January 19, 2021
Lesson 19 –
I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
The Course teaches us that our minds are joined – there is no separation in reality. Our bodies appear to indicate we are separate from each other, but our bodies are temporary, serving only to be used to help teach us we are not separate. Everything is connected. The Course puts it this way:
The idea for today is obviously the reason why your seeing does not affect you alone. You will notice that at times the ideas related to thinking precede those related to perceiving, while at other times the order is reversed. The reason is that the order does not matter. Thinking and its results are really simultaneous, for cause and effect are never separate. W-pI.19.1:1-4
If we accept the idea that we are of one Mind, it follows that there are no private thoughts. This idea may seem to be impossible right now. Everything we have experienced until now supports the idea that our thoughts are only our own. This is not intended to make us feel afraid of our thoughts. They are only thoughts, after all. However, our thoughts do have an impact on our consciousness – our awareness of who we really are. And, the thoughts we believe will act as either a block to the awareness of our Oneness or will open our minds to this awareness instead.
Today we are again emphasizing the fact that minds are joined. This is rarely a wholly welcome idea at first, since it seems to carry with it an enormous sense of responsibility, and may even be regarded as an “invasion of privacy.” Yet it is a fact that there are no private thoughts. Despite your initial resistance to this idea, you will yet understand that it must be true if salvation is possible at all. And salvation must be possible because it is the Will of God. W-pI.19.2:1-5
The purpose of this lesson is to begin to open ourselves to a new way of thinking. It also teaches us that our thoughts create a way of experiencing the world we perceive. I act differently in the world when I think thoughts of love and kindness than when I think thoughts of hate and attack. And each person I encounter will experience my actions according to my own thoughts, attitudes, and actions. At a higher level, we each experience another’s openness to joining according to each other’s thoughts.
The Course doesn’t expect us to instantly shift the way we think. That is what the practice of the lessons is about. We have spent a lifetime learning to think the way we currently think. It will take time and practice to shift the way we think. The Course and Spirit will gently guide us as we allow. A little willingness is what is asked for and is all Spirit needs to begin to guide our thoughts to a more correct thought system. Be alert and observant. Our openness to learning will help us be successful. Our success is guaranteed for we will be returning to the awareness of who we really are and the awareness of the light of truth which is already within us. Turn to that light. The reality of love and peace will rise in our minds as we do. Let it be so.
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