ACIM Workbook
Healing Perspectives

Lesson 34

“I could see peace instead of this.”

In earlier lessons we learned that God is in everything we see because God is in our minds. Since peace is an attribute of God and God is in our minds, peace must be in our minds. This means if I am not seeing peace, I must be closing off my real Self from my awareness. Since peace is already in my mind, I don’t have to acquire it. I need only accept its presence. Any situation in which I am not feeling peaceful is an indication that I am using something to hide peace from my awareness.

In the introduction to the Course, it tells us that it is not going to define what Love is, but will merely help us remove the barriers to Love’s presence. This lesson is another step in removing those barriers. We will know Love when we have let down the barriers against it. Today’s affirmation is a powerful tool to help us step back from the myriad forms of distress and pain and unhappiness that we experience in our lives.

Just repeating that statement reminds me that I don’t have to see the world the way that I am seeing it. I have a choice. The little crack is opened through which the Holy Spirit can offer another way of seeing. Each time I affirm this thought, I give myself the gift of opening my mind to the possibility of healing. I may not be ready to accept it, but I am at least a step closer. Just because I don’t feel healed yet in a particular circumstance is not reason to give up. Rather it is simply a sign that I need more practice. These lessons are designed to help me build a habit of practice. I am grateful that in every situation I can see peace.

This lesson reminds me that my awakening to the truth has nothing to do with the outside world and as everything to do with the thoughts I am holding in my mind. This lesson has everything to do with remembering that my experience of peace is an internal matter and that, if I am not in peace, I can choose differently. This lesson asks me to search my mind for thoughts that are not peaceful. This lesson encourages me to be open to letting these thoughts go. “I could see peace instead of this.”

When I get wrapped up in some circumstance where I lose my peace, I usually do not realize that I have lost my peace. I get so wrapped up in what is wrong ‘out there,’ that I forget that it starts with what is wrong in my mind. From a peaceful state of mind comes a peaceful perception of the world.

This is a powerful lesson. If I am willing to practice changing my mind and choosing peace in every situation where there appears to be distress or conflict, I can take great steps forward. This is the key to my awakening.

Just like the lesson, “God is in everything I see because God is in my mind,” I could also say, “Peace is in everything I see because peace is in my mind.” This world is coming from my imagination. I have invented the world I see. When my mind is in a state of peace, I see a peaceful world. So I must start with my mind.

If I jump first to trying to fix something out in the world, I will have forgotten where the real problem lies and where the real solution lies. As I consistently practice choosing peace first, I heal my mind and am open to a peaceful solution to every “problem.”

The Course tells me that peace and understanding go together and are never found alone. If I want a deeper understanding about anything, the way I find it is to choose peace. Jesus tells me that I am much to tolerant of mind wandering. This lesson helps me choose what is most important of all -- to be in a state of peace. In a state of peace, my mind is clear. I see a peaceful world. The problem is never out there.

I am learning to ask myself, “Where is my state of mind?” When I am joined with Holy Spirit, peace seems easy and natural. When I am joined with the ego, peace seems very far away and hard to reach. Today’s lesson reminds me that it is my choice. And which I choose is what I will see.

They say that God works in mysterious ways, but if we think about it, it's really not that mysterious; as a matter of fact, it's really quite simple. However, we (or our egos) always try to complicate things. We get so wrapped up in what's "out there" that we forget it's only a reflection of what's "in here" that causes all the chaos.

I can often be so impatient with the fact that I have very little patience and I seem to keep putting situations in my life where I have to practice being more patient. I need to see these situations as means for practicing my patience and not frustration.

Holy Spirit, help me see peace instead of frustrating situations in my life this day.

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