A Course in Miracles Lesson 116

God’s Will for me is perfect happiness (Lesson 101).

I share God’s Will for happiness for me (Lesson 102).

All our suffering arises from the confused idea that our will is somehow other than God’s, and can actually be in conflict with God. But reality is total and it admits no differences that can be in conflict with one another.

The happiness contemplated by A Course in Miracles is not the ersatz pleasure of the world. It is not sensory and it does not involve the externals. It is the recognition that our will is aligned with – and ultimately subsumed by – God’s Will.

Today we practice remembering this. Beyond the repetition of the lesson at regular intervals, what does this practice look like?

Can we notice the moments when we become happy because things are working out? We get a job offer or somebody agrees to go for coffee with us or the rain holds off long enough for us to go for a run?

It’s not a crime against God or nature that we’re happy because circumstances line up in ways we want. It’s human. But we are not bodies and there is no world!

Therefore, we want to let this limited and limiting form of happiness go. In the end, it’s no different than sorrow or loss because it draws our attention to the body and the world. It reinforces the ego’s mistaken conviction that life is about us and that something is truly at stake in our living.

What is the happiness beyond this? What is the happiness inherent in remembering God’s Will?

I will tell you a secret: you already know this. You already know God’s Will, because God’s Will is what you are and you have no life apart from it.

We are confused about this, yes, but our confusion does not change reality. So our practice involves not just looking past the shallow happiness the world offers, but also being willing to remember God’s Will is our reality. It is our identity and our reality; there is nothing else.

Have no goal but willingness in your practice. It is enough to come to the well. We don’t have to bring a bucket. We don’t need to supply the water. We merely need to be present; God will do the rest.

←Lesson 115
Lesson 117→