My practice of A Course in Miracles is grounded in the ordinary. It finds itself in what arises day-to-day – baking bread, mowing the lawn, writing poetry, drinking tea with Chrisoula, and walking and talking with my children.
The course is efficient and practical. The attention I give to it on its terms is returned to me with a surfeit of graceful interest. The gift that we were given in creation is revealed; the truth of “I need do nothing” becomes a fact, a sure foundation upon which inner peace both rests and extends.
Lesson 194 of A Course in Miracles neatly captures this emphasis on what is ordinary, this benevolent practicality, and the luminosity that naturally attends when we are no longer looking for drama or magic or any other kind of special personal experience. The lesson urges us to place the future – and be extension, the past and present – in God’s hands. When we do, we rest in peace ourselves.
Then is each instant which was slave to time transformed into a holy instant, when the light that was kept hidden in God’s Son is freed to bless the world. Now is he free, and all his glory shines upon a world made free with him, to share his holiness (W-pI.194.5:3-4).
But the poetry and eloquence of the course belies the grounded nature of this transformation. When we resolve to place our lives in the hands of God, and bring our attention to this placement throughout our day, then the effects are felt here. The effects are felt now.
What worry can beset the one who gives his future to the loving Hands of God? What can he suffer? What can cause him pain, or bring experience of loss to him? What can he fear? And what can he regard except with love? (W-pI.194.7:1-5)
The line at the supermarket is too long – we place our future in the hands of God. Our child is struggling at school – we place our future in the hands of God. We do not have enough money to pay the mortgage – we place our future in the hands of God. We are teacherless, partnerless, lost, confused, scared . . .
We place our future in the hands of God. No more and no less. It is enough.
There is nothing that we encounter in our day that is not shadowed by our fear of the future. Everything that we do as bodies in the throes of the egoic belief system is shaped by the past in anticipation of an improved future. And what has this mode of thought brought us but pain? Pain with intermittent relief from pain, sure, but still pain.
And A Course in Miracles comes along and offers us a way out of this cycle. It offers us a new thought system, and a method by which we might surely attain it. It dissolves our ruinous engagement with time not through personal understanding but through our willingness to “let the future go, and place it in God’s Hands” (W-pI.194.4:5).
This is literally a practice! It is an action that we take when faced with fear, guilt, anger, lust, greed, grief and so forth. The circumstances of our pain don’t matter. The apparent cause or causes don’t matter. Nothing matters but that we place the outcome – and the attendant feelings – in God’s hands. And when this placement becomes “a habit in [our] problem-solving repertoire,” then we will know at last salvation and peace (W-pI.194.6:2).
It is important to see that we are not made perfect by this practice. We don’t become Buddhas or ascended masters. Our bodies continue to be bodies – hungry, lustful, capable of fatigue, subject to emotion. Biology and neurochemistry proceed apace. But we are no longer ruled by those material externals. We do not fight them; we merely look beyond them.
[H]e who has escaped all fear of future pain . . . is sure that his perception may be faulty, but will never lack correction. He is free to choose again when he has been deceived; to change his mind when he has made mistakes (W-pI.194.7:6-8).
That is a description of you and I today – right now – if we choose to accept it.
Do you see the loveliness in it? The absence of consequences? The gentle practice by which we are led away from the world of guilt and fear and into love and forgiveness? It is so simple. I am not saying it is easy – I would be a liar if I did – but I am saying that it is simple. And I am saying that it is a transformation bequeathed to us over and over. And all we are asked to do is try to remember – moment by moment, day by day – to surrender our personal ideals and expectations and ideas of improvement. All they have ever done is bring us to grief.
In the end, Lesson 194 is the manifestation of the new way promised us by A Course in Miracles. We place our future in the hands of God and together learn that “only good can come to us” (W-pI.194.9:6).
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I can see the loveliness. The “timing”, so to speak, of this post was impeccable. I wasn’t able to comment at the time and now I wouldn’t know where to begin. Suffice it to say, your sharing is such a treasured gift.
I’m so glad, Annie . . . hope you’re well!
