Part 2:2 WHAT IS SALVATION
Lesson 232 Be In My Mind, My Father, Through The Day.
- Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake, and shine on me throughout the day today. Let every minute be time in which I dwell with You. And let me not forget my hourly thanksgiving that You have remained with me, and always will be there to hear my call to You and answer me. As evening comes, let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love. And let me sleep sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son.
- This is as every day should be. Today, practice the end of fear. Have faith in Him Who is your Father. Trust all things to Him. Let Him reveal all things to you and be you undismayed because you are His Son.[1]
Meditation for Lesson 232
Today our prayer invites God to our minds from the time we wake up in the morning, we ask Him to shine on us all day long. We ask Him to dwell with us every minute; every hour we lift our hearts in thanksgiving to Him for staying with us, always there to here our every call, for answering our heart’s cry. We give this day completely over to the presence of God – taking us into the evening and putting us to sleep in safety, certainty, and happiness because we are His Son.
Jesus instructs us today that this is how every day is designed to be – practicing the presence of God, which is practicing the end of fear. This is how we build faith and trust in our Father. We learn to trust Him in all things.
When we lose something for example, instead of driving ourselves crazy looking for it, we quietly trust God to lead us to it. This is a wonderful way in which to build trust and deepen our awareness of God’s Holy Spirit which He gave to each one of us and will never take away. When we have a worry or a care, we call upon God to calm our minds and help us deal with the matter in a wise and discreet manner rather than fretting, spreading needless alarm, or casting our burdens upon others. When someone says something that hurts our feelings or betrays our trust, we thank God for revealing their hostility so that we know to ask for healing, so we know to examine ourselves to find where we have wounded them. When we have a problem with running our mouths and being irresponsible with the confidences of others or talking over other people, we ask God to be the keeper of our lips, to give us the respect and kind regard that it takes to listen, to sit silently, to not feel compelled to add our opinions or tell long, blow-by-blow accounts that bore people or cause them to lose interest.
From the time we come into this world, each of us begins making a false self, we develop a personality, defenses, quirks, habits, and ways to get out of doing what we do not want to do. We decide if we want to be a “good” person and follow the rules and toe the line or if we want to go rogue and be a troublemaker, a risk-taker, a joker, a prankster, a bully, or freak. We figure out the ways that we are going to draw attention to ourselves and how we are going to draw attention away from ourselves. We figure out that turning on the water works may work with one parent but not with another. We learn to either move toward all that makes us feel good and away from all that makes us feel otherwise, or we learn to ignore our good judgment and do the opposite. We develop agendas. We make plans. We think we know what will make us happy and what will tear our hearts to pieces.
But today Jesus is telling us to do things differently. Instead of relying on our made-up self, our human, to make it through the day, clouding our holy vision, and asserting itself as our reality, we are to invite God in our mind, we are to ask God to help us when we encounter a challenge, a difficulty, a sorrow. All through the day, instead of relying upon our false self to inform our decisions, to approve or condemn, to decide what we will do and where we will go – we go deeper. We look to our Source, we say, “What is this for, Father? What am I to learn? Please stay in my mind and teach me all I need to know. Show me what to do in this matter. Should I stay or should I go?”
We get to know God by spending time in His Presence and learning to listen to His Voice, Holy Spirit within. It is not in attending services at the tabernacle, doing good works, reading our holy books, or donating time and money to charitable causes that we come to know God. As helpful, kind, and even gratifying as these activities may be, many times it is a poor substitute for keeping our mind stayed upon Him, learning to trust in Him on a moment-to-moment basis, experiencing His love and constant care as we become one with Him.
When we become one with God we have nothing more to fear. There is absolutely no cause for dismay. We live and move and enjoy our being in Him, we trust all things to Him, and He tells us everything we need to know and He gives us everything we need to grow, to thrive, to prosper in this life and in the life to come.
Be in our minds, O Father, throughout the day!
[1] A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 232. Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992).
Audio credit: The Friar Patch @ http://www.eckiefriar.com
the friar patch 