Part 1 Undoing the Way We See Things Now
Lesson 74 There is no Will but God’s
- The idea for today can be regarded as the central thought toward which all our exercises are directed. God’s is the only Will. When you have recognized this, you have recognized that your will is His. The belief that conflict is possible has gone. Peace has replaced the strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals. As an expression of the Will of God, you have no goal but His.
- There is great peace in today’s idea, and the exercises for today are directed towards finding it. The idea itself is wholly true. Therefore it cannot give rise to illusions. Without illusions conflict is impossible. Let us try to recognize this today and experience the peace this recognition brings.
- Begin the longer practice periods by repeating these thoughts several times, slowly and with firm determination to understand what they mean, and to hold them in mind: There is no will but God’s. I cannot be in conflict.” During this introductory phase, be sure 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.”
- If there is one conflict area that seems particularly difficult to resolve, single it out for special consideration. Think about it briefly but very specifically, identify the particular person or persons and the situation or situations involved, and tell yourself: “There is no will but God’s. I share it with Him. My conflicts about __________ cannot be real.”
- After you have cleared your mind in this way, close your eyes and try to experience the peace to which your reality entitles you. Sink into it and feel it closing around you. There may be some temptation to mistake these attempts for withdrawal, but the difference is easily detected. If you are succeeding, you will feel a deep sense of joy and an increased alertness, rather than a feeling of drowsiness and enervation.
- Joy characterizes peace. By this experience will you recognize that you have reached it. If you feel yourself slipping off into withdrawal, quickly repeat the idea for today and try again. Do this as often as necessary. There is definite gain in refusing to allow retreat into withdrawal, even if you do not experience the peace you seek.
- In the shorter periods, which should be undertaken at regular and predetermined intervals today, say to yourself: “There is no will but God’s. I seek His peace today.” Then try to find what you are seeking. A minute or two every half an hour, with eyes closed if possible, would be well spent on this today.[1]
Notes and Personal Application (2019): I recorded the following meditation on the voice memo on my phone and then played it back to myself one time in the morning, meditating for 15 minutes and one time before bed.
There is no Will but God’s. I cannot be in conflict. I am at peace. Nothing can disturb me. My will is God’s Will. My will and God’s Will are one. God wills peace for His Son. There is no will but God’s. Conflict thoughts are meaningless. There is no will but God’s. I share it with Him. My conflicts with _______________ cannot be real. My conflicts about ___________ are not real. God wills love for me and for all. I will love for all and for God. My will and God’s Will are one. This is the way I align myself with the All-Powerful, the All-Loving, the All in All. My will and God’s Will are one.
Throughout the day, on the hour and on the half-hour mark, I practiced one minute of meditating upon the sentence: “There is no will but God’s. I seek His peace today.”
Although I missed several half-hour meditations, overall I completed the meditation more times than not because I set half-hour reminders as well. It did seem a bit tedious, and there were times I skipped meditating and just said the sentence. I purposefully chose not to grow tired of it because I really want to deliver my mind from the lies of the world and the untruths that I have been taught about God and salvation.
Notes and Personal Application (2020): This morning we discussed God’s Will being the only will there is. This was something which we have always had a problem understanding. In fact, James and I have both struggled with what has always been called our “willfulness.” In other words, we both insist upon getting our own way. Growing up, my mother would often unfavorably compare me to my sister in that Beckie was always her good girl, while Eckie was only good when she got her own way! It is true. It took a long time for me to grow up and realize that getting my own way was not always the best thing, and didn’t I go and marry someone just like me.
Here’s the thing. God wills that we are happy. God knows what will make us happy. We want to be happy. We are willing to do what will make us happy. On the other hand, the ego causes us conflict. The ego builds cases against those we are meant to love and cherish. The ego tells us all kinds of lies about God – the main one being that God wants to withhold happiness from us while the ego holds the key to our happiness. The ego does not have a will, because it does not know what it wants – all it knows is what it does not want, and that is the will of God.
So when Jesus tells us that God’s Will is the only will there is and that our will and God’s will are the same, all He is saying to us is that God wants us to be happy and we want to be happy and therefore our will is one. The ego tries to make us happy, but the ego’s happiness is more like gaiety. It does not last. We feel a surge of merriment, we mistake it for joy and happiness, but then it disappears. Since we no longer have it, we go chasing after the next fleeting pleasure, and the next and the next. And in the end we have nothing. We realize that we spent days, months, years, decades of our life chasing after that which does not amount to anything. It has given us nothing, it has left us empty. In the end the ego’s pastimes are just that – pastimes. Certainly not a will.
Remember, Jesus says that the goal of the ego is seek and do not find, while the promise of God is ask and you will be answered, seek and you will find. God’s answer is love, and what we find lasts forever. This is the only thing that will ever make us happy, and so our true will is one with God’s.
God’s Will is that we bring forgiveness to all of our conflicts. To all of the people we hate and despise, to all of those who have left us down, betrayed us, hurt our feelings, left us out, and forgot our birthdays – we bring before God and we offer forgiveness. In the light of God’s love we realize that this is the only thing we can do. Who would hold on to such terrible sorrow and despair when all it takes to have everlasting happiness is to realize that these grudges, judgments, and condemnations are not the least bit real? It happened in separation and it stays in separation. We are over separation. Our will and God’s Will are one.
Jesus says that we will know that we have experienced this because of the deep sense of joy and increased alertness that energizes, rather than depletes us. Perhaps when we first start practicing our meditations for today, we are not quite able to say the words with conviction. For example, when we go to say, “My conflict about what happened to my child cannot be real,” seems untrue, because the mean things people have done to hurt your child may seem still raw and true. When we are in the body, the things that happen to our bodies and to the bodies of others seems very real indeed. Do not concern yourself about this lack of conviction. Jesus is very patient with us and all He is asking of us, is to practice the meditations, whether they feel true or not.
Your ego may tell you that in practicing the meditations, you are withdrawing from reality, but what you are doing is taking a giant leap in faith, putting your trust in the reality of God and His Will that gives us a reality that can never hurt anyone, betray anyone, or fill anyone with despair. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray: Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. When we do our meditations today we are aligning our will with the only Will. We are sharing God’s Will and bringing it to practice in our lives. We are giving up the conflicts of this world and bringing God’s Will in a very real and practical sense that is not only benefiting us but everyone else as well.
There is no will but God’s. Seek His peace today.
[1] A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 74 There is no will…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). pp. 130-131.
the friar patch 