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

Lesson 50 concludes the first section of Part 1 of the Course in Miracles Workbook for Students.

This lesson is straightforward and deserves an unhurried initial reading, followed by open-hearted re-reading. One cannot read Lesson 50 too many times.

But more importantly than reading Lesson 50 is practicing Lesson 50. It is not a demanding, nor complicated, practice. It is, however, so simple and powerful that the ego will try to distract you with every means possible. So be vigilant and recognize ego interference for what it is — a distraction from the Truth that you long to embrace (or you would not be here).

I am sustained by the Love of God. You are sustained by the Love of God. We are sustained by the Love of God.

Amen.

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

Here’s a tremendous life-changing statement:

“It is quite possible to listen to God’s Voice all through the day without interrupting your regular activities in any way.”

Lesson 45 told us, “You think with the Mind of God.” and then asked us, “Where, then, are your real thoughts?” The lesson proceeded to walk us through leaving the unreal and seeking Reality, denying the world in favor of Truth.

Lesson 41 explained, “Deep within you is everything that is perfect, ready to radiate through you and out into the world.” The lesson also acknowledges, “We understand that you do not believe all this.”

My point is that Jesus reiterates all throughout A Course in Miracles that at any given moment the holy instant is available. The holy instant is a doorway into Timelessness and the instant recognition of God’s Voice:

“Listen in deep silence. Be very still and open your mind. God 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. You do not live here. We are trying to reach your real home. We are trying to reach the place where you are truly welcome. We are trying to reach God.”

Let’s see what Ken Wapnick has to say about Lesson 49:

We are trying to reach God. Directly. No intermediaries. We can do this. We are doing this. Now.

Lesson 48: There is nothing to fear.

Statements from Lesson 48 that stand out to me:

“The idea for today simply states a fact.” How amazing that “There is nothing to fear” is, from Jesus’ point of view, simply a fact. How wonderful that I am willing to believe him.

“The presence of fear is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own strength.” This is a logical follow-up to yesterday’s lesson; good reinforcement.

“It is very easy to recognize [there is nothing to fear]. But it is very difficult to recognize [there is nothing to fear] for those who want illusions to be true.” Always a light slap in the face to acknowledge that if I’m having difficulty feeling fear-free that means I still want illusions to be true. Or as Jesus puts it, “The presence of fear is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own strength.”

The word “interference” has evolved into “inter-fear-ence” for me. Fear inserts itself into my experience of myself and seemingly divides One-ness into two-ness ad infinitum (ad infinitum is the ego’s mimicry of God’s Infinity).

By the way, I really appreciate the way Rupert Spira explains “illusion” (not sure it lines up exactly with ACIM, but still find it useful): Is the World Real or Just an Illusion?

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

I feel relieved when Jesus acknowledges that I cannot do anything on my own. Several large exhales follow my reading of paragraph 1, which sounds harsh to the ego, but is music to the memory of God within:

“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 facets of any problem, and to resolve them in such a way that only good can come of it? What is there in your that gives you the recognition of the right solution, and the guarantee that it will be accomplished?”

After all, as he says in the next paragraph, “Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? Yet who can put his faith in strength and feel weak?”

Now if only I could fully embrace the opening of paragraph 3: “God is your safety in every circumstance.”

Next comes reassurance: “His Voice [the Holy Spirit] 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.” However, be alert to this: God’s Voice, the Holy Spirit, tells us exactly what to do to call upon God’s strength and God’s protection.

God’s Voice does not tell us exactly what to do in all situations and in every aspect of all situations. God’s Voice tells us how to call upon God’s strength and protection. There is a difference!  It is the same wisdom Jesus imparted to Helen Schucman, the channel for A Course in Miracles:

“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. You are much too tolerant of mind wandering, and are passively condoning your mind’s miscreations. The particular result does not matter, but the fundamental error does. The correction is always the same. Before you choose to do anything, ask me if your choice is in accord with mine. If you are sure that it is, there will be no fear.” T-2.VI.4:1-10

I like how, towards the end of Lesson 47, Jesus builds us back up, saying we must “gain an awareness that confidence in your real strength [God strength] is fully justified in every respect and in all circumstances”. Although he doesn’t call this a meditation, it certainly fits the bill. He directs:

“…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 deep sense of 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 the strength of God abides.”

Jesus’ parting words in Lesson 47, “Remember that peace is your right, because you are giving your trust to the strength of God.” Can you imagine remembering, all day long, that peace is our right because we are giving our trust to the strength of God?  Yes, let’s say yes, we can imagine this because we want to, and so, more and more, we do.

Note: Bold mine.

