Lesson 43
God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.
I am doing today’s contemplation of the lesson a little differently. I am going to write my thoughts about the first three paragraphs as we go.
W-pI.43.1. Perception is not an attribute of God. 2 His is the realm of knowledge. 3 Yet He has created the Holy Spirit as the Mediator between perception and knowledge. 4 Without this link with God, perception would have replaced knowledge forever in your mind. 5 With this link with God, perception will become so changed and purified that it will lead to knowledge. 6 That is its function as the Holy Spirit sees it. 7 Therefore, that is its function in truth.
In using the word ‘see’ in this paragraph, Jesus refers to how we see things, what our perception of the situation means. He tells us that perception is not an attribute of God so this is something that occurred with the separation. Until this time, perception was not a thing. There was only knowledge and unlike perception which gives many definitions and meanings according to one’s preference, knowledge is unchanging and is the same for all.
Everything we have made in this world is a matter of perception. You might say that some things are the same for everyone but you would be wrong. Let’s look at grass. It grows out of the ground and is green, and pretty much for everyone, this is true about grass. But there are many kinds of grass and shades of green but more importantly, as it pertains to our discussion of perception, there are many ways of seeing grass, that is, understanding what it is for. One might struggle for a lush lawn and take great pride in manicuring it so it seems perfect. Another might find it a nuisance and cement it over. Clearly, they perceive grass differently. So, even grass has many meanings.
This is true for every thing and every thought, every situation, and every relationship. How we see anything, that is, what we think it is for, is dependent on our specific experience of the ego. It has nothing to do with knowledge. All we know here is this uncertain perception of our world. If left to our miscreating, there would be no meeting place in our minds. We would forever be separate, unable to share in any thought.
There would be no true communication between us. And since sharing is creating, we would have robbed ourselves of our power to create. But God created the Holy Spirit as the Mediator between perception and knowledge. And this made it possible to return to wholeness and know ourselves as part of God. Without this link with God, perception would have replaced knowledge forever in your mind. But with this link, perception is purified so that it leads to knowledge.
I was looking at my dining room table that suffered some damage in the hurricane. What I would like to do is take the table to an expert and have him remove the imperfections without changing the essence of the table and restore it to its original state. It made me think of the Holy Spirit taking my screwed-up thinking and purifying it until my mind is as it was in my creation.
W-pI.43.2. In God you cannot see. 2 Perception has no function in God, and does not exist. 3 Yet in salvation, which is the undoing of what never was, perception has a mighty purpose. 4 Made by the Son of God for an unholy purpose, it must become the means for the restoration of his holiness to his awareness. 5 Perception has no meaning. 6 Yet does the Holy Spirit give it a meaning very close to God’s. 7 Healed perception becomes the means by which the Son of God forgives his brother, and thus forgives himself.
In God you cannot see. At first glance, that was a puzzler. But what it means is that in God there is no perception, there is only knowledge. So, in God we cannot perceive, we simply know. Think of it this way, to perceive there must be an object to perceive and a perceiver of the object. But in God, all is One. There is no duality. In the world, there is duality, a perceiver and the perceived. In God there is nonduality; one does not perceive, one knows. And there is only God so all this we think of as our world is an illusion. It does not exist.
How wonderful that in salvation perception is first purified and then undone but as this occurs perception which has no meaning, in reality, serves a mighty purpose. As Jesus says, … it must become the means for the restoration of his holiness to his awareness. It becomes the way we forgive our brother and thus ourselves. As Jesus helps us understand later in the Course, whatever we made with the ego the Holy Spirit uses to undo the ego. So, when I ask the Holy Spirit to look at my perception of a situation or a person, I am asking Him to purify that perception and get it as close to reality as is possible here.
And that statement is the problem with using words to describe what is not understandable. We must speak the language of the dream if we are to undo it. I remember one time Regina used a cartoon character to explain the Holy Spirit’s function of purifying our perceptions. This cartoon character was a child genius who would invent things to save the day. One time his friend was having nightmares that a giant pickle was chasing him and he was afraid to go to sleep.
His friend invented a way to go into his dream and explain he was safe. But once in the dream, his little friend was confused and more afraid because this wasn’t making sense to him so he realized he would have to be part of the dream and use the dream language in order to help the little boy realize he was safe. The Holy Spirit does that for us. He comes into the dream with us and uses the language of the dream to bring us out of it without scaring us. So, I don’t try overly hard to express the truth perfectly. It is not possible anyway. The only thing that matters to me is if the explanation is helpful at the level of my present understanding.
W-pI.43.3. You cannot see apart from God because you cannot be apart from God. 2 Whatever you do you do in Him, because whatever you think, you think with His Mind. 3 If vision is real, and it is real to the extent to which it shares the Holy Spirit’s purpose, then you cannot see apart from God.
And so, if we are seeing with the eyes and thinking with the wrong mind, then we are not seeing and we are not knowing. When we are able to look with the eyes and think with the mind and yet see through vision what is really there, we are actually seeing. I am sure we have all had moments of vision. When I ask the Holy Spirit for another way to see, I am asking for vision. It is a gift and one I value above all else. When this happens, there is no judgment and I am able to see the innocence beyond the circumstances and events and it is like the original judgmental thoughts never existed.
W-pI.43.4. Three five-minute practice periods are required today, one as early and one as late as possible in the day. 2 The third may be undertaken at the most convenient and suitable time that circumstances and readiness permit. 3 At the beginning of these practice periods, repeat the idea for today to yourself with eyes open. 4 Then glance around you for a short time, applying the idea specifically to what you see. 5 Four or five subjects for this phase of the practice period are sufficient. 6 You might say, for example:
7 God is my Source. 8 I cannot see this desk apart from Him.
9 God is my Source. 10 I cannot see that picture apart from Him.
W-pI.43.5. Although this part of the exercise period should be relatively short, be sure that you select the subjects for this phase of practice indiscriminately, without self-directed inclusion or exclusion. 2 For the second and longer phase, close your eyes, repeat today’s idea again, and then let whatever relevant thoughts occur to you add to the idea in your own personal way. 3 Thoughts such as:
4 I see through the eyes of forgiveness.
5 I see the world as blessed.
6 The world can show me myself.
7 I see my own thoughts, which are like God’s.
8 Any thought related more or less directly to today’s idea is suitable. 9 The thoughts need not bear any obvious relationship to the idea, but they should not be in opposition to it.
W-pI.43.6. If you find your mind wandering; if you begin to be aware of thoughts which are clearly out of accord with today’s idea, or if you seem to be unable to think of anything, open your eyes, repeat the first phase of the exercise period, and then attempt the second phase again. 2 Do not allow any protracted period to occur in which you become preoccupied with irrelevant thoughts. 3 Return to the first phase of the exercises as often as necessary to prevent this.
W-pI.43.7. In applying today’s idea in the shorter practice periods, the form may vary according to the circumstances and situations in which you find yourself during the day. 2 When you are with someone else, for example, try to remember to tell him silently:
3 God is my Source. 4 I cannot see you apart from Him.
5 This form is equally applicable to strangers as it is to those you think are closer to you. 6 In fact, try not to make distinctions of this kind at all.
W-pI.43.8. Today’s idea should also be applied throughout the day to various situations and events that may occur, particularly to those which seem to distress you in any way. 2 For this purpose, apply the idea in this form:
3 God is my Source. 4 I cannot see this apart from Him.
W-pI.43.9. If no particular subject presents itself to your awareness at the time, merely repeat the idea in its original form. 2 Try today not to allow any long periods of time to slip by without remembering today’s idea, and thus remembering your function.