I’m in the ACIM lesson pattern at the moment which asks you to contemplate certain sentences for the first five minutes of every waking hour.

At first, I found this quite burdensome, not much looking forward to it, as it felt like an intrusion to whatever activity I was in the middle of. However, as such a lesson format progressed, I found myself looking forward to the contemplation times, and now I came to the stage of checking the time so as not to miss the very start of a new hour.

So this afternoon, I was sitting in the stillness of one of such contemplation periods, when suddenly, I heard a slight music sound from outside. I live in a homestead where my neighbors are quite far from me. But since my property is surrounded by fields, sound travels long distances, and thus, I was able to hear the music.

It was quite unusual, as mostly all I hear is birds and insects chirping. So I found myself getting slightly irritated by it.

Since my mind was already quite deep in meditation, it instantly clung to that irritation, taking me deep to see where it’s coming from. And the deeper I went into it, the more rage I uncovered, and it was rooted in the intense hatred, like wanting to tear those people who were listening to the music into pieces.

This is the “beauty” of the ego. All we see is the top of an iceberg. Most people leave it at that, as though a slight irritation is nothing. But ACIM teaches that even a slight irritation is the same as a wish to murder (I’m saying this in my own words), because degrees don’t matter at all. Either, the feeling is of the ego or of the Holy Spirit.

It may be merely slight irritation, perhaps too mild to be even clearly recognized. ⁵Or it may also take the form of intense rage, accompanied by thoughts of violence, fantasied or apparently acted out. ⁶It does not matter. ⁷All of these reactions are the same. ⁸They obscure the truth, and this can never be a matter of degree. ⁹Either truth is apparent, or it is not. ¹⁰It cannot be partially recognized. ¹¹Who is unaware of truth must look upon illusions.

(ACIM, M-17.4:4-11)

This made me think about being no different to any convict. The difference between someone who murders and someone who thinks in an unloving way is only in degrees. So who are we to judge?

We all contribute to wars and murders, and other unloving things happening in the world, if we even have one unloving thought or feeling. That’s because degrees don’t matter – we either operate through the Holy Spirit, or the ego.

Once all the darkness is uprooted, we become truly whole, no longer divided against ourselves. And that’s how we help others heal – there’s nothing in us that would harm. And that’s why I’m so inspired to continue with this beautiful course.

The more I forgive, the more I sit in stillness, the more light I receive, the more motivated I feel to stick to this course and do its lessons willingly. As I receive more light, I realize how urgent it is to complete the course, and complete it sincerely.

The world is in dire need of those who are united within themselves, as they are the true lights in the world very much in need of love and healing.