Lesson172

Lesson 172 (Review V)
June 21

"God is but Love, and therefore so am I."

"In my defenselessness my safety lies."

"I am among the ministers of God."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

Review V

Purpose: To prepare for part II of the Workbook. To give more time and effort to practicing, that you may hasten your slow, wavering and uncertain footsteps, and go on with more faith, certainty and sincerity. Make this review a gift to Jesus and a time in which you share with him a new yet ancient experience.

Central Thought: "God is but Love, and therefore so am I." This thought should start and end each day, start and end each practice period, and be repeated before and after each thought to be reviewed. Each of these thoughts, in turn, should be used to support this central thought, keep it clear in mind, and make it more meaningful, personal and true.

Morning/Evening Quiet Time: 5 minutes - at least; 10 - better; 15 even better; 30 or more - best

* Repeat and dwell on central thought and review thoughts.

* Let go of the words, which are only aids. Try to go beyond their sound to their meaning. Wait for experience, place your faith in it, not the means to it. If your mind wanders, repeat the central thought.

* Close with the central thought.

Hourly Remembrance: as the hour strikes more than 1 minute (reduce if circumstances do not permit)

(Suggestion) Repeat the central thought and the review thoughts slowly enough to see and receive their gifts. Spend a quiet moment with them.

Frequent Reminder: Recall the central thought or one of the review ideas as often as possible.

Response To Temptation: Repeat the central thought.

COMMENTARY

"This is the thought..." (W-rV.In.4:1). The words refer to sentence 3 of the paragraph, the theme thought for the review. As we review, we are to dwell on this thought first, every day, every morning and evening, and often through the day. Each additional thought from the previous lessons "clarifies some aspect of this thought, or helps it be more meaningful, more personal and true, and more descriptive of the holy Self we share and now prepare to know again" (4:2). It would be good, in our reviewing, to meditate on how this central thought relates to the other two ideas. The focus is on the theme thought; the additional thoughts are meant to clarify it or expand on it.

Notice the word "prepare" used again in sentence 2. The new "phase of understanding" that we are preparing for will have something to do with once again coming to know our true Self. The first half of the Workbook has concentrated on undoing our old thought system; the second half will move us on into reclaiming the knowledge of the Self we thought we had lost.

The holy Self we are is simply an extension of God. He is Love; so are we. We are what He is, extended. That is what we are preparing to remember; more than simply to remember, to know. That one word implies worlds. I can write the words, I can agree with them, but do I know what I am saying? Knowing that I am an extension of God's Love will change everything about my life, banish all fear, and give me a sense of holy purpose unparalleled by anything I have every before experienced.

What is this Self, which I am, like? It is "perfectly consistent in Its thoughts; knows Its Creator, understands Itself, is perfect in Its knowledge and Its love, and never changes from Its constant state of union with Its Father and Itself" (4:5). This is a description of me and you as God created us. This is what our practicing is preparing us to "know again."

Isn't this a goal worth "more effort and more time?" Try to imagine what it will be like (not "would be" but "will be") to be perfectly consistent in all your thoughts. Try to get a sense of what it will be like to know God and yourself perfectly. Try to imagine living in a constant state of union with the Father, and with your Self, without variation or change in that state of union.

Today's two review ideas help us to see the way to our goal, negatively and positively. If I am Love, how can I be defensive? To be what I am in truth, I must lay down my defensiveness. And if I am Love, what can I be but a minister of God? What can my purpose here be but to extend His Love, to reach out and touch my brothers with the touch of Christ?