Lesson
87: Review of:
Lesson 73: I will there be light, and
Lesson 74: There is no will but God’s.
Whether it’s a hurricane, famine, terrorist attack or now this pandemic, scratch the surface of humanity and you’ll find a bunch of people talking about how whatever’s going on is “God’s will,” or at least God’s “punishment” for something humans do, such as dare to love someone of their same gender. (Can you hear my eyes rolling?)
Such grievances – and yes, they are grievances – are what keep us from willing that there be light and recognizing that there is no will but God’s. A Course in Miracles tells us time and again that we are free to follow our own will – to see the world through the lens of competition and fear and believe all we want to in the ego’s false god of punishment and wrath.
We can put all our faith in the ego, or we can put all our faith in God. There is no in-between. We cannot kinda believe in miracles and have them happen. Either we surrender our will to God’s will or we don’t. You can’t be a half-assed miracle worker.
The ego, however, convinces us that this dangerous. If we give over our will to God, then what happens? Does God then demand that I go and sacrifice my life and leave my home and worldly possessions and go on a mission to other side of the world? Well, God might do that kind of thing – if that’s your work to do in this world. If it isn’t, then no. You’ll probably be in the same place doing the same kinds of things – only with a spirit of Love instead of a spirit of fear.
We are all here to learn our particular lessons – we each have a specialized curriculum – and if you’re supposed to be doing your work penniless in the Congo, then God will provide a way for you to do it and love every single minute of it. Others will do their work from the comfort of their own homes, and maybe even with a fat bank account. The one in the Congo may consider such arrangements hellish, preferring to be among the people, and the one living in comfort may not last two days in Congo.
This is what happens when you live in God’s will for your life – you discover it was also your true will for your life as well – since you and God are one. There is one will and we have convinced ourselves that there can be two – our will and God’s will. Saying, “there is no will but God’s,” simply reminds us of the truth. There is one will and the rest is all illusion, enforced by the ego and its “priests,” as Catherine of Siena has so adeptly pointed out.
She writes:
All has been
consecrated.
The creatures in the forest know this,
the earth does, the seas do, the clouds know
as does the heart full of love.
Strange a priest would rob us of this knowledge
And then
empower himself with the ability
to make holy what already was.
Photo by Andre Gorham II on Unsplash