Lesson 109
I rest in God.
What an opportunity we have in Lesson 109 to experience heaven on earth and to widen its reach across our land. Regardless of what is happening in the world, resting in God is supremely divine and so peaceful that I can think of no better use of what we know as time. Most often, I hear from others, “If only I could do this all the time. If only the world wasn’t so full of suffering and strife, could I rest in this peace all the time. If only I didn’t have to pay the bills and have other responsibilities, could I rest in God.” Thus the words, “if only” become the gatekeepers to our peace, leaving us waiting for the “if only’s” to cease. We forget that God is still in the “if only’s” too, thus the “if only’s” are not a boundary between us and God, but The Way to Her. It is not the role of the world to come to some existence of Utopia before we finally rest in God. It is us who recognize, first, the peace of God that is in everything, rest in it, and then through our choice, does the world come to know a more peaceful way of being, releasing the “if only’s” from their illusory post.
“‘I rest in God.’ Completely dismayed, this thought will carry you through storms and strive, past misery and pain, past loss and death, and onward to the certainty of God. There is no suffering it cannot heal. There is no problem that it cannot solve” (ACIM Lesson 109 3:1-4).
In Lesson 102 we discussed the idea that we have created the habit of always “needing” something to fret over. Our nervous system has become accustomed to having the shot of adrenaline needed to make it through the morning, afternoon, and evening. This is so subtle and automatic that we believe it is the world doing it to us rather than recognizing it is our choice in allowing this to happen, if only for the experience of awakening ourselves from it.
Once on a spiritual journey, the soul searcher finds the space between worried thoughts, and wonders, “Wait a minute, I’m not worrying. Is there something I am forgetting to worry about?” It shows one that it is herself who seeks things out to keep the cycle of the worry going, not the world, yet the world is happy to oblige. Today, we once more rest in stillness and silence, seeing that the gap between thoughts is truly where we desire to abide. It is our Home. It is our birthright. And it is our purpose to be there and widen that gap.
“In Him you have no cares and no concerns, no burdens, no anxiety, no pain, no fear, no fear of future and no past regrets. In timelessness you rest, while time goes by without its touch upon you, for your rest can never change in any way at all” (ACIM Lesson 109 5:1-2).
It is through practices like today that we come that much closer to peace on earth. Lesson 109 follows on the heels of our teachings in giving and receiving being one in truth. Can you see how through descending into stillness and receiving the peace of God, that you now have peace to give? It only by your experience of peace is the world able to see it as a possibility, as a choice, as The Way. In your time resting in God, you are receiving all that you need to be the Miracle Maker and the Trailblazer of Light. It is not by your words but by your living peace that makes all the difference in the world. It is not by conforming to the craziness of the world but by daring to be the nonconformist who sees the Light shining through everything. This is resting in God.
“They will not hear another voice than yours because you gave your voice to God, and now you rest in Him and let Him speak through you” (ACIM Lesson 109 4:6).
You want to know how to find peace in any situation that arises? Practice resting in God today. Want to know how to get the world to stop using violence and guns as a means of waking up humanity? Rest in God. Want to know how to get your family to stop engaging in unhealthy and dramatic behaviors? Try engaging in the process of resting in God. Want to know how to achieve world peace? Rest in God and see your own inner peace. As the song Let There Be Peace on Earth states, “Let peace begin with me, let this be the moment now.”
This is your moment. Right now. We are given the reminder to rest in God for five-minutes every hour but the truth is, we can do this any time. Let this be the moment now.
“The world is born again each time you rest, and hourly remember that you came to bring the peace of God into the world, that it might take its rest along with you” (ACIM Lesson 109 6:2).
There is an endless beauty and a remembered song that rests on the heart today as we descend into stillness. In doing so, we ascend peace unto ourselves and the land in which we live. May you and all beings be blessed by your sincerity to rest stillness. Namaste.