ACIM Daily Lesson 257
My heart is beating in the peace of God.
Lesson 267
My heart is beating in the peace of God.
1. Surrounding me is all the life that God created in His Love. ²It calls to me in every heartbeat and in every breath; in every action and in every thought. ³Peace fills my heart, and floods my body with the purpose of forgiveness. ⁴Now my mind is healed, and all I need to save the world is given me. ⁵Each heartbeat brings me peace; each breath infuses me with strength. ⁶I am a messenger of God, directed by His Voice, sustained by Him in love, and held forever quiet and at peace within His loving Arms. ⁷Each heartbeat calls His Name, and every one is answered by His Voice, assuring me I am at home in Him.
2. Let me attend Your Answer, not my own. ²Father, my heart is beating in the peace the Heart of Love created. ³It is there and only there that I can be at home.
Oh, my dear God, what a beautiful lesson!
I sat and cried when I read this. I don’t really know what to say about it. It filled my heart with love and gratitude. Just imagine, all around me is the life God created out of His Love! Thinking about this, I can’t imagine what else I could do in life that comes anywhere near this in importance or in joy. This is the reason my only goal is the peace of God. This is what it feels like to be in the peace of God. It is not peace that comes and goes with shifting perceptions, but It is peace that is always there. It is the strength of God that never varies and is available in all circumstances.
I have a purpose. As a messenger of God, I don’t have to worry about how to be this in the world. I am directed by His Voice and sustained by Him in love. I only need to let go of everything that would obstruct this communication. And I do this willingly and consistently, even if not perfectly. My deep desire to live my purpose guarantees that I can and will do whatever is needed of me to the best of my ability. And wherever I fail, I am forgiven, and I renew my efforts.
I want to sit here aware of all the life God created in His Love surrounding me. How foolish I am to take that for granted and not even notice most of the time. I feel every heartbeat and every breath calling to me to become aware. I hear a whisper in my heart not to forget again, not to become unconscious again. Truthfully, I should be living in a state of wonder all the time!
Regina’s Tips on What Is the Body? and my Thoughts
Our special theme says, “Made to be fearful, must the body serve the purpose given it.” And in most cases, it does.
However, our special theme goes on to say, “But we can change the purpose that the body will obey by changing what we think that it is for.”
Today, please contemplate the purpose you would like the body to obey. Also, contemplate how the body can be used/moved differently in order to follow that purpose.
My Thoughts
I think my body is for the purpose of teaching and learning and extending love. This is much different than the purpose I gave it when I was young. I used to think it was for enjoying sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and I threw myself into it wholeheartedly. Now I throw myself into my new purpose with as much enthusiasm and with more satisfaction than I have ever experienced in my life.
Here is what I wrote in my journal at another time.
Yesterday as I did my work with Spirit, I began to feel this. And as I went into my day, I couldn’t help but notice how friendly everyone was. It is like they were just pleased to have passed me on the sidewalk and couldn’t help smiling. This happened so often that it was surreal. It felt like a message from Jesus telling me to notice what it is like when I make the decision not to attack and not to defend.
This morning’s lesson seems to point to my experience from yesterday. It was like a little taste of feeling God’s Love through all of creation. It was absolutely delicious! Today, I will not forget that I no longer need to defend myself because there is nothing to defend against. If attack thoughts appear in my mind, I pray to remember today’s lesson. Right behind these fearful thought images, I have projected into my life is the Love of God all around me. There is only what God created, and if I see anything that is not His Love, I must surely be dreaming. Wake me up, God!
Today I will be sustained by the Love of God. These are the words I am writing down and bringing with me in my Daytimer and in my heart to remind me what is mine for the asking.
“Each heartbeat brings me peace; each breath infuses me with strength.
I am a messenger of God, directed by His Voice, sustained by Him in love, and held forever quiet and at peace within His loving Arms. Each heartbeat calls His Name, and every one is answered by His Voice, assuring me I am at home in Him.”
And what I know is that Jesus did not write these words because they are pretty. He wrote them because they are true, and they are true even when I deny them with my actions and words and my ego thoughts. This is why I can live a life of peace and joy and love right now, not in some imagined future. For the last few days, I have been reminding myself of the truth and beauty that is available to me.
I have been more vigilant of the tendency to fall back into ego thinking than I ever have been before. I then ask that those thoughts be removed from my mind. And I ask that I know God, know Love, instead. This is my prayer, and all true prayers are answered, so I expect the peace of God. I expect to know myself in the Heart of God.
And in contrast, this is from an earlier journal entry.
Yesterday I was living this and loving the day and everyone in it. I was looking at people with real interest and without judgment. Then I noticed this peace begin to dissolve. At first, I didn’t put it together with anything I was believing, I just noticed I didn’t feel as good as before. I noticed that I had said something I regretted and was having trouble letting go of the regret.
I left that situation without doing more than noticing it. Later as I was driving and popped a CD into my player. It was from A Thousand Names for Joy by Byron Katie. She said:
“Who would you be in people’s presence without, for example, the story that anyone should care about you, ever: You would be love itself. When you believe the myth that people should care, you’re too needy to care about people or about yourself. The experience of love can’t come from anyone else; it can come only from inside you.”
I felt a little tickle in my mind as I listened to this.
It applied in some way to my life that day, I felt sure. But I had shopping to do and put it out of my mind. Life is generous, though, and when I fail to get its message, it sends it to me again. I really wasn’t enjoying my shopping, and I began to pay attention to my thoughts. It felt like the sales clerk was unhelpful. I asked a question about how to fashionably wear a piece that I was looking at. To my ear, her answer seemed to say that there was something wrong with me if I had to ask.
I noticed that I began to feel out of place in this part of the store. The fashions were too stylish and seemed all to be designed for thin, rich people. It started to feel like the clerks were looking at me with an expression that said, “Buy in this department? In your dreams, chubby lady on a budget.” I began to resent these women, and I noticed I no longer smiled at them or anyone else. My attitude was not friendly or kind. I was not extending love.
So, I asked the Holy Spirit for clarity.
I remembered what I had heard Katie say right before I got out of the car. She said: Who would you be in people’s presence without, for example, the story that anyone should care about you, ever: You would be love itself. Why on earth would I care what anyone thought about me? That would be their business and not mine. They don’t know me; they only know their thoughts about me.
And while I am concerned about how they feel about me, I am so needy that I have no room for love, not for myself or for them. Look how many opportunities I missed to gladden my brother’s heart (and myself since there is only one of us), all because I imagined a story in which I cared what they thought when I walked by. And really, it was a made-up story since I have no idea what they were thinking anyway.
I feel so grateful for that experience.
To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 267 click here.
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