There is a sense of urgency in this Lesson, but this urgency is not to make us feel bad about where we see ourselves now. Jesus is only speaking about not delaying our happiness. He makes a strong plea for our release so that we can release our brothers and sisters. Our brothers and sisters are released when our minds are released because we are one holy Son of God. We have imprisoned the mind in our belief in sin and guilt, which we project onto the world, and now we think the world is imprisoning us. We don't think of ourselves as the holy Son of God because we have denied our own identity, choosing instead to align with the ego mind. We think the only holy Son is Jesus. Yet in the Course, Jesus says he is our elder brother who walked this journey we are now taking and thus he can show us the way. He showed us by his resurrection that we are not bodies, but are eternal spiritual beings. He demonstrated invulnerability, that is ours as well, given us in our creation. Jesus says  he is no different than we are, and where he is, we are too, as we have the same nature---one with God, reflecting all of His characteristics.


What have we done that this world of suffering should be our experience? We have denied our reality as the Son of God, and now what we see around us is a witness to the chaos within. When we look at the world, it reflects our denial of what we are. The world reflects back our own judgments, fears, and chaotic thinking, which we now see all around us. Is it any wonder, in this closed system, and a lifetime in a world that keeps reinforcing our ego thoughts, it is hard to believe we are anything but what we have come to think of ourselves, as a body and personality? We certainly do not think of ourselves as the holy Son of God, but the seeming bondage of this world can't hold us. Today we declare our release. "For he who can accept his true Identity is truly saved. And his salvation is the gift he gives to everyone, in gratitude to Him Who pointed out the way to happiness that changed his whole perspective of this world." (W.191.5.3-4)
 
"What have you done that this should be your world? What have you done that this is what you see?" (W.191.2.1-2) What we have done is denied our identity as given us by God. We have chosen instead the ego identity and now we see ourselves as more powerful than God. The mind is powerful and can choose to believe it is now an individual living in the world of bodies. We can choose to be unaware of what we are, but we can't change the truth of who we really are.
 
Jesus pleads with us to join with him in the holy instant where he is. Outside of this dream the memory of who we are can be found. He is in our minds and pleads with us to leave this darkness for a while so we can have some respite and recall our holiness. He asks that we rise above the world and "all the worldly thoughts that hold it prisoner." (W.191.5.1) We hold ourselves prisoner when we pursue idols of specialness we think will bring us what we want in the dream, and he wants us to see that they bring us nothing but more despair. The ego tells us that while we haven't yet gotten the right combination of events for our happiness, if we were to just keep on looking, maybe one day we would find that combination. Perhaps a different home, a new relationship, another job, more money, would bring us what we want. However, seeking for substitutes we believe will make us happy, binds us to the illusion and keeps us in a state of despair, and seeking for what we could never find in idols.
 
When we see the world as a classroom for our healing instead of a place to fulfill dreams that can never be fulfilled, everything in our lives becomes a backdrop to expose the mind through simple honesty. Now, nothing that happens is  seen as good or bad, but only a curriculum to show us what is in the mind, which can be brought to healing. We look at it with Jesus, who offers us his help so that we can look at our dark thoughts without condemnation. He is a symbol of God's love in our minds.

If I am feeling insecure, fearful, unworthy, needy, angry, or whatever, I need to look at these feelings without condemnation. I need to look at them without analyzing or judging them. The thoughts I hold that lead to these feelings are not who I am. They may take up only one percent of the mind, but  this part the ego has claimed, the part with which we identify. This little corner of the mind  we keep away from realization of our grandeur, and instead "keep it as a hospital for pain; a sickly place where living things must come at last to die." (W.190.6.6) We think this small part is what defines us because this is reinforced by the world. The world is now seen as the cause of who we are, but the world does not define us. We are the ones who have used the world cruelly to meet our needs, while all the while projecting responsibility onto the world for treating us badly. Because we prefer to see the cruelty in the world rather than within ourselves, we can maintain our innocence.
 
