Lesson 143: My mind holds only what I think with God
Review of Lesson 125: In quiet I receive God’s Word today, and
Lesson 126: All that I give is given to myself.
The world is very loud right now. It’s filled with angry, desperate voices demanding justice, not just for one man – George Floyd – who has become the latest black man to die at the hands – and knees – of police officers, but for all the black, brown and minority bodies that have been disregarded, dehumanized and destroyed by white supremacy.
We swim in this sea of noise – told that we are either on top of the heap, in the middle or squashed at the bottom. As white people, we tend to take our position in society for granted. We may have plenty of problems as white people, but they are not compounded by the color of our skin. Black people face a dire reality in this world that white people can only try to understand.
In the noise of protest, this lesson invites us to pause – to remember the Word of God, which is Love – and receive it fully into ourselves. In this moment of noisy protest, those of us with the privilege in this society are invited into the discomfort of our own internalized prejudices – to lean into the pain instead of numbing it, fleeing from it or denying it with some platitude such as “All lives matter.” (Go here to read several different illustrations on why this phrase is so offensive.)
If we who receive privilege in this society simply because of the color of our skin are willing to be quiet, to breathe deeply and begin to listen to the voices of the oppressed around us, we will encounter God’s Word. The voices of Love are speaking to us. They cry out for justice, for mercy, for compassion, for recognition of their very real suffering.
We the privileged have, for too long, simply given more privilege to ourselves. Our ego mind tells us that there isn’t enough to go around in this world – that those who have privilege only have it because they have taken away something from someone else. A Course in Miracles invites us to see this differently – to realize that giving and receiving are the same. If we want dignity and respect for minorities and people of color, we begin by respecting ourselves – by becoming aware of our own blind spots around race, class, gender, nationality or any other form of division and separation we create in this world.
By learning to embrace and respect areas where we have fallen short in enacting of God’s Word of Love for ourselves, we, by extension, offer that spirit of respect and Love to everyone around us. When we are willing to live in our discomfort and be open to the experiences of others, then we receive Love and at the same time extend that Love outward to everyone. All we give we give to ourselves because there is no separation – we are one in Spirit, if not in body. Giving love and appreciation to ourselves – instead of beating ourselves up or feeling guilty because of our privilege – is the first step to recognizing the egoic foundation of our privilege and releasing it to be transformed by Love.
In that moment, Hafiz says, the distance we feel between ourselves and God will yield:
“It knew it had no chance. Distance yielded.
“Like two opponents meeting and one seeing
it was easily ten times more powerful than the other,
so the greater warrior just turned and walked
away, but a spear was thrown into its back,
but that was really nothing; it would be pulled
out and laid aside, and even bowed to.
“My love has become like that:
Ten times the strength of anything that might ever think
to war with me.
And any words shaped like arrows,
what are they to someone my size?
“Distance yields. I guess there are two ways of
saying this.
One is: Something will grow in your future.
And that is true.
“The other is: All surrender to the truly alive heart
and to the eyes that can be always giving.”
(Note: Post written on June 5, 2020)
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash