Thursday, April 16, 2015
Lesson 106: “Let me be still and listen to the truth.”
The world rarely encourages us to be still and quiet. We are often addicted to doing, doing, doing. We can not have had the practice of simply quieting down and getting still within. It can help us tremendously if we can simply physically stop, moving, talking, making some physical gestures. Sometimes we can start here, just connecting with our pace and being willing to be in a slower pace. This is often a helpful beginning especially if we are not in the regular practice of being still. This may help us learn how to engage with a slower pace, which can play a dramatic role in assisting us in looking within.
Once we slow down, then the most important thing to do is spend a moment with our minds and hearts. Sit quietly and simply notice. Don’t judge, don’t force anything. Just watch, be present and see what happens. When we are very gentle with ourselves in this process, this can dramatically help our tendency to block our process with ‘ashould’ and a heavy handed insistence that the process be just so.
We are asked not to judge ourselves. This is often tremendously challenging, especially for people who may not practice this regularly. We have to be willing to forgive ourselves if we are resisting this process of authentically experiencing what is within. When we practice stillness, we learn to make space for any bit of emotion or reaction we have to checking out what our minds are doing.
We want to first sit with the process of experiencing what we feel. Be honest and frank because seeing what is actually happening in our minds is ever so important. This is the first step in getting to know ourselves and this is an amazing gift. When we simply ask what is within then we then can take the next step which is to declare that nothing was ever there but the truth of God. We experience what we need to glean to expand our learning. Then we thank this bit of information for the lesson, and we let it go. Then we simply connect with the memory that God’s truth is the only true part of us. We don’t have to fret if we forget. Just stay focused on this single truth and promise from God that we never left our truth.
This lesson says, “Thus does salvation start and thus does it end; when everything is yours and everything is given away, it will remain with you forever.” These are the laws of God about giving and receiving. The Course teaches us the most ideal world where people can give infinitely- like God- and still keep as much for ourselves as we want and need. There is no loss in giving and receiving when we do it with God. Let’s keep this clear in our hearts to act in the world from these premises. This will completely end our suffering if we are certain that giving and receiving is always a blessing without conditions of any kind.