LESSON 291
October 18
"This is a day of stillness and of peace."
PRACTICE SUMMARY
(See Part II Practice Summary, and also Part II Introduction)
COMMENTARY
I write my comments on this lesson at the end of the day (so that it is awaiting you in your morning mail). My day today seemed to be anything but a day of stillness and peace, more like a day of staggering pace. I was rushing about meeting my body's needs, stocking up on groceries I'd let run down to nothing, buying some vitamins, razor blades, and so on. In the back of my mind was a booklet waiting its finishing touches (and already behind schedule), a flyer for an upcoming workshop, phone calls to make, a stack of correspondence school papers to read and respond to. I had lunch at 3:45 PM and supper at 8:15. My details are different from yours, but I'm sure lots of your days are similar in tone, if not in content.
We all have the demands of time and circumstance upon us. How do we find inner peace in the midst of it? This lesson speaks of "Christ's vision," which "looks through me today" (1:1). "His sight shows me all things forgiven and at peace, and offers this same vision to the world" (1:2). The peace being spoken of here is the peace that comes from a different perspective, an inner peace. Elsewhere the Course acknowledges that when we live in this world we are involved in "busy doing" (T-18.VII.8:3). It isn't that the busy doing ceases. It's that our mind can be at peace even in the midst of busy doing, a "quiet center" from which we operate (same reference).
I was not doing so well at maintaining that quiet center today, or rather, at remembering it was there and making use of it; I was operating more on the surface of my mind. As a result, I felt a little frantic. This lesson calls me back to home base. The vision Christ offers me is one of loveliness and holiness (1:4,5). It is the sight of a forgiven world, whose forgiveness includes my own. It is the peace of knowing that, although I may forget the toilet paper or fail to write the needed letter, my Self is unchanged, God is my Father, and I share the holiness of God Himself.
In my hyper-activity today there was a certain sense that, somehow, my salvation depended on remembering everything I had to buy or finishing all the tasks I hoped to accomplish. What a relief to know I was wrong! Even in my study of the Course, sometimes, an anxiety creeps in, thinking I have to understand everything perfectly in order to find my way home. Instead, as I read this lesson, I can relax:
"I do not know the way to You. But You are wholly certain. Father, guide Your Son along the quiet path that leads to You. Let my forgiveness be complete, and let the memory of You return to me."
What is the Real World? (Part 1)
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Arizona, USA.
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