A Course in Miracles Lesson 124

Let me remember I am one with God.

If our problem is that we are confused about what we are, and therefore suffer a spiritual identity crisis, then this lesson neatly ends it by inviting us to “give thanks for our identity in God” (W-pI.124.1:1).

Note that it is not our identity “as” God but rather “in” God. Our oneness is not a merging in which both entities dissolve, but rather one in which our own self-construction disappears because it cannot be maintained before the light in which we are created both infinite and eternal. Concerns about world and body are undone in the simple truth of our God-lit identity.

Everything we touch takes on a shining light that blesses and that heals. At one with God and with the universe we go our way rejoicing, with the thought that God Himself goes everywhere with us (W-pI.124.1:4-5).

This does not describe a supernatural occurrence. There is nothing unduly mystical about it. It merely recognizes what we are in truth. It is effectively a correction for the error that we are bodies trapped in non-zero-sum competition with our brothers and sisters. It is a new way of seeing our self that is characterized by not insisting that we understand what we see. It is a form of nonresistance. We open up to Creation on terms that we do not set and for which we will not advocate.

To the ego, for whom the body is a home and the world an environment, this passivity makes no sense. Indeed, it is an actual threat, because if it works it makes clear that ego is not only not necessary, it’s not even real.

We will trust God’s Voice to speak as He see fit toay, certain He will not fail. Abide with Him this half an hour. He will do the rest (W-pI.124.8:5-7).

This is an alien posture to the ego, yet we need to remember that it is our learning that has brought us to this juncture. We do not face this half hour by accident but by divine design in which our God-created Self has joyfully participated. If we are ready to say yes, our liberation is at hand.

And yet, critically, our judgment of the exercise’s success is not the point. It doesn’t matter what we think is going to happen or what we think has happened. A Course in Miracles never deviates: we are not the judge of our spiritual progress. In fact, regardless of our judgment – it worked, it didn’t work – the truth is that it has already worked.

You may not be ready to accept the gain today. Yet sometime, somewhere, it will come to you, nor will you fail to recognize it when it dawns with certainly upon your mind. This half an hour will be framed in gold, with every minute like a diamond set around the mirror this exercise will offer you. And you will see Christ’s face upon it, in reflection of your own (W-pI.124.9:3-5).

That is our identity, when all is said and done. That is what we remember when we remember what we are: we remember that we are Christ and that Christ is us. This remembrance transcends the limited identity of the body – whether it is a twenty-first century body tending a garden in New England or a first century body writhing on a cross while bored Roman guards toss dice.

The world – which includes our body, for they are brought forth together – is a reflection of our mind, and our mind is holy. When we remember this, then the world loses its ability to cause us either grief or ecstasy. We become calm and still, the center of a vast storm that will pass whenever we tell it to. What is not real cannot have effects.

Therefore, come to the half hour today happily. Let it be what it is – deep, profound, annoying, distracting, uncomfortable, boring. Whatever it is, let that be your gift to God. All that matters today is showing up. Showing up is willingness. Showing up is the gift God asks of us. In time – perhaps today, perhaps ten years from now, perhaps in another life for all we know – God will show up to us. And His appearance will remind us that He never disappeared from us, nor we from Him.

We are one with God. For this we give thanks, over and over and over.

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