Lesson 41. God goes with me wherever I go.
Today's idea will eventually overcome completely the sense of loneliness and
abandonment all the separated ones experience. Depression is an inevitable
consequence of separation. So are anxiety, worry, a deep sense of helplessness,
misery, suffering and intense fear of loss.
The separated ones have invented many "cures" for what they believe to be "the
ills of the world." But the one thing they do not do is to question the reality
of the problem. Yet its effects cannot be cured because the problem is not real.
The idea for today has the power to end all this foolishness forever. And
foolishness it is, despite the serious and tragic forms it may take.
Deep within you is everything that is perfect, ready to radiate through you and
out into the world. It will cure all sorrow and pain and fear and loss because
it will heal the mind that thought these things were real, and suffered out of
its allegiance to them.
You can never be deprived of your perfect holiness because its Source goes with
you wherever you go. You can never suffer because the Source of all joy goes
with you wherever you go. You can never be alone because the Source of all life
goes with you wherever you go. Nothing can destroy your peace of mind because
God goes with you wherever you go.
We understand that you do not believe all this. How could you, when the truth is
hidden deep within, under a heavy cloud of insane thoughts, dense and obscuring,
yet representing all you see? Today we will make our first real attempt to get
past this dark and heavy cloud, and to go through it to the light beyond.
There will be only one long practice period today. In the morning, as soon as
you get up if possible, sit quietly for some three to five minutes, with your
eyes closed. At the beginning of the practice period, repeat today's idea very
slowly. Then make no effort to think of anything. Try, instead, to get a sense
of turning inward, past all the idle thoughts of the world. Try to enter very
deeply into your own mind, keeping it clear of any thoughts that might divert
your attention.
From time to time, you may repeat the idea if you find it helpful. But most of
all, try to sink down and inward, away from the world and all the foolish
thoughts of the world. You are trying to reach past all these things. You are
trying to leave appearances and approach reality.
It is quite possible to reach God. In fact it is very easy, because it is the
most natural thing in the world. You might even say it is the only natural thing
in the world. The way will open, if you believe that it is possible. This
exercise can bring very startling results even the first time it is attempted,
and sooner or later it is always successful. We will go into more detail about
this kind of practice as we go along. But it will never fail completely, and
instant success is possible.
Throughout the day use today's idea often, repeating it very slowly, preferably
with eyes closed. Think of what you are saying; what the words mean. Concentrate
on the holiness that they imply about you; on the unfailing companionship that
is yours; on the complete protection that surrounds you.
You can indeed afford to laugh at fear thoughts, remembering that God goes with
you wherever you go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The commentary on this lesson (below) is from Kenneth Wapnick's eight volume
series of books, called: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles,"
which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson 41. "God goes with me wherever I go."
*This is obviously a happy thought, and just as obviously Jesus is not talking
about a literal physical God Who walks with us, reminiscent of the song in the
movie version of <The Student Prince,> "I walk with God." Jesus is telling us
here that the memory of God is in our minds -- the home of the Holy Spirit --
and thus is always with us. In that sense, God is indeed with us wherever we go.
This will become more evident as we go through the lesson.*
(1) "Today's idea will eventually overcome completely the sense of loneliness
and abandonment all the separated ones experience. Depression is an inevitable
consequence of separation. So are anxiety, worry, a deep sense of helplessness,
misery, suffering and intense fear of loss."
*What reappears here is the important theme of <cause and effect.> Although the
words are not specifically used, Jesus' teaching can nonetheless be seen as a
reflection of that theme. Our problems are all the same and come from one
<cause>: believing we are separated from God. The <effects> of this mistake are
worry, depression, misery, suffering, and fear of loss. We have discussed before
how the world exists to provide causes of our distress, which merely disguise
the true cause. Our egos are incredibly skillful in concealing the truth,
leading us to be certain we know the sources of our unhappiness -- everything
but the mind's decision for guilt.
