Sunday, June 7, 2015
Lesson 158: “Today I learn to give as I receive.”
Let’s remember that we are always learning. We often put ourselves down or are critical because we haven’t figured everything out yet. We can find all kinds of faults about our processes of being human. The process seems too long, or it seems to be much work to redo something about ourselves- our inner trait perhaps- that needs to be looked at. And especially if it keeps coming up in our consciousness and our awareness, then we see something that REALYY needs to be healed within us. The Course says the world is a reflection of our minds so we can be guaranteed that what we see is nothing but a mirror of our inner workings. It now can be seen, so now is the time to find a new way to meet this challenge or change this inner method of behaving.
The Course says that we are being shown in the world what is yet unhealed in our minds. That’s why we attract situations to ourselves that give us the space and opportunity to deal with it in an entirely new way- to do it with God and to apply the principles of the Course so we can have true inner peace down the line (or even now and along the way). Because we want the satisfaction and joy of living in what the Course says is the “happy dream” (where we live in the world still for now but it is heaven because we are clear about who we are as God’s loves).
When we have a problem that occurs in our lives or we find that we maybe need to rework our lives in a major way- let this be the greatest cause for celebration. We are being afforded the necessity to deal with old areas that are still left not in the most aligned and easy circumstances- or they wouldn’t be coming up for healing. Take pleasure and pride in the awesomeness of our adventure on the earth because every exchange and circumstance is a way to recreate ourselves and our lives.
This practice of evolving our minds and habits takes a long, long time to get practiced until we hone it down into a finished piece of clay or woodwork. We have to keep practicing our ability to practice until it becomes engrained within us as a habit. We can know that some situation arises for us always for the sole purpose of getting to know ourselves better. The Course says there is nothing out in the world but a reflection of our minds.
Let’s remember this is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves when we come with the willingness to learn something new. We always need to be open to God’s guidance and teaching. This is the only way to come out with something different. When we do things with our egos, we undoubtedly end up looking at the very same outcomes. What Jesus in the Course says- be willing to do it with God. This is the only way to end up in peace and in certainty.
Remember that everything has purpose so forgive what we see no matter what. We may not see the purpose exactly yet, but trust that it does. And if we can’t come upon trust, pray, pray, pray until we realize we never left the side of God. When we come to a deep humility within our minds we reach a state of serenity in which we know God is taking care of our requests no matter what. We just sit with a quiet heart and just stick with God. When we surrender everything to God, this is the energy of joining with God’s purpose. This is when we come upon trust regardless of how long it takes.