With every new day, you have an opportunity to begin again, to be reborn anew through the “renewing of your mind.” A Course In Miracles emphasizes that it is not just every day, but every single moment wherein we have a brand new opportunity to experience the rebirth of consciousness that will set us on the path to peace. This moment is called the “holy instant” and the only thing required of us to experience it is a “willingness” to allow all thoughts of our own “littleness” to be released. Sounds simple enough. And, it is. However, simple is not the same thing as easy.
The Holy Instant Is This Instant And Every Instant
It would be nice if we could simply choose peace one time, and have it be our experience for all time. However, this is not the way life works. The truth is we must continuously choose peace in every moment in order to experience it. At a practical level, this means we must be willing to continuously release thoughts of “littleness” as long as such thoughts persist. Every “thought of littleness” is a thought of fear, which always blocks the experience of peace.
In order to experience peace, we must choose peace. And, we must choose peace consistently and continuously for it to become our prevailing reality. This is why ACIM teaches that “the holy instant is this instant and every instant.” Every single instant is an opportunity to choose love over fear, magnitude over littleness, and peace over conflict. We are always choosing one or the other, and will be doing so for the whole of our life.
Only God’s Plan For Salvation Works
Only God’s plan for our salvation works, because only God’s plan is based on our magnificent, creative potential. From God’s perspective, we are limitless in our capacity to manifest and express good. From our more limited sense perspective, we usually perceive our limitations first. Our “thoughts of littleness” then become blocks to the awareness of our divine magnificence, which disturbs our peace and interrupts the experience of God’s salvation plan.
When we become willing to accept no other plan for salvation but God’s, the rebirth of consciousness leading to peace becomes possible. Our own plans for peace and salvation pale in comparison. We are much too familiar with our own “thoughts of littleness” to establish and realize any plans that could eclipse God’s plan for our salvation. Ceasing to try is our first step towards peace.
Practicing The Holy Instant
The only moment we can ever experience peace, or salvation for that matter, is in the “holy instant” of this now moment. There is no past or future moment in which we can have the experience of peace. This is not to say that if you are not experiencing peace in this now moment, you will never experience peace. It only means that when you do experience peace, it will be within the context of a brand new “now moment” or “holy instant”.
To “practice the holy instant” so that you experience peace is to choose God’s plan, instead of your own. Stated another way, it means to choose love over fear, which is ultimately the only choice we are ever really making. We will either expand through choosing love, or we will shrink and contract by choosing fear. We are perpetually engaged in a process of expansion and contraction, choosing love or fear, peace or conflict. To successfully “practice the holy instant” is to choose love, which is the only choice that can ever lead to peace. Experiencing peace is how we know we have chosen God’s plan over our own.
Affirmative Prayer For Peace Consciousness
Today is the day I am made new by a rebirth of my consciousness. Through the power of my will, I assume executive responsibility for all of my thoughts and feelings, so that I may create a consciousness of peace. At the center of my Being resides ineffable Peace. I willingly go beneath the waves of human awareness to sink down deep into the center of my soul where all is tranquil, calm…still. I have the spiritual strength to persevere through any resistances I may encounter. I easily clear any blocks in my consciousness to the awareness of this ineffable peace within me. I open, allowing the flow of this peaceful energy into every aspect of my life. I am a fountain of God’s Peaceful Presence in this world. So, I affirm only those thoughts and feelings that express God’s Peace, and support the creation of a consciousness of peace. So it is. So I let it be. Amen.
