ACIM Daily Lesson 147 Review IV My mind holds only what I think with God.
ACIM Lesson 147
Lesson 147
My mind holds only what I think with God.
(133) I will not value what is valueless.
(134) Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
Yesterday, I reviewed the idea of loosing the world from what I thought it was and today I reinforce that idea as I choose not to value what is valueless. For instance, I sometimes think that I must help my children navigate their lives. I have learned to loosen that idea because I recognize it as a valueless thought. If I live their lives for them, they will not have the opportunities I had to fulfill their function. Not that they are ever going to let me tell them what to do anyway. Ha ha. Trying to do so has no value and just ends in frustration for both of us.
If Nothing Is Healed Nothing Changes
Sometimes I practice this with little things in my life. For instance, I will realize that I am heading to the refrigerator for something to eat when I am not hungry. Or I will decide to go shopping when I don’t need to. I have learned to loosen my desire to feed those ego appetites because I realized they had no value. It might seem that I have numbed the underlying feeling of emptiness. Or maybe I temporarily distracted myself from some nagging concern. But nothing is healed and so nothing changes so what use are these behaviors?
On the other hand, if I forgive the beliefs that I am trying to avoid, there is a real change, a healing of the mind that leaves me peaceful and happy. When I think of forgiving beliefs, I sometimes open my hands as a visual prompt to let go of what has no value. “Here, Holy Spirit, take these thoughts from my mind. I have no use for them.” If my mind gets caught in a sticky web of dark thoughts, I will sometimes literally take a step back to reinforce in my mind my decision to stop using the ego to make my decisions. Then I will take a step to the side to reinforce my decision to let the Holy Spirit take its place. Even if I don’t actually do this, the idea is firmly in my mind and I visualize it.
With the Help of Jesus
This morning I loosened my hold on a stubborn illusion as I forgave it. I did this with the help of Jesus as I had my morning conversation with him. Here is what I wrote in our diary.
Me: I didn’t sleep much last night and I am a little groggy this morning. I noticed my thoughts were mostly ego thoughts and was grateful for the nudge to awareness of this. After a few times of noticing that my thoughts were useless and dark, I got tired of reminding myself of the truth. This was the ego wanting to take advantage of the situation and its thoughts were along the lines of just giving into the tiredness and starting over tomorrow. Here is what Jesus said to me.
Many Thanks
Jesus: The body is tired but the mind isn’t. Stay with me today and be firm in your determination to rise above ego thinking. If you do this you will discover that what the body feels is just what the ego-mind has projected onto it. Haven’t you had many sleepless nights that did not affect you greatly the next day? Do you see that this is the ego’s attempt to keep your attention?
Last night you said you wanted to return to the high level of joy you experienced after your shift and live there all the time. Now today the ego says that the dark thoughts in your mind are out of your control. This is the battle the ego wages to keep you imprisoned to it but that is ridiculous. You are the ruler of your mind, not the ego. Smile today every time you feel tired or your mind wanders to the ego side. Go into silence with me often even if it is for just a few minutes.
Me: Thank you. I see that when I smile, I feel more like myself so that was a great tip. I also feel both strong and serene when I let myself feel our connection. The lethargy has lifted and I am looking forward to seeing how this day will unfold.
In just a little while everything changed and I am back to being happy and feeling peaceful. I won’t fall into that ego trap again.
To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 147 click here.
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