Part 1 Undoing the Way We See Things Now
LESSON 120 Morning and Evening Review
Lesson 109 and Lesson 110
- (109) I rest in God. I rest in God today, and let Him work in me and through me, while I rest in Him in quiet and in perfect certainty.
- (110) I am as God created me. I am God’s Son. Today I lay aside all sick illusions of myself, and let my Father tell me Who I really am.
- On the hour: I rest in God. On the half hour: I am as God created me.[1]
Hourly Meditation
Half-Hourly Meditation
Notes and Personal Application: In reviewing the concept of Lesson 109, “I rest in God,” we learn that it is in quietness and in confidence the work of God is done in us and through us. We rest in Him, where there is no worry and no fretting. We have no tears to shed or battles to fight when we rest in the assurance of God’s love for us. We realize that this is a story, a story that we made up that excludes God. In stories that exclude God anything can happen at any time. We can be sailing along, bobbing away on the calm waters under a sunny sky, and a sudden storm can arise to flip our boats and huge waves can come along and drown our lungs with the briny sea. When we wake up and realize that this realm is a story without meaning, with a cast that has forgotten their identity and chosen a path that included that which is not love, we can rest in God and enjoy the story for what it is. A story. A fable. An ongoing object lesson in separation.
No longer can the world trouble us with its constant conflicts; we accept its injustices as the natural result of separation. When something that is whole and changeless is exchanged for that which is split and changeable, there can only be ruckus and madness. Try to fix separation with anything other than oneness with God and what do we get? Bureaucracy. Greed. Misuse of power. Sacrifice. Martyrdom. Rules and regulations. Side effects. Calls of pity and contributions. Sign waving. Finger pointing. Blaming and shaming. Projection and perversion. In other words, more separation.
We cannot fix our own problems. We cannot fix the world’s problems! Our systems fail us because they are not based on the oneness of God. Driven by our relentless egos, we stir the boiling pot with diligence – even our religions teach us to serve gods that demand blood and martyrdom, compete with devils, and bloat themselves on abuses of power and control. Forgetting our Sonship with God, we unwittingly begin to believe our own lies. We fight imaginary battles in our head and when they become manifest in the physical world, we claim innocence and victimization. We makes ourselves sick over snubs and social slights. We teach our children and grandchildren to side with us and keep ridiculous grudges going from generation to generation. This is not rest. This is work. This is sacrifice. This is madness.
But Jesus reminds us today to rest in God. To let God work in us and through us. To keep quiet. To practice certainty. To have ultimate confidence in Him. This means we carry our burdens and our worries and our hurt feelings to Him. We choose love. We choose forgiveness. We choose to recognize this set-up for what it is – a story of separation – a dramatization about forgetting who and what we are and lowering ourselves to flesh and blood. The separated mind is a manuscript about sickness and sorrow. It is full of joys and triumphs, yes, but it is soiled and cursed by rage and ruin.
No matter what happens here, it can never be true. No matter what we do to give it a different ending, to instill meaning to that which is meaningless, to breathe life into that which is lifeless, to bring light out of darkness, to make love out of fear – it simply will not work. The heart of Jesus calls out for us. He says to each one of us: “Give it a rest! Let God work in you and through you. Rest in Him. Quiet your troubled mind and relax into His love.” In other words, do not let the world get to you. Don’t fall for it. Do not take it to heart. It is just a saga, a rhythmless poem of independence from God in place of interdependence with God. Rest in Him!
In our half-hourly reminders, we accept our original creation. Here we have a body. A vulnerable, fleshy and blood body that no matter how much we coddle it and make much over it, is withering and dying from the first breath we take. In God’s rest, we accept our Sonship. It does not matter if we have a penis and testicles. It doesn’t matter if we have a vagina and a uterus. It does not matter if we are a he or a she, a them or a their, a ze, sie, co, or ey. We are to remind ourselves today on the half-hour or as many times as we can that we are as God created us. We are Sons of God. We are spirits and not bodies. We can lay aside all these soulless, mistaken versions of ourselves and let Him tell us who and what we really are!
This is the rest of God. This is what being woke is all about. Forget the causes of the world that would get us to judge and blame and stir that pot of folly. This only creates more separation. This only makes us more at enmity. This encourages attack and defense, not peace and joy and love. Resting in God and being certain of His love and devotion to us, we return, none the worse for wear. He prepares a feast. He welcomes us. The maddening stories have served their purpose; the book is closed. The Kingdom is restored to our minds for we have come to our senses and embraced the Light and Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[1] A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 120…Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 213.
the friar patch 