Gloria to God:
Dearest God, it's 2 a.m. It started to rain, and I had to close windows, and now I'm wide awake, so what would you like to tell me?
God:
You are always awake to Me.
Gloria:
I feel that I am really working at night. When I wake up even to turn around and look at the clock, I always feel that I have slept much longer than the clock says. Maybe it's half an hour, and it feels like it's been the whole night.
God:
You make headway as you sleep, as your soul visits here and there.
Gloria:
It's like my body is working hard.
God:
The body does its own work in sleep.
Gloria:
God, I would not have thought that rest was work, but that's what it feels like.
God:
Much happens when you sleep. It isn't merely a question of catching up to yourself but of getting ahead. Sleep is good.
Gloria:
I had a letter from an old friend of mine from college. It seems so foreign to me, but she said she doesn't believe in You because she had prayed to You and still her father died. You didn't respond the way she thought she wanted, and You don't exist, but she still holds you responsible!
Dear God, all the people I seem to know take You as a matter of course, so her letter seemed odd to me. It is hard for me to see You as a question of belief; what does belief have to do with it? Do I believe it is raining? It IS raining.
And would she really want her father to be still living at the age of 100 and what?
It is my understanding that people choose the time of their own death, even in accidents. A part of them does.
God:
They choose the time of leaving their body and rising to Me. Time to move on. Like getting up and going from one room to another. They held temporary visas. They knew that when they came to earth. But their passport is permanent.
All you own is your love. You don't even own that because it is Mine. You don't own it, but it is always yours.
It is the only thing that means anything. In moments of lucidity, My children know that. Tell Me, what would you bring to Heaven? Your house? A tree? Candlesticks?
Even a rose you would leave where it is, and you would go where you go, as free as a bird, as light as a feather.
A Course in Miracles, What Are the Characteristics of God's Teachers?, Development of Trust (cont.):
"Next the teacher of God must go through a period of sorting out. This is always somewhat difficult because, having learned that the changes in his life are always helpful, he must now decide all things on the basis of whether they increase the helpfulness or hamper it. He will find that many, if not most of the things he valued before will merely hinder his ability to transfer what he has learned to new situations as they arise. Because he has valued what is really valueless, he will not generalize the lesson for fear of loss and sacrifice. It takes great learning to understand that all things, events, encounters and circumstances are helpful. It is only to the extent to which they are helpful that any degree of reality should be accorded them in this world of illusion. The word 'value' can apply to nothing else."
Gloria:
So, dear God, the first stage is undoing. The second is sorting out. Does one finish with those?
God:
Yes.
Gloria:
Skipping ahead, the other stages are: periods of relinquishment, settling down, unsettling, and achievement. All these are under Development of Trust. How clearly defined are these, dear Father?
God:
In looking back, they are clear. In going through, they are not. Your question tells that you are still sorting out. And also letting go.
In one sense, you go through this whole process, from undoing to achievement, in one day. And then there is the large overall sweep that take years.
This process is repeated until it is no longer needed. And then you just are. And you don't have these questions. You even relinquish those.
Relinquish means noticing what doesn't matter to you any more.
Gloria to Mother Divine:
Dear Mother Divine, what would you like to tell me at 3:15 this morning?
Mother Divine:
I would tell you to go back to sleep, but you wouldn't know how to manage that, so I will tell you to stay awake!
Gloria:
Dear Mother Divine, there have been such predictions of doom for today or the 15th, the start of a dire trend. I wish I had never heard about it. Trouble in the world. Escalation of violence. Possible outbreak of nuclear war.
Mother Divine:
Certain actions cause certain reactions.
Continue to believe in and focus on the goodness of man, of which there is plenty.
Hold to your heart trust in God. Hold God and your trust. Both sacred.
Hold to your truth. How silly now seem your aggravations. Love God, and not pettiness.
Hold the world in your heart.
Have no enemies. Who is your enemy? There is none.
All are your beloveds. There is no enemy to love.
Keep your heart attuned to God. Use His courage and faith. His knowingness is absolute.
Set up your camp with God. Follow Him. Bring friends with you. Bring merriment.