Lesson 14 – God did not create a meaningless world.
Commentary (full lesson beneath commentary)
One of my favorite lessons! I get a big kick out of facing my “personal repertory of horrors”. When you’ve worked with the Course enough, the savagery of the ego is reduced to a “quaint absurdity”.
What God creates is not the world as we know it. In the undoing process A Course in Miracles offers us, we get to see the story we have made up about the world and unwrite this story, revealing God’s Word underneath our make-believe.
We learn to let go of the thoughts we have written on the world … salvation is the exchange of our thoughts for God’s Thought. The process leading to salvation can be difficult, painful and lead us directly into fear BUT this fear that seems so real is eclipsed in a holy instant with perfect safety and perfect peace.
We are given a powerful exercise to address the “horrors in the world” and our “personal repertory of horrors.” We name each one and state that it is not real because the horror was not created by God — it was made up by us. This can seem outrageous, absurd, indifferent and cruel.
How can Jesus ask us to deny the obvious horrors and the pain they cause when we are convinced that they are having a profound effect on the world (“some of them are shared illusions”) and ourselves personally (“others are part of your personal hell”)? No matter how depraved this attitude seems to us, we are told, “It does not matter. What God did not create can only be in your own mind apart from His. Therefore, it has no meaning.”
In the text there is a line, “Seek not to change the world, choose to change your mind about the world.” This lesson is training us to detach from the ego mind’s obsessive/compulsive thought that pain and suffering are real, and to allow the mind to telescope to a longer, wider perspective from which vantage point we suddenly see that the body is not real, therefore nothing the body seems to suffer from is real.
This is a process of dis-identification with the ego thought system which instantly restores Identification with God’s Mind. It’s a worthy challenge.
Lesson 14
God did not create a meaningless world.
The idea for today is, of course, the reason why a meaningless world is impossible. What God did not create does not exist. And everything that does exist exists as He created it. The world you see has nothing to do with reality. It is of your own making, and it does not exist.
The exercises for today are to be practiced with eyes closed throughout. The mind-searching period should be short, a minute at most. Do not have more than three practice periods with today’s idea unless you find them comfortable. If you do, it will be because you really understand what they are for.
The idea for today is another step in learning to let go the thoughts that you have written on the world, and see the Word of God in their place. The early steps in this exchange, which can truly be called salvation, can be quite difficult and even quite painful. Some of them will lead you directly into fear. You will not be left there. You will go far beyond it. Our direction is toward perfect safety and perfect peace.
With eyes closed, think of all the horrors in the world that cross your mind. Name each one as it occurs to you, and then deny its reality. God did not create it, and so it is not real. Say, for example:
God did not create that war, and it is not real.
God did not create that airplane crash, and so it is not real.
God did not create that disaster [specify], and so it is not real.
Suitable subjects for the application of today’s idea also include anything you are afraid might happen to you, or to anyone about whom you are concerned. In each case, name the “disaster” quite specifically. Do not use general terms. For example, do not say, “God did not create illness,” but, “God did not create cancer,” or heart attacks, or whatever may arouse fear in you.
This is your personal repertory of horrors at which you are looking. These things are part of the world you see. Some of them are shared illusions, and others are part of your personal hell. It does not matter. What God did not create can only be in your own mind apart from His. Therefore, it has no meaning. In recognition of this fact, conclude the practice periods by repeating today’s idea:
God did not create a meaningless world.
The idea for today can, of course, be applied to anything that disturbs you during the day, aside from the practice periods. Be very specific in applying it. Say:
God did not create a meaningless world.
He did not create [specify the situation which is disturbing you], and so it is not real.
Let’s practice together! Watch and listen to me reading each ACIM Lesson on Youtube. Also, check out Workin’ the Workbook, my online class which supports the ACIM Workbook practice.