Lesson 54: Review of Lessons 16 – 20
Here are the main ideas from Lessons 16 – 20:
16. I have no neutral thoughts
17. I see no neutral things.
18. I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
19. I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
20. I am determined to see.
One of the main thoughts the ego likes to keep going through our heads is how we are alone in this world. It has a lot of evidence to back that up. Right now, as I type, I am alone in my home office, except for the dogs and the cats, of course. But, no other human is here, so I can say that I am truly alone, physically, in this moment.
That physical world is where the ego wants us to focus, because if we do, then I will notice that when I see another person later today, I will see them as separate – someone with their own lives, their own worries, their own joys, their own thoughts.
This is where the Course asks us to be willing to see differently – to realize there are no private thoughts. That doesn’t mean I can read the minds of those around me, but I can understand that we share thoughts, because those shared thoughts have become beliefs that we have used, collectively, to shape the world we see.
We believe that we are separate, we believe that little pieces of paper and coins are the source of our wealth and feelings of security. We believe that governments made up of people who are caught up in the ego like we are will be just governors of our collective welfare. We believe that God can be categorized, dogmatized and systemized and condemn anyone who would speak against our particular god.
But, there are no private thoughts – we are all joined in the mind of God and just as we have misused our thoughts to create a world of suffering and sorrow, punctuated by moments of joy and peace, we can create a world where suffering and sorrow don’t even exist.
That’s pie-in-the-sky thinking, our ego tells us, and will never happen because so many people are already invested in separation. It’s true there are a vast amount of people who have no need for the idea of unity – in the mind of God or elsewhere. The Course, however, is clear that it doesn’t take everyone ditching the tiny, mad idea of separation for the Divine Mind of unity – it only takes one of us fully realizing our Divinity and Unity to bring the entire world into alignment with God.
This is why we do our work. We may feel like we’re working on just ourselves as we do our daily practices, but the Course assures us that if we accept the Atonement for ourselves – fully, without reservation – we can save the entire world.
Hafiz assures us that there is no privacy among those who may now feel separate:
The way
a river’s strength may move one in its
current, so does my
gaze or wish.
What
the rain can do for a well, so can the
language from an
illumined heart.
When I
woke up I found existence rented its
space from me.
I am the wedding partner, every
ring, and the
priest who blesses the union.
I am the tenderness that becomes a sacred oath,
Thus even when you close the door
and might
want privacy,
What can I say? You will still have
to factor me
in.
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