Lesson 226: “What is a Miracle?” “My home awaits me. I will hasten there.”
Jesus beautifully explains the Course’s interpretation of Heaven is that it is our home, and that heaven is meant to happen now.
We don’t at all have to wait until we die- and look forward to some afterlife. We may be excited about joining God at that time as well. But it is a very- ego centric belief that there is nothing good for which to live in terms of the current now, while we are on the earth. The ego says God is always in the future, an the future never comes so we always sit around in some vague-sense-of -hope of “what if”.
The Course teaches that going home or getting to Heaven is a mental experience.
We want to do this now and we can. This elevated sense of going to heaven is actually when we are communing with God and therefore, basking in God’s energy.
The Course reminds us over and over that this is how we want to be right now and we surely can when we simply make the choice to choose God’s Love to see, feel and extend in the present now.
Then we are in Heaven. Nothing gets better than that. The Course says that we don’t want to wait for this because it is the best reality we could imagine and it is totally available to us now if we simply make that inner commitment to choose God and be open to being immersed in God’s energy.
This word “hasten” is perfect to describe how we are learning to be about God.
When we get to be enthusiastic about joining with God, then the ego might want us to rush along and hurry. This is a lovely intention in some ways. We want to be excited and enthusiastic enough about God and joining in God’s energy that we make concerted effort or at least clear intention to do just that.
However, hurrying is an unbalanced energy.
Hurry is usually when we are short on time and trying to move quickly and often lose track of what is happening and what we are feeling in the moment.
We skate right past the moment and being present in it because we are so anxious about getting to that next step to which we are hurrying.
The Course is teaching us to be mindful about what we are doing.
We are asked to hold the intention of savoring the moment.
We want to feel what is happening there and bask in the energetic Love we share with God in the present. We are learning to allow ourselves to be available for what is meant to occur in the present, rather not push aside whatever comes up so we can get right back to our ego’s rigid hold on fitting in just as much as possible into our days. The Course asks us to be gentle with ourselves.
We want to be curious when we feel what is happening, and breathe and complete appropriately what we are doing with an energy of enjoying the sweet adventure of the moment’s gift.
We want to not try to sail through it with lack of consciousness. Even if we are busy, we can always be aware.
The Course reminds us to hasten- this word is not as standardly used as other words- like hurry. We want to be conscious in the process of getting to God and every moment between all we do.
We want to look forward to getting to God- like Heaven is this magical secret garden to which we get to go and frolic with our loved ones past the gates there.
The Course says to have this amazing wonder that we get to go join God. We can feel so privileged and also certain that God loves us and that we are lovable.
When we hurry we lose our center because we lose connection from what is happening in the moment. We don’t want to lose our open chute to God. However, we also want to hasten to God because we are totally convinced that getting to Heaven in the Course’s view is the thing that makes us most happy and peaceful. This is why hastening is a perfect way to approach God.
We don’t want to hurry, in that we will be too rushed to feel the moment’s bliss, but we still want to carry this wonderful lightness and joy that we get to go hang out with God on Heaven’s door.