Looking around me I notice signs of anger—anger expressed in a violent act or repressed anger causing resentment or depression or disease. There’s even evidence of anger in Parliament. Sometimes I notice anger in my own mind. Maybe we all have some level of anger within our minds, even if we are unaware of it. So, it occurred to me that hidden anger could stem from the fact that we have made something that is unworkable. Everything in this world ends, eventually, in decay and death. If we think about it all the happy moments of our lives come to an end at some point in time. Is there anyone on this planet who hasn’t seen a loved one suffer and die?

On this same gloomy note, Jesus points in Lesson 129 of the Workbook of A Course in Miracles (ACIM), “…The world you see is merciless indeed, unstable, cruel, unconcerned with you, quick to avenge and pitiless with hate. It gives but to rescind, and takes away all things that you have cherished for a while. No lasting love is found, for none is here. This is the world of time, where all things end.” W235.

Elsewhere in ACIM, Jesus asks how can we believe that a loving God would create such a world. And he stresses over and over again that God did not create this world because God is Love. It was the ego that tried to separate itself from God and make up a world where God could not enter. The good news is that the it is impossible to create anything that goes beyond the Mind of God because God is infinite and universal. God just is, and everything that exists, exists within His Mind.  So, this world exists only in the mental plane because the separation from God was just an idea or a dream. But because we believe it is real, we have to awaken from this dream of separation.

Yet, we should value our lives here on Earth, which is where we find ourselves, because, as the Buddhists point out, having a human existence is a rare opportunity to overcome samsara—the endless cycle of birth, death and rebirth—through loving acts, compassion and forgiveness. The alternative is to remain stuck on the wheel of life ad infinitum.

So, I should replace my gloomy thoughts about life on Earth with happy and hopeful feelings about awakening from the dream. I just have to keep practising forgiveness (which really means letting go of all the things in the world that I find upsetting) and also remember to extend love at every opportunity.