You will look upon that which you feel within

Everything I see is an experience of what I’m feeling within me. That idea runs so counter to everything we’ve taught ourselves. Namely, that our feelings result from the experiences we have in the world. But we have it backwards. Whatever we feel, we then project out onto the world and experience it there.

This vivid passage from A Course in Miracles makes it so clear: “You will look upon that which you feel within. If hatred finds a place within your heart, you will perceive a fearful world, held cruelly in death’s sharp-pointed, bony fingers. If you feel the Love of God within you, you will look out on a world of mercy and of love.”

So, what am I seeing in the world? Do I see fear, anxiety, and pain? If so, then I am looking out from a heart of hatred. When I choose love within, I can only experience love without. Anything other than love helps me to remember that I’ve made a mistaken choice within my mind.

The Course goes on to suggest that the way out of allowing hatred to rest in our heart is by bringing to the light of truth each obstacle to peace that we’ve erected between ourselves and love. Every grievance we hold - whether it’s murderous rage or simply mild annoyance - affirms a belief in scarcity, inequality, and fear. And with each of those, we simply recognize that we’re seeing them through the mind of fear and can make a different choice for the mind of peace.

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