CIM Lessons 26-32 and Miracles Principle #5

CIM Lessons 26-32

Miracles Principle #5: “Miracles are habits and should be involuntary. They should not be under conscious control. Consciously selected miracles can be misguided.”

The purpose of CIM is to train us to look at problems in a totally different way and to help us have this become, more and more, our immediate reaction. Whenever we notice the slightest degree of irritation, we should quickly turn within and ask Spirit to help us shift our perception of this person or situation. “Miracles should be involuntary” means we are not the ones who do them. Miracles cannot be performed without the help of Spirit. “Consciously selected miracles can be misguided” because we are not omniscient and, therefore, cannot know what is in the best interest of those involved. Though we may desperately wish for a physical healing for someone, it may not be in their highest and best interest to remain in the physical body. Though we may think Sally and Harry are a match made in heaven, they may turn out to be oil and water. If you are at work, does that mean you have to stop every 5 minutes and ask Spirit for guidance? No! Set your intent in the morning to be guided by Spirit throughout the day and trust!

Lesson 26— “My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.” Purpose: To realize your feeling of vulnerability is not due to how the world treats you but strictly to your own thoughts. Nothing but our thoughts can attack us. Relinquishing attack thoughts is the road to rediscovering our invulnerability. As long as we continue to judge/attack, we will fear counter-judgment and counterattack.

Lesson 27—“Above all else I want to see.” Purpose: To bring closer the desire for Vision. This reinforces Lesson 20, “I am determined to see,” and steps up its intensity. The phrase “above all else” may tempt us to think we’re being asked to sacrifice. But the lesson reassures us that “Vision has no cost to anyone,” and even adds, “It can only bless.” The lesson leads us toward a single-minded determination to claim True Vision. Accordingly, the practice requirements suddenly leap into high gear—at least every half hour! An unreasonable request? Try to remind yourself that this time investment will take you by giant steps closer to reclaiming dominion over your world.

Lesson 28—“Above all else I want to see things differently.” Purpose: To commit to withdrawing our preconceptions about things so that we can see them with Vision. We probably will go all our lives without having a table actually speak to us. The point here is “seeing” the common purpose that binds us all. And what is that purpose? To re-interpret the world as part of Heaven! (Read T-23.In.6:1-8.)

Lesson 29—“God is in everything I see.”  Purpose: To help us begin to look on everything we see with love, appreciation, and open-mindedness. The idea that God is in everything is the foundation for a “different kind of seeing.” (T-13.VII.2:1-2). In order to see with vision, I have to be willing to disregard my current mode of seeing, which is limited to the physical. Though God is not in the physical table we see (because there is no physical world), that table shares the purpose of the universe, which is our happiness, joy, and completion. As an analogy, imagine God is visible only in the infrared spectrum. Our eyes do not see infrared radiation, so even if it’s present, we don’t see it. There are all kinds of “light” we cannot see: ultraviolet, radiation, radio waves, microwaves, etc. God is in everything, but He is outside the range of physical sight, so we need a different kind of vision to “see” Him.

Lesson 30—“God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.” The thoughts of my mind are projected outward and cause my perceptions. This lesson attempts to teach us a new kind of projection. We might call it “positive projection.” What I want to see is my own innocence. Therefore I attempt to see the world as innocent. Now I am deliberately choosing my thoughts and “projecting them” onto the world. If all things contain God, and I contain God, we are all joined. The world mirrors what is in my mind. How, then, do I want to see the world? Am I willing to see the world with a consistent and loving God in it? If not, it only reflects the fact that I’m unwilling and afraid, afraid I will see God’s vengeance instead of His love.

Lesson 31—“I am not a victim of the world I see.” The purpose of this lesson is to begin declaring your freedom. Oddly enough, we feel victimized not only by “real” threats but also by our own thoughts. Ever have an anxiety attack? Or find yourself feeling gouged by the IRS? A victim of an unfair system? You are not a victim of your inner world any more than of your outer world. This lesson initiates what will be the practice pattern for most of the rest of the Workbook: two longer practice periods, morning and evening; frequent repetitions throughout the day; and using the idea as a “response to temptation” whenever it arises.

Lesson32—“I have invented the world I see.” This idea flies in the face of all our fundamental beliefs about the world. This lesson is merely introducing the idea, not trying to prove it. The Workbook’s aim is to teach us through experience, rather than through rigorous logic, that this is true. Logically, there are only two options: 1) God made this chaotic world and allows its insanities; or 2) I am generating my own less-than-joyful experience, based on fear and shame, and can choose again.  If I’m not the cause, I’m at the mercy of an unjust and unfair world. If I am the cause, there’s hope! I can change the dream and, eventually, stop dreaming altogether. The text discusses this thought further in several places: T-21.II.11:1; T-20.III.5:1-5; T-20.VIII.7:3-4.

Assignment: Miracles Principles #6; Workbook Lessons 33-39: Text references at noted.

Practical Application: Make a list of the things that most disturb you about the world we seem to live in. Ask yourself if you believe a loving and omnipotent God would allow these situations.  Then consider the alternative. If mankind made the world as we perceive it, what might be the reason it is filled with such horrors?