“Each hour that you take your rest today, a tired mind is suddenly made glad, a bird with broken wings begins to sing, a stream long dry begins to flow again.” (ACIM, W-109.6:1)
In this YouTube video, Susan Dugan and Bruce Rawles read and commented on Lesson 109: “I rest in God.” (ACIM, W-109) from the Workbook of A Course In Miracles; here are the first three paragraphs of that lesson:
“1. We ask for rest today, and quietness unshaken by the world’s appearances. ²We ask for peace and stillness, in the midst of all the turmoil born of clashing dreams. ³We ask for safety and for happiness, although we seem to look on danger and on sorrow. ⁴And we have the thought that will answer our asking with what we request.
2. “I rest in God.” ²This thought will bring to you the rest and quiet, peace and stillness, and the safety and the happiness you seek. ³“I rest in God.” ⁴This thought has power to wake the sleeping truth in you, whose vision sees beyond appearances to that same truth in everyone and everything there is. ⁵Here is the end of suffering for all the world, and everyone who ever came and yet will come to linger for a while. ⁶Here is the thought in which the Son of God is born again, to recognize himself.
3. “I rest in God.” ²Completely undismayed, this thought will carry you through storms and strife, past misery and pain, past loss and death, and onward to the certainty of God. ³There is no suffering it cannot heal. ⁴There is no problem that it cannot solve. ⁵And no appearance but will turn to truth before the eyes of you who rest in God.”
Our perfect rest is assured, yet we must want it. We want it by not pushing peace away. We push peace away by insisting that our (mis)interpretations are important, that my unholy purpose of separation is the only choice I have and want, and that I would rather hang onto guilt instead of realizing the enormous cost to me and everyone I think of with a thought system (ego) that can only condemn. The internal process of introspection and honest assessment of our peace (or lack thereof) motivates us to heal our minds.
Inclusion: Consistent peace requires accepting the idea that everyone – without exception – is part of our shared identity.
Humor: Consistent peace requires the willingness to not take the “tiny mad idea” of separation (as well as the manifested projections of that insane belief into the dream of space and time) seriously:
“Into eternity, where all is one, there crept a tiny, mad idea, at which the Son of God remembered not to laugh.³In his forgetting did the thought become a serious idea, and possible of both accomplishment and real effects.⁴Together, we can laugh them both away, and understand that time cannot intrude upon eternity.⁵It is a joke to think that time can come to circumvent eternity, which means there is no time.”(ACIM, T-27.VIII.6:2-5)
I referred to a quote (excerpted below) from Baird T. Spalding’s classic metaphysical work, Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East: that resonates with the quality of restful peace that transcends our apparent limitations as prisoners within a turbulent and tyrannical nightmare of a world:
“… I whisper to God my Father and I am undisturbed.”
(This video was recorded on November 30, 2024.)
If you have questions or comments about this video, previous videos in this ACIM-related video series, or other Course-related topics, please email them to us via the ACIMblog.com contact form. Susan and Bruce will review and try to respond to questions and suggestions for future conversations. We look forward to extending the conversation with you!
If you are interested in Susan’s excellent weekly Tuesday evening classes based on the teachings of Kenneth Wapnick, you can contact her here.
Here are some prior ACIM-related conversations with Susan Dugan and Bruce Rawles.
We like to remind those who have enjoyed these conversations to check out the latest releases from FACIM as well as support the work of Susan and Bruce (via PayPal links at the bottom of the sidebars on their respective websites) if you feel inspired to do so. THANKS!
