The book A Course In Miracles found me in 1985 on a spring afternoon while I was walking past a book booth on 60th and 5th Avenue in NYC. It's been a most amazing journey that's still in process. JOY!
If you are even considering doing Course, follow your inner voice, the one that speaks from love. I'm posting my lesson observations starting with the Workbook on this blog.
Nayer's Notes on Lesson 1
Lesson 1 is cute and to the point. It opens one's mind to the possibility that only God has meaning and all else is an illusion, a collection of protons, neutrons and electrons with soul(s). For example, a lamp can mean a source of light, a cause for worry about an electric bill, a design element in a room, a tool to hit another for some "reason", or parts for a new invention. Meaning becomes as seemingly (God is in charge) arbitrary as circumstance. I like cute and to the point.
I've bolded what I underlined in my book.
"Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything.
W-1.1. Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically to whatever you see:
2 This table does not mean anything.
3 This chair does not mean anything.
4 This hand does not mean anything.
5 This foot does not mean anything.
6 This pen does not mean anything.
W-1.2. Then look farther away from your immediate area, and apply the idea to a wider range:
2 That door does not mean anything.
3 That body does not mean anything.
4 That lamp does not mean anything.
5 That sign does not mean anything.
6 That shadow does not mean anything.
W-1.3. Notice that these statements are not arranged in any order, and make no allowance for differences in the kinds of things to which they are applied. 2 That is the purpose of the exercise. 3 The statement should merely be applied to anything you see. 4 As you practice the idea for the day, use it totally indiscriminately. 5 Do not attempt to apply it to everything you see, for these exercises should not become ritualistic. 6 Only be sure that nothing you see is specifically excluded. 7 One thing is like another as far as the application of the idea is concerned.
W-1.4. Each of the first three lessons should not be done more than twice a day each, preferably morning and evening. 2 Nor should they be attempted for more than a minute or so, unless that entails a sense of hurry. 3 A comfortable sense of leisure is essential.
End lesson
Only the Lord has real meaning. He is the source of our breath, the coordination of our organs to provide life, and the source for all that is and will be. It's up to us to make the best of what we have to work with.
