Lesson 53 – Review of Lessons 11-15

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

I ask God to help me sink beneath the meaningless thoughts of the world to the real Thoughts in His Mind.

I lay on my back, my favorite meditating posture, and allow the mind to unfurl like a sail in the wind.

Distracting thoughts come but I let them drift by. Then, the spiritual eye appears … peaceful calm unthinking … no ego “thinking”, no fear, no grudges, no tempting beautiful shadows either … everyone everywhere is in God’s Hands because … we are not bodies, we are formless God-Thoughts extending from His One Thought which overflows as One.

A message comes: the future is over because it is a projection within a projection.  The future is the past inverted.  Ego fixates on the past and further complicates its pseudo-thinking by predicting “future” outcomes based on the past.

Whether we are frightened by speculating catastrophes or tempted with desires of glorious outcomes, neither are real.  The future is just another insane way of deliberately staying in the past, rather than  returning to the sanity and reality of the Timeless Present.

LESSON 53

Today we will review the following:

1.  (11)  My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.
Since the thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything, the world that pictures them can have no meaning.  What is producing this world is insane, and so is what it produces.  Reality is not insane, and I have real thoughts as well as insane ones.  I can therefore see a real world, if I look to my real thoughts as my guide for seeing.

2.  (12)  I am upset because I see a meaningless world.
Insane thoughts are upsetting. They produce a world in which there is no order anywhere. Only chaos rules a world that represents chaotic thinking, and chaos has no laws. I cannot live in peace in such a world. I am grateful that this world is not real, and that I need not see it at all unless I choose to value it. And I do not choose to value what is totally insane and has no meaning.

3.  (13)  A meaningless world engenders fear.
The totally insane engenders fear because it is completely undependable, and offers no grounds for trust. Nothing in madness is dependable. It holds out no safety and no hope. But such a world is not real. I have given it the illusion of reality, and have suffered from my belief in it. Now I choose to withdraw this belief, and place my trust in reality. In choosing this, I will escape all the effects of the world of fear, because I am acknowledging that it does not exist.

4. (14)  God did not create a meaningless world.
How can a meaningless world exist if God did not create it? He is the Source of all meaning, and everything that is real is in His Mind. It is in my mind too, because He created it with me. Why should I continue to suffer from the effects of my own insane thoughts, when the perfection of creation is my home? Let me remember the power of my decision, and recognize where I really abide.

5. (15)  My thoughts are images that I have made.
Whatever I see reflects my thoughts. It is my thoughts that tell me where I am and what I am. The fact that I see a world in which there is suffering and loss and death shows me that I am seeing only the representation of my insane thoughts, and am not allowing my real thoughts to cast their beneficent light on what I see. Yet God’s way is sure. The images I have made cannot prevail against Him because it is not my will that they do so. My will is His, and I will place no other gods before Him.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

Lesson 52 – Review of Lessons 6-10

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

My whole life is a game of pretend.  Make-believe.  I have dreamed up a scenario involving space and time, the world and bodies, special relationships and life and death.  But I am confused.  What I consider real is only illusion, and illusion is actually nothing.

What I call seeing is actually a condemnation of the world.  The text says that what the ego calls a question is actually an accusation disguised as a question.  It’s the same thing.  By “seeing” anything other than God, I am disguising my error from myself by projecting terror, anger, shame, blame and the need for punishment upon my brothers, the world and God Himself.

When I turn to the Holy Spirit for help, my seeing is transformed into true perception and God’s Vision filters through everything I think I see, transforming my view of the world and other people into a Loving experience.

The past is the way that I keep the present out of my awareness.  I do this to forget God.  In that sense, I made up time to use it against God Who Is Timeless.  Part of the forgiveness process is giving time back to God, just like anything else.

I give my sense of being separate and individual to God.  I give my attachment to the ego thought system to God.  I give my conviction that duality is true to God.  I give God every grievance I seem to have, every pain I seem to have, everything that seems real to me in order to clear a space where I recognize what I already am.

