Lesson 14
God did not create a meaningless world.
W-pI.14.1. The idea for today is, of course, the reason why a meaningless world is impossible. 2 What God did not create does not exist. 3 And everything that does exist exists as He created it. 4 The world you see has nothing to do with reality. 5 It is of your own making, and it does not exist.
W-pI.14.2. The exercises for today are to be practiced with eyes closed throughout. 2 The mind-searching period should be short, a minute at most. 3 Do not have more than three practice periods with today’s idea unless you find them comfortable. 4 If you do, it will be because you really understand what they are for.
W-pI.14.3. The idea for today is another step in learning to let go the thoughts that you have written on the world, and see the Word of God in their place. 2 The early steps in this exchange, which can truly be called salvation, can be quite difficult and even quite painful. 3 Some of them will lead you directly into fear. 4 You will not be left there. 5 You will go far beyond it. 6 Our direction is toward perfect safety and perfect peace.
W-pI.14.4. With eyes closed, think of all the horrors in the world that cross your mind. 2 Name each one as it occurs to you, and then deny its reality. 3 God did not create it, and so it is not real. 4 Say, for example:
5 God did not create that war, and so it is not real.
6 God did not create that airplane crash, and so it is not real.
7 God did not create that disaster [specify], and so it is not real.
W-pI.14.5. Suitable subjects for the application of today’s idea also include anything you are afraid might happen to you, or to anyone about whom you are concerned. 2 In each case, name the “disaster” quite specifically. 3 Do not use general terms. 4 For example, do not say, “God did not create illness,” but, “God did not create cancer,” or heart attacks, or whatever may arouse fear in you.
W-pI.14.6. This is your personal repertory of horrors at which you are looking. 2 These things are part of the world you see. 3 Some of them are shared illusions, and others are part of your personal hell. 4 It does not matter. 5 What God did not create can only be in your own mind apart from His. 6 Therefore, it has no meaning. 7 In recognition of this fact, conclude the practice periods by repeating today’s idea:
8 God did not create a meaningless world.
W-pI.14.7. The idea for today can, of course, be applied to anything that disturbs you during the day, aside from the practice periods. 2 Be very specific in applying it. 3 Say:
4 God did not create a meaningless world. 5 He did not create [specify the situation which is disturbing you], and so it is not real.
Journal
Ahh, so this is what we have been moving toward. As Jesus says, some of these exercises might lead to fear, especially if you are stuck in your own interpretation of the world, and all of us are until we are not. These lessons are the gentle way out of our misperceptions. He has told us that the world is meaningless but now he explains that God does not create the meaningless. The next step in logic brings us to the fact that God did not create the world we see.
How might we use this information? Well, we can look at our fears and recognize that God did not create them, therefore they cannot be real. Perhaps you cannot see how this could be, yet, or perhaps you cannot accept it in all cases. But that’s OK. Remember what Jesus told us in the introduction.
W-in.9. Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them, and you need not even welcome them. 2 Some of them you may actively resist. 3 None of this will matter, or decrease their efficacy. 4 But do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. 5 Nothing more than that is required.
Some of our fears are shared. Our creative mind as a whole contributed to the images that show up as our world. For instance, we might look at the assault on the Capital and use this.
4 God did not create a meaningless world. 5 He did not create [this assault on the Capital], and so it is not real.
Some of our fears are much closer to home. They come from our own private hell. For instance, maybe you are sick, or maybe you lost someone close to you. Maybe you are afraid someone dear to you may succumb to Covid 19. The practice is the same regardless of the appearance.
4 God did not create a meaningless world. 5 He did not create [sickness/death/Covid 19], and so it is not real.
The mind may resist this idea because it seems to fly in the face of fact, but don’t let this stop you from using it. Trust Jesus to know that it is in doing these simple exercises that we will learn the difference between truth and perception. Trust that these lessons will bring us into our sane minds and will awaken us to the truth of who we are.