LESSON 361
December 27
"This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would
follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace."
PRACTICE SUMMARY
FINAL LESSONS
PURPOSE: To receive the gift that God promised His Son. To dedicate your mind to following in the way of truth and leading your brothers there. To forgive the world and so hasten the ending of the dream that God appointed.
MORNING/EVENING QUIET TIME: as long as needed
- Use the words only at the beginning, and only to remind yourself you are trying to go beyond them.
- Leave the rest of the lesson to the Holy Spirit. Put Him in charge. Whatever you need, be it a thought, a word, or stillness and tranquility, He will give it to you.
HOURLY REMEMBRANCE
No specific instructions
FREQUENT REMINDER
No specific instructions
RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION
No specific instructions
COMMENTARY
(I will be doing commentary on the "Final Lessons" and "Epilogue" sections intermingled with the daily commentary for the next five days, since the actual lesson is the same for all five days.)
So we come to the final lessons of the year. Today and for the next four days we have the same lesson, which gives us the very simple directions by which we are to live the rest of our lives. The intent of the Workbook is to aid us in forming the very habit portrayed by this lesson: To give each instant to the Holy Spirit, asking Him to be in charge, committing ourselves to follow His direction in everything, knowing that He always leads us towards peace.
The Introduction to this simple lesson ("Final Lessons") is one that we would do well to read each day for these five days. Each day as we read this over, along with the lesson, we follow the reading with a time of quiet in which we seek a holy instant of communion with our Father and His Voice.
We are not seeking for words; "Our final lessons will be left as free of words as possible. We use them but at the beginning of our practicing, and only to remind us that we seek to go beyond them. Let us turn to Him Who leads the way and makes our footsteps sure." What we are seeking is that communion with Him. We open ourselves to the experience of peace. We give our lives to Him, asking to be directed in "all our thoughts to serve the function of salvation." We are here to remember God through forgiving our brothers, through sharing His reality with everyone.
We are as free of words as possible in these times of practice, and yet "...if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give" (W-pII.361.1:1-2). He will give whatever I need. Sometimes there will be words; sometimes, thoughts. And sometimes, nothing but "stillness and a tranquil, open mind" (1:3). We present ourselves to Him and wait for Him to give whatever we need. We do not tell Him what we need; we leave that to Him.
Each day we can begin like this. And during the day, often, whenever we can, we stop and once again renew the set of our minds, our determination to make no decision by ourselves, without Him. These lessons have been "a beginning, not an end" (Epilogue, 1:1). They have trained us in a practice that is meant to continue for the rest of our lives until our entire life has become a holy instant.
Whenever you can today, remember these words and repeat them: "This holy instant would I give to You." He will never fail to hear us.
Copyright © 1996, The Circle of Atonement, Sedona,
Arizona, USA.
All rights reserved.