Lesson 188 of A Course in Miracles gives us one of my favorite teachings, and it’s transformed my understanding of what this whole spiritual journey is actually for.
In paragraph 5, ACIM says:
“The Peace of God can never be contained.
Who recognizes it within himself must give it.
And the means for giving it are in his understanding.”
Please take a breath with that.
The Peace of God can never be contained.
This is the promise that is given to us in our heart.
The Peace of God is here, in the kingdom which is within our own heart. Peace can’t be hoarded. It can’t be kept private. It can’t be collected like a spiritual trophy for our personal enjoyment.
When we recognize Peace within ourselves, we MUST give it. We’re compelled to share it and we share it without effort. Everyone we come in contact with receives it.
The means for extending Peace to our brothers and sisters is already in our understanding. It’s encoded into our beingness. We don’t have to go somewhere else to learn how. We don’t need another certificate, another book, another workshop outside ourselves.
The giving is in our being the Peace.
We’re called to BE the Peace we’d like to see in the world.
Which means our whole lives become sacred ministry, because we’re choosing to BE the Peace right in the middle of wherever we happen to be.
Can we be patient and kind at the Starbucks?
Can we be patient and kind in the grocery store?
Can we be patient and kind with the telemarketer?
Can we be patient and kind with the family member who so often triggers us?
Do we have to go somewhere to be of service? Can’t we be of service every minute of every day simply by being peaceful, extending Love, living in our true spiritual identity?
For me, this is the liberation of my soul.
Every day, I see there are “hooks” calling me to identify with the ego. And every day, there are so many more moments calling me to identify with the Spirit.
The Peace of God can never be contained.
When we’re triggered by the world we get to remember: the person in front of us is a holy messenger. Someone who’s offering us the opportunity to live the teaching instead of just talking about it. They are the holy messenger of our past experiences, where we’re still living in the past.
We come into the present. We give thanks for the body acting like a divine alarm clock, ringing and saying, “Do I choose to strengthen the pattern of separation, or will I choose Love?”
The more challenging it feels, the more healing our loving choice is.
It’s so helpful to understand that. When we make a loving choice, we share the benefits with everyone, because we’re one with them. We can think of every mother, every father, every grandparent, every person who’s ever felt frustrated or irritated and didn’t choose Peace.
That’s how we extend and share our healing with everyone. Everyone is lifted.
Let the healing echo throughout all time and space.
In this way, we’re liberators.
This is what it means to BE the Peace. This is what we’re really here for. We’re part of God and we’re doing the sacred work of bringing Love where there’s only been pain.
If you’d like to step into this level of Peace practice with me, I’d like to invite you to our FREE 8 Classes Living A Course in Miracles – Cultivating a Peaceful Mind with ACIM Teachers Jon Mundy, Mark Anthony Lord, Lisa Natoli, Rev. Myron Jones and me! Click here to learn more.
TODAY: Sundays with Spirit – join me and Tedd Swartz – for inspirational message and music! Of course it’s FREE all you have to do is register and then join us today!
NEW PODCAST EPISODE: What Is Justice? I thought I knew what justice was. Then I sat with Chapter 19 of the Manual for Teachers, and the word stopped making sense. A Course in Miracles offers a definition of justice that has nothing to do with punishment, fairness, or getting even. What IS it, then? Why does forgiveness depend on it? What’s the one word we use without thinking that may be silently blocking every forgiveness attempt we’ve ever made? Listen with me on Episode 735.
