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221 Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still.

MT: One of my favorite affirmations, JC.
JC: Yes. A mind still as a lake in the moonlight, reflecting only the presence of God. What more could we desire?
MT: There was a time when I did not even dream of the possibility of a still mind. My ego chatter was the only state known to me.
JC: Welcome to the Kingdom.
MT: Or at least a hint of the Kingdom--a herald of eternity.

222 God is with me. I live and move in Him.

MT: This affirmation entails a basic reworking of our made-up God, doesn't it? From the bearded judge in the sky--the God of my youth--to a pervasive, beneficent presence.
JC: You got it. And words fail here, because God cannot be defined in words. You can talk about God, but you will always fall short of the mark, because God is an experience, not a thing.
MT: Ah! I like that! God is an experience, not a thing. We thingify our world and in doing so we rob ourselves of the richness of experience.
JC: That is why you need silence. That is why you need to let go of your ideas and come empty-handed unto your God. That is why "finding God" is an impossibility, because God always finds you in the end.
MT: The fish cannot "find" water because it's in it all along. You cannot "find yourself" because you are yourself all along. How could we even begin to imagine that we had lost ourselves and lost God! What a preposterous idea! And, JC, it's such a comfort to "feel" God on my skin, in the air I breathe, in the gentle breeze touching my cheek. I am forever grateful to you for bringing us this magnificent guide to peace.

223 God is my life. I have no life but His.

224 God is my Father, and He loves his Son.

MT: The Lessons are much more direct now, JC. I see that they seek to establish a direct, hierarchical relationship with God.
JC: The God you thought you left so long ago, yes.
MT: For a long time as I did the lessons, the word "father" ground on my nerves. The relationship with my earthly father was a difficult one for me.
JC: It need not be. You know he loved you, he just didn't know how to love himself.
MT: That is so true. He tried and tried again, and every time he tried, he ran into his own barriers.
JC: With this work, we are removing the barriers to love. It is the most important thing you will ever do in this lifetime.
MT: Thanks, JC. My most important task and role. The thought is almost overwhelming.
JC: God is your father, always was, will always be, loving you in a way that your earthly father never could, no matter how hard he tried.
MT: I want to love "as God." I want to love my brothers, and myself, as God loves us.

225 God is my Father, and His Son loves Him.

MT: Been a busy two days, JC, going from one thing to another without a pause. I've become accustomed to a slower pace. I am thankful, though, that I was able to help Rick with his feelings of confusion and guilt. It's a heady feeling, to be a vehicle for the Holy Spirit. The time was right, he looked for that kind of help, and I was there. It was a coming together of events, time, space, and people. Doesn't happen often, and I want to be open to that synchronicity. It is my heart's desire.
JC: You are open, right now, to being an instrument of God's peace. May you stay that way.
MT: God's peace is like a mysterious command from another sphere. The universal wheels turn and opportunity comes around. How ecstatic the feeling of being there when it happens.
JC: You will live increasingly from this mystery. The door is open now.

226 My home awaits me. I will hasten there.

MT: The city is quiet at this early hour. This lesson has a hint of death, of leaving the body, of going home to God. Talk to me about death and dying. My friend Elsa will not last the week. I feel such reverence in her profound stillness.
JC: This is my church, where two come together as one with God.
MT: The attendants breeze in with fake cheer and loud voices. It is jarring. I want to shake them: Pay attention! Elsa's Great Moment is at hand! But they do not hear, they are like ants.
JC: They might hear you better if you whispered.
MT: And I? Where do I fit in?
JC: You heard it already: practice dying.
MT: That's my practice, isn't it--to cultivate the profound stillness that comes from Elsa. One dies to the world and is reborn to eternal life.

227 This is my holy instant of release.

MT: Good morning, JC. Still sleepy here. Having a hard time focusing my eyes, not to mention my mind.
JC: That is fine. Come as you are to your holy instant of release.
MT: No need to clean up before the maid walks in, I guess.
JC: If you did not need Atonement, you would not need Atonement.
MT: One of the blessings of this Course--to allow what is, to forgive what is, and to let it go.
JC: Which means to walk the world without defense.
MT: I like that. Today I walk the world without defense. There is nothing to defend.
JC: There is nothing to defend. In this holy instant you are released.

228 God has condemned me not. No more do I.

MT: I feel slightly condemning today, JC. Please assist here.
JC: What is the unforgiveness you are holding?
MT: The unforgiveness of my body, I think. After an hour of stretching, I'm still 71. I haven't forgiven my body for not being a trapeze artist in Cirque du Soleil. Can you imagine the ecstasy of soaring 100 feet above ground?
JC: That soaring--the spirit soars. You remember that. That is a memory you hold.
MT: I am not a body, am I. God did not condemn me to die with the body.
JC: God did not make you a body.
MT: What I want, what I really want, is vision.
JC: You have vision right now, this moment. You ARE vision. Vision is the gift of God. Vision is life. Make no more darkness today.

229 Love, which created me, is what I am.

MT: I want to curl up in bed, after eight hours' sleep. I am avoiding something, aren't I?
JC: You are avoiding God, of course. What other forms does the avoidance of God take, in your life?
MT: I avoid God when I get sleepy right after eight hours in bed. I avoid God when I eat on top of a full belly. I avoid God when I watch yet another episode of Weeds, despite my back's message that I've been sitting too long.
JC: Enough of looking for error! How do you invite God in?
MT: Ah, yes. I invite God in when I talk to my plants. I invite God in when I rock the cat on the floor. I invite God in when I look into my grandchild's eyes and remind her she is perfect. I invite God in when I return attack with gentleness. I invite God in when I stop whatever I am doing and say, "JC, help me out here."
JC: Yes . . . you invite God in when you manifest love in the world of form.

230 Now will I seek and find the peace of God.

MT: Your use of poetry is superb, JC.
JC: Thanks. I learned from the best.
MT: Shakespeare?
JC: And others. How does the lesson apply to you, today, here, now?
MT: Awww. So much more convenient to focus on you.
JC: And less conducive to peace! You have focused on others all your life, now it's time to take it all in.
MT: So, my goal today is to seek and find the peace of God, rather than to allow distractions to control me.
JC: Yes. It is possible to be with others and retain the peace of God.
MT: When I look someone in the eyes, judgments flood in--mostly judgments of myself. I think they are judging me.
JC: And they think you are judging them, so you and your brother bounce the ball of judgment back and forth and there is no end to the game, except to say "stop."
MT: OK, today I will silently repeat this beautiful affirmation: I seek and find the peace of God in your eyes, brother.

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