ACIM Workbook Daily Lesson 53, Year 2022

ACIM Daily Lesson 53 Review I

Lesson 53

Today we will review the following:

1. (11) My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.

²Since the thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything, the world that pictures them can have no meaning. ³What is producing this world is insane, and so is what it produces. ⁴Reality is not insane, and I have real thoughts as well as insane ones. ⁵I can therefore see a real world, if I look to my real thoughts as my guide for seeing.

My thoughts make up my world and so my world perfectly reflects what I believe and what I want to be true. The entire world reflects what we want to be true. I cannot truly separate what I believe from what we believe because we share the same mind. But I let my focus rest on what seems to be my responsibility, that is, what is in my awareness. As I accept the Atonement for my insane thoughts, they clear from my mind and I become more aware of my real thoughts. These thoughts are what I share with God and are not insane, and so a saner world is reflected.

Here Is What Helped Me

So, what does this look like in my life? I used to feel guilty for nearly everything and I projected that guilt so that I had a lot of grievances. My life was an endless battle of defense and attack. Through the practice of the Course, I learned to look with the Holy Spirit at these situations and the beliefs that caused them. I began the process of releasing the beliefs. My life became less chaotic and my mind more peaceful.

It seemed really hard for a long time because I was afraid to lay my defenses down. I didn’t believe I could let go of my guilt. These doubts kept me bound to what was causing my distress and I had to get past them. What helped me is that I came to love Jesus and to trust him. So, I did what he said even in my uncertainty and doubt. He didn’t let me down. I continue this process to go even deeper into truth.

2. (12) I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

²Insane thoughts are upsetting. ³They produce a world in which there is no order anywhere. ⁴Only chaos rules a world that represents chaotic thinking, and chaos has no laws. ⁵I cannot live in peace in such a world. ⁶I am grateful that this world is not real, and that I need not see it at all unless I choose to value it. ⁷And I do not choose to value what is totally insane and has no meaning.

We are the Sons of God and to be deliberately choosing to live in such a chaotic and disturbing state is truly insane. We are not meant for this and we can choose differently as we are ready. It helps to understand that we continue to support this illusion as we value it. Why do we do that? I am as confused by that choice as anyone. Even though I have risen above the battleground to some degree, I still have not released it completely.

My life shows me that I still believe that there is meaning in the meaningless. For instance, I had that experience with the plumber. For some reason, I thought it might be interesting to experience myself as a victim again. This is crazy but then Jesus does tell us that we are insane when we choose to believe the illusion. But we can return to sanity just as I did when I had my fill of victimhood. I simply chose to see it differently and I did. I understand now that seeing a meaningless world is a choice and we can choose again when we are ready.

3. (13) A meaningless world engenders fear.

²The totally insane engenders fear because it is completely undependable, and offers no grounds for trust. ³Nothing in madness is dependable. ⁴It holds out no safety and no hope. ⁵But such a world is not real. ⁶I have given it the illusion of reality, and have suffered from my belief in it. ⁷Now I choose to withdraw this belief, and place my trust in reality. ⁸In choosing this, I will escape all the effects of the world of fear, because I am acknowledging that it does not exist.

The reason we experience fear is that we believe in this mad world. We believe it is real and we believe we are guilty for being here. The good news is that we give the illusion of reality from our belief in it and we can withdraw that belief. We escape from this lunatic asylum by acknowledging it does not exist. There is no world! To get to that point it is necessary that we look with the Holy Spirit at our chosen experiences and release the beliefs from which they were manifest.

4. (14) God did not create a meaningless world.

²How can a meaningless world exist if God did not create it? ³He is the Source of all meaning, and everything that is real is in His Mind. ⁴It is in my mind too, because He created it with me. ⁵Why should I continue to suffer from the effects of my own insane thoughts, when the perfection of creation is my home? ⁶Let me remember the power of my decision, and recognize where I really abide.

God created only what is real and has meaning. It remains in His Mind because ideas leave not their source. What has meaning is also in my mind because He created it with me. Because it is in my mind, I can access it and I want to do this. I am tired of suffering from the effects of my own insane thoughts. Through the power of my decision, I will recognize where I really abide.

When I Attack Others I Attack My Invulnerability

The other morning, I heard noise outside my house. I live in a quiet neighborhood so I wondered what was going on. I looked out to discover that a company was burying fiber optic cable. They dug an unsightly hole in my yard to do this, and then they covered it up. I suppose they are not through since it has a large orange pipe sticking out of it. I felt angry that they just came into my yard to do this without even informing me of their intention.

The next morning I resented them for the noise they continued to make as they lay more line, then I forget about it. I was driving down the road this morning and one of their big trucks was turning into the road. I had to wait for him to get out of my way and I noticed that I felt the resentment again. Good grief! I am attacking them for doing their job and in doing so, I am attacking myself. I am attacking my invulnerability. I released this to the Holy Spirit and accepted the healing. This is what it looks like to let go of the meaningless world of the ego.

5. (15) My thoughts are images that I have made.

²Whatever I see reflects my thoughts. ³It is my thoughts that tell me where I am and what I am. ⁴The fact that I see a world in which there is suffering and loss and death shows me that I am seeing only the representation of my insane thoughts, and am not allowing my real thoughts to cast their beneficent light on what I see. ⁵Yet God’s way is sure. ⁶The images I have made cannot prevail against Him because it is not my will that they do so. ⁷My will is His, and I will place no other gods before Him.

The world I used to see reflected my guilt and fear. Now, not so much. It can still happen but it doesn’t happen often. When it does, I look at it and let it go. I do this over and over because it has proven so helpful in changing my mind. Now, my world is more reflective of God’s Will than it used to be.

My five-year-old granddaughter is learning to ride her bike. The child is fearless and my first reaction was one of fear for her. I could just see her doing dangerous things on that bike as she got better at it. This came from my ego-mind, of course, and so I released that thought. While I was in fear, my world was darker. When I released the fear, the ‘sun’ came back out. ~smile~ We will succeed in returning our minds to God because it is His Will and it is ours. This is the same as saying that we will return to a state of eternal joy.

To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 53 click here.

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