Together, We Light the Way

Lesson 28 2026

Above all else I want to see things differently.
1. Today we are really giving specific application to the idea for yesterday. ²In these practice periods, you will be making a series of definite commitments. ³The question of whether you will keep them in the future is not our concern here. ⁴If you are willing at least to make them now, you have started on the way to keeping them. ⁵And we are still at the beginning.
2. You may wonder why it is important to say, for example, “Above all else I want to see this table differently.” ²In itself it is not important at all. ³Yet what is by itself? ⁴And what does “in itself” mean? ⁵You see a lot of separate things about you, which really means you are not seeing at all. ⁶You either see or not. ⁷When you have seen one thing differently, you will see all things differently. ⁸The light you will see in any one of them is the same light you will see in them all.
3. When you say, “Above all else I want to see this table differently,” you are making a commitment to withdraw your preconceived ideas about the table, and open your mind to what it is, and what it is for. ²You are not defining it in past terms. ³You are asking what it is, rather than telling it what it is. ⁴You are not binding its meaning to your tiny experience of tables, nor are you limiting its purpose to your little personal thoughts.
4. You will not question what you have already defined. ²And the purpose of these exercises is to ask questions and receive the answers. ³In saying, “Above all else I want to see this table differently,” you are committing yourself to seeing. ⁴It is not an exclusive commitment. ⁵It is a commitment that applies to the table just as much as to anything else, neither more nor less.
5. You could, in fact, gain vision from just that table, if you would withdraw all your own ideas from it, and look upon it with a completely open mind. ²It has something to show you; something beautiful and clean and of infinite value, full of happiness and hope. ³Hidden under all your ideas about it is its real purpose, the purpose it shares with all the universe.
6. In using the table as a subject for applying the idea for today, you are therefore really asking to see the purpose of the universe. ²You will be making this same request of each subject that you use in the practice periods. ³And you are making a commitment to each of them to let its purpose be revealed to you, instead of placing your own judgment upon it.
7. We will have six two-minute practice periods today, in which the idea for the day is stated first, and then applied to whatever you see about you. ²Not only should the subjects be chosen randomly, but each one should be accorded equal sincerity as today’s idea is applied to it, in an attempt to acknowledge the equal value of them all in their contribution to your seeing.
8. As usual, the applications should include the name of the subject your eyes happen to light on, and you should rest your eyes on it while saying:
²Above all else I want to see this _________ differently.
³Each application should be made quite slowly, and as thoughtfully as possible. ⁴There is no hurry.
(ACIM, W-28.1:1–8:4)

2025
The first thing my eyes alighted on was my calendar. I packed a lot of meaning into this book, so I thought it might be a hard one to start with, but I used it anyway. I am not the kind of person who has a lot of mystical experiences, and this ‘fact’ influences lessons like this. So, I wondered if anything would happen. As it turns out, it wasn’t the resistance I expected. It showed up as my mind wandering to other thoughts. It was only for two minutes, and it seemed like I could stay on task for that long. Evidently not. My ego really, really, does not want to do this, but I do.
I am looking forward to trying again later this morning. I am intrigued by the possibilities offered in this lesson. The idea that I could gain vision through this one exercise is exciting. I love this passage: ²It has something to show you; something beautiful and clean and of infinite value, full of happiness and hope. ³Hidden under all your ideas about it is its real purpose, the purpose it shares with all the universe. Surely, I can keep my focus and open my mind long enough to achieve such a lofty goal. Well, we shall see. And as Jesus tells us, this is just the beginning. I will relax into this lesson and let go of my expectations of a specific outcome.
2026
What I noticed about last year’s contemplation is that I was trying to see it differently. I am directed to ask to see it differently, not to think of other ways to see it. That may seem like a subtle difference, but actually, it is at the crux of the lesson. We made separation by naming and defining. In so doing, we made it impossible to see what is actually here. I would like to let go of the definition I have given everything. I would like to allow the desk I am working at to show me something “beautiful and clean and of infinite value, full of happiness and hope.”
This willingness to better understand the lesson has opened a door in my mind just a crack. I can walk through it, and to tell the truth, that scares me. Actually, it is the ego that is scared. It is standing guard at that door, warning me not to come any closer. It insists that if I go through the door, everything will be undone. But isn’t that what I want?
I remind myself that the ego is just a thought system put into place by me so that I could have this experience. If it is warning me not to approach these doors, it is doing so at my original command. But I also put the doors there so that I could walk away from the illusion when I was ready. Holy Spirit, decide for me what I am to do with this lesson, how I am to think about it, and use it.
Above all else I want to see differently.
Video: https://youtu.be/ceI0kCuSUSo

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