Day 328

Today's Lesson:

I choose the second place to gain the first.

What seems to be the second place is first, for all things we perceive are upside down until we listen to the Voice for God. It seems that we will gain autonomy but by our striving to be separate, and that our independence from the rest of God's creation is the way in which salvation is obtained. Yet all we find is sickness, suffering and loss and death. This is not what our Father wills for us, nor is there any second to His Will. To join with His is but to find our own. And since our will is His, it is to Him that we must go to recognize our will.

There is no will but Yours. And I am glad that nothing I imagine contradicts what You would have me be. It is Your Will that I be wholly safe, eternally at peace. And happily I share that Will which You, my Father, gave as part of me.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I struggled a bit at first when determining what is the second place in today's text. After thinking about it for a while, I see that the second place is my interpretation of the world - my perception of the way things are. When I was in high school, I remember a longing to be in college - I kept thinking that things would be so much better when I had the autonomy I wanted to just be who I thought I was at the time. Then, when I got to college, I remember feeling like I should be someplace else - this freedom felt so foreign to me. I had some days where I didn't have class until 10 a.m. and other days when I was done with class by 2:00 - I didn't HAVE to be anywhere; heck, I didn't even HAVE to go to class if I didn't want to.

Then there was the time when I was ready to be done with college, looking forward to my first "real" job. And from there, it was on to another job, and lots of times I'd think "if only," and "when I" which prevented me from enjoying the moment I was in. In fact, I still find myself in those positions if I'm not present. My ego wants to keep me from being in the present moment, either by instilling fear or mulling over the past. This is the second place.

I will not find the peace and comfort and love and salvation that I seek by looking at how I can separate myself from everyone and everything. I have the ability to choose differently and by putting my own "will" second, I can accept that God's Will is really mine. It's really all about re-membering (remembering) or coming together again with my Self, which never left God's Will. That is why I must choose the second place to gain the first, or unity with the Will of God.

I came across a great website this morning called Pathways of Light where I found this explanation of today's lesson:

"This world is a distraction from knowing God's Will. This world is the effect of choosing independence from God's Will. The distraction of the body could take up all my time if I let it. This distraction will continue until I change my mind about the purpose of the world. My experience of this false world will continue until I am willing to follow the Holy Spirit's lead."

That understanding and acceptance of the Truth of the Holy Spirit is my miracle for today. As I choose Spirit, I will notice ego slipping away and will experience more glimpses of the first place. I realize that this is a process - enjoying the journey instead of fighting against it will make the process more enjoyable. But not enjoying the journey won't mean I won't reach the destination because the destination is ensured. Since that's the case, I choose the path of enlightenment and joy!