Lesson 13

Lesson 13

A meaningless world engenders fear.

Today’s idea is really another form of the preceding one, except that it is more specific as to the emotion aroused. Actually, a meaningless world is impossible. Nothing without meaning exists. However, it does not follow that you will not think you perceive something that has no meaning. On the contrary, you will be particularly likely to think you do perceive it.

Recognition of meaninglessness arouses intense anxiety in all the separated ones. It represents a situation in which God and the ego “challenge” each other as to whose meaning is to be written in the empty space that meaninglessness provides. The ego rushes in frantically to establish its own ideas there, fearful that the void may otherwise be used to demonstrate its own impotence and unreality. And on this alone it is correct.

It is essential, therefore, that you learn to recognize the meaningless, and accept it without fear. If you are fearful, it is certain that you will endow the world with attributes that it does not possess, and crowd it with images that do not exist. To the ego illusions are safety devices, as they must also be to you who equate yourself with the ego.

The exercises for today, which should be done about three or four times for not more than a minute or so at most each time, are to be practiced in a somewhat different way from the preceding ones. With eyes closed, repeat today’s idea to yourself. Then open your eyes, and look about you slowly, saying:

I am looking at a meaningless world.

Repeat this statement to yourself as you look about. Then close your eyes, and conclude with:

A meaningless world engenders fear because I think I am in competition with God.

You may find it difficult to avoid resistance, in one form or another, to this concluding statement. Whatever form such resistance may take, remind yourself that you are really afraid of such a thought because of the “vengeance” of the “enemy.” You are not expected to believe the statement at this point, and will probably dismiss it as preposterous. Note carefully, however, any signs of overt or covert fear which it may arouse.

This is our first attempt at stating an explicit cause and effect relationship of a kind which you are very inexperienced in recognizing. Do not dwell on the concluding statement, and try not even to think of it except during the practice periods. That will suffice at present.

 

Journal

I must be more open and receptive to this lesson than I have been in the past. When I look around the room and admit that I am looking at a meaningless world, I feel the prickling of tears trying to form. I guess I have worked so very hard to give the world I see meaning that it is depressing to realize it was all for naught. Or maybe it is the realization that I am going to have to face the fact that I have put myself in competition with God. That’s pretty depressing, too, and more than a little scary to the part of my mind that thinks it succeeded at this insane task. I amaze myself at how often I have learned the concepts put forward in the Course only to discover that I still rejected them and did so without acknowledging that rejection. Maybe now that I have allowed myself to see my avoidance of the truth, it means I am ready to accept the truth.

NTI

Romans 6

This is all about my relationship with Jesus, which is my relationship with the universe. Just as the universe is in our mind, so is Jesus.

“The universe is in your mind, so that all that has been accomplished has been accomplished by you. And within this universe, the model that rises to the top of your mind is the symbol of the man called Jesus. This is because Jesus represents your true desire. Jesus is the freedom you want to be. Everything else that floats within the universe of the mind is from a past desire and is not your current desire.”

All that Jesus did, I did, because we are one. He is in me and I am in him and there is no separation. He gives me strength and guidance and yet, he is in me. How can this be? It is not understandable within the construct of a world based on separation. But if we throw that construct out, and remember that there is only One and that there is only God, it is clear that we are That and in That, an extension of That, and It is in Us. Remember, we are holographic in nature. All That Is is in each of us.

Of course, Jesus is in me. He is a symbol of my truest desire. Jesus/Holy Spirit can guide and help in the perfect way because they are part of me and therefore know what is needed to return me to the truth of my being. I used to be disturbed that Jesus could be thought of as a symbol, but I suppose that I, too, am a symbol. Certainly, this Myron character is not what I am, so it must be a symbol, perhaps a symbol of what I used to want before the symbol that is Jesus helped me to remember my true desire.

Regina’s Tips

Politics, relationships, spiritual discussions and more present us with wonderful opportunities to see the opinions and beliefs we want to cling to and defend. If we pay close attention we can feel the energy arise within that “I must make this point,” “prove that I am right” or get the other one to “see it my way.” This energy is the ego rushing in frantically to establish its own ideas so that it remains potent, seeming real and ‘me.’

If we want to unweave our way out of fantasy, it is “essential, therefore, that you learn to recognize the meaningless, and accept it without fear.” In other words, feel that energy rushing forth inside of us and do nothing to satisfy it. Hold back on our opinion. Do not try to prove we are right. Let the other have their point of view. Etc.

Feel the ego squirm. Rest, accept and trust. Let it squirm. Do nothing. The threads are pulled out of the ego tapestry as we become comfortable with not placing meaning on everything we perceive.

My Thoughts

I love Regina’s tips today. There was a period between forcing my opinion on others and not needing to offer it at all. It was then that I felt that insane energy running through me as I ground my teeth and bit my tongue trying to keep my mouth shut when I really thought the world needed to know how I felt about something. Nowadays, I might feel that energy briefly, but I am so aware of it and so uninterested in “winning” that it comes and goes pretty quickly. I love that this is so.

Past Entries

Yesterday’s lesson said that I am upset because I see a meaningless world, and today he gets very specific about it. My upset is fear. I always thought I was afraid because certain things happened, like wars and financial upsets, and like bad relationships and sickness and death. But I am discovering something very startling. Those are just effects or images that represent my fear. There is actually a root cause.

I am afraid because I see a meaningless world and because I think that the world is meaningless, I rush to put my meaning on it before God can put His there. I am in competition with God. That is the real cause of all other fear. Though I am not consciously aware of this, it must be causing me intense guilt and fear on an unconscious level.

The first time I did these lessons I couldn’t find that fear and guilt because it was so deeply buried in my mind. When it did start to rise in one form or another I would quickly project it onto something or someone else before I could become consciously aware of it. I have had enough time with these lessons that my initial reaction to them is not the same as it was in the beginning. I have spent the time since my first time through the lessons learning to recognize the meaningless, and doing it to the best of my ability and without fear.

I absolutely accept that I, to the degree I identify with ego, am in competition with God, and I have had enough healing that this realization is not as frightening as it once was. Here is a message from “Hey, Holy Spirit, It’s Me Again” that the Holy Spirit gave me at one time.

Me: Holy Spirit, could You talk to me about this? Why do I still feel discomfort at the idea of a meaningless world?

Holy Spirit: That is only the ego shuddering in fear as it foresees its own death. Do not be concerned by this twinge of resistance. You are completely and wholly supported as you take this next step. Don’t think you have to do or undo anything and don’t allow guilt to enter into this process. When you do your lesson, and when you see ways in which you think you are in competition with God, just notice them. Just say, “Oh, I see that,” or “So that is how it works.” Your willingness to see differently is your part, and that is all. Guilt and fear are just ego devices to keep you from being willing.

From that message and others like it, I have learned that willingness is my part and that guilt and fear are not real and that I can disregard those emotions when they arise. I don’t always do so, but I know that I want to and that I will, sooner or later, remember to do so. Just these simple instructions, that I give my willingness to see differently, and that I stop indulging the ego choice for fear and guilt, have made all the difference.