Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.
The prayer in this lesson is a means of remembering God’s presence in the very context made to exclude and deny that memory. It is, in essence, a practice of remembrance and thanksgiving, that gently undoes the illusion that such a practice is even necessary.
The remembrance aspect comes first. It reflects our willingness to give our mind to God. It is the active intention of welcoming God into our mind, that His creativity and lovingkindness might permeate our thoughts.
God is kin to a light that shines on us throughout the day, reaching even unto our sleep (W-pII.232.1:1, 1:5). What does this mean?
In order to hear – and to be pleased by, touched by – the birds singing in trees and bushes outside, what must be in place? What must first be?
In order to help a brother or sister with a work project or a difficult memory or a celebration, what must be in place? What must first be?
In order to feel hunger, break bread, give thanks, serve and be served, what must be in place? What must first be?
As we ask those questions and accept the answers – they are so obvious as to frequently be missed or misinterpreted – it can be helpful to remember the analogy: God as Light. God as the light in which birds can be seen and heard and appreciated, God as the light in which the other appears and their cry for Love heard, God as the light in which the right response is known and extended, God as the light in which the meal has both form and function, the one bringing forth the other.
God is what is when we do not insist on adding anything – our own ideas, our own effort, our own projects. You can shut your eyes, hide under a roof, go underground or under the sea, but the sun is still there and by its presence and function your body and all bodies live.
When we see this clearly – when we even begin to see it clearly – we become grateful. We become grateful in a natural way. It’s not performative; it’s not obligated. Giving thanks becomes as easy as drawing the next breath. We become happy and our happiness is infectious.
The song of our rejoicing is the call to all the world that freedom is returned, that time is almost over, and God’s Son has but an instant more to wait until his Father is remembered, dreams are done, eternity has shined away the world, and only Heaven now exists at all (W-pII.2.5:2).
We give thanks because we realize that God is in our mind throughout the day, and that this is so because we share God’s Will, all of which – in time, in space, in bodies – eventually grounds out in there is only God.
The memory of God is shimmering across the wide horizons of our minds. A moment more, and it will rise again. A moment more, and we who are God’s Sons are safely home, where He would have us be (W-pII.In.9:5-7).
This is the promise to which our practice is devoted. Today, let us give the whole of our attention to it, so that together we might remember the Cause for Joy, and in that remembrance be restored to our home in Creation.
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