"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 fear of be ing an swered in a diff' rent way

from what YOUR ver sion of the ques tion asks will gain mo men tum un til you believe

the day you want is one in which you get YOUR an swer to your ques tion.

And you will not get it, for it would destroy the day

by rob bing you of what you REALLY want.

This can be very hard to rea lize, when once you have de cid ed by yourself

the rules which PROMISE you a hap py day.

But these de ci sions still can be un done, by sim ple meth ods which you CAN ac cept.

3409. 4. If you are so unwilling to re ceive you can not e ven let your QUES TION go,

you can be gin to change your mind with this:

3410. "At least I can de cide I do not LIKE what I feel now."

3411. This much is ob vi ous, and paves the way for the next easy step,   which fol lows this.

3412. 5. Having de cid ed that you do not like the way you feel,

what could be eas i er than to con tin ue with.. -

3413. "And so I HOPE I have been wrong."

3414. This works A GAINST the sense of opposition, and ..

re minds you that help is not be ing thrust upon you, but

is something that you want and that you need BECAUSE you do not like the way you feel.

 

This ti ny o pening will be e nough to let you go a head with just

a few more steps you need to LET your self be helped.

3415. 6. Now you have reached the turn ing point,

because it has oc curred to you that YOU will gain,

if what you have de cid ed is NOT so. Until this point is reached,

you will be lieve your hap pi ness DEPENDS on being right.

But this much reason have you now at tained;

YOU would be bet ter off if you were WRONG.

This ti ny grain of wisdom will suf fice to take you fur ther.

You are NOT co erced, but merely hope to have a thing you WANT.

And you can say in per fect hon esty,

3416. "I WANT another way to look at this."

3417. Now you have changed your mind a bout the day,

and have REMEMBERED what you really want.

Its PUR POSE has no long er been ob scured by the insane belief

you want it for the goal of being RIGHT when you are WRONG.

Thus is the READ I NESS  for ask ing brought to your awareness, for

you CAN NOT be in con flict when you ask for what you want,

and SEE that it is this for which you ask.

3418. 7. This fi nal step is but acknowledg ment of LACK of opposition to be helped.

It is a statement of an o pen mind, not certain yet, but willing to be shown:

3419. "Per [haps there IS another way to look at this. What can] I LOSE by ask ing?"

3420. Thus are you made read y [for  a ques tion that makes sense, and so]

the ANSWER [will make sense as well. Nor will] you fight AGAINST it, for

you see that it is YOU who will be helped by it.

 

3421. It MUST be clear that it is eas i er to have a hap py day

if you PRE VENT un hap pi ness  from en tering at all.

But this takes prac tice in the rules which will  PROTECT you from

the rav ages of fear. When THIS has been a chieved,

the sorry dream of judg ment has

FOR EV ER been un done.

But, mean while, you have need for practicing the rules for its un do ing.

Let us, then, consider once a gain the ver y first of the de ci sions which are offered here.

3422. We said you can begin a happy day

with the deter mi na tion NOT to make decisions by your self.

This SEEMS to be a free de cis ion in it self. And yet,

you CANNOT make decisions by your self. The on ly ques tion real ly is

WITH WHAT you choose to make them. That is really all.

3423. The first rule, then, is not co er cion, but

a simple statement of a simple fact.

You WILL not make deci sions by yourself whatev er you de cide. For they are made with i  dols or with God.

And you ask help of Christ or an ti Christ,

and which you choose WILL join with you, and tell you what to do.

3424. Your day is NOT at ran dom. It is set by what you choose to live it WITH,

and HOW the friend whose coun sel you have sought per ceives your hap pi ness.

You always ask ad vice   

before   you can de cide   on any thing.

Let THIS be understood, and you can see there can not be co er cion here,

nor grounds for opposition that you may be free.

There IS no free dom from what must oc cur.

And if you think there is, you must be wrong.

 

3425. The sec ond rule as well is but a fact.

For you and your ad vi sor must AGREE on what you want BEFORE it can oc cur.

It is but this A [GREEMENT which per mits all things] to hap pen. NOTHING can  be caused

with out some form of un ion, be it with a dream of judgment

or the Voice of God. Decisions cause re sults BE CAUSE they are not made in i so la tion. They are made

by you and your ad vi sor, for your self, AND FOR THE WORLD AS WELL.

The day you want you off er to the world,

for it WILL be what you have asked for, and will re in force

the rule of your ad vi sor through the world.

Whose kingdom is the world for you to day? What kind of day will you de cide to have?

3426. It needs but two who would have hap piness this day to prom ise it to all the world.

It needs but two     to un der stand       that they can not de cide a lone,

to GUARAN TEE the joy they ask for will be whol ly shared. For they have under stood

the ba sic law which MAKES decision pow er ful,

and gives it all ef fects that it will EV  ER have.

It needs but two.     These two ARE joined be fore there CAN be a decision.

Let this be the ONE re mind er that you keep in mind,

and you will have the day you want, and give it to the world by hav ing it yourselves.

Your judg ment has been LIFT ED from the world by your de ci sion for a happy day.

And as you have received so MUST you give.

3427. May 23, 1968

3428. Do you not un derstand that to op pose the Ho ly Spirit

IS to fight your self? He tells you but YOUR will; He speaks for YOU.

In HIS di vin i ty is but your own. And all He knows is but YOUR knowledge,

saved for YOU, that you may do YOUR will through Him. God ASKS you do your will.

He joins with YOU. He did not set His king dom up a lone.

And Heav'n it self but rep re sents your will, where ev 'ry thing created is for you.

No spark of life but was cre a ted with your glad consent, as you would have it be.

And not one Thought that God has ev er had but wait ed for your bless ing to be born.

God is no en e my to you. He asks no more than that He hear you call Him Friend.

 

 

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