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

Fact: God only loves. Therefore, God never condemns.

Ego condemns, but ego is a self-induced distortion of, and limitation on, God by deliberately donning blinders. This is what A Course in Miracles refers to as “illusion”.

Jesus tells us in Lesson 46, “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.”

Since God only loves, therefore God never condemns, so too does God never forgive for there is nothing to forgive. However, God’s Love is “the basis for forgiveness”.

Jesus continues his teaching, “Fear condemns and love forgives. Forgiveness thus undoes what fear has produced, returning the mind to the awareness of God.”  Let’s replace the word “fear” with “ego”: ego condemns and love forgives. Forgiveness thus undoes what ego has produced”. Let that sink in.

Next: When forgiveness undoes what fear/ego has produced, the mind is returned to the awareness of God. THAT is the miracle!

The miracle, in A Course in Miracles, is the return of the mind to the awareness of God. Ken Wapnick speaks of this continually. I refer to Ken in the present tense, although he died in 2013, because, for me, his teaching is timeless and alive. I listen to his recordings regularly. Ken very often says that the miracle takes us from mindlessness to mindfulness. Mindfulness, in this context, is different than the way we often hear it used for meditative practices. ACIM mindfulness means that we recognize ourselves as spirit rather than the body, and we realize all our power and decision-making capacity lies in the spiritual mind, not the brain/body.

Lesson 46 continues, “For this reason, forgiveness can truly be called salvation. It is the means by which illusions disappear.”

In Part II of the Workbook, we learn, “Salvation is a promise, made by God, that you would find your way to Him at last.” W-II.2.What Is Salvation? Jesus is consistent in pointing the way Home.

The central theme of Lesson 46 is “God is the Love in which I forgive.” The purpose of the first phase of this practice is “to put you in a position to forgive yourself”. As we realize that when we condemn another, we are condemning ourselves, we become receptive to forgiving another in order to forgive ourself. This forgiveness liberates us from the cycle of sin, guilt and fear.

God is the Love in which I forgive you. You are the mirror in which I see myself. God is the Love with which I forgive myself.

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

Real thinking is done with God-Mind. It is telepathic, i.e., shared without speaking. And it is communication without words. Because God Thought does not take place in the brain. Real thoughts are in the Mind of God and there is nowhere else for them to go. That is why it is said, in Lesson 19, “Yet it is a fact that there are no private thoughts.”

Jesus asks, “Where, then, are your real thoughts?” Lesson 45 is about finding our real thoughts. Jesus tells us that our real thoughts must be in our mind, “because they cannot have left their source”.

“God wills you learn what has always been true: that He created you as part of Him, and this must still be true because ideas leave not their source.” T-26.VII.13:2

Next, Jesus gives us today’s magnificent practice:

“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.” Remember Lesson 38? “There is nothing my holiness cannot do.” Well, this is how holiness does it.

Jesus then boosts our confidence:

“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.” Remember yesterday’s lesson ended with, “Above all, be determined not to forget [to practice] today.” Forgetting is how the ego intervenes with our success.

We are going to return to the thoughts we thought with God in the beginning. That’s exciting!

The thoughts we thought with God in the beginning “are there in your mind now, completely unchanged.”

The exercises for today are directed toward the Foundation where our mind is joined with the Mind of God. “You will probably be unable as yet to realize how high you are trying to go,” says our elder brother, “…the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Jesus concludes Lesson 45 with, “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.” Remember Chapter 11 when Jesus asks us, “Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God?” and Chapter 15 when Jesus reminds us that he has asked us before, “Would you be hostage to the ego or host to God?”  Well, this is our opportunity to answer that question.

Lesson 44: God is the light in which I see.

Today’s idea, “God is the light in which I see.” is a continuation of yesterday’s idea: “God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.”

Today, we go deeper. Jesus encourages us, “If you can stand aside from the ego by ever so little, you will have no difficulty in recognizing that its opposition and its fears are meaningless.”

He adds, “…what is needful is a sense of the importance of what you are doing; its inestimable value to you, and an awareness that you are attempting something very holy.”

God is the light in which we see because, “Creation and darkness cannot coexist, but light and life must go together, being but different aspects of creation.”

Jesus concludes Lesson 44 with:

“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.”

And a final word of caution:

“Above all, be determined not to forget today.”

Lesson 43: God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.

The first sentence of Lesson 43 is, “Perception is not an attribute of God.” We have been told, “Knowing is not open to interpretation. You may try to ‘interpret’ meaning, but this is always open to error because it refers to the perception of meaning.” T-3.V.5:1-2

Knowledge and knowing are of God Mind in A Course in Miracles. Interpretation and perception are of ego mind.

