PART II. SECTION 6: WHAT IS THE CHRIST?
Lesson 273 The Stillness of the Peace of God Is Mine
- Perhaps we are now ready for a day of undisturbed tranquility. If this is not yet feasible, we are content and even more than satisfied to learn how such a day can be achieved. If we give way to a disturbance, let us learn how to dismiss it and return to peace. We need but tell our minds, with certainty: The stillness of the peace of God is mine, and nothing can intrude upon the peace that God Himself has given to His Son.
- Father, Your peace is mine. What need have I to fear that anything can rob me of what You would have me keep? I cannot lose Your gifts to me. And so the peace You gave Your Son is with me still, in quietness and in my own eternal love for You.[1]
Notes and Personal Application As we come to our devotional practice today, we quiet our hearts and minds of all that would call us away from meditating upon and claiming the stillness of the peace of God. Jesus tells us that maybe we are and maybe we are not ready for a day of undisturbed tranquility. I can speak only for myself, but I am always ready for undisturbed tranquility. I love it so for it is in tranquility that I find a quiet, certain mind full of God’s love through my oneness with Christ.
James and I have learned how to let anything that disturbs our peace go almost immediately. When we flare up at one another in disagreement or grumpiness, we have come to recognize that this is something we can dismiss quickly because we are happy only to return to peace. Nothing can intrude upon the peace of God in our Christ-mind unless we choose to let it.
This is a wonderful practice. It is also an ego reveal because when you opt for tranquility you will see just how far your ego will go to cause unnecessary and histrionic drama in your life. If you pay attention, you will come to know the people who are used by the ego to trigger your cravings for that which is not peace, for intrigue, for gossip, rumors, anger, shame, guilt, and sorrow. If you pay closer attention, you will see how your ego will use these people as an excuse to lose your peace and how willing, and even eager, you are to let the things of the world disturb you. If you pay even closer attention, you will see how in each of these instances are golden opportunities to practice the mind of Christ. Whether it is an unjust accusation, a flareup from the past, a drain on your finances or social standing, an issue with your special relationships or your health – let the mind of Christ reflect the stillness and sureness of God.
It is in this peace that God moves in us His Son. It is in this peace, not in the clamor and chatter and hysteria of ego, that we offer and receive miracles. When we can say with confidence and certainty that nothing can intrude up on the peace that God has given us, His Son, we have grasped a truth which lays the framework for our return to our Home in Him.
The disturbances to our peace are opportunities to teach us lessons on both an earthly level and a Kingdom level. On an earthly level, disturbances must be dealt with firmly and with authority. We are under no obligation to play with, cater to, or have anything to do with our own ego or the ego of others. The ego will often use our special relationships to wreak havoc upon our stillness, our calm, our miracle-working realm. The ego takes no greater pleasure than to tempt the Son of God to degrade his holy Self and forget who and what he is in Christ. While we love the Son of God within; we do not entangle ourselves with others’ ego. We must never make the mistake to think that an ego – whether our own or someone else’s is our friend, playmate, or ally. We do not tease egos, mock them, remark upon them, or flatter them. We do not try to manipulate them, cast them out, or attack them. Egos thrive on attention; they shrivel and disappear when we let them go.
We honor God by keeping our peace and being vigilant – this is not only a service to God and to the Christ within us, but it is a service that benefits everybody in our lives. When we keep the drama that comes with ego out and let Christ’s peace and calm and stillness reign, we create an environment where miracles naturally and spontaneously occur. When we make careful, mindful choices for those who are aligned with holiness in place of those who are aligned with that which is not holy, we are extending Christ in our minds, our homes, our work environments. We are not to let the ego blind us to what is obvious. This is the way of Christ.
It is in this active, actionable decision-making process that we grow in Christ. We are not passive, waiting for God to make the choice for us. We cannot lose our peace, our love, our place in Christ unless we give it away to that which would plunder it.
Today when we pray, Father, Your peace is mine…make a commitment to not only keep your mind free of the chatter, clamor, and chaos of the ego, but to also expand His peace to your environment. Fill your room, your office, your car, your home with the stillness of the peace of God and know that it is yours to keep, to share, to extend to all Creation.
[1] A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Lesson 273. Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 433.
Audio credit: the friar patch @ http://www.eckiefriar.com
the friar patch 