LESSON 74. There is no will but God’s.

Some people feel fear, sacrifice or doubt upon hearing the idea, “There is no will but God’s,” but that is due to a lack of understanding. God’s will is what you are, life-awareness-intelligence-open-freedom. You are that, and in being that you are God’s will.

The funny thing is, you can’t stop being that (even though you can deny you are that), so you can’t stop being God’s will.

You are God’s will.

So now that we’ve got the truth out there, let’s look at the rest of this workbook lesson. There are three more important points in today’s lesson.

During the longer practice today, you are asked to “deal quickly with any conflict thoughts that may cross your mind. Tell yourself immediately: There is no will but God’s. These conflict thoughts are meaningless.”

This is the same teaching that we find in NTI 1 Thessalonians:

“When fear intrudes on peace, you will hear it if you are listening. There will seem to be a slight upset, a stab thrust upon your peace, and an immediate desire to deny the thought or feeling that has intruded on your peace. … Do not accept temptation to deny the interruptions to peace. Pick them up and look at them in joy. For you have recognized that which you were tempted to deny. Do not deny the thought that has occurred, and do not accept it. Set it aside because it is not true. And continue joyously on the path of peace.”

Today’s workbook lesson and NTI 1 Thessalonians outline the practice that heals our mind.

1. Look at it.
2. Let it go.

And if you do that with joy or with the heart, it will be twice as effective.

Here’s the way it works for me. Let’s say I feel some agitation that is caused by resisting what is. I say to myself, “I see this resistance.” Immediately I feel some relaxation, which is caused by acknowledging it instead of denying it. Next, I ask myself, “What do I really want?” I remember my purpose, my heart opens, and with the intelligent peace of the open heart, I let it go (which may look like letting it be).

This is the practice that consistently and gently lets go of ego until there is nothing left to let go of.

Another great thing about today’s workbook lesson is that it takes another step in teaching meditation. We are asked to close our eyes and relax during meditation, but there is a difference between meditating and falling asleep. For me, there is a thin line between the two, and I need a lot of focus to meditate without falling asleep. If I do not remain aware of the fact that I am meditating, I will fall asleep. I have learned to pull myself back into awareness whenever the mind begins to drift into sleep. This workbook lesson is teaching that skill, so if falling asleep is a challenge for you, pay close attention to the instructions in this lesson.

Finally, in “The Direct Means to Eternal Bliss,” Michael Langford writes: “For some people it might take a few days, others a few weeks and others a few months to start to feel something. At first it is subtle and you won’t know what it is, but you will know that you like it. It is pleasant. A new subtle feeling. You are beginning to feel: eternal life-love-peace.”

That’s what today’s Course lesson teaches too. It says, “Joy characterizes peace. By this experience you will recognize that you have reached it.”

Think about how simple that is! You are literally reaching God/Truth when meditation feels pleasant. You might experience it as lack of stress or worry, as tingling in the head, as an open heart or devotional feel, as butterflies in the belly or tingling in the legs and toes. It could show up in another way too, but when meditation feels good, you are reaching God. You are doing it !!!!!

This is important, because some people fail to recognize success in meditation because they are looking for bigger bells and whistles. Truth is subtle and simple, but it will change you. It will awaken you. So stay alert and follow the simple instructions for meditation. That is all there is to it.

LESSON 73. I will there be light.

Today we cross a threshold. We have stepped into a new level of commitment within ourselves.

We have learned of our creative power and because we recognize it is so, we have determined, through consistent gentle daily practice that we wish to employ that power on behalf of our True Will–that we be released from the suffering of our own making.

Through our daily practice, we have come to understand that what we once thought occurred to us, actually occurs through us. We have come to see that we suffer only if we lend our creative will to the wish to retain the illusion that we are separate—one from another—each of us and all of us separate from our Source and all the power of the Universe.

We have come to see that suffering from this illusion need not continue. We reclaim the creative power that is ours and wield that power each and every day to unwind our belief in the illusion we have created.

We also understand that we need not rely on the illusory power of the small and sickly will we thought was our own. We see that our True Will is in accord with the return of Awareness to the All That Is. We unite with this Awareness by letting go the belief in our littleness/separateness through our forgiveness practice—removing our attention from the belief in all that separateness would have us see and placing it firmly with the Truth.

As we have begun to learn the true power and function of forgiveness, we have strengthened our willingness to abide in the Truth of our One True Being. We proceed with the knowledge that, because this Pure Unaffected Consciousness is all that truly exists, our Will is unopposed.

All of this has happened naturally as we have practiced the workbook lessons one day at a time. Today’s deeper commitment is one miracle in a series of miracles that are bringing us home.

Lesson 71. Only God’s plan for salvation will work.

Today, I burst out laughing when I read, ”The role assigned to your own mind in this plan, then, is simply to determine what, other than itself, must change if you are to be saved.”