Giving to God is the undoing process which ACIM offers us.  Yes, I would rather join the thinking of my Creator than to obscure what is really mine with a pitiful and meaningless false sense of privacy.  Wow.  Review is powerful.

LESSON 52

Today’s review covers these ideas:

1.  (6)  I am upset because I see what is not there.
Reality is never frightening.  It is impossible that it could upset me.  Reality brings only perfect peace.  When I am upset, it is always because I have replaced reality with illusions I made up.  The illusions are upsetting because I have given them reality, and thus regard reality as an illusion.  Nothing in God’s creation is affected in any way by this confusion of mine.  I am always upset by nothing.

2.  (7)  I see only the past.

As I look about, I condemn the world I look upon.  I call this seeing.  I hold the past against everyone and everything, making them my enemies.  When I have forgiven myself and remembered Who I am, I will bless everyone and everything I see.  There will be no past, and therefore no enemies.  And I will look with love on all that I failed to see before.

3.  (8)  My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.

I see only my own thoughts, and my mind is preoccupied with the past.  What, then, can I see as it is?  Let me remember that I look on the past to prevent the present from dawning on my mind.  Let me understand that I am trying to use time against God.  Let me learn to give the past away, realizing that in so doing I am giving up nothing.

4.  (9)  I see nothing as it is now.

If I see nothing as it is now, it can truly be said that I see nothing.  I can see only what is now.  The choice is not whether to see the past of the present; the choice is merely whether to see or not.  What I have chosen to see has cost me vision.  Now I would choose again, that I may see.

5.  (10)  My thoughts do not mean anything.

I have no private thoughts.  Yet is it only private thoughts of which I am aware.  What can these thoughts mean?   They do not exist, and so they mean nothing.  Yet my mind is part of creation and part of its Creator.  Would I not rather join the thinking of the universe than to obscure all that is really mine with my pitiful and meaningless “private” thoughts?

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

Lesson 51 – Review of Lessons 1-5

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Nothing I see means anything.  I have given what I see all the meaning that it has for me.  I do not understand anything I see.  These thoughts do not mean anything.  I am never upset for the reason I think.

These thoughts do not mean anything stands out for me, so this is my practice today: “The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think without God.  What I call “my” thoughts are not my real thoughts.  My real thoughts are the thoughts I think with God.  I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take their place.  I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let them go.  I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace.  My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.”

As I absorb, “My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God,” a pleasant squeezing sensation pulls at the top of my head.  There is a magnetic pulsating sense of being lifted toward Heaven.  You could say my crown chakra is being activated … or you could say when I get out of my own way there is an alignment with God’s presence.

LESSON 51

The review for today covers the following ideas:

1.  (1)  Nothing I see means anything.

The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning.  It is necessary that I recognize this, that I may learn to see.  What I think I see now is taking the place of vision.  I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may take its place.

2.  (2)  I have given what I see all the meaning it has for me.

I have judged everything I look upon, and it is this and only this I see.  This is not vision.  It is merely an illusion of reality, because my judgments have been made quite apart from reality.  I am willing to recognize the lack of validity in my judgments, because I want to see.  My judgments have hurt me, and I do not want to see according to them.

3.  (3)  I do not understand anything I see.

How could I understand what I see when I have judged it amiss?  What I see is the projection of my own errors of thought.  I do not understand what I see because it is not understandable.  There is no sense in trying to understand it.  But there is every reason to let it go, and make room for what can be seen and understood and loved.  I can exchange what I see now for this merely by willing to do so.  Is not this a better choice than the one I made before?

4.  (4)  These thoughts do not mean anything.

The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think without God.  What I call “my” thoughts are not my real thoughts.  My real thoughts are the thoughts I think with God.  I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take their place.  I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let them go.  I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace.  My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.

5.  (5)  I am never upset for the reason I think.

