ACIM Daily Lesson 348 I have no cause for anger or for fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your grace suffices me.
I have no cause for anger or for fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your grace suffices me.
Photo by John Gardiner of Whangarei, New Zealand
Lesson 348
I have no cause for anger or for fear, for You surround me. And in every need that I perceive, Your grace suffices me.
1. Father, let me remember You are here, and I am not alone. ²Surrounding me is everlasting Love. ³I have no cause for anything except the perfect peace and joy I share with You. ⁴What need have I for anger or for fear? ⁵Surrounding me is perfect safety. ⁶Can I be afraid, when Your eternal promise goes with me? ⁷Surrounding me is perfect sinlessness. ⁸What can I fear, when You created me in holiness as perfect as Your Own?
2. God’s grace suffices us in everything that He would have us do. ²And only that we choose to be our will as well as His.
Yesterday, we learned about the connection between judgment and anger, but we also learned that we are relieved of that burden. Instead of trying to do what we cannot do, we can let the Holy Spirit judge for us. Today, this is reinforced as we are told that there is no cause for anger and fear. God surrounds us, and His grace suffices every perceived need. What a relief it is that we are not alone in our self-imposed exile from our Home.
God’s Voice speaks to us all through the day.
Even when we do not listen, His Voice is there. He created us as Love, and we are surrounded by our brothers who are Love. If we are unaware of this blessing, it is because we deny our perfect safety when we deny our brothers. When we judge someone, we are denying the Love that surrounds us. This is a denial of God, Who is Love and the Source of Love. Denial of Love is the cause of our fear. Acceptance of Love is the solution.
This is why I cannot hold a grievance. Holding a grievance obscures God’s promise of my perfect safety, perfect sinlessness. While I hold a grievance, I cannot know my own holiness because I deny my brother’s holiness. When a judgmental thought comes into my mind, I hasten to release it quickly. What God has given me cannot be absent, but it will be concealed from my awareness by my judgments.
When this happens, it feels as if I am alone and besieged by my enemies. I am so grateful to discover I have done this to myself and so can undo it. It used to seem hard sometimes to release a grievance. This was so because I thought I needed this defense mechanism for my own protection. Over time, I discovered that God’s grace was all I needed to return Home, and I have that grace. Now I am not interested in judgment or defense. I know they are an unnecessary burden and not needed, for I have God!
That God is always with me and I am never alone is the truth.
But we in the world live in a lie, so it requires a serious change of mind to accept the truth. I know this is true, and still, sometimes, I feel a surge of fear. The difference is that under the fear is an absolute certainty that everything is fine. That doesn’t mean that I think the story will alter its course so that I am no longer triggered. It means that no matter what happens in this story, I am fine, and so is everyone else.
I know that I have no need for anger, and yet, I still have these moments of anger that come and go like shadows without substance. I note them, and I realize that I am not interested in anger anymore. That’s why they don’t stay. It seems that the mind has these strands of belief that keep trying to find a place to stick. I remain vigilant for them.
In the end, I always remember that I am not the body that can be hurt or killed. I am invulnerable and immortal. I am an Idea in the Mind of God. What could I have to fear? I am perfectly safe. I always remember that I am living the script I chose, so what is there to be angry about? Now, I watch the anger rise and fall and am surprised that it is there at all. What can it hang its hat on? Maybe I am angry that I chose this script, and yet, I did and must have had a reason. Perhaps it was so that I could finally realize that there is no reason for anger.
I don’t know how His grace suffices me, but I know it does.
I used to worry about getting my needs met, and now I just wonder how it will happen, not if it will happen. Now, I keep an eye on my thoughts and feelings about the situations and listen closely for guidance from the Holy Spirit. I seem to be doing my part.
Like with my gas leak on my stove, I stood there in front of it and asked what I should do, fully expecting an answer. The thought occurred to me that the knob on one of the burners wasn’t working right and I should replace it and even where I should get it. I was able to move through that situation without distress. Life continues to unfold as it was meant to, but now it is a happier experience because His grace suffices me. Mostly. Moving toward always and completely.
Regina’s Tips
When talking about the phases one goes through in the development of trust, A Course in Miracles Manual for Teachers says:
[The teacher of God] thought he learned willingness, but now he sees that he does not know what the willingness is for. … He must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what he really wants in every circumstance. Were not each step in this direction so heavily reinforced, it would be hard indeed!
This paragraph comforted me during many trials along this path. The trials were times when I feared real sacrifice was about to occur.
My experience has been that this works. It is as Jesus taught, “Seek ye first the kingdom, and all else will be added to you.”
Again today, we are looking at the power of faith and asking, with asking focused on truth and not on conditions in the world. As we stay focused on seeking truth, the creative principle responds by providing the most helpful material circumstances.
When our special theme says, “faith will bring its witnesses to show that what it rested on is really there,” it is pointing to both the shift in perception and its material effects. Both are “witnesses,” which “heavily reinforce” our choice to abide as unaffected.
My Thoughts
Regina also says that it is better not to ask for specifics. This gets the ego involved. And this is the way I do things. I focus on my spiritual aspiration, and when the world demands my attention, and I need help, I ask for guidance. I know this works because it is what I do and have done for some time now.
Sometimes the world situation changes in miraculous ways. I call this the miracle of a changed mind made manifest in the world. Sometimes the world doesn’t change at all, but my attitude changes so much that it is no longer perceived as being problematic, and since what I really want is peace of mind, that is miracle enough for me.
The first leak on my stove required that I call a plumber, and it all got quite complicated and costly. But I just kept following guidance as to the next step, and it was fine. I am sure the money for the plumber will show up because that is what is needed. So, I don’t worry about it. I just wait for the next prompt.
