Lesson 214 

I am not a body. I am free. 
For I am still as God created me. 

(194) I place the future in the Hands of God. 

The past is gone; the future is not yet. Now am I freed 
from both. For what God gives can only be for good. And 
I accept but what He gives as what belongs to me. 

I am not a body. I am free. 
For I am still as God created me. 

Review 

I consistently practice being in the present moment. I do this during the day when I notice that I am lost in my thoughts. I bring my mind back to what is actually going on even if it is not much. For instance, if I am sitting quietly on the sofa this would normally be a time the ego-mind would catch my attention with its thoughts of the past or future.  

I turn my attention back to the experience of sitting quietly, listening to the sounds around me. Surprisingly, there are a lot of them. Or, I might notice the sensations in my body. Sometimes, I just notice the thoughts that come up and gently dismiss them, placing my attention on the stillness that is always there waiting for me to notice it. 

This is important because if I am worried about what might happen, making plans, deciding what must be done to assure an outcome I think I prefer I am not living at all. Living requires I be in this present moment without the intrusion of something that is not happening. When I am in the past or future, I am nowhere since past and future do not exist. When I notice this is happening, I return to the present. Sounds simple, but is remarkably difficult to sustain this. 

Most of us have developed lazy mind syndrome. We let the mind wander off in idle fantasies so much so that it happens all the time now. I remember as a child being completely absorbed in the moment, seldom thinking ahead or behind, so I know it can be done. What is needed is to become as a little child again. I think the reason I love this time with Spirit every morning, listening and writing, is because I am completely in the present moment 

The result of consistent practice is that I am aware of the present moment a lot more than I used to be. What I have noticed is that thinking about the past and the future are not as compelling as it used to be. This is still very much a work in progress, but what I have achieved thus far has made a big difference in my life.  

This morning, when I read the lesson that reminds me to place the future in the Hands of God, I realize that this is what I have been doing. As I keep my attention on the present moment and as I watch my thoughts without judgment, I am not planning my future. I fill out my calendar and maybe make a list of what needs to be done, but I hold it loosely and don’t obsess about it. The future is in the Hands of God and that’s good, that’s where it belongs. 

God gives only the good. He gives peace, joy, certainty. When I am experiencing anything else, I know it was not given by God. I give myself guilt, fear, anger, jealousy, and other disturbing feelings. I did this and I must undo it by living in the present moment and placing the future in the Hands of God. My consistent practice has proven to me that I can have God’s gifts if that is my only desire.  

Regina’s Tips 

We play God when we try to force or control circumstances to make them go ‘our way.’ Can our limited point-of-view know what is in the best interest of everyone? And yet, whenever we tamper with what is occurring, we affect ones we will never meet. No interference goes without effects we will never be aware of. 

Isn’t it better to trust the benevolence of truth, to leave all things in its Hands, and practice forgiveness on circumstances that upset us? Until we know we have fully merged with God, and we have no thought or will that is apart from God, let’s leave all things to God. Let’s not entangle the unfolding with our limited and selfish ideas of what should be. 

My Thoughts 

The idea of non-interference in life can be a hard pill to swallow. When things were not going my way, I used to have this knee jerk reaction of trying to control the outcome. Especially when things were going badly for one of my children, I would pray for a better outcome. Now, I tend to pray for understanding, for peace of mind, for another way to see the situation.