you are sent to those in need to give them the gift of truth.
Commentary
This is the promise that gives courage! Errors are only errors, not flaws. “What are errors but illusions which remain unrecognized for what they are?” (1:2).
An illusion that is not recognized as illusion causes us to react as if it were real. If I see an illusory enemy and respond with attack, that does not make me bad or stupid. The reaction is appropriate, given what I believe to be the truth.
I can recall many evenings in the past where I was sitting at home feeling lonely and world-weary. Something in me saw an illusion and believed it to be true. I saw some loneliness or weariness, a need to be comforted, and so I sought comfort in television and in staying up late. What I did was not the mistake; the mistake was believing the illusion was real. When I look at the illusion, it vanishes.
The holy instant is a state of mind without illusions, a moment of unquestioned peace, “when you were certain you were loved and safe” (2:3). It is a foretaste of “the state your mind will rest in when truth has come” (2:6). It is my true state. I can find that true state any time I am willing to look at my illusions and to let them go. So often, late at night, I used to feel disconnected, unfulfilled, empty somehow, and I tried to fill that emptiness with fantasy, television, reading, or food. The emptiness is illusion. When I feel that emptiness let me remember it is not real; let me affirm my fullness.
The state of mind that stays exactly as it always was, without shifting and changing, still seems so far away from me. Jesus says, in effect, “It will be yours; it already is yours. It is guaranteed.” “It is impossible that anyone could seek it truly and would not succeed” (6:4). The seeming shifts and changes I go through now are all part of the illusion; they are not real, they are not truly happening. I am safe. I am steady. I am whole.
When the shifting and faltering seem to occur, let me remind myself they are only a dream. They mean nothing, they change nothing. Let me not accord them strength to disturb my peace. Let me not make the mistake of identifying with that shift and change and thinking it is me that is shifting and changing. I am fixed and unalterable.
The errors in my mind are those that tell me I could be apart from Jesus, the Christ. He is my brother. We are the same. He is my Self. How can I be apart from my Self?
Let me take regular times today to return to this center, to recognize that Jesus and I are one Self. Today I will bring any thought that tells me anything different to him for correction. Any thought that tells me I am something other than this calm, serene, fearless, wholly fulfilled Being. Let me watch my mind for thoughts that say otherwise and bring them fearlessly to the light of truth. Jesus, help me to break the connection, the identification with any thought of weakness or emptiness or disconnectedness. Let me lean on your strong arm and trust in you. Let the demons scream and rant and rave around me:
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. (Ps 23:4)
You are the Strong One in me, and You are my Self.