Thy Grace Descends

From Celia’s forthcoming Sonnets Divine:

I long for Ye, dear God!  Today I need

To turn my life o’er once again to Ye.

My faith seems weak and frail, a mere small seed

That ought to grow all great in Love, doth see?

Surrender all I do just now, again,

And yet again.  When I surrender all,

When I surrender all, a hand Ye lend.      

Thy grace descends; Ye turn and heed my call!

Indeed, I need a re-surrender true,

For oft’ I have made turn in life to Ye.

What more ought I now seek to say or do?

No thing, my Lord!  Abide in Ye be key!

Ye love and bless me sure; I don’t ask more.

Thy guidance heals in truth–no lie, no lore!

Surrender

“God is already here.  I am forever God’s.  I surrender.

“Surrender is the fruit of allowance.  Surrender is the fruit of forgiveness.  Surrender is the same as the atonement.”  (“The Way of Transformation,” The Way of Mastery,  Chapter 21, Page 259)

The idea of surrender is dear to my heart.  Before I discovered Jesus’ recent channeled works, I knew that surrender would be “my way.”  I knew that God was asking me to surrender to a plan for my life that seemed daunting

God is living through us.  He is not a “separate” deity.  His way works, when we listen and follow the prompts that harm no one else, and help us.  His sure guidance keeps us walking along the right pathway.

Here The Way of Mastery says that surrender to God is the same as atonement.  This I find a startling idea.  When we know what God is asking of us, and we follow, that is both surrender and atonement.

Our rebellion is over.

Vulnerable before God

“This is why when any mind truly begins to awaken, it becomes more and more painful to continue certain thoughts or behaviors that do not reflect the deep desire of the heart.  This is why the gap becomes less and less—the gap of unconsciousness, the gap in which the mind tries to defend its choices and perceptions—until finally, it rests in complete vulnerability.”  (“The Way of Transformation,” The Way of Mastery, Chapter 20, Page 243 – 244)

Perhaps not all of us want to be vulnerable, but here vulnerability is set forth as a high goal. When we surrender to God, the vulnerability is good, for we are pliable in His hands. Then He can do much with us. We are flexible, like a reed; if we are as strong as the oak, we might topple in a strong wind.

The “gap of unconsciousness” is the place where we have not re-surrendered to God. He can’t do much with us and for us when we are stubborn in our independence, caught in our ego. Let all that go, and rest in the assurance that when we are vulnerable toward God, we are in the best place imaginable.

Surrendering to God

“That requires, then, learning how to use consciousness differently.  But it is all predicated on a return to peace.  That is why, above all things, your responsibility is to enter into surrender—to let the tiny mad idea of a separate self be dissolved entirely from the mind, so that there is only the Mind of Christ.”  (“The Way of Transformation,” The Way of Mastery, Chapter 19, Page 234)

Today’s quotation speaks to me, particularly today. I have just been realizing how important re-surrenders are to our spiritual life. When we don’t re-surrender, we often don’t feel totally justified with God. He–as well as our soul, our Self–can see so much farther than can we, in this world, with our personal, little self. When we just give up trying to control things, we live so much better. Control is the wrong attitude. We do make preparations, but control goes too far.

The Mind of Christ is something we all share. This Mind is our very Self, the overarching soul with which we bond with everyone and everything. Surely, when we know our soul is One with the All, God Himself, we can trust that He has our best interests at heart.

Re-surrender today. Re-surrender every day. Re-surrender every time we feel obstinate about anything. There is, in this, the better way.

We Are Exalted

“Surrender means to settle into the position of the servant, the conduit through which the Mind of God, the Love of God, can be expressed.  The mind that exists in perfect surrender sees absolutely no purpose to any moment of experience save this.  The mind in perfect surrender looks out upon a world that has been healed from its own misperception that the world has had power over it.”  (“The Way of Transformation,” The Way of Mastery, Chapter 19, Page 231)

I can see a problem in the expression of this quotation. Our surrender is couched in such terms that say we need to be a “servant.” Now, in our culture, the role of servant is seen to be a discriminatory position, and we probably have bought into this interpretation. The word servant has not always been seen in such a way. And when we are servants to God, in surrender, we are in no way subordinate. He lifts us up to be co-creators with him.

