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Isn't it interesting how our unwillingness to hear God's Voice is the only thing that keeps us from hearing It?  But what is it that makes us unwilling? It is our decision to listen to the ego, to value our own identity as individual, unique beings who want to make our own decisions and maintain control over this perceived life that we call our own. It is all about our resistance to losing our special identity and our individual selves. That is why we still listen to ourselves and clutter our minds with all kinds of random thoughts. We keep the noise in our minds to keep the Holy Spirit away. "The memory of God comes to the quiet mind." (T.23.I.1.1)

Jesus says that God speaks to us throughout the day and that our right minds are in constant communication with Him. (1.2) It is the part of our mind where truth abides.  "It is quite possible to listen to God's Voice all through the day without interrupting our regular activities in any way." (1.1) We might wonder how this can be? If we accept that this is the case, then we could become more aware of this Voice if we were truly willing.  Jesus says we are in constant communication whether we are aware of it or not. And we are not aware because our conscious mind "is constantly distracted, disorganized, highly uncertain" (1.4) and "functions in the world and obeys the world's laws."  (1.3)    So this part that is highly distracted is not all there is to our mind. Our minds are split between that part that is focused on the world and "obeys its laws," and the part that is sane (the right mind where the Holy Spirit resides) and is still in communication with His Voice.   If we were in touch with God's Voice, we would be hearing it constantly but that means we would have to go beyond the distractions of our ego thought system. It does not mean, however, that we would not be obeying the laws of this world. While we are seemingly here, we are called to appear like everyone else, follow the laws of this world while still holding a different mind-set.

The only part of the mind that is real is that which is calm, always at rest and wholly certain. That is the where God's Voice abides. "And it is really the only part that there is."  (2.2)   We have another part which is our wrong mind which we listen to most of the time. It is the part of the mind that is a "wild illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind." (2.3) But Jesus asks us to "try not to listen to it." (2.4) So we don't have to try to make ourselves calm or certain. All we have to do is be willing to quiet that part of the mind when we "sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond the frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world." (4.3)   In this lesson we do a meditation practice of going beyond these raucous thoughts. Other lessons would have us look at them and be willing to release them. Both practices are important to our mind training.

There is a section early on in the Text in Chapter 5.II "The Voice for God" that clearly says that while we can keep the place in our minds where God is in unawareness, we cannot obliterate it. What happens with the experience of the holy instant, is that we receive a reflection of this unbreakable connection with God. So, at the point of separation, when the wrong-minded thought system arose, "God placed in the mind the call to joy. This call is so strong that the ego always dissolves at its sound. That is why you must choose to hear one of two voices within you. One you made yourself, and that one is not of God. But the other is given you by God, Who asks you only to listen to it. The Holy Spirit is in you in a very literal sense. His is the Voice That calls you back to where you were before (the separation) and will be again."  (T.5.II.3)

Do you doubt that you hear this call? Do you doubt that you hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit that is always speaking to you? Well you are reading this. You are studying the course. Why? Because the call that was planted in your mind is what you heard and responded to. So while we think we don't hear Him, something in us does. So why do we not tune into Him more consistently? Because our focus is on the raucous, frantic chattering of the part of our mind that is tuned into the things of this world. In other words we are listening to the voice of the ego. And to hear the Holy Spirit more consistently, we need to go past our thoughts to the quiet within.  We need to choose to refocus where we put our attention. It will take practice to go beyond "all the raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover our real thoughts," (4.2) to the quiet, calm place where God is. Eventually we will be able to bring this peace to any situation but at this point, it will take work and concentration.  This requires willingness to take the time in quiet reflection and meditation.

Jesus tells us that learning to listen only to God's voice was his final lesson. So we all have work to do if we are to become like him. It requires that we choose against our wrong-minded thinking.  We can make the choice as to which voice we listen to.   Jesus says that "it is possible, even in this world, to hear that Voice and no other."  BUT "it takes effort and great willingness to learn." That is what Jesus modeled for us when he heard only the Voice of the Holy Spirit which came when he released his final doubt thought.

It is reassuring to know that God's calm and loving Voice is always available to us. I am never alone no matter how angry, fearful or out of control I may feel. He is always available to guide me. I just need the willingness to look at how I am blocking this Voice by choosing to listen to the ego. And He will never impose on me. I am totally free not to listen but what I can't do is to destroy this Voice in me. I can't destroy this connection which is a statement of the Atonement Principle that the separation never happened. But I can choose to remain unaware of its presence. Jesus respects our decision. He never coerces us.

So today let us take the time to go past all our unsettling thoughts to that calm place in us that is always there. But we may still not feel too sure about how we can know that we are hearing God's Voice. Is it actually a voice? Yes it can be. But it is more likely to be an experience of peace and stillness. Or it may show up as image. Or we might get an intuitive sense of something we feel guided to say or do.  His Voice may come in several different ways. "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 by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son  (W.PII.361.1.1-4) That is what hearing His Voice is. He gives us guidance in all matters including practical matters.  His guidance in practical matters is described in the Song of Prayer as the echo of the real song that is being sung to us by God. The real Song is the Song of His Love and gratitude for us which we return in our deep love and connection for Him.

"If you cannot hear the Voice for God, it is because you do not choose to listen. That you do listen to the voice of your ego is demonstrated by your attitudes, your feelings and your behavior. Yet this is what you want. This is what you are fighting to keep, and what you are vigilant to save. Your mind is filled with schemes to save the face of your ego, and you do not seek the face of Christ". (T. 4.IV.1)

But when we listen to the ego  "it is sure that you will see yourself as tiny, vulnerable and afraid. You will experience depression, a sense of worthlessness, and feelings of impermanence and unreality. You will believe that you are helpless prey to forces far beyond your own control, and far more powerful than you. And you will think the world you made directs your destiny" (T. 21.V)

So that is our choice. We listen to the raucous shrieks of the ego, and the perceived demands of our world, or we go within and connect with One Who knows our best interests, One Who knows the outcome that serves everyone equally, and One Who can bring us quiet certainty in the face of any perceived calamity. It hardly seems like a choice if we really believed this yet our resistance is strong because of our investment in the world and our identity as a separate, unique, individual self.

Course-based meditation is what the lessons now speak about starting in lesson 41 and again in 44, 45, 47 and today's lesson 49. These lessons, taken together, point to how we approach our meditations and are important to the way we do the practice sessions. We are to approach the sessions with the confidence that we can do this...that it is the most natural thing in the world....knowing that the way will be open if we believe that it is possible.  If we join with God's Will how can we not succeed? We approach the meditation time as approaching a most holy altar to God recognizing that we are attempting something very holy.  We start by repeating the idea, then making no effort to think about anything, but instead to turn  inward, sinking past all idle thoughts of the world, entering very deeply into our own mind, keeping it clear of any thoughts that might divert our attention. Observe any passing thoughts without involvement or attachment and slip quietly by them. No particular approach is advocated, only a sense of importance of what you are doing and its inestimable value to you.

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