What a silly idea! This is saying that we believe suffering is salvation. To discover this for yourself, notice how you feel when your mind says, “If this were different (or if he/she/I were different), I would be saved (happy, safe, loved, etc).” Notice that as your mind chatters about what needs to be different, you aren’t happy. In that very moment, happiness is hidden from you. The thought that ‘something needs to be different’ is suffering.

Logically, can suffering be salvation?

It gets crazier, we also believe salvation is suffering. To see this, notice how you feel when you are asked to allow a situation/person to be as it is. Sometimes it seems as if allowing things to be as they are is unthinkable! Also, notice how you feel when you are asked to surrender (let go of) the way you think.

When we notice that we believe suffering is salvation and salvation is suffering, we see how confused our way of thinking is. We also see that we need help that comes from beyond our confused, habitual way of thinking.

In today’s workbook lesson, we are instructed to ask God, “What would You have me do? Where would You have me go? What would You have me say, and to whom?”

In my experience, it is entirely possible that you will hear something when you ask these questions, and it is entirely possible that you won’t. However, either situation can be success. Let me explain how.

When something was weighing on my mind, such as a grievance or fear, a time of quiet ‘asking for guidance’ led me to see the situation differently. I received guidance regarding my mind in the situation. When this type of guidance came, I wrote it down. It doesn’t matter if it was brief or a long conversation with God, I found writing it down helpful so I could reflect on it, accept it, and follow it.

However, if there was nothing weighing on my mind, I usually did not receive guidance during a quiet time of ‘asking.’ Instead, I felt peace or devotion as I sat quietly, but later in the day guidance would spontaneously arise when I needed it. I had opened a channel during the quiet time of sitting, and the channel was being used when it was needed.

We need guidance that is beyond the thinking mind. We open to this guidance by asking for it, and then by being receptive to receive it. We can use prayer, meditation and inquiry to access guidance. As we move forward with Consistent, Gentle Healing, we will incorporate all three practices into our lives more and more.

Lesson 70. My salvation comes from me.

Guilt is the gift of the ego or the false self. Salvation is the gift of the Holy Spirit or the True Self. In this lesson Jesus tells us “God would not put this remedy [salvation] for sickness where it cannot help.” The place that needs the help [salvation] is, of course, in our minds. So, again in this lesson Jesus says, “When you realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place.”

So if salvation, the answer is there in our mind, why would we suffer? We suffer because we don’t believe that “My salvation comes from me.” Futhermore, you don’t believe that “today’s idea [regarding salavation] places you in charge of the universe, where you belong because of who you are.”

Why don’t we believe we are in charge of the universe? Because we don’t believe “that all guilt is solely an invention of [the] mind.” If you believed this you would realize that it ALL is an invention in the mind. Guilt is an invention of the mind. Salvation is an invention of the mind. The universe is an invention of the mind. They are all inventions of the mind.

Remember the code? We wouldn’t need guilt or salvation nor the universe for that matter, if we hadn’t bought into the ideas of the code. Remember the code is ideas, and all things in illusion are code. Anything we experience in form is illusion created by the code. Anything we can be aware of is code. And while both guilt and salvation are ideas in the illusion of our mind, salvation is an idea, a remedy for sickness for a mind who has forgotten it is a part of one mind joined. My salvation is not believing the code. We’ve already been told if we are willing not to believe even a little, we have the potential to break free –salvation.

Let this lesson be the impetus to stop believing in the illusory thoughts of our minds. Let this lesson be the impetus for us to realize that salvation comes from our Internal Wisdom. It is right there when we step back from all the insane concepts, constructs, beliefs and thoughts of the code. My salvation comes from awakening to the whole me, as one joined will.

Lesson 69. My grievances hide the light of the world in me.

Yesterday, we defined grievances as a ‘limited and biased point-of-view’. Today’s lesson encourages us to let go that limited and biased point-of-view of ourselves in regard to our ability to awaken.

Our tendency is to see ourselves as limited and trying to reach the unlimited. We believe that we must become better, work harder, gain the favor of God or the Universe in order to reach awakening. Today’s lesson tells us we need not feel ill equipped to reach the object of our true desire, because the light (Truth) is within us and because it is the will of God, or our Source, that we do so.

The lesson encourages us to be confident in our ability to go beyond the dark clouds of thought that have kept us from seeing our Truth until now. The Truth is not something that is added to us; it is within us, hidden only by our belief in our own lack and limitation–“the veil of darkness that keeps it concealed.”

Today’s lesson reminds us that we do have the power to see that which we will to see. We need merely recognize that our awakening “is dearer to us than all else” and have  “real determination” to awaken.

The call that we make to our Father has been answered. It is our joint will that we awaken to our Truth. Let us not be limited in this holy endeavor by thoughts that whisper otherwise. How could we not succeed when our will to awaken is joined by all the Universe?