The second leak was something that could be taken care of easily by me as soon as I became quiet and let the answer come to me. Different solutions, but what is the same is that I was at peace during the situation, and both problems were solved. It is this kind of witness to the truth that Jesus was talking about. I laid aside my judgment of the situation and didn’t lose sight of what I wanted; peace of mind. The solutions and the way they unfolded witnessed the correctness of my choices and the lack of sacrifice asked of me.
Regina
For the lesson, Regina asks us to look at some of our concerns and gave some tips on how to do that.
- What material changes do you think you need in order to be happy, feel safe, be relieved of anxiety, or to focus on God/Truth? Write them down.
- Look at each desired change, one at a time. Notice how willing you are to let go of that specific desire in trust that as you seek truth, everything that is genuinely helpful will be given. Also, notice where you do not feel that willingness or trust. (Simply look and notice.)
- After looking at yourself in this way, contemplate what you noticed. Just sit and be with what you’ve noticed without judgment or guilt. Our goal is to become more clear regarding ourselves, our fears, our motivations, etc. If you feel guided to write as you contemplate what you noticed, please follow that guidance.
- When you feel complete with #3, see if a prayer arises in you. If so, pray the prayer that is in your heart.
My Thoughts
I had to ask for the answer to number one because I couldn’t immediately think of anything. I would hope that my children outlive me. Of course, I would hope that I remain healthy enough to continue to be active in my ministry. It would be great if my house remains livable and my car continues to be drivable. I said hope for all of those things because I also know that if that is not in the script, somehow, it will all work out.
It’s funny even to me that the only really strong desire I have at the moment is to lose weight and not gain it back and to find the root cause of this lifelong problem so that it can be solved. It’s such a silly thing compared to other possible problems that I have to laugh at myself, but it is still there.
God, I surrender this problem to you in faith that Your grace suffices me, even in this.
Past Entries
This is an old entry, but the story illustrates the lesson very well. Over the years, so much of this has been healed. As I read it this morning, I wonder how I ever got through those years with so much unresolved anxiety. It is hard to live from the ego mind. I am grateful that I am learning a new way. And grateful that when I fall back into ego thinking, I know enough to return to my holy mind so much more quickly.
I seem to have an unfulfilled need in whatever direction I turn. I don’t have my bedroom floor installed, and I don’t have enough cash on hand to finish the job. Things are going wrong at work. Last night I was looking for a place to eat. After 15 years of eating out more often than I eat at home, I was suddenly overwhelmed by the revulsion of restaurant food.
My child has a problem, and I think I need to do something. It is getting close to Christmas, and I need to get my shopping finished. I think I need to be a better Course student, catch up on my journaling, get my book ready for publishing, and be there for my students. I need to have something, to do something, to be somewhere, to be something. It’s depressingly endless.
When I sit in this neediness, my emotions seesaw between fear and anger. I am afraid I won’t have enough or do enough, then I am angry because I project this sense of unworthiness and see the world as the cause. I am perpetually discontented, and this is the natural state of the ego and will not change as long as I continue to listen to the voice of the ego.
God offers me another Voice.
This Voice tells me that I am surrounded by God. The thought of being in God seems absurd in the face of all my neediness, but what if my neediness is the result of insisting I be in charge of my own salvation? Could it be that all I need do to have every need met is to surrender my desire to be my own god?
What if I surrendered my need to have my house finished and my need to have the money in hand, with the emphasis being on “need?” The ego begins to argue that I need to make calls, I need to make arrangements, or nothing will get done. I can’t just sit around and wait for the project to complete itself. But what if I surrendered the “need” for anything to happen? What if I said, “Not my will, but Your Will through me, Father?” What if I decided that I don’t know what anything is for?
The wee voice of the ego gets smaller and smaller as it insists that nothing will get done. But what if I place my trust in God? What I think I need is a contractor who shows up when he says and more money to throw at this house, and deadlines to be met. But what if that is not my need at all? How many times have I thought that all I needed to be happy was to get a need met, and how many times was I wrong about that? The need is met, and I feel good for a brief moment, and then another need pops up, and I am again discontented.
I keep trying to save myself by meeting artificial needs.
It never works. That is the point, really. As long as I keep doing this, I get to stay in charge of my sad little kingdom. “That’s alright, God, I can handle this. I don’t need You. I got it.” After all, I only need to get this house repaired, and all will be well in Myron’s little world. I will be saved. And my separate and special world is preserved. I will feel a twinge of guilt for usurping God, but what’s a little guilt, right?
Really? I have been playing this silly game for thousands of lifetimes, and I am willing to stop. My problem isn’t an unfinished house, and so getting the house fixed will not change anything. I will have a house, but I will still have an endless string of unmet needs.
Holy Spirit, I am willing to surrender to God’s plan for my salvation and to give up my own. When I think I need something in the world, I will look at this with You. I am willing to see that my need is not to have a different picture in the world but to know that I am in God, and that will suffice. I know that I will continue to cajole the contractor and buy Christmas presents, but I am willing to do so without thinking the successful completion of these tasks will bring me happiness. Again, today, I am willing that Life live through me.
2015
That posting was two houses ago. Everything got done, and eventually, I moved on. Each house since has been easier and more peaceful. While getting the roof changed on the house I live in now, all my materials were stolen and had to be replaced. Very expensive proposition! And yet, I was not upset and simply did what needed to be done.
I had a few moments of blaming those who did not safeguard my materials, but I didn’t have a lot of emotion behind those thoughts, and they quickly dissipated. The roof needed to be replaced and the money needed to be provided for that project, but it wasn’t my salvation either way. I didn’t feel afraid or guilty, and that is because every time I have those feelings, I turn to the Holy Spirit with them. Accepting the Atonement for them is healing my mind. It is not a completely done job yet but is getting closer to being complete each time I choose God over ego.
Contemplation 2025
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