If you could accept the world as meaningless and let the truth be written upon it for you, it would make you indescribably happy. But because it is meaningless, you are impelled to write upon it what you would have it be. It is this you see in [the world]. It is this that is meaningless in truth. Beneath your words [thoughts] is written the Word of God. The truth upsets you now, but when your words have been erased, you will see His. That is the ultimate purpose of these exercises.
Recognition of meaninglessness arouses intense anxiety in all the separated ones. It represents a situation in which God and the ego “challenge” each other as to whose meaning is to be written in the empty space that meaninglessness provides. The ego rushes in frantically to establish its own ideas there, fearful that the void may otherwise be used to demonstrate its own impotence and unreality. And on this alone it is correct.
It is essential, therefore, that you learn to recognize the meaningless, and accept it without fear. If you are fearful, it is certain that you will endow the world with attributes that it does not possess, and crowd it with images that do not exist. To the ego illusions are safety devices, as they must also be to you who equate yourself with the ego. (A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 12, W-pI.12.5:3-6 & 13.2-3. See also ACIM Lesson 12 Insights.)
Since only God’s Love is real, the appearance of anything other than the oneness of Love must be illusion. Illusions have no meaning of their own. We can only perceive illusions if we believe that we are outside of and separate from God’s Love. This belief is the core of the ego thought system of separation. By equating ourselves with the ego, we believe we are in a world without God’s Love. This belief puts us in a constant state of fear (lack of Love).
The ego assigns its own meaning to make illusions seem meaningful and capable of having an effect. It is this we experience when we equate ourselves with the ego. But this experience is based on belief in what could never be true. To experience the indescribable joy God has given us, we must let go of believing that anything the ego offers is true.
We begin the process of letting go of the ego by reminding ourselves that what we see in the world is meaningless. The next step is to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what is truly meaningful beyond the appearances that we have believed in. As we open to the Holy Spirit’s lessons, the appearances of the world become less disturbing because we become more aware of the certainty of God’s changeless Love in us and everyone. With practice, we will see the world more consistently with the Holy Spirit’s vision. We will experience greater peace and happiness. We are worthy of this practice.
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