Lesson 353

My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today have but one purpose---to be given Christ to use to bless the world with miracles.

 

Our bodies, which were made by the ego, can be given over to the Holy Spirit for His holy purpose to bless the world with miracles. We were talking over breakfast this morning about how much of our time we spend focusing on what we don't like going on in the world, whether gossiping about what others are doing, debating world issues, or lamenting the state of things. In the psychological system known as transactional analysis, this type of activity is labeled as the game of "Ain't it awful" and we can spend a big part of our lives engaged in it. We do seem to hold opinions about everything. Yet our time is meant to be spent giving attention to a higher purpose. "Father, I give all that is mine today to Christ, to use in any way that best will serve the purpose that I share with Him." (W.353.1.1)

What this means is that we stay vigilant in maintaining awareness of our thoughts and opinions so the judgments, which keep us invested in the illusion, can be given to Christ to be released. That is the only purpose for the world. It provides us with an opportunity for undoing our judgments when used for the Holy Spirit's purpose. When we turn to the Holy Spirit within our minds to show us how to see every person and situation we encounter in our day, we join with His purpose and not with that of our ego. When we accept that purpose for ourselves, we become an example for others of another choice that can be made for healing. Yes, judgments will come up, but we don't have to attend to them. We can just laugh at them. The problem is only when we take them seriously.

Peace can only be extended through us when we experience it within us. There is nothing we need to do for this peace. It is already who we are. When we don't experience it, we are blocking it. It is not dependent on anything external happening or not happening to us. We may be driving today and have a flat tire, but we need do nothing to have the peace in this situation. We can arrange to have the tire changed with our thoughts still being peaceful. If they are not, we can watch them without judgment. Non-judgmental awareness starts the transformation process. It allows us to observe our pattern of thoughts and behaviors from a neutral place, and that in itself is a healing process.

We bring any darkness in our minds to the light so the Holy Spirit can shine away the blocks to the awareness of the presence of love in us. Rather than lament them, we can see every issue as another opportunity for learning when we choose a new purpose. Purpose answers the question, "What is it for?" Will we use this situation for our needs, our specialness, to hold grievances, to attack, to win, to be right, or will we release the blocks to love through forgiveness?

Everything we have made brings us pain. When we think of our lives, they are constantly challenged by daily demands we place on ourselves, which can never be perfectly met. We constantly live with limitations, loss, demands, and disappointments, which are all based on what we value. When we relinquish our investment in our specialness, we come to know our Identity as we were created. Jesus tells us when our minds elect to join with his, then "together we are invincible." (T.4.IV.11.5)(ACIM OE T.4.V.67) When we undertake the healing within, there is a shift energetically in a relationship even when the other person seems not to be involved. It thus only takes one of us to heal any relationship, because how we see it is about our own minds. We share the same purpose and the same Christ Self. We are one mind. The power of the miracle working in any situation brings this reality to our awareness. The others will accept the gift of freedom offered through our healing when they are ready. But the gift that has been given has been received by some part of the mind in the moment it is given.
 
In the Manual for Teachers, Section 4 IX, we are asked if we still select some of the aspects of our lives for healing while keeping others apart. We are reminded this will limit our advancement. It means our trust is not yet fully established. When we are truly faithful, we live in a state of trust. "Generally, his faithfulness begins by resting on just some problems," (M.4.IX.1.5) while we keep others for ourselves. "To give up all problems to one Answer is to reverse the thinking of the world entirely. And that alone is faithfulness." (M.4.IX.1.6-7) There are still things we figure we can manage on our own and do not need to stop and ask. We are still just taking small steps in this process of turning inward for guidance in everything. Jesus assures us these are worth achieving in our journey to faithfulness, to our goal of peace. Thus, the only function for these bodies is to let God's Voice speak through them.

