Words will mean little now. We use them but
as guides on which we do not now depend,
for now we seek direct experience
of truth alone. The lessons which remain
are merely introductions to your times
in which you leave the world of pain and go,
and enter into peace. Now we begin
to reach the goal this course has set, and find
the end towards which our practicing was geared.
Now we attempt to let the exercise
be merely a beginning. For we wait
in quiet expectation for our God
and Father. He has promised He will take
the final step Himself. And we are sure
His promises are kept. We have come far
along the road. And now we wait for Him.
We will continue spending time with Him
each morning and at night, as long as makes
us happy. We will not consider time
a matter of duration now. We use
as much as we will need for the result
that we desire. Nor will we forget
our hourly remembrance, in between
calling to God when we have need of Him
as we are tempted to forget our goal.
We will continue with a central thought
for all the days to come. And we will use
that thought to introduce our times of rest,
and calm our minds at need. Yet we will not
content ourselves with simple practicing
in the remaining holy instants which
conclude the year that we have given God.
We say some simple words of welcome, and
expect our Father to reveal Himself
as He has promised. We have called on Him,
and He has promised that His Son will not
remain unanswered when he calls on Him.
Now do we come to Him with but His Word
upon our minds and hearts. And wait for Him
to take the step to us that He has told
us, through His Voice, He would not fail to take
when we invited Him. He has not left
His Son in all his madness, nor betrayed
His trust in him. Has not His faithfulness
earned Him the invitation that He seeks
to make you happy? We will offer it,
and it will be accepted. So our times
with Him will now be spent. We say the words
of invitation that His Voice suggests,
and then we wait for Him to come to us.
Now is the time of prophesy fulfilled.
Now are all ancient promises upheld
and fully kept. No step remains for time
to separate from its accomplishment.
For now we cannot fail. Sit silently
and wait upon your Father. He has willed
to come to you when you had recognized
it is your will He do so. And you could
have never come this far unless you saw,
however dimly, that it is your will.
I am so close to you we cannot fail.
Father, we give these holy times to You
in gratitude to Him Who taught us how
to leave the world of sorrow, in exchange
for its replacement given us by You.
We look not backward now. We look ahead,
and fix our eyes upon the journey's end.
Accept these little gifts of thanks from us,
as through Christ's vision we behold a world
beyond the world we made, and take that world
to be the full replacement for our own.
And now we wait in silence, unafraid,
and certain of Your coming. We have sought
to find our way by following the Guide
You sent to us. We did not know the way,
but You did not forget us. And we know
that You will not forget us now. We ask
but that Your ancient promises be kept
which are Your Will to keep. We will with You
in asking this. The Father and the Son,
Whose holy Will created all that is,
can fail in nothing. In this certainty,
we undertake these last few steps to You,
and rest in confidence upon Your Love,
Which will not fail Your Son, who called to You.
And so we start upon the final part
of this one holy year, which we have spent
together in the search for truth and God,
Who is its its one Creator. We have found
the way He chose for us, and made the choice
to follow it as He would have us go.
His hand has held us up. His Thoughts have lit
the darkness of our minds. His Love has called
to us unceasingly since time began.
We had a wish that God would fail to have
the Son whom He created in Himself.
We wanted God to change Himself, and be
what we would make of Him. And we believed
that our insane desires were the truth.
Now we are glad that this is all undone,
and we no longer think illusions true.
The memory of God is shimmering
across the wide horizons of our minds.
A moment more, and It will rise again.
A moment more, and we who are God's Son
are safely home, where He would have us be.
Now is the need for practice almost done.
For in this final section we will come
to understand that we need only call
to God, and all temptations disappear.
Instead of words, we need but feel His Love.
Instead of prayers, we need but call His Name.
Instead of judging, we need but be still
and let all things be healed. We will accept
the way God's plan will end, as we received
the way it started. Now is it complete.
This year has brought us to eternity.
One further use for words we still retain.
From time to time, instructions on a theme
of special relevance will intersperse
our daily lessons and the periods
of wordless, deep experience which should
come afterwards. These special thoughts should be
reviewed each day, each one of them to be
continued till the next is given you.
They should be slowly read and thought about
a little while, preceding one of the
holy and blessed instants in the day.
We give the first of these instructions now.
