Lesson 29. God is in everything I see.
The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in anything. It explains
why nothing is separate, by itself or in itself. And it explains why nothing you
see means anything. In fact, it explains every idea we have used thus far and
all subsequent ones as well. Today's idea is the whole basis for vision.
You will probably find this idea very difficult to grasp at this point. You may
find it silly, irreverent, senseless, funny, and even objectionable. Certainly
God is not in a table, for example, as you see it. Yet we emphasized yesterday
that a table shares the purpose of the universe. And what shares the purpose of
the universe shares the purpose of its Creator.
Try then, today, to begin to learn how to look on all things with love,
appreciation, and open-mindedness. You do not see them now. Would you know what
is in them? Nothing is as it appears to you. Its holy purpose stands beyond your
little range. When vision has shown you the holiness that lights up the world,
you will understand today's idea perfectly. And you will not understand how you
could ever have found it difficult.
Our six two-minute practice periods for today should follow a now familiar
pattern: begin with repeating the idea to yourself, and then apply it to
randomly chosen subjects about you, naming each one specifically. Try to avoid
the tendency toward self-directed selection, which may be particularly tempting
in connection with today's idea because of its wholly alien nature. Remember
that any order you impose is equally alien to reality.
Your list of subjects should therefore be as free of self-selection as possible.
For example, a suitable list might include:
God is in this coat hanger.
God is in this magazine.
God is in this finger.
God is in this lamp.
God is in that body.
God is in that door.
God is in that waste basket.
In addition to the assigned practice periods, repeat the idea for today at least
once an hour, looking slowly about you as you say the words unhurriedly to
yourself. At least once or twice you should experience a sense of restfulness as
you do this.
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Commentary on this lesson (29) is from Kenneth Wapnick's set of books, called:
"Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles," which can be purchased
at the following site:??~ M. Street
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Lesson 29. "God is in everything I see."
*When people seek to criticize A Course in Miracles on grounds of pantheism -- a
major heresy for Catholics that teaches that God is literally found in the
materiality that is His manifestation -- this lesson in particular, as well as
the one following, are selected as prime examples. Many years ago I was speaking
to a Jesuit priest, who was reminiscent of an old-time heresy hunter. A very
conservative Catholic, his major function in life seemed to be to find every
heretical teaching in contemporary Christianity. After he heard about me and A
Course in Miracles, he took it upon himself to save the nuns and priests with
whom I had been working from falling into the depths of perdition with this
course. I spent an hour with him one evening, during which time he proceeded to
enumerate the Course's heresies. He actually had examined only the workbook, and
had spent considerable time on this particular lesson as proof of A Course in
Miracles' pantheism. It is true, in fact, when this initial statement, "God is
in everything I see," is taken at face value, it does seem to be pantheistic:
God is in the table, God is in the chair, God is in the body, God is in the
plants, etc. It becomes clear as your study the lesson carefully, however, that
is precisely <not> what Jesus is talking about. The theme of these two lessons
-- Lesson 29 and 30 -- is that the <purpose> of God -- i.e., the purpose of
forgiveness -- is in everything I see. This is so because purpose is in the
mind, which will be explained as we proceed.
The reader may recall my discussion in this book's Preface of how the language
in the workbook, not to mention in A Course in Miracles itself, can be
misleading. For example, as I mentioned before, in the workbook especially,
Jesus will say <God> when, technically speaking, he is referring to <the Holy
Spirit>. An explicit example, to cite it again, is found in Lesson 193, "All
things are lessons God would have me learn," where in the lesson itself Jesus
clearly states that God does not teach, for that is the Holy Spirit's role. In
this lesson, too, in saying the purpose of God is in everything I see, Jesus is
clearly speaking of the Holy Spirit's teaching purpose.*
(1) "The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in everything. It
explains why nothing is separate, by itself or in itself. And it explains why
nothing you see means anything. In fact, it explains every idea we have used
thus far, and all subsequent ones as well. Today's idea is the whole basis for
vision."
*As we shall see in the next lesson as well, vision has absolutely nothing to do
with the body's eyes, but with a state of mind or attitude. More specifically,
vision refers to our having chosen Jesus as our teacher so his are now the
"eyes" through which we see. We are taught that <the inner and the outer are the
same.> Therefore what we perceive outside is nothing more than a shadow of what
we have first perceived within. When Jesus says "God is in everything I see," he
means that God is in everything I <think,> because seeing and thinking are the
same: perception comes from thoughts, and remains one with them. The basis for
vision then is seeing the <purpose> of God. I see forgiveness in everything I
see because I have fired the ego as my teacher, and hired Jesus. To again cite
these two statements, taken together: "Resign now as your own teacher ... for
you were badly taught." (T-12.V.8:3; T-28.I.7:1) At that point, everything I
perceive, think, and feel is the opposite of what it has been prior to taking
Jesus as my new teacher.*
(2:1-3) "You will probably find this idea very difficult to grasp at this point.
You may find it silly, irreverent, senseless, funny and even objectionable.
Certainly God is not in a table, for example, as you see it."
*We find it difficult because we think there actually is a table that is
separate from our bodies, and that our eyes actually perceive it -- the world's
illusory version of seeing. In that sense God cannot be in the table because
there is no table. Again, the point to notice is that Jesus is shifting the
emphasis from what we perceive <outside> to what we see <inside.> It is the way
in which we see that is the focus of his teaching -- our thoughts -- which have
to do only with the purpose or teacher that we are choosing.
