Lesson 16:  I have no neutral thoughts.

I know we have discussed that everything, and everyone, is energy, and that this has extended to our thoughts.  Everything we put out there is a wave of energy that is compounded by the emotions behind it.  This is where my personal belief separates a little from this Lesson.

The Lesson states that "thoughts are not big or little; powerful or weak.  They are merely true or false."  I believe that power can be applied to thoughts to bring about their creation.  By feeling things, we create with more power.  Think of love and that wonderful feeling and what peace it brings.  Or the opposite extreme--hatred and the violence it creates.  Thoughts that are backed by extreme emotions are powerful.  Yet to get back to the Lesson--the goal of the first days of Lessons seems about separating ourselves from what we think is real, and understanding that everything is really an illusion created by us.

Taking that curve on the Lesson, there are no neutral thoughts.  Everything has creative ability.  The "true" thoughts create their own likeness; the "false" make theirs.  Every thought we have extends either the truth or multiplies an illusion, brings peace or war.  The secret is to be aware:  "This thoughts about ______________ is not a neutral thought."  As always, awareness is paramount.

Lesson 13:  A meaningless world engenders fear.

Oh yes, it sure does!  We've discussed the two primary emotions - love and fear - being at opposite ends of the spectrum.  Love evokes trust, faith, and good warm fuzzies.  Fear is that scary dark place full of demons and worry.  The "what-ifs" and insecurities.  The ego loves to define, to label, because it brings about an illusion of security.  We "understand" and then move on to the next experience.  Yet it is all meaningless.  And that fact alone generates fear.

The Lesson states that "Recognition of meaninglessness arouses intense anxiety in all the separated ones.  It represents a situation in which God and the ego 'challenge' each other as to whose meaning is to be written in the empty space that meaningless provides.  The ego rushes in frantically to establish its own ideas there, fearful that the void may otherwise be used to demonstrate its own impotence and unreality.  And on this alone it is correct."

Wow, the above paragraph states it so succinctly yet powerfully.  Separated?  Separated from the Divine.  It's our dual nature, we are individuals, yet we are connected to the Divine.  The "I am" is part of the "we are."  Those that identify more with the "I am" (the ego) feel separated.  They feel the differences, not the similarities, of humanity. 

We are so afraid of our ego being stripped: Of appearing weak or vulnerable.  Of losing that tough outer skin that we present to the world that we falsely believe protects us.  By showing our true selves, our God -selves, we are stronger and more powerful because of it.  Love conquers all in the long term, not fear, and especially not our ego. 

The Lesson states it pretty clearly, "A meaningless world engenders fear because I think I am in competition with God."  The ego is a fragile thing, and it knows it.  It resists these type of ideas and in the far extreme labels it the "enemy" or even the "devil."  That's okay.  At this point in "A Course in Miracles," awareness is key.  Just note what emotions it brings the surface.  Acceptance isn't the goal; recognition of the ego-play is.  Have fun with it.  Step back and don't resist.  It's "meaningless" anyway!  :)