ACIM Daily Lesson 232 Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.

Lesson 232

Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.

1. Be in my mind, my Father, when I wake, and shine on me throughout the day today. ²Let every minute be a time in which I dwell with You. ³And let me not forget my hourly thanksgiving that You have remained with me, and always will be there to hear my call to You and answer me. ⁴As evening comes, let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love. ⁵And let me sleep sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son.

2. This is as every day should be. ²Today, practice the end of fear. ³Have faith in Him Who is your Father. ⁴Trust all things to Him. ⁵Let Him reveal all things to you, and be you undismayed because you are His Son.

Planning My Day

I woke up this morning thinking of the day I would have as instructed by Jesus in Chapter 30, Rules for Decision. I thought about looking forward to my morning routine of checking my email and Facebook notifications while I drink my coffee. I thought about the joy of writing in my journal about the day’s lesson and then using some free time today to work on my website again. I look forward to my calls today and my Zoom meetings to share a course with fellow students. I thought about how much I love my days as they center around the joy of practicing A Course in Miracles and sharing with others this practice, and receiving from their shares. This is the day I will be given if I make no decisions on my own.

Then I read today’s lesson and I thought what a perfect plan for the day! Yes, I will do those things that are on my calendar to do. I will enjoy every minute of it, but that is just the script playing out. What I am really doing is reveling in the joy and love that fills my heart this morning. What I am really doing, even as I write and speak and listen, is being in thanksgiving that God is with me all through the day. I will trust Him and let Him reveal all things to me. I will be undismayed because I am His. I will practice the end of fear.

Susan and Eleanor

A story from a few years ago.

Every day now seems better than the day before. I can’t really say why, it just does. I was with Eleanor and Susan yesterday afternoon after my calls for the day. Again, I had the most delightful time playing with her and I was there completely in the moment. 

Susan had to take her to the doctor to see about a persistent cough. I told her I would go with them to keep them company. In the moment again, at the doctor’s office. No thoughts of what I had waiting for me to do at home, or impatience with the waiting. With the doctor just at the moment there.  

He told me I must have done something right raising Susan because she was such a good mom. I said with enthusiasm that yes, she is a great mom! A much better mom than I ever was! Susan said no that’s not true that I was a good mother, too.  

There was a time…

There was a time when that exchange would have felt different to me. I would have eaten up their words because I so desperately wanted them to be true or at least for it to appear true to others. Yesterday, though, I was just delighted that Susan is such a good mom. There was no “me” with all its baggage getting in the way of my delight.  

I can’t say with honesty that God is the Mind with which I think all the time now. But it is becoming true more and more is that God is the state of being joyful and present and free of the past. I look forward to seeing what it feels like when there is no self at all to get in the way. Today, I will be grateful to know God is in my mind and to know it is being further purified of any fear or doubt that remains there.  

Practicing the End of Fear

I was drawn to the sentence that says today we should practice the end of fear. I started practicing that yesterday. Well, everything in the Course points to this, but I started thinking about it in a different way yesterday. Last night just before I went to sleep, I had the thought that I have nothing to fear because of what I am. I asked the question, “What am I?” The answer is that I am a divine being. And of course, that answer is the reason I have nothing to fear. 

The ego-mind reminds me of all the things I have to fear, but it is actually telling me of all the things the ego has to fear. I am not the ego so it has nothing to do with me. I only fear when I think I am an ego. That is why Jesus keeps telling us we are not a body. All we are doing here is learning to transfer our identity from the illusory body-self to our reality, to our divine self. I am not an ego-body, I am Spirit, a Thought in the Mind of God. 

Contrast

The ego is afraid of everything because it believes it is a frail and fragile body with an easily damaged psyche. “I” on the other hand, am perfectly safe and perfectly protected and cannot be hurt. I am love itself and there is nothing besides love. Can I be overcome by too little time, which does not actually exist? Can I be hurt when the body is hurt? I am not the body. Can death destroy me when I am immortal? 

Can a body appetite control me when the body I imagine does not actually exist outside my imagination? If I imagine the body, I must also imagine the cravings it experiences, the sicknesses it suffers, and the desires it succumbs to. Should I no longer choose to experience these things, I need only stop imagining them. If this seems hard to do then I am obviously using the idea of “hard” to keep the story in place. I am never a victim because I am the maker of it all. I am reminded, once again, of my favorite sentence in the Course, “You but do this to yourself.” 

The following is a short but very helpful message I received a few years ago. 

HOLY SPIRIT: Thank you for your faith and your trust. It is not misplaced. You will find that you need not ferret out grievances; your desire to heal will bring them up in your mind and show them to you. All you need to do is pay attention. Notice your feelings which will alert you to false thoughts in your mind, grievances to be healed. Close your eyes to the story which wants to distract you from your purpose. Instead, look for the grievances, the judgments, fears, guilty thoughts, and all other obstacles to love, knowing you want only to let them go. God is in your mind today and every day. Give your willingness to release all that hides His presence from your awareness. 

GRATITUDE: I am over-the-moon grateful for the legions of Helpers who have guided and uplifted me and brought me to this point in my life. 

REGINA’S TIPS 

Be in my mind, my Father, through the day. 

Throughout this section of A Course in Miracles Workbooks for Students, we are using this process: 

1 – Each day read and contemplate the “special theme” that we are currently working with. Currently that theme is, “What is Salvation?” 

2 – Contemplate the day’s workbook lesson. 

3 – Spend time in meditation. 

4 – Recall the day’s workbook lesson hourly. 

5 – Spend at least a brief time with the workbook lesson and/or meditation before going to bed at night. 

Maybe you’ve remembered to follow all five steps in this current process, maybe you’ve forgotten part of it, or maybe you decided to skip part of the process because you thought it wasn’t important for you. Today is an opportunity to recommit to the entire process that is requested in this section of the workbook. 

I look at it this way: We have been vigilant for the ego. However, we joined this group because there is a calling in us. The calling is to be vigilant for salvation. It’s what we want. That’s why we’re here, so let’s do it. 

From The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament

NTI Luke, Chapter 5 says: 

“Old habits must be let go, for old habits will not usher in a new day. With old habits, all things remain the same. But with new habits, all things are possible. 

I have come to teach you new habits. You will learn these habits by practicing them as I ask. Remember Me, and practice. 

You will catch yourself practicing the old habits, for this has been your way until now. Slipping into old habits does not ruin the new ones. So when you find yourself doing this, forgive yourself your attraction to the old by stepping away from the old and stepping into the new. Each time you do this, you help yourself to unlearn the old and to learn the new.” 

So today, let’s remember our desire for salvation and recommit to practicing the workbook lessons in the way the workbook asks us to. 

MY THOUGHTS 

I love this simple and gentle process from NTI. I notice that we are asked to notice when we slip back into old ways, but I also notice that we are encouraged not to be upset by that slip, just to return to the new. Releasing the idea of guilt is so important to this practice. When we notice an error, we make a giant step forward, but if we feel guilty for the error, our step forward is very small. The ego loves this, but we are not here to please the ego. We are here to undo the ego. 

Contemplation 2025

To enjoy the Pathways of Light Insights on ACIM Lesson 232 click here.

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