"Rules for Decision" from ACIM Chapter 30, read by Lee Flynn with iambic emphasis,

 

 

(Recommended experience is to keep this page on-screen, and

read along while listening, with perhaps an eye to the in-line rhyming)

 

“Rules for Decision”

 

3393. .... Forgiving dreams remind you that you live in safety,

and have NOT attacked yourself.
 

3394. So do your child ish terrors melt away,

and dreams be come a sign that you have made a new beginning,

NOT another try to worship i dols, and to KEEP attack. 
 

Forgiving dreams are kind to ev' ry one who figures in the dream.

And so they bring the dream er full re lease from dreams of fear. 
 

He does not fear his judg ment, for he has judged no-one, nor has sought

to be released THROUGH judgment from what judgment MUST im pose. 
 

And all the while he is remember ing what he for got

when judgment seemed to be the way to SAVE him from its penalty.

3395. May 22, 1968

3396. The "new beginning" now becomes the fo cus of curriculum.

The goal is clear, but now you need specific meth ods for attaining it.

The speed by which it can be reached depends on on ly this;

your willingness to practice ev ery step.

Each one will help a little, ev ery time it is at tempt ed. And, to geth er,

they will lead you both from dreams of judgment to forgiving dreams,

and out of pain and fear.

They are not new to you, but they are more ideas than rules of thought to you as yet.

So now we need to practice them awhile, until they are the rules by which you live.

We seek to make them habits now, so you will have them read y, and for AN Y needs.

3397. RULES FOR DECISION

3398. Decisions are contin u ous. You do not always know when you are making them.

But, with a little practice in the ones you rec og nize, a set

begins to form which sees you through the rest.

It is not wise to let yourself become preoccu pied with ev' ry step you take.

The proper set, a dopt ed con sciously each time you wake, will put you well a head.

And if you find re sis tance strong and ded ication weak, you are not read y.

DO NOT FIGHT YOURSELF. But think about the kind of day you want,

and tell yourself there IS a way in which this ver y day can hap pen just like that.

Then try again to HAVE the day you want.

3399. 1. The outlook starts with this:

3400. "Today I will make NO de ci sions by myself."

3401. This means that you are choos ing NOT to be the judge of what to do.

But it must ALSO mean you will not judge

the [sit u a tions where you will] be called up on to make re sponse.

For if you judge them, you HAVE set the rules for how you should react to them.

And then  ANOTHER an swer can not BUT pro duce con fu sion and un certainty AND FEAR.

This is your ma jor problem now.

You still make up your minds, and THEN decide to ask what you should do.

And what you hear may not resolve the problem AS YOU SAW IT FIRST. This leads to fear,

be cause it con tradicts what you per ceive, and so you feel attacked.

AND THEREFORE ANGRY. There are rules by which this will not happen.

But it does occur, at first, to ev eryone who lis tens well.

3402. 2. Throughout the day, at any time you think of it,

and have a qui et mo ment for re flec tion, tell yourself a gain the kind of day you want;

the feelings you would have, the things you WANT to hap pen,

and the things you WOULD exper i ence. And say,

3403.

3404. "If I make no decisions by myself, This is the day that will be GIVEN me."

3405. These two procedures, practiced well,

will serve to let you be di rect ed WITHOUT fear,

for opposition will not FIRST a rise, and THEN

become a problem in it self. But there will still be times when you have judged AL READ Y.

Now the an swer will provoke attack, un less you quickly straighten out your mind

to WANT an an swer that will work. Be cer tain this has hap pened, if

you feel yourself unwilling to sit by, and ask to have the an swer GIVEN you.

This means you HAVE de cid ed by yourself, AND CAN NOT SEE THE QUEST ION.

Now you need a quick re stor ative BE FORE you ask.

3406. 3. Remem ber once a gain the day you want,

and rec ognize that something has oc curred which is not part of it.

Then realize that you have asked a ques tion by your self,

and MUST have set an an swer in your terms. Then say,

3407. "I HAVE no ques tion. I for got what to de cide."

3408. This cancels out the terms which you have set, and lets the ANSWER show you what

the ques tion MUST have really been. Try to ob serve this rule with out delay

DE SPITE your op position. For you have AL READ Y got ten an gry,

and your