I am never upset for the reason I think because I am constantly trying to justify my thoughts.  I am constantly trying to make them true.  I make all things my enemies, so that my anger is justified and my attacks are warranted.  I have not realized how much I have misused everything I see by assigning this role to it.  I have done this to defend a thought system that has hurt me, and I no longer want.  I am willing to let it go.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

Lesson 50 – I am sustained by the Love of God.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Anyone who is weary of the world understands the line, “Put not your faith in illusions.  They will fail you.”  Withdrawing faith in illusions does not result in cynicism.  Actually, it is our release from the nightmare of the world.  It is God’s wake-up call penetrating the coma-state the ego has established.

Lesson 50 reminds us where to place our faith.  Placing our faith in God sustains us.  Choosing to remember that we are sustained by the Love of God is an act of faith.  From this faith comes the realization that my brothers are my saviors and vice versa.

I am released by the Son of God.  And you are released by the Son of God.  As we recognize this, we become each others’ miracle workers.  Putting our faith in the Love of God proves to be the answer to every problem.  Jesus says, “It is a declaration of release from idols.  It is your acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.”

Choosing to be sustained by the Love of God is choosing to “allow peace to flow over you like a blanket of protection and surety.”  Yes, I choose to know that I am sustained by the Love of God.  What else could be better?

LESSON 50

I am sustained by the Love of God.

Here is the answer to every problem that will confront you, today and tomorrow and throughout time.  In this world, you believe you are sustained by everything but God.  Your faith is placed in the most trivial and insane symbols; pills, money, “protective” clothing, influence, prestige, being liked, knowing the “right” people, and an endless list of forms of nothingness that you endow with magical powers.

All these things are your replacements for the Love of God.  All these things are cherished to ensure a body identification.  They are songs of praise to the ego.  Do not put your faith in the worthless.  It will not sustain you.

Only the Love of God will protect you in all circumstances.  It will lift you out of every trial, and raise you high above all the perceived dangers of this world into a climate of perfect peace and safety.  It will transport you into a state of mind that nothing can threaten, nothing can disturb, and where nothing can intrude upon the eternal calm of the Son of God.

Put not your faith into illusions.  They will fail you.  Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing.  This is the answer to whatever confronts you today.  Through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without effort and in sure confidence.  Tell yourself this often today.  It is a declaration of release from the belief in idols.  It is your acknowledgment of the truth about yourself.

For ten minutes, twice today, morning and evening, let the idea for today sink deep into your consciousness.  Repeat it, think about it, let related thoughts come to help you recognize its truth, and allow peace to flow over you like a blanket of protection and surety.  Let no idle and foolish thoughts enter to disturb the holy mind of the Son of God.  Such is the Kingdom of Heaven.  Such is the resting place where your Father has placed you forever.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

Lesson 49 – God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Lesson 49 sums everything up.  God wants us to hear His Voice.  He has given It to us to be heard. We need to “listen up” … really listen UP. Rather than attempting to pull God down into our dream, we can change channels from W-EGO, so to speak, to W-GOD.

There is a part of mind — the Holy Spirit Bridge — in constant communication with God. The Holy Spirit, if we ask, guides our hand.

The Truth, the Memory of God within us, aka the Holy Spirit, is always in contact with God.  All we have to do is be still, open our minds and listen to the Unspoken. 

Flow with Spirit … resistance is nothing but mist and clouds beyond which is the endless expanse of Heavenly Wilderness beckoning us Home, where we are truly welcome.

God’s Voice speaks to me and to you all through the day … the ACIM text tells us all are called, few choose to listen … let’s listen!  “Welcome to the Home you have never left …”

LESSON 49

God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.

It is quite possible to listen to God’s Voice all through the day without interrupting your regular activities in any way.  The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not.  It is the other part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys the world’s laws.  It is this part that is constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain.

