Lesson 3: I do not understand anything I see

I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].

We think we know what things mean.

This table is for holding my stuff and this chair for giving me a place to sit. This coffee cup is a vessel for drinking beverages. That building over there provides space for workers to produce their output.

And this body is for housing, at least temporarily, this entity called “me”.

But what A Course in Miracles Lesson 3 is teaching us is that we really don’t understand what anything means. We think we do, but we’re wrong.

The reason we’re wrong – as we’ll soon learn in upcoming lessons – is that when we’re in the ego mind (which is pretty must all the time) we believe the purpose of everything we see in our lives is either to contribute to our sense of happiness or take away from it.

We see ourselves as lacking, and we need things to fill that lack. Whether it’s food, air, water, money, medicine, warmth, compassion … it doesn’t matter. We’re here, and we need things to fulfill us. And happiness is the result of getting our needs satisfactorily met.

But we’ve got it all wrong.

Consider this very powerful insight from A Course in Miracles:

I do not know what anything, including this, means. (T-14.XI.6)

What we’re learning is that everything we think we know to be true is not. In fact, this course asks us to question everything.

To learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold. Not one can be kept hidden and obscure but it will jeopardize your learning. (T-24.in.2)

But as we’ll soon learn, there’s another way of seeing and understanding that leads to real, unconditional happiness.