“God is the light in which I see…”

Lesson 44:

“God is the light in which I see…”

These are the mind-training exercises that really are the experience of the undoing. It is so critical to give oneself over completely to them. “You cannot be totally committed, sometimes… Reality cannot be partly appreciated.” (T-7.VII.1.4.7)

This is the complete turning around of the mind back to its true Source in God. It reverses the ego order of cause and effect and reestablishes the natural order of God~ of our Self ~of creation… it is not merely an intellectual exercise. It’s so important not to stop at the seemingly intellectual understanding of where these exercises (well actually, the entire Course) are taking us.

Intellectual understanding can be a major trap. Because we can actually think we know… after all it feels good, and right…does it not? This is a trap because this “knowing” closes the mind from learning/experiencing. I spent years in this semi-satisfactory place in my mind… thinking I knew ~ when I didn’t know…not knowing ~ until I knew…

The intellect is not the mind. It is an ability of the mind. It derives all its power from the direction of the Self ~ deriving its very vitality and creation from its Source. “God is my Source…The Light in which I see…”

The light of understanding comes when we allow our intellect to be at the service of the Holy Spirit, who has a unified purpose for all our abilities.

So it’s not that we need to ‘do’ anything about this intellectual understanding trap ~only to be aware of it and be vigilant to move just a little beyond the comfort of ‘getting-it’~ to allow for the experience to light our mind. “Truth can only be recognized and need only be recognized. Inspiration is of the Holy Spirit, and certainty is of God according to His laws.” (T-7.IV.1)

In the section in chapter 18 of the text called “A little Willingness” (a section very precious to me ~ given my addiction to trying to qualify), it says: “The holy instant is the result of your determination to be holy. It is the answer. The desire and the willingness to let it come precede its coming. You prepare your mind for it only to the extent of recognizing that you want it above all else. Do not attempt to give the Holy Spirit what He does not ask, or you will add the ego to Him and confuse the two… Trust not your good intentions. They are not enough. But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter. Concentrate only on this, and be not disturbed that shadows surround it. That is why you came…”

It is the experience we seek~ the ‘universal’ experience of Source extending ~of LOVE~ of Self~ and why it is so crucial to drop beneath our ‘understanding’ of our ideas of who and what we are so this recognition can occur… Lucky for us, we have this groovy mind-training Course and the Coolest Dude ever as our guide (Jesus), with the ready built template of ‘light dispelling darkness’ (Holy Spirit), already within our mind… D u d e…everything goes our way…

The course also says:

“You have surely begun to realize that this is a very practical course, and one that means exactly what it says…This is not a course in the play of ideas, but in their practical application…This course is always practical… and it is the practical with which this course is most concerned”

… And how yummy is the practical practice, today, eh? ~How ‘bout we do it together, now:

“Today we are going to attempt to reach that light….You cannot see in darkness, and you cannot make light… Light reflects life, and is therefore an aspect of creation. Creation and darkness cannot coexist, but light and life must go together, being but different aspects of creation... In order to see, you must recognize that light is within, not without (God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him)… You do not see outside yourself, nor is the equipment for seeing outside you. An essential part of this equipment is the light that makes seeing possible. It is with you always, making vision possible in every circumstance…

…Leave behind everything that you now believe, and all the thoughts that you have made up~ sink into your mind, letting go every kind of interference and intrusion by quietly sinking past them… You should experience some sense of relaxation, and even a feeling that you are approaching, if not actually entering into light… think of light, formless and without limit, as you pass by the thoughts of this world… What is needful is a sense of the importance of what you are doing; its inestimable value to you, and an awareness that you are attempting something very holy… Above all, be determined not to forget today…(“The holy instant is the result of your determination to be holy.”)

“There is a hush in Heaven, a happy expectancy, a little pause of gladness in acknowledgement of the journey’s end. For Heaven knows you well, as you know Heaven. No illusions stand between you and your brother now. Look not upon the little wall of shadows. The sun has risen over it. How can a shadow keep you from the sun? No more can you be kept by shadows from the light in which illusions end…

…Does it get any better than this…