The part that is listening to the Voice for God is calm, always at rest and wholly certain.  It is really the only part there is.  The other part is a wild illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind.  Try today not to listen to it.  Try to identify with the part of your mind where stillness and peace reign forever.  Try to hear God’s Voice call to you lovingly, reminding you that your Creator has not forgotten His Son.

We will need at least four five-minute practice periods today, and more if possible.  We will try actually to hear God’s Voice reminding you of Him and of your Self.  We will approach this happiest and holiest of thoughts with confidence, knowing that in doing so we are joining our will with the Will of God.  He wants you to hear His Voice.  He gave It to you to be heard.

Listen in deep silence.  Be very still and open your mind.  Go past all the raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover your real thoughts and obscure your eternal link with God.  Sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond the frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world.  We are trying to reach the place where you are truly welcome.  We are trying to reach God.

Do not forget to repeat today’s idea very frequently.  Do so with your eyes open when necessary, but closed when possible.  And be sure to sit quietly and repeat the idea for today whenever you can, closing your eyes on the world, and realizing that you are inviting God’s Voice to speak to you.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

Lesson 47 – God is the strength in which I trust.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

“God is your safety in every circumstance.  His Voice [the Holy Spirit within] speaks for Him in all situations and in every aspect of all situations, telling you exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection.”  I notice that His Voice does not tell us what to do, but what to do to call upon God.

In Chapter 2, Jesus explains, “The correction of fear is your responsibility.  When you ask for release from fear, you are implying that it is not.  You should ask, instead, for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about.  These conditions always entail a willingness to be separate.  At that level you can help it.”  It is difficult to believe that we are afraid because we have actively chosen to be afraid.

Jesus told Helen he could not remove her fear (read Absence from Felicity by Kenneth Wapnick) and that she should ask instead for help with the conditions that result in fear. The conditions are turning to the ego for guidance and the consequences of that choice: belief in sin, guilt and fear.

Fear is an effective ego defense against God’s Truth.  As long as the ego distracts itself with fear, it need not know it doesn’t really exist.  As the memory of God emerges from the shallow roots of the ego, which seem deep but in truth are not, there is the opportunity to shift our attention from distrust to trust, and weakness to strength.  How?

Call upon God.  Use the daily lesson to call upon God.  Every day Jesus spells out for you how to call upon God.  Use his tools.  Today we are given, “God is the strength in which I trust.”  When we practice this, we find out that God truly is our safety in every circumstance because circumstance is illusory and Reality is formless.

This kind of trust reminds me of a game my father played with me as a child — read my blogpost, “Who Is My Father?”.

LESSON 47

God is the strength in which I trust.

If you are trusting in your own strength you have every reason to be apprehensive, anxious and fearful. What can you predict or control? What is there in you that can be counted on? What would give you the ability to be aware of all the facets of any problem, and to resolve them in such a way that only good can come of it? What is there in you that gives you the recognition of the right solution, and the guarantee that it will be accomplished?

Of yourself you can do none of these things. To believe that you can is to put your trust where trust is unwarranted, and to justify fear, anxiety, depression, anger and sorrow. Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? Yet who can put his faith in strength and feel weak?

God is your safety in every circumstance. His Voice speaks for Him in all situations and in every aspect of all situations, telling you exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection. There are no exceptions because God has no exceptions. And the Voice which speaks for Him thinks as He does.
Today we will try to reach past your own weakness to the Source of real strength. Four five-minute practice periods are necessary today, and longer and more frequent ones are urged. Close your eyes and begin, as usual, by repeating the idea for the day. Then spend a minute or two in searching for situations in your life which you have invested with fear, dismissing each one by telling yourself:

God is the strength in which I trust.

Now try to slip past all concerns related to your own sense of inadequacy. It is obvious that any situation that causes you concern is associated with feelings of inadequacy, for otherwise you would believe that you could deal with the situation successfully. It is not by trusting yourself that you will gain confidence. But the strength of God in you is successful in all things.

