LESSON 99
Salvation is my only function here.
4 What joins the separated mind and thoughts with Mind and Thought which are forever one? What plan could hold the truth inviolate, yet recognize the need illusions bring, and offer means by which they are undone without attack and with no touch of pain? What but a Thought of God could be this plan, by which the never done is overlooked, and sins forgotten which were never real?
5 The Holy Spirit holds this plan of God exactly as it was received of Him within the Mind of God and in your own. It is apart from time in that its Source is timeless. Yet it operates in time, because of your belief that time is real. Unshaken does the Holy Spirit look on what you see; on sin and pain and death, on grief and separation and on loss. Yet does He know one thing must still be true; God is still Love, and this is not His Will.
God could not know the world we made because if he knew it, the world would be real and eternal. So, aware that His communication with His creations was broken, He created the Holy Spirit to be His Voice that would call us Home when we were ready. How perfect is this plan, and because it came from our Creator, how very certain it is.
And because we share the will of our Creator, it is in perfect alignment with our own will and so does not go against His own law that His Son be as limitless as is He. We are free to be human for as long as we want to, but still guaranteed we will return to Joy. Since our true will is the same as God’s Will, our truest desire is to return our mind to its natural pristine state and so we are as powerful as our Creator having been created like Him, we have a part to play in our return and we can accomplish our part.
Now are you entrusted with this plan, along with Him. He has one answer to appearances; regardless of their form, their size, their depth or any attribute they seem to have:
Salvation is my only function here.
God still is Love, and this is not His Will.
This is the perfect lesson for me today. I have had insomnia for a couple of nights and this happens periodically. I was talking to Jesus about it last night and I saw how confused I was. I didn’t even feel clear about what to ask him or what to expect. The ego thoughts were crowding my mind and keeping me from hearing His Voice. This morning, I see that the answer is simple as His answers always are.
It seems that lack of sleep is my problem and that sleeping is the answer. This is where my mind was stuck. This morning, I am reminded that salvation is my only function here. Sleep or lack of sleep are just manifestations of beliefs in my mind. This is not really about my sleep at all. It is about learning to lay all fear aside. It is about forgiving all thoughts that oppose peace.
It is so simple when I remember this and it is a relief to remember that God still is love, and insomnia is not His Will, therefore it does not exist. The ego mind with its non-thoughts argues against this. The question is, will I give my attention and my faith to the chatter in my mind, or will I choose to know the truth that this is not about sleep it is about my salvation and the salvation of the world. It is about fulfilling my function. It is always about choice for the ego or for God regardless of the form it takes.
Regina’s Tips
Let’s simplify today’s lesson:
“Truth and illusions both are equal now, for both have happened. … [This seems true, because the] mind that sees illusions thinks them real. … And yet they are not real, because the mind that thinks these thoughts is separate from God.”
The pathway to salvation lies in the paragraph above. The key lies in “the mind that thinks these thoughts is separate…”.
Take a moment to notice your mind, meaning your thoughts. It doesn’t matter what they are. Notice them, whatever they are.
Next, notice what is aware of your thoughts; that is, notice awareness. Can you see that thoughts and awareness are separate? What I mean by that is, you can point (with inner figurative pointing) at thinking and say, “That’s thought,” and you can point at awareness and say, “That’s awareness.” They are different.
Now look at these two, thought and awareness. Which one is you? Which one can you look at and which one is you looking? You can decide to focus on a thought or let it go. Can you do the same with awareness, or is awareness what you are?
Look, and discover these answers for yourself.
Look at all the trouble thoughts conjure up. For example, every murder begins with a thought. Does awareness conjure up any trouble at all?
Look. Discover the answer for yourself.
When we infuse thoughts with attention, we enliven them. You can watch how this happens. Notice how a thought becomes more alive and the story grows deeper as your attention is more engrossed by it.
Is this true for awareness? Is awareness enlivened with attention or is it naturally alive even if you give it no attention?
Look. Find the answer for yourself.
If thought must be enlivened but awareness is naturally alive, which is illusion and which is real?
I said that the pathway to salvation is found in this:
“And yet [illusions] are not real, because the mind that thinks these thoughts is separate …”
The pathway to salvation is noticing that mind is separate from you, and you are real but thoughts are not.
Contemplate this tip today. Notice the difference between thought and awareness. Notice which causes all kinds of trouble and suffering, and which is peacefully present. Notice which is you and which is not
My Thoughts
I usually add some of Regina’s tips for a lesson, the parts that are especially meaningful or helpful to me, but today, I posted the whole thing here. I think it is especially helpful to learn the difference between thought and awareness because it is the difference between what I think I am and what I actually am.
I am not the thoughts in my mind, I am that which is aware or my thoughts. That is a big difference! Jesus tells us early on in the Course that the thoughts we think we think are meaningless. They are not our real thoughts. I don’t believe that the thoughts we think with God, our real thoughts, in any way resemble thinking that we are accustomed to.
Our real thoughts will not be private, that is unshared. Our real thoughts will not have words. Our real thoughts will not point to separate objects or form at all. So, what are our real thoughts? We will know when we decide not to give credence or interest in our present thoughts. When I finally decide to place my attention on awareness rather than what awareness is aware of, perhaps my true thoughts will be what I am aware of.
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