Forms of Nothingness. . .with Magical Powers

ACIM Workbook Lesson 50 – for Saturday, February 19, 2011

Affirmation:  “I am sustained by the Love of God.”

Selected Passage:

“In this world, you believe you are sustained by everything but God.  Your faith is placed in the most trivial and insane symbols; pills, money, ‘protective’ clothing, influence, prestige, being liked, knowing the ‘right’ people, and an endless list of forms of nothingness that you endow with magical powers.  (WB79)”

Reflections:

This passage is very freeing.  We can travel more lightly than we have.  We believe that we need all kinds of things to keep us going in this world.  Maybe we need less than we think.  That is what this passage is saying.

One point is made about “pills.”  But in the Text, we are warned that perhaps we would be best to continue to take pills, even though they are a form of “spell.”  Jesus says that the last thing that we need is for our fear to be increased, and to stop pills would indeed increase fear.  So he takes a compromising attitude toward  pills.  He does not say to avoid them.

Some of the other aspects of our “protection” are more easily left behind, especially those that relate to our ego needs being satisfied by other people.  The ego is always being undone; it is the way of this world.  So the more we lean on egotistical thinking, the more we will feel pain.  And this pain will morph into suffering, in more cases than not.  These are all “forms of nothingness,” which we invest with magical powers.  It might be noted here that “magic” in ACIM is not a lyrical or fascinating enjoyment that is benign.  It is a lamentable thing.  We are not to put our trust in “magic,” as defined by ACIM, for this always leads us in a direction that we don’t want to go.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me to avoid magical thinking.  I want to avoid trivial and insane symbols insofar as avoiding them does not increase fear.  I know that I need to keep fear at a minimum.  Help me to do so today.

Be with me today as I turn to You in the place of those magical things in which I previously placed too much faith.  I would put my faith only in You.

Amen.