Lesson 60: Review of Lessons 46 – 50
These are the main ideas from lessons 46 – 50:
46. God is the Love in which I forgive.
47. God is the strength in which I trust.
48. There is nothing to fear.
49. God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.
50. I am sustained by the Love of God.
I’ve always been the sort to rely on myself and am very hesitant to ask other people to help me – even when that might be a good idea. I often feel like I am imposing on others when I ask for help and wonder, sometimes, why they would help at all. What’s in it for them? Consequently, I end up relying on my own strength, knowledge and wits – which often don’t work out very well for me.
These last five lessons that we’re reviewing remind us that we are not in this life alone, no matter how hard the ego tries to convince us that we are. In the US, we are enamored with the individual – the self-made man or woman, the one who “goes it alone.” What we overlook in the “self-made” person are all the societal and other often invisible supports or advantages they had over others and too often those who “go it alone” can, too soon, become “lone wolf” types who may do harm to themselves or others.
We are inherently social creatures. It’s part of our evolution – since we obviously need one another to survive in this ego-eat-ego world and its unpredictability. Our need for one another can be abused by the ego, of course, which likes to divide us up by tribes defined by ideology, race, creed, nationality or political opinions.
These lessons serve as a reminder that our one commonality is that we are all thoughts in the mind of God – all unified in the realm of spirit no matter what our differences may appear to be on this bodily level. With so much perceived danger around us from the world’s natural elements and the cruelty and indifference that the ego can breed within us all, it’s good to remember that commonality – and tune into that Voice for God that lives within us all when we become frightened, anxious or discouraged.
When we need help in this world, it is good to be able to rely on one another, whether it’s friends, families or even complete strangers who appear in our time of need. These lessons, though, encourage us to ask for help from the one Source that bring us everything we need – often in the form of other people and circumstances that surround us.
When we can become convinced that God is our source and our strength and provides the Love we need to forgive ourselves and others in this world and the Love that will sustain us no matter how much chaos we perceive around us, then we will understand, on a deep level, that there really is nothing to fear. It’s true that sickness, accidents or other events may wound, or even kill, our bodies – but on that spiritual level, we are never in any danger. This isn’t a call to be reckless with our lives – but to surrender our lives to God’s guidance in every moment of the day.
When I know that God is always ready and available to summon the help I need in this world – and I trust in that Love to sustain me and help me forgive anything that has upset me – then I can put my problems in perspective and know that they all stem from my sense of separation – my ego’s need to feel independent.
None of us are “self-made” in this world, and none of us ever can “go it alone.” We are all stitched together in interdependence on one another, because we are all part of God’s everlasting mind. There really is only one of us here and whatever we do for another helps us – and whatever we do to harm another ultimately harms us.
If we can learn to let go of our rugged individualism and return to the unity of God, fear and separation will immediately end and we will live each moment in peace and joy.
Or as Hafiz advises: “Dear ones, let’s anoint this earth with dance!”
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