Thus, if I know that "God goes with me wherever I go" because He is in mind,
that means I have not abandoned Him and He has not abandoned me. Further, it
means I have not killed Him, nor am I separated from Him. If I accept this truth
of the Atonement, I cannot be depressed, lonely, anxious, or fearful, as these
come from guilt, which, without the belief in separation, cannot exist. The way
I will know about my belief in separation is to become aware of my feelings of
anxiety, worry, and unhappiness. That is why it is essential not to cover over
negative experiences. If we do, there is literally no hope, which lies in first
recognizing our discomfort and despair, and then realizing these are simply the
effects of the thought that God does <not> go wherever we go because we killed
him off. That sinful thought represents a decision that can <now> happily be
changed.
You need to learn your were wrong, and that you now want to be a happy learner
who is happy to be wrong, not because you have proven your self to be right
(T-29.VII.1.9). This is an idea that cannot be cited often enough. If you have
an investment in being right, you will never be happy. Perhaps you are right
today, but the "rightness" (or innocence) that you stole from someone else will
be stolen back by the one from whom you took it in anger. The only way you can
be truly right is to know that God is with you wherever you go, which means that
everything the ego has taught you is a lie. You <did> not separate from God
because you <could> not.*
(2:1-2) "The separated ones have invented many "cures" for what they believe to
be "the ills of the world." But the one thing they do not do is to question the
reality of the problem."
*"Ills of the world" is in quotes because there are no "ills of the world."
Since there is no world, how could it have ills? There is only an ill thought.
"Cures" is in quotes as well because you cannot cure a problem that does not
exist. The true problem is separation, and if we do not recognize that thought
as the cause of our problems, how can we question it, let alone change it? The
ego has convinced us that separation is real, and is such a horrid thought we
can never look at it again, lest we be destroyed. As Jesus explains in the text:
"Loudly the ego tells you not to look inward, for if you do your eyes will
light on sin, and God will strike you blind. This you believe, and so you do not
look." (T-21.IV.2:3-4).
The ego thus counsels us to run away from the mind, the home of the separation
thought, and erect one defense after another, put up wall upon wall, all of
which serve the purpose of rooting our attention in the world of the body. Thus
we are protected from questioning the seeming reality of the statement: "I
separated from God." As long as we remain in the state of <mindlessness>, we can
never truly "question the reality of the problem, " which remains always in its
source: the <mind>.*
(2:3) "Yet its effects cannot be cured because the problem is not real."
*Our attempts to cure a problem in the world, whether in our personal worlds or
the world at large, will never meet with success. Perhaps the symptom will
disappear temporarily, but we will still believe the problem -- the <cause> --
is real. As long as we do, the cause of guilt will continue to generate symptoms
-- Freud's <symptom substitution> -- that plague us. Despite their pain
demanding constant attention, however, the underlying cause of the symptoms
remains unnoticed, and the ego continues to reign triumphant until we can
explain: "There must be another way!" Our teacher helps us finally get beyond
the effect to the cause, so that it can be changed.*
(2:4-5) "The idea for today has the power to end all this foolishness forever.
And foolishness it is, despite the serious and tragic forms it may take."
*Importantly, Jesus does not use the word <sinful>; he simply says it is
<foolish>. What he expresses here is identical to what he teaches in "The "Hero"
of the Dream," where he says that the problem is our having forgotten to laugh
at the tiny, mad idea, and that the Holy Spirit looks at our concerns and laughs
at them, not derisively, but with the gentleness that knows that upsets are not
real. This theme recurs throughout A Course in Miracles, but the following
passage from the end of Chapter 27 is representative:
"In gentle laughter does the Holy Spirit perceive the cause, and looks not
to effects. How else could He correct your error, who have overlooked the cause
entirely? He bids you bring each terrible effect to Him that you may look
together on its foolish cause and laugh with Him a while. You judge effects, but
He has judged their cause. And by His judgment are effects removed. Perhaps you
come in tears. But hear Him say, "My brother, holy Son of God, behold your idle
dream, in which this could occur". And you will leave the holy instant with your
laughter and your brother's joined with His." (T-27.VIII.9).
