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ACIM Poetry revealed in multi-media    (Scroll down to start Audio)

 

March 16 2007

by Doug Thompson

 

Some months ago, after hearing Lee Flynn read bits of ACIM in Iambic Pentameter (IP), I asked him to do a sample for this website so we could illustrate vocally what the colour coding ((See (PRIMER)) shows visually. When Lee first showed me these “colourful” worksheets I had little idea what he was talking about and was completely confused.  Patiently Lee explained how he’d analysed the vowel sounds in some passages and had discovered some astonishing patterns of vowel usage.  As Lee puts it: “the coloured text represents the principle vowel rhymes of the alternating stressed syllables, and the rhyming within lines is often visually underscored.” 

 

The interesting thing is that these vowel sounds often appear in patterns where, for example, {A E U} might start a sentence, and {U E A} end it within a larger pattern.  While we have only five or sometimes six vowel letters in English, we have vastly more vowel sounds, since each vowel letter can be spoken in a number of ways, including not spoken at all.  To find these patterns we must listen, rather than look, for “sound alike” pairs, regardless of the spelling.  Each colour and use of font shift gives a visual indication of a unique vowel sound to help us visually recognize aural patterns in the material.

 

In some cases poets use “sight rhymes” where spelling similarities rather than aural similarities are employed.  In some cases in the examples Lee has shown us there are words shown as vowel rhyming pairs which aren’t exactly using the same vowel sound in our accustomed pronunciation.  Where a larger pattern seems to exist with just one exception to the pattern, we can ponder. 

 

The rhyming pattern may be, for reasons we don’t fathom, intended not to be the pattern we are looking for. In some cases this may indicate a scribal error where by accident or misadventure, the scribes got the wrong word.  In some cases this is known to be exactly what happened.  In some instances we find in later versions of the Course, earlier Iambic Pentameter of a very obvious sort was disrupted by later editorializing.  The editing undertaken by the Scribes was not all conscious, there are hundreds of sometimes rather serious but apparently inadvertent mistakes, and not all guided.  There are a number of apparently intentional alterations which were clearly errors and not infrequently, a side effect is a disruption of the underlying poetry patterns which go far beyond just the well-known Iambic Pentameter.

 

I’ve long thought the Seven Rules for Decision is one of the most dramatic passages in ACIM.  Somewhat like many lessons, it can stand alone as a document and provides very concrete advice and assistance to the student ready to take the leap from grappling with Course concepts as intellectual abstractions to applying the Course with the Holy Spirit day by day.  Occurring near the end of the Text volume, it is also the beginning of a segue from theoretical abstraction to concrete application which begins in earnest in the Workbook which starts just a few pages later.  I’ve had the seven rules in audio form on my website since the beginning, with “Eddie the robot” reading them, because the material is so important even Eddie can’t obscure the value.  As a sample text, this seemed a good one to use.  However there is one unexpected “feature” of this choice: the material is so powerful in its idea content that it is difficult to focus on the vowel patterns Lee has discovered which was my purpose to illustrate!

 

Also, in contrast to earlier material Lee made to illustrate the IP, the emphasized syllables are less emphasized and the de-emphasized syllables are less de-emphasized than might be the case. 

 

In choosing one of the most profound 15 minutes of ACIM, the result is more than a mere illustration of the form of the poetic structure, we’ve been given a very dramatic experience of profound “content.”  

 

I think the “example of poetic devices” purpose of this material has been largely obscured by the sheer majesty of the words and the eloquent delivery by Lee.

 

The Seven Rules for Decision at the beginning of Chapter 30, with a bit from the end of Chapter 29 tacked on at the start, drawn here from the Sub-Urtext , the oldest and most original text currently available to us, represents one of the most powerful segments in ACIM.  It is the point where the “theoretical” Text begins to segue into the more “applied” writing of the Workbook.  Repeated listening to this material is highly recommended!  It can be transformative.

 

It also really does illustrate Lee’s remarkable and innovative “color coding” of mirrored rhyming patterns. That was our original purpose, which is more fully explained in the PRIMER for those who wish to understand more thoroughly what we are looking at.  This text is somewhat different in a few places from the later HLC and FIP versions you may be familiar with (see endnotes at the end of this page for details). Also, it is set with line breaks reflecting the IP derived from Steve Russell’s work. The small numbers at the start of the paragraph represent Volume (T)  Chapter (29)  Section (J) and Paragraph (9)  references from the MPF Concordance for the Sub-Urtext.   These represent the HLC chapter and section breaks and the actual Sub-Ur paragraph breaks and are included for reference purposes only.

