ACIM Daily Lesson 353 My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today have but one purpose; to be given Christ to use to bless the world with miracles.
My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today have but one purpose; to be given Christ to use to bless the world with miracles.
Photo by John Gardiner of Whangarei, New Zealand
Lesson 353
My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today have but one purpose; to be given Christ to use to bless the world with miracles.
1. Father, I give all that is mine today to Christ, to use in any way that best will serve the purpose that I share with Him. ²Nothing is mine alone, for He and I have joined in purpose. ³Thus has learning come almost to its appointed end. ⁴A while I work with Him to serve His purpose. ⁵Then I lose myself in my Identity, and recognize that Christ is but my Self.
My day is quite busy. So much to do. But none of this affects the day’s lesson. Despite all I do, my purpose remains strong and certain. All the while I do these things, my eyes, my tongue, my hands, and my feet are given to Christ for His purpose. I will be the Love that I am while I accomplish what needs to be done. This body and this mind are dedicated to His use.
Here is something I began to notice recently.
In the early morning hours, just after waking up and as I got dressed, the ego was running amok in my mind. I would think of things to regret or things to dread. Then I would finally wake up enough to notice and would start looking at those thoughts with the Holy Spirit. I suppose my desire to stop this nonsense must be working. Of course, it must. It is my desire for a healed mind that makes it possible. This morning I had only two of those ego thoughts and stopped them immediately with the thought that this is not what I want in my mind.
This kind of vigilance and dedication to healing the mind is what makes today’s lesson possible and even certain. In fact, the idea of giving this body and mind to Christ for His use makes my heart sing. This is what I came for. This is my purpose. As Jesus tells in this lesson: A while I work with Him to serve His purpose. Then I lose myself in my Identity, and recognize that Christ is but my Self.
I have let go of the desire to run my life separate from Spirit.
Now I am allowing self-will and self-identity to fall away as I welcome the healing of my mind. This is going to lead to a complete loss of the “me” I have been so attached to and a complete relinquishment of the idea of a separate will, a separate me. It has been a long time coming, but it must be closer. I have learned that this is not something to dread or be afraid of. In fact, I long for it.
Now, I can even begin to imagine it, and before, I could not. I used to think I would have to sacrifice everything to give God what He wants, and now I think that I will sacrifice nothing to be what I am. In this way, I am going to relinquish pain and suffering for joy and peace. I am going to let go of self-will for Divine Will.
When does this happen? How does it happen? I don’t know. Today, I will be God’s teacher. I will be the hands and feet of Christ so I can be used for the awakening. To do this, I will notice any resistance so I can let it go. I will learn surrender on a deeper level than before and be glad of it. Today, I will be available to Christ. One day, I will relinquish the idea of a separate special self and know myself as Christ.
Regina’s Tips
Regina starts by pointing out a common error. It is sometimes thought that our individual successes with ego save the world. It is important that we understand this more completely, and I think Regina says it very well.
Here is how she explains this.
However, let’s look closely at what our special theme says:
We are the bringers of salvation. We accept our part as saviors of the world, which through our joint forgiveness is redeemed.
Since the ego is the cause of all suffering, all suffering must end when the self-centered ego ends. However, the self-centered ego is not in the mind of one individual alone. The self-centered ego is in the mind of humankind. It is our “joint forgiveness” that could result in the reflection this scripture points to.
We each need to participate in our individual awakening, because humankind’s “joint forgiveness” appears to happen one individual at a time. As an analogy, let’s imagine the individuals in humankind as cells in one brain, the brain of humankind. As healing and awakening spreads through the brain, individual brain cells are renewed and freed of cancerous darkness. When the healing has spread through the entire brain, healing and renewal are complete.
As individuals, we are each like a cell in the symbolic brain of humankind.
We have been called to the spiritual path because it is our turn to be healed and renewed as part of the broader awakening. However, the awakening isn’t complete until all cells have been healed and renewed. As long as the ego remains in some cells within the mind of humankind, the projection that comes from the mind will continue to include appearances that come from the ego.
My Thoughts
I think this is a great analogy. It helps me to see how it is that my individual awakening is necessary. At the same time, I see why it is incomplete until the entire Sonship awakens. This is the reason that I forgive all thoughts of anyone being guilty. I am not healed until the entire Sonship is healed, so it only makes sense to encourage each one toward their own innocence.
I also appreciate the idea of ego as cancerous darkness. Suppose I have cancer in my lungs, and that cancer is treated so that it is no longer there. I would feel so much better. But there is some cancer that has traveled to another part of the body. That cancer would also have to be treated, or the body would not be well.
In the same way, I see that my mind is not healed until every mind is healed. I might feel better when my mind accepts the Atonement, but I am still sick until the entire mind awakens. So, it is clear that everyone’s healing is as important to me as is mine. This is why I am vigilant for attack thoughts, no matter how minor they might seem to me. If I attack someone else, I attack myself.
Past Entry
This is something that happened several years ago. I see that even then, I was beginning to choose to be a channel for healing. And I was beginning to experience the joy of doing so. Over the years, this has deepened and become more consistent. Here is what I wrote at that time.
As I practice today’s lesson, I do not see myself doing anything different from what I did yesterday. And yet, it takes what I do out of the category of the ordinary. It is not just another day at the office, so to speak, but rather every day at the office is of great significance. The gratitude I feel bubbles over, and I am one moment in tears, and the next, I am laughing.
I have not come close to recognizing myself as Christ on a regular day-to-day basis, but still, my life has changed profoundly in the last few years. I was awakened from a sound sleep by the noise of two people having a loud and violent fight. It scared me badly for a moment as my mind wrestled with the idea of someone in my house having a fight. Then I awoke enough to remember that I am not home but in a hotel.
So here I am in the middle of the night, wide awake.
My first thought is that I will not be able to go back to sleep, and tomorrow is going to be a difficult day. But I know this is simply an automatic ego response, and I know I don’t need to believe that thought. My next thought is to question what it is for and to ask how I might be helpful at this moment.
I notice there is no thought of being angry at the people who woke me. I am not interested in blaming them for what is happening in my dream. In a bit, I realize what had just happened and feel deep gratitude that turning to God is such an ingrained habit these days. No, it is not always my first response, but it is always my response sooner or later and mostly sooner. It is also an opportunity to heal the anger and reactivity within myself and so to allow myself to be a channel for God’s healing love to those who are expressing that anger and reactivity at this moment. Thank you, God.
Holy Spirit, I set my intention today to be of service to the awakening. Whatever happens in the dream, I choose You as my teacher. I ask that You show me what it really means and show me how I might use it to bless.
Contemplation 2025
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