Together, We Light the Way

Click link to go to:
Previous Article • Next Article
Together We Light the Way Index

Gentle Healing Journal Lesson 105 2-27-19

LESSON 105
God’s peace and joy are mine.

“God’s peace and joy are yours. Today we will accept them, knowing they belong to us. And we will try to understand these gifts increase as we receive them. They are not like to the gifts the world can give, in which the giver loses as he gives the gift; the taker is the richer by his loss. Such are not gifts, but bargains made with guilt. The truly given gift entails no loss. It is impossible that one can gain because another loses. This implies a limit and an insufficiency.”

“Accept God’s peace and joy, and you will learn a different way of looking at a gift. God’s gifts will never lessen when they are given away. They but increase thereby.”

Jesus says that we misunderstand giving, that we think that in giving we lose, at best we make a bargain in which we stand to gain in the future from what we gave. He calls these bargains made with guilt. I can see that. If I tell someone I love them very much, perhaps I do so in the secret hope that they will love me back.

And if they fail to do so, where is the fairness in that? Look how guilty they are. Or maybe I gave that expression of love because I felt I owed them and the guilt of an unpaid debt drove that impulse. These are not gifts. The loss can be felt more acutely if it is something material that is exchanged, money or some item of worth. Now we can even see with our eyes that the value left us and went to that other one. Just the very fact of his acceptance makes him guilty of taking and thus causing the other to lose.

Like everything here, it seems, when looked at too closely, these bargains made of guilt are sickening. No wonder we are afraid of giving. There seems no way to win and winning is important to those that see themselves as separate. Thank goodness there is another way of giving and one that increases rather than depleting. If we will accept this new view of giving, we will be able to receive.

“As Heaven’s peace and joy intensify when you accept them as God’s gift to you, so does the joy of your Creator grow when you accept His joy and peace as yours. True giving is creation. It extends the limitless to the unlimited, eternity to timelessness, and love unto itself. It adds to all that is complete already, not in simple terms of adding more, for that implies that it was less before. It adds by letting what cannot contain itself fulfill its aim of giving everything it has away, securing it forever for itself.”

What an amazing thought! When we accept the gift of peace and joy, the joy of our Creator increases. That alone is motivation enough for me to want this. Now add to this that true giving is creation. When we truly accept and give, we are returning our minds to the unlimited, to timelessness and to love as it actually exists.

Then he tells us something that is probably not understandable in any real way. He says that “It adds to all that is complete already, not in simple terms of adding more, for that implies that it was less before. It adds by letting what cannot contain itself fulfill its aim of giving everything it has away, securing it forever for itself.”

I used to be confused about how in giving we also receive. It was easy to see that this was true about things that matter, like love. But I couldn’t see that this law applies to the world but I have learned to see that differently, too. I remembered that everything is simply an idea that we projected outward and see it as if it was form. Yes, I give you a dollar and that dollar is gone, but the idea of a dollar has increased because I gave it away. Maybe that dollar will continue to return to me, or maybe what the dollar represents for me will continue to return.

“Think of your “enemies” a little while, and tell each one, as he occurs to you:

My brother, peace and joy I offer you,
That I may have God’s peace and joy as mine.

Thus you prepare yourself to recognize God’s gifts to you, and let your mind be free of all that would prevent success today. Now are you ready to accept the gift of peace and joy that God has given you. Now you can say, “God’s peace and joy are mine,” for you have given what you would receive.”

Interestingly enough, the first person who came to mind was someone I love. Its bizarre that we can make enemies out of anyone, even those we hold dearest. I think that practicing all the happiness lessons is good preparation for this one. In doing that practice I have very naturally released a lot of ideas that might have been in my mind otherwise.

Regina’s Tips

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” ~ Luke 6:38

Divine law does not discern for you. It does not look at what you are giving and decide that you would rather receive something else. It returns to you exactly what you give.

Today’s workbook lesson is pointing out that because of divine law, you cannot withhold happiness from others and know happiness.

In actuality, you cannot withhold happiness from others. They will receive what they give. However, as an example, if spitefulness is in your mind, you will feel wounded or attacked by what others say or do.

Remember: What I think, I see. What I see, I experience. What I experience, I think.

My Thoughts
The idea that what I give I receive is similar to the idea that my attention enlivens what it is focused on. In this case also, I am going to experience more of what I believe in and focus on. I am thankful today that my heart is full and that I long to give this love to everyone. And if I see the tendency to withhold or to give what I don’t want to receive, I quickly choose again.

© 2019, Pathways of Light. https://www.pathwaysoflight.org
You may freely share copies of this with your friends, provided this notice is included.

Tell a friend about this article.

Printable Page

<< Back to main page of Together, We Light the Way

Has this page been helpful to you?
Your contribution to support this site is greatly appreciated. To make a tax deductible contribution with a credit/debit card, click here.
Click here to donate from your PayPal account.
Or send a check to Pathways of Light, 12530 Lions Chase Court, Huntley, IL 60142.