The recognition of your own frailty is a necessary step in the correction of your errors, but it is hardly a sufficient one in giving you the confidence which you need, and to which you are entitled. You must also gain an awareness that confidence in your real strength is fully justified in every respect and in all circumstances.

In the latter phase of the practice period, try to reach down into your mind to a place of real safety. You will recognize that you have reached it if you feel a sense of deep peace, however briefly. Let go all the trivial things that churn and bubble on the surface of your mind, and reach down and below them to the Kingdom of Heaven. There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. There is a place in you where nothing is impossible. There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.

During the day, repeat the idea often. Use it as your answer to any disturbance. Remember that peace is your right, because you are giving your trust to the strength of God.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

Lesson 46 – God is the Love in which I forgive.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

“As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself.”  Bit by bit, the One Who identified as “Amy” gives all resentments, all grievances, all attachments and desires to the Holy Spirit.  It is an uncluttering process.  Thought by thought, ego thinking is cleared from the imaginary mind.

As space is cleared, the memory of God within becomes obvious, Shining and True.  Quiet Mind is encountered.  Speech is unnecessary.  “Forgiveness thus undoes what fear has produced, returning the mind to the awareness of God.”

God is the Love in which I forgive.  This is a right-minded “I.” There is a melting and expansion in the richness of this Truth.  “God is the Love in which I forgive” carries the day.  Beneath our tears, our fears, our anger, our shame, we are Perfect and Whole.

God is the Love in which I forgive “you.”  God is the Love in which I forgive “me.”  God is the Love in which the grand illusion dissolves, for there is nothing to condemn since God Is Loving Harmony.  Enveloping, Expanding, Extending.

LESSON 46

God is the Love in which I forgive.

God does not forgive because He has never condemned.  And there must be condemnation before forgiveness is necessary.  Forgiveness is the great need of this world, but that is because it is a world of illusions.  Those who forgive are thus releasing themselves from illusions, while those who withhold forgiveness are binding themselves to them.  As you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself.

Yet although God does not forgive, His Love is nevertheless the basis of forgiveness.  Fear condemns and love forgives.  Forgiveness thus undoes what fear has produced, returning the mind to the awareness of God.  For this reason, forgiveness can truly be called salvation.  It is the means by which illusions disappear.

Today’s exercises require at least three full five-minute practice periods, and as many shorter ones as possible.  Begin the longer practice periods by repeating today’s idea to yourself, as usual.  Close your eyes as you do so, and spend a minute or two in searching your mind for those whom you have not forgiven.  It does not matter “how much” you have not forgiven them.  You have forgiven them entirely or not at all.

If you are doing the exercises well you should have no difficulty in finding a number of people you have not forgiven.  It is a safe rule that anyone you do not like is a suitable subject.  Mention each one by name, and say:

God is the Love in which I forgive you, [name].

The purpose of the first phase of today’s practice periods is to put you in a position to forgive yourself.  After you have applied the idea to all those who have come to mind, tell yourself:

God is the Love in which I forgive myself.

Then devote the remainder of the practice period to adding related ideas such as:

God is the Love with which I love myself.
God is the Love in which I am blessed.

The form of the application may vary considerably, but the central idea should not be lost sight of.  You might say, for example:

I cannot be guilty because I am a Son of God.
I have already been forgiven.
No fear is possible in a mind beloved of God.
There is no need to attack because love has forgiven me.

The practice period should end, however, with a repetition of today’s idea as originally stated.

The shorter practice periods may consist either of a repetition of the idea for today in the original or in a related form, as you prefer.  Be sure, however, to make more specific applications if they are needed.  They will be needed at any time during the day when you become aware of any kind of negative reaction to anyone, present or not.  In that event, tell him silently:

God is the Love in which I forgive you.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

Lesson 45 – God is the Mind with which I think.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Lesson 30 was “God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.”  Now Lesson 45 explains “God is the Mind with which I think.”  The progression of lessons circles and builds.  God is the Mind with which I think.  God’s Mind thinks me.  God’s Thought is un-worded.  It is a pulsating radiance ever-reaching.

