Lesson 39
My holiness is my salvation.
If yesterday we felt as though the Course was whispering in our ears:
“[Name], you can let go. You do not have to worry. You do not have to be in control. You do not have to orchestrate anything. You do not have to adjust your life or that of another. You do not have to go out and do something special. You do not have to change or modify anything about yourself. You do not even have to change your current circumstances. You just have to be You. As you are, right now, this instant, in this moment. That is all. Because You are enough. You are holy. You are whole. You are perfect. You are a Child of God. You need do nothing more.” -Lesson 38
Today, the course takes a more sarcastic, nudging, maybe more so jab, approach of “Do you hear me now?” We begin as the Course reminds us of how simple salvation really is:
“If guilt is hell, what is opposite (ACIM Lesson 39 1:1)?”
And this question is not just proposed to us once in this lesson but twice at the beginning of the first two paragraphs and then once more added to the end of our practice period. I believe we are meant to take notice of this statement, no?
I almost feel like the kid in math class being asked what 1 + 1 is? Knowing I know the answer, I stare at the teacher shyly thinking that is must be more complex than the answer, 2, that the teacher must want something more from me, right? But that is the way our mind does work. We have become programmed to think that anything worth knowing or having much be complex, hard to understand, and difficult. Even the most simple things, once our mind gets ahold of it, makes it rather difficult to understand. Today the Course asks us to, “snap out of it!” As the Course states,
“Like the text for which this workbook was written, the ideas used for the exercises are very simple, very clear and totally unambiguous. We are not concerned with intellectual feats nor logical toys. We are dealing only in the very obvious, which as been overlooked in the clouds of complexity in which you think you think (ACIM Lesson 39 1:2-4).”
That cloudiness ,which is the complexity that we create in our minds, must be cleared so that vision can be restored. And we are the ones who must clear it. We must each deal with the hell we have created in order to extend salvation to the world. We are the saviors we have been waiting for. This is the art of Spiritual Self Care.
Recall from yesterday’s post,
There is absolutely nothing your holiness cannot do. You can royally screw things up and guess what? Your holiness envelops that. Your mom may be going through a tough time, guess what? Your holiness can ease that too. You don’t know what to do about you career, guess what? Your holiness has that taken care of as well. You see, our holiness not only touches our lives but everyone’s. It is the ONE holiness. -Lesson 38
Our holiness is the answer! How is that for simplicity?
“Your holiness is the answer to every question that was ever asked, is being asked now, or will be asked in the future (ACIM Lesson 39 4:1).”
Yet this holiness must be realized by us, for in order for us to give our holiness, which is the salvation of the world, we must cultivate our relationship with it. We must learn to be our own savior, our own self-soother. If not, we will be giving from that which we do not have or fully understand,
“What about your own salvation? You cannot give what you do not have. A savior must be saved. How else can he teach salvation (ACIM Lesson 39 3:2-5)?”
Let us take for example the role of motherhood. I have met many mothers who give endlessly of themselves to their children and families. As women, we tend to be the “givers” of the family and do so with such ease. Yet, I have met with many mothers who give while neglecting their own needs and desires, even simple basic human needs. Our society often thinks that this is a noble, even valiant, thing to do. Yet this sort of “nobility” truly leaves the entire family structure on hinges because the energy in which the mother is giving is that of a very depleted, frazzled, and maybe even resentful energy. If one is aware of the flow of energy, it is noted that the power behind energy is not the act itself but the intention behind it. Thus, energy extended from a depleted person is depleted energy given to another person. In this structure, no one really wins or is truly taken care of. It’s like putting gum over leaks of a boat. Heretofore, is birthed the importance of the where the energy is coming from.
This is why it is imperative that you are in charge of your own salvation. This is the simplicity of it. You must do the work. No one else. Because what you give to yourself, you also give to another. This also means that you are not waiting on anyone for this to happen nor a circumstance to change. Can you feel the build up of where I am going? This means you can begin right here and right now. There is nothing that stands between you and the hell you have placed yourself in (in your mind). There is no workshop, no book, no confessional, no blessing, no rite of passage, no crystal, no bead, no clearance you are waiting on. The spiritual procrastination stops here. This is why I believe the tone of today’s lesson is so different from lessons before. Sometimes we need a more stern talking to because there is nothing our holiness cannot do, even as we face our own demons. It is now time that we claimed it. It is like the Course is saying “Stop whining and get on with it.”
“Your holiness means the end of guilt, and therefore the end of hell. Your holiness is the salvation of the world, and your own (ACIM Lesson 39 4:2-3).”
If you want to extend peace to the world, you must first be peace. It is time to clean house, the house that is your mind. Anything that is clouding your mind, must be touched by your holiness. You are the bearer of light and in the practice periods today you are bringing the light to the darkness of the mind.
Be gentle with yourself as you sit in your time of reflection. Notice how after you recognize the demon, you are given the grace that oozes from the statement “My holiness is my salvation.” I am reminded of the original Nightmare on Elm Street movie from 1984. In this particular one, Freddy Krueger’s reign comes to an end by means of reclaiming the fear that give him so much power. The lead actress, Nancy, defeats Freddy as she stands in her power, turning to face him and saying,
Nancy: “I know you too well now, Freddy.”
Freddy: “Now you die.”
Nancy: “It’s too late Krueger. I know the secret now. This is just dream. You are not alive. This whole thing is just a dream. I want my mother and friends again.”
Freddy: “You what?”
Nancy: “I take back every bit of energy I gave you. You’re nothing. You’re shit.”
Now, I state again, to be gentle with yourself in the practice periods. There is no need in calling our unloving thoughts “shit.” Remember we do not want to devalue what we have created. We are merely correcting it. But I put in this dialogue from Nightmare on Elm Street as means of visualizing how we face the “Freddy Kruegers” we have created in our mind that keep us from our salvation and peace. We can exercise our holiness and let it envelop all that we have created in substitution for our Queendom.
This is the Spiritual Self Care that we practice today. With love and kindness we clean out the corners of the mind of our unloving thoughts. We reclaim our power: we are our own knights in shining armor, we are that which we seek, we are our own savior. Blessed Be.
Namaste.