Final Lessons – Introduction and Lessons 361-365

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II. FINAL LESSONS

  1. Our final lessons will be left as free of words as possible.  We use them but at the beginning of our practicing, and only to remind us that we seek to go beyond them.  Let us turn to Him Who leads the way and makes our footsteps sure.  To Him we leave these lessons, as to Him we give our lives henceforth.  For we would not return again to the belief in sin that made the world seem ugly and unsafe, attacking and destroying, dangerous in all its ways, and treacherous beyond the hope of trust and the escape from pain.
  2. His is the only way to find the peace that God has given us.  It is His way that everyone must travel in the end because it is this ending God Himself appointed.  In the dream of time it seems to be far off.  And yet, in truth, it is already here; already serving us as gracious guidance in the way to go.  Let us together follow in the way that truth points out to us.  And let us be the leaders of our many brothers who are seeking for the way but find it not.
  3. And to this purpose let us dedicate our minds, directing all of our thoughts to serve the function of salvation.  Unto us the aim is given to forgive the world.  It is the goal that God has given us.  It is His ending to the dream we seek, and not our own.  For all that we forgive we will not fail to recognize as part of God Himself.  And thus His memory is given back, completely and complete.
  4. It is our function to remember Him on earth, as it is given us to be His Own completion in reality.  So let us not forget our goal is shared, for it is that remembrance which contains the memory of God and points the way to Him and to the Heaven of His peace.  And shall we not forgive our brother, who can offer this to us?  He is the way, the truth and life that shows the way to us.  In him resides salvation, offered us through forgiveness, given unto him.
  5. We will not end this year without the gift our Father promised to His Holy Son.  We are forgiven now.  And we are saved from all the wrath we thought belonged to God, and found it was a dream.  We are restored to sanity, in which we understand that anger is insane, attack is mad, and vengeance merely foolish fantasy.  We have been saved from wrath because we learned we were mistaken.  Nothing more than that.  And is a father angry at his son because he failed to understand the truth?
  6. We come in honesty to God and say we did not understand and ask Him to help us to learn His Lessons, through the Voice of His Own Teacher.  Would He hurt His Son?  Or would He rush to answer him and say, “This is My Son, and all I have is his?”  Be certain He will answer thus, for these are His Own Words to you.  And more than that can no one ever have, for in these Words is all there is, and all that there will be throughout all time and in eternity.[1]

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.

  1. 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 of my request.  And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.[2]

Today and for the rest of the year, we will come to our devotional practice and meditate upon the final words and lesson concept for days 361 – 365.  We walk with God, as one with Christ.  Each time we come to God and put God in charge of our minds and hearts and interactions in the world, God supplies us with what we need.  Be it a word, a thought, peace and calm, a mind open to the Holy Spirit – whatever we need to have God in charge of our lives – we will receive. 

Always we must remember that God will never be in charge of us against our will.  We must request of Him to be in charge.  Our Holy Spirit, our holy Self will hear and answer our requests because it is our Holy Self that stands with Christ and is one with Him.  It is our Holy Self that speaks for God as our Father and for the Holy Son. 

No matter how tired we get, no matter how the world wearies us, no matter how the things of God seem to become trite and meaningless – the instant we call upon Him, He is there.  We cannot fail in this.  God is in us and of us and will not abandon us to the human condition forever. 

Contemplate your function as you journey through time as a human being.  Turning to Christ to lead the way, to give us certainty in a world of doubt and double-mindedness, we can believe in the ugly world, the dangerous world, the world of treachery, hatred, and deception no more!  Christ gives us peace, Christ gives us assurance, Christ gives us our function for we are one with Him.  As we stand with Christ, we heed His call.  We dedicate our minds and thoughts to Him; we forgive the world with Him; we remember Him in everything we do and everything we say because as Christ is so are we!  We are the beloved Son of God; the plural make up the one. 

At the end of this year, we can put away our lessons or we can take them back up again – no matter, for now we know.  We know who we are.  We know who our brothers are.  We know what the world is.  We know Christ because we are one with Him; we know God because He is our Father.  We know Holy Spirit as our holy Self.  We know everything we need to know.  If we forget, we will be reminded.  

When we give every little thing about us to God, everything He has is ours.  This is God’s promise to us and more than that nobody could ever have! 

[1] A Course in Miracles. Workbook for Students. Final Lessons. Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 485-486.

[2] A Course in Miracles, Workbook for Students, Lesson 361-365. Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992). p. 486.

Audio credit: www.eckiefriar.com

Published by eckief

My love for God, home and hearth, my husband and family fueled my decision to devote the rest of my life only to pursuits which brought love, joy, peace, and purpose. I am a writer, seeker, student, and teacher with experience professional and otherwise from waitressing to teaching the English language in China, Taiwan, and Singapore. I hold a BA in Psychology from Bloomsburg University, which took nearly 30 years to attain while I squeezed courses in between raising my children, journaling, relationships, work, and an assortment of escapades, some of which I would rather forget! An ongoing passion for reading, writing, adventure, food, and fun, eventually led me to the love of my life, James, whom I met in 1996 and married in 1997. Our life together has been an exciting journey of work and travel, spiritual awakening, and domestic bliss ever since. Although we have experienced the tragic loss of family members and friends through death and estrangement, we have managed to turn our special relationship into a holy one by the grace of God and an acute and growing awareness of “there must be a better way!” In 2006, I published my first novel, Luella’s Calling, and am currently working on my second, Grover Good and the Stone Chateau. From 2013 through 2018, I worked as a Prevention Education Specialist for Transitions, a local domestic violence sexual abuse victim’s service agency. My work there, fueled by a lifelong enthusiasm for teaching, led me to obtain an MS in Education from Scranton University. In 2018, I resigned to accompany James on his work travels while focusing on my calling to study and teach A Course in Miracles. To that end, I dedicate the rest of my days to writing, sharing, and teaching the message of salvation found within the Course pages. Thank you for your interest in this blog. As I do not respond to comments on the posts, if you care to contact me, please email me at eckief@yahoo.com.

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