Lesson 330
I will not hurt myself again today.
“Father, Your Son can not be hurt. And if we think we suffer, we but fail to know our one Identity we share with You. We would return to It today, to be made free forever from all our mistakes, and to be saved from what we thought we were” (ACIM Lesson 330 2:1-3).
Have you ever had a time when your mind was so full: so full of thoughts of things to do, items to remember, and places to be; in addition to balancing taking in new information from the world around you? It can feel as though there is a traffic jam in the forehead, leaving the third-eye hazy and obscured. With a mind so full of thoughts, worries, opinions, judgments, and expectations, how is there room for even God to move? Today, we explore the power of the mind and our thoughts, highlighting the importance of creating spaciousness in our being so as to allow God to share and extend Her gifts with us.
In our walk together, we have recognized that it is only our insane thoughts that create our suffering and mad ideas of separation, thus acknowledging we are the only ones that have the power to hurt ourselves. Even if we have been part of troubling circumstances or harsh words, it is by holding on to them that we create suffering in our being. After the words or events are long gone, often we continue to replay the situation in our mind and allow it to obscure our Identity. In experiencing Lesson 330, we now have another opportunity to observe the mind and our inner dialogue, asking ourselves, “Are my thoughts helping me or hurting me?”
When I was younger, my sisters, who were much older and bigger than I, used to take my hands and use them to tap me in the face repeated. They would always say, “Why do you keep hitting yourself?” It was a funny joke as a kid but that question still lingers as I say to myself, “Exactly! Why do I keep hitting myself with the jabs of my own unloving thoughts?” If Heaven is all around me why would I choose to continue to walk in any insane belief that I am anything other than Love? Why would I not be more loving to this beautiful, innocent soul that is Me?
Thus, are we called today to “stop hitting ourselves” with our thoughts of suffering and remember that all is forgiven and restored. In order for God to extend and expand in us and through us, it is ourselves that must release the mind that binds. We must recognize in an instant when we are harboring unloving thoughts towards ourselves. We must be vigilant in asking, “In this moment, is this the most loving thing I can do for Me?”
No one can love you better than You. It is so divinely decadent to give ourselves the permission to be free of our limiting beliefs. It can feel absolutely luxurious, even to the point of naughty, depending on how imprisoned the heart has felt. Yet this extravagance is our Home and the seed of our Creation. In order for such power to move, the space must be there and that begins with letting go of our suffering. It begins with truly loving ourselves and gently creating a new inner dialogue that repeats, “I Love You. I Love You. I Love You.” Namaste.