When we bring faithfulness to our lives, Jesus says we exhibit all of the other attributes of God's Teachers, which are trust, honesty, tolerance, gentleness, joy, defenselessness, generosity, patience and open-mindedness, and thus our bodies serve His purpose in the world. Our only purpose here is to "bless the world with miracles" (W.353) by giving "all that is mine today to Christ." (W.353.1.1) It is based on a willingness to be vulnerable. It requires honest self-reflection. It requires giving up the defenses, the façade we hide behind. Notice when you are acting out an old pattern. I recently had an incident where a friend became upset with something I said. I felt hurt and unjustly accused. I could not shake the feeling and wondered why such a small incident was so upsetting to me. It was not until I was willing to look at when I had a similar feeling in the past that I could see the pattern of feeling unjustly punished. My deep hurt had nothing to do with the current incident, but it was helpful to me in unveiling the unconscious pattern and making it conscious.
   
When I "give all that is mine today to Christ, to use in any way that best will serve the purpose that I share with Him," (W.353.1.1) I learn that nothing is for me alone. When we reach that place in our learning, Jesus says our journey here is almost over. I know how much I still withhold from the Holy Spirit to be used for my own purposes. I also know each time I turn to Him, I am making progress. I am aware that so much more darkness has come to light for me as I have willingly looked at those places in my mind I had previously chosen to overlook or to cover over with niceties. I no longer feel the same need to defend and protect my hateful, judgmental thoughts by diminishing them as minor irritations. I can look at it all much more dispassionately, when I look at my pockets of hate and judgment with the Holy Spirit, who never judges us. Jesus tells us he does not want our adoration of him. He only wants us to bring our pain, our suffering, and our hurts to him. He knows that bringing awareness to these places in us where we defend so vigorously is how we will achieve enlightenment. Thus, we need to look at our hate, our specialness, our judgments, our guilt, our shame, and the anger within our minds, and not condemn and judge ourselves, but simply observe. As in physics, we are told the observer changes the observed just by witnessing it. That is all we need to do. Our part is simply to notice our patterns and observe them with compassion. If we really want the healing, we need to welcome everything that shows up in our minds and bring it to awareness, yet see its unreality.

We sometimes get discouraged when the darkness of our egos come to our awareness. Yet this is the time to recognize it is there because we are ready to see it so the light of healing might be brought to it to shine it away. When we have asked for healing, everything that needs to be healed will come to our attention as we are ready to look at it. Welcome it!

Using our bodies and our resources to bring miracles is the true purpose of our lives. It is the only thing that will bring us true happiness. Nothing else. We have no identity other than our Identity in Christ. We have no role other than joining with Jesus to bless the world with miracles. We experience the joy of giving with no expectation, but also with no sense of sacrifice. And our lives become increasingly peaceful and joyous, as judgment, guilt and fear fall away. We now have a foundation and no longer have to feel we are victims of changing circumstances and unexpected events as our confidence, trust and faith grows. It is about letting go, breathing deeply, and allowing the stress of trying so hard to be released.

I was so impressed listening to Will Smith talk about the only kinds of movies he will ever make. He said he would only do movies that are on purpose with his life, which is one of service, since nothing else is important. Those words seemed very sincere. When we read about how we can use words to convey our function, it is clear we need to exemplify our words. Nice words in and of themselves will only carry a hollow message. Jesus talks of the importance of the purpose we share with him. As we join in purpose, in this classroom with Jesus, we are to ask him continuously where he would have us go, and what he would have us do. When the blocks are cleared away, everything we do comes from love. It is a natural response and does not require a lot of soul searching, but comes naturally to us. As we come to know our Identity, we understand there is no sacrifice since we are only serving our One Self. Thus our true Will that is joined with God is set free.
 
I end on a note of gratitude for the help and support on this journey. I thank you for your part in my awakening and am forever grateful we are all going home together, supporting each other every step of the way as we let Him use our eyes, our tongues, our hands, our feet today for just one purpose.

A Course in Miracles

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