I am God’s pulsating radiance ever-reaching as He creates … we are “Thinking” together.  In the now-ness of Now, there is no how, when, where or why.  I am What I am.  I am That I am.  I am.  This is not the same “I” which seems to be “me.”

God is the Mind with which I think.  God is the Mind with which I am Thought.  Let God Think me.  Let God Breathe me.  In this surrender, ego-identification dissolves and One is discovered as All That Is and No Thing No Body.

In gladness, it is realized that there is no separation between God and Who We Truly Are.

LESSON 45

God is the Mind with which I think.

Today’s idea holds the key to what your real thoughts are.  They are nothing that you think you think, just as nothing that you think you see is related to vision in any way.  There is no relationship to what is real and what you think is real.  Nothing that you think are your real thoughts resemble your real thoughts in any respect.  Nothing that you think you see bears any resemble to what vision will show you.

You think with the Mind of God.  Therefore you share your thoughts with Him, as He shares His with you.  They are the same thoughts, because they are thought by the same Mind.  To share is to make alike, or to make one.  Nor do the thoughts you think with the Mind of God leave your mind, because thoughts do not leave their source.  Therefore, your thoughts are in the Mind of God, as you are.  They are in your mind as well, where He is.  As you are part of His Mind, so are your thoughts part of His Mind.

Where, then, are your real thoughts?   Today we will attempt to reach them.  We will have to look for them in your mind, because that is where they are.   They must still be there, because they cannot have left their source.  What is thought by the Mind of God is eternal, being part of creation.

Our three five-minute practice periods for today will take the same general form that we used in applying yesterday’s idea.  We will attempt to leave the unreal and seek for the real.  We will deny the world in favor of truth.  We will not let the thoughts of the world hold us back.  We will not let the beliefs of the world tell us that what God would have us do is impossible.  Instead, we will try to recognize that only what God would have us do is possible.

We will also try to understand that only what God would have us do is what we want to do.  And we will also try to remember that we cannot fail in doing what He would have us do.  There is every reason to feel confident that we will succeed today.  It is the Will of God.

Begin the exercises for today by repeating the idea to yourself, closing your eyes as you do so.  Then spend a fairly short period in thinking a few relevant thoughts of your own, keeping the idea in mind.  After you have added some four or five thoughts of your own to the idea, repeat it again and tell yourself gently:

My real thoughts are in my mind.  I would like to find them.

Then try to go past all the unreal thoughts that cover the truth in your mind, and reach to the eternal.

Under all the senseless thoughts and mad ideas with which you have cluttered up your mind are the thoughts that you thought with God in the beginning.  They are there in your mind now, completely unchanged.  They will always be in your mind, exactly as they always were.  Everything you have thought since then will change, but the Foundation on which it rests is wholly changeless.

It is this Foundation toward which the exercises for today are directed.  Here is your mind joined with the Mind of God.  Here are your thoughts one with His.  For this kind of practice only one thing is necessary; approach it as you would an altar dedicated in Heaven to God the Father and to God the Son.  For such is the place you are trying to reach.  You will probably be unable as yet  to realize how high you are trying to go.  Yet even with the little understanding you have already gained, you should be able to remind yourself that this is no idle game, but an exercise in holiness and an attempt to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the shorter exercise periods for today, try to remember how important it is to you to understand the holiness of the mind that thinks with God.  Take a minute or two, as you repeat the idea throughout the day, to appreciate your mind’s holiness.  Stand aside, however briefly, from all thoughts that are unworthy of Him Whose host you are.  And thank Him for the Thoughts He is thinking with you.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.

Lesson 44 – God is the Light in which I see.

Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)

Yesterday we learned that salvation is the undoing of what never was.  Today, Jesus tells us that, “Salvation is your happiest accomplishment.”  He says we need to have a sense of the importance of what we are doing when we practice this lesson; we need to have a sense of its “inestimable value” and an awareness that what we are attempting is very holy.

