Lesson 14. God did not create a meaningless world.
The idea for today is, of course, the reason why a meaningless world is impossible. What God did not create does not exist. And everything that does exist exists as He created it. The world you see has nothing to do with reality. It is of your own making, and it does not exist.
The exercises for today are to be practiced with eyes closed throughout. The mind-searching period should be short, a minute at most. Do not have more than three practice periods with today's idea unless you find them comfortable. If you do, it will be because you really understand what they are for.
The idea for today is another step in learning to let go the thoughts that you have written on the world, and see the Word of God in their place. The early steps in this exchange, which can truly be called salvation, can be quite difficult and even quite painful. Some of them will lead you directly into fear. You will not be left there. You will go far beyond it. Our direction is toward perfect safety and perfect peace.
With eyes closed, think of all the horrors in the world that cross your mind. Name each one as it occurs to you, and then deny its reality. God did not create it, and so it is not real. Say, for example:
God did not create that war, and so it is not real.
God did not create that airplane crash, and so it is not real.
God did not create that disaster [specify], and so it is not real.
Suitable subjects for the application of today's idea also include anything you are afraid might happen to you, or to anyone about whom you are concerned. In each case, name the "disaster" quite specifically. Do not use general terms. For example, do not say, "God did not create illness," but, "God did not create cancer," or heart attacks, or whatever may arouse fear in you.
This is your personal repertory of horrors at which you are looking. These things are part of the world you see. Some of them are shared illusions, and others are part of your personal hell. It does not matter. What God did not create can only be in your own mind apart from His. Therefore, it has no meaning. In recognition of this fact, conclude the practice periods by repeating today's idea:
God did not create a meaningless world.
The idea for today can, of course, be applied to anything that disturbs you during the day, aside from the practice periods. Be very specific in applying it. Say:
God did not create a meaningless world. He did not create [specify the situation which is disturbing you], and so it is not real.
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Below, is from Kenneth Wapnick's commentaries on this lesson, from "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street
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Lesson 14. "God did not create a meaningless world."
(1) "The idea for today is, of course, the reason why a meaningless world is impossible. What God did not create does not exist. And everything that does exist exists as He created it. The world you see has nothing to do with reality. It is of your own making, and it does not exist."
*Lines like these are frequently used by students of A Course in Miracles as a way to dilute the metaphysics and claim that the Course does <not> say that God did not create the world. Rather they claim that the Course teaches only that God did not create the world <we see>. It is true that the words of some statements say just that, but only because Jesus is teaching us to pay careful attention to what we perceive. He makes it abundantly clear both in the workbook, as well as many, many other places in the rest of the material that God could not have created the world because it is His opposite. (See, for example, T-4.1:11; T-29.VI.2:7-10; W-p1.132.4-6; W-p1.152.5-7;C-4.1). Everything in the world of specifics and form changes and dies. Such a world is outside of God, and therefore could not exist.
The very fact that we <perceive> the world means it is unreal, and also that we are unreal. Again, this does not mean just the world we see. Students sometimes mistakenly think this means, for example, that God did not create the cancer I am perceiving. The very fact that I see a world at all is saying there is a reality outside of God; if I perceive a world, there must be a perceiver and perceived, subject and object, observer and observed, which means we are rooted in duality. God can create only like Himself, which means a Being or Spirit of perfect Oneness and Love, changeless and eternal. In other words, what God did not create does not exist, and everything that does exist, exists as He created it -- the state of Heaven.*
(2) "The exercises for today are to be practiced with eyes closed throughout. The mind-searching period should be short, a minute at most. Do not have more than three practice periods with today's idea unless you find them comfortable. If you do, it will be because you really understand what they are for."
*Again, Jesus asserts no pressure on us. The fourth sentence is an interesting one, because our comfort can also be due to our <not> understanding, as we are so afraid of this very purpose of retraining our minds, which these periods of mind searching will bring about. In this instance our "comfort" would be a spurious one, which is not Jesus' point here.*
(3:1) "The idea for today is another step in learning to let go the thoughts that you have written on the world, and see the Word of God in their place."
