Lesson 185

Lesson 185
I want the peace of God.

To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything. If you could but mean them for just an instant, there would be no further sorrow possible for you in any form; in any place or time. Heaven would be completely given back to full awareness, memory of God entirely restored, the resurrection of all creation fully recognized.

No one can mean these words and not be healed. He cannot play with dreams, nor think he is himself a dream. He cannot make a hell and think it real. He wants the peace of God, and it is given him. For that is all he wants, and that is all he will receive. Many have said these words. But few indeed have meant them. You have but to look upon the world you see around you to be sure how very few they are. The world would be completely changed, should any two agree these words express the only thing they want.

Two minds with one intent become so strong that what they will becomes the Will of God. For minds can only join in truth. In dreams, no two can share the same intent. To each, the hero of the dream is different; the outcome wanted not the same for both. Loser and gainer merely shift about in changing patterns, as the ratio of gain to loss and loss to gain takes on a different aspect or another form.

Yet compromise alone a dream can bring. Sometimes it takes the form of union, but only the form. The meaning must escape the dream, for compromising is the goal of dreaming. Minds cannot unite in dreams. They merely bargain. And what bargain can give them the peace of God? Illusions come to take His place. And what He means is lost to sleeping minds intent on compromise, each to his gain and to another’s loss.

To mean you want the peace of God is to renounce all dreams. For no one means these words who wants illusions, and who therefore seeks the means which bring illusions. He has looked on them, and found them wanting. Now he seeks to go beyond them, recognizing that another dream would offer nothing more than all the others. Dreams are one to him. And he has learned their only difference is one of form, for one will bring the same despair and misery as do the rest.

The mind which means that all it wants is peace must join with other minds, for that is how peace is obtained. And when the wish for peace is genuine, the means for finding it is given, in a form each mind that seeks for it in honesty can understand. Whatever form the lesson takes is planned for him in such a way that he can not mistake it, if his asking is sincere. But if he asks without sincerity, there is no form in which the lesson will meet with acceptance and be truly learned.

Let us today devote our practicing to recognizing that we really mean the words we say. We want the peace of God. This is no idle wish. These words do not request another dream be given us. They do not ask for compromise, nor try to make another bargain in the hope that there may yet be one that can succeed where all the rest have failed. To mean these words acknowledges illusions are in vain, requesting the eternal in the place of shifting dreams which seem to change in what they offer, but are one in nothingness.

Today devote your practice periods to careful searching of your mind, to find the dreams you cherish still. What do you ask for in your heart? Forget the words you use in making your requests. Consider but what you believe will comfort you, and bring you happiness. But be you not dismayed by lingering illusions, for their form is not what matters now. Let not some dreams be more acceptable, reserving shame and secrecy for others. They are one. And being one, one question should be asked of all of them, “Is this what I would have, in place of Heaven and the peace of God?”

This is the choice you make. Be not deceived that it is otherwise. No compromise is possible in this. You choose God’s peace, or you have asked for dreams. And dreams will come as you requested them. Yet will God’s peace come just as certainly, and to remain with you forever. It will not be gone with every twist and turning of the road, to reappear, unrecognized, in forms which shift and change with every step you take.

You want the peace of God. And so do all who seem to seek for dreams. For them as well as for yourself, you ask but this when you make this request with deep sincerity. For thus you reach to what they really want, and join your own intent with what they seek above all things, perhaps unknown to them, but sure to you. You have been weak at times, uncertain in your purpose, and unsure of what you wanted, where to look for it, and where to turn for help in the attempt. Help has been given you. And would you not avail yourself of it by sharing it?

No one who truly seeks the peace of God can fail to find it. For he merely asks that he deceive himself no longer by denying to himself what is God’s Will. Who can remain unsatisfied who asks for what he has already? Who could be unanswered who requests an answer which is his to give? The peace of God is yours.

For you was peace created, given you by its Creator, and established as His Own eternal gift. How can you fail, when you but ask for what He wills for you? And how could your request be limited to you alone? No gift of God can be unshared. It is this attribute that sets the gifts of God apart from every dream that ever seemed to take the place of truth.

No one can lose and everyone must gain whenever any gift of God has been requested and received by anyone. God gives but to unite. To take away is meaningless to Him. And when it is as meaningless to you, you can be sure you share one Will with Him, and He with you. And you will also know you share one Will with all your brothers, whose intent is yours.

It is this one intent we seek today, uniting our desires with the need of every heart, the call of every mind, the hope that lies beyond despair, the love attack would hide, the brotherhood that hate has sought to sever, but which still remains as God created it. With Help like this beside us, can we fail today as we request the peace of God be given us?

 

Journal

“To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything.”

“No one can mean these words and not be healed.”

 “Many have said these words. But few indeed have meant them.”

 This seems to be so clear cut, so simple, easy, even. So why is it that so few of the millions of Course students have yet awakened. Me, included. What is it that we want more than awakening? What is it that we want more than the peace of God?

I search my mind for that thing that I “also” want, that which I cannot have and still awaken, that which is more important to me than the peace of God. I ask myself what is it that I want? I want to lose weight, but I don’t think that this is a goal that I cannot release. So, I am doing that now. I don’t care about the size and shape of my body. But I only cared a little anyway so what else is there to release.

What do I want really badly? I want to die before my children do. That would be a really hard thing to release. Can I do it? I’m thinking about the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac. I am not being asked to sacrifice my children, just my fear for them and my special relationship with them and my belief that they are bodies in my story of mother and children.

Ok, that is kind of a lot. It is the symbol of the reluctance to end the illusion. If you ask me about letting go of the illusion, I am more than ready to do that. However, if I look at this one precious part of the illusion, I feel like it would be a sacrifice to release it. If I could die with them, that would be ok. It is the fear of a loss of that magnitude that undoes my resolution. So, I am not willing to give up my belief in loss, it seems.

