I rest in God

[Please note: ACIM passages quoted in this article reference the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) Edition.]

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of work with Lesson 109, “I rest in God.” It is an absolutely stunning lesson, profound in its teaching, practice, and sheer poetic beauty. In particular, based on a tip from Robert, I’ve been focusing on one line from paragraph 5: “In Him [God] you have no cares and no concerns, no burdens, no anxiety, no pain, no fear of future and no past regrets” (5:1).

What I’ll do is go through each individual “no…” item in this line (no cares, no concerns, no burdens, etc.), call to mind an example of that item in my current life, and dispel it with a version of the line. For instance, I’ll say, “I seem to have a care about _______. But in God I have no cares, including this one. I seem to be concerned about _______. But in God I have no concerns, including this one. I seem to carry the burden of _______. But in God I have no burdens, including this one.”

This process serves to prepare my mind for the next phase, which is the meditation this lesson has us do. Once I’ve cleared out the cares and burdens and anxieties from my mind, I feel much more ready to “rest in God.” I’m much more ready to “sink into stillness” (5:4) and enter a period of “rest and respite” (5:5). With all of the heavy chains severed and lifted off of me, I can breathe a sigh of relief and gratefully fall into my Father’s loving Arms. Aaaaaah!