To heal and awaken, we need to learn to look at the ego mind without fear. Any uncertainty or confusion that arises needs to be looked at in the same way. When we are looking at our thoughts in this way, we are looking with Jesus or the Holy Spirit, Who holds the light of truth as we look at the darkness. It is not who we are. We don't need to seek for what is true, but only for the false, which is all of the thoughts we hold that block the truth. When we can look at our thoughts without fear, healing can take place. To look at our thoughts is to allow everything to be brought to awareness without telling stories about the meaning of these thoughts and emotions, nor in denying or justifying them. We don't need to try to be compassionate or loving. That is the very nature of our minds. What we need to do is relinquish our investment in the thoughts that block the love and compassion. We do this by looking at them until we realize "All your past except its beauty is gone, and nothing is left but a blessing." (T.5.IV.8.2)(ACIM OE T.5.VI.58) That is the outcome of forgiveness.
 
This Lesson describes us as small, fragile beings who are here for a short while, assailed by the world, only to be rewarded at the end by death. It is a pretty discouraging picture of "life" and one we believe we are if we deny our Identity as a holy Son of God who cannot suffer. The ego needs us to believe we are guilty, and that we are victims of this world. Of course, the ego can't afford for us to see the world as bleakly as described in this Lesson, so it throws in some special love relationships and dreams and hopes and small pleasures to keep us believing there is a possibility of true happiness in the world. Then we resent the world for shattering our dreams and we blame ourselves, or others, for having kept us from the happiness we have been seeking in the world. Only denial of our true reality has kept us in this prison, and in remembering our true Identity. We can forgive the world and everyone in it for what it did not do to us.


We keep ourselves in hell when we hold grievances and forget we are the ones dreaming the dream. How small are the events that can disturb us! How insignificant are our complaints! Yet the ego hangs onto them like a dog with a bone! "I am the holy Son of God Himself. I cannot suffer, cannot be in pain; I cannot suffer loss, nor fail to do all that salvation asks." (W.191.7.3-4) Do we believe all that? Everything is changed with that thought. Jesus says much of our time is spent in playing "the game of death, of being helpless, pitifully tied to dissolution in a world which shows no mercy to you." (W.191.9.3) It is a game of victimhood. We tell our pitiful tales of our lives and take these stories so seriously, believing we will then be seen as innocent victims of what others have done to us. It is a character role we play in this dream, and we want others to sympathize with us. "This sickly picture of yourself is carefully preserved by the ego, whose image it is and which it loves, and placed outside you in the world. And to this world must you adjust as long as you believe this picture is outside, and has you at its mercy." (T.20.III.5.6-7) (ACIM OE T.20.IV.20) He goes on to say if this was indeed the merciless world outside of us, then we should be fearful, but we are the ones that made it merciless by projecting our own thoughts onto it. Now it can all be corrected when we ask to see though the eyes of Christ instead of our own.
 

All of our experiences are helpful, even if we seem to fall into a black hole. For me these experiences drive me further into this work and keep me motivated to heal my mind. Don't resist any of it. To resist is to say it should not be happening, but nothing is wrong. The world gives us everything we need for our awakening because our thoughts have brought it all into being. Often our greatest leaps forward spiritually are made at our most difficult times. These can offer us a certain kind of grace even if, at the time, the experience feels ruthless. Our greatest advances are often made when we are brought to our knees. Sometimes it seems like that is what it takes. If we see these as opportunities to go deeper into our pain, so we could learn to go past our defenses, these events truly become huge gifts. When we accept that we don't know how to do any of this anymore, the ego is unhinged and we reach a true state of humility.

We have often talked about the apparent difficulty of trying to understand the Course. Yet when we read a Lesson like this, and it is the only one we need in order to be released, we see that the ego will not easily be overcome by the simplicity of this choice. We seem to need the many approaches taken by this Course to undermine the ego thought system and help us to increase our willingness and our desire.

Again, let us give that which we are looking for. We are here to bless. We are here to bring the light of our glory to everyone, and we do it by being willing to be released from our own hell. The world is waiting for each of us to find the mercy in ourselves. To give and to receive are one. In extending kindness and mercy we are receiving this gift for ourselves.