By Gonny 
This is one of those lessons that sounds very simple, and at the same time quietly takes our whole inner world apart.
“I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.”
But then the mind says: Yes, fine… but how exactly?
Because sometimes the mind has more commentary than a sports commentator on a busy Sunday afternoon.
So let’s slow it down and look at it gently.
In A Course in Miracles, attack thoughts are not only aggressive thoughts like “I could hit him.”
They also include the much more subtle ones, such as:
“I’m right.”
“He should have done this differently.”
“Why does this always happen to me?”
“If she would change, I would finally feel at peace.”
“That was stupid of me.”
“This is dangerous, something will go wrong, I need to protect myself.”
In the Course, attack is really one thing:
the attempt to place guilt somewhere, either outside yourself or on yourself, so the ego can say: There is the cause.
And once you believe the cause is “out there” or “in me as a guilty self,” defense seems logical.
From that moment on, the world we see follows automatically.
So this lesson says something truly radical:
when we give up attack, we escape from the world that attack produces.
Not by leaving the world, but by releasing the interpretation that made it look that way.
But how do we give up an attack thought without fighting it?
Not by pushing it away. That would still be attack, just directed at
ourselves……The way is much softer.
Here is a very workable approach, in four small steps.
We can do this anywhere, in the supermarket, in the car, or at three o’clock in the morning.
First: recognize it, without shame.
Say inwardly: “Ah, attack.”
Not: “Oh no, again, I’m such a bad student.”
Just: “I notice an attack thought.”
That alone is already a small miracle, because now you are the observer, not the story.
Second: notice what it promises you.
Every attack thought promises something: control, being right, safety, justification, superiority, relief, self-protection.
Ask gently: “What do I think this thought will give me?”
And allow yourself a small smile when the answer comes.
The ego is always very serious, and rarely very original.
Third: look at the effect.
For one second, notice the result.
Does this thought make me lighter or heavier?
More peaceful or more tense, alert, contracted?
This is important, because the Course is not about being morally good, but about honestly seeing cause and effect.
Fourth: give it back, choose again.
Say something simple, such as:
“This thought has not given me peace. I want to see this differently.”
Or: “Holy Spirit, decide for me.”
Or: “I choose peace instead of being right.”
You don’t need to know how. Willingness is enough.
That is what “giving up” means here.
Not erasing the thought, but releasing your investment in it.
And now the most practical question:
what if the thought comes back ten seconds later?
Then you do the same thing again……and again….and ….
Not because you are failing, but because you are training.
The ego is a habit, not a monster.
Habits are undone through gentle repetition.
A very simple example:
You send someone a message. No reply.
Your mind starts: “See, I’m not important. People ignore me. I knew it.”
These are attack thoughts too, even though they look like self-pity.
They still assign guilt, to yourself or to the other, and they tell a story in which love is uncertain.
So you pause and do this:
“Okay, attack. I’m making a story.”
“What do I want from this? Certainty, control.”
“What is the effect? Restlessness.”
“I give this back. I don’t need to know. I want peace.”
And then, very practically, you put your phone down and take a breath.
That is a miracle in miniature.
If you want to really practice this lesson today, here is another simple suggestion:
Choose one short sentence for yourself, something you can immediately use. For example:
“This is an attack thought, and I don’t want it.”
“I choose peace, now.”
“I don’t need to win.”
Then don’t aim for spiritual heroics.
Just notice small moments. Five seconds. Ten seconds. That is enough.
Because the deepest message of this lesson is not that you must fix the world.
It is that you no longer need to treat your inner attack as truth.
And something interesting happens when you don’t.
The world becomes less sharp, less hostile, less heavy.
Not because people suddenly behave perfectly, but because your mind stops poking at itself.
With love and light,
G.