Lesson 49. God's Voice speaks to me all through the day.
It is quite possible to listen to God's Voice all through the day without
interrupting your regular activities in any way. The part of your mind in which
truth abides is in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it
or not. It is the other part of your mind that functions in the world and obeys
the world's laws. It is this part that is constantly distracted, disorganized
and highly uncertain.
The part that is listening to the Voice for God is calm, always at rest and
wholly certain. It is really the only part there is. The other part is a wild
illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind. Try today not
to listen to it. Try to identify with the part of your mind where stillness and
peace reign forever. Try to hear God's Voice call to you lovingly, reminding you
that your Creator has not forgotten His Son.
We will need at least four five-minute practice periods today, and more if
possible. We will try actually to hear God's Voice reminding you of Him and of
your Self. We will approach this happiest and holiest of thoughts with
confidence, knowing that in doing so we are joining our will with the Will of
God. He wants you to hear His Voice. He gave It to you to be heard.
Listen in deep silence. Be very still and open your mind. Go past all the
raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover your real thoughts and obscure
your eternal link with God. Sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond
the frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world. You do
not live here. We are trying to reach your real home. We are trying to reach the
place where you are truly welcome. We are trying to reach God.
Do not forget to repeat today's idea very frequently. Do so with your eyes open
when necessary, but closed when possible. And be sure to sit quietly and repeat
the idea for today whenever you can, closing your eyes on the world, and
realizing that you are inviting God's Voice to speak to you.
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The commentary on this lesson (below) is from Kenneth Wapnick's eight volume
series of books, called: "Journey Through the Workbook of A Course in Miracles,"
which can be purchased at the following site:??~ M. Street
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson 49. "God's Voice speaks to me all through the day."
*This is a lesson from which many students of A Course in Miracles have derived
a great deal of mileage, unfortunately going the wrong way: to hell rather than
Heaven. They often take this lesson to mean they hear the Holy Spirit tell them
wonderful things -- <all the time>. If we follow the thinking in these lessons,
however, it is obvious that we cannot <hear> God's Voice all through the day
because of our mind's constant clutter. Jesus already has explained the
clutter's presence: our resistance to losing our individual and special
identity. This resistance is reflected in cherishing the ego's voice of
specialness in order to prevent our hearing the Voice of the Holy Spirit, as we
see in this pointed passage from the text:
"You are not special. If you think you are, and would defend your
specialness against the truth of what you really are, how can you know the
truth? What answer that the Holy Spirit gives can reach you, when it is your
specialness to which you listen, and which asks and answers? Its tiny answer,
soundless in the melody that pours from God to you eternally in loving praise of
what you are, is all you listen to. And that vast song of honor and of love for
what you are seems silent and unheard before its "mightiness". You strain your
ears to hear its soundless voice, and yet the Call of God Himself is soundless
to you."
"You can defend your specialness, but never will you hear the Voice for God
beside it." (T.24.II.4:1--5.1)
While it is therefore true that God's Voice speaks to us all through the day --
because the Holy Spirit is in our minds -- this does not mean that we <hear> it.
Pay careful attention to the lesson's words: Jesus does not say we <hear> God's
Voice all through the day, but that God's Voice <speaks> to us all through the
day. We are not going to listen because, again, of our resistance to losing our
identity, expressed through the investment in perpetuating our specialness. That
is why it is so important to read this (and all passages in A Course in
Miracles) very carefully.
Another important point that speaks to the heart of Course students becoming
confused is that we are <always> listening to an inner voice. We cannot listen
to anything else! Our bodies are the vehicles (or: channels) through which
either the voices of the ego or the Holy Spirit "speak." Students often think
that just because they hear an inner voice it must be the Holy Spirit. They
unfortunately have totally forgotten about the <other> voice, which was
specifically and intentionally made to drown out the still, small voice of the
Holy Spirit, as we saw in the above passage. This is why Jesus emphasizes
helping remove our investment in the ego, so that we could inevitably and
naturally "hear" the Voice that speaks for truth. My wife Gloria has made a
similar point when she would remind students that hearing an inner voice they
believe belongs to an entity "on the other side" does not necessarily mean that
entity is more advanced or ego-free than they. In the end, discernment is a
prime prerequisite for any spiritual seeker, no less so for students of A Course
in Miracles who need to discern the difference between the two voices.*
(1) "It is quite possible to listen to God's Voice all through the day without
interrupting your regular activities in any way. The part of your mind [ the
right mind ] in which truth abides is in constant communication with God,
whether you are aware of it or not. It is the other part of your mind that
functions in the world and obeys the world's laws. It is this part that is
constantly distracted, disorganized and highly uncertain."
*This does not mean that if you are in your right mind you are not to obey the
world's laws, as some students would unfortunately misconstrue this. Jesus is
talking about obeying the world's laws because you <believe> they are real laws.
To repeat, he is not saying, for example, that you should become an anarchist or
libertarian. We read, for example, this instruction to teachers of God, his
students who wish to grow beyond their ego selves:
"There is a way of living in the world that is not here, although it seems to
be. You do not change appearance, though you smile more frequently. Your
forehead is serene; your eyes are quiet." (W-pI.155.1:1-3).
