Lesson 140
Only salvation can be said to cure.
The cure we are talking about today isn’t the popular 80’s British band The Cure who had such songs as Friday I’m in Love, Lovesong, and Just Like Heaven. Yet, The Cure can be very useful to our lesson. It is interesting to note that many music critics have tried to categorize The Cure from gothic rock to punk, with the band, still, never really becoming identified with a specific classification for their sound. Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure, once said in an interview,
This quote is very relatable to the “cure” we are discussing today, as the cure we speak of “is because it Is,” similar to how The Cure’s music “just is.” There is no category for the cure the Course speaks of because it isn’t like a classification of medicine either. It is in a class of its own where there is only one remedy but then we look closer we find out that truly there is no need for the remedy at all because what is needed already just Is. It just awaits our remembrance.
The cure is merely recognizing what already Is: that we have never left Source, have never done anything to be forgiven for, and have simply being playing the game of pretend with our given creativity. Salvation, the Atonement, can be the only cure as the root of any suffering is our belief that we are somehow separate and alone. In our exploration of what truly is in need of a cure, we go down to the very core and sift through our minds like a gardener cares for her soil, pulling out the weeds at the root level.
“Atonement does not heal the sick, for that is not a cure. It takes away the guilt that makes the sickness possible. And that is cure indeed. For sickness is now gone, with nothing left to which it can return” (ACIM Lesson 140 4:4-7).
Leading up to today’s lesson we have gone from two choices (love or fear), to the once choice (love), to the acceptance, and now to the Is-ness of our salvation. We Are because She Is. There is no place we can be where we are not abiding with Her. Our Walk in Miracles has given us the opportunity to get to know the soil of our mind. We have gotten to know the ego with great intimacy so that we can step into our ability to heal the mind. We have come to know right-minded thoughts and what they feel like in the body. Regardless of the physical state of the body, we can come to experience the Light within, knowing that we need not travel anywhere for what is right here with us always. The cure we are truly looking for to end suffering is just a simple shift in perception.
“Yet there is no place where He is not. And therefore sin can have no home in which to hide from His beneficence. There is no place where holiness is not, and nowhere sin and sickness can abide” (ACIM Lesson 140 5:5-7).
Today is worthy of another disclaimer as we use the words “sick” and “cure.” This lesson is not to say that if you are physically sick that you should not go to the doctor and get the medication you need. That sort of treatment may very well be necessary and has its place and purpose on our journey. The body, although extremely resilient, can also be just as fragile. It is still a body after all. What is important to note is that even if we undergo medical treatment, we can also do our part to heal our own bodies. We can be just as active in our healing process as any doctor, nurse, healer, etc. We can facilitate the work on the mind so as to compliment the work of medicines, surgeries, and other therapeutic modalities. Lesson 140 is teaching us to be active in our healing process and to exercise the power that we have to heal from the inside out.
“There is no magic. It is merely an appeal to truth, which cannot fail to heal and heal forever” (ACIM Lesson 140 6:4-5).
Throughout the day, we lay aside all distracting thoughts to listen for this Healing Voice that reminds us of our rightful place. We have no need to analyze or categorize any of our thoughts or actions. Analyze if you wish, but understand that too becomes a ploy for the ego to buy itself more time in charge. Thus, by letting go in bulk, we can gracefully put all thoughts aside so as to stand in the Light of healing.
“We will be still and listen for the Voice of healing, Which will cure all ills as one, restoring saneness to the Son of God. No voice but This can cure. Today we hear a single Voice Which speaks to us of truth, where all illusions end, and peace returns to the eternal, quiet home of God” (ACIM Lesson 140 10:2-4).
Keeping with the theme of “cure,” here is Lovesong by The Cure. The lyrics of this song can be likened to our journey towards remembrance. No matter how far away we might feel we have strayed, no matter what we have ever said or done, we have never left Love. This eternal Love is our salvation and always the cure. It just Is. Namaste.
However far away
I will always love you
However long I stay
I will always love you
Whatever words I say
I will always love you
I will always love you