Hi there,
This is just a thought-provoking lesson for me. Jesus states, “We are trying today to undo your definition of God and replace it with His Own.”
He also states, I am willing to accept as our goal for today that we have at least one moment of remembering that you are love.” Ken Wapnick writes in his book on the WB for students:
“We would then understand he is reflecting back to us that this is a process of gradually accepting the truth, as we gradually reject the illusion by correcting the ego’s substitution of a self-concept of guilt and fear for the memory that we are created by love itself.”
When we are encouraged to identity characteristics of God as they apply to us, Ken writes:
“Jesus is emphasizing what is true about us, a truth to which we are always asked to bring the illusion. Jesus knows that we do not believe this about ourselves. If we did, we would not be needing the workbook, and certainly not ACIM itself.”
Yesterday, I was very honest in my post to the various forums. I questioned what I believed about God and this lesson, for me, is most helpful as I see very clearly I have bought into a dualistic deity, which Ken states in his book, “means that His creation -us- must be dualistic, too: good perhaps, but also evil; sometimes innocent, but guilty as well. When brought to Jesus’ definition, the ego’s deity is replaced by the non-dualistic God of innocence and love.”
He continues:
“We vacillate between fear and love until we finally accept the Atonement for ourselves, at which point all teaching ends as we disappear into the love that created us like itself.”
When Jesus states, “And somewhere in your mind It is there for you to find.” That is, the truth about us, Ken writes:
“This is why in our daily practice of the lessons, let alone our practice of the Course’s principles – in all situations and relationships – we must continually be vigilant for what our egos are up to. We need not worry about what Jesus is up to; we need be concerned only for our egos. If we can look at them with Jesus, our investment in being right will decrease, allowing truth to become increasingly important to us. In other words, we shall finally have sought for what we truly want to find. And seeking for it, we shall be successful, since “it is there for[us] to find.”
Finally relative to the “blazing light” reference in the lesson, Ken writes:
“Undoing, as described in ACIM, means looking at the ego first, as the prerequisite for the process of moving beyond the darkness to the light. Thus, from time to time, as he does here, Jesus reminds us of the light to which we bring the darkness of our “thoughtlessness” which consists of the ego’s attempts to distract us with thoughts that are not real. Yet, to repeat, one cannot regain awareness of the blazing light of our real thoughts without first recognizing our identification with the unreal (or thought-less) ones.”
Honestly, I am very happy that I was so willing yesterday to look at beliefs about God that have certainly not served me. Believing God was good, loving, kind, etc., however, this perspective was very much blurred and obscured, distorted and convoluted because I did find myself, all too often, becoming upset about something I heard on the news in some form of violence perpetrated by someone toward another or animals, whatever, as well as in countless other forms of conflict, chaos and despair. Driving today on any main thoroughfare can be stressful if I am mired in separation, as an example.
Good for me, therapeutic for me, cathartic for me to do so as I cannot be willing for these beliefs to be undone if I don’t explore them for fear I will be punished by the God in whom I pronounce I fervently believe!
SOOOO, you see, just looking, just challenging, just questioning, just my being willing to explore what beliefs underlie my perception of the world was healing.
Nothing, nada, niente to fear at all. So silly was I to defend against the truth, so silly.
Ultimately, all pain is an effect of the beliefs we hold about God. Speaking for myself, if I am unaware of my belief in a dualistic God, I will see duality everywhere and be miserable.
If I accept He is nothing but non-dualism, God is and there is nothing else, well then, I will see through the eyes of Christ.
Hmm, since these are the ONLY alternatives, think I will continue being willing to look at my own thoughts of darkness, ask Jesus to be with me as I do so, and have Him transform them.
Onward and upward, I say!
Love,
Gayle
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