But first we have to surrender to His way of doing things. This is not optional. We are God’s creations, and he planned it this way. But it is out of love that He so acts. His universes could not survive if we didn’t finally go His way. We would destroy ourselves in the universes, much as we have come close to destruction of our world.

Our world, in truth, has no power over us. Of course, we don’t believe this, because in our daily experience, many things seem to impede upon us. But we are spiritual beings having a human experience. And our spiritual being has never been harmed by anything that happens in our world. And because we live in illusion, nothing has, in actuality, happened to our human selves either.

We are alright in this world. And when we bow the knee to God, we see what blessings He is ready to bestow upon us. When we are servants to God, in surrender, we are, in actuality, exalted.

Peaceful Mind & Loving Heart

“That Love which God is, is incomprehensible forever!  The sunbeam can never comprehend the sun.  I am a sunbeam to that sun.  You are a sunbeam to that sun.  We are therefore made of one substance, and that substance alone sustains us throughout eternity.  The greatest of joys is to surrender fully into allowing that Light to light your way without ceasing.”  (“The Way of the Heart,” WOM, Lesson 12, Page 151)

We too are sunbeams to the sun, for we are actually no different from Jesus.  He has just walked ahead of us a little.  And now he returns to take us home with him.  The pathway is clear, and we need but to surrender to God’s love, and we will be taken home to Him.

Would we like more joy in our lives?  This pathway is the way.  When our heart is loving and our mind is peaceful, we are walking in the right direction.  And it does take surrender to God, for He cannot help us if we resist Him.  Surrender is not a passive subjugation; it is the sincerest form of love for our Maker.  He loves and loves and loves, and when we open to His love, we know a peace and happiness that is unavailable to us when we are in denial of Him.

His Light will light the way for us.  His Light will do what everything in this world has failed to do.  Haven’t we had enough of resisting Him?  Haven’t we had enough of trying to be joyous in ourselves, without His blessing upon our choices?

Choose to develop a loving demeanor today.  A loving heart and a peaceful mind will take us far.

Right into the arms of God, Who plans all things for our benefit.

Bliss Calls to Us

Surrender is the cultivation of the recognition that your happiness can be found only in the submission of your will to the will of God. For your will has been in conflict and struggle and limitation. God’s will is that you live without conflict, in peace, joy, fulfillment and happiness. It is called bliss. (“The Way of the Heart,” WOM, Lesson 5, Page 68)

Why is surrender necessary? I have long known that it is, but the why has not been clear. Now I think it is. Only in surrender to God do we start living in constructive ways. Our little, personal, finite minds have not known where to turn when we try to take things in our own hands. We flounder, we make many mistakes, we aren’t happy.

Our will and the will of God are actually identical, for we want what we make us happy and allow us to make a contribution in this difficult world in which we live. We want to see others happy as well, and we would like to do something to effect that. Salvation is our business, our only true business. And when we turn to God, in abject surrender, He takes us by the hand and leads us out of our quandaries.

We live in a freer fashion, for our non-surrendered will has been imprisoned. God could not let His universes self-destruct, and our power is such that perhaps this could happen if He allowed it.

Surrender repeatedly, for this is necessary. We walk away from time to time, read things that confuse us, fail to follow guidance that comes to us unbidden, and even bidden.

Our way home to God includes surrender to His will and way. There is no other way to make the changes in our lives that need to be made.

No other way at all.

Achieve Victory through Surrender

“We let the old go, and with it all ideas of contrast and opposites, of conflict and opposing forces. This is all that is needed for the new to triumph over the old. There are no battles needed, no victories hard won through might and struggle. This is what is meant by surrender. We achieve victory now through surrender, an active and total acceptance of what is given.” (ACOL, D:3.7)

Traditional Christian inspirational writing has long emphasized surrendering to God. A search of the Bible doesn’t find very much emphasis, though surrendering works for many people most of the time. When we surrender to God, we let Him know that we can’t make it on our own. Our lives start to feel better, internally, and we get more done. We are in league with His methods of working, and He calms our anxieties enough for us to proceed easily and peacefully.

