“One can as easily give God only an instant, and in that instant join with Him completely. (M-16.4)”
Affirmation: “I join with God in my quiet time.”
Reflections:
1 – Eyes Closed
This is an excerpt from a passage in which we are told that one can also sit with eyes closed for an hour and yet accomplish nothing. So time, being an illusion anyway, is of insignificance when we are trying to “reach” God. We are trying to sink downward, into ourselves, enough to be able to “touch God” (an interpretation, not stated in ACIM).
2 – God Is Within
If God is within, and our projections make perception (whether of the ego or the Self), then what we see outside ourselves is actually part of the ego or the Self. We are all One, and God is One with us. This understanding tears holes in the idea of a Fatherly presence above the clouds, wearing a long, white beard. We need to get over making God into an image that we can comprehend (or think we can). He can “appear” anyway that would be valuable to us in our understanding, but my interpretation is that He is the All. (Much New Age thinking has asserted this.) But the All is One, not polytheism (or that everything is a god).
3 – Personal Experience
If we give God that moment of immediate joining, I have found that quietness is essential. Often I pray aloud while alone in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. This is not the first moment of the day, but it is close. And I find that I calm down, am free of anxiety about an upcoming stressful day, when I have given these moments to God. Jesus says that it is with the practical that A Course in Miracles is most concerned. And so this practical turning to God, while my hands are busy but doing something that I know how to do very well, is illustrative. God needs our attention to bring our minds and hearts back into His fold, and we need to remember that length of time is not the most important aspect. Sincerity in reaching deep within is.
4 – Reaching God
Experiment a bit today with reaching God. He is not hard to find. We have often heard that He is as close as our hands and feet, or our breath. Indeed! For we are part of Him, though that is not the whole of it. He has individualized, or differentiated, Himself into the many brothers and sisters that we see–indeed, of all that we can see and much that we cannot (for there are other levels of existence which our physical eyes cannot see). Be with God often today. It is the very best way to live.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
Help me today to be good to others in my life. Life sometimes throws us curves, and I would not send back any attack that seems to be aimed in my direction. Help me to remember to take a timeout when life throws me a curve.
I need my quiet time today, and be with me during that time, please. Our busy lives should not mean that we edge You out. We always need to feel Your presence.
Thank You for so often letting me feel Your presence.
Amen.
MIRACLES EACH DAY 