A Course In Miracles Lesson 56

A Course In Miracles  Lesson 56

My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

It is a waste of time and energy to attack something that is larger and more powerful than I am.  My eternal being is eternally enduring and not able to be attacked.  There is no physical example to make in this world of this concept because all physical matter breaks down into nothingness.  We could say, our true self is like a diamond and can not be scratched.  But more than that, our true nature can not ever be destroyed.  Our true nature is unassailable and can not be harmed.  

Our bodies can be harmed.  And when we connect our sense of identity to our body, we suffer greatly and for long periods of time.  When we sense the eternalness within our body, we suffer less as this body changes because we connect with that which will never change.  It is there. We are there beyond all the various descriptions of skin tone, culture, gender, etc.  Beyond this body and these life circumstances, I am a continuing expansion of discovery and joy.

Recognizing that I have attack thoughts and recognizing what those attack thoughts are actually attacking does not move us in a direction of resignation.  The part of us that seeks to attack will surely suggest that it does.  But Lesson 56 is not teaching resignation or asking us to cultivate a sense of powerlessness.  It is pointing out that to argue with any earthly condition will only ever be exhausting.  There is another way to effect change that does not propagate anger, sorrow, and pain.  Objecting to dysfunction is not the same as battling dysfunction.  Battling anything is a dysfunctional act in itself and can never lead to harmony.  Bringing calm to that which is agitated is the most highly effective response possible in any conflict.

But how do we locate such calm?  A Course In Miracles is asking us to remember the nonphysical aspect of who we really are which is eternally unassailable, invulnerable, and always wholly well.  Perfect security and complete fulfillment are my inherent state.  Peace is what I naturally return to no matter how large a disturbance may come.  An inherent return to peace may cause pain if we feel we do not deserve peace.  And if we feel we do not deserve peace, we will live without it until we arrive and truly wanting it for ourselves.  Peace is waiting for us.  Does this upset you? Do you feel, because of what you’ve done you should not have it?  You will be allowed to feel this way for as long as you are interested in doing so.  This is why A Course In Miracles guides us to look at where our interests lie and to start to understand that…

Above all else, I want to see.

I am not just determined to see reality in a true way.  I want to see clearly more than anything else.  Seeing clearly is my greatest, most important priority above all else.  What else is there to want more than to know what is true?  Truth is clarity.  Clarity is a relief.  Truth gives us on-the-ground practical facts that lead to solutions that last.  What is true?  I want to see and know the answer to this question more than I want to see my self-made preferences.  My mind has defined the world incorrectly.  I want to put down these errors in thinking and see clearly. I do not have to figure out how to see clearly, I only need to figure out that that is what I want.

Above all else, I want to see differently.

To see the truth, I must first recognize that I do not currently see it.  What I see now all around me are the effects of having imposed a campaign of convincing myself and others that I am something I want to be rather than what I really am.  But I am moving towards only ever wanting to be what I truly am.  I am putting down the interest in self-defined illusions of identity.  I am releasing all interest in pushing a campaign of illusions.  I am letting go of the painful and frightening self-image I’ve made.  And now I am seeing who I am in a different way.  This is a deep relief. I don’t to have to be … (fill in the blank here) if I do not want to.  I can partake in any role while also being my true self.  How I am can be brought to whatever I do.  I do not need to be anything other than what I am.  Why?  Because…

God is in everything I see.

The only way I will see differently is by connecting to the spiritual dimension of joy that is inherent in all that is.  Some things in this world may not feel related to the Field of Joy that is God, the Source of our existence.  Some things in this world may seem to be only dark and only wrong and only painful or scary.  But the truth is, Light is found in the darkest of places.  Light is at the bottom of the sea and in the deepest reaches of space.  Light is that which prevails.  Light is within all that is because there is no such thing as eternal darkness.  Only a creative force can create.  Existence is creative and therefore does not have destructive properties.  Illusion does have destructive properties but because illusion is part of the Field of all Creation, that Field is also within any illusion.  We can locate light anywhere.  And it is not necessary to test this theory and to go on long quests into the darkness to prove that Light is there.  We can know that God is in everything I see and move on from this knowing into realms not yet explored or imagined.  There is much more we could be doing with our focus than constantly testing the nature of light to prevail in any arrangement of darkness we might mock-up as an experiment.  Let us recognize that any darkness is an experiment behind which the truth remains unassailable and always well.

God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.

My mind is producing what I see.  My mind is a will.  My mind is an interest in …

What I am interested in is what I will see.  In taking this course, I am changing the nature of what interests me in a deep and lasting way.  I am not fighting myself for changes.  I am looking truthfully at where my attention goes and I am acknowledging that my interests brought me to where I am now.  If I do not like where I am, I need only acknowledge there is some part of me that has an interest in arriving here.  It may be that I do not yet want peace on an emotional level.  Intellectually, I may know that peace is the way to go.  But emotionally my logic may still believe that attack and revenge will bring me satisfaction and peace.  When I locate these urges I can then see that I do have some interest in revenge.  I want some kind of payback and justice enforced that will balance the pain I suffered by dispensing equal pain out onto another.  

I have interests in revenge and “justice.”  Seeing that I have this interest will enable me to shift this interest at its core.  Payback impulses keep generating payback impulses.  A world without revenge is the Creative Reality.  God’s world is a choice I can make even though Its concepts are hard for my current way of seeing to grasp.  It is possible to live in a revenge-less state.  The qualities of peace are attainable because they are choices I can make in my own mind.