Seeing Is Not Vision

Starting around January 5 or 6, I began hearing a recurring melody in my head upon waking. This kept on for 7-8 of the last 10 days. It was there when I woke up and stayed in my head for 45 minutes or so. Although it was a mysterious melody to me it felt very familiar.

After several days I began “remembering” a few phrases of the words that accompanied the melody. I remembered “Thou my best thought….” I remembered the idea of being “…Thou true son.”  But I still could not place the tune.

On Saturday, January 14 of this year, I suddenly recognized the tune as that of the familiar hymn: “Be Thou My Vision.” The hymn is based on an ancient Irish melody with words added by Eleanor Hull in 1927.

The verses of the first three stanzas are as follows:

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me save that Thou art.

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord.

Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son;

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

Thou mine inheritance, now and always;

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

I’m not sure what all this may mean, if anything. However, in light of my last two posts dealing with the initial Lessons of A Course In Miracles (ACIM), I just found it to be very pleasing and reassuring, although I’m not sure why I felt reassured. The initial lessons, deal with the fact that my egoic perceived reality is not really real. But, why was I thinking of that tune for the last 10 days – especially the very first thing after waking?

However. Lesson 15: “My Thoughts Are Images That I Have Made,” begins to deal with the difference between sight and vision. Then, suddenly, I remembered the name of the hymn on Saturday only to read Lesson 15 on Sunday, January 15, dealing with the unreality of my images.

Paragraph One of Lesson 15 states:  It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do not recognize them as nothing. You think you think them, and so you think you see them. This is how your "seeing" was made. This is the function you have given your body's eyes. It is not seeing. It is image making. It takes the place of seeing, replacing vision with illusions.

On Thursday of this week I went outside to do my ACIM exercise, Lesson 19, “I Am Not Alone In Experiencing The Effects Of My Thoughts.” Following the lesson, I walked back into the house and noticed how vibrant was the green of the grass. As the sight-to-vision shift begins, Lesson 15 also states that differences in colors and light will become noticeable.

Things are changing in me. Sometimes it’s exciting. Sometimes it’s unsettling. I find this all very, very interesting. If any of you have suggestions as to how I can interpret any of this, I would be appreciative of your insights.

Since last weekend it has seemed that the lessons have been tailor-made for me in light of the upcoming Inauguration of Donald Trump. This is quite appropriate for me, since today’s lesson (Lesson 21) is:  “I Am Determined To See Things Differently.”

That’s been a rather difficult lesson for me today.

As I’ve stated before, “I have to understand, on a visceral level, who the “Me” or “I” really is when I am speaking or thinking. The “I” that says to myself, “I really need a newer, more reliable car” is a different “I” than the one that says to Spirit, “I can’t do this anymore; help me perceive things the way You see them.”

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

Don

#3 Jan 2017

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