Lesson 251
I am in need of nothing but the truth.
“And for that peace, our Father, we give thanks. What we denied ourselves You have restored, and only that is what we really want” (ACIM Lesson 251 2:1).
Many who venture to participate in a meditation retreat often comment how the practice of meditation curbs their appetite. They realize that they are not as physically hungry as they thought they were. What was once thought of as a desire for food turns out to be just a craving for silence and stillness. This is a good example of how we are so hyped up on life that we misidentify our desire for God in place of food, drugs, sex, etc. What we are truly in need of can be found by simply taking a moment of silence and going within.
On a primal level we desire to be filled by the grace of God. Cellularly we are wired to return Home. It is something so innate within us that everything else we put into our bodies, or use as outwardly distractions, only satiates this primal urge for a fleeting moment. That is why we reach for the donut a few hours later or buy the newest iPhone the moment it launches. This hit of satiety is like a drug, similar to adrenaline, making us addicted to its surge rather than connecting to the reason for our primal urge, the thought of separation.
The idea of separation creates a void, a void we have painstakingly tried to fill by searching outside of ourselves. In filling this emptiness with anything other than God is where we find we miss the mark, as we engage in a search in the outer world rather in the inner. Now let us state that there is nothing wrong with enjoying the amenities of world. The point of a lesson like today is to bring our focus to that which can only satiate our hunger, God’s Love. We can enjoy our toys and technologies for what they are but we do not attach to them nor do we seek for God in them. We solely observe as God plays with them and expresses Her nature through them.
“I sought for many things, and found despair. Now do I seek but one, for in that one is all I need, and only what I need. All that I sought before I needed not, and did not even want. My only need I did not recognize. But now I see that I need only truth. In that all needs are satisfied, all cravings end, all hopes are finally fulfilled and dreams are gone. Now have I everything that I could need. Now have I everything that I could want. And now at last I find myself at peace” (ACIM Lesson 251 1:1-8).
Today, we give thanks for the Truth that is so freely given. This Truth is our nourishment, our way, and our life. As we experience the God within us, we need nothing else to satiate our hunger. We eat chocolate because we like. We play with our computers because it brings us joy. But no longer do the things of the world control our innate desire to return Home. Rather we rest in stillness and silence letting the grace of God fully nourish us as beings of the Light and by doing so are we completely void of any need whatsoever. Namaste.