Sinking down and inward, observing passing thoughts without involvement, yes, there is an immediate relief and relaxation.  Thinking of light comes with a pleasant magnetic pull in all directions.  Then utter stillness.

World-free, burdenless, spaciousness.  God is the Light in which I see.  God is the radiance which spreads through me.  God is Vision beyond 360 degrees!

Light spreads and pulsates, Light illumines and emanates.  Light is peaceful, quiet and full.  Light is giving, for giving in form.  Light spills before us Guiding us Home.  Light is ever-present, all-knowing Glow.

Gleaming, gleeful, gallant and Large … “Step on my back and let me carry you across.”  Believe not in death, for death is nothing more than darkness.  Dispel the darkness and discover quietly dancing Lightbeams of No Thing, No Body.

LESSON 44

God is the Light in which I see.

Today we are continuing the idea for yesterday, adding another dimension to it.  You cannot see in darkness, and you cannot make light.  You can make darkness and then think you see in it, but light reflects life, and is therefore an aspect of creation.  Creation and darkness cannot coexist, but light and life must go together, being but different aspects of creation.

In order to see, you must recognize that light is within, not without.  You do not see outside yourself, nor is the equipment for seeing outside you. And essential part of this equipment is the light that makes seeing possible.  It is with you always, making vision possible in every circumstance.

Today we are going to attempt to reach that light.  For this purpose, we will use a form of exercise which has been suggested before, and which we will utilize increasingly.  It is a particularly difficult form for the undisciplined mind, and represents a major goal of mind training.  It requires precisely what the untrained mind lacks.  Yet this training must be accomplished if you are to see.

Have at least three practice periods today, each lasting three to five minutes.  A longer time is highly recommended, but only if you find the time slipping by with little or no sense of strain.  The form of practice we will use today is the most natural and easy one in the world for the trained mind, just as it seems to be the most unnatural and difficult for the untrained mind.

Your mind is no longer wholly untrained.  You are quite ready to learn the form of exercise we will use today, but you may find that you will encounter strong resistance.  The reason is very simple.  While you practice in this way, you leave behind everything that you now believe, and all the thoughts that you have made up.  Properly speaking, this is the release from hell.  Yet perceived through the ego’s eyes, it is loss of identity and a descent into hell.

If you can stand aside from the ego ever so little, you will have no difficulty in recognizing that its opposition and its fears are meaningless.  You might find it helpful to remind yourself, from time to time, that to reach light is to escape from darkness, whatever you may believe to the contrary.  God is the light in which you see.  You are attempting to reach Him.

Begin the practice period by repeating today’s idea with your eyes open, and close them slowly, repeating the idea several times more.  Then try to sink into your mind, letting go every kind of interference and intrusion by quietly sinking past them.  Your mind cannot be stopped in this unless you choose to stop it.  It is merely taking its natural course.  Try to observe your passing thoughts without involvement, and slip quietly by them.

While no particular approach is advocated for this form of exercise, what is needful is a sense of importance of what you are doing; its inestimable value to you, and an awareness that you are attempting something very holy.  Salvation is your happiest accomplishment.  It is also the only one that has any meaning, because it is the only one that has any real use to you at all.

If resistance rises in any form, pause long enough to repeat today’s idea, keeping your eyes closed unless you are aware of fear.  In that case, you will probably find it more reassuring to open your eyes briefly.  Try, however, to return to the exercises with eyes closed as soon as possible.

If you are doing the exercises correctly, you should experience some sense of relaxation, and even a feeling that you are approaching, if not actually entering into light.  Try to think of light, formless and without limit, as you pass by the thoughts of this world.  And do not forget that they cannot hold you to the world unless you give them the power to do so.

Throughout the day repeat the idea often, with eyes open or closed as seems better to you at the time.  But do not forget.  Above all, be determined not to forget today.

Let’s practice together!  Watch and listen to Amy reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube.  Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, Amy’s online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.