Today we review the following: W-26 to W-30
1. W-26 “My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.” I
²How can I know who I am when I see myself under constant attack?
³Pain, sickness, loss, aging, and death seem to threaten me.
⁴All my hopes, desires, and plans appear to be at the mercy of a world I cannot control.
⁵Yet perfect safety and complete fulfillment are my inheritance.
⁶I have tried to exchange my inheritance for the world I see. II
⁷But God has safeguarded it for me.
⁸My own real Thoughts will teach me what it is.
2. W-27 “Above all else I want to see.” III
²By recognizing that what I see reflects what I think I am, I realize that Vision is my greatest need.
³The world I see bears witness to the fearful nature of the image I have made of myself.
⁴If I am to remember who I am, it is essential that I let this image of myself go.
⁵When it is replaced by truth, Vision will surely be given me.
⁶And with that Vision, I will look upon the world and on myself with gentleness and love.
3. W-28 “Above all else I want to see things differently.”IV
²The world I see maintains the fearful image I have of myself and ensures its continuation.
³As long as I see the world as I see it now, the truth cannot enter my awareness.
⁴I will let the door behind this world be opened to me, so I may look past it to the world that reflects the Love of God.
4. W-29 “God is in everything I see.” V
²Behind every image I have made, the truth remains unchanged.
³Behind every veil I have drawn across the face of Love, its Light remains untouched.
⁴Beyond all my insane desires is my will, united with the Will of my Father.
⁵God is still everywhere and in everything forever.
⁶And we who are part of Him will look past all appearances and recognize the truth beyond them all.
5. W-30 “God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.” VI
²In my own mind, behind all my insane thoughts of separation and attack, is the knowledge that all is one forever.
³I have not lost the knowledge of who I am because I have forgotten it.
⁴That knowledge has been kept for me in the Mind of God, Who has not left His Thoughts.
⁵And I, who am among them, am one with them and One with Him.
I To feel vulnerable—that is, to think that you can lose or that something of real value to you can be diminished—undermines the very foundation of trust, which is the fundamental characteristic of God’s teachers. You cannot lose anything real, for everything real was given you by God forever, and this cannot change throughout all eternity.
Yet it is evident that you can be confused about what you are and tell yourself something else. Hence this Course is summed up in the recognition that “Nothing real can be threatened.” Remember that “only your own thoughts can affect you,” and your thoughts of attack and condemnation—which are the same—certainly endanger the idea you hold of yourself in your mind.
In truth, your attacks and condemnations cannot in any way change your true condition as the Son of God, but they do affect your fictitious identity, which is all you know while you believe you are in time. Forgiveness, and even prayer as you now understand it, serve to heal that small part of your holy mind in which your ego resides. That part of your mind is absolutely real, but what it conceives is not.
The purpose of this Course is precisely to heal that. The part of your mind where the Holy Spirit dwells needs no healing.
II In Genesis 25:29–34 we read the story of Esau, who gives up his inheritance in exchange for a bowl of lentils. In this case, your inheritance is the “perfect safety and complete fullness” of Heaven, which you have tried to relinquish in exchange for the world you now behold.
III This is a very serious statement. It expresses the firm will to place true vision before everything to which you assign value in this world. To say this from the heart is the expression of a deep longing; it is the true “spiritual call.” With this—as with everything—you must be very honest.
Vision is unfailingly granted to all who desire it with their whole heart, and in this there are no exceptions. If you do not truly see the Love of God underlying all things, it is because you prefer to see something else. Your lack of honesty, your resistance to recognizing your true desires, is what leads you to attack this Course, which is perfectly honest; you are not.
Honesty is a basic characteristic of God’s teachers; in fact, it is the first within time. Without honesty, nothing can be done. Work on it before all else and ask yourself if, in truth, vision is the most important thing for you. If it is not, it is probably best for you to plunge into the world and try to attain what you consider more important than seeing. Soon you will see that it was a mistake, and you will begin to understand the importance of vision for freeing your mind from the inevitable suffering you will encounter.
It is always better to turn back on your path with your eyes open than to go forward with your eyes closed, deceiving yourself. But this is not necessary. Deep within your heart there is a profound longing to enjoy your rightful heritage. Persevere with humility and trust in finding it, and it will not be hard, for it is what lies behind all your worldly desires. You do indeed want that, but you are a little confused.
IV This is the thought that must arise in your mind whenever your heart indicates, through its unease, that you are misusing your mind. You ask for a new interpretation of the dream you are immersed in because the one your ego has given you makes you suffer. You are perfectly within your rights to do so, and it is what serves you best. If you do not, what you will hear next is the ego’s proposal to “fix” that situation, and that will inevitably lead you to disaster… as it always has.
V Only the innocent, those who know themselves to be sinless, can see God in all things. Those who condemn themselves see only their own “sins” all around them. Do not condemn yourself or condemn others; it is not worth it, it harms you, and it serves no purpose but to make you suffer. Forgive, and you will see God.
VI You may be absolutely certain that this is so; the issue is that you have reserved a part of your mind for yourself alone. What has led you to this is your own sense of personal importance. The idea you have of yourself is not important, for it is absolutely false; do not uphold, support, or defend it. In the very instant you abandon all sense of personal importance, you will become utterly unreachable by suffering and enjoy the safety and peace of the truly humble.