Part 1 Undoing the Way We See Things Now
Lesson 29 God is in everything I see.
- The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in everything. It explains why nothing is separate, by itself or in itself. And it explains why nothing you see means anything. In fact, it explains every idea we have used thus far, and all subsequent ones as well. Today’s idea is the whole basis for vision.
- You will probably find this idea very difficult to grasp at this point. You may find it silly, irreverent, senseless, funny, and even objectionable. Certainly God is not in a table, for example, as you see it. Yet we emphasized yesterday that a table shares the purpose of the universe. And what shares the purpose of the universe shares the purpose of its Creator.
- Try then, today, to begin to learn how to look on all things with love, appreciation, and open-mindedness. You do not see them now. Would you know what is in them? Nothing is as it appears to you. Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range. When vision has shown you the holiness that lights up the world, you will understand today’s idea perfectly. And you will not understand how you could ever have found it difficult.
- Our six two-minute practice periods for today should follow a now familiar pattern: Begin with repeating the idea to yourself, and then apply it to randomly chosen subjects about you, naming each one specifically. Try to avoid the tendency toward self-directed selection, which may be particularly tempting in connection with today’s idea because of its wholly alien nature. Remember that any order you impose is equally alien to reality.
- Your list of subjects should therefore be as free of self-selection as possible. For example, a suitable list might include:
God is in this coat hanger.
God is in this magazine.
God is in this finger.
God is in this lamp.
God is in that body.
God is in that door.
God is in that waste basket.
In addition to the assigned practice periods, repeat the idea for today at least once an hour, looking slowly about you as you say the words unhurriedly to yourself. At least once or twice, you should experience a sense of restfulness as you do this. 1
Notes and Personal Application (2019):
One application:
I focused on the things in my office.
God is in everything I see.
God is in my degrees and the frames and the mats that hang on my wall.
God is in my binoculars.
God is in my teal purse.
God is in my Darkness to Light bag.
God is in the hooks on my door…
In another application:
God is in everything I see.
God is in my coffee.
God is in my coffee mug.
God is in Dash the fish.
God is in the radish sprouts.
God is in the cat.
God is in the kitchen counter.
God is in the trash can.
God is in the compost…
In another application:
God is in the bed.
God is in the stinkbug (even as I gathered it with a tissue and threw it in the fire which could have been a weird feeling, but it wasn’t).
God is in the pillow.
God is in the pillow case.
God is in the fireplace…
This is a good and easy exercise for me. I like to practice this. It gives me a joyful feeling. It feels true and happy and lighthearted to me. God is in everything. It lifts something heavy and dull inside and replaces it with something nice. Thank you, Teacher, for this lesson.
Later on in the day I got the doldrums and my right arm was in dull throbbing pain and I didn’t feel joyful and I started to doubt any of this was the least bit true, but then I realized, I am not in charge here – of anything – and that the pain in my arm isn’t even real it’s so temporary that it is hardly worth mentioning.
God is in my arm whether it is feeling fine or aching and sore.
God is in my mind whether it is at peace or not at peace.
God is everywhere and in everything I see and experience.
Notes and Personal Application (2020):
At the beginning of the week, I decided to stay home while James went off to work in Virginia. So excited about getting to stay home, I had all sorts of plans to clean and to cook, get some paperwork organized and filed, reconnect with my family and friends, to hold the cat on my lap while I wrote and read, to coax more eggs out of the chickens…Here we are on the Wednesday, and although I accomplished some of those things and had a very good time doing it, I feel lonely and a bit disenchanted. Even when Lover called me to remind me that we only have one more day and my heart leapt in anticipation of seeing him, I realized that there is nobody and nothing in the world that can take the place of God in my life.
Our lesson idea for today is “God is in everything I see.” All purpose is in anything at all we see because we are not separate and none of us are apart. Nothing we see in and of itself means a thing. My husband, cat, office, son and daughters, grandchildren, friends, brothers and sisters, car, house, and pantry have no meaning as separate entities; the only way that they mean anything at all is in the oneness of God.
Being in my house all week, I had the deep sense that all the things that we hold so dear and guard with such possessiveness and pride could all be swept away, and it would mean nothing at all. And yet God is in everything we see, even here in the dream. When we look upon all things with love and appreciation, with gratitude and without bringing our preconceived notions of fear, judgement, and condemnation, the sense of obligation and responsibility, disconnection and loneliness is recognized as the nothingness it is; our disenchantment turns to joyful awareness of God in everything.
God is in the pile of receipts.
God is in the dust.
God is in the waxy smears on the glass
God is in my sisters.
God is in my brothers.
God is in each of my family members.
God is in the old photographs.
God is in the coffee.
God is in the cup.
God is in the peppermint stick.
God is in the pens.
God is in the watch.
God is in the phone.
God is in the mirror.
God is in the paper shredder.
God is in the cat.
God is in the Melody doll.
God is in the wax melts.
God is in the trash.
God is in my hands, fingers, toes, and knees.
God is in everything.
In speaking with a brother from our ACIM group, God is in all things that are falling apart and broken in our lives as well as those which remain stable and true. We are one. Our hearts are yearning for that connection and unity which was broken in separation but is still united in God. I like to think of the separation as the opposite of a tesseract – not a wrinkle in time, but a wrinkle in the fabric of eternity – a little dream world of disunity, vengeance, and tedious cycles. We come here to learn that even here, in the ego’s version of reality, God is in everything because we are connected; we are all one; teaching each other the lessons that can only be learned about God in separating ourselves from our true Source.
So I urge you, dear brothers, to do the practice sessions – repeat the idea to yourself, and then begin naming the things around you, without leaving anything out no matter how silly or profane it may appear to be. God is indeed in everything, because we are not separate, we are one.
1 A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 29 God is…Circle of Atonement, Complete and Annotated Edition (2017), pp. 983-984.
the friar patch 