ACIM Daily Lesson 52 Review I
ACIM Daily Lesson 52
Review I
Lesson 52
Today’s review covers these ideas:
1. (6) I am upset because I see what is not there.
²Reality is never frightening. ³It is impossible that it could upset me. ⁴Reality brings only perfect peace. ⁵When I am upset, it is always because I have replaced reality with illusions I made up. ⁶The illusions are upsetting because I have given them reality, and thus regard reality as an illusion. ⁷Nothing in God’s creation is affected in any way by this confusion of mine. ⁸I am always upset by nothing.
Illusions are not real, so when I am involved in illusions, I am upset over nothing. I really get that and yet, sometimes I am involved in the illusion and I am upset anyway. This is when I am in confusion and need to ask for another way to see the situation. The truth is, I don’t look at the world and decide it is upsetting. I look in my mind and then, looking outward, see my mind reflected there as the world. So, the source of my distress is always going to be in my mind, not in the world. This is really lucky because while I can’t change the world, I can change my mind.
Past and Future Fear-Based Thinking
A while back both my girls and their husbands got Covid. My first reaction was one of fear. Where did that fear come from? It came from all the things I had read about Covid. That was fear based on past learning. I was afraid because it could get bad. That is fear based on projections into the future. At the moment I heard about it, the only thing happening is that they had covid and were symptomatic. I was upset because I saw something that was not there. As I realized what had happened, I shifted my mind into the present and there was no fear.
Perception Based on the Metaphysics of the Course
There is another way to see this. Let’s revisit the metaphysics of the Course.
- ²There is no world! ³This is the central thought the course attempts to teach. (ACIM, W-132.6:2-3).
- Since there is no world outside our minds, there are no bodies. At no single instant does the body exist at all. (ACIM, T-18.VII.3:1).
- Since the body does not exist, I cannot be in the body. The Christ in you inhabits not a body. ²Yet He is in you. ³And thus it must be that you are not within a body. (ACIM, T-25.in.1:1-3)
If there is no world, there is nothing to be upset about. If there are no bodies and no one is in a body, Covid isn’t happening to these beautiful souls I love so much. They are perfectly safe in the Mind of God as am I. I may not always land in this truth right away, but I know it is the truth and so I always get there. It is not my actual experience, not exactly and not fully, but my mind has opened to it. Each time I revisit this truth in the midst of an upset, it becomes truer for me. One day it will be my full experience.
2. (7) I see only the past.
²As I look about, I condemn the world I look upon. ³I call this seeing. ⁴I hold the past against everyone and everything, making them my enemies. ⁵When I have forgiven myself and remembered Who I am, I will bless everyone and everything I see. ⁶There will be no past, and therefore no enemies. ⁷And I will look with love on all that I failed to see before.
Do I really condemn the world and hold the past against everyone and everything? Well, not so much anymore, but I used to. I remember the first time I honestly looked at my closest loved ones with this question in mind. I discovered the shocking truth. Apparently, I really did make enemies of even those I loved, not all the time, but sometimes. I’m looking honestly into my mind right now to see if I am still holding the past against someone.
Forgiving the Past
Oh, yes. I had to go way back to find this one. It was an in-law who questioned my every parenting decision. I was very unsure of myself as a parent in those days, and this didn’t help. My youngest child is 37 and my oldest is 53. Do you think I have held onto this grievance long enough? I do, too. Instead, I am going to forgive the past and let it go. I want a healed mind more than I want someone else to be guilty.
My mind is clearer than it used to be. This is because I have realized how important forgiveness is and I don’t hesitate to choose it. As I release the past and open my mind to the present, I am so much happier. My mind is at peace, and I look with love on all that I failed to see before.
3. (8) My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
²I see only my own thoughts, and my mind is preoccupied with the past. ³What, then, can I see as it is? ⁴Let me remember that I look on the past to prevent the present from dawning on my mind. ⁵Let me understand that I am trying to use time against God. ⁶Let me learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing.
Beneath the grievance I had against my in-law was the real reason I was holding onto the past. I was trying to use time against God. It pays to recognize that deeply buried in my mind is a dark pit of guilt that I rejected God. This guilt rises to the top at times, and very quickly I project it onto someone else. Or I might see my own “lesser” sin as the reason for the guilt. I give it a reason other than the fear that God is going to punish me for leaving Him.
I am preoccupied with thoughts of the past so that I don’t have to think of the present. God is in the present and God will seem like the enemy as long as I fail to forgive. Each time I notice an ego thought it is going to be from the past or fear of the future. The fear of the future is the past projected forward. The solution is to forgive the past and release it. In so doing, I am actually giving up nothing since the past doesn’t exist. This is how I discover that the separation never occurred and God loves me.
4. (9) I see nothing as it is now.
²If I see nothing as it is now, it can truly be said that I see nothing. ³I can see only what is now. ⁴The choice is not whether to see the past or the present; the choice is merely whether to see or not. ⁵What I have chosen to see has cost me vision. ⁶Now I would choose again, that I may see.
I don’t actually see anything now. What I call seeing is just images I have placed before my eyes. These images prevent me from being aware of what is really there. I remember that I don’t actually have a body and without a body, there are no eyes. The only thing happening is that I am experiencing an illusion. But even in this state of imagined life, I can learn to see. As I forgive these images, I lose interest in them and vision becomes possible.
I do this to some degree now. Yes, I am still aware of the images my eyes show me, but I am also aware that they are not real. It is like being somewhat detached from the world. When I watch a really good movie, I become involved with the story. I might feel excitement and feel the adrenal course through me just as I would if something exciting happened in this life.
Life Is Like a Movie
Movies can elicit very real feelings, but while we watch a movie are aware that nothing is happening to us. We know it is happening on the screen. This is what life feels like to me now. Not all the time, but a lot of the time. I might not feel anger or fear or even guilt or maybe I will. Whether I do or not, I know that it is like a movie, not real. This change has occurred because I have chosen again and again to release the past. With this detachment, I perceive the world differently than I used to.
5. (10) My thoughts do not mean anything.
²I have no private thoughts. ³Yet it is only private thoughts of which I am aware. ⁴What can these thoughts mean? ⁵They do not exist, and so they mean nothing. ⁶Yet my mind is part of creation and part of its Creator. ⁷Would I not rather join the thinking of the universe than to obscure all that is really mine with my pitiful and meaningless “private” thoughts?
I think of private thoughts as ego thoughts. They are directed toward the personal. For instance, if my friend fails to show up for a planned outing, I might respond in one of two ways. If I think that she should have shown or that her not showing up spoiled my plans, this is a private thought. It references the incident back to the personal self. That is, it is my thought, not anyone else’s because this is about me not anyone else. This is what makes it meaningless; it is unshared.
The other way I could experience this change of plans is by deciding to do something else instead or do nothing. This is generally what happens now. If the plan works, great. If it doesn’t, great. The greatest value of this change is that my mind is not so crowded with private thoughts. This has left room for my real thoughts. I don’t know how this seems to anyone else, but for me, it isn’t word thoughts. Mostly, I simply feel peace and joy that is not interrupted by meaningless thoughts.
I Just Wasn’t Interested in It
Again, this is not true every time. But what does happen every time is that a reaction is brief. I was about to go shopping one day when my daughter called to say she was on her way over. My first reaction was an ego thought of having my plans interrupted. But that faded away quickly because I haven’t encouraged that kind of thinking. I didn’t make it go away; I just wasn’t interested in it. Thus, my peace was interrupted only briefly. I protect this learning by being vigilant for private thoughts and choosing again. I love these lessons!
To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 52 click here.
If you found this content helpful, please share on social media so more people can read and learn.