Lesson 165
Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.
The journey to our true Selves…we cannot get it wrong. We cannot mess it up. We cannot make a wrong turn, make a wrong decision, or miss a single step. We are a Thought of God, always, and in this one thought, we have never left. It is like remembering where you misplaced you keys. You had them all along; you just forgot where they were. It is that simple. The grandest of Love is that guaranteed.
“This course removes all doubts which you have interposed between Him and you certainty of Him” (ACIM Lesson 165 7:6).
The mirror of Reality is shown to us once more as we see our reflection and the means by which we have hidden our Light. We, yes we, are the deniers of heaven. We are the deniers of light. We are the deniers of who we really are. We have built an imaginary fortress around our Reality and have hidden the keys in plain sight, within.
The question proposed to us today can take many forms: Why see darkness when you can see light? Why suffer when you can be at peace? Why feel unloved when you can only be love? This array is basically asking us to solve the universal conundrum, why deny your heritage?
Such a question can sting a little. It is nice to have someone else to blame other than ourselves. Yet, blame is just another trap and another means of feeling guilt as we notice the only one to blame is ourselves. But blame and guilt is not the purpose of today. We can hop right over that like a small rain puddle. We can see it is there but we do not have to bathe ourselves in it. As we see that it is us that has denied our light, we can lovingly come to reconcile our thinking, as our divinity was never misplaced, just forgotten. We can humbly laugh at the fact that we have been what we have been searching for all along.
Thus, our choice to accept the Thought of God is an inner one. We do not have to wait for a change in season, job, relationship, location, new book, etc. With clarity and conviction we can make the choice right now to live as our True Selves. Yet, the energy behind our revelation is key. Like the adage says, “We cannot give it a lick and a promise.” Although what truly feeds our souls is that which is eternal, it is a choice we must make every moment. If not, too easily does the voice of ego sway us. This is where the process can get irritating to the human mind. If we are to choose to choose no more, when can we finally just choose no more? When will it be IT, done, awakened? We are a constant morphing and changing energy abiding in an ever-changing world that also affects our energetic fields. As our energies bounce off one another, our frequencies transform and integrate in new ways. Thus, we must be mindful of how we select to express our energies with each breath.
I once heard energetic healer, Roselyn Bruyere speak about energy in the most simplistic way. She mentioned that energy is just that, energy. It knows no sad or happy or up or down. It is us that puts our twist on energy and labels it. Yes, energy comes in various frequencies but who is to say what is good or bad or negative or positive? Thus, regardless what energies we come across we can just state, “I choose to abide with the Thought of God.” We can choose to be equanimous. Thus, our choice is not to judge but to just Be.
“Ask to receive, and it is given you. Conviction lies within it” (ACIM Lesson 165 4:4-5).
As we abide in the Thought of God, we recognize our fullness. The void we felt before, is now gone. Nothing more could entice us or sway us. In his article, “If You Give a Buddhist a Cupcake,” in Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Dan Zigmond (2016) explores the Buddhist tradition of the hungry ghosts, pretas. Pretas are beings who are born with a tireless hunger who have a narrow throat so as only to be able to taste food but not eat it. Their hunger is truly never satiated due to past karma of greed and arrogance, which led them to living the life of a hungry ghost. Pretas, in his article, are used as a symbol for our own ceaseless hunger, as Zigmond highlights our tendency to emotionally eat as a means of a temporary solution to our problems and to the voids we feel in life (Zigmond, 2016, pp 27). The final words of his article speak absolute truth, “The unsettled self can never be sated with food” (Zigmond, 2016, pp 28). The “unsettled self” can never be sated with anything, other than the Thought of God. This is where we come to seek, to seek no more. The only thing that can settle the “unsettle self,” is the Self.
“But when you received, you will be sure you have the treasure you have always sought” (ACIM Lesson 165 5:3).
Any means of filling our voids are the same as trying to secure our imaginary fortress. What we desire is truly within and remains beyond our effort in trying to hide it. No matter what we do, we will always, still, and forever, be the Light. Even in our moments of disgust and despair, we are still Light in that, too.
“His sureness lies beyond our every doubt. His Love remains beyond our every fear. The Thought of Him is still beyond all dreams and in our minds, according to His Will” (ACIM Lesson 165 8:3-5).
It is simple and the question is clear, won’t you step out of your own way? Throughout the day, notice how you opt to blame others or hide your Light in response to another. Notice how you may “wait” to shine your Light. Notice how you hold yourself back because you think you are not worthy of your Light. The only one that can breakdown your fortress is you. And the time is NOW.
You can do no wrong on this journey. You are free to play, roam about, and try all sorts of ways of filling a non-existent void. But why not try claiming your inheritance and your divinity? Why not witness how you are the solution you have been searching for and not something outside of yourself? I wish you many blessings as you allow the Thought of God to wash over you. Not matter how hard you try, you cannot outrun what you already are. Namaste.
Resources:
Zigmond, Dan. “If You Give a Buddhist a Cupcake.” Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Fall 2016. pp. 27 – 28.