LESSON 258
September 15
"Let me remember that my goal is God."
PRACTICE SUMMARY
(See Part II Practice Summary, and also Part II Introduction)
COMMENTARY
Have you noticed we are into a series of "let me remember" days? There are four "let me remembers" in a row, starting with yesterday's lesson:"what my purpose is," "that my goal is God," "that there is no sin," and "God created me." There was one earlier lesson (124) also: "Let me remember I am one with God."
That is one of the things Workbook practice is all about: remembering. How often during the day does the lesson for the day cross my mind? How often do I pause to reflect on it for a minute or two? How often does my state of mind reflect my only purpose, or God as my goal, or the reality of my Self as God created me? And how much of the time does my mind reflect something else, something quite contrary? The purpose of deliberate hourly remembrances, set times in the morning and evening, is to retrain my mind to think along the lines of the Course. There is no question, in my mind at least, that we need such training and such practice.
"All that is needful is to train our minds to overlook all little senseless aims, and to remember that our goal is God" (1:1). The "little senseless aims," however, loom large in our consciousness, and do not seem little to us; they preoccupy our minds, and keep them from their true goal. So training is "needful." The memory of God is in us already (1:2); we don't have to dig for it. "Give up gladly everything that would stand in the way of your remembering, for God is in your memory" (T-10.II.2:4). All that we need to do is "overlook" or give up "our pointless little goals which offer nothing, and do not exist" (1:2); they are obscuring the memory of God within us. With them out of the way, the memory of God will come flooding back into our awareness.
The "toys and trinkets of the world" that we so avidly pursue cause "God's grace to shine in unawareness" (1:3). God's sunlight is shining, but we do not see it; we go shopping. Not just in malls for things, but in relationships for specialness, in the marketplace for power and influence and wealth, in the bars for sex, and with our TV remote controls for entertainment. Do I want the memory of God? All that is needful is that I be willing to train my mind to stop blinding me to It.
"Let me remember." Oh, God, let me remember! "God is our only goal, our only Love. We have no aim but to remember Him" (1:4-5). What else could I want that compares with this? Each time today that my heart is tugged to "shop" for something else, let it be a signal to my mind to stop, and to remember: "My goal is God."
A poem I learned in my Christian days pops into my mind. Some of those folks knew what they were talking about:
My goal is God Himself.
Not joy, nor peace, nor even blessing,
But Himself, my God.
At any cost, dear Lord, By any road.
A friend in the Course, last year, sent us some baseball type caps imprinted with the letters: MOGIG. They stand for, "My only goal is God." I think I'll wear that hat today as I work; it will be a good reminder.
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Arizona, USA.
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