LESSON 166. I am entrusted with the gifts of God.
Today’s lesson notes the “the paradox that underlies the making of the world. This world is not the Will of God, and so it is not real. Yet those who think it real must still believe there is another will, and one that leads to opposite effects from those He wills.”
We forget, in other words, that the world we witness is the insane answer to an insane curiosity, “What if nothing were as it is?”
This week’s mass shootings serve as backdrop and motivation to devote ourselves to understanding and practice. Upon witnessing such suffering, most of us wish this world were different than it appears to be. However, if the wish that things were different (or judgment) is the building block of the world, how do we be and practice this lesson, that asks that we extend the gifts given to us to those who seem to be suffering?
We have been told that the sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the atonement for himself. When we are asked to accept the atonement, we are asked to see ourselves as that which we are.
We have been recognizing and embracing that which we are (true Self) through the practice of Self-inquiry, a form of devotion where we repeatedly focus on the true Self until it is our only experience. We are, indeed, coming to see that awareness-life-presence is what we are.
We have been given the gift of vision. We have been gifted with the understanding that things are not what they seem. This pivot is what our certainty inspires in others. Their certainty will inspire others still. It is through our seeing that we share that impenetrable, unassailable certainty with those who have no hope of redemption of the world. The world is, indeed, irredeemable. Those who seem to live in it are not in need of redemption, for they are not who they think they are.
We need not wish the world were different. We need merely recognize the truth. Today’s lesson speaks of our truth as a treasure “so great that everything the world contains is valueless before its magnitude.” That treasure is awareness-life-presence.
Reflect upon that for a moment. Without awareness-life-presence, nothing would be.
The sound of a bird’s song or the sound of waves rolling onto the beach, the sight of a beautiful sunset or the sight of a herd of deer moving through the pines—nothing that symbolizes the treasure of life could be without awareness-life-presence. Awareness-life-presence is the basis of everything we treasure, and therefore it is the greatest treasure of all.
Each time you notice the wish for something different in your mind today, pause. Shift your attention to awareness-life-presence, and spend a few moments appreciating it. Be as vigilant in this practice as you can be. I say this, because the wish for something different is a strong habit; it could occur many times during the day without you noticing it.
For example, the wish for something different may show up as the wish for more time to get things done, or as the wish for fewer things to do. It may show up as the wish for less traffic or a shorter line at the grocery store. It may show up as the wish that someone around you were different than he/she is. It may show up as the wish that you were different or that your body was different. It may show up as the wish that the world was different than it is.
Pay attention today for the wish for something different in whatever way it shows up in your thoughts, and then shift attention to notice the treasure. Let yourself feel appreciation for awareness-life-presence. Follow that by slowly saying to yourself, “I am entrusted with the gifts of God.”