It’s good to see what it is that binds me to the world. I can recite a long list of things I have given up, some I used to think I could never give up and yet I have done so. But even one thing in the world that is valuable to me will keep me interested in the world. What I want, I have, and if that is the world then I have the world, but I can’t have both the world and Heaven.

Look at this amazing sentence:

“Two minds with one intent become so strong that what they will becomes the Will of God.”

It doesn’t say that two minds with one intent become so strong that their will becomes the Will of God. That I could imagine. But no, it becomes so strong that what they will becomes the will of God. When I read this, I realized that I do have the strength to overcome my ego mind and its desires. I have strength (when it is in union with another) to do anything.

“To mean you want the peace of God is to renounce all dreams.”

 Of course, I would have to renounce all dreams if I want the peace of God. Dreams are the reason I don’t have peace. I dream of separation, of mother and child in constant peril of loss. I dream of suffering and death. I cannot have the dream of separation without the dream of loss and of suffering and death. Those painful situations are an inevitable part of separation, you cannot have one without the other.

“The mind which means that all it wants is peace must join with other minds, for that is how peace is obtained. And when the wish for peace is genuine, the means for finding it is given, in a form each mind that seeks for it in honesty can understand. “

Like everything else he tells us in his book, Jesus reminds us that we must do this in union. He also tells us that when we are ready, the means will be given us. I think this means we will find ourselves in the classroom that is our final lesson. Jesus asks us to search our minds for the dreams we cherish and he asks us to be very honest about this because no compromise is possible. Either we choose the peace of God or we choose dreams; there is no middle ground.

Regina’s Tips

We deceive ourselves when we think we want the object or circumstance that we dream of. That isn’t what we want. We want what we think that object or circumstance will bring us. So why dream about an object or circumstance that is an imagined intermediary for what we truly want? Why not ask for what we truly want directly?

My Thoughts

So, why do I want the safety and happiness of my children? I want that so I will be at peace and will not suffer. So why not just ask for what I really want rather than asking for the symbol of what I want? That is the key, isn’t it? Why not?

Past Entries

There is a part of my mind that sings at this thought. This part of my mind longs for the peace of God. The first line from the Course that really stuck with me was “I am as God created me” and the second one was “The peace of God is all I want.” These two lines became so much a part of me that they bubble to the surface often when needed and just as often as a form of comfort and, I think, a reminder to myself.

On the other hand, if I wanted only the peace of God I would have it. So there must be ego dreams I still hold dear. I cannot have the peace of God and still hold onto to illusions – not even one illusion. If I want the peace of God, I cannot withhold love from even one person, or believe that my happiness depends on even one thing in this world.

I am asked to devote today to the careful searching of my mind to find the dreams I still cherish and to think what I still ask for in my heart. If someone asked me what was important to me I would probably say that my work with the Course is the most important thing in my life. But if I search my mind carefully, I will find dreams I cherish, and though my heart longs for peace, it also asks for these dreams to be fulfilled.

What do I do about those dreams that I think are more important than the peace of God? I acknowledge them. I accept that one is not different or more important than the other, though it might seem that there is a hierarchy of illusions. I admit that I think I cannot have peace unless first these dreams are fulfilled, that even the peace of God cannot overcome my need for these dreams. Then I release all of this to the Holy Spirit and ask that He heal my mind of these mistaken beliefs.

And each time a dream beckons me with false promises of everlasting peace, I gently remind myself that what I really want, the only thing that brings peace is God. This should be apparent to me after all these years of desperate seeking that in the end amounts to nothing. I am so certain that a special relationship will make me happy and then it doesn’t satisfy, and I think having a child of this relationship will do the trick.

Then I think that ending the relationship will finally bring me peace, only it doesn’t, and maybe that special job, that large income, that best friend; maybe I would have peace if I lost weight or got a new hair color, or more glamorous clothes, maybe that would finally satisfy me. If only my daughter were not heartbroken or my son sick. If, if, if. There is no end to it because I am looking in the wrong direction. I am looking away from the source of my happiness. It is only in God that I will finally find peace.

Today, I will notice each useless desire as they occur to me. I will not try to not want what I think I want because I have noticed that this only creates anxiety and conflict in my mind. I will just acknowledge the desire, remind myself that I want the peace of God, and then release the whole issue to the Holy Spirit. I am willing to know the truth, finally and forever, to know that the peace of God is all I want.

My message from the Holy Spirit

I received this message a few years ago. It was very helpful.

Holy Spirit: Thank you for your honesty. This is the way you receive all that you asked for. The peace of God is yours already, but you cannot receive it if you cherish other things above it. Spend all of the day fulfilling your desire to release the illusion that you are separate from God and from your brothers, by releasing the belief you need dreams to make you happy.

Me: Holy Spirit, the more I think about it, the more dreams surface in my mind. I could take lifetimes to release each one.

Holy Spirit: Myron, you need not look at each one because at some point you are going to understand they are all the same. You have prepared your mind for this realization, and so are ready for it. Just continue what you are doing, and trust that I know what I am asking of you. Do not be concerned that the ego still speaks in your mind, and do not feel guilty that you hear its voice. Just notice it, and open your mind to the Truth.

It seems like a hard job because sometimes you still forget that this is all you need do, and you start trying to stop the thoughts or to change them. This is not for you to do; it is just the ego trying to join you in the process. We have talked of this before, but it is helpful to think of it from time to time. When you start to feel stress as you do mind watching, know this is the reason. It is not the watching that is stressful, but the mistaken idea that you need to do more than be willing to be healed.