I share God’s Will for happiness for me.
There are really two parts to today’s lesson.
First, we declare our intention to accept God’s Will for us, and to realize the happiness that Will assures us is ours. Second, this declaration – this acceptance – effectively denies that pain and suffering are real and serve any function.
God’s plan for salvation brings joy and peace to our mind which, in turn, is naturally extended through our mind to other minds.
Here is your home, and here your safety is. Here is your peace, and here there is no fear. Here is salvation. Here is rest at last (W-pI.102.3:2-5).
Do we believe this is true?
There is a simple test: are we, in fact, that happy? If we are, then we have accepted the joy and peace that God placed in us in creation. If not, then we are still giving attention to pain and suffering; we still think they offer us something of value.
That’s okay, too! But it does mean that we need to give attention to the belief that pain and suffering are real and meaningful in spite of the hurt they bring. A Course in Miracles suggests that when we do this, we will eventually realize the illusory nature of suffering.
. . . pain is purposeless, without a cause and with no power to accomplish anything. It cannot purchase at all. It offers nothing and does not exist. And everything you think it offers you is lacking in existence, like itself (W-pI.102.2:1-4).
Is that true for you? Is that your experience of pain and suffering?
It can be hard to realize that we are allowed to be happy, that giving attention to happiness is a just and helpful practice, ordained by God. But if we think about it a little, is it not true? What else but happiness could love want for us? What else could it bring forth?
The answers can seem obvious but again, if they are not our experience – if they are not true for us but merely ideals – then we need to go into that. We need to give attention to why we are unhappy and what the blocks to happiness are.
Today’s lesson is an opportunity to make that commitment and begin that inquiry. Our practice of it affirms our conviction that we do, in fact, share God’s Will for our happiness.