In other words, we are not asked to look different or behave differently from
anyone else. What <changes> is our attitude, or which inner teacher we have
chosen to follow. When we listen to the Holy Spirit, the world becomes a
classroom in which its symbols become the language through which we express His
teachings. Lesson 184 discusses this in greater detail, so we will defer further
discussion until then.
The issue is to obey the world's laws of illusion, not because we believe them
to be true, but, again, because they are the <form> through which we express the
mind's <content> of truth in a way that people can respond to without fear. An
early passage in the text makes this essential point of meeting people where
they are -- the illusion of <form> -- yet expressing the truth of the <content>
of the correction, known as the miracle:
"The value of the Atonement does not lie in the manner in which it is
expressed. In fact, if it is used truly, it will inevitably be expressed in
whatever way is most helpful to the receiver. This means that a miracle, to
attain its full efficacy, must be expressed in a language that the recipient can
understand without fear. This does not necessarily mean that this is the highest
level of communication of which he is capable. It does mean, however, that it is
the highest level of communication of which he is capable now. The whole aim of
the miracle is to raise the level of communication, not to lower it by
increasing fear." (T-2.IV.5).
It is the content of love that should be our inspiration and guidance, not any
preconceived notions about the <form> in which that love is to be expressed.
This ensures our response will be kind and non-judgmental, accepting people
where they are, not where we want them to be.*
(2:1-3) "The part that is listening to the Voice for God is calm, always at rest
and wholly certain. It is really the only part there is. The other part is a
wild illusion, frantic and distraught, but without reality of any kind."
*This brings to mind Plato's famous analogy from the Phaedrus of the charioteer
and his two horses, and offers a poetic description of the right and wrong
minds:
"Let it [ the soul ] be likened to the union of powers in a team of winged
steeds and their winged charioteer ... With us men. ... it is a pair of steeds
that the charioteer controls; moreover one of them is noble and good, and of
good stock, while the other has the opposite character, and his stock is the
opposite. Hence the task of our charioteer is difficult and troublesome. ... He
that is on the more honorable side is upright and clean-limbed, carrying his
neck high, with something of a hooked nose; in color he is white, with black
eyes; a lover of glory, but with temperance and modesty; one that consorts with
genuine renown, and needs no whip, being driven by the word of command alone.
The other is crooked of frame, a massive jumble of a creature, with thick short
neck, snub nose, black skin, and grey eyes; hot-blooded, consorting with
wantonness and vainglory; shaggy of ear, deaf, and hard to control with whip and
goad (Phaedrus 246a; 253d-e).
This was an analogy that influenced Freud's view of the psyche, whereby Plato's
depiction formed the basis for Freud's understanding of the <Id>, or the
unconscious. That, of course, is the nature of the ego thought system: a
reservoir of hatred, murder, and viciousness.*
(2:4-6) "Try today not to listen to it. Try to identify with the part of your
mind where stillness and peace reign forever. Try to hear God's Voice call to
you lovingly, reminding you that your Creator has not forgotten His Son."
*Again, we can observe the implication of Jesus' urging: He asks us to recognize
our call to the ego, and then choose against it in favor of our right minds,
wherein dwell stillness and peace. We are encouraged to choose again, despite
Jesus' awareness that our resistance is great. Yet it is early in our training,
and there is still much to learn and practice.*
(3) "We will need at least four five-minute practice periods today, and more if
possible. We will try actually to hear God's Voice reminding you of Him and of
your Self. We will approach this happiest and holiest of thoughts with
confidence, knowing that in doing so we are joining our will with the Will of
God. He wants you to hear His Voice. He gave It to you to be heard."
*Another pep talk: God's Voice <is> within us, and patiently awaits our choice.*
(4) "Listen in deep silence. Be very still and open your mind. Go past all the
raucous shrieks and sick imaginings that cover your real thoughts and obscure
your eternal link with God. Sink deep into the peace that waits for you beyond
the frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds of this insane world. You do
not live here. We are trying to reach your real home. We are trying to reach the
place where you are truly welcome. We are trying to reach God."
*Jesus wants us to be <really> clear about our purpose. However, we cannot reach
God without going past the "raucous shrieks and sick imaginings" of the ego; and
we cannot go past those shrieks and fantasies without looking at them. Thus,
opening our minds means the decision maker chooses the Holy Spirit's forgiveness
instead of the ego's attack. We have already seen that in order to reach God we
have to set aside our identification with the ego's voice of specialness, and it
is the workbook's aim to help us reach God through this process.*
(5) "Do not forget to repeat today's idea very frequently. Do so with your eyes
open when necessary, but closed when possible. And be sure to sit quietly and
repeat the idea for today whenever you can, closing your eyes on the world, and
realizing that you are inviting God's Voice to speak to you."
*Jesus returns to his emphasis on doing the lessons with eyes open or closed,
although his current preference in our training is our eyes shut, maximizing the
experience that it is our <thoughts> that need correction. As we have repeatedly
seen in the recent lessons, we are urged to apply the idea for the day as often
as we can remember: "very frequently," "whenever you can." In this way, we
reinforce our learning that it is the Holy Spirit's wisdom and love we truly
want -- found in our <minds,> not in the world.*
