Lesson 108
To give and to receive are one in truth.
Today, we truly immerse ourselves in the process, and place our minds in the symbiotic flow of energy. Energy cannot be created nor destroyed. It is through the art of giving and receiving we recognize how energy can be transformed and how the energy of this moment morphs into the energy of the next. That’s the wheel of life. That is the ocean we all swim in.
The circle of life is commonly known as cycle of life and death but as we know from the Course, and the laws of energy, true death can never happen, only transformation. We continuously give birth in each moment, like a butterfly in gestation and awakening to flight. We never come to an end, only another beginning. When one has come to see the Light of the true cycle that governs our being, she knows there can be no opposite, that even in the cocoon of a butterfly there is a beautiful light and purpose in those moments of waiting. Those moments give birth to patience, which creates awareness of what is truly happening when it seems nothing is happening at all.
“True light that makes true vision possible is not the light the body’s eyes behold. It is a state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all. And thus what is the same is seen as one, while what is not the same remains unnoticed, for it is not there” (ACIM Lesson 108 2:2-3).
Today, we become part of That which is happening all the time, instantaneously. We use the act of giving and receiving to show us that various aspects of one Thought can extend beyond to be the basis of All. In other words, our practice entails the adage, “You reap what you sow.” This very moment births the next and the next one, the one after that. During our practice today we will see how instantaneously we receive what we give and in the amount in which we gave. We experience that we are a plentiful well to which energy merely ebbs and flows, like the cresting of an ocean wave, always part of the whole.
Today’s practice period is what I like to call “Bless Bombing.” In the lesson, we sit quietly and extend the following,
To All, I extend true happiness.
To All, I extend harmony.
To All, I extend the love that overflows hearts.
To All, I extend Truth.
To All, I extend stillness.
We gladly sit and notice how we are given such blessings in return. We are also encouraged to think of a certain person, if we wish. Yet I would like to add just one more idea to your “Bless Bombing,” to be used today or days to come. For example, I like to do this in airports, looking out my window, sitting on a park bench or bus, or, really, anywhere. Sometimes I just take a moment in the grocery store and “Bless Bomb” the heck out of everyone and every thing. There used to be a sketch comedy show in the late 80’s, early 90’s, called Kids in the Hall. The comedy troupe had one skit in particular that I loved, “Head Crusher.” In the skit, a man would be hiding in the bushes or would be inconspicuously on the side of a street, with his thumb and forefinger up as to crush the “little heads” of passersby in the distance. No one knew the better but to the “Head Crusher” his achievements were momentous!
As a kid (not in the hall), I used to die laughing when I saw this skit and in more recent years it has come to mind as I have started to “Bless Bomb” from my fourth story window. I will often bless and bless and give a giggle as the passersby have no idea what is happening to them. I realized the “Head Crusher” and I had a lot in common as we both gleam in our victorious achievements while no one knows the wiser. Similarly, we are also experiencing two aspects of the one Thought. Albeit his blessings were a bit unconventional but the idea that what you give, you also receive, is present.
“Here are both giving and receiving seen as different aspects of the one Thought whose truth does not depend on which is seen first, nor which appears to be in second place. Here it is understood that both occur together, that the Thought remain complete” (ACIM Lesson 108 4:1-2).
Notice how quickly the blessings you give, fill you. This is why miracles are instantaneous. Giving and receiving are but an aspect of the one Thought, the one process that governs us all. Giving and receiving are specific crests on the wave of the ocean, only part of the one, great whole. Yet, what is experienced in part cannot be but felt by the whole of the oceanic humanity.
“One thought, completely unified, will serve to unify all thought. This is the same a saying one correction will suffice for all correction, or that to give one brother is enough to bring salvation to all minds” (ACIM Lesson 108 5:1-2).
Once more, the “proof is in the pudding.” The practice periods are so powerful that they not only alter your experience but that of your brothers and sisters as well. Become the “Ultimate Bless Bomber!” In this, you only have Truth to gain, and nothing to lose. And you will thus see by Walking in Miracles, this one Thought, this one flow of energy, is all there is. There truly is only One Process to live and swim in.
“And when this special case has proved it always works, in every circumstance where it is tried, the thought behind it cam be generalized to other areas of doubt and double vision. And there it will extend, and finally arrive at the one Thought which underlies them all” (ACIM Lesson 108 6:2-3).
I leave you with a song by John Mayer today called Wheel. He uses the image of wheel to say we can’t get too attached to one part of it because it will surely continue to go round, as wheels do. Yet what we can do is love every part of the wheel as it is sure to come right ’round back to us. Thus, the art of giving and receiving. Namaste.
“I believe that my life’s gonna see
The love I give
Return to me”
-John Mayer, Wheel