 

Each unique color represents a different vowel.  The green italics is to make teal and green, which otherwise look very similar, stand out.  Underlining is used to draw attention to rhyming patterns.  Square brackets point out rhyming mirrored pyramids.  (see PRIMER)

 

Ideally you’ll want to listen to Lee Flynn reading the Seven Rules for Decision while reading along by eye.  After 15 minutes you will probably have a good intuitive feel for what this color coding means.

 

 Scroll down to start Audio  (8 Mb MP3 download … this might take a few minutes over dial-up)


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(Lee reading with musical accompaniment from “Maz” courtesy of Curtis Knight Foundation / ACIMRadio.NET )

If you find the colors distracting, click here for black only text


---

God is no en e my to you. He asks

no more than that He hear you call Him Friend

---

 T 29 J 9.. .... Forgiving dreams remind you that you live

in safety, and have NOT attacked yourself.
T 29 J 10. 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.

Chapter XXX - 30 - The New Beginning

T 30 A. Introduction  May 22, 1968

T 30 A 1. 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;[1]

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[2] 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[3].


 

T 30 B. Rules For Decision

T 30 B 1. 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[4] 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.

 

T 30 B 2. 1. The outlook starts with this:

"Today I will make NO de ci sion by myself."

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

A[NOTHER 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.[5]

T 30 B 3. 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,

"If I make no decisions  by (for[6]) myself,

This is the day that will be GIVEN me."

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.

 

 

T 30 B 4.3. 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,

"I have no ques tion. I for got

what to de cide."

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[7] your fear

of be ing an swered in a diff'[8] 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.

 

T 30 B 5. 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:

"At least I can de cide I do not LIKE

what I feel now."

This much is ob vi ous,

and paves the way for the next easy step,

which fol lows this.[9]

 

T 30 B 6. 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.. --

"And so I HOPE I have been wrong."

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.

 

T 30 B 7. 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,

"I WANT another way to look at this[10]."

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[v] 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.

 

T 30 B 8. 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:

"Per [haps there IS another way to look at this.

What can] I LOSE by ask ing?"

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.

 

T 30 B 9. 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.

 

T 30 B 10. 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[11] 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.

 

T 30 B 11. The first rule, then, is not co er cion, but

a simple statement of a simple fact.

You will not make deci sions by your self

what ev er[12] you de  cide. For they are made

with i  dols or with God. And you ask help

of[13] Christ or an ti Christ[14], and which you choose

will join with you, and tell you what to do.[ix]

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.

 

T 30 B 12. The sec ond rule as well is but a fact.

For you and your ad vi sor[15] 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 for 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[x] 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?

 

T 30 B 13. It needs but two who would have hap piness

this day to prom ise it to all the world.

It needs but two     to under stand that they

cannot de cide a lone, to guaran tee

the joy they asked 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[16].

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.

T 30 C. Freedom of Will

May 23, 1968

T 30 C 1. 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[17] 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

[18].


End Notes




[1] HLC and FIP change this line to: be reached depends on this one thing alone;” which creates IP on this line

[2] FIP and HLC have “And together will

these steps lead you from dreams”

[3] FIP and HLC change this to: “will have them ready for whatever need.”

[4] The contraction “ev’ry” is typed “every” in the manuscript

[5] FIP and HLC change this to “while you are learning how to hear”

[6] The word (for) is typed in the inter-line space and possibly crossed out.

[7] FIP puts a period and begins a new sentence with “And” here.

[8] The contraction “diff’rent” is typed “different” in the manuscript.

[9] FIP and HLC omit “which follows this.”

[10] FIP omits quotation marks and replaces the comma before the quotes with a colon.

[11] FIP and HLC change “free” to “real”.

[12] HLC capitalizes WHATEVER, the others do not.

[13] Manuscript has “the” or “their” crossed out

[14] FIP has “anti-Christ or Christ” … words reversed

[15] Sub-Ur  and HLC have “advisorwhile FIP has “adviser”

[16] FIP and HLC have this singular: “yourself”

[17] Contraction not in manuscript

[18] FIP and HLC add quotation marks around “Friend.”

 

 

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