Later in the workbook we shall examine the use of the metaphor or <toys> to
depict the seeming gargantuan nature of sin, which but serves to conceal its
innate foolishness.*
(3) "Deep within you is everything that is perfect, ready to radiate through you
and out into the world. It will cure all sorrow and pain and fear and loss
because it will heal the mind that thought these things were real, and suffered
out of its allegiance to them."
*If I know that God goes with me, that through the Holy Spirit His Love is
always with me, I realize everything I had believed and perceived is not true.
Again, that is the fear -- if my beliefs and perceptions are not true, then *I*
am not true either. Thus I unconsciously hold to the belief that guilt is
heaven, for it proves that I exist, the *I* that I think myself to be.*
(4) "You can never be deprived of your perfect holiness because its Source goes
with you wherever you go. You can never suffer because the Source of all joy
goes with you wherever you go. You can never be alone because the Source of all
life goes with you wherever you go. Nothing can destroy your peace of mind
because God goes with you wherever you go."
*Jesus would like you to see how steadfastly and stubbornly you try to prove
these statements wrong and your beliefs are right. You do this by proving the
world is hostile, threatening, and sinful. It does not matter which. It is
extremely helpful to look at how you defend against this truth by continually
asserting you are right and seek to prove it. It is also crucial that you
recognize that you do not believe Jesus' words, as he will tell you in the next
sentence.
One more point before we move on: If we were to accept as true the beautiful
statements in the above paragraph, our guilt would have nowhere to go except to
remain within our minds, where the ego told us waits our certain death at the
hands of a vengeful god, hell-bent on our destruction. Our projected suffering
and unhappiness <without> protects this terrible thought <within>. It is this
need to protect ourselves that provides the resistance to acceptance of Jesus'
comforting words.*
(5:1-2) "We understand that you do not believe all this. How could you, when the
truth is hidden deep within, under a heavy cloud of insane thoughts, dense and
obscuring, yet representing all you see?"
*How could you possibly understand this when you still believe there is a <you>
reading these words? How could you possibly understand when you remain
preoccupied with your specialness, individuality, and problems? Once again, we
see the <purposive> nature of our insane thoughts leading to our insane
perceptions: they keep hidden the truth that would indeed make us free of the
ego's thought system of fear, hate, and suffering.*
(5:3) "Today we will make our first real attempt to get past this dark and heavy
cloud, and to go through it to the light beyond."
*Jesus will use this form again in Lesson 70, the thought being that Jesus is
the one who leads you through the cloud. He asks you not to deny the presence of
this cloud of guilt, individuality, and specialness, but to pay close attention
to it. We can never get to the light without going through the cloud, "dark and
heavy" only to the ego. In truth, however, it is but a "fragile veil before the
light," as we read in this wonderful extended passage from the text:
"For the reality of guilt is the illusion that seems to make it heavy and
opaque, impenetrable, and a real foundation for the ego's thought system. Its
thinness and transparency are not apparent until you see the light behind it.
And then you see it as a fragile veil before the light."
"This heavy-seeming barrier, this artificial floor that looks like rock, is
like a bank of low dark clouds that seem to be a solid wall before the sun. Its
impenetrable appearance is wholly an illusion. It gives way softly to the
mountain tops that rise above it, and has no power at all to hold back anyone
willing to climb above it and see the sun. It is not strong enough to stop a
button's fall, nor hold a feather. Nothing can rest upon it, for it is but an
illusion of a foundation. Try but to touch it and it disappears; attempt to
grasp it and your hands hold nothing."
"So should it be with the dark clouds of guilt, no more impenetrable and
no more substantial. You will not bruise yourself against them in traveling
through. Let your Guide teach you their insubstantial nature as He leads you
past them, for beneath them is a world of light whereon they cast no shadows."
(T-18.IX.5:2-4;6;8:1-3).
Indeed, this teaching about guilt's "unsubstantial nature" is the heart and soul
of A Course in Miracles; the essence of the Atonement. It teaches there is no
need to defend against the thought of guilt, which has no effect and therefore
is not there. Again, we can note how the profundity of the text's teachings is
found "hidden" in these "simple" workbook lessons.
