Lesson 73: I will there be light.
I chuckle every time I read this lesson because of this one line: “Do you really want to be in hell?”
It makes me laugh because that’s where we always put ourselves when we rely on the ego to tell us what to do, where to go and what to say to those we encounter during the day. We spread the contagion of hell every time we follow the ego’s directives, because the ego wants to project all of its grievances, all of its selfish and greedy desires out onto the world. This is, the Course says, how we create the world: “Your picture of the world can only mirror what is within.”
The entire point of A Course in Miracles is help us eliminate the hell of fear that lurks inside of us in the form of ego and live fully into the heaven of the Divine that also resides within. We created this world, the Course said, when we “forgot to laugh,” when we forgot that we are joy, love, peace and compassion incarnate. We are created by Love to be Love, but we forgot our true self and instead created bodies to give the illusion of separation. Our task now is to remember who we truly are – Light encased in flesh.
The flesh we inhabit is temporary, but our Light is eternal because the Source of that Light is the Holy. Our only function here is to remember who we are, dispel the hell of darkness within, and instead shine God’s Light of Love into the world. We can only do that when we give up our grievances – when we stop complaining that the world should not be this way. It is this way because, out of our own darkness, we have created a dark world.
We can remake this world in our true image – that image of Light and Love that we all possess – and create what the Course calls a “happy dream.” From that state, God does the rest of the work to bring enlightenment to the world through those of us who understand our function in this world as Light Bringers.
We become bringers of light when all we will to see in this world is light. We must practice each moment seeing those around us as simply Light, trapped within a body that likes to project Hell and darkness. We can either join them in hell or invite them into the Light of Heaven that can shine from us when we lay down our judgment and grievances.
Whenever we feel tempted to air a grievance today – whether in person or through social media – the Course advises us to pause and take a moment to say, “I will there be light. Darkness is not my will.”
Hafiz tells us our grievances often get the best of us and land us in a hell of our own making because we are thirsty for “a drink of Love.”
He writes:
I know the way you can get when you have not had a drink of Love:
Your face hardens, your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
about a strange look that appears in your eyes
Which even begins to worry your own mirror and nose.
Squirrels and birds sense your sadness
and call an important conference in a tall tree.
They decide which secret code to chant to help your mind and soul.
Even angels fear that brand of madness
that arrays itself against the world
And throws sharp stones and spears
into the innocent and into one’s self.
O I know the way you can get if you have not been drinking Love:
You might rip apart every sentence your friends and teachers say,
looking for hidden clauses.
You might weigh every word on a scale like a dead fish.
You might pull out a ruler
to measure from every angle in your darkness
The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once trusted.
I know the way you can get
if you have not had a drink from Love’s hands.
That is why all the Great Ones speak
of the vital need to keep remembering God,
So you will come to know and see Him as being so playful and wanting,
just wanting to help.
That is why Hafiz says: bring your cup near me,
for all I care about is quenching
your thirst for freedom!
All a sane man can ever care about is giving Love!
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