*Jesus is helping us understand there is a specific motivation involved in holding onto our thoughts. They do not come and go as if by magic, a phrase used later (W-pI.158.4:1); they do not just appear. For example, when, I am trying to be quiet, in order to mediate and pray, and all of a sudden extraneous, distracting thoughts arise, they do not come out of nowhere. They come because I am afraid of the love and peace that arise in my mind if I am quiet. I therefore quickly have to substitute <my> thoughts instead of Jesus' thoughts, my experience of specialness rather than the experience of his love.
What is important and clearly implied here is that there is a specific motivation for the way I perceive the world and the thoughts that give rise to it. If I can release those thoughts, which occurs when I ask Jesus for help in looking at them, they will disappear. What is left is the Word of God, which, as defined earlier, is the principle of the Atonement that says that the separation never happened.*
(3:2-3) "The early steps in this exchange, which can truly be called salvation, can be quite difficult and even quite painful. Some of them will lead you directly into fear."
*This is the first time Jesus makes such a statement in the lessons. More will follow, and they are found throughout the text and manual as well -- forgiveness is a difficult process, and cannot but arouse tremendous fear (e.g., T-27.VII.13:3-5; W-p1.196.10; M-4.1-A.3-5,7). There is almost certainly something wrong if you do not struggle with this issue; if you do not fight against forgiveness, become terrified or bored with it, or even want to throw the book away. If you never experience anything like this discomfort, it almost always means you are not paying careful attention to what is being said.
A Course in Miracles says frightened people can be vicious (T-3.1.4:2). These lessons have to arouse anxiety because they challenge not only the way you perceive something outside you, but challenge your basic identity. That is what is referred to in Lesson 13 when Jesus says: "Recognition of meaninglessness arouses intense anxiety in all the separated ones." Anyone who believes he is a separated and autonomous being will experience anxiety with these thoughts. Jesus is thus telling you it is all right if you find this difficult, fear-inducing, and are therefore resistant.
These statements are extremely important, because probably the biggest mistake people make with A Course in Miracles is to deny the ego and the difficulty inherent in looking at it, thereby letting it go. Everyone wants to smooth over the process and "make nice," because no one really wants to deal with the full implications of these thoughts. These are, again, that you literally do not exist. Recall the line I quoted earlier (T-28.1.1:6) -- if the world were over long ago, and you are part of the world, <you> were over long ago. Who, then, is the <you> that is thinking and feeling, and doing these exercises? The answer to this question leads "directly into fear." *
(3:4-6) "You will not be left there. You will go far beyond it. Our direction is toward perfect safety and perfect peace."
*Jesus wants you to understand that the anxiety, terror, resistance, and difficulty are part of a longer process, and there is Someone with you Who will lead you through it. As we have seen, he talks about the Holy Spirit being there to lead you through seeming terror. He will lead you through the circle of fear to the Love of God that is on the other side (T-18.IX.3). That is why it is essential to cultivate a relationships with Jesus or the Holy Spirit: Someone within you, some non-ego thought that can lead you through the process. If you try to look at your ego without Him, you will either be thrown into terror or denial, believing that everything is really wonderful. Jesus is telling you, "Yes, there will be difficulty and resistance and fear, but I will lead you through it."
Paragraph 4 and 5 caution against being compulsive about the exercises, at the same time urging us <not> to exclude anything from our perceptual field. Needless to say, this is the easier said than done, which is why Jesus makes non-exclusivity in our practice a central theme in this first part of his mind-training program for us:*
(4-5) "With eyes closed, think of all the horrors in the world that cross your mind. Name each one as it occurs to you, and then deny its reality. God did not create it, and so it is not real. Say, for example:
God did not create that war, and so it is not real.
God did not create that airplane crash, and so it is not real.
God did not create that disaster [specify], and so it is not real.
Suitable subjects for the application of today's idea also include anything you are afraid might happen to you, or to anyone about whom you are concerned. In each case, name the "disaster" quite specifically. Do not use general terms. For example, do not say, "God did not create illness," but, "God did not create cancer," or heart attacks, or whatever may arouse fear in you."
