[acimlessons_list] Lesson 45 - February 14

[Sue Roth]

Lesson 45 - February 14

"God is the Mind with which I think."

PRACTICE SUMMARY:

Purpose: to experience your real thoughts, which you think with the Mind of
God.

Longer: 3 times, for 5 minutes
*	Repeat the idea as you close your eyes. Then add 4-5 related
thoughts (remember the instruction in letting related thoughts come that you
received in Lessons 42 and 43).
*	Then repeat the idea again and say: "My real thoughts are in my
mind. I would like to find them."
*	Then employ the same meditation technique you were taught in Lessons
41 and 44. Again, it is helpful to think of it as having three aspects:

1.	Sink down through the obscuring layer of your senseless, unreal
thoughts; reach past that to the eternal, limitless thoughts you think with
God.
2.	When your mind wanders, draw it back. It will help if you repeat the
idea.
3.	Above all, hold a certain attitude in mind. Confidence: Don't let
your worldly thoughts tell you that you can't make it. You can't fail,
because God wants you to make it. Desire: Reaching this place in you is your
true heart's desire. Holiness: Approach it as you would a holy altar in
which God and His Son think in perfect unison. "Remind yourself that this is
no idle game, but an exercise in holiness" (8:7).

Frequent reminders: ideally, spend 1-2 minutes
Repeat the idea. Then step aside from your usual unholy thoughts and spend
some time reflecting on the holiness of your mind. Think about how holy it
must be if it thinks with the Mind of God.

COMMENTARY

The lessons are trying, in a way, to cause extreme disorientation in us. Our
real thoughts "are nothing that you think you think, just as nothing that
you think you see is related to vision in any way" (1:2). If my thoughts
aren't real and what I see isn't real, what do I have to hold on to? Not
much at all. This can seem quite frightening, almost what it might be like
if I was one of those characters in a suspense thriller who is being
attacked by someone trying to drive them insane, causing them to believe
that they are hallucinating and imagining things that are not there.

Actually, although the attempt to break our mental orientation is similar,
the Course's intent is just the reverse. It is trying to drive us <sane,>
not insane. We already are insane. We <are> hallucinating and imagining
things that are not there, and the Course is trying to break our obsessive
belief in their reality.

Underneath the protective layer of delusion we have laid over reality is a
wholly sane mind thinking wholly sane thoughts and seeing only truth. Our
real thoughts are thoughts we think with the Mind of God, sharing them with
Him. Thoughts do not leave the mind, so they must still be there. Our
thoughts are God's thoughts, and God's thoughts are eternal. If these
thoughts are there we can find them. We can push our feet down through the
mushy ooze of our thoughts and find solid bedrock. We may be almost totally
out of touch with these original, eternal thoughts, thoughts completely in
accord with the Mind of God, but God would have us find them. Therefore we
must be capable of finding them.

Yesterday we were seeking the Light within ourselves, a very abstract
concept. Today we are seeking our own real thoughts. That brings the
abstract a little closer to home; not just "the Light" but my own thoughts,
something that is part of me and representative of my nature.

What would a thought be like that was in perfect harmony with the Mind of
God? That is what we are trying to find and experience today. And if we are
honest, we will have to admit that the thoughts of which we are mostly aware
are not in that league at all. Our thoughts are too riddled with fear, too
uncertain, too defensive, too anxious or frantic, and above all too
changeable to qualify as a thought we share with God.

A thought we share with God must be one of complete harmony, absolute peace,
utter certainty, total benevolence, and perfect stability. We are seeking to
locate such a thought-center in our minds. We are seeking to find thoughts
of this nature <within ourselves.>

Once more we practice the quiet sinking down, going past all the unreal
thoughts that cover the truth in our minds, and reaching to the eternal that
is within us. This is a holy exercise, and one we should take quite
seriously, although not somberly, for it is a joyous exercise. Within me
there is a place that never changes, a place that is always at peace, always
brilliant with love's shining. And today, O God yes today, I want to find
that place! Today I want to touch that solid foundation at the core of my
being and know its stability. Today I want to find my Self.