A Course in Miracles Lesson 188

The peace of God is shining in me now.

A core premise of A Course in Miracles is that we are healed now. Salvation is already accomplished. It only seems to take time to learn what we are in truth, and accept what we are in truth. As this lesson pointedly asks – why wait for Heaven?

Those who seek the light are merely covering their eyes. The light is in them now. Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all (W-pI.188.1:2-4).

These are such comforting words! When we simply rest and give attention to what is – rather than what might be, or should be, or could be – when we stop insisting on time at all – then we remember what we are in truth.

And that memory is all the healing we need – indeed, it is all the healing the world needs.

The peace of God is shining in you now, and from your heart extends around the world . . . it brings renewal to all tired hearts, and lights all visions as it passes by (W-pI.188.3:1, 5).

Critically, this light is of God – of Love – and therefore is not personal. It is given to all beings, and received by all beings. The “you” to whom the lesson refers (e.g., W-pI.188.4:3), is the unified Child of God, the sole extension of Creation. It is not an isolated individual, set apart from the world by the limitations of the body.

This can be confusing in the context of separation, when “you” is still experienced as separate. Of course the lesson is refering to me personally! However, the suggestion is – and has been over the past sequence of lessons – that even if it seems that way, it is not actually that way.

We are simply invited to remember that the peace of God – in order to actually be the peace of God – must be universal. Nothing can be excluded from it, and it cannot be contingent. Love holds everything.

These thoughts you think with Him. They recognize their home. And the point surely to their Source, Where God the Father and the Son are one (W-pI.188.7:1-2).

The shift here is important! We are moving from the body to the mind, where the thoughts of God are held, and are both given and received, such that all minds which believe they are separate are made one.

Therefore, when we contemplate the lesson for the day, our focus is not on claiming a special experience, but rather on recognizing what is true of all life, of all Creation. What is the light that cannot be contained? That cannot be limited in any way?

The peace of God is not a goal for which we must strive. It is not something we earn through merit or effort. It is our natural state of being. The only thing that keeps us from experiencing this inner peace are ego-based thoughts and beliefs. When we let these go, and simply rest in the present moment, then we experience the peace of God.

The lesson invites us to bring order to our mind by allowing it to remember its Creator and Source, and to rest there. In this way, we accept our true nature as co-creators of all things that live (W-pI.188.8:3).

. . . it is we who make the world as we would have it. Now we choose that it be innocent, devoid of sin and open to salvation (W-pI.188.10:3-4).

Our prayer today is to remember our Creator, Who is the light of understanding, and the Love we cannot help but share.

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