Lesson 36
My holiness envelops everything I see.
What an embrace we are given today knowing that the holiness in which we are held is the same holiness from which we can view our world. And what a glorious view it is! Your holiness, my holiness, the ONE holiness envelops all that we ever thought we were or could be, restoring our vision to that of Sacred Sight.
“And because you are holy, your sight must be holy as well (ACIM Lesson 36 1:3).”
How often do you feel that the world is engulfing you, taking you in and spitting you right out, leaving you at the mercy of this life-sucking energy? It almost feels like you have been swept up by King Kong himself, taken over by his enormous strength and size. It is no wonder why we are so programmed to live our life in a state of defense, guarding our precious material items, our loved ones, our hearts, and our emotions. There has to be a better way to live? This elusive freedom we hear about has to be somewhere.
Today your vision, and thus your experience of the world, is restored to the power that you hold which is greater than any massive fictional character that climbs to the top of skyscrapers. Actually, you are so powerful that you, yes you, envelop all that you see with your holiness. Nothing envelops you or is taken from you. Can you let down your defenses and invite this in? Coming to know that it is us, joined in the Mind of God, that envelops all that we see with our perfect holiness.
To experience this sort of safety in vulnerability, one must be all in. Jayem, channeler of The Way of Mastery, often states, “you can’t leave a pinky out of heaven.” The Course puts it like this,
“You cannot be without sin a little. You are sinless or not (ACIM Lesson 36 1:5-6).”
It is impossible to be “sort of” part of God’s Mind. You are or you aren’t. There is no grey area here. And thank goodness for that. Isn’t there enough grey area in the world? This is good news because this means that you can’t take your baggage with you. You can’t sneak in a little contraband of your mistaken identity. You must claim, and inevitably be, the holiness that you are. That self-loathing side of you that you think you are, yes, she must be integrated into light as well. She, and you, can’t stay in the dark where you are headed.
Now, you may notice in experiencing your holiness that certain terms come up that make you not feel so “holy.” In Lesson 36 we are given the term “sin” for the first time. The one thing this Course offers is the arena in which to see certain attachments or aversions we have to various words used while describing a spiritual journey, such as “sin.” Be sure not to run from the first sight of typical Judeo-Christian terms. Make the commitment to yourself that you will turn within and observe to see if a new way of looking at Judeo-Christian terms can be presented to you in your mind, which is a blank canvas. Recall in Lesson 4,
“These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].”
Our thoughts about words related to past spiritual or religious experiences are prime to be observed and enveloped by our holiness. As we are introduced to the term “sin” in Course lingo, we are asked to reframe our way of thinking. Let me offer a new way to look at this typically used Judeo-Christian term. Originally, in Hebrew, “to sin” means to miss the mark. It does not mean that you are damned or condemned to hot place with some man who has a pitchfork. It plainly means for one to miss the mark. More simply, one could say that she has “missed the mark” in aligning to the Mind of God. It can feel like a tough mark to hit when you have lived your life based on the outer world. But this is our gift for today, we remember our holiness that lies within and from that place we are in complete communion and alignment with the Mind of God. We hit the mark, right on!
“If your mind is part of God’s you must be sinless (ACIM Lesson 36 1:7).”
God brings absolute light to darkness. The light in which She brings, envelops all darkness, thus no part of Her Mind could ever miss the mark. And when you are aligned to Her, neither can you. This is the transforming light we are part of and made of and more than welcome to.
Be all in today! Trust in the holy envelopment that you experience in your practice periods. Trust in its goodness. Trust in your goodness. You are establishing a firm foundation from which to experience this world from a more eternal, loving place. And one that is way more dependable than anything this world could ever propose. It is an offering of guaranteed love and holiness. There are no marks to be missed. Because when your holiness envelops you, you are actually blessing that which is in you and all around you, extending the holiness that you are.
Many blessings of enveloped holiness. Namaste.