LESSON 361 to 365
This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace.
- And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.[1]
Three hundred and sixty-five days of training our minds to remember our Loving Father, to recognize that we are not bodies, but everlasting spirits created to be Sons of God. This past year, dear brothers, we learned how to trust in that which we cannot see with our physical eyes or hear with our physical ears. This year we have dedicated to seeking God, to devoting a part of each day to changing out minds about who and what we are.
I love you and I want to thank you for being on this journey with me, for teaching me and humbly, allowing me to teach you. When I tried to learn this on my own, I failed. When I learned this with you, it brought me the answers that I have yearned and sought after throughout all six decades of my life!
It has been such an interesting year, brothers. We have traveled the path outlined in the Course together. We said we would do each lesson and no matter how we felt about it, that is what we did! Some days our lessons filled us with joy and wonder and other days our lessons filled us with doubt and suspicion, but we persevered because we answered the same call. We knew that there was something more. And the something more, at least for us, was manifested in our Course.
When I look back over this past year, the main lesson I learned and will take with me throughout the rest of my days in time is the plain, logical, practical maxim upon which this Course begins: Nothing real can be threatened; nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. We can put our trust in this. We are free of any dogma or philosophy that would drag us into battle, demand sacrifice and bloodshed to defend a cause, and toss us into everlasting torment for our blunders. We have learned the difference between our egos which would tempt us to identify with our bodies, and our Spirits, which are Sons of God, everlasting and invulnerable, our true Selves. We have renewed our love and devotion for Jesus as we have renewed our love and devotion for the Sonship of God, the Brotherhood of Christ. We found our salvation in forgiveness – both in receiving and giving. We wrapped our minds around concepts which at first befuddled us and gave us pause on our own, and then miraculously were made real in communion with one another. We were given personal, practical application in the outer world – crammed with its characters and chaos – that matched our daily lessons, and sometimes we got a kick out of it and sometimes we failed to see the humor, but we persevered.
It has been a year of adventure in the invisible realm – we did not work magic; we did not bring people back from the dead, but yet miracles of forgiveness were performed in our minds and in and through our special relationships transformed through the miracle of forgiveness into pure and innocent love. Our past no longer hinders our onward journey; our love for our brothers continues to deepen and to lead us to the gate of heaven.
Today concludes the year 2019. Let us celebrate our brotherhood together as we ring in the new year! Let us feast and be merry and fill our hearts, minds, and bellies with goodness and love and gratitude to Christ our fellow Prince, our King, our Savior and Friend.
Our lessons are concluded for this year by the following, and I have no words to add or insights to bring because it fills me, brimming over with the glory of its message. Let us continue on our path of Love, returning to our Father, aware of the angels who hover near and about, rooting for us, clapping their hands with glee and happiness at our growing recognition and realization of our goal.
I love you. I thank God for you. Thank you for turning our special relationship into a holy one with me, and with all. I so look forward to spending the next year steeping ourselves in all that God has for us, extending the miracle of forgiveness, healing, and love.
Happy New Year, my brothers, to you and all that you are now and ever will be. Following is the year’s end message from Jesus transcribed in the 1960s and as pertinent today as it was throughout time, and for everyone…
EPILOGUE
- This course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him and it will be given you.
- You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth.
- No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own.
- And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful followers, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end.
- The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say “Amen.” You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us.
- We trust our ways to Him and say “Amen.” In peace we will continue in His way and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God’s Sons, as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God’s angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.[2]
[1] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 361-365 This holy instant…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 486
[2] A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Epilogue…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition, p. 487
the friar patch 