Lesson 53. Review of Lessons 11-15.
11) My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.
When I lose my focus on spiritual aspiration or true desire, I become disheartened. I am no longer able to see how everything fits together into one glorious song or testament to life itself. I think that there must be some place I am supposed to be, some way I am supposed to be and I imagine that I am not in that place or way of being. This is what it means to be separate from life. When I drop into my heart—when I focus on my essence—I have a felt sense that I and everything else is just where and how it “should be.” I don’t need anything to be different. I am confident in my Self and my “place” in the world.
12) I am upset because I see a meaningless world.
I can be sure that if I am upset, it is because I have, once again, begun searching for meaning outside of myself. I have turned to looking to others and the world and found that they have somehow failed me—failed to meet my expectations. By letting go of my belief in these thoughts of lack and limitation, I find myself settled; happy to be with whatever arises. In myself, I never find any cause for upset. When upset arises and I do not try to assign the cause of that upset to the outside world, I see through the emotions to the unaffectedness of my true nature.
13) A meaningless world engenders fear.
I fear a meaningless world only when I believe it is the world that gives me meaning. What is there to fear in something that can have no effect upon me? I learn to see fear as a signpost, whose presence heralds the recognition of my focus outside myself. Fear feeds itself if I believe it is justified by its cause. How do I let go of fear? I look within myself to see the source of fear. The source of fear is always the believing attention I have placed on my thoughts about the world.
14) God did not create a meaningless world.
Who created this world? I create a meaningless world when I believe it can offer me something I want. The only meaning in the world is to realize it shows me the opposite of truth. Conflict, attack, victimization are those things that are directly counter to the truth—Peace, cooperation and powerful freedom. It is not helpful for me to see the process of creation as outside of what I am and how I think and be. No all powerful force exists outside of me whose whims control my destiny. I am that which is. I come to understand the power of my being as I reclaim responsibility for that which I see.
15) My thoughts are images that I have made.
I must learn to take responsibility for the world I see. I must use discerning awareness in where I choose to cast my attention. When I see images in the world which call for my believing attention, I must ask, “who sees these thoughts” rather than “what do these images mean?” Recognizing my responsibility is not a calling to feel guilty. Rather, recognizing my responsibility offers me a glimpse of the power of my believing attention. Only by recognizing I have a choice in how I perceive what I “see,” can I reclaim my power to create in loving cooperation with my brothers. When the images of this world seem to bring sadness or despair I remember I have the choice to reclaim my creative power. I make this choice by focusing on my true desire.
