The theme of the Lessons we are reviewing today is the power of our thoughts. It is a power that has made up a world separate from God. It is a world He does not know of. If God knew of this world, it would mean it is real. Yet the only reality is God, which is love. Our thinking errors are what made the world we see. It is a shared illusion. "Even the mad idea of separation had to be shared before it could form the basis of the world I see." (W.54.3.3) This is why billions of people agree about the nature of this world, but that does not make it true. It just means it is a shared thought of separation. The world is illusory and as such does not exist except in our beliefs, and those beliefs have power. It is impossible to have a neutral thought. "Neutral thoughts are impossible because all thoughts have power." (W.54.1.2) After all, thoughts are what made the world, but the valuable thing about that power is it can undo all of this. The central idea we focus on in this review is the power of thought. Every thought has an effect. The entire world is the effect of our incredibly powerful thoughts. We can change our minds and as a result change our world. Our mind is the cause. The world is the effect.
Clearly, this is not how we experience it. We think the world is the cause and we are its effect. Thus, it seems we are indeed the victims of the world we see. These Lessons shift our thinking and help us to recognize everything starts in the mind with our thoughts. Our thoughts either make the false world or lead us to the real world through forgiveness, which allows for the undoing or correction of our wrong-minded thoughts.
Forgiveness undoes all that is false, and this leads to right-mindedness. It is brought about as we heal our wrong minds of the guilt that is the basis for all of our projections. When we seemed to separate from God, we took on enormous guilt, which was overwhelming to the mind. Thus, the ego offered us a scheme to make it possible to live with our guilt. The scheme was to project our guilt onto others. Instead of taking responsibility for everything that seems to happen to us, we blame others for our circumstances. Thus, we are under the illusion we have released our guilt by making others responsible for how we feel. While the ego is totally insane, it is nevertheless, very clever in its plan. But when we bring our guilt to awareness, take responsibility for it and release it, we undo the plan of the ego. We will only trust God when we increasingly recognize it is not God, but ourselves, who are responsible for our state of mind.
The world that emerges (the real world) as a result of doing the work of forgiveness is one of love, innocence, peace and joy. Forgiveness can only be understood in the context that this world is not real and nothing has really happened. In the illusion, there truly are painful events, but forgiveness allows us to see them from outside the dream and recognize their unreality. We are only seeing the projected images from our own fearful, starving mind that will inevitably become tired of the world of its own making. This is because the world can never make us truly happy.
There simply is no middle ground between the ego's guilt and fear and the peace and love we experience when we choose the miracle. Neutral thoughts are impossible because all thoughts have power. They have power to make the false world we believe is our reality, or they lead us to the real world. Every thought we have is either of love or fear, Heaven or hell. There is no middle ground. "My thoughts cannot be neither true nor false. They must be one or the other. What I see shows me which they are." (W.54.1.6-8) It is a mutually exclusive state of one or the other, which is why we can't hold both love and hate in our minds at the same time. We know which thought we have chosen by its effects. The world is thus a representation of our own state of mind. If we want to know the state of our mind, we just need to look at what we are telling ourselves about any situation. When we experience joy and peace, which are not dependent on external circumstances, we know we have chosen the Holy Spirit. What we perceive is never a fact, but only an interpretation, which tells us of our choice for the Holy Spirit or the ego.
I used to become very upset when negative emotions would arise. I would crucify myself for making mistakes. Painful events seemed to have no end. Now, as I look more and more at these negative thoughts and emotions, while I don't enjoy them, I am more and more an observer of them. I no longer make judgments about myself for having these thoughts. By stepping back from them, I am able to see that these thoughts and emotions do not define me. Instead, they provide an opportunity to look at my unhealed mind and choose another way. This is the purpose of our world, relationships, and circumstances. When judgments come up, just see them as another opportunity for forgiveness and healing. The world has no other purpose than this, unless we use it for the purpose of keeping our guilt and fear. There is no value in delay. The time is now. Can further delay bring us anything it has never brought before?
The process of monitoring our ego reactions develops gradually over a period of time. It takes practice. One of the pitfalls is to judge ourselves for getting angry and being judgmental. We think if we don't see everyone through the eyes of love and if we don't see the Christ in everyone, we just need to try harder to be loving and to stop being judgmental. That is not going to help us in undoing the ego. Instead, we need to look at our judgments and our needs for specialness and be willing to let them go by turning them over to the gentle love of Jesus, who helps us to see the ego as completely meaningless. "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. It is not necessary to seek for what is true, but it is necessary to seek for what is false." (T.16.IV.6.1-2)(ACIM OE T.16.V.35)
Thus, to take responsibility for our thoughts requires a high level of honesty and courage. Our tendency is to defend and justify by telling stories of why we feel the way we do. This won't help us in our healing. We can't expect this world of egos always to treat us lovingly. Problems will prevail. Despite our best efforts in extending love, the world can still treat us with unkindness, rudeness and nastiness, but ultimately true inner peace does not depend on the behaviors of others. Certainly, it may not be in our best interest to stay in difficult relationships and situations, but maintaining relationships in form is not what is important. What is important is the content of our minds. Leaving relationships can be a right-minded decision.
