My Image of the World and My Image of Me Are One and the Same

I’ve had several communications from readers that say, in so many words, that they do not comprehend how it is that if they change their perception, it will change the world.

That’s another tough question. How is that possible? How does it work that I allow the Holy Spirit to change my perception of a situation or person and the world will change?

But that’s exactly what A Course in Miracles (ACIM) states.

Lesson 57 of the Workbook for Students addresses this whole issue very well.

1. I am not the victim of the world I see. How can I be the victim of a world that can be completely undone if I so choose? … Only my wish to stay keeps me a prisoner. I would give up my insane wishes and walk into the sunlight at last.

2.  I have invented the world I see. I made up the prison in which I see myself. All I need do is recognize this and I am free. … The Son of God must be forever free. He is as God created him, and not what I would make of him. He is where God would have him be, and not where I thought to hold him prisoner.

3. There is another way of looking at the world. Since the purpose of the world is not the one I ascribed to it, there must be another way of looking at it. I see everything upside down, and my thoughts are the opposite of truth. I see the world as a prison for God's Son. It must be, then, that the world is really a place where he can be set free. I would look upon the world as it is, and see it as a place where the Son of God finds his freedom.

4. I could see peace instead of this. When I see the world as a place of freedom, I realize that it reflects the laws of God instead of the rules I made up for it to obey. I will understand that peace, not war, abides in it. And I will perceive that peace also abides in the hearts of all who share this place with me.

5. My mind is part of God's. I am very holy. As I share the peace of the world with my brothers, I begin to understand that this peace comes from deep within myself. The world I look upon has taken on the light of my forgiveness, and shines forgiveness back at me. In this light I begin to see what my illusions about myself kept hidden. I begin to understand the holiness of all living things, including myself, and their oneness with me.

I must always remember that what I see in the world I see in myself. It is all one thing – my image of the world and my image of me. If my perception of me changes, my world changes. If my perception of the world changes, my perception of me changes. From Lesson 62.2: “Illusions about yourself and the world are one….”

Paragraph 3 of Lesson 58 in the Workbook for Students, says: “My holiness is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited in its power to save. What is there to be saved from except illusions? And what are all illusions except false ideas about myself? My holiness undoes them all by asserting the truth about me. In the presence of my holiness, which I share with God Himself, all idols vanish.”

I wish I could tell you instance upon instance where this has happened to me. But I cannot. I can tell you I have had enough instances where I have seen mere glimpses of this reality – where my perception changed and my world changed which, in turn, continued to change me – that convinces me this is Truth. My life in Alcoholics Anonymous is enough testimony to that reality.

If I am wandering in the wilderness – lost, hungry and freezing – I don’t need to actually see a completed hot meal set before me to understand I am near civilization. All I need to realize is to become aware of wood smoke and savor the smell and sizzle of frying bacon to understand that help is very, very near.

Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.

Don

#2 March 2015

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