God Mind extends creatively. Ego mind projects mis-creatively. The prefix “mis” comes from the Latin “miser” which means miserable, wretched.

Years ago, in answer to my prayer for a customized practice that I would not be able to shirk, the thought came:

Find the origin of your smile and you will find your Source.

That is one way Lesson 43 has played out in my life. Lesson 43 tells us, “God is my Source. I cannot see (or be) apart from Him.” It says, “You cannot see apart from God because you cannot be apart from God.”

Follow the directions of Lesson 43 and my smile prayer and you will discover the same thing:

“Whatever you do you do in Him, because whatever you think, you think with His Mind. 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.”

When we sink down and inward, we encounter a reversal of experience. We go from separate interests and the guilt/fear/attack/defense cycle that “protects” separate interests to all-inclusive generosity of heart that clearly springs from the Heart of God.

Remember, the tiny, mad idea called “ego” originated in the Mind of God. Ego cannot sustain itself without God, but God Is and remains God Is without ego. “How mighty can a little feather be before the great wings of truth?” T-19.IV.A.9:1

Lesson 43 suggests we add our own inspired thoughts to the thoughts in the title, and gives examples, such as:

“I see through the eyes of forgiveness. I see the world as blessed. The world can show me myself. I see my own thoughts, which are like God’s.” These are suggestions. Enter your right mind and allow your Inner Light to astonish you with the course-related understanding your deeply Guided thoughts contain.

Lesson 42: God is my strength. Vision is His gift.

The goal of this course is important to you. Don’t forget it.

But, what is the goal? How come we keep forgetting?

Because one of the ego’s most effective tools is forgetting, sleeping, denying.

Lesson 42 offers us two very powerful thoughts: God is my strength. Vision is His gift. And combines them.

Lesson 42 also “sets forth a cause and effect relationship that explains why you cannot fail in your efforts to achieve the goal of this course.”

What is the goal of this course?  Simply refer to the Introduction to the Text: “The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance.”

ACIM Zen Koan: “Your passage through time and space is not at random. You cannot but be in the right place at the right time.” This is not fortune-telling. Don’t try to understand it. Let it in-form you.

God is my strength. Vision is His gift.

Interestingly, Jesus says while we are doing today’s practice, we “may also reach a point where no thoughts at all seem to come to mind.” He calls this “interference” — it’s what Eckhart Tolle calls “sinking below thought” rather than “rising above thought”. In Lessons 8 and 10, Jesus refers to this as the mind actually being “blank,” and not in a good way.

Jesus encourages us, when doing the practice given in Lesson 42, to think of nothing except thoughts that occur to us in relation to God is my strength. Vision is His gift. He gives us examples, “Vision must be possible. God gives truly.” and “God’s gifts to me must be mine, because He gave them to me.”  He then says:

“You may, in fact, be astonished at the amount of course-related understanding some of your thoughts contain.”

He concludes with:

“The more often you repeat the idea during the day, the more often you will be reminding yourself that the goal of the course is important to you, and that you have not forgotten it.”

What is the goal of this course? “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” T-16.IV.6:1

Note: Bold mine. Also, I find it useful to see the word “interference” as “inter-fear-ence” — I think that is one of the astonishing, yet so simple, course-related understandings that have come to me over the years.

Lesson 41: God goes with me wherever I go.

The one thing we do not do, says Jesus in Lesson 41, is question the reality of the problem.

The problem is that we, “the separated ones” feel so lonely and abandoned that it leads to depression, “anxiety, a deep sense of helplessness, misery, suffering and intense fear of loss.” But these feelings are the effects, the symptoms, of our fixed belief that we are separated from God and can never go Home. They are not the cause.

Jesus tells us, “…despite the serious and tragic forms” our idea of separation produces, this idea is not reality. Jesus knows we are convinced life in human form on planet earth is reality, but he lays out the truth for us anyway:

“Deep within you is everything that is perfect, ready to radiate through you and out into the world. 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.”

He goes on, “You can never be deprived of your perfect holiness because its Source goes with you where you go.” And he adds, “We understand you do not believe all this. 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?”

Jesus advises that we “sink down and inward, away from the world, and all the foolish thoughts of the world. You are trying to reach past all these things. You are trying to leave appearances and approach reality.”

Lesson 41 is so full, it offers so much. It tells us “It is quite possible to reach God. In fact it is very easy, because it is the most natural thing in the world.”

Quite importantly, for so many of us, Jesus concludes, “You can indeed afford to laugh at fear thoughts, remembering that God goes with you wherever you go.”