[acimlessons_list] Review II< Lesson 83 - March 24

[Sue Roth]

Reveiw II, Lesson 83 - March 24

"My only function is the one God gave me."

"My happiness and my function are one."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

Longer: 2 times (once for each of the ideas), for about 15 minutes

* For 3 or 4 minutes, slowly read over the idea and comments (repeatedly if
you wish) and think about them. *	Close your eyes and spend the
remainder listening for the message the Holy Spirit has for you. We can see
this time of listening as having the following components:

1. Listen "quietly but attentively" (3:1)..listen in stillness and with all
your attention.

2. Hold an attitude of confidence ("this message belongs to me"), desire ("I
want this message"), and  determination ("I'm determined to succeed").

3. Listening for ten minutes can easily be one big invitation to mind
wandering, and so the majority of instruction for this exercise deals with
this issue. For out-of-control mind wandering, go back and repeat the first
phase. For more minor wandering, realize the distracting thoughts have no
power and that your will has all the power, and then replace the thoughts
with your will to succeed. Do so with firmness. "Do not allow your intent to
waver" (4:1). "Refuse to be sidetracked" (5:2).

This is not mentioned in the instructions, but you may find it helpful to
actually ask for the message, at the beginning and then periodically
throughout. You may say, for instance, "What is Your message for me today?"
You may even want to use this request as the specific vehicle for dispelling
wandering thoughts.

REMARKS: Regard these exercises as dedication to God. Refuse to be
distracted. Be determined to assume your function today.

SHORTER: Frequent

First half of day: "My only function is the one God gave me." 

Second half of day: "My happiness and my function are one."

RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION:

You may use these specific forms or your own words:

First half of day: "My perception of this does not change my function."
"This does not give me a function other than the one God gave me." "Let me
not use this to justify a function God did not give me."

Second half of the day: "This cannot separate my happiness from my
function." "The oneness of my happiness and my function remains wholly
unaffected by this." "Nothing, including this, can justify the illusion of
happiness apart from my function."

COMMENTARY

To be without conflicting goals in life is a wonderful blessing. Most of the
time, I feel stressed out with conflicting goals. I want to exercise but I
have a deadline to meet for work. I want to spend time with my friends but
my favorite TV program is on. And so on. When I am able to realize that my
only function is the one God gave me -- forgiveness, or simply being happy
instead of being angry or upset -- things become marvelously clear. My goal
becomes to be at peace, to be happy, to be serene and unaffected by what
surrounds me. "What to do, what to say and what to think" (1:4) simply comes
to me. Perhaps I realize that it makes no real difference whether I exercise
or write. Perhaps I realize that one or the other can wait. Remembering my
one and only true goal somehow sorts out everything else.

I used to think that when I had a conflict, the only way to become peaceful
again was to make a decision, to resolve the conflict. It rarely worked.
Usually, when I made my choice, I felt some distress at what I was leaving
undone, or some loss at what I could not do because of my choice (e.g. watch
TV or be with my friends; one or the other had to be "sacrificed"). Lately
I've begun to realize that if I put becoming peaceful at the top of the
list, if I choose to be peaceful <first>, before making my decision (perhaps
taking a minute just to close my eyes and be quiet, remembering Who is with
me), the decision becomes simple, and there is no sense of sacrifice. I just
know what to do.

This is the way to be happy. My function is one with my happiness. If I can
be at peace, letting go of my grievances, the little demands I constantly
make of life, I am happy. Like forgiveness, happiness is a choice I can make
at any time.

I notice today that the examples given of different ways to apply the ideas
in specific situations seem to emphasize a kind of negation. They stress
that the situation, or the way we perceive things, can <not> affect us if we
so choose. The way I perceive this doesn't change my function, give me a
different function, or justify selecting a goal other than the one God gave
me. No matter what I see, no matter what happens, nothing will alter the
fact that the only way I will find happiness is if I fulfill my function of
forgiveness, blessing, and peace. There is no happiness apart from my
function, and I am deceived by an illusion whenever I think there is. Do I
expect to find happiness by indulging worry, justifying my anger, indulging
my appetites, or licking my wounds of pain? It will never happen. Only in
forgiveness, only in releasing everyone and everything from all my demands
and expectations, only in quiet peacefulness of mind will I ever find my
happiness.