I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

Good Morning!

Many of us who are on spiritual paths that are different from the mainstream sometimes find it difficult when we hear absolute statements such as, "This is the only way. Only those who follow this path will be saved." So last Tuesday's lesson from the workbook of A Course in Miracles (Lesson 23) can present some of us with a challenge. Here's an excerpt.

I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

The idea for today contains the only way out of fear that will ever succeed. Nothing else will work; everything else is meaningless. But this way cannot fail. Every thought you have makes up some segment of the world you see. It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work, if your perception of the world is to be changed. If the cause of the world you see is attack thoughts, you must learn that it is these thoughts which you do not want. There is no point in lamenting the world. There is no point in trying to change the world. It is incapable of change because it is merely an effect. But there is indeed a point in changing your thoughts about the world. Here you are changing the cause. The effect will change automatically. You see the world that you have made, but you do not see yourself as the image maker. You cannot be saved from the world, but you can escape from its cause. This is what salvation means, for where is the world you see when its cause is gone?

The world is an effect, not a cause? I'm the cause of the world I see?

Pretty radical stuff. But what if it is true? What if the only way to escape the world I see is by giving up attack thoughts? In my meditations, I am inspired by the love that Jesus demonstrated when he walked the earth; how he gave up attack thoughts and saw love; and how, even in his death, there was no judgment.

If we can escape from the world we see by giving up attack thoughts, then we freely let them go. And it is the practicing of this way of seeing, thinking, and living that will demonstrate to us whether this path is truly our way home to God. Attack-free, judgment-free, complaint-free, we choose to walk today in joy.

Have a great day!

Michael

The Practicing Forgiveness group meets every Thursday at 7pm at Unity Christ Center (www.unitychristcenter.org) to share lessons in practicing forgiveness as a daily way of life. All are welcome. To receive a weekly practicing forgiveness message, send an email with “Practicing Forgiveness – Add my address” in the subject line to mwilk@mindspring.com.