Lesson 19 

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts. 

W-pI.19.1. The idea for today is obviously the reason why your seeing does not affect you alone. 2 You will notice that at times the ideas related to thinking precede those related to perceiving, while at other times the order is reversed. 3 The reason is that the order does not matter. 4 Thinking and its results are really simultaneous, for cause and effect are never separate. 

W-pI.19.2. Today we are again emphasizing the fact that minds are joined. 2 This is rarely a wholly welcome idea at first, since it seems to carry with it an enormous sense of responsibility, and may even be regarded as an “invasion of privacy.” 3 Yet it is a fact that there are no private thoughts. 4 Despite your initial resistance to this idea, you will yet understand that it must be true if salvation is possible at all. 5 And salvation must be possible because it is the Will of God. 

W-pI.19.3. The minute or so of mind searching which today’s exercises require is to be undertaken with eyes closed. 2 The idea for today is to be repeated first, and then the mind should be carefully searched for the thoughts it contains at that time. 3 As you consider each one, name it in terms of the central person or theme it contains, and holding it in your mind as you do so, say: 

4 I am not alone in experiencing the effects of this thought about _____. 

W-pI.19.4. The requirement of as much indiscriminateness as possible in selecting subjects for the practice periods should be quite familiar to you by now, and will no longer be repeated each day, although it will occasionally be included as a reminder. 2 Do not forget, however, that random selection of subjects for all practice periods remains essential throughout. 3 Lack of order in this connection will ultimately make the recognition of lack of order in miracles meaningful to you. 

W-pI.19.5. Apart from the “as needed” application of today’s idea, at least three practice periods are required, shortening the length of time involved, if necessary. 2 Do not attempt more than four. 

Journal 

The reason that I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing is that I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts and it is my thoughts that determine what I see. It is important that we understand this connection. All these things we see are just images we have made from our thoughts. So, we can say that thoughts=images.

This computer is something I see and touch because we as a whole desired this experience and our thoughts brought it into the world. Because we designed our world to be believable, computers seem to have a logical step-by-step process for coming into existence. Someone had an idea and then others contribute and eventually, we have computers that get better and smaller and stronger.  

But what actually happened is that we wanted this technology to exist and our thoughts brought it into existence albeit in a way that doesn’t expose the true source. What happens when we start to see that the world is not what we thought? We call this awakening and the ego gets kicked to the curb and the game starts to unravel. It is like we vowed to keep this a secret from ourselves but now it is time to go Home so we are peeking behind the veil that hides the wizard who it turns out is us. What pranksters we are, and how clever. 

The first thing that is revealed to us when we take that peek is that we thought we saw the images and then thought about them. Actually, we thought them and then we saw them. The thought always comes first. The next surprise behind the veil is that we are not only all affected by these images we make, but that we are all affected by the thoughts that preceded the images. Oh, wait! That means we don’t have any secret thoughts. That can be disconcerting, can’t it? 

If all the different forms, the different images we see in the world are simply artifacts of our thoughts and that all the thoughts are shared, then we must be connected at the level of mind. And if these bodies are just more images of a thought we wanted to experience as if it were something real, then we must be the mind that thinks it. We are not actually minds at all but simply, mind. We share all thoughts because we share the same mind. 

In a way, this is a bit much to take in and disturbing at some level, but in another way, it is a wonderful thought. Have you ever felt alone and lonely? Have you ever felt that no one really gets you? Have you ever felt like life is just one big war where you are on one side and there were others who disagreed with you? As we each begin to awaken to the truth, we realize that we are never alone as we once felt we were.  

We are part of a whole beautiful amazing Self, and because of that fact, we are not really in conflict with each other, but in perfect accord. Think about what it would feel like to know that we are not separate individuals with different needs and desires. There would never be conflict because we would never be in competition. We would always want the best for everyone concerned because it would be best for the whole.  

So, if this idea that our thoughts and experiences are shared and there are no private thoughts at all seems off-putting, consider for a moment the uninterrupted peace and love and never-ending joy that comes with the acceptance of this reality. In the meantime, we need to do the practices that are offered here so that we can gently, a step at a time undo the world we made and return to our natural state of Divine Love as God the Son.  

Jesus also points out that sometimes ideas related to thinking precede those related to perceiving, while at other times the order is reversed. The reason it doesn’t matter is that thinking and its results are really simultaneous. What amazing Beings we are and I think it is time we own up to that, accept our heritage, and stop hiding in these bodies pretending to be victims.