Incidentally, if it has not already occurred to a student doing these lessons
for the first time how radically different Jesus' teaching is here, these two
lessons should make that abundantly clear. A Course in Miracles is nothing like
what is usually taught in other spiritual disciplines. This radicalness is based
on the underlying metaphysics that teaches that the phenomenal world is an
illusion. Therefore, what we perceive and think here is not real at all. It must
be, then, that the true activity is not what happens in our bodies or the world,
but in our minds. This is more clearly enunciated in these lessons than
heretofore.*
(2:4) "Yet we emphasized yesterday that a table shares the purpose of the
universe."
*That purpose, to repeat, is to be an object that appears to be outside us, onto
which we project our mind's ego thoughts. With Jesus as our teacher, we now look
at what we perceived and see it differently. Forgiveness entails realizing that
what we perceive outside mirrors what we have first made real inside. That is
why -- to state the Course's unique definition -- we forgive our brother's for
what they did <not> do: they have not done anything in the sense of having the
power to take away our peace. What needs to be forgiven, therefore, are <our>
thoughts of guilt, born of the belief that we have separated from peace; it is
this guilt we have projected onto others.*
(2:5) "And what shares the purpose of the universe shares the purpose of its
Creator."
*Here Jesus uses the words <universe> and <Creator> loosely -- another example
of the "looseness" of the Course's language -- because clearly he is talking
about the physical universe. But God cannot be the creator of the physical, as
is unmistakably clear throughout A Course in Miracles. If you take these lines
literally, you will end up pulling your hair out because they will seem to say
the exact opposite of what Jesus is teaching elsewhere. You want to grasp the
<content> of what he is teaching, rather than analyzing it to death and arguing
with the <form>. I shall return frequently to this important point.*
(3:1) "Try then, today, to begin to learn how to look on all things with love,
appreciation and open-mindedness."
*If you choose Jesus as your teacher you will identify with his love. Thus what
you see outside will be an expression of love or call for it. You will look with
appreciation on the world, especially your special relationships, because these
will have become the opportunities to learn you are forgiven and your ego can be
undone. "Open-mindedness" means your mind is no longer closed to the truth of
the Holy Spirit. When we choose the ego as our teacher and dismiss the Holy
Spirit, our minds become closed to His truth. "Open-mindedness" here, as in the
tenth characteristic of the teacher of God discussed in the manual for students
(M-4.X), means our minds are open to the love of Jesus. There is then no
distortion in our thinking, which in turn means there is no distortion in our
perception. What we hear and see will come from love, rather than from our
having superimposed ego thoughts on these objects of our perception.*
(3:2-4) "You do not see them now. Would you know what is in them? Nothing is as
it appears to you."
*This is another of those sentences which, if you stopped and meditated on it,
should make you extremely anxious. If you see nothing as it is -- "nothing is as
it appears to you" -- and everything you perceive is wrong, then the way you
perceive <yourself> must be wrong as well. <All> your thoughts about everything
are wrong.*
(3:5-6) "Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range. When vision has shown
you the holiness that lights up the world, you will understand today's idea
perfectly."
*This is a reference back to Lesson 15, the idea of seeing edges of light around
objects. Jesus makes it very clear here, as well as in the lessons we have
already studied, that he is not talking about auras or any form of external
light. He is referring to a different way of seeing; a vision based on the light
of truth, the new understanding that comes when we choose him instead of the
ego's narrow band of distortion ("your little range").*
(3:7) "And you will not understand how you could ever have found it difficult."
*Everyone has had this experience at one time or another. When even for an
instant our minds are clear -- when guilt and judgmental thoughts are gone and
we feel Jesus' love within us -- everything in A Course in Miracles becomes
crystal clear. When the fear arises from our having realized the implications of
what it means to be wrong and have Jesus be right, our minds close again and
vision and perception become distorted.
The last two paragraphs repeat the usual instructions:*
(4) "Our six two-minute practice periods for today should follow a now familiar
pattern: Begin with repeating the idea to yourself, and then apply it to
randomly chosen subjects about you, naming each one specifically. Try to avoid
the tendency toward self-directed selection, which may be particularly tempting
in connection with today's idea because of its wholly alien nature. Remember
that any order you impose is equally alien to reality."
*Our simple directive reflects a much deeper point. Our fear of leaving the
ego's dream of illusion for the truth is so great that we are all sorely tempted
to bring the truth to the illusion. One form of this temptation is thinking we
understand what we are being taught, and why these exercises take the form they
do. Thus, we seek to impose our own familiar thought system on the "wholly alien
nature" of Jesus', thereby unconsciously, but with great ingenuity, negating the
teachings and goal of A Course in Miracles. The last paragraph provides examples
of our freedom from "self-directed selection":*
(5:1) "Your list of subjects should therefore be as free of self-selection as
possible."
*Suggested subjects include the "important" and "unimportant": finger, body,
coat hanger, magazine, lamp, door, and waste basket (5:3-9). Jesus next gives us
a hint of the wondrous effects of our learning, the peace that lies beyond our
own fear:*
(5:10-11) "In addition to the assigned practice periods, repeat the idea for
today at least once an hour, looking slowly about you as you say the words
unhurriedly to yourself. At least once or twice, you should experience a sense
of restfulness as you do this."
*It is the desire for this "sense of restfulness" -- what in the text Jesus
refers to as finding the "quiet center" within our minds (T-18.VII.8) -- that
supplies our motivation for practicing these exercises and learning A Course in
Miracles' message.*
