Lesson 41
God goes with me wherever I go.
W-pI.41.1. Today’s idea will eventually overcome completely the sense of loneliness and abandonment all the separated ones experience. 2 Depression is an inevitable consequence of separation. 3 So are anxiety, worry, a deep sense of helplessness, misery, suffering and intense fear of loss.
W-pI.41.2. The separated ones have invented many “cures” for what they believe to be “the ills of the world.” 2 But the one thing they do not do is to question the reality of the problem. 3 Yet its effects cannot be cured because the problem is not real. 4 The idea for today has the power to end all this foolishness forever. 5 And foolishness it is, despite the serious and tragic forms it may take.
W-pI.41.3. Deep within you is everything that is perfect, ready to radiate through you and out into the world. 2 It will cure all sorrow and pain and fear and loss because it will heal the mind that thought these things were real, and suffered out of its allegiance to them.
W-pI.41.4. You can never be deprived of your perfect holiness because its Source goes with you wherever you go. 2 You can never suffer because the Source of all joy goes with you wherever you go. 3 You can never be alone because the Source of all life goes with you wherever you go. 4 Nothing can destroy your peace of mind because God goes with you wherever you go.
W-pI.41.5. We understand that you do not believe all this. 2 How could you, when the truth is hidden deep within, under a heavy cloud of insane thoughts, dense and obscuring, yet representing all you see? 3 Today we will make our first real attempt to get past this dark and heavy cloud, and to go through it to the light beyond.
W-pI.41.6. There will be only one long practice period today. 2 In the morning, as soon as you get up if possible, sit quietly for some three to five minutes, with your eyes closed. 3 At the beginning of the practice period, repeat today’s idea very slowly. 4 Then make no effort to think of anything. 5 Try, instead, to get a sense of turning inward, past all the idle thoughts of the world. 6 Try to enter very deeply into your own mind, keeping it clear of any thoughts that might divert your attention.
W-pI.41.7. From time to time, you may repeat the idea if you find it helpful. 2 But most of all, try to sink down and inward, away from the world and all the foolish thoughts of the world. 3 You are trying to reach past all these things. 4 You are trying to leave appearances and approach reality.
W-pI.41.8. It is quite possible to reach God. 2 In fact it is very easy, because it is the most natural thing in the world. 3 You might even say it is the only natural thing in the world. 4 The way will open, if you believe that it is possible. 5 This exercise can bring very startling results even the first time it is attempted, and sooner or later it is always successful. 6 We will go into more detail about this kind of practice as we go along. 7 But it will never fail completely, and instant success is possible.
W-pI.41.9. Throughout the day use today’s idea often, repeating it very slowly, preferably with eyes closed. 2 Think of what you are saying; what the words mean. 3 Concentrate on the holiness that they imply about you; on the unfailing companionship that is yours; on the complete protection that surrounds you.
W-pI.41.10. You can indeed afford to laugh at fear thoughts, remembering that God goes with you wherever you go.
Journal
Of course, God goes with you wherever you go. God is in you and you are in Him, how could you be apart from Him? The negative emotions we feel, anxiety, depression, a deep sense of helplessness, misery, suffering, and intense fear of loss are all caused by the belief that we are separate from God, and yet, that cannot be true. Our suffering is senseless and we can be in this world without suffering.
Last night, I watched an episode of Downton Abbey that triggered sadness in me. I cried. This was just a show and I knew the characters were not real but I felt the sadness they felt because I was involved in their stories. Now imagine that I became so involved in their stories that I forgot they were not real, and suppose I began to see myself as one of them. Now, how strong would the emotions become?
This is exactly what is happening to us right now. We become so involved with the story of our ‘life’ that we think we are the character we have become identified with. A Course in Miracles helps us detach from the story and remember who we really are. As the character, we keep trying to fix the story just as the characters in Downton Abbey are trying to do. But Jesus wants us to see this differently. He wants us to question the reality of the story. He wants us to step back from the story and watch it instead of thinking we are in the story.
This lesson reminds us that we are not in a strange and often painful story. We are in God and so we are perfectly safe as we experience the story of our ‘lives.’ From this safe place, we can still experience the story fully, but without fear. We begin to see that the thoughts and beliefs of the character are determining the direction the story goes and trigger the emotions that are the effects of these thoughts. We learn to decide on the thoughts that need to be released and to accept the healing the Holy Spirit brings to these beliefs. This is our way out of the stories and back to our Home.
This healing purpose to the separation stories is possible and even easy once we decide that this is what we want to do with them in this lifetime. It is easy because we, our essential nature, that is, who we are is intact and is us right now. And hold onto your hats; God is in us right now and we can find Him. This is the purpose of the mediation that we are asked to do.
Our Self, our Reality, is obscured by the story, but the story cannot change the Self anymore that the TV show changed what I am. It does not change the unalterable fact that I am in God and God is in me. I will go into this short meditation, this first gentle attempt to move past the dark thoughts of the ego to find God with the reverence such an endeavor calls for.
My two favorite sentences in this lesson.
It is quite possible to reach God.
You can indeed afford to laugh at fear thoughts, remembering that God goes with you wherever you go.