Ch. 18. IV. 1 – 5. Jesus: “The holy instant is the result of your determination to experience holiness. It is the answer you seek! The desire, and the willingness to let it come, precede its coming. You prepare your mind for it only to the extent of recognizing that you want it above all else. It is not necessary that you do more!
Indeed, it is necessary that you realize you cannot do more! Do not attempt to give the Holy Spirit what He does not ask, for what you ‘add to’ Him will be of the ego, and you will confuse the two! He asks but a little willingness of you. It is He Who adds the greatness and the might!
The holy spirit joins with you to make the holy instant far greater than you can understand. It is your realization that you need do ‘so little,’ that enables Him to give so much. Trust not your own ‘good intentions,’ for they can lead you astray. But trust implicitly your willingness, whatever else may enter your mind. Concentrate only on this willingness, and be not disturbed that shadows still surround it. That is why you came. If you could come without them you would not need the holy instant.
Come not to the holy instant in the arrogance of the ego, assuming that you must ‘achieve’ the state its coming brings with it. The miracle of the holy instant lies in your willingness to let it be just what it is. And in your willingness for this lies also your acceptance of yourself as you were meant to be.
Real humility will never ask that you remain content with littleness. But it does require that you be not content with less than true greatness, and that comes not of you.
If you have difficulty with the holy instant, it arises from your long-standing conviction that you are not worthy of it. And what is this but the determination to be as you would make yourself, and not as you were created? God did not create His dwelling place unworthy of Him! And if you believe He cannot enter where He wills to be, you must be interfering with His Will.
You do not even need the strength of willingness to come from you, but only from accepting His Will for you. The holy instant does not come from your little willingness alone. It is always the result of your small willingness combined with the unlimited power of God’s Will. You have been wrong in thinking that it is needful to somehow prepare yourself for Him. It is impossible to make arrogant preparations for holiness unless you also believe that it is up to you to establish the conditions for peace. God has already established them. They do not wait upon your willingness for what they are! Your willingness is needed only to make it possible for the Holy Spirit to teach you what they are.
If you maintain that you are unworthy of learning this, you are interfering with the lesson by believing that you must first make the learner different. You did not make the learner, nor can you make him different. Would you first make a miracle yourself, and then expect one to be made for you?
All you need do is merely ask the question. The answer is given. Seek not to provide your own answer, but merely to receive the answer as it is given. In preparing for the holy instant, do not attempt to ‘make yourself holy’ to be ready to receive it. That would be but to confuse your role with God’s.”