We can never know the entirety of someone's path of Atonement. The same healing opportunity is there for them, as it is for us. Whatever shows up in our lives is just another opportunity for healing, as it is for anyone who makes this choice. They have the same power, as we do, to choose forgiveness when they are sufficiently motivated to do so. Patience is one of the characteristics of the teacher of God, and we can afford to be patient because the outcome is certain for us all. The only important factor is not the forms of this world, but the content of our own minds. Thus, it really does not matter what anyone does, only how we interpret what is happening. Ultimately, when we let go of all our judgments and needs for specialness, we will automatically perceive the Christ in everyone. It is not a matter of trying. It is only a matter of bringing our judgments and grievances to the Holy Spirit.
All the multiplicity of problems and complexities we experience in relationships, and all the confusion, anger and stress that arises, is the result of our mistaken thoughts. They are not idle thoughts. Look around you and see what they have produced. They have produced this world we have come to believe is our reality. All thoughts have power. "All thinking produces form at some level." (T.2.VI.9.14)(ACIM OE T.2.V.92)
There are no private thoughts. Our minds are joined. There is only one Mind, which is the Christ mind. "Everything I think or say or do teaches all the universe." (W.54.4.3) Therefore, if I change my mind, because all minds are joined, I have the power to change every mind. Obviously, this is not a matter of trying to heal others, changing their minds or telling them how to think. It is simply what we call forth in them by being a symbol of right-mindedness. When I choose to let go of my grievances, I send a message to others that they too can engage in this process of awakening from the dream. When I hold onto grievances, I send a message of attack and further separation.
Everything we do reinforces separation or joining with a brother. My decision to judge you, get angry with you, experience worry about you, attack you, blame you, or be jealous of you are all decisions for hell instead of Heaven. This reflects the insane promise we made to each other "to be hurt by him, and to attack him in return." (T.28.VI.4.7)(ACIM OE T.28.VII.57) Why would we make such an agreement? It seems insane, and it is, but these secret vows were made to keep the separation going so we could keep our identity as a separate being. This is why attack and blame are so attractive to us. "Whoever says, 'There is no gap between my mind and yours' has kept God's promise, not his tiny oath to be forever faithful unto death." (T.28.VI.5.4)(ACIM OE T.28.VII.58) Thus, we have a choice with each decision we make, which is either to attack or to join with our brother.
We can't change anyone's mind for them any more than Jesus could change our minds for us. We all need to make our own decisions, but we can use our power for good and truth by changing our own minds. What I look on witnesses to the thought system I have chosen. I can look at my choices by paying attention to what is around me. As an example, in my life I have come to notice a conflict with a brother often leads to the onset of a cold in me. Recently, I have noticed a change in my blood pressure and recognize its relationship to the stress and perfectionism I demand of myself. As we learn to pay attention to the witnesses to our state of mind, we can make a choice for healing as ultimately all healing is of the mind.
Jesus demonstrated our bodies are not who we are. We are love. We are an idea in the Mind of God, and nothing can hurt us. In order to uncover our reality as love, we need to uncover our unconscious guilt as a result of our belief we have separated from God. We fear we will never find our way back and have done something terribly evil. In this review, we are being reminded to watch our thoughts and look at what we are making real. Our part is thus to be a demonstration of His love in the world. In order to do that, we must continue to forgive our false perceptions so our minds can be healed of the guilt we are projecting onto others.
Every goal in the world, except the correction of our thoughts, has no value. It doesn't matter what we are doing in the world. Whether we are a teacher, stockbroker, mother, lawyer, service worker, or nurse, it is all just a backdrop for our real work in the world, which is to take responsibility for the healing of our thoughts of sin, guilt and fear.
The goal of this Course is the recognition of the peace we are. The only way we will know peace is through forgiveness. It doesn't mean we need to hang with anyone. It doesn't mean they have to be in our presence, or still be in their bodies. The forgiveness work is the same. We are healing our perceptions and remembering that our perceptions are never a fact, but an interpretation.
I am determined to see, because I am realizing the true nature and power of my mind. We could choose to make more and more illusions, which witnesses to guilt and fear, or we could practice forgiveness, which leads to truth. Thus, we witness more peace, joy and joining in our lives. In that choice, thoughts of love replace thoughts of fear. Thoughts of laughter replace thoughts of tears, and thoughts of abundance replace thoughts of loss. These are the choices available to us.
