Rest Untroubled / Gently Reassured

ACIM Workbook Lesson 194 – for Friday, July 13, 2012

Affirmation:  “I place the future in the Hands of God.”
“Now are we saved indeed.  For in God’s Hands we rest untroubled, sure that only good can come to us.  If we forget, we will be gently reassured.  If we accept an unforgiving thought, it will be soon replaced by love’s reflection.  And if we are tempted to attack, we will appeal to Him Who guards our rest to make the choice for us that leaves temptation far behind.  No longer is the world our enemy, for we have chosen that we be its Friend.  (WB371)”

Reflections:

1 – Euphoria vs. Dejection

I do not think that we often think of the world as our “enemy.”  But it is quite possible that, as Jesus says, this is a legitimate way to think of the what we have made the world to be for ourselves.  Driven by the ego, and with an imprisoned will (ACIM tenet), we find ourselves alternating euphoria (when the ego has “won”) and dejection (when the ego has been deflated).  If the ego were sane, we would never be in this predicament.  But living with our ego has driven our own minds to madness.  And this Jesus would not have for us.

2 – How Do We Get the Madness Out?

How do we get the madness out?  A frontal assault on the ego will not work, as the ego would just go underground, where its machinations would continue–disturbing our peace of mind and giving us bad dreams in a reality that is not truly “real.”  We simply are bidden to turn aside from the ego’s promptings, and often this may be seen by us as those things to which egotistical desire is a motivation.  We turn aside the ego’s promptings gently, because the ego is strong in strife (an ACIM tenet).

3 – A Different Way to Live

Does this turning aside from the ego seem a hopelessly impossible task?  If so, try to learn a different way to live, the way outlined in A Course in Miracles and A Course of Love.  Try to give over attack, judgment, and planning that is not inspired by the Holy Spirit to a Higher Power.  This Higher Power is, in fact, the Holy Spirit, and He will come to our call.  Jesus promises the same, i.e., to come in respond to “one unequivocal call” (ACIM quotation).

4 – We Need Help

We need help.  It is the ego that thinks this makes us less, to admit our defeat in trying to live by the ego’s dictates.  But it is the wisest reasoning, and it is a reasoning that is inspired by intuition, one of the primary ways that our Guide (the Holy Spirit) speaks to us.  We will find, as time goes by, that turning on a dime, when we receive prompting is a very freeing way to live.  We may not know what will come afterward, but we do learn, through this method, the next right step.

5 – The Next Right Step

And knowing that next right step makes all the difference.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

I thank You for the fact that currently my life is going smoothly.  Everyone has difficulties from time to time, and I would stay in touch with You during the easy times as well as the problems.  Thank You that all in my immediate circle are emotionally and physically well.  Thank You that I am emotionally and physically well.  May my brothers and sisters whom I do not know move into this certain realm, where You are there and all is well.

Be with us throughout the day.  Thank You specifically for this Workbook lesson, one that is so reassuring and compels peace to enter our minds and hearts.  Be with us today to keep serene in the midst of the ordinary path that we walk.

Thank You.

Amen.

Sleeping Death or Happy Wakening

“The choice is yours to make between a sleeping death and dreams of evil or a happy wakening and joy of life. (T583)”

Affirmation:  “I choose a happy wakening.”

Reflections:

1 – Our Real Goal

This is the choice that is placed before us in the A Course in Miracles:  dreams of evil or joy of life.  The contrast could not be more stark.  If we learn ACIM, we will dismiss our sleeping death and instead, eventually, know a happy wakening.  Surely this is a goal that all of us would choose.

2 – How Do We Choose the Goal?

Perhaps the goal seems too hard.  How do we make this choice?  We may indeed make it a long time before the Awakening happens to us.  Elsewhere we are told that if the way seems long, to be content.  We are on the pathway.  What more could we want?  It is said in the Text that the separation seemed to occur over millions of years, and that the return of all of us will take a similarly long period of time, maybe even longer.  These statement seem disheartening.  But Jesus does not leave us in dejection.  He knows that we have turned the corner now; we have chosen to walk the pathway back home.  If the way seems long, at least we know that the joyous ending is assured.

3 – The “Sleeping Death”

It is hard to hear,  and perhaps we think we have wasted our lives, when we hear of a “sleeping death.”  Yet this is exactly what the ego has brought us to.  We have had our moments of joy, but they were bought at a grave price when brought to us by the ego.

4 – The Joy of Life

The joy of life comes when we let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit.  We must listen to the promptings of our spirit, and let the guidance from deep within lead us forward.  Then, we can hope, the happy wakening will not be far behind.  And life gets better as we approach the happy wakening, because we are dreaming soothing dreams, the “happy dreams the Holy Spirit brings” (from the Workbook).  We would not be awakened without this preparation, because we would be afraid of it.  Jesus guides us the gentle way, when wakening is welcomed, not feared.

Prayer:

Dear Father/Mother,

Help me today to find a joyous life and to turn aside from what is called a “sleeping death.”  Be with me throughout the day as I make the choice that will bring Awakening to me on a sustainable basis, not simply in snatches.  Thank You for Your promise that You will rescue me as soon as I am ready, that You will “reach down” and “lift me up” to Awakening.  Help me to wait for You patiently.

All of us here need You, and perhaps those of us who recognize our need are at an advantage.  But help us to help all of our brothers and sisters who have not learned that our real need is at home in You.  May we let the ego wither away.  May we let drama in our lives just disappear.  I would not live drama today, but I would ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit at all points that I remember.  Help me to remember today.

Amen.