A Course In Miracles Lesson 24

A Course In Miracles Lesson 24 states:

I do not perceive my own best interests.

We think we know what would lead to our happiness.  We conjure very convincing mental image narratives of how we think situations ought to unfold in order to lead to what we think we want.  However, in this world, we are never so fully informed as to know which actions will lead to true and lasting benefit.  We do not know how to procure the best outcome.  We do not know how to anticipate the various ramifications of any one action and then guide it towards positive results.  We do not have that much control or understanding.

In this world, we can not compute all the ramifications and effects our actions cause.  We also do not realize the extent to which we do not know what we really want.  In all situations we want peace.  But we do not know which actions or responses lead to peace rather than to more disruption.  To have awareness of such complex accuracy of movement would require a complete and ubiquitous knowledge of all aspects of a situation which we can never have while in the limitations of a physical body.

A Course In Miracles Lesson 24 wants us to become aware of our limited condition and to realize that many of our conclusions about what is needed next are incomplete and uninformed.  Today’s lesson need not diminish our self-confidence.  On the contrary, letting this statement in will lead to a true and lasting source of certainty and confidence.  

We may not understand this world and we may not know what is best for ourselves.  But there is a living, aware Presence of Knowing that does know what is best.  Questioning the existence of this All-Knowing Awareness (God) will only delay the learning process of how to find peace in a lasting way.  If we let the logic of today’s lesson into our understanding, we can be taught and shown the right actions that lead to a meaningful life.  Locating the peaceful path through life is the only activity in this world that has any real meaning.  All other pursuits are empty without a connection to this single conviction.  And once this conviction is established, everything we do holds deeply satisfying meaning.

Because our physical minds are in a state of duality, we compulsively assert self-made convictions which have nothing to do with what is really true.  By recognizing we do not perceive our own best interests, we are being asked to put down all our self-made convictions towards unexamined goals and spend time observing how we are not equipped to know answers.  We are equipped to listen, discover, and ask for help.  Taking up an attitude of curiosity and discovery rather than assertive certainty will open our minds and prepare us for real learning to begin.  

The way we obscure knowing from ourselves is through the use of images.  We are highly complex image-makers.  Mental images are the most powerful ways to validate a self-made perception.  Images hold the most convincing authority possible in this world.  But these conjured images are never fully informed.  They are dream scenarios shaped by a fixation with the past.  We attempt to overwrite reality in thousands of ways every day. 

Rather than conclude and assert images of how we want the world to be, today’s lesson is an invitation to learn how to ask for help more often than we currently think to do.  If we acknowledge we do not understand a situation and are not equipped to navigate out of it in a productive way, rather than dwell in a stew of frustration, we can ask for guidance through all situations in life and remember that it is not in our power to understand how this world works or what would be best to have unfold.  

But we are very drawn to feeling certain and we can convince ourselves of confident certainty within seconds.  Notice this capacity.  Notice how uncomfortable our minds feel when uncertainty is sustained for a long period of time.  See how we simply conjure an answer rather than endure not knowing.  Today’s lesson can bring volumes of insight into all the ways in which our interests are misguided.

Our interests are misguided because, as we learned in previous lessons, our thoughts are charged with impulses for revenge.  We want revenge in countless ways because we believe aggressive action will restore the peace of mind we seek.  Examine the motivations behind your chosen activities.  Give today’s lesson a try and review all the scenarios in your life one by one.  The directions for today are quite clear and straightforward.  There are no archaic religious vocabulary words to redefine or update today.  There is only a need for willingness to be more honest with ourselves than ever before.  Honesty is the nature of Reality.  Honesty is the path towards peace.  

Have a look at what you are striving for on a daily basis and locate the real motivations for those pursuits.  We will quickly see how many assumptions and demands we have made on people and events and how we do not perceive our own best interests.