Lesson 124
Let me remember I am one with God.
The beauty of today’s lesson is that we are not taking time to become one with God. We are taking time to remember we are already one with God. There is nothing we need to do; no place we need to travel to or no voodoo that need be done. No matter what we are doing or not doing, saying or not saying, feeling or not feeling, we are already one with God. Today, we take time to see that this is so.
It is because we are one with God that we “can see peace instead of this” (ACIM Lesson 34). Peace is always an option because our oneness is guaranteed, albeit sometimes tough to see as we get caught up in our worldly experience. Yet that is the key for today, to recognize that Her Voice is always speaking of our peaceful Union, regardless of what our circumstances seem to be. Thus, it is only through our personal experience with Union are we able to see peace, as certain as the sun, around us.
“We see it in appearances of pain, and pain gives way to peace. We see it in the frantic, in the sad and the distressed, the lonely and afraid, who are restored to the tranquility and peace of mind which they were created. And we see it in the dying and the dead as well, restoring them to life. All of this we see because we saw it first within ourselves” (ACIM Lesson 124 5:1-4).
We see past the weak and destitute to the holy truth that only That which is loving and lovable is present. We go beyond the ease of just staying the words, “Let me remember I am one with God,” to feeling that this is so. Often this distance, the one between the head and the heart, can feel like the longest distance to travel, as knowing something intellectually is not the same as knowing it experientially. Yet this is the goal of the Course, to get you to beyond the mantra to becoming the mantra. To get you to go beyond the words, even beyond the sounds, to something that is much greater that can only be experienced.
However, the mantras, our statements, are a great place to start. For example, when I have found myself in uncomfortable circumstances I have often said, “I can see peace instead of this” (ACIM Lesson 34). During these times, intellectually, I know there is peace around me but somehow I just can’t seem to get there, see it, feel it, or find it, which leaves me looking around and saying “Peace where are you?” I liken this to a cat chasing a light on the wall. Like the cat, we know a light is in front of us, so we chase it, try to grab it, and literally climb up walls to get it, yet coming up empty-handed. As the light on the wall is an illusion to a cat, so is our search beyond our own hearts to a mantra outside ourselves. Today, the distance we are asked to travel is the U-turn back within. To let go of the words and to descend from the mind into the heart space of knowing.
In order to do this, we must leave all concepts behind and any notions of what we think union or peace could look like. We no longer fantasize that peace can only come in a certain array of colors. We also let go of narrowing down our options of how peace can come then handing them over to God, as we say, “Okay, God, I have narrowed it down to the peaceful options #1 and #2. Now you choose” (ACIM Lesson 122). How could our limited minds even begin to understand the limitless and grand experience that is our union with God? How could our limited minds even begin to project how peace can miraculously arrive in each moment? Thus, we must surrender to let the miracle show itself to us.
“Count this half hour as you gift to God, in certainty that His return will be a sense of love you cannot understand, a joy too deep for you to comprehend, a sight too holy for the body’s eyes to see. And yet you can be sure someday, perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you will understand and comprehend and see” (ACIM Lesson 124 11:2-3).
Although today we have our traditional hourly reminders, we do change our form of focus as we initiate a thirty-minute period with little structure to allow the Voice of God to speak of our Union. We take a step away from structure to step into the openness of feeling the Truth that lies within us. In other words, we come to fully Remember and witness how this soft Voice is eternal in Her Holy Presence. She is Here, Now.
It is through our time of stillness do we feel our Union with Her. Even if you walk away from your thirty minutes and believe you have neither heard nor felt anything, something has still happened. It is guaranteed. Remember, all we are doing is remembering what is already so. It is like driving to work never noticing the yellow building that is always on your route. The Presence is Here, as with the building, we just never noticed it.
“Your benefit will not be less if you believe that nothing happens” (ACIM Lesson 124 9:1).
It is days like today, where we are shown why peace is always possible and why we are the Trailblazers of Light. As you go within and touch the Oneness that is Union with God, the imprint that is made on your one heart is also made on the One Heart. Through your experience with peace, do you also extend it as an invitation to others. As you say, “YES!” to Union, so you say, “YES!” for us all. Once more this adds to the truth that nothing need be done outside ourselves, it is only the U-turn back within, leaving Our Being, both, as the means for the beginning and the end. We are already what we have been desiring to become.
Here’s to your miraculous steps within. Namaste.