Lesson 23
I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.
This lesson truly empowers us, as we shine a light on what limits our experience of the Truth of who and what we are. Yesterday you became more aware of the level and frequency of your attacking thoughts. Today we recognize that our only way out of the vengeful world we see is ourselves, by letting go of such thoughts. As we discussed previously in our walk together, we no longer wait on a new president, new government, new job, new partner, etc. Truth waits on no one, except You. We are talking about taking back the power we are giving the world. If continue to give our power away we are guaranteed to keep waiting and to be disappointed in the end. You came to this Course because you were ready for something different, something Real. Are you ready to claim it as yours today?
“It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed (ACIM Lesson 23 1:5).”
Our practice periods and our interactions throughout the day give us such food for thought on the world we think we live in. We are asked to take responsibility for our thoughts of attacking and being attacked. Yes, we can no longer hide that we, at times, do have attacking thoughts about others. At this point in the Course we are asked to let it go and not rationalize such thoughts but to just be aware that we are capable of both attacking thoughts and those of being attacked. We are both the abuser and the abused. The jailer and jailee.
It is important to note that you can indeed escape the world you “see.” Remember, your vision comes from your thoughts and what we are working towards is allowing the Truth of God to appear on the blank canvas. There is a distinction here that you cannot escape the world entirely, only the one you see, as you then allow Real Vision to appear.
“You cannot be saved from the world, but you can escape from its cause. This is what salvation means, for where is the world you see when its cause is gone (ACIM Lesson 23 4:2-3)?”
Think about what the world would look like, not from a global perspective but just from your own world at the moment, if you let go of your attacking thoughts and worries of being attacked. We used the example yesterday of realizing that we are our own biggest bully. Imagine if you let go of such self-deprecating thoughts, what would your life look like? I say this to emphasize how limited our view becomes when such attaching thoughts askew our view and are placed on the world.
We are created in the image of our Creator. And our Creator is limitless, thus so are we. Yet we have become accustomed to using such power in limited ways, thinking we are this person or that person or wishing we were this or that, etc. Today’s lesson is a workshop in learning to unravel the limiting chains we have put on ourselves. To recognize that the handcuffs are really unlocked and that we are not the prisoners we think we are.
“The idea for today introduces the thought that you are not trapped in the world you see, because its cause can be changed (ACIM Lesson 23 5:1).”
Once more responsibility is the order of the day. The world in which you believe causes you so much angst is really the one that takes place inside your own mind. This is encouraging news as it is not eternal, leaving us in bondage forever, but has the potential to change should we choose so. This may seem like a tough battle but we are assured it is not. That too is our perception.
“This change requires, first, that the cause be identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced. The first two steps in this process requires your cooperation. The info one does not. Your images have already been replaced. By taking the first two steps, you will see that this is so (ACIM Lesson 23 5:2-6).”
Thus, there is nothing you need to do besides recognize you are the one holding the knife and that you are the one who decides to put it down. What is to be filled in that space is done by Her. She merely awaits your welcome. Therefore, let go of the effort to try and replace your attacking thoughts. For now, recognize you are the painter that holds the brush upon the blank canvas of the world you see and allow yourself to put that brush down.
Allow any and every attacking thought to come to mind today. Allow it to arise and then fade away. This is how you start to exercise your limitless power and releasing yourself from a bondage that was never really there, only in your mind.
Namaste.