Projection Makes Perception
by Nancy R. Bowers, RScP
“I am not the victim of the world I see.” (ACIM, W-31)
“Projection makes perception. ²The world you see is what you gave it, nothing more than that. ³But though it is no more than that, it is not less. ⁴Therefore, to you it is important. ⁵It is the witness to your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition. ⁶As a man thinketh, so does he perceive. ⁷Therefore, seek not to change the world, but choose to change your mind about the world. ⁸Perception is a result and not a cause.” (ACIM, T-21.in.1:1-8)
“The ego uses projection to keep the illusion alive. It convinces us to bury our guilt and fear deep inside, and then project it outward onto others. This is why we judge. Why we blame. Why we feel attacked. If the guilt is out there, then we don’t have to face it in here. But this keeps us locked in a loop — seeing in the world the very pain we refuse to acknowledge in ourselves.” ~ Robert D Sears, The Last Book You Will Ever Need to Read
God is Love. The underbelly of existence. The I am. I am like that. Thoughts are creative and they shape the world I see to align with my beliefs. My mind is constantly showing me who I think I am. Do I remember that I am the divine expressing? When ego objects to what it is witness to, do I remembering I am only seeing my own mind projected outward? Do I ask myself what my underlying assumption is or do I slip into judgment and condemnation?
Let me remember who/what I am. Let me rest in the awareness that God handles the details much better than I. Let me stay in the knowingness of the right order I am witnessing and release any and all ideas that things should be different. Let me sink down past judgment to the place of faith within where fear evaporates into the divine clarity.
In this moment, I affirm and declare that I am fully aligned in Love. I see past any and all confusion caused by my inability to accept appearances and return to the Joy of Spirit. I stop taking things so seriously simply because they seemed to be in oppostion to my preference. Oh well. I do not know what anything is for anyway; the mind just fabricates stories in an attempt to match experience to belief. The only meaning it has is whatever I decide to assign to it. Am I making up good stories?
What I know is that like most humans, I tend to make things more challenging than they need to be. I identify as this form that I find myself in and proceed to behave as if life is happens to me instead of remembering that projection makes perception. My whole life is filtered through the limitations of my beliefs. Are they serving me?
Therefore, I release any and all ideas that there is anything wrong and searching for the goodness. I allow myself to return to gratitude for the beauty of life, remembering that what I focus on expands. I bask in the holy light of Spirit. I allow it to return me to peace. I remember the truth and rejoin the party that life was meant to be.
Thank you, God! I am so grateful to remember that there is no one else to blame, or anyone or thing that needs blaming. I am so appreciative of the awareness that all I am seeing is myself and because of that, I can choose again anytime I have momentarily forgotten the truth. It’s as simple as a choice; as easy as breath.
So, I release this prayer and anchor in God by saying, and so it is. Amen.