This surrender is what is needed now as we head into a new era. When we re-surrender each day, we find out how really potent this practice is. And when we re-surrender over a long time, we find ourselves in the midst of creating the new, the practice that Jesus is encouraging in this passage for today.

Surrendering works. When we are fretting about the future, just know that God knows that we are not limitless, that we have boundaries of indecision that impinge on our lives. These boundaries will hinder us in anything that we do, if we don’t surrender anew, and often.

When we surrender, we feel that we have a helping hand from the Almighty. Our Self is not above needing help, just because it is said to be a part of God Himself. Beings on the Other Side stand ready to help us also. We are never alone. Jesus himself stands ready to help. The way clears, the future is brighter, and we walk a smooth pathway. Life improves with surrender, daily and without fail.

Prayer

I do re-surrender to You today. This, my daily practice, doesn’t work if it is done only occasionally. For the best results, I need to stay close to You always. If I forget, don’t You forget. And I know that You won’t forget.

Be with me today as I seek to make decisions that will affect the rest of my life and beyond. Re-surrendering to You is what makes life work well. I would see life working well today. Thank You.

Amen.

Never Give Up

“I tell you this not to discourage you, but to encourage you not to give up. Your purpose now is the holiest possible and all of heaven is with you. All that is needed is your continuing willingness. All that can cause you to fail is giving up. I give you these examples that will make you say, “It will not be easy,” but I tell you neither will it be hard if you but remember this: your willingness is all that is needed.” (ACOL, C:10.8)

I need to feel this willingness today. And so do all of us. Sometimes when we fall back on God and “give up,” we find that the Arms hold us up. And this is another way of thinking about “giving up.”

Jesus, though, is not thinking of giving up to God. He is saying that we tend to give up—period. And this won’t do. We need to depend on God, and with this willingness to keep at it, we do depend on God to see us through.

We sometimes need good cognitive thinking to get us through, and Jesus is offering that today. Our attitude makes quite a difference, and when we have the attitude of being willing to keep going, God is able to step in and lead the way. Jesus points out the way; God takes us to where we need to go.

Pray for this willingness to keep plugging away. Jesus knows that we don’t perceive that the way is easy, but other passages in A Course of Love indicate that the way IS easy. Effortless.

Let us be willing to walk this effortless way today.

Our Yearning for Love Points to God

“This is what you have made this world for: to prove your separate exis¬tence in a world apart from your Creator. This world does not exist. And you do not exist apart from your Creator. Your yearning for love is what tells you this is so. It is the proof you do not recognize.” (ACOL, C:1.15)

We made the world; yes, we did, though we cannot understand what this means nor how this creation could come about. The world is a figment of our imagination, nothing more. And when we have all—all—of us reached far beyond this world, awake in Christ-consciousness, the world will cease to exist, for the mind that made it will have been healed.

We are part of the Father, our Creator, our God. If we can just hold this idea firmly in mind, we will go far. For being part of God, and feeling that we are separate from Him, creates a yearning in us to be with Him again. This yearning, Jesus says in this passage, is the proof that in actuality we are part of the Creator.

Yearning will lead us to surrender, if we are open to surrender. And surrender we must, to God. This surrender does in fact make all things right. Even when we think we are suffering (though in actual fact we cannot suffer), we can say, “It is alright,” in prayer to God and immediately we will sense that we really are alright. Surrender allows us to follow guidance, for we are not protecting our hard-earned autonomy, a misstep if there ever were one.

Our yearning, Jesus says, is thus our proof. What more would we need to know? We may ask many questions, but only one is meaningful: Do we surrender to God in recognition that the guidance he provides to us embodies the best living we could ever wish to have? We are just selfish enough to want to live well, and we do have that right. God would not have us wallowing in self-pity, which we are certain to do if we are not happy. His function for us is happiness (as well as salvation, forgiveness, and the like, which are equated in A Course in Miracles).

Be willing today to let our heart lead us to a better world. Be willing to be part of the solution to the world’s problems, the myriad problems that seem to assail all of us. Our heart knows the answers. It can help us now as nothing else. We just have to be willing to listen.