My thoughts* on ACIM Urtext Lesson 44, for February 13, 2024. God is the light in which I see.
God is the light in which I see.
* I can actually think of nothing for which I am more grateful outside of life/existence itself.
1. Today we are continuing the idea for yesterday, adding another dimension to it. ²You cannot see in darkness, and you cannot make light.
³You can make darkness and then think you see in it, but light reflects life, and is therefore an aspect of creation.
* THIS is the distinction between life and the death/illusion created by the manifestation of the belief in separation from God.
⁴Creation and darkness cannot coexist, but light and life must go together, being but different aspects of creation.
2. In order to see, you must recognize that light is within, not without.
* This may be key to understanding why we must go within to heal. This is something that we want to share with our children, from the time of conception truly. How would our world appear in general if the wee ones where allowed to retain this understanding?!?
²You do not see outside yourself, nor is the equipment for seeing outside you.
* At the same time we want to understand that this goes for all others as well. Including those still caught in “addictions web.”
³An essential part of this equipment is the light that makes seeing possible.
* The LIGHT is the witness of God through the Holy Spirit.
⁴It is with you always, making vision possible in every circumstance.
3. Today we are going to attempt to reach that light. ²For this purpose, we will use a form of exercise which has been suggested before, and which we will utilize increasingly. ³It is a particularly difficult form for the undisciplined mind, and represents a major goal of mind training. ⁴It requires precisely what the untrained mind lacks. ⁵Yet this training must be accomplished if you are to see.
4. Have at least three practice periods today, each lasting three to five minutes. ²A longer time is highly recommended, but only if you find the time slipping by with little or no sense of strain.
³The form of practice we will use today is the most natural and easy one in the world for the trained mind, just as it seems to be the most unnatural and difficult for the untrained mind.
5. Your mind is no longer wholly untrained. ²You are quite ready to learn the form of exercise we will use today, but you may find that you will encounter strong resistance. ³The reason is very simple.
⁴While you practice in this way, you leave behind everything that you now believe, and all the thoughts that you have made up.
⁵Properly speaking, this is the release from hell.
⁶Yet perceived through the ego’s eyes, it is loss of identity and a descent into hell.
* Note this distinction.
* “⁶Yet perceived through the ego’s eyes, it is loss of identity and a descent into hell.” Is this the way the one who I thought of as my partner sees my influence because of my beliefs? Is this what justifies the dagger to my heart after luring me into a sense of safety and contentment? Quite possibly. Need I stand in that place and allow the storm to rage to “prove” my love for him? I do not believe that is what I am asked to do.
* I can trust that I was led into his arms to bless us both and that as his chosen path is revealed I can walk away just as calmly as I entered taking only that which lifts and supports me in my knowledge and understanding of God and how a Child of God deserves to be interacted with.
6. If you can stand aside from the ego by ever so little, you will have no difficulty in recognizing that its opposition and its fears are meaningless.
* The “observer” part of my mind that I met in my three years of meditation training allow me to do this.
²You might find it helpful to remind yourself, from time to time, that to reach light is to escape from darkness, whatever you may believe to the contrary.
* In other words, one does not need to deny the darkness but to recognize that it could not be where you belong as a Child of God or a Part of the Sonship thereof.
³God is the light in which you see.
⁴You are attempting to reach Him.
* And you cannot help but succeed because He Is there and awaits your willingness to greet Him once more.
7. Begin the practice period by repeating today’s idea with your eyes open, and close them slowly, repeating the idea several times more. ²Then try to sink into your mind, letting go every kind of interference and intrusion by quietly sinking past them. ³Your mind cannot be stopped in this unless you choose to stop it. ⁴It is merely taking its natural course. ⁵Try to observe your passing thoughts without involvement, and slip quietly by them.
8. While no particular approach is advocated for this form of exercise, what is needful is a sense of the importance of what you are doing; its inestimable value to you, and an awareness that you are attempting something very holy.
²Salvation is your happiest accomplishment.
³It is also the only one that has any meaning, because it is the only one that has any real use to you at all.
9. If resistance rises in any form, pause long enough to repeat today’s idea, keeping your eyes closed unless you are aware of fear. ²In that case, you will probably find it more reassuring to open your eyes briefly. ³Try, however, to return to the exercises with eyes closed as soon as possible.
10. If you are doing the exercises correctly, you should experience some sense of relaxation, and even a feeling that you are approaching, if not actually entering into light.
²Try to think of light, formless and without limit, as you pass by the thoughts of this world.
³And do not forget that they cannot hold you to the world unless you give them the power to do so.
* YOU are in control of what you would see and how you would feel. Know that all of the best things and feelings are yours in God, never removed and flowing with you Holy Instant to Holy Instant.
11. Throughout the day repeat the idea often, with eyes open or closed as seems better to you at the time. ²But do not forget.
³Above all, be determined not to forget today.
* “God is the light in which I see.”
* God Is the Light in which I see Holy Instant by Holy Instant.
(ACIM, W-44.1:1–11:3)
Till next time, God bless, debi.
