LESSON 315
November 11
"All gifts my brothers give belong to me."
PRACTICE SUMMARY
(See Part II Practice Summary, and also Part II Introduction)
COMMENTARY
In Lesson 97 we are told that the Holy Spirit will take the minutes we give to Him in the holy instant, practicing with the idea for the day (I am spirit) and bringing reality a little closer to our minds, "and carry them around this aching world" (see W-pI.97.5-6). It says, "He will not overlook one open mind that will accept the healing gifts they bring, and He will lay them everywhere He knows they will be welcome." He talks about how "each gift to Him [will] be multiplied a thousandfold and tens of thousands more." Now, 1000 x 10000 = 10,000,000. So He will multiply our gifts at least ten million times, except it says "tens of thousands," so that means as much as 90,000,000 times. Perhaps the numbers are simply symbolic of "an extremely large number," but I'm sure Jesus means, quite literally, that an unimaginably large number of minds will be affected by our choice. Every mind that is open to receive will receive our gift; millions of minds.
Now in this lesson we see the opposite side of the coin. For all those millions who are open, and who, like us, give the gift of their mind to God for a moment, we, in turn, receive their gifts.Thus, every moment, thousands of my brothers and sisters find the way to God for a moment and give a gift, which I receive because all minds are joined:
"Each day a thousand treasures come to me with every passing moment. I am blessed with gifts throughout the day, in value far beyond all things of which I can conceive. A brother smiles upon another, and my heart is gladdened. Someone speaks a word of gratitude or mercy, and my mind receives this gift and takes it as its own. And everyone who finds the way to God becomes my savior, pointing out the way to me, and giving me his certainty that what he learned is surely mine as well" (W-pII.315.1).
All minds are joined. Every moment, a thousand gifts arrive at the portal of my mind, given by other minds. If I am open, I can receive them all! In a study group where this concept was discussed, a student remarked, "That sounds like a full-time job!" Indeed. Sounds like my kind of job, too.
Ever wonder where some of those blessed thoughts come from? Ever wonder why suddenly, in the midst of a rather blah day, something comes into your mind and gladdens your heart? We usually think, if we think of it at all, that it must be the Holy Spirit. But it could equally well have been your sister whose mind found the way to God at just that moment and smiled at someone, and in so doing sent her gift to you. The Holy Spirit was just the postman. Someone you never knew, halfway around the world, just gave you a blessing!
This cosmic exchange of gifts within the greatest "Internet" in the universe is going on all the time. Everyone is wired in; you just have to read your mail.
So let us lift our hearts in gratitude and thanks to every Son of God. Let us this morning or this evening spend some time in thanks to our brothers, who are one with us, for all their multitude of gifts, most of which have gone unacknowledged for most of our lives.
Let me say to all of you who read this: "Thank you for remembering, my sister or my brother!" Thank you for loving instead of fearing. Thank you for being aware, for being alive. Thank you for smiling, for letting joy through. Thank you for showing mercy. Thank you for forgiving. Thank you for joining with another. Let my meditation today be on all the ways I am constantly being blessed by my brothers and sisters, and on the reality that I gain from each and every one.
"I thank You, Father, for the many gifts that come to me today and every day from every Son of God. My brothers are unlimited in all their gifts to me. Now may I offer them my thankfulness, that gratitude to them may lead me on to my Creator and His memory" (W-pII.315.2).
What is the Last Judgment? (Part 5)
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