Stillness is often hard to come by as the world seems to become evermore fast-paced. There are bills to pay, mouths to feed, errands to run, blogs to write... Yet if we pause for a moment, if we give ourselves a chance to sit quietly and calmly for just a few minutes, the anxiety these "duties" bring will melt away. Truth will take the place of the stresses in our lives, and we will become open to receiving and giving God's gifts freely.
In the hourly five-minute practice periods, we are asked to meditate on the following:
I will be still and listen to the truth.
What does it mean to give and to receive?
In addition to our five-minute meditations every hour, A Course in Miracles advises that we tell ourselves frequently throughout the day:
Let me be still and listen to the truth.
I am the messenger of God today,
My voice is His, to give what I receive.
It is incredible what insight one can achieve by simply being still. If you can, for just a moment before you read on, take one or two minutes to close your eyes and focus only on your breathing. Breathe deeply in and out as you let all outside distractions fade away into the outer rim of your consciousness. Let any thoughts that come pass through your mind without placing any attention upon them. For just one or two minutes, take a moment to do this now...
...
Welcome back. Do you feel better? Of course you do. When we let the distractions of our thoughts and the outside world go for just a moment, we return, if even for an instant, to the Truth of our Being. We are Peace and we are Joy, for we are Love. Nothing can change that. These are the Holy Gifts God has given us. When we are open, when we let the distractions go and allow ourselves to be still, we are able to receive them. When we reside in True Joy and True Peace we naturally want to give these Gifts to others, for in that space we recognize one another as our Brothers and Sisters.
To truly give is to also receive. If we give freely from our hearts, we will receive back that which we give, and in magnification. If we receive Love, Joy and Peace with openness and understanding for What It Is, it would be impossible for us to not share it, for in order to receive these Holy Gifts we must give them. In this state we are an Open Channel. We are aligned with God and with our Brothers and Sisters. Anything given us by God is then immediately extended to everyone else. As they receive it, so does God, and so it is given back to us... This is what it means to give and to receive.
Sharing is perhaps a more comprehensive term for what it means to truly give and receive. When we share, we increase in degree whatever it is we are sharing. In sharing, there is no loss, as it is when we truly give. In sharing, there is no taking away, as it is when we truly receive.
One of the lessons outlined in the text of A Course in Miracles is particularly appropriate to today's lesson:
To have, give all to all.
Another way I interpret this is as such: Give all you have, to have all you give. Now, does this mean that we should empty our bank accounts and give all our money away? Should we clear out our closets and donate every piece of clothing we own? Well, no. Those are just "things" anyway. They are illusions of the physical world and have no real value. To give all we have is to give of what is eternally ours. It is by doing so that we recognize we already have it. Give Peace and Joy to all so that we may know we have it. If giving Peace and Joy manifests as donating money or providing someone with clothes, so be it. But those things are just representations of the Real Gifts of God. They never entail sacrifice, for nothing truly given is lost to us.
The challenge here comes when we are confronted with someone whom we are angry or afraid. This is when forgiveness is paramount. After all, the purpose of forgiving is for giving. It is only when we forgive, when we are able to look past the anger and the fear surrounding the situation, that we can truly give to the other. The converse is true as well: When we give Joy and Peace to the person who has engendered anger and fear within us, we are forgiving them. By doing so, the anger and fear we had perceived will melt away.
Let us remember today that when anxiety begins to run high, we always have a sanctuary to which we can return. Through stillness, we will align ourselves with our Creator, and we will be open to receiving His Gifts for us to share with the rest of His Beloved Children. This is the Truth of our Being. Whenever we forget, let us close our eyes, take a deep breath, and let the distractions of our thoughts and this world fade away. In so doing, we will surely remember our greatness once again.
Until tomorrow,
Journeyman
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