~ Sean
Thanks so much for this lovely post.
I shared it with my ACIM study group 🙂
You’re welcome, Greta – thank you for reading & sharing.
~ Sean
<3 THANKS FOR BEING! ! ! <3
🙂 you too!
Hi Sean, it was proof that I must place the future in God’s hands, the evening I came across your suggesting it. It’s beyond words when these times of deep awareness appear in front of my face and drop down into my heart. With gratitude, Sally
It’s always nice to hear from you, Sally. Thank you for reading & sharing. It is true that we get what we need – I think it is the essence of this lesson, really, that when we trust God – giving both past and future to the care of better hands than ours – then the present becomes very still and graceful. Easy to say, hard to bring into practice, but that’s why we’re here! Thank you for sharing the way with me . . .
~ Sean
Sean –
Good to see your writing again. I stopped coming to your site for a while. (Busy months these last few months). And I see that your writing is spaced further apart as well.
Good to know you are well. The peace pervades your post above.
Love, (even though I may know what it means ;))
Anil
Hi Anil,
It’s nice to hear from you – I’m glad you’re well. I was thinking about you recently, wondering how you were doing. It was nice to wake up and see your name in my inbox! The writing comes and goes in waves; sometimes I just feel like a wordy surfer! One wave at a time, I guess . . .
Love – known and unknown – back to you!
Sean
A freudian slip above ? 🙂
I meant to write (even though I may *not* know what it means :))
That I still have an idea called “future” I am glad to be reminded by you to return to the Truth of Only Now. I’ve had a life that left me with no ability to formulate a future like I used to think I had to. But any twinge of discomfort (which the life I’ve had hasn’t disabled!) is still unconsciously requiring a “future”. My life is filling up more and more with thoughts and choices to be more present, so the future in that sense is dissipating. I like Fred Davis’ prayer suggestion of “please help me to accept now (more) gracefully”. I guess in giving the “future” I’m concerned I’m still holding too much to “my” current perception (which would cause me to give away a specific future in a fear based way). Lesson 194 is 4 lessons in the future for me. I’m grateful for this anticipation of it. And I give that future to God! -’cause it’s also a lot nicer to practice this with happy future imaginings than seemingly being forced to with others. I check your blog daily too, so I’ll manage my anticipation from now on with giving it to God as I refresh your page to see if there’s a new post!
Sharing Now with you, Mike
Thanks, Mike. That’s a great prayer. Part of what was helpful to me was realizing that there was nothing I needed to do with respect to finding or experiencing the present. In an odd way, we can’t force awakening – it just happens – so letting go and letting God is just another way of being happy and enjoying the ride. Thanks for sharing . . .
~ Sean
I love reading your viewpoints on the course ..they really resonate with me and not much does these days!
Thanks, Mike – I appreciate the kind words & I hope that resonance expands for you . . .
~ Sean
Dear Sean,
Thank you for the eloquent sharing of 194. I was very peaceful this morning reading the lesson, allowed time to be child like and ask God questions, and unexpectedly went down memory lane, realizing some of the best situations and such happened when I let go of outcome and handed the “what will be” over. So I went off to work, alarm set to remind me to give some time to today’s lesson.
The first four hours were just fine and I should have paid more attention. Every now and again, a stinging rebuttal popped into my head. By the time I left work, I’m sure steam was coming out of my ears if I appear a cartoon character. Oh wow! I kept trying to repeat the lesson and “that voice” inside, went off on a rant. It’s so strange. I was given the gift of remembering and realizing the calm and goodness of doing as the lesson teaches, and all hell breaks loose in egoland!
I hear this, Fran. The steam comes out of my ears too 🙂
For me it is often the case that insight and peace, because they are deeply threateneing to ego, often inspire a real backlash. Therefore, somewhat paradoxically, they are signs of real progress.
It is also helpful to me to try and understand just where the day goes off the rails – what is the trigger? Knowing ego’s tricks can be a good way of heading them off at the pass, and asking the Holy Spirit for help in a specific way.
Thanks for being here and sharing.
Love,
Sean