by marybethscalice, August 16, 2018
Moving and waiting, though apparently opposite intellectual ideas, are thoughts introduced to us now as we move from words to direct experience; as we hold our tongues from repetitious mantras, and open our hearts to a new goal. Our new goal encompasses both movement and stillness.
Movement occurs in mind, in heart, as the soul shifts its position. We have focused intently on the Holy Spirit, and on developing relationship with Jesus. Now, movement draws us into the Father, the ultimate accomplishment set by the Course, and the goal of all spiritual practice. We want our Father. As WB Lesson 225 says,
God is my Father, and His Son (Me) loves Him.
God, as Father is the goal. And we have been promised completion. We have come each morning to sit with the words of our daily lessons. We have forged a bond with the Son, Christ Jesus, (Jesse) and opened the inner ear to the Voice for Love, the Holy Spirit. But the Father? The Father is the aspect of Trinity that seems to elude us. Our holy instants have not directly included Him. Perhaps we have felt He is far too above us. Perhaps we still fear a Deity of severity. He has not given us the fuzzie-feelies, and up to now, Jesus has coddled us like chicks under the downy warmth of mama’s silky feathers.
It is time, yes, the time of the Father, Grandpoppi. It is time to know Him. But there are conditions. The Holy Instant has new wrappings, unlike before.
We are asked to drop words. If you are like me, this is difficult. I hang on to Jesse’s every word like it is a breath coming to me from some dark underwater cave.
We are asked to be faithful in holding Him to His promise. If you are like me you almost forget there were promises. It seems to me that I am always the one saying, I promise to be happier, to be kinder, to be more giving. And I often fail. His promise is not to change Himself. He says, if we are inviting, He will reveal Himself. … He has promised that His Son will not remain unanswered when he calls his Name. WB 2 Intro.2. We are urged to call to Him with just a simple Word, believing that He will answer, trusting His promise is true. We are asked to return the faithfulness we have received from Him. He trusts us to invite. We must trust His Answer.
This is where movement and stillness marry into one thing…waiting; not impatiently to fulfill our agendas; not with our own ideas about what we are doing as we wait. This waiting is Present. It has no past. It is only the purest Desire. It is faith waiting, on God now! It is faith that moves us toward completion by being utterly still.
We are asked to wait, wait wait….
There is a new spin on waiting as given by the Introduction to Part 2. It involves our seeing our practice in time differently. Time spent with God is no longer as a matter of duration, not the counting of minutes or the number of practices per day. We call to him as needed for the result we desire.2 The Call is not a prayer, or a practice. It is expectation.
…we wait in quiet expectation for our God and Father. He has promised…we are sure His promises are kept. We have come far along the road, and now we wait for Him.I.2.1
This is a new to the student of ACIM. She no longer measures time. She is no longer walks the road to reach Him. She is quiet. She is empty, but for the trust that He will come to her. She is full of invitation, welcome, wonder that He shall come to us.
We wait for Him to take the step to us that he has told us, through His Voice He would not fail to take when we invited Him. I.2.4.
Waiting with such trust can be difficult. We are used to doing, fixing, praying, healing.
How do we wait?
Jesus says wait this way:
…instead of words, feel His Love.
… instead of prayer, call His Name
… instead of judging, be still and let all things be healed.
… accept the way God’s plan will end, as you received the way it started. wb2 Intro.1. 10
How did it start? With the birth of the Christ, incarnate on earth; with the Truth and Light come to live among us, and be for us the way station Home. All these lessons of the year have been aimed at receiving Jesus and His Plan of Salvation. It is beloved Jess, that girds us up again, giving us the strength to wait, because we wait with Him, together.
I am so close to you we cannot fail. Wb 2. Intro. 6
It is Jess that teaches us how:
…be unafraid, be certain of His coming, look toward the journey’s end with Christ’s vision,
Christ’s gratefulness. Ask for the fulfillment of His Promise and know it is God’s Will that you ask,
that you desire Him. Seek Him with confidence and rest upon His Love.
A prayer is offered for us and with us, the prayer of The Christ, as we join with Him in the vision of eternity.
Father …we look not backward now. We look ahead and fix our eyes upon the journey’s end… And now we wait in silence unafraid and certain of Your coming. We have thought to find our way by following the Guide You sent to us. We did not know the way, but you did not forget us. And we know that You will not forget us now. We ask but that Your ancient promises be kept which are Your Will to keep. We will with You in asking this. The Father and the Son, Whose holy will created all that is can fail in nothing. In this certainty, we undertake these last few steps to You and rest in confidence upon Your Love, Which will not fail the Son who calls to You.
WB 2 Intro 6, 7
Look where we are! Look how far we have come. We have joined with Jesus and now Jesus joins us with Our Father, the Great Grandpoppi of Creation. The lessons which follow are reminders to wait well, to wait peacefully, and to wait together. WB Lesson 221 says it simply,
Now, do we wait in quiet. God is here because we wait together. wb2. 221. 2