*Jesus wants us to be sure to include both personal and collective horrors, reflecting the importance of recognizing there is no hierarchy of illusions:
Now to paragraph 6:*
(6:1) "This is your personal repertory of horrors at which you are looking."
*Jesus is focusing on the negative. He could just as easily have focused on positive things, too. Thus, God not only did not create an airplane crash; but he also did not create a rocket ship that lands safely on the moon.*
(6:2-8) "These things are part of the world you see. Some of them are shared illusions, and others are part of your personal hell. It does not matter. What God did not create can only be in your own mind apart from His. Therefore, it has no meaning. In recognition of this fact, conclude the practice periods by repeating today's idea:
God did not create a meaningless world."
*Anything you think that has to do with duality, separation, individuality, or specialness is not in God's Mind, because His is only perfect Oneness and Love, in which there is no separation at all. Therefore, if it is not in His Mind, it can have no meaning and certainly does not exist. Note the term "shared illusions." As part of the one Sonship -- the one mind -- we agree on certain things that are perceived in the physical world: size, shape, color, etc. Yet the fact they are shared does not make them real. These are <shared Illusions>: "Nothing so blinding as perception of form" (T-22.III.6:7), the text states, an important statement to which we shall frequently return. Only God's knowledge is true, in contrast with the ego's illusory world of perception.*
(7) "The idea for today can, of course, be applied to anything that disturbs you during the day, aside from the practice periods. Be very specific in applying it. Say:
God did not create a meaningless world. He did not create [specify the situation which is disturbing you], and so it is not real."
*You can see how Jesus is repeatedly asking us in these lessons to apply his teachings very specifically to our everyday lives. Not doing so ensures they will never truly be learned, which of course is always the temptation of our ego's. Gently, he guides us in learning the process of bringing the illusions of our specific world of <form> to the <content> of his non-specific truth of forgiveness.*
*In these last seven lessons, following upon the first group of seven, we can observe Jesus building one lesson or idea upon another. He leads us from understanding that the meaninglessness of the world we perceive is coming from the meaninglessness of the world we made real in our minds, to understanding that at the core of these meaningless thoughts is the most terrible thought of all: God is in competition with us and will most certainly destroy us. It is important to understand, even though it is not stated here, that that thought, too, is a defense. It says I exist, am important and have the power to make God angry, making Him think as insanely as I, as the text explains in this telling passage from "The Laws of Chaos":
"Think what this seems to do to the relationship between the Father and the Son. Now it appears that they can never be one again. For one must always be condemned, and by the other. Now are they different, and enemies. And their relationship is one of opposition, just as the separate aspects of the Son meet only to conflict but not to join. One becomes weak, the other strong by his defeat. And fear of God and of each other now appears as sensible, made real by what the Son of God has done both to himself and his Creator.... Here is a principle that would define what the Creator of reality must be; what He must think and what He must believe; and how He must respond, believing it. It is not seen as even necessary that He be asked about the truth of what has been established for His belief. His Son can tell Him this, and He has but the choice whether to take his word for it or be mistaken.... For if God cannot be mistaken, He must accept his Son's belief in what he is, and hate him for it." (T-23.II.5; 6:2-4,6).
God now reacts as psychotically as I, mirroring my vicious and sinful vengeance in His Own:
"If this were so, would Heaven be opposed by its own opposite, as real as it. Then would God's Will be split in two, and all creation be subjected to the laws of two opposing powers, until God becomes impatient, splits the world apart, and relegates attack unto Himself. Thus has He lost His Mind, proclaiming sin has taken His reality from Him and brought His Love at last to vengeance's heels." (T-26.VII.7:3-5).
Imagine the power this gives me! Moreover, if I am powerful enough to force God to react to me, I must exist. Recognizing the ultimate meaninglessness of that thought engenders my anxiety.
Thus, the anxiety over the anticipated vengeance from God is a defense against the real anxiety, which is that I do not exist at all. I can live very well with the thought that God wants to kill me. It may not make me happy, but I know how to deal with that -- I can establish a religion: make bargains with God, perform rituals to appease His wrath, and project responsibility onto non-believers in justified judgment for their heresies. I do not, however, know how to deal with the thought I do not exist, except to deny it and quickly make up something to take its place.*
