Day 51

Today's Lesson:

Today we begin a 10-day review period for the previous 50 daily lessons. We are to begin the day by reading the five ideas, and the comments included. The idea is to emphasize the relationships among the first 50 of the ideas we have covered, and the cohesiveness of the thought system to which they are leading us.

1) Nothing I see means anything.

The reason this is so is that I see nothing, and nothing has no meaning. It is necessary that I recognize this that I may learn to see. What I think I see now is taking the place of vision. I must let it go by realizing it has no meaning, so that vision may take its place.

2) I have given what I see all the meaning it has for me.

I have judged everything I look upon, and it is this and only this I see. This is not vision. It is merely an illusion of reality, because my judgments have been made quite apart from reality. I am willing to recognize the lack of validity in my judgments, because I want to see. My judgments have hurt me, and I do not want to see according to them.

3) I do not understand anything I see.

How could I understand what I see when I have judged it amiss? What I see is the projection of my own errors of thought. I do not understand what I see because it is not understandable. There is no sense in trying to understand it. But there is every reason to let it go, and make room for what can be seen and understood and loved. I can exchange what I see now for this merely by being willing to do so. Is not this a better choice than the one I made before?

4) These thoughts do not mean anything.

The thoughts of which I am aware do not mean anything because I am trying to think without God. What I call "my" thoughts are not my real thoughts. My real thoughts are the thoughts I think with God. I am not aware of them because I have made my thoughts to take their place. I am willing to recognize that my thoughts do not mean anything, and to let them go. I choose to have them be replaced by what they were intended to replace. My thoughts are meaningless, but all creation lies in the thoughts I think with God.

5) I am never upset for the reason I think.

I am never upset for the reason I think because I am constantly trying to justify my thoughts. I am constantly trying to make them true. I make all things my enemies, so that my anger is justified and my attacks are warranted. I have not realized how much I have misused everything I see by assigning this role to it. I have done this to defend a thought system that has hurt me, and that I no longer want. I am willing to let it go.

Miracles I'm noticing:

These practice periods will be very welcome as I begin to make the ideas part of my everyday thoughts. I'm noticing that it is much easier to remember the thoughts we've been studying when I see them in the review here. I really am starting to get this stuff!

I've been inspired by the people who have been inspired by watching The Secret on Oprah these past two weeks as well. I've been thinking about the woman on Friday's show (Oprah's second show about The Secret) who had some trouble reconciling The Secret with her Christianity. She said The Secret told us to put our trust in ourselves, not in God or Jesus, and that was troubling to her. She seemed to have some trouble with the concepts because she heard Neale Donald Walsch, in his part of The Secret, saying that you will never stand in judgment to anyone, so you can go out and do anything you want in your life without having to worry about judgment. She said she did believe in hell, and believed that if she didn't believe in God and Jesus, but rather put her belief in herself, she would go to "hell."

I must admit, this brings up some memories of when I first started studying A Course in Miracles. It seemed too comfortable to believe what I was learning, and that went against all the difficulties I had experienced with my Christian upbringing. I can relate to the fear that this woman was feeling. What I also realized was that the answers Michael Beckwith, James Ray and Oprah were giving this woman - that the universal laws - including the Law of Attraction - describe the nature of the way God works. Michael said Jesus was speaking the language of the Law of Attraction when he said "pray believing you have that you may receive." That's The Secret in a nutshell.

If you make choices that are limiting, you will be limited. God gives us free will, and based on the choices we make, we will be accountable. Jesus also said "the kingdom of Heaven is within," and James is asking the woman to consider that the kingdom of hell could be within us as well, depending upon the choices we make. Michael said the kingdom of God is actually within us and we are either participating in the realm of ever-extending good, or cutting yourself off from the realm of ever-extending good. We are not anticipating good, we are participating. Life is magnificent - the presence, the power the love is everywhere, and we can choose to participate now, not hoping that sometime in the future we will be rewarded. So all of these laws open us up to be full participants in our lives.

I heard that so much differently than I would have before doing the Course, so I can understand why people might have trouble with these ideas if they're coming from their old mindset. The things I love most about the Course and also The Secret are that neither asks us to give up anything from our belief systems, but each adds another layer to that. Even Gary Zukav in his interviews with Oprah on her soul series on XM tells us not to use anything as a new dogma, but to consider possibilities. I love that! And as I open my mind more and more, I see how this open space allows for so many more possibilities and inclusion. I see how if I am a Son of God, as the Course teaches, I don't have to wait to experience the kingdom of Heaven.

It's all soooooo good!