1. A teacher of God is anyone who chooses to be one. His qualifications consist solely in this; somehow, somewhere he has made a deliberate choice in which he did not see his interests as apart from someone else’s. Once he has done that, his road is established, and his direction is sure. A light has entered the darkness. It may be a single light, but that is enough. He has entered an agreement with God even if he does not yet believe in Him. He has become a bringer of salvation. He has become a teacher of God.
2. They come from all over the world. They come from all religions and from no religion. They are the ones who have answered. The call is universal. It goes on all the time everywhere. It calls for teachers to speak for It and redeem the world. Many hear It, but few will answer. Yet it is all a matter of time. Everyone will answer in the end, but the end can be a long, long way off. It is because of this that the plan of the teachers was established. Their function is to save time. Each one begins as a single light, but with a call at its center it is a light that cannot be limited. And each one saves a thousand years of time as the world judges it. To the call itself time has no meaning.
3. There is a course for every teacher of God. The form of the course varies greatly. So do the particular teaching aids involved. But the content of the course never changes. Its central theme is always, “God’s Son is guiltless, and in his innocence is his salvation.” It can be taught by actions or thoughts, in words or soundlessly, in any language or in no language, in any place or time or manner. It does not matter who the teacher was before he heard the call. He has become a savior by his answering. He has seen someone else as himself. He has therefore found his own salvation and the salvation of the world. In his rebirth is the world reborn.
4. This is a manual for a special curriculum, intended for teachers of a special form of the universal course. There are many thousands of other forms, all with the same outcome. They merely save time. Yet it is time alone that winds on wearily, and the world is very tired now. It is old and worn and without hope. There was never a question of outcome, for what can change the Will of God? But time, with its illusions of change and death, wears out the world and all things in it. Yet time has an ending, and it is this that the teachers of God are appointed to bring about. For time is in their hands. Such was their choice, and it is given them.[1]
When we answer the call of God, we become teachers of God. It does not matter who we are, it does not matter if we feel qualified or not, it does not matter what background we come from, the styles of our communication, appearance, age, culture, or gender. A call of God is one that goes out to everybody and at all time. God is calling to us to awaken, God is calling to us to come Home.
So today the Christ in me urges the Christ in you to step forward, to commit yourself to answer the call. Do not worry if people hold your past against you! Do not worry if you have a potty mouth or a tendency to go into rants and rages! Do not worry about all your personality flaws, weaknesses, and shortcomings. Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you are – simply answer the call of God in your life. Commit yourself to see the Christ in me even as I commit to see the Christ in you. Commit yourself to teach the innocence of God’s Son – for when I see you as not guilty, only then can I accept my own guiltlessness.
Time has an ending, Jesus tells us, and the end of time is in the hands of God’s teachers. For when we teach and learn of God, we commit ourselves to a process of shedding our humanity and taking up our divinity. This practice looses us from the birth and death cycles of the world and restores us to the freedom and liberty of Spirit. The time this takes is entirely up to you and to me.
Today in your personal devotional time ask Holy Spirit to make this passage clear to you. Without this understanding, we consider time a commodity that is quickly depleted by each passing second. Time becomes our enemy – it flies by as we age; we lose our faculties, we die. Or it drags out torturously when we are sentenced to “doing time” for a perceived sin or crime. Weary, worn, and sad, the days of our lives simply fail to live up to their promise.
When we understand time as a means of salvation and return, time is our friend. We have as much of it as we need to learn all we must learn to free ourselves from our love and fascination for lies, for intrigue, for specialness. Time as a means to return to God elevates our consciousness and the consciousness of everyone and everything we encounter. Using time for salvation saves thousands of years of ongoing drama and trauma that we inflict upon each other otherwise. Today let the call of God rest in your mind and speak to your heart, for this is the best possible use of your time.
[1] A Course in Miracles. Manual for Teachers, I. Who are God’s Teachers? Foundation for Inner Peace, Second Edition (1992).
For 2021 daily Workbook lessons visit www.i-choose-love.com courtesy of Linda R.
Audio credit: www.eckiefriar.com
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