Lesson 258 • September 15

 

Read on the ACIM CE App: https://acimce.app/:W-258

Lesson 258

Let me remember that my goal is God.

Practice Instructions

See complete instructions in a separate document. A short summary:

  • Read the commentary paragraph slowly and personally.
  • Pray the prayer, perhaps several times.
  • Morning and evening: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind Meditation.
  • Hourly remembrance: Repeat the idea and then spend time in Open Mind Meditation.
  • Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea and then spend a quiet moment in meditation.
  • Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.
  • Read the “What Is” section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.

Commentary

Have you noticed we are into a series of “let me remember” days? Starting with yesterday’s lesson, there are four “let me remembers” in a row: “what my purpose is,” “that my goal is God,” “that there is no sin,” and “God created me.” There was one earlier lesson also (Lesson 124): “Let me remember I am one with God.”

That is one of the things Workbook practice is all about: remembering. How often during the day does the lesson for the day cross my mind? How often do I pause to reflect on it for a minute or two? How often does my state of mind reflect my only purpose, or God as my goal? And how much of the time does my mind reflect something quite contrary? The purpose of set times—morning, evening, and hourly—is to retrain my mind to think along the lines of the Course. There is no question in my mind that we need such training and such practice.

All that is needful is to train our minds to overlook all little, senseless aims, and to remember that our goal is God. (1:1)

The “little senseless aims,” however, loom large in our consciousness, and do not seem little to us; they preoccupy our minds and keep them from their true goal. So training is “needful.” The memory of God is in us already (1:2); we don’t have to dig for it. “God is in your memory” (T-10.II.2:4). All that we need to do is “overlook” or give up “our pointless little aims, which offer nothing and do not exist” (1:2); they are obscuring the memory of God within us. With them out of the way, the memory of God will come flooding back into our awareness.

The “toys and trinkets of the world” that we so avidly pursue cause “God’s grace to shine in unawareness” (1:3). God’s sunlight is shining, but we do not see it; we go shopping. Not just in malls for things, but in relationships for specialness, in the marketplace for power and influence and wealth, in the bars for sex, and with our TV remote controls for entertainment. Do I want the memory of God? All that is needful is that I be willing to train my mind to stop blinding me to it. “Let me remember.” Oh, God, let me remember!

God is our only goal, our only love. We have no aim but to remember Him. (1:4-5)

What else could I want that compares with this? Each time today that my heart is tugged to “shop” for something else, let it be a signal to my mind to stop, and to remember: “My goal is God.”

A poem I learned in my Christian days pops into my mind. Some of those folks knew what they were talking about:

My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;
“Tis His to lead me there—not mine, but His—
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay;
One thing I do, I press on towards my Lord;
My God my glory here, from day to day,
And in the glory there, my great Reward.

Frederick Brook

A Course friend sent us some baseball-type caps imprinted with the letters “MOGIG.” They stand for “My only goal is God.” I think I’ll wear that hat today as I work; it will be a good reminder.