Lesson 22: What I see is a form of vengeance.

Jan '24 (edited) • Feed

🧩 OUR UNCONSCIOUS GUILT

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📘 "Today’s idea accurately describes the way anyone who holds attack thoughts in his mind must see the world. ²Having projected his anger onto the world, he sees vengeance about to strike at him." (ACIM, W-22.1:1-2)

🌟 I remember feeling a mixture of skepticism, perplexity, and uneasiness about this lesson the first time I read and applied it, some years ago. To be fair, I still do, even if I made some progress in understanding the theory behind the affirmation that I see vengeance about to strike at me. I can easily relate to the feeling of being a victim when I identify with my little ego self, but I guess I still need some help from Jesus and Kenneth to fully embrace the unconscious guilt fueling my illusory world:

🔎 “Everything that happens to us from the time we are conceived is seen in the context of our being innocent victims of powers and forces beyond our control. The ego will always interpret these powers and forces as some form of attack on us, which the ego convinces us we deserve because of our original attack on God. This is the central idea of the lesson. In fact, without understanding this unconscious dynamic one will not be able to understand A Course in Miracles—either the thought system of the ego, or its undoing through the Holy Spirit. As long as we believe we are separated, we believe we have attack thoughts, and these attack thoughts must be projected out.” Excerpt from Journey through the Workbook of "A Course in Miracles", Kenneth Wapnick, Vol. 1, p 69.

🧩 BREAKING FREE FROM ILLUSIONS

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🌟 Breaking free from the vicious circle of attack and defense is accomplished by seeing things differently. Unless we are willing to re-examine our perception by questioning its source, our projection based on the idea of separation, we are bound to remain on the battlefield:

📘 "This becomes an increasingly vicious circle until he is willing to change how he sees." (ACIM, W-22.1:4)

🧩 THE GOOD NEWS

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🌟 The good news is that we can escape from this "savage fantasy" by recognizing its unreality. Easier said than done but we are here to give it a try or I wouldn't write this post and you wouldn't read it.

🧩 DENYING THE DENIAL OF ETERNITY

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🌟 That's where things get even more weird... Jesus is having us looking around us while saying:

📘 "³I see only the perishable. ⁴I see nothing that will last. ⁵What I see is not real. ⁶What I see is a form of vengeance." (ACIM, W-22.3:3-6)

🌟 Okay... Kenneth, who might had a hidden sadomasochistic streak in him even goes so far as suggesting doing the exercise when looking at ourselves in front of a mirror 😨:

🔎 “Do this exercise in front of a mirror and see how much you believe what you say. As you gaze at a reflection of your separated self, say: “I see only the perishable”; “I see nothing that will last.” If you do this properly and thoughtfully, there is bound to be anxiety. If not, search your mind for your defenses against it. As long as you think you exist, and are special, unique, and important—whether positively or negatively—you will find these lessons difficult and anxiety-inducing, and will need to identify the resistance in yourself. ” Excerpt from Journey through the Workbook of "A Course in Miracles", Kenneth Wapnick, Vol. 1, p 70.

🌟 The world we see is a world of impermanence where all living things die at some point. But nothing that can die has ever been alive in the eyes of Spirit:

📘 Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. (ACIM, T-in.2:2-3)

🌟 We are dreamers in a dream. Our bodysuit is the time-bound device that our timeless Self is using to play the game of life and death. And by affirming that what we see is not real, that it's just a dream, we are denying the misguided denial of truth and eternity that we chose to believe in when entering a world of separation.

🧩 "IS THIS THE WORLD I REALLY WANT TO SEE?"

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🌟 The final question to this weird and unsettling lesson should give us pause. Because the answer "no" is only obvious if we think along with the Holy Spirit. If we think with the ego, we'd rather keep looking at the world that guarantees our borrowed existence, even if it's a savage one. The ego will always try to persuade us that we can get away with our misgivings by "landing on top". It's an exhausting game of hiding and projecting, but to the ego, it's better than not existing.

🌟 So I guess this lesson is a test as much as it is a lesson. A test where we honestly put ourselves in the situation to feel our attachment to what we see and how we are currently seeing it. If not, our affirmations that we are willing to see things differently remain pretty wishful thinking with no real intention.

💙🐼 Today, let's be gentle with ourselves. We are learning. It's okay. 🐼💙

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* My comment on this lesson follows my studying of the in-depth comment of the same lesson by Kenneth Wapnick in his published work, Journey through the Workbook of "A Course in Miracles". While it may sometimes contain my thoughts on it, it is essentially my humble take and summary of the masterful work of Kenneth. I share them here in the hope that someone might find them helpful.

** I also share, in these ACIM posts, the wallpaper images that I use on my phone and change every day to help me commit to my lesson, in the hope that some might enjoy them as well. Here is the link to a Dropbox folder where you can download the lessons's wallpaper for mobile I have uploaded so far.

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