ACIM Daily Lesson 55 Review I
ACIM Workbook Daily Lesson 55
Review I
Lesson 55
Today’s review includes the following:
1. (21) I am determined to see things differently.
²What I see now are but signs of disease, disaster and death. ³This cannot be what God created for His beloved Son. ⁴The very fact that I see such things is proof that I do not understand God. ⁵Therefore I also do not understand His Son. ⁶What I see tells me that I do not know who I am. ⁷I am determined to see the witnesses to the truth in me, rather than those which show me an illusion of myself.
If I remembered who I am, my thoughts would be very different. They would be thoughts of kindness and love. My thoughts would be inclusive rather than exclusive. I would think of everyone as the same as me. We would be like identical cells in the body of Christ, each having everything and none needing anything. Instead of having thoughts of competition, there would only be thoughts of sharing. Can you imagine what the world would look like if we all thought like this?
Why Not Spread Love?
This is what the real world will look like, everyone in love with everyone and sharing All There Is with each other. But we are not in the real world yet, so what can we do while we are here to bring the real world to us? Here is what I do. This morning I had a doctor’s appointment and I noticed while waiting that I wanted to be back home on my call. I realized that I wasn’t smiling. So, I shifted my thinking and began to feel grateful for the medical care.
By the time I saw the doctor, I was no longer seeing her as an inconvenience. I was filled with gratitude for her and it showed and she felt it. It seems like a small thing, but each instant can be filled with these small moments of love. In so doing, we can make a bit of paradise around us and this bit will spread as others are affected. Why not spread love rather than fear? It’s just as easy and it will bring us closer to living in the real world.
2. (22) What I see is a form of vengeance.
²The world I see is hardly the representation of loving thoughts. ³It is a picture of attack on everything by everything. ⁴It is anything but a reflection of the Love of God and the Love of His Son. ⁵It is my own attack thoughts that give rise to this picture. ⁶My loving thoughts will save me from this perception of the world, and give me the peace God intended me to have.
Because fear drives the world we made, most people are in a constant state of fight or flight. We believe that we need to defend ourselves and we do this through attack. Defense makes us feel more vulnerable and so we have more attack thoughts. This occurs in our homes and our workplaces. We see it in road rage. There is war between races. People kill each other over differences of opinion.
The Effects of Fear Thoughts
All of this and more come from fear thoughts. If I have any fear thoughts I am contributing to this unloving and hateful world. And all of this derives from the belief that we are separate from God. From that belief was born the belief we are separate from each other. And from that came the belief we are different and some are better and some worse.
Since the problem is separation, the solution is oneness. When I experience a feeling of separation, I have a choice. I can add to the problem, or I can ask for another way to see things. If I make the choice for God, I will see differently and will not feel the need to attack. Instead of judging someone’s behavior as unacceptable, I might see it as unwarranted but understandable. This calls for love and I know how to give love.
3. (23) I can escape from this world by giving up attack thoughts.
²Herein lies salvation, and nowhere else. ³Without attack thoughts I could not see a world of attack. ⁴As forgiveness allows love to return to my awareness, I will see a world of peace and safety and joy. ⁵And it is this I choose to see, in place of what I look on now.
Jesus tells us this. ³Without attack thoughts I could not see a world of attack. This makes perfect sense in light of what he has told us thus far about our thoughts. All thoughts have power and all thoughts have effects. The world is a representation of our state of mind. Therefore, it follows that if I see a world of attack, I know that there are attack thoughts in my mind. So, no matter what I see in the world, I turn it around to see where that is a belief in my mind. In this way, I can find the cause and make a true change.
Ego thoughts (fear) are projected outward (sickness, accidents, etc) and are used by the ego to convince me that I am alone, at risk, vulnerable. This very same projection can be used by the Holy Spirit to show me that I am not a victim of a hostile world. This is done when I decide I want to see differently. As I decide that I want to be healed, the Holy Spirit corrects my thinking and heals my mind.
4. (24) I do not perceive my own best interests.
²How could I recognize my own best interests when I do not know who I am? ³What I think are my best interests would merely bind me closer to the world of illusions. ⁴I am willing to follow the Guide God has given me to find out what my own best interests are, recognizing that I cannot perceive them by myself.
It might be that my best interests are the challenges that I currently face. For instance, I went to the doctor because I have congestion and coughing that won’t go away. It makes talking and recording difficult. In the real world, there is no sickness because there is no guilt. I can move toward this as my faith and trust grow. So, the doctor helps me navigate the illusion with fewer physical obstructions, but those obstructions remind me that I still lack faith. ⁵Had you not lacked faith that it could be solved, the problem would be gone. (ACIM, T-17.VII.1:5) I know what I need to work on now so this problem, uncomfortable as it is, is in my best interest.
5. (25) I do not know what anything is for.
²To me, the purpose of everything is to prove that my illusions about myself are real. ³It is for this purpose that I attempt to use everyone and everything. ⁴It is for this that I believe the world is for. ⁵Therefore I do not recognize its real purpose. ⁶The purpose I have given the world has led to a frightening picture of it. ⁷Let me open my mind to the world’s real purpose by withdrawing the one I have given it, and learning the truth about it.
Whatever we have made to keep the idea of separation in the mind, the Holy Spirit will use it to awaken us. We made the world from our belief in sin, guilt, and punishment. We use it to project our guilt so we can make someone else guilty of our perceived sins. The world can seem to be a distraction from our sins and the fear of punishment. But the Holy Spirit has a different use for it.
As we are willing to recognize our judgments, attack thoughts, guilt, and fear, and look at them with the Holy Spirit, we are healed of these beliefs. In this way, the world shows us what needs to be healed. Our readiness to awaken and our determination to see brings light into the mind. This is the real purpose of the world.
To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 55 click here.
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