I am among the ministers of God.
Today’s lesson extends the functional aspect of yesterday’s lesson, and also serves as a true declaration of freedom. No longer do we need to worry about who we are or what we should do or what our function is. All that is set by the Holy Spirit, the Voice for God, and all of it can only serve the cause of Peace and Happiness, ours and everyone else’s.
It also clarifies what God’s Ministers do – they carry messages. They don’t write the message, interpret the message, alter the message or question the fitness of the recipient. They are content to bear the glad tidings of salvation on terms they do not set. Truly, this is a foundation of happiness.
It is also a statement about our willingness and open-mindedness. It reflects our commitment to release our will in favor of aligning wholly with God’s Will. We don’t sweat the details of our day-to-day lives, because that’s not our function. We are here to bear witness to peace and joy. That’s all.
Therefore, the message God would have us carry to the world is given first to us. It is the knowledge that unity with God – in which our innocence and peace are perfectly held forever – is the message that we are meant to carry to our brothers and sisters. But we teach by example. We teaching by knowing that unity as the essence of our lives.
The Messengers of God perform their part by their acceptance of His messages as for themselves, and show they understand the messages by giving them away. They choose no roles that are not given them by His authority. And so they gain by every message they give away (W-pI.154.7:2-4).
Paradoxically, we do not recognize the gift we have been given until we have given it away. In the world, this would make no sense – possession does not begin with dispossession. Not so with A Course in Miracles. We recognize our unity with God when we see our brothers and sisters as our saviors, and thus are saved. We teach salvation by learning salvation.
In other words, we aren’t waiting for some deep insight or awakening experience. We aren’t waiting to be ordained an expert in love. Jesus isn’t going to tap our shoulder and say “you – you be the chief disciple.”
What happens is that one day we wake up and we want peace more than we want conflict, and we actively give attention to our brothers and sisters as peacemakers – not bringers of conflict. We do this in a fumbling way but it doesn’t matter because we have glimpsed the Truth, and a glimpse is sufficient to light the interior darkness. We will never be lonely again. When we teach peace, we learn peace, and when we learn peace, we realize that that the peace which surpasses understanding was in us – and understood by us – all along.
This recognition of our brother and sister as our savior, which awakens the Christ in them, which awakens the Christ in us, is called “joining” and it is the symbolic end of the separation. That is, in the context of bodies in the world – in the very separation itself – we bring the separation to end by joining with one another as Messengers of God’s Love.
It is this joining that we undertake to recognize today. We will not seek to keep our minds apart from Him Who speaks for us, for it is but our voice we hear as we attend Him. He alone can speak to us and for us, joining in one Voice the getting and the giving of God’s Word; the giving and receiving of His Will (W-pI.154.10:1-3).
This joining is literal – it occurs right here in our lives. We begin to seek in experience not our own goals, not our own ideals, not our own preferences but merely the doing of God’s Will, which unites all of us in a shared remembrance of Love.
He needs our voice that He may speak through us. He needs our hands to hold His messages, and carry them to those whom He appoints. He needs our feet to bring us where He wills, that those who wait in misery may be at last delivered (W-pI.154.11:2-4).
This could be a shared smile in the hallway at work. Could be a kind word for the cashier at the grocery store; could be recognizing that the cashier needs to be allowed to do their job with minimal dialogue. Could be a check to the local shelter, a call to an old friend, or a decision to order dinner instead of cook. It’s not our call.
We are the beneficiaries of these messages! For they are all love – they all speak to our unity – and they naturally extend themselves through us when we place nothing of our own in their way. And to do that, we simply need to remember – and accept – that we will not recognize God’s gift of Love to us until we give it away.
A Course in Miracles is clear – only our lack of belief makes this so right now. We hold back a little. We hedge. We’ll carry the message most of the time; or we’ll carry to everyone but this one person.
And that’s okay! We will receive a thousand miracles and then another thousand to get us through this desert of doubt. God is not mocked! His Love transcends our doubt and indecision.
Yet knowing there is another way – and that this way opens before us right now – are we not ready to accept it? Shall we not, at last, remember in each other the limitless love of our Creator?
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