We continue now with the instructions for the day, which have us return to a
long practice period. This time Jesus urges us more directly between the brain's
activity of thinking and that of the mind, the true source of our source of our
thoughts: *
(6:1 --7:2) "There will be only one long practice period today. In the morning,
as soon as you get up if possible, sit quietly for some three to five minutes,
with your eyes closed. At the beginning of the practice period, repeat today's
idea very slowly. Then make no effort to think of anything. Try, instead, to get
a sense of turning inward, past all the idle thoughts of the world. Try to enter
very deeply into your own mind, keeping it clear of any thoughts that might
divert your attention."
"From time to time, you may repeat the idea if you find it helpful. But most
of all, try to sink down and inward, away from the world and all the foolish
thoughts of the world."
*And everything here is foolish; or, better, it is foolish to believe that the
things of the world can bring us pleasure or pain. Sinking past them means
moving past our pleasure and pain -- to the mind that is the only source of our
feelings and thoughts. It is in the mind that we experience God's Presence
through the Holy Spirit, and it is in the mind that the decision is made to
substitute the ego's presence for His.
The next two sentences emphasize the crucial distinction, borrowed from Pluto,
between appearance and reality, awareness of which is the purpose of our going
inward:*
(7:3-4) "You are trying to reach past all these things. You are trying to leave
appearances and approach reality."
*Jesus wants us first to look carefully at what appears to us as real: the
world, replete with people hearing and seeing our bodies, and whose bodies we
hear and see. The next step, then, following Jesus' gentle guidance, is
recognizing the illusory nature of these appearances and moving beyond them to
the thoughts of the ego; and then, finally, beyond the ego to the Holy Spirit's
thought of the Atonement.*
(8:1-4) "It is quite possible to reach God. In fact it is very easy, because it
is the most natural thing in the world. You might even say it is the only
natural thing in the world. The way will open, if you believe that it is
possible."
*Jesus is not saying you have to have to believe this totally, you just have to
believe that perhaps, just maybe, it is possible he is right and you are wrong.
If the only natural thing in this world is to reach God, and everything in this
world is a movement against Him, then nothing in this world is natural,
including yourself, your body, personality, and individual existence. It is your
<belief> that will lead you Home, once you place its power under the Atonement
principle of the Holy Spirit, correcting the mistaken belief in the separation.
Jesus next underscores for us the importance of this lesson, trying to buttress
our confidence in the workbook's process of retraining our minds. This is one
among the many "pep talks" he gives us along the way:*
(8:5 -- 9:3) "This exercise can bring very startling results even the first time
it is attempted, and sooner or later it is always successful. We will go into
more detail about this kind of practice as we go along. But it will never fail
completely, and instant success is possible."
"Throughout the day use today's idea often, repeating it very slowly,
preferably with eyes closed. Think of what you are saying; what the words mean.
Concentrate on the holiness that they imply about you; on the unfailing
companionship that is yours; on the complete protection that surrounds you."
*These last lines point to the truth that lies just beyond the illusion, a truth
that is ours once we truly focus on the lessons and the practice of the
exercises.
And then the last line of the lesson:*
(10) "You can indeed afford to laugh at fear thoughts, remembering that God goes
with you wherever you go."
*Jesus returns to the theme of laughing at the ego, i.e., not taking it
seriously. This is only possible when we have brought our fear thoughts to the
Love of God that is remembered for us by the Holy Spirit. Without this process
of bringing the illusions to the truth, our laughter will be superficial at
best, and derisive and judgmental at worst. The Holy Spirit's laughter is born
of the gentle smile that knows the difference between appearance and reality,
illusion and truth, separation and Atonement. In Lesson 187 Jesus makes the
seemingly outrageous statement that you could look at the pain, suffering, and
starvation in the world and laugh at it. You will laugh at suffering, not
because you are making fun of people, but because, having joined with the Holy
Spirit in your right mind, you will know it is not true -- it has no power to
take away the peace and Love of God away from you.*
