Lesson 93. Light and joy and peace abide in me.
This lesson addresses an issue most of us would rather not look squarely in the face. Most of us have an unworthiness or “I am bad” belief. In fact, only those who have transcended the belief are not beleaguered by it, in one form or another. That sense that we have about ourselves, that sense that “I am the scum of the earth,” is the voice of the “I am a body” belief. It is created and fed by our focus on our body/mind/personality as who we are.
ACIM tells us, “The concept of the self has always been the great preoccupation of the world. And everyone believes that he must find the answer to the riddle of himself.” T-31.V.14.
So, we set about doing just that and the care and tending or “perfection” of that concept is never-ending. We call this focus on the body as who we are the “ego.” You know the voice, “Oh, good job, you showed them!” or “I cannot believe you failed at that task so miserably. Next time …..” Even if we attempt to create the most wonderful conception of ourselves, the voice tells us, “You have fallen far short.”
As Byron Brown writes in Soul Without Shame, “The [ego] generally recognizes the importance of essential human qualities such as value, strength, peace, compassion, and will. However, it does not believe that you have them innately; it tells you that you must acquire them from the outside through accomplishments and good behavior: ‘If you are an unselfish, giving person, then perhaps you have some value.’ The [ego] believes that you can only claim these qualities when you prove that you have earned them, you can control them, and you can live up to them through meeting its standards. If you can’t, then it tells you, ‘You must be faking the experience; these qualities are only a temporary occurrence, and they will be taken away from you at any moment because they don’t belong to you anyway.’”
As today’s workbook lesson teaches, the unworthiness or “I am bad” belief is undone by removing your believing attention from the idea that you are a body/mind/personality and placing your attention on the Truth of Your Being. The lesson tells us, “Today we question this, not from the point of view of what you think, but from a very different reference point.”
We are going to question our ‘I am a body’ thinking from the point-of-view of our truth. That is, from awareness. An important part of this questioning is “What am I?” Be curious to discover what you are. Are you the body? Are you this thinking? Or, are you awareness? Which one is most true about what you are? Which ones can you observe and which one is you, the observer?
We must begin to listen for the self chatter that purports to tell us who we are. After noticing negative self-chatter, pause to ask, “What am I?” and look beyond the “I am a body (or person or mind)” chatter to notice what you really are.
Today you are asked to give the first 5 minutes of each hour to today’s lesson. It’s possible that you won’t be able to do that, but give those 5 minutes when you can. During that time, wonder, “What am I?” and then look to see what the true answer is. Use the video that is attached to this post to help guide you. You might watch it as part of your practice during one or more of the 5-minute periods today.
When you can’t give a full 5 minutes to today’s practice, give at least the 2-5 seconds that was represented by yesterday’s Bentinho video. If you say today’s workbook lesson and then give a full 5 minutes (or at least 2-5 seconds) to this looking every hour today, you will take great strides in freeing yourself from the “I am the body” belief and from the thinking that goes with it.
Here’s today’s video:
