ACIM Workbook Commentary PDF

LESSON 1 JANUARY 1
Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means
anything.
Practice instructions
Purpose: To teach that everything you see is equally meaningless, that no real differences
exist between any of the things you see.
Exercise: Two timesmorning and evening, preferably, for one minute (but do not
hurry).
Look leisurely about you, applying the idea specifically and indiscriminately to whatever you
see, first in your immediate area and then farther. Say, for example, This table does not mean
anything.
Remarks: It is essential to specifically exclude nothing. Do not, however, try to include

everything. Do not hurry; leisure is essential.
Commentary
The early lessons do not seem particularly inspiring to most people, but they are carefully
planned to begin undermining the ego thought system. Nothing I seemeans anything. We are
so certain, in our ego arrogance, that we really understand a lot of things. The lesson is trying to
plant the idea that we dont really understand anything we see, that our vaunted understanding is
an illusion. As long as we think we understand what something is and what it means, we will not
begin to ask the Holy Spirit for its true meaning. Our belief that we understand closes our mind to
any higher understanding. We need to become like little children, who realize they do not know,
and ask someone who does know.
Zen Mind, Beginners Mind1 is the title of a wonderful little book that introduces Zen thought.
The idea is that we grow most rapidly and reliably when we admit we are beginners who do not
know, and need instruction in everything. A beginners mind is an open mind, ready to find
unrecognized meaning in everything.
. Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginners Mind (Trumbull, Conn.: Weatherhill Inc., 1972).
LESSON 2 JANUARY 2
I have given everything I see [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the
meaning that it has for me.
Exercise: Two timesideally morning and evening, for one minute.
Same basic instructions as yesterday, just using a new idea. In selecting subjects for today,
look side to side and behind you.
Remarks: Like the previous lesson, this one focuses on being totally indiscriminate in
your selection of subjects. The comments in paragraph 2 about avoiding selection by
size, brightness, color, material, or relative importance to you (2:1) are a brief reference
to the Courses theory of selective attention. According to the Course, we are highly
selective in what we attend to visually. We pay attention to things that visually stand out
and therefore catch our eye (see M-8.1) and we pay attention to things we value (see M8.3:7). Notice that both of these factorsthings that visually stand out and things we
valueare included in the sentence I just quoted. This implies that we are supposed to
practice the lesson without our usual habit of selective attention, because that habit
assumes that the different things in our visual field are truly different, and this lesson is
meant to teach us that they are not.
Commentary
The meaning of yesterdays lesson is now a little clearer; Nothing I see means anything can
be understood to say, The only meaning anything has for me is the meaning that I give to it;
there is no intrinsic meaning in anything.
When I first practiced Lesson 1, I recall that the first object my eyes lit on was an excellent
new photograph of my two children. At first, my mind rebelled at saying, That photograph does
not mean anything, because it sure meant something to me. But the next morning, on Lesson 2, I
began to see what the lessons were getting at. The photo, in itself, has no meaning at all. To the
vast majority of people in the world it really would mean nothing; but to me, it meant something
because I had given meaning to it.
When we begin to realize that our perception is formed by our minds, and not vice versa, it
can be a startling revelation. If this lesson seems trivial or obvious to you, try applying it the next
time everything I see includes someone who, in your perception, is betraying you, lying to you,
or abandoning you: I have given this situation all the meaning that it has for me. Not so trivial!
LESSON 3 JANUARY 3
I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window,
in this place].
Purpose: To clear away the thick film of past associations which you project onto
everything, so that you see things afresh and realize that you do not really understand
them at all.
Exercise: Two timesideally, morning and evening, for one minute.
Same basic instructions as the previous two days, only with a new idea.
Remarks: Being indiscriminate in selecting subjects is a direct reflection of the lessons

purpose, which is to clear your mind of the interpretive film which you lay over things
and which claims to tell you what those things really are. It is that same film which would
also tell you there are some things to which the lesson does not apply. The very act,
therefore, of applying the lesson to absolutely anything is also an act of setting aside that
interpretive film.
Commentary
If nothing I see means anything, and I have given everything I see all the meaning that it has
for me, then obviously I do not understand anything I see. The Workbook is laying the
groundwork for our learning. To learn a new understanding of anything we must let go our belief
that we already understand it.
I find this lesson useful in many situations. When something happens that I interpret as
unpleasant or upsetting, I can realize that my judgment of unpleasant or my upset comes not
from the thing or person or situation, but from my imagined understanding of it. By repeating, I
do not understand anything I see, I open my mind to a new understanding from the Holy Spirit. I
use variants of the idea at times, such as I dont know what this means or I have no idea what
this is all about.
In the Course, the beginning of understanding is understanding that I dont understand
anything.
Remember this is an exercise. Dont expect to perform it perfectly! You are practicing the
realization that you dont understand, which means you are coming from a state of mind that
believes it does understand. Thats okay.
LESSON 4 JANUARY 4
These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this
street, from this window, in this place].
Purpose: To train you to lump all your normal thoughts, both good and bad, as well
as all the things you see outside you, into one category: they are meaningless, and they
are outside you (outside your real nature). This will open your mind to the fact that there
is a whole other realm than that which you are aware of, which is fundamentally
different, which is truly meaningful, and which lies deep within.
Exercise: Three or four times (no more), for one minute or so.
For roughly one minute, watch your thoughts. Include both good and bad ones.
Then apply the idea specifically to each thought you noticed, saying, This thought about
[name of central figure or event] does not mean anything. It is like the things I see in this
room [on this street, and so on]. You may also include unhappy thoughts you were aware
of before the practice period.
Response to temptation: Optional.

In addition to (not instead of) the formal exercises, feel free throughout the day to use the idea
as a way of dispelling specific unhappy thoughts. This is the first instance of a practice that will
become a major focus of the Workbook.
Commentary
The introduction to the Workbook states, The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind
in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world (WpI.In.4:1). This lesson begins to teach us to work directly with our thoughts, and the first lesson
is: They dont mean anything.
There is an assumption in this lesson that we are very inexperienced (5:4) and therefore
completely, or nearly completely, out of touch with what the lesson calls our real thoughts
(2:3). The thoughts it is referring to as meaningless are the thoughts of the ego. It is the
contention of the Course that our minds are nearly completely ego-directed (see T-4.VI.1:4). The
tone of this lesson is based on that assumption; therefore, whatever thought you focus on, you can
regard it as meaningless.
Our real thoughts are the thoughts of the Christ within us; they are not meaningless. What we
call thinking, however, is not really thinking at all (this is made clear in Lesson 8). We have
identified with our egos. The ego is like a tiny corner of our minds that we have cordoned off
from the rest; we have convinced ourselves that it is the whole thing. The thoughts that swirl
around in this little pocket of mind are totally unrepresentative of our true Self, and therefore,
whether good or bad, they are meaningless. When we have trained ourselves to look at these
thoughts objectively we will realize how true this is (1:67).
The ego thoughts cover up our real thoughts. The good ones are at best shadows of the real,
and shadows make it difficult to see. The bad ones are outright blocks to sight. You do not
want either (2:6). Realizing that we dont want the bad ones is fairly easy; realizing we dont
want the good ones is much more disconcerting and difficult.
The lesson calls itself a major exercise (3:1) and promises to repeat the exercise later. It says
that the exercise is fundamental to three long-range goals, and serves to begin implementing these
goals:
to separate the meaningless from the meaningful
to see the meaningless as outside you, and the meaningful within

to train our minds to recognize what is the same and what is different
First, it helps us learn to separate meaningless thoughts from meaningful ones, our ego
thoughts from our real thoughts. Note that there is a kind of judgment going on here, and even
separation, although these are two terms usually given negative connotations. This kind of
looking at our thoughts is one form of what the Text calls the right use of judgment (T4.IV.8:6).
Second, we are learning to see the meaningless as outside us. We may ask how, if it is our
thoughts that are meaningless, we can see them as outside us; arent thoughts within us? Here, I
believe, the Workbook means our true Self when it speaks of you. Our meaningless ego
thoughts are not representative of our true Self; they are not really part of it, but outside it.
Third, we are learning to recognize what is the same and what is different. We think good
thoughts are different from bad thoughts, but this lesson is training us to see that they are really
the same, both different forms of madness.
In suggesting that we might use the idea for today for a particular thought that you recognize
as harmful (5:1), the Workbook is introducing a new form of practice, one that will become part
of its regular repertoire. Besides scheduled morning and evening practice, we can use the idea as
a response to random temptation in the form of a harmful thought. Response to temptation will
be brought in as a practice exercise many more times as we go on. In asking us to do the exercise
three or four times, the lesson also introduces midday practice sessions in addition to the morning
and evening ones.
LESSON 5 JANUARY 5
I am never upset for the reason I think.
Purpose: To teach you that the cause of your upset is not the external situation, person, or
event you think it is. Also, to teach you that your negative emotions are not truly different
from one another.
Exercise: Three or four times, for one minute or so.
Optional beginning: Say, There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my
peace of mind. This is designed to correct your tendency to dismiss some upsets as too
insignificant to bother with.
For a minute or so, search your mind for any persons, situations, or events that are
distressing you, however mildly.
Then apply the idea indiscriminately to each one by saying, I am not (angry, worried,
depressed, etc.) about (source of upset) for the reason I think.
If you want to hang on to certain upsets because they seem justified, say, I cannot keep
this form of upset and let the others go. For the purposes of these exercises, then, I will
regard them all as the same.

In addition to the formal practice periods, feel free during the day to apply the idea to
any upset you are experiencing, as a way of restoring your peace of mind. Say, I am not
(angry, worried, depressed, etc.) about (source of upset) for the reason I think.
Commentary
This lesson is, to me, one of the most useful tools for jarring my thinking loose from a deeply
worn track. This lesson, like the preceding one, can be used with any person, situation or event
you think is causing you pain (1:1). Try to remember it today when, for whatever reason, you get
upset. That slowpoke driver on the road in front of you. The person who puts you down. When
the job youve been hoping for falls through. When someone tracks dirt on your freshly mopped
floor, or breaks your favorite keepsake. I am never upset for the reason I think.
Notice that the lesson does not identify what it is that you really are upset about. That comes
later. For now the Course is simply trying to undermine your belief that you know what is
upsetting you. Notice, too, that it does not ask you not to be upset! Fear, worry, depression,
anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy (1:3): The lesson does not ask you to be without these
feelings, simply to recognize that they are not occurring for the reasons you think. Yes, of course,
the eventual goal is to let them all go. But to do that we have to break our belief that they are
different things with different causes. All of them stem, ultimately, from the same cause; all of
them are meanings we project onto the world we see.
These first five lessons have been tough, if you think about them. Lesson 1 was about letting
go of what I see. Lesson 2, letting go of my judgments about meaning. Lesson 3, letting go of my
understanding. Lesson 4, letting go of my thoughts. And this lesson is leading me to let go of my
entire thought system, the root cause behind all of my upsets.
LESSON 6 JANUARY 6
I am upset because I see something that is not there.
Same instructions as yesterday, only using a new idea.
Tip: The lessons speak as if you should first search your mind for a minute, and then
apply the lesson to everything uncovered in your search. However, you may have
difficulty remembering all the things you uncovered. If so, rather than practicing in these
distinct two phases, you may want to practice in a slightly different way: Search your
mind, find a single upset, apply the idea to it, then search your mind for another upset,
apply the idea to that one, and so on.
The idea can be used throughout the day to dispel your upsets. But do not substitute
this for the practice periods.
Commentary
This begins to explain why I am really upset. I am never upset for the reason I think; I am
upset because I see something that is not there. (Once again the Workbook builds its case piece
by piece; it does not tell us just what we are seeing, only that it is something that isnt there. If
youre curious, go ahead, peek at the next lesson.) We cant begin to imagine how much of what
we see, things we think of as real and objective facts, are really things that are not there. The
case being built here is that all of our upset comes from things that arent there. Only what God
creates is real, and nothing He creates is upsetting, and if those are facts, todays idea must be
true. So when I feel upset I can say to myself, Im upset because Im seeing something that isnt
there.
We are asked to recall the two cautions stated in the previous lesson (3:1). Since they are
repeated they are obviously important, so lets think a little about each.
There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.
(3:23)
I find I have to remind myself of this a lot. It is so easy to overlook small upsets and leave
them undealt with. A rage at someone who betrays me and steals my job is no different than a
minor annoyance at slow service in a restaurant. Both have the power to disturb my peace of
mind. If my goal is a mind at peace I must learn to deal with all upsets as being of equal
importance; I must learn to recognize what is the same and what is different (W-pI.4.3:4).
I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. For the purposes of these
exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same. (3:56)
At least during the practice periods of the Workbook, we need to regard all upsets as the same,
and apply the lesson to them. If I insist on not applying the lesson to some minor upset or to an
upset that seems justified to me, I wont really be able to let any of the upsets go. I will be
holding on to the principle behind all of them. It would be like saying you are going to lose
weight by cutting out sugar and fat, except for that half gallon of ice cream every night. The
Course insists that we be thorough and absolute in our practicing.
I am upset because I see something that is not there.
LESSON 7 JANUARY 7
I see only the past.
Purpose: To begin to change your ideas about time, which are the foundation for all that
you see and believe. Your mind will resist this change, in order to maintain the stability
of your world, yet it is that world which keeps you bound.
Look about you and apply the idea specifically and indiscriminately to whatever
catches your eye, saying: I see only the past in [this shoe, that body, etc.]. Do not
linger over any one thing in particular, but remember to omit nothing specifically (5:1).
Commentary
As the lesson says, this is the rationale for all of the preceding lessons (1:2). It is the reason
why nothing that you see means anything (1:3), and so on through the previous six thoughts.
Because we see only the past, every one of those previous ideas is true. It makes this lesson an
extremely important one, one we need to take in and consider very seriously.
Notice how absolute the thought for today is: I see only the past. We may find this
particularly difficult to believe at first (1:1). If anything, that is an understatement. If you find
the concept difficult to accept, be reassured that the Teacher realizes your difficulty and accepts it
in you.
The Course lays an unusually heavy emphasis on this concept, not only here, but also in the
Text. For instance, three sections of Chapter 13, from The Function of Time (T-13.IV) through
Finding the Present (T-13.VI), deal with how we see time and the fact that the ego invests
heavily in the past, and in the end believes that the past is the only aspect of time that is
meaningful (T-13.IV.4:2). It speaks of the shadow figures from the past, built upon illusions,
that completely block out our sight of present reality. It says:
To be born again is to let the past go, and look without condemnation upon the
present. (T-13.VI.3:5)
Everything you believe is rooted in time, and depends on your not learning these new ideas
about it (2:1, my emphasis). Whatever we have learned, we learned from the past; that cannot be
disputed.
Therefore, everything we think we know is based on the past. We look at the present through
the filter of our past learning. The Course urges us not to let our past learning be the light that
guides us in the present (see T-14.XI.6:9). Instead we need to turn, in the moment, and inquire of
the Holy Spirit to show us His vision of the present.
The illustration in the lesson about the cup makes the point that our identification of things
depends on the past, and our reactions to things come from past experiences. You would have no
idea what this cup is, except for your past learning (3:6). And, This is equally true of whatever
you look at (4:2).
What we are seeing is the past, pure and simple. At the moment there may seem to be no
alternative to this; we may wonder what other way of seeing is possible. But there is another way;
the Course will bring us to that eventually. For now, simply let this lesson sink in: I see only the
past.
LESSON 8 JANUARY 8
My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
Purpose: To teach you that your mind spends all of its time empty, because it is always
contemplating what is not there (the past). While it thinks about the empty, it itself is
empty. Recognizing this emptiness makes way for something new to come in: real
thoughts, which will produce real vision.
Exercise: Four or five times (three or four if you find the practice irritating), for one
minute or so.
Close your eyes and search your mind for a minute or so without investment, noting the
thoughts you find and naming them by the central figure or theme of each one. Say, I seem
to be thinking about (name of person), about (name of an object), about (name of an
emotion)....
Conclude with, But my mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
Remarks: If you find the exercise arousing feelings in youfor instance, irritationyou
may want to apply the idea to those feelings just as you would to anything else. This is a
helpful tip for many of the lessons.
Commentary
This idea is, of course, the reason why you see only the past (1:1). This clearly assumes that
what we see simply reflects the thoughts occupying our minds. If that is so, then because our
minds are preoccupied with past thoughts, we perceive pictures from the past in the outside
world. No one really sees anything. He sees only his thoughts projected outward (1:2). This
idea is so central to the Course, yet here it is simply slipped into this discussion of the past and
time. We dont really see anything! Everything we see is the outside picture of an inward
condition, as the Text puts it (see T-21.In.1:15).
Ive always loved the first line of the second paragraph: The one wholly true thought one can
hold about the past is that it is not here. Ponder that a moment. You may have some extremely
clear memories of the past, especially the very recent past. Yet if several people who experienced
the same thing firmly disagreed with you, you would probably begin to doubt your memory
because you cannot really be completely certain it is reliable. You know very well from
experience that your memory can deceive you. We think, I could have sworn I left that key on
the table! Or we say, Didnt I tell you about that? I thought I did. We say that sort of thing all
the time without realizing how shaky our memory really is. But there is one absolutely
trustworthy thought you can have about the past: The past is not here. This is the present. Now,
if the past isnt here, how can it have present effects? To think about it at all is therefore to think
about illusions (2:2). You are thinking about something that no longer exists, which by
definition is an illusion.
Okay, so if my mind is preoccupied with past thoughts, and all thoughts about the past are
thoughts about illusions, and all that I see is a projection of my thoughtswhere does that leave
what I am seeing? Nowhere. We are seeing reflections of memories of an illusion. When we are
picturing the past or anticipating the future, the Course says our mind is actually blank, because it
is thinking about nothing (2:4).
This lesson is trying to get us to recognize when our mind is not really thinking at all, but is
full of what it calls thoughtless ideas. This is why these thoughts do not mean anything
(Lesson 4). To open ourselves to vision we have to stop blocking the truth with these
meaningless mental images of something that isnt here. The first step towards vision is becoming
aware of the things that are not vision, which are the thoughts that normally fill our minds.
I find this kind of exercise helps develop a kind of mental detachment. You step back, as it
were, from your thoughts and observe them. Dont make the mistake I made at first: Trying to
force these thoughts out of the mind and make it blank. We dont need to do that because it is
blank already! Just observe your thoughts and apply the lesson, saying, My mind is preoccupied
with past thoughts. Be willing to let go of your investment in the thoughts, or in having them be
real thoughts, or deep ones, or important ones. Unclasp your fingers from them, let them go, be
willing to see that they are without real meaning if they are based on the past, and thus based on
something that is not here.
The lesson is a gentle wedge, prying loose our attachment to what we think of as our thoughts.
LESSON 9 JANUARY 9
I see nothing as it is now.
Exercise: Three or four times, for one minute.
Look about you, applying the idea without discrimination or exclusion to whatever you see.
Begin with things near you: I do not see this [telephone, arm, etc.] as it is now. Then extend
the range outward: I do not see that [door, face, etc.] as it is now.
Remarks: You may accept this idea, but you do not really understand it, nor are you
expected to. Understanding is not the prerequisite for this practice; rather, understanding
is the goal of this practice. These exercises are meant to undo your illusion that you
understand things and, by clearing this blockage away, allow true understanding to finally
dawn on your mind. So at this point simply practice the idea, even if you do not
understand it, find it disturbing, or even actively resist it.
Commentary
If I see only the past, and my mind is preoccupied with past thoughts, then obviously I see
nothing as it is now. I love the fact that the lesson goes on to say, But while you may be able to
accept it intellectually, it is unlikely that it will mean anything to you as yet (1:2). The Course
clearly recognizes a vast difference between intellectually accepting an idea and truly
understanding it, so that it has become a part of us. I think of the stages of grief when a loved one
dies. Immediately after the death, we may intellectually accept that our beloved is gone, but we
have not truly grasped and assimilated that fact. It takes time for the reality of it to sink in.
Likewise, we can accept the idea that we see nothing as it is now, but it may be some time
before the meaning of that fact truly begins to dawn on us. Fortunately, the lesson goes on to say
that our understanding, at this stage, is not necessary. In fact, what is necessary is the recognition
that we do not understand! You might say that one of the things we are to grasp from this lesson
is that we dont understand it!
It makes a kind of sense if you think about it.
These exercises are concerned with practice, not with understanding. You do not
need to practice what you already understand.
(1:56)
Some people may feel that it doesnt make sense to work with an idea you dont fully
understand or believe. Ive heard people ask questions such as How can I work with a lesson like
I am the holy Son of God Himself if I dont really believe that? And the answer is, if you
believed it already, you wouldnt need to work with the lesson! Helping you understand or
believe is what the practice is for.
The attitude of recognizing our real ignorance is vital to learning. Without it, our false
understanding gets in the way of learning. So when a lesson such as this one, I see nothing as
it is now, rubs you the wrong way or leaves you feeling that you dont really know what it is
talking aboutjust be honest that you feel that way. Dont make the mistake of pretending you
already understand when you dont. The lessons are designed with our ignorance in mind.
It is difficult for the untrained mind to believe that what it seems to picture is not there (2:1).
Difficult? Nearly impossible is more like it. The idea is disturbing; most of us will actively resist
it in some way or another. Thats okay. That does not keep you from applying the idea anyhow,
and that is all that is asked of us. (Remember the introduction to the Workbook and its last two
paragraphs? If not, read them over in this regard.) Just do the exercises anyhow, even if your
mind is resisting the entire idea; it will still have the desired effect.
Notice how the lesson talks about each small step (2:5) clearing away a little darkness until
understanding finally comes. The tone of these lessons, and indeed the entire Course, should not
lead us to believe that we will reach enlightenment quickly. It comes in small steps, little by little.
The Course does say that full enlightenment could come to any of us in any instant, if we could
but open to it; it is nearer to us than our own hands and feet. But it also says that it will take much
longer to make us willing to open than it will take for that final transformation of mind to occur.
It says:
By far the majority are given a slowly-evolving training program, in which as many
previous mistakes as possible are corrected. Relationships in particular must be
properly perceived, and all dark cornerstones of unforgiveness removed. (M9.1:78)
Notice: a slowly-evolving training program is the norm. So dont be so restless or feel like
youre working against some deadline; take things at the pace they come, and work with the
exercises in this Workbook. Be content to slowly evolve. Dont worry if understanding does not
leap full-blown into your mind tomorrow!
The exercises are again deceptively simple, things like I do not see this computer screen as it
is now. How does saying this help me? I cant say for sure. I do know that the more often I
repeat an idea, the more reasonable it starts to seem. Maybe thats all there is to it. I know it has
helped me, at times, to remind myself in some situation that seems fearful or out of control that I
do not see this situation as it is now in reality. I can reassure myself that what I am seeing, which
seems to be causing my fear, is not the reality of things. I may not have any idea what the reality
is, but it helps to know that what I am seeing aint it! The idea is less reassuring when I apply it to
something that I do like: I do not see this romantic relationship as it is now. Hmmm, not sure I
like that. But if it does nothing more than begin to shake my faith in what I see, the lesson is
doing its job even if I dont fully understand it or like it.
LESSON 10 JANUARY 10
My thoughts do not mean anything.
Purpose: To show you that all of your current thoughts are meaningless and are, in fact,
not real thoughts at all. Recognizing that you have been preoccupied with nonexistent
thoughts will pave the way for uncovering your real thoughts.
Exercise: Five times, for one minute or so (no more; cut in half if you are
uncomfortable).
Close your eyes and repeat the idea very slowly. Then add, This idea will help to release
me from all that I now believe.
Then search your mind for all available thoughts. Avoid selection or classification, seeing
your thoughts as an odd procession which has no meaning to you. As each one crosses your
mind say, My thought about _____ does not mean anything.
Remarks: It is important to stand back from your thoughts and observe them with
detachment. Do not think of them as different from one another in any real way. You
might want to imagine you are watching a strange parade of disorganized, meaningless
objects. Another helpful metaphor (not mentioned in the Course) might be to imagine that
you are watching leaves float by on a stream.
Response to temptation: Optionalwhenever you have a distressing thought.
Feel free to apply the idea to any upsetting thoughts you have throughout the day,
using the form: My thought about _____ does not mean anything.
Commentary
Lesson 4 said, These thoughts do not mean anything, and it promised the exercise would be
repeated from time to time in somewhat different form (W-pI.4.3:1). This lesson is the first
repetition. It explains that the reason the idea is true is that
all the thoughts of which you are awareare not your real thoughts.
(1:12)
That is particularly difficult to accept at first. How can my thoughts not be my real thoughts?
It explains that we dont have any basis for comparison as yet, but that when we do, you will
have no doubt that what you once believed were your thoughts did not mean anything (1:5). So
once again the Workbook is asking us, to a certain degree, to take this idea by faith for the time
being.
A basis for comparison implies that before long we will experience our real thoughts, and
when we do, we will know that what we believed to be our thoughts were not our real ones. Its
like weve been eating carob all our lives thinking it was chocolate. Once we taste real chocolate,
we know that carob was not chocolate; but until we have a basis for comparison, we can only take
our teachers word for it.
The difference between Lesson 10 and Lesson 4 is in the first word: My thoughts instead of
These thoughts. In addition, the lesson does not go on to link the thoughts with things around
us, as Lesson 4 did: They are like the things I see in this room. So the emphasis in this lesson is
on the thoughts themselves: The emphasis is now on the lack of reality of what you think you
think (2:4).
The third paragraph points out the different aspects about our thoughts that have been
emphasized so far:
they are meaningless

they are outside rather than within
they concern the past rather than the present
Now we are emphasizing that the presence of these thoughts means that you are not
thinking (3:2). This rephrases the earlier concept that our mind is simply blank. Before we can
have vision, we have to learn to recognize nothingness when we think we see it.
The exercises given make it clear that what the Course is talking about closely resembles
many Eastern meditation teachings. What is being cultivated is a kind of detachment from our
thoughts, becoming the witness or taking the position of an observer in regard to our
thoughts. We watch the thoughts as if you are watching an oddly assorted procession going by,
which has little if any personal meaning to you (4:6).
One book I read about meditation (Stephen Levines A Gradual Awakening,1T a wonderful
little book) used the analogy of watching a train going by, each car containing a thought or set of
thoughts. Oh, there goes a thought of hatred! There goes some worry. There is a carload of
sadness. It also used the picture of watching clouds floating by in the sky, with the expanse of
sky being the mind itself. Levine emphasizes that we do not let ourselves cling to any of the
thoughts or allow them to drag us along with them, but likewise we do not push them away or
resist them. If they are meaningless, as the lesson says, we need not respond to them at all.
As you do this kind of mental exercise you become aware of your mind as something
independent of the thoughts that appear to cross it. You dis-identify with the thoughts. They lose
their emotional charge for you. The thoughts become less and less of a big deal to you. You
begin to recognize the vast expanse of mind in which these thoughts come and go, and to realize
that they have no effect on that sky of mind in which they float.
Notice in the practice instructions that the pace is stepping up a bit. Five practice periods are
recommended (5:2) in addition to using the idea during the day for any thought that distresses
us.
The closing added thought can be helpful to reinforce our belief that what we are doing is
really worthwhile. We may need such reinforcement, since the actual practice of the exercise may
induce discomfort at times. It isnt comfortable to repeatedly tell oneself, My thoughts do not
mean anything. It may seem demeaning. So reminding myself that this idea will help to release
me from all that I now believe (4:3) can be a needed step in strengthening our motivation to do
the exercises. The Workbook is cognizant of how entrenched the ego is in our minds, and works
with us very gently in its attempts to dislodge us from our fixed position.
. Stephen Levine, A Gradual Awakening (New York: Anchor Books, 1979, 1989).
My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.
Purpose: To reverse how you see cause and effect in your perception. You think that the
outside world imprints itself on your mind, causing your perceptions, yet causation
travels the other way: from the inside out. What you see outside you is the projection of
your thoughts. This is the first lesson that deals with this major Workbook theme.
Exercise: Three times (four or five if you find that comfortable and desirable), for one
minute or so.
With eyes closed repeat the idea slowly and casually, to reflect the peace and relaxation
contained in the idea.
Then open your eyes and look about, up and down, near and fear, letting your eyes move
rapidly from one thing to another. During this time repeat the idea leisurely and effortlessly.
To conclude, close your eyes and repeat the idea slowly.
Remarks: Unlike most of the previous exercises, in this one you do not apply the idea
specifically to the objects around you, naming them as you do. In fact, the repeating of
the idea is not synchronized with the shifting of your glance. The two happen at different
paces. The relative rapidity with which you look around is contrasted with the slowness
with which you repeat the idea.
Commentary
The lesson introduces the concept that your thoughts determine the world you see (1:3), a
major theme in the Course. It is the reason for the famous line, Seek not to change the world, but
choose to change your mind about the world (T-21.In.1:7). The mind is primary and the world
secondary. We believe that the world causes (or at least affects) what we think; the Course
teaches that mind is the cause, and the world, effect.
The idea, we are told, contains the foundation for the peace, relaxation and freedom from
worry we are trying to achieve (3:4).
In this idea is your release made sure. The key to forgiveness lies in it.
(1:45)
Why is that? If what I see outside is being caused by my own meaningless thoughts, then there
is nothing to blame in the outside world; all that is needed is to correct my thoughts. I can
forgive what I see because it is meaningless. I condemn and judge only when I think I see
something that means somethingsomething bad or evil or terrible. But if it is meaningless there
is no ground for condemnation. And if my mind is the cause of what I see, then how can I judge
it? All I can do is recognize that, as the Text says, I am responsible for what I see (T-21.II.2:3),
and choose to change my own mind.
I am upset because I see a meaningless world.
Purpose: To realize that you are upset because you instinctively sense that the world is
content-free, a blank slate. This makes you afraid that the truth will be written on it. This
exercise will help you accept that the world truly is a blank slate, erase what you have
written on it, and then see what God has written on it.
Exercise: Three or four times, for one minute or less (stop whenever you feel strain).
Look about slowly, shifting your glance at regular time intervals. As you look about, say, I
think I see a fearful world, a dangerous world, a hostile world, and so on, using whatever
descriptive terms occur to you. This includes positive ones, which imply the possibility of
their opposite. They imply a world in which both positive and negative are present and
battle for supremacy. This is not the world God would have you see.
At the end add, But I am upset because I see a meaningless world.
Remarks: Shifting your glance at regular intervals reflects todays idea. By giving the
same amount of time and attention to each thing, you teach yourself that the things you
see are all equally meaningless. This is the same thing todays idea is trying to teach you.
Commentary
What upsets us is an empty slate, a canvas without paint; we cant resist, we have to paint our
meaning on it, and when we do, what we see is frightening, sad, violent, or insane. We cant
simply accept the world as meaningless and let the truth be written upon it for you (5:3);
instead, you are impelled to write upon it what you would have it be (5:4). We cant allow God
to give the world, and ourselves, our meaning; we want to make our own. The result is an
upsetting view of everything.
This idea, that what I think is upsetting me is not really the cause of my upset (see Lesson 5
again), is an incredibly useful one. It can work miracles in our experience. I recall the first time
this really sank in. I had just gone through a disappointing exchange with my girlfriend, one in
which I realized that she didnt want to spend time with me as much as I did with her, and she had
an interest in someone else. I was feeling spit upon, put down, a second-class citizen; I was angry
at her for not realizing what a prize I was and for making me spend my Saturday evening alone. I
was miserable.
All of a sudden the thought came to me: Im doing this to myself; it isnt her. I thought of
the song from My Fair Lady where Rex Harrison sings, I was supremely independent and
content before we met. Surely I could always be that way againand yet. I realized that I was
choosing to see her as the cause of my upset, but it was the way I was thinking about the situation
that was making me miserable. If I wanted to, I could still be happy. It was a major revelation to
me! I wasnt sure I liked it, to be honest, but my inner sense kept telling me, This way lies real
liberty. That was a big beginning for me.
Let the world be meaningless to you today. Dont be so quick to impose your meaning on it.
Just let what is so be what it is, without any meaning, and let the Holy Spirit have a chance to
write His meaning on it.
When your words have been erased, you will see His. That is the ultimate purpose of
these exercises. (5:89)
There is a Workbook-like saying given in the Text that runs along the same line:
When your peace is threatened or disturbed in any way, say to yourself:

I do not know what anything, including this, means. And so I do not know how to
respond to it. And I will not use my own past learning as the light to guide me
now.
By this refusal to attempt to teach yourself what you do not know [or to write your
meaning on the blank slate], the Guide Whom God has given you will speak to you.
He will take His rightful place in your awareness the instant you abandon it, and
offer it to Him. (T-14.XI.6:611)
A meaningless world engenders fear.
Purpose: The same as yesterday.
Exercise: Three or four times, for one minute or so (no more).
Close your eyes and repeat the idea.
Open your eyes and look slowly around you. While doing so repeat over and over, I am
looking at a meaningless world.
Close your eyes and say, A meaningless world engenders fear, because I think I am in
competition with God.
Remarks: Do not worry if you do not believe the closing statement. You may think it is
crazy and you may resist it. All of that is fine. Simply note your resistance, whatever
forms it takes, and tell yourself that the real reason for it is that this statement awakens
your underlying fear of Gods vengeance. Deep inside you believe that by rushing in and
writing your meaning on the worlds blank slate you have temporarily defeated God. As a
result, you believe you now face His wrath. To cope with this belief you have shoved it
down into your unconscious, but todays concluding statement brings it back toward the
surface. This is why you fear the statement and are eager to dismiss it. Because of all this,
do not dwell on it or even think of it except during the exercises.
Commentary
More specifically than upsetting us, the meaningless world we see sparks fear within us. After
spending several days convincing us, so it seems, that the world is meaningless, the Course
reverses course:
Actually, a meaningless world is impossible. Nothing without meaning exists.
(1:23)
The introduction to the Text states that nothing unreal exists (T-In.2:3), and now we are told
nothing meaningless exists. The situation is not that meaningless things exist and we are afraid
because we see them; what is happening is that we think we perceive things without meaning, and
rush to write our meaning on them. We see no meaning because we are unwilling to see the
meaning already written on them by God.
When we see the meaningless it arouses anxiety in us:
It represents a situation in which God and the ego challenge each other as to whose
meaning is to be written in the empty space the meaninglessness provides. The ego
rushes in frantically to establish its own ideas there, fearful that the void may
otherwise be used to demonstrate its own impotence and unreality. And on this alone
it is correct.
(2:24)
If the ego did not rush in to give its meaning to things, the meaning established by God would,
indeed, demonstrate the unreality of the ego. That is why the ego imagines it sees an empty space
of meaninglessness to write in; it fears the meaning God has already given. We assign our own
meaning to everything.
The Course is insistent that if we did not rush in to write our own meaning, the message we
would hear would be one of love and beauty. This is true no matter what the outside situation
appears to be. For instance, a brother may be totally deceived by his own ego and verbally
attacking us. The message we hear in his words, no matter their form, is the message we choose
to hear. We assign the meaning we think our brother is giving us. If my mind were attuned to the
Holy Spirit, no matter what anyone did or said, I would hear a message that affirms the Christ in
me and engenders my love. (For a longand somewhat complexsection on this very topic, see
Text, Chapter 9, Section II, The Answer to Prayer, which says, in part, The message your
brother gives you is up to you. What does he say to you? What would you have him say? Your
decision about him determines the message you receive [T-9.II.5:14].)
The idea that we are in competition with God and fear His vengeance because of our
competition may, as the lesson admits, seem preposterous. It asks us to practice the lesson
anyhow. At this level we are mainly trying to become aware that we are afraid to leave anything
without meaning, although we dont realize fully why we are afraid of that. It is asking us to work
at being willing to say, I do not know what this means. We really are afraid of that! The lesson
also asks us to note any form of fear carefully. Not to try to overcome it; just notice it. Notice that
leaving something without an assigned meaning makes you anxious, and let yourself consider that
maybe the reason is that somehow, somewhere deep down in the darkness of your unconscious,
you are afraid of the meaning God might write there if you let Him.
God did not create a meaningless world.
Purpose: To erase the interpretations you have put on the world so that you can see
Gods interpretation (just as with the previous two lessons). This process will save you.
In its early stages, however, you may often feel as if you are being led into terror. This is
only temporary. You will be led through fear and then beyond it forever.
Exercise: Three times (unless you find more comfortable), for one minute at most.
With eyes closed, think of all the horrors in the world that cross your mind, anything you
are afraid might happen to you or anyone. For each one say, God did not create that
[specify the horror], and so it is not real. Be very specific in naming the horror or disaster.
Conclude by repeating the idea.
Response to temptation: Optionalwhen anything disturbs you.

Feel free to apply the idea to dispel your upsets during the day. A special form has been
provided for this: God did not create a meaningless world. He did not create [specify the
situation which is disturbing you], and so it is not real. This is a very effective practice for
regaining peace of mind. You may, in fact, want to give it a try now: Choose a situation that is
weighing on you and apply the practice to it. See if at least some of the weight of it does not lift
immediately.
Commentary
Todays idea should come as a welcome relief after four days of being told our thoughts are
meaningless and are showing us a meaningless world that is upsetting and frightening. The
meaningless world we are seeing was not created by God, and what God did not create does not
exist (1:2).
In the book Awaken from the Dream1 by Gloria and Kenneth Wapnick, Gloria wrote about
how this idea first attracted her to the Course:
Hearing firsthand about the devastating effects World War II had on people
personally, I concluded that if this world were the best that God could create, I
wanted nothing more to do with Him...
As I read Jesus words explain that God did not create the world, it was as if
lightning bolts crashed through my head. Why hadnt I thought of that? I kept
thinking to myself. It is so simple; that is the answer. Finally, after twenty-three
years the puzzle in my mind was solved. The Course had supplied the missing piece,
and I no longer had to blame God for a world He did not create.
To some, the message that God did not create the meaningless world we see comes as
salvation; to others, it may be quite difficult and even quite painful (3:2). For recognizing that
He did not create it entails a corollary truth: we made it up. We are responsible for the world we
see. That can lead us directly into fear (3:3). The Course faces up to this in many different
places through all three volumes. The message it is giving to us, especially in the early steps
(3:2), can be difficult, painful, and fearful.
. Gloria and Kenneth Wapnick, Awaken from the Dream, 2nd Ed. (Temecula, Cal.: Foundation for A
Course in Miracles, 1995).
Many people wonder if something is wrong because they have strong negative reactions to
this line of thought in the Course. The answer is, not at all. Perhaps it is those among us who do
not have any negative reactions who should be wondering if they are apprehending the Courses
message correctly and realizing its implications. A negative reaction is far more common than a
positive one: that I can say with confidence.
Be glad, however, that the lesson goes on to say:
You will not be left there [in fear]. You will go far beyond it. Our direction is toward
perfect safety and perfect peace. (3:46)
The Course calls our path a journey through fear to love (T-16.IV.11:12). The early
distress is avoided by very few indeed, but the direction of the journey is towards a warmth and
breadth of love that can barely be imagined as we start out.
One word of caution about the particular form of practice today. Notice carefully that the
lesson is asking you to say these thoughts to yourself about your personal repertory of horrors
(6:1). It is not advocating telling another person who is going through some tragedy that it isnt
real; for instance, Cheer up! God didnt create the death of your husband, so it isnt real. In
most cases that is not a loving message but an attack, placing you in a superior spiritual
position to the other person. The lesson is talking about giving this message to yourself.
Note also the mention here about our illusions, that some of them are shared illusions, and
others are part of your personal hell (6:3). Things such as famine and AIDS fall in the shared
illusion category. There is clear support here for the idea that the illusion of the world is a shared
responsibility, not just your personal creation, or mine.
My thoughts are images that I have made.
Purpose: To introduce you to the process of image making, by which your inner thoughts
appear as outer images.
Exercise: Three times (four if comfortable), for one minute (less if you feel uneasy).
Repeat the idea to yourself.
Then look about and apply it randomly to whatever you see, saying quite slowly, This
[name of object] is an image that I have made. Let your eyes rest on the object the whole
time you are repeating this.
Response to temptation: Optionalwhenever you are upset.

You may want to use this form: This [name of situation] is an image that I have
made. This will remind you that the upsetting situation you are seeing is not
objectively real, but is just your own thoughts appearing in image form.
Commentary
Our perception is composed of images made from our thoughts. Because the thoughts appear
as images, we do not recognize the thoughts as nothing. Physical sight is nothing more than this,
and this is the purpose of physical sight. We gave our bodys eyes the function of seeing these
thought images, in order to validate the thoughts we think we are thinking.
It is not seeing. It is image making. It takes the place of seeing, replacing vision with
illusions. (1:57)
The Course is quite consistent in its view of our physical sight. It says, for instance:
Everything the bodys eyes can see is a mistake, an error in perception, a distorted
fragment of the whole without the meaning that the whole would give.
(T22.III.4:3)
The bodys eyes see only form. They cannot see beyond what they were made to see.
And they were made to look on error and not see past it. (T-22.III.5:35)
What our eyes show us is a mistake. What our eyes show us is an image we have made, and
does not portray the truth. They were made to look on error and not see past it. Part of what we
must begin to learn is to look past the bodily level, to begin to realize that what our eyes are
showing us is not necessarily the truth. Our eyes are showing us only the errors of our own minds.
There is something beyond the physical that vision can show us. That is the meaning of the
edges of light (2:2) the lesson refers to. In a workshop I attended, Ken Wapnick remarked that
this mention of light episodes (3:1) was included in part as an answer to a friend of Helens
who was seeing light around people and wondering if there was something wrong. The lesson
explains that such experiences merely symbolize true perception (3:5). The lesson is not trying
to say that everyone should have such experiences. It is saying merely that, if such experiences do
occur, we should not be disconcerted by them; they are a sign of progress. It is not the symbol of
true perception we seek, however, but true perception itself. The meaning of edges of light is
simply that there is something there to be seen that is beyond the physical. It is to this realization
that the lesson is leading us.
I have no neutral thoughts.
Purpose: A beginning step in learning that every thought has effects and that each one
produces either fear and war or love and peace.
Exercise: Four or five times (three if theres strain), for one minute each (reduce if
theres discomfort).
Then search your mind for any thoughts present. Try to make no distinctions among them.
Try especially not to overlook any little thought. As each thought crosses your mind, hold
it in mind and say, This thought about ______ is not a neutral thought.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are aware of an upsetting thought.

Apply the idea to it using this specific form: This thought about ______ is not a
neutral thought, because I have no neutral thoughts. The point is to make you realize
that, by entertaining this thought, you are actively causing yourself fear.
Commentary
This could seem like a scary idea, but the main intent is for us to realize how effective our
thoughts are. This is an empowering idea, not a threatening one, unless we choose to see it that
way.
Everything you see is the result of your thoughts. There is no exception to this fact.
(1:23)
Like many of the ideas the Course presents, this one is difficult to believe at first because we
are so convinced that our thoughts have nothing to do with most of the things we see. Just in case
we let the idea slip by, the lesson adds that there are no exceptions. True thoughts create true
things; false thoughts make false things, or illusions. There is nothing to be afraid of here because
only the true thoughts create realities; false thoughts only make illusions.
No thought, however, is idle. What gives rise to the perception of a whole world can hardly
be called idle (2:2). Every thought in our mind is producing something all the time, contributing
to truth or to illusion. The Course is a mind-training course. Its aims to make us aware of our
thoughts and their effects. It desires us to be intimately involved in the process of choosing the
thoughts that occupy our minds and produce their effects in the world around us.
We are asked to recognize that no thought is neutral, no thought does nothing to affect the
growth of truth or illusion. Every thought expresses either love or fear; there is no in-between. If I
look at the way I treat my own thoughts I can see the lesson is correct: I really do tend to slough
off certain thoughts as unimportant and not worth bothering about. Every thought is worth
bothering about; all fear thoughts are equally destructive. They are also equally unreal. Thus, we
need not be guilty about them.
Some students of the Course are quick to latch on to the unreal part but very slow to
acknowledge the destructive side; the Course always maintains this balance. Just because
something is unreal or illusory does not mean it is unimportant and can be ignored! For instance,
at one point the Text says that delay is impossible in eternity but is tragic in time (T-5.VI.1:3).
The Course is not advocating an attitude of indifference to the world simply because it is an
illusion. Remarks such as AIDS? Its only an illusion or What starving children? It isnt real,
are not representative of the true spirit of the Course, although you may hear them in some
circles. If AIDS and starvation are in our perception, the thoughts that manifest them must be in
our minds, individually or collectively, and therefore we are responsible for healing those
thoughts. But I digress from the lesson; time to step off the soapbox.
The lesson is pointing out that no thought can be dismissed as trivial, and no thought is
neutral. As you practice the lesson there will be some thoughts that will easily be seen to be not
neutral. If someone steals your car it is fairly easy to acknowledge that your thoughts about it are
not neutral. But if you are thinking of which breakfast cereal to eat it is a bit more of a stretch to
believe that This thought about Wheaties is not a neutral thought, that it is expressing either
love or fear. Believe it; it is. As the instructions say, do not make artificial distinctions (4:3).
The mind is like a light bulb, which is either on or off and never in-between; our minds are
expressing fear or love, and never something in-between, never both, and never nothing.
I see no neutral things.
Purpose: To continue teaching you the real cause and effect relationship between what
you think and what you see. You think that outer events cause your perceptions, but in
fact your perceptions are caused by your thoughts.
Exercise: Three or four times (three are required), for one minute (less if theres
resistance).
With eyes open, say, I see no neutral things because I have no neutral thoughts.
Then look about you, resting your glance on each thing you see long enough to say, I do
not see a neutral [name of object], because my thoughts about [such objects] are not
neutral.
Remarks: As usual, it is crucial to treat whatever you see as the same. The carpet may be
neutral in itself, but you do not see it that way, because your perception of it arises from
thoughts that are inherently non-neutral. Even if the carpet is black and white,
figuratively speaking, your thoughts always color it.
Commentary
The true meaning of cause and effect in this world, according to the Course, is that thoughts
are the cause and the world is the effect. We tend to believe that events or actions in the world
cause us to think in certain ways; the Course says the opposite. It is always the thought that
comes first, despite the temptation to believe that it is the other way around (1:3). We have no
neutral thoughts and therefore we see no neutral things.
What is our usual tendency when we find ourselves having certain thoughts? We ask
ourselves, What made me feel this way? What made me depressed, or angry, or bored? But the
thought always comes first. It was not anything outside of your mind that caused you to think in a
certain way. Rather, your mind caused the world you see.
The lesson becomes quite radical in its statements at times:
Regardless of what you may believe, you do not see anything that is really alive or
really joyous. That is because you are unaware as yet of any thought that is really
true, and therefore really happy. (3:23)
Ive been studying the Course now for ten years and I still have trouble fully accepting the
idea that I dont see anything really alive. I know that the Course states that the body (which is
what I see with my eyes) does not die because it has never lived, and so I know intellectually that
the Course defines alive quite differently than we normally do. By alive it obviously must
mean something nonphysical, because it writes off the physical body as not being alive at all. But
I have to admit that I still need to practice with this lesson because my instinct is still to regard
bodies as alive. I have to work at it to remember otherwise.
I recall speaking with my friend Lynne a little over a year before her body died. She was a
student of the Course. Her body had deteriorated rapidly during the preceding year, and after
several surgeries was only a shell of what it had been. She remarked to me that she was really
learning the truth of what she really was. I said, I guess you have a little more understanding of
what the Course means when it says, I am not a body.
I damn well better not be! she exclaimed, laughing.
These two ideasthat nothing I see with my eyes is really alive, and that nothing I see is
neutral because my thoughts are not neutralcan be disconcerting. Even so, they have their plus
side. The lesson is the same for us all, although for some, like Lynne, it seems to be accelerated.
Yet our bodies will wither and decay just as hers did, only a little more slowly. It is a welcome
relief to realize that the bodys only meaning is given it by our mind. The mind and spirit are
what are alive and real; they are the cause, and the body and its world are only the effects of
thoughts.
I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
Purpose: To continue to teach you that your thoughts are not without effect. The
preceding lessons have emphasized that they always affect your mind. This lesson
emphasizes that they always affect all minds.
Exercise: Three or four times, for one minute or so (perhaps less).
Look around you, randomly selecting subjects and resting your glance on each one long
enough to say, I am not alone in experiencing the effects of how I see ______.
Commentary
The concept that minds are joined (1:2) is easy to grasp, but literally far-reaching in its
implications. How I see things affects other minds, not just my own. The miracles that the Course
can bring into our lives will prove this to us time and time again. A shift in the way I see things
can bring about miraculous effects in people around me:
A miracle is never lost. It may touch many people you have not even met, and
produce undreamed of changes in situations of which you are not even aware.
(T-1.I.45:12)
The fact that how I see things affects more than just myself makes the thoughts that give rise
to my seeing even more important. How I think and perceive things affects, quite literally, the
entire world. By opening my mind to love I can be a conduit of love for the world.
I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
Purpose: To teach you that all minds are joined. Despite being initially unwelcome, this
idea must be true for salvation to be possible.
Exercise: Three or four (at least three), for one minute or so (shorter if necessary).
Search your mind carefully for the thoughts it contains now. As you consider each one in
turn, hold it in your mind and say, I am not alone in experiencing the effects of this
thought about [name central person or theme of thought].
Remarks: Todays lesson includes the last major mention of a theme that is quite familiar
by now: the need to be indiscriminate and random in selecting practice subjects. These
early lessons have drilled this into us (it has been mentioned in every lesson except 8, 13,
and 14), and so in this lesson the author announces that he will no longer emphasize it.
This is not because it is no longer relevant, but because he expects that we have
internalized it by now. He now expects us to maintain this practice throughout the rest of
the Workbook. He also mentions why it is so important. Being able to apply the idea just
as easily to our partners body as to a speck on the floor will ultimately enable us to heal
cancer just as easily as a cold.
Response to temptation: As needed.
Apply the idea in response to any unwanted thought. Just realizing that this thought
affects everyone will help you let it go.
Commentary
Yesterday it was about seeing; today about thinking. Thinking and its results are really
simultaneous, for cause and effect are never separate (1:4). Thinking is cause; seeing is effect,
and they are simultaneous. A baseball flying through your window causes the glass to be broken.
Which happens first? The baseball passing through the plane of the glass, or the glass breaking?
Obviously both happen at once.
So it is with thinking and seeing. When we think, we perceive. The simultaneity is part of
what makes it so difficult for us to recognize thought as the cause. It is fairly easy for the ego to
play the trick of reversing cause and effect, so that we believe that what we see is the cause of
what we think. But that isnt the way it works at all.
The idea that minds are joined is exciting, but also, especially at first, quite threatening. There
are thoughts I have that I do not want to have shared, but there are no private thoughts (2:3).
My private thoughts affect everyone and everything just as every thought does that engages my
mind. The idea can be disconcerting. The lesson tells us that despite resistance, eventually we will
all recognize that the ideaof joined minds in which no thought is privateis inevitable if
salvation is possible at all (2:4). It does not explain why it is inevitable, but just says that well
all see it that way before long.
Lets think about it for a minute. If other minds are truly separate from mine, then different
wills are also truly possible. That places me in competition with the world, alone against the
universe. How can I then be free from fear, if outside forces can at any moment turn against me in
vicious attack?
If, however, minds are joined, and if what I think affects all of this unified mind, then
salvation is possible. Then one choice for peace can affect the entire joined mind towards peace.
Salvation is possible; I am not an effect of the world, but the world is my effect. I am empowered
to choose. I can choose peace for all of Mind. This is how, in the Courses view of things, I can
become a savior of the world.
Let me then determine this day to choose for peace, for healing, and for forgiveness. As I
begin to realize that I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts, I will begin to care
about what I think, and as I begin to care, I will begin to heal myself and the world along with
me.
I am determined to see.
Purpose: To be determined to have vision and so to receive vision.
Exercise: Two per hour (preferably on the half hour).
Repeat the idea. How you repeat it makes all the difference. The lesson asks you to do so
slowly and positively (5:1), remembering that you are determined to exchange your
present state for one you really want. (In fact, you may want to try saying it this way just
once right now, and see if that makes a difference.)
If you find at some point that you have forgotten to practice, do not be distressed...but
make a real effort to remember (5:2) from then on.
Remarks: This lesson marks a major shift in the Workbook. If the Workbook has seemed
easy up until this point, that was intentional. It cannot stay that easy, however, and reach
its goal of the total transformation of your thinking. So beginning now it will give you
more of a structure within which to practice. This will include more frequent practice, set
times in which to practice, and longer practice. Todays lesson includes the first two of
those. How you respond to this structure is crucial. If you see it as an imposition, as an
outside will forcing itself on you, you will either actively or passively rebel against it.
Instead, try to see it as the expression of your true will. You want all the things the
Course offers you. And you will only get them through having a trained mind, and you
will only get that through doing the practice. Therefore, doing the practice today is your
own true desire.
Response to temptation: Whenever you become upset about a person, situation, or event.
Repeat the idea as an emotional remedy. You may want to specify it: I am
determined to see this situation. If you really want to see this situation differently, you
will.
Commentary
Todays lesson does not really ask all that much of us: Every half hour, remember to repeat
the words I am determined to see. If we are studying the Course this is something we probably
truly want.
You want salvation. You want to be happy. You want peace.
(2:35)
Why then all the foofaraw about our feeling coerced, resentful and opposed to the
instructions?
Because this is our first attempt to introduce structure (2:1), and it will not be the last. Our
undisciplined minds have a built-in resistance to structure. So what if its good for us? Actually
something we want? If someone tells us to do it in a certain way, at certain times, we rebel. We
drag our feet. We dont like being told what to do or how to do it. Our mind is totally
undisciplined (2:6) and wants to remain that way to protect the egos vested interests.
The practice asked is extremely simple. So try it. Youll probably be amazed at how often you
forget, how the thought of doing it may flash into your mind only to be postponed because it isnt
convenient at the moment, or because it isnt really important, and then forgotten completely.
This is why the Workbook approaches the whole idea of structure with great caution; it knows
there will be resistance, and is trying to make us realize just how important this deceptively
simple practice really is. This is why it says: Do not be distressed if you forget to do so, but
make a real effort to remember (5:2).
Your decision to see is all that vision requires (3:1). If we could really get this lesson, in
other words, and truly mean what we are saying, the job would be done. Vision would be ours.
In your determination to see is vision given you (3:8). This is not a trivial lesson; it is the core
of everything the Course is teaching. So lets put our heart into it today! Lets do this joyfully,
evendare I say?religiously, every half hour. Lets repeat the idea slowly and positively
(5:1). Lets make a real effort to remember (5:2). Lets apply it to any situation, person or
event that upsets us (5:3).
You can see them differently, and you will. What you desire you will see. Such is the
real law of cause and effect as it operates in the world.
(5:46)
I am determined to see things differently.
Exercise: Five times, for one full minute each.
Repeat the idea.
Then close your eyes and search your mind carefully for any situation at any time that
arouses anger in you, no matter how mild. Hold each one in mind and say, I am
determined to see [specify person or situation] differently. Give little and big thoughts
of anger the same attention. Be very specific, even to the point of naming specific attributes
in specific people that anger you: I am determined to see [specify the attribute] in [name
of person] differently.
Remarks: In this practice, we are meant to avoid the fallacy that the degree of our anger
matters. This fallacy takes two forms. The first is thinking that tiny bits of angerfor
instance, mild irritationare too small to bother including in the exercise. The second is
emphasizing certain obvious sources of anger, which implies that in these particular
cases our anger is truly justified. The truth is that all anger is maximal and none of it is
justified.
A second fallacy is mentioned as well. This is the belief that our anger is confined to a
particular personality trait in someone: I basically love Jim. I am not angry at him across
the board, just at this one particularly annoying trait of his. This lesson is implying that
our anger toward this person is not safely confined in this way; it is across the board.
With this fallacy, rather than not letting it influence our practice (as with the previous
fallacy), we are supposed to use it in our practice. We are supposed to apply the idea
specifically to that trait (see 5:4).
Response to temptation: Whenever a situation arouses anger.
Repeat the idea, specifying the perceived source of the anger: I am determined to see
[specify person or situation] differently.
Commentary
In this lesson we apply the idea of being determined to see to specific situations that arouse
anger, with an emphasis on seeing these situations differently. The meaning of these exercises in
connection with transforming our perceptions is quite obvious.
One thought from this lesson is particularly striking. It is a thought that makes more and more
sense to me the longer I work with the Course, studying the Text and practicing the mental
disciplines it teaches us: You will become increasingly aware that a slight twinge of annoyance
is nothing but a veil drawn over intense fury (2:5).
The very first miracle principle presented in Chapter 1 of the Text says, There is no order
of difficulty in miracles (T-1.I.1:1). The idea expressed in this lesson closely parallels that
concept. There is no order of severity in anger, either; a slight twinge of annoyance is the same as
intense fury, and in fact is disguised rage. All forms of anger stem from the same source.
Some schools of psychology have long maintained that everyone carries around a deeply
suppressed, primal anger. It may be tempered by a veneer of civilization, but underneath, in the
subconscious, lies a violent fury. Many have attributed this to our animalistic origins in evolution,
but the Course sees the anger in a metaphysical sense. Within us we carry a blinding anger at
ourselves because we believe we have attacked reality and succeeded; we have somehow
managed to separate ourselves from God and have destroyed the unity of Heaven. We think that
in a childish fit of pique over not receiving special treatment and special love, we have ruined our
own home and can never go back.
We are enraged at ourselves, but, unable to endure the guilt of our own self-hatred, we
broadcast our rage outward and deflect our anger onto other objects we believe to be separate
from ourselves. The term used for this displacement of anger is projection. The ego within us is
constantly cruising, looking for situations onto which anger can be projected with seeming
justification, in order to convince our minds that the cause of the anger is without, and not within.
Every flash of anger, ranging from mild irritation up to rage, is a symptom of this same, deep,
primal self-hatred, projected onto the world. They are all the same thing. This is why the Course
is advising us not to believe that some forms of attack are more justified than others, and not to
overlook the little thoughts of anger. By making no distinction between degrees of anger we
are helping ourselves learn that they are, in reality, all the same, and all equally unjustified.
What I see is a form of vengeance.
Exercise: Five times (at least), for one minute (at least).
Look about you. As your eyes move slowly from one thing to another say, I see only the
perishable. I see nothing that will last. What I see is not real. What I see is a form of
vengeance.
Conclude by asking yourself, Is this the world I really want to see?
Remarks: The four lines that we are asked to repeat do not seem to logically follow from
each other, even though it seems like they are meant to. Based on paragraph 2, I would
say they do follow from each other, only in reverse ordermeaning, the conclusion
comes first and the arguments foundation comes last. The logic all rests on the idea
(mentioned in paragraph 1) that we see the world through angry eyes. As a result, we are
convinced that the world must want to get revenge on us for the daggers that came out of
our eyes, so to speak. This (unconscious) conviction on our part makes us perceive
ourselves surrounded by a world thirsting for vengeance on us. (That explains the fourth
line.) The vengeful world we see, therefore, is our own projection. It exists only in our
imagination. It is not a real world. (That explains the third line.) And, because it is not
real, it does not have the attributes of reality; in this case, permanence. (That explains the
first and second lines.) To make this fully clear, let me place the original lines and my
explanation side by side:
Original lines
I see only the perishable.
I see nothing that will last.
What I see is not real.
Explanation
I see a world that has no permanence.
It has no permanence because permanence is an
attribute of reality, and the world I see is not
real. It is only a picture in my imagination.
This picture is painted by my attack thoughts.
They cause me to imagine a world poised to get
revenge on me for my attack on it.
Commentary
This is a lesson that I simply did not understand the first few times I went through the
Workbook. Im not entirely sure I understand it now, but it makes a certain sense to me, and to
the degree that I do understand it, Id like to share that understanding with you. Notice one thing,
however, as you read through the lesson. What you are asked to actually practice with is not
simply the thought that heads the lesson, but quite a bit more, ending with the question: Is this
the world I really want to see? (3:8). So understanding the lead thought isnt really the purpose
of this lesson; rather, the purpose is to help us realize that we do not really want what we are
seeing.
We are seeing it, however, because in some part of our mind, a part we have hidden from
consciousness, we do want it. We always see what we want to see, and we are seeing what we are
seeing because we want to see it.
You see what you believe is there, and you believe it there because you want it there.
Perception has no other law than this.
(T-25.III.1:34)
If we are seeing what we are seeing because we want to see it, then if this lesson can help us
learn we dont really want itthat we really want something elseit will help us change what
we see. Change what we want, and our perception changes with it.
If we hold attack thoughts in our mind we must see the world as a vicious place, a dangerous
place. It is a world of pain, and pain is but witness to the Sons mistakes in what he thinks he is.
It is a dream of fierce retaliation for a crime that could not be committed (W-pI.190.2:34). As I
said yesterday, we are angry at ourselves over what we think we have done, and as a result we are
having a dream of fierce retaliation for our crimes. As egos we are also angry at reality for not
being what we want it to be, for not supporting our wish for separation and specialness. We
cannot face our own anger at ourselves, and we cannot support the guilt of our insane rage at
reality, so we project it: Having projected his anger onto the world, he sees vengeance about to
strike at him (1:2).
The anger and attack we see in the world is only the reflection of the intensity of our inner
rage, the rage we cannot see in ourselves precisely because we have denied it and projected it
outward. The world I see thus shows me what I am thinking. What I see is a form of vengeance
because vengeance is what fills my own mind, although I am unaware of it. That I see vengeance
in the world is the proof it is in my mind, because that is the law of perception.
He will attack, because what he beholds is his own fear external to himself, poised to
attack, and howling to unite with him again. Mistake not the intensity of rage
projected fear must spawn. It shrieks in wrath, and claws the air in frantic hope it can
reach to its maker and devour him.
(W-pI.161.8:24).
It is from this savage fantasy that you want to escape (2:1). The words the Course uses
savage fantasy, a dream of fierce retaliationare so evocative! If the world looks like this
and surely it does, quite often at leastwhat must be the state of our minds that spawn it? This
becomes an increasingly vicious circle until he is willing to change how he sees (1:4).
We do want to escape from this savage fantasy. That is the goal of todays lesson, to help us
become willing to change how we see. None of what we are seeing exists, and if we are willing to
change how we see, we will no longer see it.
The Courses definition of real is eternal, everlasting, changeless. What does not last is
not real, by definition. I see nothing that will last (3:4). Therefore none of it is real, by this
definition. If it is not real, what is it? A form of vengeance (3:6). Ken Wapnick said once that
the world is simply crystallized guilt. This lesson is saying that the world is crystallized attack
thoughts, vengeance solidified into a world of attack and counterattack.
Is this the world I really want to see?
The answer is surely obvious. (3:89)
Bear in mind that this lesson is working at the level of motivation. It is not telling us how we
can see something differently. It knows that if it can get us to the point of wanting something
different the battle is over, because what we want, we will see. So if this lesson leaves you
thinking, God! No, I dont want to see the world like this anymore, but what can I do about it?
then the lesson has been successful. The question will be answered as the lessons progress.
I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.
Purpose: To learn that you are not trapped in the world you see, because its cause can
be changed (5:1).
Exercise: Five times, for about one minute.
Repeat the idea slowly as you look about you.
Then close your eyes and search your mind for thoughts of attack and being attacked. Hold
each one in mind and say, I can escape the world I see by giving up attack thoughts about
______.
Remarks: It is important to include thoughts of attack coming from you and thoughts of
attack coming at you. The lesson says that these are just two different forms of the same
thought. In fact, if you look closely, you will notice that every attack thought contains
both aspects. When you are angry with someone, there is always an element of He
caused me pain in some way (which means he somehow attacked me) and thats why I
am angry. And whenever you see someone attacking you, there is an accompanying
anger, displeasure, or frustration directed at him. Thus, it is all the same, and it is all
attack. Seeing this can motivate us to let it all go.
Response to temptation: Whenever you notice yourself having attack thoughts.
Repeat the idea as a way of dispelling those thoughts. You might want to make it
specific by using the same form as above: I can escape the world I see by giving up
attack thoughts about ______.
Commentary
This is one example of a statement that sums up the message of ACIM for us. We do not
escape from the world by controlling it, manipulating it, fixing it, or trying to make it better. We
escape by an act of mind, by giving up attack thoughts. The world I see is the effect of attack
thoughts in my mind, and therefore I can escape from it by changing my mind. This is the only
way out of fear that will ever succeed. Nothing else will work; everything else is meaningless
(1:12).
It is with your thoughts, then, that we must work (1:5). The Text puts it like this:
You must change your mind, not your behavior, and this is a matter of willingness.
You do not need guidance except at the mind level. Correction belongs only at the
level where change is possible. Change does not mean anything at the symptom
level, where it cannot work.
(T-2.VI.3:47)
The world is the symptom level; the mind is the level of causation.
It is very hard for most people to accept this dictum of the Course: There is no point in trying
to change the world (2:3). As often as I have read this I keep running my head up against it. I
find myself trying to change some outward factor, something in the world around me, thinking
that such a change will somehow make things better. All this accomplishes is to alleviate some
symptoms, like taking a cough drop when I have a cold. It cures nothing. Or, as Marianne
Williamson has said, it is like trying to solve the problems on the Titanic by rearranging the deck
chairs. What works is changing my thoughts about the world, because my attack thoughts are the
cause of the world I see.
You see the world that you have made, but you do not see yourself as the image maker
(4:1). We dont recognize the power of our mind; we use the very images made by the mind to
mask the minds power. We resist being tagged as the image maker. We want it to be someone
elses fault, even Gods.
Vision already holds a replacement for everything you think you see now.
Loveliness can light your images, and so transform them that you will love them,
even though they were made of hate. For you will not be making them alone.
(4:46)
Every single thing we made out of our hate, our attack, and our rage can be transformed if we
join with the Holy Spirit to let His light shine on them. Every special relationship, whether it
seems hateful or loving, can become a source of blessing to the world. Every act of vengeance
can be turned into salvation. This is what a miracle does. The holiest of all the spots on earth is
where an ancient hatred has become a present love (T-26.IX.6:1).
We are not trapped in the world because its cause can be changed (5:1). Then follows a
wonderfully brief summary of the process, which Ken Wapnick has labeled the three steps of
forgiveness. It is found in a single sentence: This change requires, first, that the cause be
identified and then let go, so that it can be replaced (5:2).
1. This change requires, first, that the cause be identified. We must recognize mind as the
cause. We must become aware that we are constantly making the ego every moment within our
own minds, by our thoughts. We must become aware that we are responsible for what we see.
2. and then let go. Having recognized the mind as cause, we must choose to change our
mind about the world. We must realize that the thoughts we have been thinking are not the
thoughts we want because, as the lesson said yesterday, we have realized this is not the world we
want to see. It does not say anything here about coming up with new thoughts; it merely says we
let go of the old ones. All that is needed is a willingness for change, a recognition that I no
longer want this.
3. so that it can be replaced. The third step is the replacement of attack thoughts with holy
thoughts, thoughts of love and peace. The next sentences are extremely important here: The first
two steps in this process require your cooperation. The final one does not (5:34). The
replacement step is not our job! We cooperate in identifying the cause, uncovering the ego within
our minds, and we cooperate in letting go of those ego thoughts, but the replacement with Gods
thoughts is not our job. That just happens.
When something happens to upset me, this is all I need to remember:
1. The cause is not outside, but is instead my own thoughts.
2. I do not want these thoughts.
Step 3 takes care of itself, for if I take the first two steps, I will see that my false images have
already been replaced. The true thoughts spoken of earlier are already in my mind, but they are
masked by the false ones. Remove the false, and the true is seen to be already there.
Within the practice instructions there is one other idea worth singling out:
Be sure to include both your thoughts of attacking and being attacked. Their effects
are exactly the same because they are exactly the same. (7:12)
An attack thought is not just a thought I have about attacking another; it is also a thought of
being attacked. If everything I see is a reflection of my thoughts, then what seems to be attack
coming at me from outside is really my own thought of attack bouncing back at me.
Fears of all kinds are attack thoughts. Uneasiness when a highway patrol car cruises by is an
attack thought. Worry about competition at work, or in a relationship, is an attack thought.
Cheering when the Death Star blows up is an attack thought. Watch your mind on Super Bowl
Sunday!
We have a lot of giving up to do. The result is worth it.
I do not perceive my own best interests.
Exercise: Five times, for two minutes.
Repeat the idea.
With eyes closed, search your mind for unresolved situations that youve been concerned
about. When you find one, name all the goals you hope this situation will end up meeting
for you, all the outcomes you are desiring, at least all that you can find. Say, In the
situation involving ______, I would like ______ to happen, and ______ to happen.... Once
you cannot find any more, say, I do not perceive my own best interests in this situation.
This line should simply articulate what you have already observed in uncovering your
goals. You should see that many of them cannot be met together, by the same situation, and
that others cannot be met by this situation.
After saying that line, repeat the whole procedure with a new situation, and so on until the
time is up.
Remarks: The important thing in these exercises is to be honest with yourself. It can be
humiliating to admit just how many impossible and contradictory hopes you have
crammed into a single situation. But admitting that is the whole point of this exercise.
That is what will show you that todays idea really is true for you. So be unusually
honest, as well as careful and patient, in uncovering all the goals you have stuffed into the
pockets of this situation.
Commentary
Our actions in any situation are determined by our perception of the situation, and as we have
been seeing for the last twenty-three lessons, our perceptions are, to put it mildly, unreliable. The
lesson says it more bluntly: our perceptions are wrong (1:3). There is no way, then, that we can
possibly know what our own best interests are in any situation.
The exercises for today are designed to bring four things to our attention (Paragraph 6):
We are making a large number of demands on the situation that have nothing to do with it.
Many of our goals are contradictory.
We have no unified outcome in mind.
We must be disappointed in regard to some of our goals no matter what the outcome is.
We have all experienced this, particularly in making major decisions. Suppose I receive a
fabulous job offer that pays me more money than I ever dreamed of and involves doing
something I like. Sounds good at first. Then I realize I will have to relocate to a part of the
country I dont like, Ill have to be willing to travel extensively, and I will frequently be required
to work long hours and weekends. My mind suddenly becomes filled with all the conflicting
goals. I may find I am expecting the job to make me happy, somehow. Perhaps I am thinking the
job should provide me with spiritual companions. Ill have to leave my friends behind. And so on,
and so on...
The more I have worked with the Course, the more I realize that this is not just a beginning
lesson; it is something that applies to nearly every situation I get into. I am constantly reminding
myself that I dont know what my own best interests are in one situation after another. I find it
most important to do so when things seem to be relatively clear, when I think I do know what I
want and need. If I think I know my best interests, I cannot be taught what they really are. The
best mental state I can maintain, then, is I dont know.
I can acknowledge my preferences, I can admit that I think I would like certain things to
happen, but I need to learn to add, Im not certain this is the best. If I pray for something, I can
add, Let X happen, or something better. I remain open-minded, ready to accept that what I
think about the situation may not cover all the bases, and probably does not. That is the intent
behind todays idea: to open our minds to the possibility that we may not know, and may need
assistance.
I do not know what anything is for.
Purpose: To begin to learn that the purposes you assign things are totally meaningless.
This will help you give up those purposes.
Exercise: Six times, for two minutes.
Repeat the idea slowly.
Then look about you and let your glance rest on each thing that catches your eye. Keep
looking at it long enough to say quite slowly, I do not know what this ______ is for.
Then move on to the next thing. Make no distinctions between things near or far, important
or unimportant, human or nonhuman.
Remarks: As you look at an object and repeat the idea, you may become aware of just
how much you see that object as existing to serve your personal interests. This includes
inanimate objects as well as animate ones, such as human bodies. We see everything in
our environment as having the purpose of serving this separate self. That simply cannot
be what its true purpose is.
Commentary
Have you noticed how the pace of recommended practice is accelerating? Yesterday we
moved from five one-minute periods to five two-minute periods; today we increase to six twominute periods. How many of us are making a serious effort to follow these instructions?
Remember how the introduction said that we arent asked to believe the ideas, accept them, or
welcome them; even active resistance is okay. All that is asked is that we use them (WpI.In.9:4), to apply the ideas as you are directed to do (W-pI.In.8:3). Nothing but that is
required to make them effective. But applying them as directed is required, if we want them to
have effect in our lives.
We dont know what anything is for. The obvious question is: What is it for? This lesson
answers the question. Everything is for your own best interests (1:5). Obviously that relates to
yesterdays lesson, I do not perceive my own best interests. What is for my best interests?
Everything.
We dont know that and we certainly dont believe it. We evaluate everything in terms of ego
goals (2:1), and since the ego is not you (2:2), that cannot give us any idea of what our best
interests are. We are picking and choosing the things that support our ego, which is not our Self,
and therefore, clearly, we are actually undermining our true Self. (The statement that the ego is
not you is particularly important; it isnt something we would realize without being told.)
We look at the world from the ego perspective and we literally assign purposes to things,
purposes that will support our ego. When things dont live up to our expectations, we get upset.
All our goals involve personal interests. Yet, Since you have no personal interests, your goals
are really concerned with nothing (3:2). We dont really have personal interests because the
person we think of when we say those words isnt real. We have no real goals that we do not
share in common with all living things, because all living things are connected, and the sharing is
what makes the goals real. Shared goals recognize the reality of who we are. Ego goals do not.
This is why we are extremely confused about what things are for.
The lesson points out that, on a superficial level, we do know what things are for; we know a
telephone is for talking to someone not physically present. Yet purpose cannot be understood at
these levels (4:3). For instance, we dont understand why we want to reach someone by phone.
We may think we understand. You might be calling the store to order a book. But why do you
want the book? Why call now, at precisely this moment? There is a deeper purpose in everything
that we do not understand, nor can we understand it as long as we think our conscious goals are
the real ones. We have to be willing to give up the goals [we] have established for everything
(5:1).
The entire foundation of our judgment is rotten because it rests on the idea that there are
things outside of us that differ from us. There is nothing outside of us; everything is part of us.
As long as we are coming from that false premise, our goals will be skewed and our judgments
will be faulty.
I find it very helpful to remember that I dont know what anything means and I dont know
what it is for. A phone call may bring bad news, but I can say, I do not know what this phone
call is for; I do not know what this situation is for, and therefore I cannot judge it.
The Course insists on our total ignorance. The confusion between your real creation and what
you have made of yourself is so profound that it has become literally impossible for you to know
anything (T-3.V.3:2). Thats pretty definite, isnt it? Literally impossible. This isnt any figure
of speech. Obviously, if you literally know nothing, judgment is impossible.
Because weve confused ourselves with our egos, we cant know anything. Our belief in our
identity as separate beings, located in bodies, has become an unquestioned core belief behind our
every thought. We evaluate everything in terms of ego goals (W-pI.25.2:1). Before we even begin
to evaluate what anything means we have presupposed that, whatever it is and whatever it means,
it is not us; it is other. From that premise it is literally impossible to know or understand anything
because it is not other. It is part of us.
A very young baby in its crib goes through a process of learning that its foot or hand is part of
itself. To begin with, the baby does not know that. You can watch the baby, sometimes, treating
the foot as if it were a foreign object.
We are all still infants in this sense because we dont recognize parts of ourselves when we see
them; we think they are something else. Because we think they are something else, we are unable
to form judgments that make any sense. Our judgments are not simply exaggerated or inaccurate,
they are so wide of the mark theyre ludicrous.
Let us remember not our own ideas of what the world is for. We do not know.
(T-31.I.12:23)
If we dont know what anything is for, we cant judge it! We cant evaluate whether or not it
is fulfilling its purpose because we dont know what its purpose is.
We arent being asked to acquire all this knowledge we lack; we are asked to become still and
to remember how much we dont know (see T-31.II.6:4). The Text tells us that there is no
statement that the world is more afraid to hear than this:
I do not know the thing I am, and therefore do not know what I am doing, where I
am, or how to look upon the world or on myself. (T-31.V.17:7)
It goes on to say that learning this is the birth of salvation. This is where learning starts:
admitting how incapable of judging we are. All of these things we dont know! Recognizing our
ignorance is the birth of salvation because, until we admit we dont know, we wont ask for help.
As long as we think we know, we block true knowing.
Little children recognize that they do not understand what they perceive, and so
they ask what it means. Do not make the mistake of believing that you understand
what you perceive, for its meaning is lost to you.Yet while you think you know its
meaning, you will see no need to ask it of Him.
You do not know the meaning of anything you perceive. Not one thought you
hold is wholly true. The recognition of this is your firm beginning. (T-11.VIII.2:23,
5; 3:13).
My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.
Purpose: To realize that how vulnerable you feel is due not to how the world treats you,
but strictly to your own thoughts; specifically, to your attack thoughts. Relinquishing
these thoughts is the road to feeling truly invulnerable.
Exercise: Six times, for two minutes (cut in half if you become uncomfortable).
Repeat the idea.
Close your eyes and pick a situation that has been concerning you, that has been on your
mind. First name the situation: I am concerned about _____. Then go over each potential
outcome (ideally, about five or six) that you have been afraid might happen. For each one
say, I am afraid _____ will happen, and then tell yourself, That thought is an attack
upon myself. This is the punch line. This is the whole point of the exercise. What is
attacking you is not the external outcome, but your thought that you are vulnerable to that
outcome.
When you run out of outcomes for that situation, repeat this procedure with other situations
until the time is up.
Repeat the idea to close.
Remarks: Try to be both honest and thorough. If you only go through two or three
situations, that is all right. We do not like to admit to ourselves just how many fearful
possibilities we see facing us. Consequently, the outcomes you are really frightened of
may only occur to you after you think you have completely exhausted your list. However,
as this lesson advises, try to treat the frightening outcomes the same as the mildly
worrisome ones. All of them are just different permutations of your belief that you are
vulnerable.
Commentary
The American Heritage dictionary defines invulnerable as immune to attack. So to believe
I can be attacked means, by definition, that I believe I am not invulnerable. That much is obvious.
There is a little bit of logic in the first paragraph that might slip by without careful reading:
You see attack as a real threat. That is because you believe that you can really attack.
(1:23)
It is my belief that I am capable of attack that makes me fear attack from without; if I can
attack, so can everyone else. My fear of attack, therefore, comes from the projection of my own
belief about myself! It comes from my belief that I am not a wholly loving being, but rather I am
malicious, malign and wicked. That is what the second paragraph is all about.
What would have effects through you must also have effects on you (1:4). This is why, as
Lesson 23 said in the last paragraph, thoughts of attacking and thoughts of being attacked are
exactly the same. My belief in attack within myself, acting through me, will also have effects on
me. It is this law that will ultimately save you (1:5). What that is referring to is the truth, much
emphasized in the Course, that the way I find forgiveness is by giving it; the way I receive
healing is to heal others. But we are misusing that law now, projecting guilt instead of
extending love. So we need to learn how to use it for our own best interests, rather than against
them (a reference to Lesson 24).
Attack thoughts weaken me in my own eyes, whether they are fearful thoughts of assault from
without, or aggressive thoughts of attack on another. The strong do not have enemies, as it
implies elsewhere (see T-23.In.1:5). If I can let go of attack thoughts I will perceive my
invulnerability; my vulnerability or invulnerability is the result of [my] own thoughts (4:1).
Nothing except your thoughts can attack you (4:2). That is a thought I have meditated on for
years, and have proved valid in my own experience. It is particularly difficult to believe at first;
thats okay. Work with it. It is an empowering thought. (In this light you might want to read over
Chapter 10s introduction in the Text.)
The instructions for todays lesson are longer and quite detailed. Read them carefully. This is a
real mental process we are to engage in. In thinking of a situation we are to go over every
possible outcome (7:3), referring to it very specifically. The lesson emphasizes being thorough,
and taking time with each situation.
Above all else I want to see.
Purpose: To bring closer the day when you want vision more than everything else.
Exercise: At least every half hour (three or four times an hour is suggested).
Simply repeat the idea. You can do this even in the middle of conversation. Dont
worry if you dont fully mean the idea. Repeat it to bring closer the day when you will
mean it. If repeating it arouses fear of having to give up something, add, Vision has no
cost to anyone, and, if still afraid, say, It can only bless.
Remarks: This is a very important lesson, the second lesson in frequent practice (the first
was Lesson 20). It is clearly serious about this frequency. At the beginning of the day you
are supposed to set the interval you will use (e.g., every twenty minutes, every thirty
minutes). If you have not done that yet, it would be good to do so now. Then, for the rest
of the day, you are asked to do your best to stick to the frequency you yourself chose. The
Course realizes that, in all likelihood, you will not do this perfectly. When you forget a
practice period, do not get angry with yourself. This eventually makes you feel like
giving up (and is, in fact, an ego ploy to engineer just this outcome; see W-pI.95.7:3-5,
10:1-2). Just get back to your practicing as if nothing happened. What is important is not
lamenting past failures to practice, but doing the practice in the present and future. The
benefits of this can be enormous. Just one truly sincere repetition can put you forward
years in your development.
Commentary
This is reminiscent of Lesson 20, I am determined to see, to which a subtle reference is
made in the first line: Todays idea expresses something stronger than mere determination. It
puts the desire to see into first place, above all else. I want to see more than I want anything
else. If we mean this, we will choose the path that leads to vision every time, no matter what other
lesser goal might be tempting us.
The lesson recognizes that the idea may not be wholly true for us yet. Since desire determines
vision, if it were now wholly true you would already see, and therefore would not need the
lesson! So working with a lesson like this is not hypocritical; it is an exercise intended
specifically for people for whom the idea is not yet wholly accepted, designed to move us closer
to the day when it will be.
The phrase above all else may tempt us to think we are being asked to sacrifice. Vision at
any cost! Therefore the lesson suggests that if we feel uneasy about unreservedly committing
ourselves to vision, we should add this thought: Vision has no cost to anyone (2:3). If that isnt
enough, add, It can only bless (2:5). Put them all together: Above all else I want to see, and
vision has no cost to anyone. It can only bless.
This hints at an idea stated clearly many times in the Course: this path does not believe in
sacrifice. It says we are asked only to sacrifice illusions, and that this is in reality only an illusion
of sacrifice. Nothing real can be threatened (T-In.2:2).
Still, the lesson is leading us toward this kind of single-minded, unreserved determination to
have true vision. We do need to be willing to put vision above anything that seems to compete
with it. It may seem at times that we are being asked to give things up, and we may actually have
to give them up, but when we do, we will realize we have given up nothing we truly wanted. The
entire process is perfectly safe, and entails no real loss of any kind.
The practice requirements suddenly leap into high gear in this lesson: repeat the idea at least
every half hour (3:2). Thats at least every half hour, and more if possible. You might try for
every fifteen or twenty minutes (3:23). (Things will ease up again tomorrow.) Specific
structure, with a set time schedule, is recommended. All we are asked to do each of these times is
to repeat the one sentence to ourselves: Above all else I want to see. This is not a big deal.
There isnt any reason we cant do it, even in the middle of a conversationif we want to, if we
are willing.
The real question is, how often will you remember? How much do you want
todays idea to be true? Answer one of these questions and you have answered the
other.
(4:13)
How often we remember will be the measure of how much we really want to see above all
else. This will be a very revealing day!
Notice carefully how we are supposed to deal with the fact that we probably will forget and
come nowhere near the ideal of every fifteen minutes. It says a lot about how the Workbook
views this whole matter of practice. Basically it says, Dont let your failure bother you; just
get back on track immediately. All that it takes to save many years of effort (4:6) is to, just
once during the day, repeat the idea with perfect sincerity. To achieve that one time, many
repetitions are needed. Simply do the best you canbut let it be the best you can do.
Above all else I want to see things differently.
Purpose: To commit to really seeing, to commit to withdrawing your preconceptions
about things and opening your mind to seeing them with true vision. You will make this
commitment one object at a time. By committing to seeing one thing truly, you are really
committing to seeing everything truly.
Exercise: Six times, for two minutes.
Repeat the idea.
Then apply it randomly to whatever you see about you, giving each subject equal sincerity.
Let your eyes rest on each one long enough to say, slowly and thoughtfully, Above all else
I want to see this ______ differently. Realize that in saying this you are making a request,
a request to withdraw the purpose you have laid on this object, and to see the purpose that
God has given it, the purpose it shares with all the universe (5:3). By seeing this one
object truly, then, you could see the purpose of everything. You could gain total vision.
Remarks: Each application of the idea (to the table, to the chair, to the foot) is the
making of a commitment. So try to practice in this spirit. With each repetition, try to
mean what you are saying. Do not rush through the words thoughtlessly. Try to say them
with sincerity. Say them thoughtfully. Do not worry about whether you will follow
through with these commitments, for that inhibits you from making them. And you will
never keep them unless you first make them.
Commentary
The thought that I could gain vision from just a table, or any random thing for that matter, if I
could look on it with a completely open mind, is staggering. It means that I have been surrounded
all my life by people and things, any one of which could have brought me enlightenment, and I
have not responded. The computer screen I look at as I write, if seen without any of my own
ideas, could open up and show me something beautiful and clean and of infinite value, full of
happiness and hope (5:2).
I still find that hard to believe. Oh, I dont doubt it, in one sense. Somehow it makes sense to
believe that an enlightened being, like Jesus for instance, would see, as the poet put it, the
universe in a grain of sand. But I guess what I doubt is that I could see that. Ive looked at so
many tables in my life and none of them ever spoke to me. I look at my desk now and I seea
desk.
Hidden under all your ideas about it is its real purpose, the purpose it shares with all the
universe (5:3). Ah! A clue as to what this lesson is getting at; were talking about a shared
purpose. Were asking to see a common purpose that binds everything as one. I think a desk is for
writing on, a table is for eating on, a fork is for spearing my food, a computer is for sending
messages to folks on the Internet. I see a whole bunch of different purposes, each thing with its
own, separate purpose. But they all share a purpose. As does my body, the sky, the moon,
everything I can see. What is that purpose? That is what I am asking to see.
That is something worth asking for.
Nothing around you but is part of you. Look on it lovingly, and see the light of
Heaven in it. So will you come to understand all that is given you. In kind
forgiveness will the world sparkle and shine, and everything you once thought sinful
now will be reinterpreted as part of Heaven. How beautiful it is to walk, clean and
redeemed and happy, through a world in bitter need of the redemption that your
innocence bestows upon it! What can you value more than this? For here is your
salvation and your freedom. And it must be complete if you would recognize it.
(T-23.In.6:18)
God is in everything I see.
Purpose: To begin to learn how to look on all things with love, appreciation and openmindedness (3:1). To see the holy purpose that resides in everything.
Longer: Six times, for two minutes.
Repeat the idea.
Then apply it to randomly chosen objects in your visual field, naming each one. Say, God
is in this [magazine, finger] or God is in that [body, door]. Realize that you are not
claiming that God is somehow physically in that object, but that God has assigned His
purpose to it, a purpose which is part of Him. Remember your training in this practice. Start
near to you and then extend farther out. Keep looking at each object until you are done
repeating the sentence. And make sure you avoid self-directed selection (4:2), something
that might be more challenging with this idea.
Frequent reminders: At least once an hour.

Repeat the idea slowly while looking slowly about you.
Commentary
The idea for today explains why you can see all purpose in everything. It explains
why nothing is separate, by itself or in itself. And it explains why nothing you see
means anything. In fact, it explains every idea we have used thus far, and all
subsequent ones as well. Todays idea is the whole basis for vision.
(1:15)
Clearly, todays idea is pivotal in the Courses thought system, and not simply a nice,
sentimental idea. Nor is it mere pantheism, which teaches that nature and God are the same.
Elsewhere the Course clearly teaches, There is no world! (W-pI.132.6:2), so this is not saying
that nature and God are identical. Certainly God is not in a tableas you see it (2:3).
As I see things, nothing means anything. A table is merely a table, a flat surface to eat on or
play poker on. It has no eternal purpose; its purposes are all ephemeral. Seen like this, the table
does not reveal God, but helps hide Him.
God is not in the physical table, but He can be seen through or by means of the table. If the
table shares the purpose of the universe, it must share the purpose of the Creator of the universe.
That purpose is our happiness, our joy, our completion, which is necessary to His. Everything is
for your own best interests. That is what it is for; that is its purpose; that is what it means (WpI.25.1:56).
Purpose is the key word in this and the last lesson. God is in everything I see because
everything shares Gods purpose. My sight is a veil across the truth that shines in everything, but
vision can shine through that veil if I allow it. The way I perceive, God is not in everything; in
fact, He is in nothing. If mere physical sight were enough we would all have seen God long ago.
We made our sight to obscure Him, but seen with the vision of Christ, everything can reveal Him.
Nothing is as it appears to you. Its holy purpose stands beyond your little range.
(3:45).
As I first read this lesson I was puzzled by the statement that the idea for the day, God is in
everything I see, explained the earlier idea that nothing we see means anything. On the face of it,
if God is in everything I see, it ought to give those things profound meaning; I would see them as
sharing the purpose of the universe, the purpose of the Creator. How can I logically proceed from
God is in everything I see to Nothing I see means anything?
Finally I noticed a distinction that should have been obvious from the beginning: the
distinction made between seeing or sight and vision. The Course makes this distinction
quite consistently throughout, but because my mind still tends to think of sight and vision as the
same thing, I failed to notice it here. Sight refers to our normal mode of seeing, our belief that
what our physical eyes show us is real, instead of the result of a desire within the mind and the
projection of meaning from the mind, imposed on what is seen. Vision, on the other hand, is
another kind of sense altogether, virtually unrelated to the physical eyes.
Notice that the lesson says, Todays idea is the whole basis of vision (1:5, emphasis mine).
When vision has shown you the holiness that lights up the world, you will understand todays
idea perfectly (3:6, emphasis mine). It is vision that reveals God in everything; mere sight does
not reveal Him. God is in everything I see, but sight does not show Him to me; that is why
nothing I see means anything. You do not see them [with vision] now (3:2). God is there, but
sight does not see Him; sight is overlooking the very thing that gives everything the meaning it
has. We could therefore revise the earlier statement to say: Nothing I see means anything, the
way I see it. Meaning is there but I am blind to it.
The world you see must be denied, for sight of it is costing you a different kind of
vision. You cannot see both worlds, for each of them involves a different kind of
seeing, and depends on what you cherish. (T-13.VII.2:12, my emphasis on the
words sight and vision)
The idea that God is in everything is the whole basis for vision (1:5). It is the foundation for
a different kind of seeing (T-13.VII.2:2). In order to see with vision I have to be willing to
deny, or disregard, my current mode of seeing, which is limited to the physical and reports back
to me only what my ego wants to see. If I recognize that God is in everything, yet I do not see
Him with my eyes, there must be a different kind of seeing, and I will be led to desire it. I will ask
for vision.
The lesson speaks of the little range (3:5) of our kind of seeing. Imagine, as an analogy, that
God is only visible in the infrared part of the spectrum (of course He is not visible in any physical
manner at all). Our eyes simply do not see infrared radiation, so even if it is present we see
nothing. The range of physical sight is very narrow; there are all kinds of light we cannot see:
infrared, ultraviolet, heat, radiation, radio waves, microwaves, and so on. God is in everything,
but He is outside the range of our physical sight; we need a different kind of vision.
I think that in a sense the lesson is trying to arouse a certain discontent within us. It provokes
the disturbing question: If God is in everything, how come I dont see Him? It makes us aware
of the limitations of what we have believed to be sight. It makes us aware of its limited range,
and evokes within us the desire for a new kind of vision that sees beyond this limited range, and
sees the purpose of the universe in everything.
Tomorrows lesson will continue to instruct us in finding vision.
God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.
Purpose: To learn a new way of seeing. In this kind of seeing, what you see does not
come in from the external world, through your bodys eyes, or from you projecting your
illusions onto the world. Rather, it comes from you projecting the truth that is in your
mind onto everything you see.
Exercise: As often as possible throughout the day, for one minute.
Look about you and apply the idea to your visual field and even to what lies beyond
that field, out of sight. Make sure that, for several of the exercises, you close your eyes
and apply the idea to your inner world.
Commentary
As yesterdays lesson was the whole basis (W-pI.29.1:5) for vision, todays idea is the
springboard (1:1). That God is in everything I see forms the foundation. Knowing that this is so
because God is in my mind is what can propel us from mere sight into vision.
From this idea will the world open up before you, and you will look upon it and see
in it what you have never seen before. Nor will what you saw before be even faintly
visible to you.
(1:23)
Fundamental to understanding what the Course is talking about is the fact that what we see is
quite directly caused by what is in our mind. The commonsense idea of perception is that
something outside causes an impression, through my senses, on my mind. The reality is the
reverse, according to the Course. The thoughts of my mind are projected outward and cause my
perceptions. Projection makes perception, says the Text in two different places (T-13.V.3:5; T21.In.1:1; compare with T-10.In.2:7).
What this lesson attempts to teach us is a new kind of projection (2:1). We might call it
positive projection. Instead of using projection to get rid of thoughts we are uncomfortable
with, we are attempting to see in the world what we want to see in our own minds. What I want to
see, for one thing, is my own innocence. Therefore I am attempting to see the world as innocent. I
am choosing my thoughts and deliberately projecting them onto the world. I want to see myself
as having God in my mind, and so I choose to see everything as having God in it.
If all things contain God, and I contain God, then we are joined. Thus, we are trying to join
with what we see, rather than keeping it apart from us. That is the fundamental difference
between vision and the way you see (2:45). Our kind of seeing emphasizes differences and
distinctions; vision emphasizes sameness.
Real vision is not only unlimited by space and distance, but it does not depend on the bodys
eyes at all (5:1). It is becoming clearer with each lesson that the vision being talked about has
nothing at all to do with our physical sight. In the Courses thought system, our eyes do not see at
all; they are merely the means for deception. We can include in our vision things beyond the
range of physical sight. This is a seeing done with our minds, not with eyes. The mind is its only
source (5:2).
Now I recall our earlier lesson, Above all else I want to see (Lesson 28) with a stronger
sense of purpose. I want vision; I want this other kind of seeing that sees God everywhere. I want
it because somehow I instinctively know that if I can see things that way, I will also be able to see
myself that way. If I can see you as a holy child of God, innocent and blameless, I will know that
I am seeing a reflection of myself. I want to see myself that way, so I want to see you that way.
God is in my mind. The world mirrors what is in my mind. How, then, do I want to see the
world? Am I willing to see the world with God in it? If not, it only reflects the fact that I am
unwilling and afraid to see His presence in my mind.
I am not the victim of the world I see.
Purpose: To begin declaring your release.
Longer: Two times, morning and evening, for three to five minutes.
Repeat the idea two or three times while looking slowly about you.
Then close your eyes and apply the idea to your inner world, the level of cause. Let
whatever thoughts that want to come arise, be noted, and then allowed to pass by. As with
Lesson 10, it is important to stay detached from your stream of thoughts. Try seeing it as
either a strange parade of disorganized, meaningless objects or as a series of leaves floating
by on a stream. Let the stream keep moving; dont stop it to dwell on a particular thought.
As you watch it move by, repeat the idea as often as you want, with no hurry.
Frequent reminders: As often as possible (suggestion: several times per hour).

Repeat idea. While doing so, consciously remember that you are declaring your freedom from
all outer causation, and freeing other minds in the process. Try a repetition now in that spiritit
will take you five seconds.
Response to temptation: When you feel like anything in the world is victimizing you.
Repeat the idea. You will get more from it if you say it as a declaration that you refuse
to be slave to outer events and to your egos reactions.
Remarks: Todays lesson marks an important development. The daily practice now
begins to separate out into two levels: longer practice periods, which will generally be
done morning and evening; and shorter, frequent practice throughout the day (this
includes both frequent reminders and response to temptation). This is a major step toward
the eventual fourfold structure of morning and evening practice periods, hourly
remembrance, frequent reminders, and response to temptation.
Commentary
As you must have noticed when you read todays lesson, there isnt a lot of metaphysical
thought in it. In fact there is almost none, except in the lead thought quoted above. The rest of the
lesson is practice instructions. So Ill weight my comments in approximately the same way.
The one sentence that heads the lesson is plenty in itself, however. If you think about it, it is
amazing how many ways we see ourselves as victims of the world. We go through life feeling
like victimsof the weather, of the jerk who cuts you off in traffic or swerves into the parking
space you were aiming for, of your computer disk when it loses your file, of your housemate
who uses the last of the hot water just before your shower, of the slow service in the restaurant, of
the traffic that makes you late for your appointment. Then, of course, there are the people who
may deliberately and malevolently terrorize you in our cities (or perhaps in your home).
To assert that I am not the victim of the world I see can be liberating and empowering. It is
remarkable how these simple words can cause feelings of weakness and helplessness to wash
away. Try it! Youll like it.
Oddly enough, we also feel victimized by unseen enemies and even our own thoughts. Ever
have an anxiety attack? Or find yourself feeling gouged by the IRS? A victim of an unfair
system? Plagued by self-doubt? You are not the victim of your inner world any more than of
your outer world. You will escape from both together, for the inner is cause of the outer (2:5).
This lesson introduces what will become the basic practice outline for most of the Workbook,
and for ongoing practice for Workbook graduates:
1. Two longer practice periods, morning and evening, in which you apply the idea for the day
on a sustained basis.
2. Frequent repetitions through the day, as often as possible (a study of other references to
this indicates that four or five times per hour is intended).
3. Using the idea as a response to temptation whenever it arises.
The only element of Workbook practice not present in this lesson is specific hourly or halfhourly periods of shorter practice, in length somewhere in between #1 and #2 above. That appears
as the Workbook goes along to build a habit of practice on the structure of the clock, and then is
gradually phased out as the habit (presumably) has been established. The three elements
presented here in Lesson 31 are retained in recommendations for post-Workbook practice given
in the Manual for Teachers (see Section 16, How Should the Teacher of God Spend His Day?).
Make a point of taking those longer, three to five minute periods morning and evening. This is
the first time for them. You wouldnt practice the piano by playing only half the scales, so dont
stint here, either. From this point on in the Workbook the practice is going to intensify; like me,
Im sure youll find it more difficult to maintain and to actually carry out. Remember:
You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked
to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give
them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true. (W-In.8:36,
emphasis
mine)
LESSON 32 FEBRUARY 1
I have invented the world I see.
Purpose: To teach you that you are not the effect of the world; it is the effect of you.
Longer: Two times, morning and evening, for at least three to five minutes.
As with yesterdays lesson, repeat the idea a few times while looking around you slowly. Then
close your eyes and apply it to the images that arise in your inner world. Remain detached by
reminding yourself that both worlds are equally imaginary.
Remarks: The counsel in 4:3 about when to practice is repeated in different forms several
times in the Workbook. For a discussion, see When Should You Take Your Morning
Quiet Time? Following the Workbooks counsel in this regard will enhance the quality
of your practice, so that, as with todays lesson, you may find yourself wanting to go
longer than five minutes.
Frequent reminders: As often as possible.
Repeat idea slowly while looking about either your outer or inner world.
Response to temptation: Whenever a situation upsets you.
Immediately respond with: I have invented this situation as I see it.
Commentary
If Im not the victim of the world, what is my relationship to it? Ive invented it. If Ive
invented it, if I made it up, how can I possibly be its victim?
Now, saying that Ive invented the world is a pretty heavy statement. Saying that I can give it
up as easily as I made it seems even more improbable. Yet that is what the practice of the
Workbook is setting out to prove to us, not by rigorous logic but through experiences that
demonstrate that it is true. Thats what miracles are. Miracles demonstrate that the world you see
outside you and the world you see in your mind are bothin your own imagination (2:23).
This lesson is simply introducing the idea, not trying to prove it. The Text discusses the same
thought in several places (T-21.II.11:1; T-20.III.5:15), the most telling of them being:
What if you recognized this world is an hallucination? What if you really understood
you made it up? (T-20.VIII.7:34)
It isnt a concept you can easily avoid if you study the Course; the Course insists on it.
All that is really being asked here is that we open our minds to the idea that we have invented
the world we see. It is a concept that can throw our minds into turmoil because it flies in the face
of our fundamental beliefs about the world. The world has a few nice things about it, but also a
lot of ugly junk. And being told I am responsible for it, I made it up, doesnt sit easily with my
mind.
If it raises all kinds of questions in my mind, fine; let the questions bubble up. For today, for
the practice periods, just apply the idea as given. Its okay if part of your mind is kibitzing in the
background saying, This is nuts! I dont really believe this. The introduction warned us we
might even actively resist the ideas. It said:
Whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than that is
required. (W-In.9:45).
It may be difficult to see at first, but we really only have two options. Either I made up the
world, or I am its victim. Either I am the cause, or the effect. There arent any other choices; think
about it. Either I am the dreamer, inventing the whole mess, or I am part of someone elses dream
(maybe Gods). If I am not the cause, I am at the worlds mercy. But if I am the causethere is
hope! I can change the dream, and perhaps, eventually, stop dreaming altogether.
There is another way of looking at the world.
Purpose: To show you that you have the power to change your perception of both the
outer and inner world, which are really the same.
Longer: Two times, morning and evening, for five full minutes.
Go back and forth from glancing around your outer world to closing your eyes and observing
your inner world. While doing so repeat the idea unhurriedly. Regard both inner and outer worlds
with equal casualness, uninvolvement, and detachment, to the point where you feel little
transition in shifting between them.
Frequent reminders: As often as you can.

Repeat the idea. Try to be as detached as you were during the longer exercises.
Response to temptation: The instant any situation disturbs you.

When upset, apply the idea specifically, saying, There is another way of looking at
this. Do so immediately, rather than waiting until you have tried to fix things on the
outside. If your feelings do not clear up right away, dont give up. Spend a minute or
more repeating the sentence over and over, closing your eyes and concentrating on the
words you are saying.
Commentary
This lesson asserts the power of our minds to choose how we see the world. We can shift our
perception of the world! That is not only a personally empowering concept, it is, quite literally, a
world-changing realization.
As we begin to examine our thoughts, we will be amazed at the number of situations in which
the idea of another way of looking at it has simply never occurred to us. With some things, the
idea that we could see them differently may actually be offensive. Without realizing it we may be
saying, My mind is already made up; dont confuse me with facts.
That is why following the practice instructions with these lessons is so important. It isnt just
the longer five-minute times in the morning and evening: The shorter exercise periods should be
as frequent as possible (3:1). The more often we bring this idea into our awareness during the
day, the more we will become aware of areas of thought that we are protecting from change.
I could see peace instead of this.
Purpose: To begin to experience the peace that characterizes true vision.
Longer: Three times, morning, evening, and once in between, for five minutes.
Close your eyes and search your mind for upsetting situations, personalities, and
events (a typical triad in the Workbook). Repeat the idea slowly as you dispassionately
watch the stream of upsets go by. After a couple of minutes, you may run out of upsets.
That is all right. Just keep repeating the idea slowly until the five minutes are up.
Response to temptation: Make a point of watching your mind today for upsets.
Whenever you notice one, apply the idea to it. There are two forms of upset to watch out
for, each requiring a slightly different form of practice:
1. If you are upset about a specific situation, apply the idea specifically: I could see peace in
this situation instead of what I now see in it.
2. If your upset is not attached to anything in particular, but consists of a general mood of
depression or worry, simply repeat the idea.
If needed, take several minutes, repeating the idea until you feel relief. It will help if
you add, I can replace my feelings of depression, anxiety or worry [or my thoughts
about this situation, personality or event] with peace.
Remarks: The final sentences of this lesson make a very important point, one to
remember throughout the Workbook and afterwards. Repeating the idea just once may
not do the trick. Your upset may go away only after youve spent several minutes
repeating the idea. Repeating the same line again and again may sound like some kind of
brainwashing, in which you just drum your mind into submission. However, I find this to
be an exercise not in putting my mind to sleep, but in gradually illuminating it. If I have
strong negative feelings, the first few repetitions of the idea may simply bounce off. But
if I keep it up, each repetition allows the truth to enter in a little bit further, until I finally
see the situation entirely differently. I urge you, therefore, to give this longer form of
practice a real try today.
Commentary
The most helpful thought I ever heard in relation to this lesson was this: Notice that it says, I
could see peace, and not I should see peace. It is far too easy to take this lesson as another
reason for guilt. Terrible me! I should see peace, but I am seeing this mess instead. What is
wrong with me? That is not how this lesson is meant to be applied.
The opening paragraph contains such a wonderful summation of the Courses philosophy of
peace:
Peace of mind is clearly an internal matter. It must begin with your own thoughts,
and then extend outward. It is from your peace of mind that a peaceful perception of
the world arises. (1:24)
Peace is the motivation for doing this Course (see T-24.In.1:1). Our goal is what a later part of
the Workbook refers to as a mind at peace within itself (W-pII.8.3:4). Peace must begin with
our thoughts and extend outward from our minds. The focus is on the mind.
We can replace our negative feelings and our unloving thoughts with peace. We have that
power. We can choose peace if we want peace. Notice that the practice instructions for applying
the lesson to adverse emotions (6:1) suggest that we repeat the idea until you feel some sense
of relief (6:2). This practice is meant to have tangible effects.
At times I have found that even in an extremely upsetting situation, repeating these words, I
could see peace instead of this, has a decidedly calming effect on my mind, even if I cannot, in
that very moment, see peace. In a very subtle way, it helps to convince my mind that the awful
things I am seeing are not rock solid, immutable reality. I am seeing something other than peace,
but if I really could see peace instead, then what I am seeing must not be as real as I think. Even
that level of relief is worth the time it takes to practice.
I used to believe that when upsetting situations occurred, I had to deal with the situation and
change things around in order to be at peace. Through the practice of this lesson, I have learned
that I can respond to any situation much more effectively if my mind is at peace first. I have
discovered that I can bring my mind to peace without having first solved my problems. It really
is possible to see peace instead of whatever seems to be upsetting me. And when I do, if response
is required, I act calmly and without fear. Panic is not conducive to productive action; far better to
seek peace first, then act.
My mind is part of Gods. I am very holy.
Purpose: To show you who you really are. You see yourself according to the place you
occupy in your environment. Since you think your environment is the physical world,
your identity seems to be determined by the part you play in this world, by how you
behave in earthly situations. Yet your true environment is not this world, it is Gods
Mind. Your place there is what determines your real identity. If you truly believed you
were part of that environment, you would instantly understand that you are holy.
Longer: Three times, for five minutes.
Repeat the idea, then close your eyes. Search your mind for descriptive terms you
would apply to yourself, positive or negative (do not discriminate). Find them by picking
up specific situations that occur to you and identifying the term you think applies to you
in that situation. Say, I see myself as [failing, helpless, charitable, etc.]. After each
one, add, But my mind is part of Gods. I am very holy. If, after a while, no specific
terms occur to you, dont strain to dig up more. Relax and repeat the idea until another
comes to mind. For complete instructions, see paragraphs 48.
This practice can take one of two forms:
1. Notice the attribute you are applying to yourself in the current situation and plug it into the
formula you used in the longer practice (I see myself as...But my mind is...).
2. If no attributes occur to you, just repeat the idea slowly with eyes closed.
Commentary
The Text tells us that you do not understand how lofty the Holy Spirits perception of you
really is. (T-9.VII.4:2). In the following section of the same chapter, it says:
You did not establish your value and it needs no defense. Nothing can attack it nor
prevail over it. It does not vary. It merely is. Ask the Holy Spirit what it is and He
will tell you, but do not be afraid of His answer, because it comes from God. It is an
exalted answer because of its Source, but the Source is true and so is Its answer.
Listen and do not question what you hear, for God does not deceive. He would have
you replace the egos belief in littleness with His Own exalted Answer to what you
are, so that you can cease to question it and know it for what it is. (T-9.VIII.11:29)
As the lesson points out, we do not normally think of ourselves in terms such as lofty and
exalted. Notice, though, that the Course is saying this is true of us, not because of anything we
have done, but because of our Source (3:2). What makes us what we are is not ourselves, but
God. That is why the Course lays so much stress on the idea I am as God created me. Our little
view of ourselves comes from our attempts to create ourselves; our true grandeur derives from the
fact that we are Gods creations. Our unwillingness to recognize this connection with our Source
is what keeps us locked in our smallness. We resist acknowledging God as our Source because it
seems, to our egos, to put us in second place and to make us dependent. It does not make us
dependentwe are dependent. That is not our shame; it is our glory. It is what establishes our
grandeur.
We have difficulty believing that I am very holy. Our refusal to believe it is why we are in
this world, in this environment we think we want. We want it because it supports our image of
ourselves as separate beings, independent of God.
When we look at the world, and look at ourselves living in the world, the things we see do not
support the idea of this lesson. And yet the eyes, ears, nose, and touch we use to gather evidence
are part of the very image of this world. They exist within the constraints of the worlds image
which we have constructed, very carefully, not to show us our union with God. Of course, they
bring us very little evidence to contradict the egos image of us; we made them to function that
way.
One very strong emphasis of the Course is on looking directly at our darkness and confronting
our fears. The more we look at fear, says the Course, the less we will see it. Simply bringing the
darkness into the light dispels the darkness. Looking at our ego, and even the full extent of our
hatred, is crucial to our growth, it tells us. This lesson reflects the other side, which is sometimes
neglected when looking at the ego is overemphasized. The other side is reminding ourselves,
firmly, of the truth of our exalted reality: My mind is part of Gods. It is very holy. In the Text
we are told:
Whenever you question your value, say:
God Himself is incomplete without me.
Remember this when the ego speaks, and you will not hear it.
(T-9.VII.8:13)
Reminding ourselves of the truth about us is another powerful technique the Course
recommends for transcending our egos.
The list of attributes and terms we use to describe ourselves given in the lesson is just a
sample. As you practice the lesson today, try to notice how you think about yourself, and how
different all of those thoughts, good and bad both, are from the lessons statement about you. I
could add some of my own terms to the list: forgetful, disorganized, intelligent, clever, falling
behind, skillful at what I do. What terms do you think of?
You should have noticed that the lessons are now calling for three longer practice periods of
five minutes each. We are getting into heavier practice. Some of us, if we have not meditated
previously, may find it difficult to sit for five minutes with our eyes closed doing these exercises.
I encourage you to do them anyway. Anything new is difficult at first, but becomes easier with
practice; that is what the practice is for.
My holiness envelops everything I see.
Purpose: To realize that the holiness of your mind must lead to holy sight.
Longer: Four times (evenly spaced out), for three to five minutes.
Close your eyes and repeat the idea several times.
Open your eyes and look slowly and casually around, specifically applying idea to whatever
your glance falls upon. Say, My holiness envelops [this rug, that wall, that chair, etc.].
Several times during the practice period briefly close your eyes and repeat the idea. Then
return to open-eyed practice.
Frequent reminders: Frequency is important today.

Repeat the idea with eyes closed, then with eyes open (looking around), then with eyes closed
again.
Remarks: Note that you are supposed to evenly space out the longer practice periods and
do frequent shorter ones in between. The point is obviously to not leave any long gaps in
which you are not practicing, so that your mind is protected all day long. Enclosing your
day in this finely woven net, that has no big holes, is a major goal of the Workbook.
Also, as always, repeat the idea very slowly, casually, and without strain. Doing it this
way makes all the difference.
Commentary
Ive always had a fondness for this lesson, because the first time I did it I had a very real sense
of how holiness was emanating from me and surrounding everything, first in my room, then my
town, then the world, and finally the universe. For a very brief moment I felt like a Buddha,
sitting and blessing the entire world (thats tomorrows lesson, by the way). The result was so
effective for me that often, when I am simply sitting in meditation and not practicing any
particular lesson, I think of this one and allow that sense to steal over me again.
Not everyone responds to every lesson, but everyone responds to some of the lessons. Notice
the ones that seem particularly effective for you, and remember them. Lesson 194 in the
Workbook speaks of building a problem-solving repertoire of things that we find helpful:
If you can see the lesson for today as the deliverance it really is, you will not
hesitate to give as much consistent effort as you can, to make it be a part of you. As
it becomes a thought that rules your mind, a habit in your problem-solving
repertoire, a way of quick reaction to temptation, you extend your learning to the
world. (W-194.6:12)
In yesterdays lesson the focus was on the perceiver: I am very holy. Today the holiness
extends to what is perceived. Because I am holy, my perception must also be holy. And I am
perfectly holy because God created me that way. Holy means sinless, and you cannot be partly
sinless any more than a woman can be a little pregnant. The logic here is quite simple and
plain: If I am part of God I must be sinless, or part of God would be sinful. If I am without sin I
must have holy perception as well.
How I see myself affects how I see the world. My holiness envelops the world if I see myself
as holy. My awfulness envelops the world if I see myself as awful. If I am willing to see the
world enveloped in holiness, I can learn to see myself that way.
I know, that sounds like I have it backwards; the order should be that I see myself holy first,
and then the world. The thing of it is, what keeps me from seeing myself as holy is my
unwillingness to see the world that way. From within the ego mindset, it seems as if seeing the
world as holy will make me unholy by comparison. The ego always thinks in terms of
comparison. The fact is that as I see the world, so I see myself, and as I see myself, so I see the
world.
The ego mind will insist it must be one way or the other because it operates on a presumption
of separateness. The Holy Spirit presents it both ways at once because He operates on the
presumption of unity. There is no separation between myself and what I see; there is only the one.
My holiness blesses the world.
Purpose: To introduce you to your true function (this is the first lesson to deal with the
topic of function). You are here to bless, and to make no demands. This blessing involves
first acknowledging your own holiness, and then seeing others in its holy light. Try to see
todays practice periods in this way, as practice in the reason you are here.
Longer: Four times, for three to five minutes.
Repeat the idea and, for a minute or so, look about you and apply it to the objects you see,
saying, My holiness blesses [this chair, that window, this body, etc.].
Close your eyes and apply the idea to any person you think of, saying, My holiness blesses
you, [name].
For the remainder you may continue with this second phase of practice, go back to the first,
or alternate between them.
Conclude by repeating the idea with eyes closed and then once more with eyes open.

This can take one of two forms:
1. Repeat the idea slowly.
2. Apply the idea silently to anyone you meet, using his or her name. Really try to do this. It
takes real presence of mind to repeat the idea right when you meet up with someone, but it
can be done. Or it can be done after the interaction is over. The Workbook will repeat this
practice in several future lessons, which shows the importance it has. This practice has the
power to transform an ordinary encounter into a holy encounter.
Response to temptation: Whenever you have an adverse reaction to someone.

Immediately apply the idea to him or her (My holiness blesses you, [name]). See
this as a real act of blessing this person with your holiness. This will keep your holiness
in your awareness, while your anger will blot it from your mind.
Commentary
There is a principle stated in Chapter 13 of the Text that applies to this lesson: To perceive
truly is to be aware of all reality through the awareness of your own (T-13.VI.1:1). Or, in terms a
bit closer to our lesson for today:
Since you and your neighbor are equal members of one family, as you perceive both
so you will do to both. You should look out from the perception of your own
holiness to the holiness of others. (T-1.III.6:67)
Unless we recognize our own holiness we will not see the holiness of all of Gods creations.
What we perceive is, after all, merely the reflection of how we see ourselves. Conversely, how we
perceive others shows us how we must be seeing ourselves.
In this lesson we are told that we see the first glimmerings of your true function in the world,
or why you are here (1:1). Our job is stated simply but with great profundity: Your purpose is
to see the world through your own holiness (1:2).
Have you ever met someone you would consider very holy? I have. The most remarkable
thing about them is that they seem to see everyone as holy. When you are around them, you even
feel holy yourself! They seem to be seeing something in you that normally you cannot see; their
seeing it draws it out of you. And just exactly that is why we are in the world; just exactly that is
what all of us are here to do. We are here to see the world through our own holiness, to draw out
of everyone around us their native holiness, to perceive them in such a way that the power of our
perception lifts them up out of self-doubt and self-loathing into an awareness of their own
magnificence.
We have this power!
As you share my unwillingness to accept error in yourself and others, you must join
the great crusade to correct it; listen to my voice, learn to undo error and act to
correct it. The power to work miracles belongs to you.
(T-1.III.1:67)
Those who are released must join in releasing their brothers, for this is the plan of the
Atonement (T-1.III.3:3). This is the plan by which we, empowered by Gods Spirit within us,
can save the world. We release one another by perceiving each other through our own holiness,
creating a resonance within them as their own holy nature, long suppressed, responds to our
perception of them.
Thus are you and the world blessed together. No one loses; nothing is taken away
from anyone; everyone gains through your holy vision.
(1:34)
My holiness blesses the world; that is what I am here for. I am here to bring blessing to the
world, and the message I bring is: so are you. No one loses; everyone gains. What an incredible
outlook this is!
This undoes the entire idea of sacrifice because it is a message of total equality. We are here to
acknowledge each other, and when we do we have achieved our glorious purpose. Any other way
of looking at things winds up demanding sacrifice; somebody, somewhere, has to lose. But with
the vision of Christ we can look out at all the world and proclaim, They are all the same; all
beautiful and equal in their holiness (T-13.VIII.6:1).
Your holiness blesses him by asking nothing of him. Those who see themselves as whole
make no demands (2:67). Oh, that we might learn the lesson of asking nothing, making no
demands! Have you ever, even perhaps if only for a brief time, been with someone who was so
complete they made no demands on you? They had no need they were, overtly or covertly, asking
you to fill. They loved you just as you were; they accepted you without expecting anything from
you. Isnt that what we all want in our relationships? Isnt that what unconditional love is?
Well, the way to have what you want is to give it away. This is what all of us are destined to
do, and will do eventually, even if it seems beyond us now. Aware of your holiness and your own
completion, you will stand and bless the world.
Your holiness is the salvation of the world. It lets you teach the world that it is
one with you, not by preaching to it, not by telling it anything, but merely by your
quiet recognition that in your holiness are all things blessed along with you.
(3:12)
There is nothing my holiness cannot do.
Purpose: To begin to instill in you a sense that you have dominion over all things
because of what you are (5:5).
Longer: Four times, preferably for five full minutes.
Repeat the idea then close your eyes.
Search your mind for any suffering or difficulty, whether in your life or someone elses. Do
your best to treat these two as the same. For problems of your own, say, In the situation
involving _______ in which I see myself, there is nothing my holiness cannot do. For
problems of others, say, In the situation involving _______ in which _______ sees himself,
there is nothing my holiness cannot do.
Periodically, feel free to add thoughts of your own that are related to todays idea. Stay
close to the idea; dont go too far afield. These thoughts will serve to make that idea more
real to you. This is the first occurrence of the important practice of letting related thoughts
come, which you will receive more instruction in later.
Frequent reminders: Frequent.

Repeat the idea.
Response to temptation: Whenever a specific problemyour own or someone elses
presents itself or comes to mind, use the specific form from the longer practice period.
Commentary
Toward the end of the lesson there is this informative line: The purpose of todays exercises
is to begin to instill in you a sense that you have dominion over all things because of what you
are (5:5). In a much later lesson (190) the same idea is echoed:
There is nothing in the world that has the power to make you ill or sad, or weak or
frail. But it is you who have the power to dominate all things you see by merely
recognizing what you are. (W-pI.190.5:56)
Now, if you are like me, you probably dont feel as though you have the power to dominate all
things or that you are unlimited in power. You probably dont feel as though the power of God
is made manifest through your holiness, that because of what you are you can remove all pain,
can end all sorrow, and can solve all problems (2:4). If you did feel that way, youd probably
suspect in some part of your mind that you were suffering from delusions of grandeur.
Thats exactly why we need this kind of lesson. What we are, in reality, is so far above what
we normally think we are that when we hear words like this lesson there is a part of us that
whispers, This is getting a little freaky here. We have no idea of the power of our minds, which
were created by God and given the same creative power as His. When we get hints of how
powerful we are, it scares us, and we try to forget about it.
What we really are is beyond every restriction of time, space, distance and limits of any
kind (1:2). We really do have the power to solve all problems, our own and anyone elses. If
practicing todays lesson simply begins to instill this sense in us, it has been successful.
When I face a situation that is troubling me and repeat, In this situation, there is nothing that
my holiness cannot do, even if ninety percent of my mind is protesting against the idea,
something shifts within me. A little faith is generated. Maybe the percentage shifts from ten
percent belief to eleven percent belief. And when I do it again, twelve percent. Weve all read
stories of people who overcame unbelievable odds just because they believed in themselves; that
only hints at what the Course is talking about, but it illustrates the principle.
The Course is talking about the power of belief, but much more as well; it is talking about the
power of what we honest-to-God are. And it is talking about the power of our holiness, not just
belief. You and I are made out of God-stuff. When we actually get that, we can change the world.
True learning is constant, and so vital in its power that a Son of God can recognize
his power in one instant and change the world in the next. (T-7.V.7:5)
My holiness is my salvation.
Purpose: To get you in touch with your holiness, which is your salvation from the hell of
guilt.
Longer: Four times (more are encouraged), for five full minutes (longer is encouraged).
Repeat the idea.
Close your eyes and slowly search your mind for unloving thoughts, thoughts with any kind
of negative feeling attached to them. This includes specific situations, events, or
personalities associated with angry, worried, or depressed thoughts. Make no exceptions
and try to treat each one the same. With each, say, My unloving thoughts about ______
are keeping me in hell. My holiness is my salvation. Your unloving thoughts keep you in
hell by producing guilt. Your holiness saves you by showing you that your true nature is
untouched by sin and guilt, and it proves this by blessing everything it sees.
Because sustained concentration is hard for you at this stage, you may want to intersperse
this practice with several periods of just repeating the the idea slowly, or relaxing and not
thinking of anything. You can also introduce variety, which seems to mean varying the
wording of the idea. Make sure, however, that you retain its central meaning: that your
holiness is your salvation.
Conclude by repeating the idea and asking yourself, If guilt is hell, what is its opposite?
(For the answer, see 4:2).
Frequent reminders: At least three or four per hour.

Ask yourself, If guilt is hell, what is its opposite? Or repeat the idea. Preferably
both.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to give in to unloving thoughts.
Apply the idea specifically: My holiness is my salvation from this.
Commentary
The opposite of hell is salvation; the opposite of guilt is holiness. If guilt is hell, then holiness
must be salvation. The question is: Do I believe that guilt is hell? Or do I, perhaps, feel that guilt
serves a useful function in my life?
The Course teaches that guilt is at the root of all our problems, and yet at the beginning we
dont even suspect guilt as the cause. We lay the problems at the feet of many different things, but
rarely at the feet of guilt. Of one thing you were sure: Of all the many causes you perceived as
bringing pain and suffering to you, your guilt was not among them (T-27.VII.7:4). Guilt is hell.
This is part of what the Course is trying to teach usa large part.
As long as you believe that guilt is justified in any way, in anyone, whatever he
may do, you will not look within, where you would always find Atonement. The end
of guilt will never come as long as you believe there is a reason for it. For you must
learn that guilt is always totally insane, and has no reason. (T-13.X.6:13)
All salvation is escape from guilt. (T-14.III.13:4)
Guilt is interference, not salvation, and serves no useful function at all.
14.III.1:4)
(T-
Perhaps we may object. Perhaps it seems that guilt is necessary to keep us from wrongdoing;
but that presumes something within us that is inherently evil and perverse, something that will
always do wrong unless it is kept caged, or punished when it misbehaves. Guilt serves no useful
function; guilt is hell. Guilt is what we need to escape from. Guilt does not keep us from
wrongdoing; it keeps us locked into it. It is guilt that has driven us insane.
As this lesson says, if we wholly believed that guilt is hell, we would immediately understand
the entire Text and have no need for a Workbook. We would have salvation, full and complete,
for salvation is escape from guilt. This is not a part of the Courses message; it is the whole of it.
This is why my holiness is my salvation; holiness is freedom from guilt.
Notice the emphasis in practice on unloving thoughts (6:2; 7:1; 8:3). Unloving thoughts are
guilty thoughts; they both stem from guilt and produce more of it. Holiness is lovingness. If my
thoughts are unloving, I will be fearful and guilty; my holiness is my salvation from guilt. As we
realize that our unloving thoughts are keeping us in hell, we will let them go.
Todays practice instructions are fiercely demanding: a minimum of four sessions of five full
minutes each, with longer and more frequent practice sessionsencouraged (5:1). Then there
are shorter applications, which should be made some three or four times an hour and more if
possible (11:1). Plus there are responses to temptation. Todays idea must be very important! It
must be very hard for our minds to absorb, so that we need to frequently immerse our minds in
this thought.
I am blessed as a Son of God.
Purpose: To put you in touch with the happy things that you are entitled to as Gods Son.
Frequent reminders: Every ten minutes is highly desirable.
Close your eyes (if feasible), repeat the idea, and apply to yourself several attributes
you associate with being a Son of God. For example: I am blessed as a Son of God. I am
happy, peaceful, loving and contented.
Remarks: You can see that he really means us to do this practice today. He urges us to do
our best to keep to the schedule (1:3). He reminds us that the practice takes little time
and no effort (3:1). And he has three provisions for when we do not or cannot do the
practice as instructed:
1. When you notice that you have forgotten to practice, even for a long stretch, rather than
feeling guilty and giving up, simply get back to your practicing right away.
2. If it is not feasible to close your eyeswhich will often be the casedont let that keep
you from practicing. Just practice with eyes open.
3. If there is not enough time to do the exercise as suggested, simply repeat the idea. That
takes about four seconds.
Commentary
There is no escaping the importance the Workbook attaches to actually trying to practice as
instructed. In this lesson, whose practice is in one sense a relaxation from yesterdays and in
another sense an intensification, you cannot read these words and think that the author believes
that it does not matter whether or not we follow the instructions:
No long practice periods are required today, but very frequent short ones are
necessary. Once every ten minutes would be highly desirable, and you are urged to
attempt this schedule and to adhere to it whenever possible. If you forget, try again.
If there are long interruptions, try again. Whenever you remember, try again.
(1:26, my emphasis).
Attempttrytrytry. The more often we can repeat the lesson, the more impact it will
have on our mind. How can you have a course in mind training (T-1.VII.4:1) without some
kind of mental discipline? You cant; its that simple.
At the same time notice that there is no guilting going on here. The author anticipates our
indiscipline and expects (or allows for) our forgetting, and for long interruptions (1:5). He
knows we lack discipline; that is exactly why the practice is so necessary. But he does not
judge us for it. He says, simply, If you forget, try again. Dont let forgetting, even for long
periods of the day, be an excuse to give up for the rest of the day. Every time we remember, we
add a link to the chain of forgiveness which, when completed, is the Atonement (T-1.I.25:1).
He goes to the trouble of pointing out that just because you cant get alone and close your
eyes, that is no excuse for not practicing. You can practice quite well under any circumstances,
if you really want to (2:4).
The practice for today is, very simply, making positive affirmations as often as possible. I am
blessed as a Son of God. I am calm, quiet, assured and confident (3:78). This might take ten or
fifteen seconds, perhaps a little longer to think of a new list of attributes that you might associate
with being a Son of God: I am serene, capable and unshakable. I am joyful, radiant, and full of
love.
Can any of us really consider it a trial to engage in practice like this? Our egos do, and they
will resist. I am no longer startled, but still astonished, at the variety of ways my ego finds to
distract me and keep me from practicing my own happinessfor that is all we are doing here.
Observing my egos constant opposition to my happiness is one thing that has convinced me of
the truth of that line in the Text: The ego does not love you (T-9.VII.3:5).
Because of what I am, an extension of God, I am entitled to happiness. The ego has to resist
that idea because its existence depends upon my believing that I have separated myself from God;
therefore the ego wants me to be unhappy. It wants me to believe that I do not deserve to be
happy. Maybe it doesnt want me totally miserablethat might prompt me to reconsider
everything. Just a mild river of misery, as Marianne Williamson puts it. Just a vein of sadness
and impermanence running through even my best times. Just enough to keep me from listening to
The Other Guy Who talks about my union with God. And definitely not happy. Happy is
dangerous to the ego. Happy says separation isnt true.
And it isnt!
God goes with me wherever I go.
Purpose: To get in touch with Gods Presence deep within you, so that you experience
the fact that He goes with you wherever you go. This is the real cure for all human ills,
which are merely symptoms of our illusory separation from God.
Longer: One time, for three to five minutes, as soon as possible after rising.
Close your eyes, repeat the idea very slowly.
Then let your mind go blank and focus all your attention on sinking down and inward. Sink
past the cloud of insane thoughts on the surface of your mind and toward the Presence of
God at the quiet center of your mind. Try to enter very deeply into your own mind (6:6).
Repeat the idea occasionally if it helps, but spend most of your time gently willing yourself
to sink toward the core of your mind, where all is still. Hold in mind the confidence that
you can make it, for reaching this place is more natural than anything in this world. When
thoughts arise, simply slip past them on your way inward. It will help dispel them if you
repeat the idea.
Remarks: This is the Workbooks first meditation exercise. It is labeled our first real
attempt (5:3) to reach the light within. As this quote suggests, this practice is extremely
important in the Workbook. Paragraph 8 clearly signals that we will be engaging in this
kind of practice (8:6) more, receiving more instruction in it, and growing in it, until we
reach the point where it is always successful (8:5).
Frequent reminders: Often.
Repeat the idea according to the instructions in paragraph 9. To get a sense for that, I suggest
that you repeat it right now following the instructions below, all of which are drawn from
paragraph 9:
Repeat it very slowly, preferably with eyes closed.
Repeat it again and think of what you are saying; what the words mean.
Repeat the words again and concentrate on the holiness that they imply about you. If He
goes with you and He is holy, then you are holy.
Repeat them again, concentrating on the unfailing companionship that is yours.
Repeat them again, concentrating on the complete protection that surrounds you.
Response to temptation: Whenever you have fear thoughts.

Remember the idea. If you really connect with its meaning, you will be able to laugh
at the fears that seemed so heavy an instant before.
Commentary
Innumerable problems seem to have arisen from our perception of ourselves as separate from
God. A sense of loneliness and abandonment, depression, anxiety, worry, helplessness, misery,
suffering, and intense fear of loss all stem from this root problem. Most of our lives are spent, if
we look at things objectively, with various ways of trying to circumvent and overcome these
problems.
But the one thing [we] do not do is to question the reality of the problem. Yet its
effects cannot be cured because the problem is not real. (2:23)
A spiritual teacher, Adi Da, once wrote a book subtitled The Imaginary Disease That Religion
Seeks to Cure. That is what separation is: an imaginary disease. How can you cure a disease that
does not really exist? The answer is obvious; you cannot. There is no cure because there is no
disease. This is why all our attempts to cure ourselves do not work. We cannot find the way
back to God because He has never left us; God goes with us wherever we go. All of our strife
and drama is just foolishness, despite the serious and tragic forms it may take (2:5).
Deep within you is everything that is perfect, ready to radiate through you and out
into the world. It will cure all sorrow and pain and fear and loss because it will heal
the mind that thought these things were real, and suffered out of its allegiance to
them.
(3:12)
We carry the cure for our disease deep within us. This cure heals, not by overcoming the
illness but by healing our belief in the reality of the illness. God is always with us. How could
we ever, in any way, ever be separate from the Infinite? How could we ever be apart from All
That Is? The very idea is insane and impossible.
We understand that you do not believe all this. How could you, when the truth is
hidden deep within, under a heavy cloud of insane thoughts, dense and obscuring,
yet representing all you see? Today we will make our first real attempt to get past
this dark and heavy cloud, and to go through it to the light beyond. (5:13)
How reassuring to have our Teacher tell us that he understands we do not believe this as yet.
Oh, perhaps we hold an intellectual belief in Gods omnipresence, but we do not believe it to the
core, in a way that banishes all our fear, sorrow, pain and loss. That is the purpose of this lesson:
to get past this dark and heavy cloud and to reach the light.
This lesson is the Courses first introduction to the practice of what we might call traditional
meditation. While the Course does not make such meditation a primary focus, it definitely
accords it a place of great importance. Meditation in the Course consists of sitting with eyes
closed and making no effort to think of anything (6:4), but attempting to enter deeply into our
own mind, to sink down and inward while trying to keep the mind clear of any thoughts that
might divert your attention (6:6). The purpose, as has been stated, is to become aware of the
light within ourselves. Or, in more traditional terms, to experience a sense of Gods presence with
us. We are attempting to reach God today.
This meditation exercise, says the lesson, can achieve startling results the very first time you
try it. That may not happen for you the first time, but sooner or later it is always successful
(8:5). That certainly implies that we are expected to repeat the exercise, and to expect something
as a result.
Clearly, if this idea of Gods presence is meant to banish our loneliness, we can expect to
develop a very clear and tangible sense of Someone Who is always with us, in every moment.
When we begin to develop this sense we may be tempted to think it is our imagination. This is no
imagination! It is the absence of this Presence that is imaginary.
You can indeed afford to laugh at fear thoughts, remembering that God goes with you
wherever you go (10:1).
God is my Strength. Vision is His gift.
Purpose: To realize that vision comes not from you but from the strength of God in you,
and that therefore you can receive it under any circumstance and cannot fail to find it
eventually.
Longer: Two times, for three to five minutes, (early) morning and (late) evening.
Repeat the idea slowly, looking about you. Close your eyes and repeat it even slower.
Then step back and let only thoughts related to the idea come to mind. Do not strain or
actively try to think them up. Try merely to step back and let the thoughts come (6:2). I
find it helpful to repeat the idea and watch for the germ of a related thought to spark in my
mind somewhere during that repetition. Then I put words to that germ.
If your mind wanders, repeat the idea and try again. If related thoughts stop coming, repeat
the idea with eyes open and eyes closed as at the beginning. If no related thoughts come at
all, just repeat this beginning phase over and over.
Remarks: This is our first lengthy instruction in the practice of letting related thoughts
come (which was introduced in Lesson 38). Over time, the Workbook will try to make
this practice a habitual part of our overall repertoire.
Frequent reminders: The more often the better.
Repeating this idea, which consists of two parts, will begin to show you that all the
parts of the Course come together into a unified whole. It will also remind you that the
Courses goalvisionis a genuine priority for you.
Commentary
Question: Why can we not fail in our efforts to achieve the goal of this course?
Answer: Because God wills us to achieve it.
If that answer sounds somewhat demeaning to you, dont be surprised at having such a
reaction. With our minds permeated by ego thinking, it can seem personally insulting to be told
that the guarantee of our success is that God wants it that way, as if we dont have any choice
in the matter. But the fact is, we dont.
As the introduction to the Text puts it:
It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not
mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what
you want to take at a given time. (T-In.1:25)
The curriculum is learning who we are, and we dont have any say in establishing that; we are
what God created, and we cannot change that. The only choice is how long it takes us to accept
the fact of what we are, instead of trying to be something we are not.
The Text talks about how separation took root in our minds when we refused to accept
ourselves as creations of God and wanted to create ourselves. Were still fighting that same silly
battle. It still seems insulting to be told that the outcome is inevitable; we are what God created
and cant be anything else, no matter how much we might wish for it.
It is Gods strength and not ours that gives us our power. We cant give ourselves vision, but
neither can we forever refuse His gift to us. Even if we resist, eventually we will capitulate. And
if we cooperate, our success is guaranteed.
Werner Erhard, the founder of Erhard Seminars Training (est), once said that it is easier to ride
the horse in the direction in which it is going. That is what the Course is asking us to do; to join
our will to Gods, and to recognize that we really do want exactly what He wants to give us, and
has given already. What He gives is truly given (2:1).
If we can accept that our will and Gods are the same, we can enter into spiritual life as a sure
thing. We can say, Vision must be possible. God gives truly (4:56). Or Gods gifts to me
must be mine, because He gave them to me (4:7). We can walk through life with a calm
assurance. Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and wait without anxiety
(M-4.VIII.1:1).
There is an idea that gets tossed into the middle of this lesson, seemingly unrelated, although it
is closely related. Your passage through time and space is not at random. You cannot but be in
the right place at the right time (2:34). The more you go on with this path (and similar ones) the
more you know this is absolutely true. There are no random events; everything has a purpose.
And you cannot miss! You cant screw it up. Oh, you can make mistakes; the Course is quite
clear about that. It tells us: Son of God, you have not sinned, but you have been much mistaken
(T-10.V.6:1). But even our mistakes can be used by the Holy Spirit for our benefit: The Son of
God can make no choice the Holy Spirit cannot employ on his behalf (T-25.VI.7:5). Even if you
make the wrong choice, nothing has really happened; no permanent damage has been done.
Nothing is ever lost but time, which in the end is meaningless (T-26.V.2:1). The Holy Spirit
can take whatever you give Him and turn it to your good.
So you cant help being in the right place at the right time; you can just relax in life and enjoy
the show, instead of being anxious about it all. Why is this so? Because of the strength of God,
and His gifts. Your reaching the goal is His Will, and what God wants, God gets. After all, Hes
God.
One further comment: In the instructions for practice you are asked to let thoughts occur in
relation to todays idea; this kind of rehearsing of related thoughts is another type of meditation
that is quite common in the Workbook. Then it says, You may, in fact, be astonished at the
amount of course-related understanding some of your thoughts contain (5:2).
You may, however, instead be very puzzled over what the heck this means! The first time I
tried this exercise my mind was virtually blank. Remember that the Workbook often assumes that
you have studiednot just read, but studiedthe Text before you began these exercises. It isnt a
requirement, but it is assumed to be the general case.
For anyone who has done that, related thoughts will indeed come easily, or if you are on a
repeat pass through the Workbook, same thing. If, after trying for a minute or two to find related
thoughts, you find that they do not come easily, take the advice given a little further on in the
lesson: If you find this difficult, it is better to spend the practice period alternating between slow
repetitions of the idea with the eyes open, then with eyes closed, than it is to strain to find suitable
thoughts (6:3). The presence of this kind of instruction shows that the lessons can accommodate
people who havent already studied the Text in depth.
God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.
Purpose: To remember your function.
Longer: Three times, for five minutes each; morning (early as possible), evening (late as
possible), and in between (when readiness and circumstances permit).
First phase: Repeat the idea, then glance around you, applying it specifically and
indiscriminately to whatever you see. Four to five subjects will be enough.
Second phase: Close your eyes, repeat the idea, and let related thoughts come to you. Their
purpose is to enrich the idea in your own personal way (5:2). They dont need to be
restatements of it, or even obviously related to it, but they cant contradict it. If your mind is
wandering or you begin to draw a blank, repeat the first phase of the exercise and then
attempt the second phase again. Dont let the practice period become a mind wandering
session, so be determined do this as many times as you need to.
Frequent reminders: You have a choice of three forms:

1. When you are with someone, whether friend or stranger, tell him silently, God is my
Source. I cannot see you apart from Him.
2. Apply the idea to a situation or event, saying, God is my Source. I cannot see this apart
from Him.
3. If no subjects present themselves, merely repeat the idea.
Remarks: Try to allow no long gaps in remembering the idea. This is an important
training goal for the Workbook. The same thing was urged in Lesson 36 (2:2).
Also, do your best to remember to apply the idea to people you encounter. It takes real
presence of mind to do this, but it can be done, and it will change the quality of the encounter.
Response to temptation: Whenever you get distressed about an event or situation.

Apply the idea specifically: God is my Source. I cannot see this apart from Him.
Commentary
All of what we call seeing is perception; it is not knowledge. Perception does not show us
the truth; at best it shows us a clear symbol of truth. Knowledge in the Course is something that
belongs to the realm of perfection, of Heaven; it is not possible to have knowledge and to be in
this world, because this world is not true. The entire aim of the Course is to move us from false
perception to true perception; when our perception has been cleaned up, we will be ready for the
transfer to knowledge.
Without the Holy Spirit, perception would have remained false. But because God has placed
this link with Himself in all of our minds, perception can be purified so that it will lead us to
knowledge.
In Heaven or in God, there is no such thing as perception, only knowledge. Perception
requires two, a perceiver and the perceived; that is duality and does not exist in truth. Yet in
salvation, our experience in this world, perception has a mighty purpose (2:3). Although we
made perception for an unholy purpose (2:4), to make illusions that we think are real, the Holy
Spirit can use it to restore our holiness to our awareness.
Remember Lesson 1? Nothing I see means anything. That is because perception has no
meaning (2:5). All of perception is essentially meaningless, yet does the Holy Spirit give it a
meaning very close to Gods (2:6). Rather than trying to understand what we see, we need to
step back and let the Holy Spirit write His meaning on it all. Seen with Him, everything reveals
God to us.
Without God, we think we see, but we really see nothing. We see nothing that looks like
something and we attach our meanings to it all, meanings which deceive us. I cannot see apart
from Him. I may think I see, but what I seem to see is not seeing; it is hallucinating. With God, I
can see truly. With God, I can perceive a clear reflection of truth in everything I look upon. It is
that perception of truth that is the means by which I can forgive my brother. If I ask, I will see it.
So I cannot see apart from God. But thats a no-brainer, because I cannot be apart from God,
so the truth is I cant do anything apart from Him. Its like saying, My hand cant do anything
without my body. Of course not; my hand is not separate from my body. Whatever you do you
do in Him (3:2).
To achieve true vision I do not need to become part of God or to join with Him, as if I were
making a transition of some kind from a separated condition to a unified condition. No, all I
really need to do is acknowledge or recognize that I am already one with Him. As I accept that
reality about myself, vision is already mine. It is inherent in my natural condition.
What I see when I think I am apart from God must not be sight, because being apart from God
is illusion, so the sight must also be illusion. I cannot see this desk apart from Him (4:8).
Once again we are led into a period in which we let relevant related thoughts arise in our
minds. The Course is clearly encouraging us to put its ideas into our own words, and to extend
them and embellish them for our own personal use. Sometimes, the altered form of the lesson
will prove more effective for your practice than the original version. We should feel free to do
this kind of personalizing in all of the Workbook lessons. It is a tool we are meant to use to make
the lessons more personally meaningful.
God is the light in which I see.
Purpose: To contact the light within that allows you to see with true vision.
Longer: At least three times, for three to five minutes (longer is highly recommended if
not a strain).
Repeat the idea, then close your eyes slowly, repeating the idea several more times.
The rest of the practice involves a single motion of sinking into your mind. I find it helpful
to think of this motion as having three aspects:
1. Sink down and inward, past your surface thoughts and toward the light of God
deep within your mind. As you do this, try to think of light, formless and
without limit (10:2). If your meditation is successful, you will experience a
feeling of approaching or even entering light.
2. Do not allow yourself to get sidetracked. This is crucial. As you pass by your
thoughts, observe them dispassionately, and slip quietly by them (7:5). They
have no power to hold you back. If resistance arises, repeat the idea. If actual
fear arises, open your eyes briefly and repeat the idea. Then return to the
exercise.
3. Hold in mind a heightened attitude about what you are doing, a sense that it has
great importance, untold value, and is very holy. This attitude is more important
than details of technique.
Remarks: This is the Workbooks second meditation exercise (the first was Lesson 41),
and you can see the immense importance given it here, especially in paragraphs 35. We
may resist this practice, because it requires discipline our minds dont yet have, and
because it means leaving our egos thoughts and beliefs behind. But these are the very
reasons why this practice is so important.
Frequent reminders: Oftenbe determined not to forget.
Repeat the idea with eyes open or closed, as seems best.
Commentary
The first paragraph presents a rather amazing picture of what this world we see is. It says we
made darkness, and then we thought we could see in it. What we call seeing, then, is simply
imagining that we can see in darkness. In order to see, you must recognize that light is within,
not without. You do not see outside yourself, nor is the equipment for seeing outside you (2:1
2). What we call light is not true light. Light is not outside of us; it is within us. It is not physical,
it is spiritual. And we do not see truly with external eyes but with inner vision.
The light for true seeing is within us, and the goal of todays lesson is to reach that light. Once
again the Workbook takes us into an experiential exercise of meditation. This kind of meditation,
and the experience it seeks to produce, is clearly a major component of Course practice. The
emphasis placed on it is nothing short of amazing.
We are told that it is a form of exercise that we will utilize increasingly (3:2). It represents
a major goal of mind training (3:3). Longer times are highly recommended (4:2). We are
urged to persist despite strong resistance (5:2). It represents a release from hell (5:5). We are
reminded of the importance of what you are doing; its inestimable value to you (8:1), and that
you are attempting something very holy (8:1). The lesson closes with these words: But do not
forget. Above all, be determined not to forget today (11:23). There is no mistaking the
awareness that Jesus, as the author, considers this kind of meditation practice exceptionally
important.
Why is that? There are a few indications within the lesson. In the third paragraph, the lesson
notes that this kind of practicesitting quietly, sinking inward, slipping by our thoughts without
being involved in themis a particularly difficult form for the undisciplined mind (3:3). It is
difficult because it requires precisely what the untrained mind lacks (3:4). It is the very
difficulty that proves our need of it, just as getting out of breath when you jog for fifty yards
proves that you need aerobic exercise. This training must be accomplished if you are to see
(3:5). In other words, meditation practice is a requirement for developing inner vision. How can
we see with inner vision if we do not know how to find the inner light?
These are training exercises. We will find it difficult at first. We will encounter resistance. The
exercise is clearly labeled an attempt (3:1) at reaching the light, indicating an understanding
that we may not do so all at once, any more than we will run a marathon the first few times we
begin jogging. It is a goal of our mind training to reach the light, and we will likely not reach the
goal right away, although it is the most natural and easy [form of practice] for the trained mind
(4:3). We are in the process of acquiring the training that will make reaching the light seem easy
and natural, but it is not that way now because our minds are still undisciplined.
We are no longer wholly untrained (5:1). If we have been following the instructions we
have had forty-three days of practice leading up to this day. Still, we may encounter strong
resistance (5:2). To the ego what we are doing seems like loss of identity and a descent into
hell (5:6). But we are attempting to reach God, Who is the light in which we can see; that is not
a loss. It is escape from darkness.
When we begin to build up a history of experiences with the light, of feeling relaxation,
sensing our approach to it, and even being aware of entering into it, we will know what the
Course is talking about. And we will crave more. There is nothing like the experience. These holy
instants are foretastes of Heaven, glimpses of reality. They will motivate us in our journey like
nothing else. There is a sense of reality so real that what seemed real before pales into
insubstantial shadows by comparison. When we have entered the light we will recognize that we
have been in darkness, thinking it was light. That is what gives these experiences their
inestimable value.
God is the Mind with which I think.
Purpose: To experience your real thoughts, which you think with the Mind of God.
Longer: Three times, for five minutes.
Repeat the idea as you close your eyes. Then add four to five related thoughts (remember
the instruction in letting related thoughts come that you received in Lessons 42 and 43).
Then repeat the idea again and say, My real thoughts are in my mind. I would like to find
them.
Then employ the same meditation technique you were taught in Lessons 41 and 44. Again,
it is helpful to think of it as having three aspects:
1. Sink down through the obscuring layer of your senseless, unreal thoughts; reach
past that to the eternal, limitless thoughts you think with God.
2. When your mind wanders, draw it back. It will help if you repeat the idea.
3. Above all, hold a certain attitude in mind. Confidence: Dont let your worldly
thoughts tell you that you cant make it. You cant fail, because God wants you
to make it. Desire: Reaching this place in you is your true hearts desire.
Holiness: Approach it as you would a holy altar in which God and His Son think
in perfect unison. Remind yourself that this is no idle game, but an exercise in
holiness (8:7).
Frequent reminders: Ideally, spend one to two minutes.
Repeat the idea. Then step aside from your usual unholy thoughts and spend some
time reflecting on the holiness of your mind. Think about how holy it must be if it thinks
with the Mind of God.
Commentary
The lessons are trying, in a way, to cause extreme disorientation in us. Our real thoughts are
nothing that you think you think, just as nothing that you think you see is related to vision in any
way (1:2). If my thoughts arent real and what I see isnt real, what do I have to hold on to? Not
much at all. This can seem quite frightening, almost what it might be like if I were one of those
characters in a suspense thriller who is being attacked by someone trying to drive them insane,
causing them to believe that they are hallucinating and imagining things that are not there.
Actually, although the attempt to break our mental orientation is similar, the Courses intent is
just the reverse. It is trying to drive us sane, not insane. We already are insane. We are
hallucinating and imagining things that are not there, and the Course is trying to break our
obsessive belief in their reality.
Underneath the protective layer of delusion we have laid over reality is a wholly sane mind
thinking wholly sane thoughts and seeing only truth. Our real thoughts are thoughts we think with
the Mind of God, sharing them with Him. Thoughts do not leave the mind, so they must still be
there. Our thoughts are Gods thoughts, and Gods thoughts are eternal. If these thoughts are there
we can find them. We can push our feet down through the mushy ooze of our thoughts and find
solid bedrock. We may be almost totally out of touch with these original, eternal thoughts,
thoughts completely in accord with the Mind of God, but God would have us find them.
Therefore we must be capable of finding them.
Yesterday we were seeking the light within ourselves, a very abstract concept. Today we are
seeking our own real thoughts. That brings the abstract a little closer to home; not just the light
but my own thoughts, something that is part of me and representative of my nature.
What would a thought be like that was in perfect harmony with the Mind of God? That is what
we are trying to find and experience today. And if we are honest, we will have to admit that the
thoughts of which we are mostly aware are not in that league at all. Our thoughts are too riddled
with fear, too uncertain, too defensive, too anxious or frantic, and above all too changeable to
qualify as thoughts we share with God.
A thought we share with God must be one of complete harmony, absolute peace, utter
certainty, total benevolence, and perfect stability. We are seeking to locate such a thought-center
in our minds. We are seeking to find thoughts of this nature within ourselves.
Once more we practice the quiet sinking down, going past all the unreal thoughts that cover
the truth in our minds, and reaching to the eternal that is within us. This is a holy exercise, and
one we should take quite seriously, although not somberly, for it is a joyous exercise. Within me
there is a place that never changes, a place that is always at peace, always brilliant with loves
shining. And today, O God yes today, I want to find that place! Today I want to touch that solid
foundation at the core of my being and know its stability. Today I want to find my Self.
God is the Love in which I forgive.
Longer: At least three times, for five full minutes.
Repeat the idea as you close your eyes. Search your mind for those you have not completely
forgiven. This shouldnt be hardany lack of total love is a sign of unforgiveness. To each
one, say, God is the Love in which I forgive you, [name]. This will put you in a position
to forgive yourself (5:1).
After a minute or two of this, tell yourself, God is the Love in which I forgive myself.
Then spend the rest of the time letting your mind come up with thoughts related to this idea.
They need not be a restatement of it, but dont get too far away from it, either. Draw upon
the instruction you have received in letting related thoughts come.
Conclude by repeating the original idea.
Frequent reminders: As many as possible.

Repeat the idea, in original form or in the form of a related thought.
Response to temptation: When you have a negative reaction to anyone, present or not
(7:3).
Tell that person silently, God is the Love in which I forgive you.
Commentary
The whole of the Courses teaching on the Atonement principle is contained in the first
sentence: God does not forgive because He has never condemned. Over and over the Course
emphasizes that God is not a God of vengeance, that God is not angry with us, that He knows
nothing of punishment. God does not condemn; He never has. His heart remains eternally open to
us all. To me specifically.
In this world of illusions, where mutual condemnation has become a way of life (or death?),
forgiveness is necessarynot Gods forgiveness, but our own. Forgiveness is the way we release
ourselves from illusions. All condemnation is self-condemnation; the guilt we see in others is our
own reflecting back at us, and as we release others from our condemnation, we are released. As
you condemn only yourself, so do you forgive only yourself (1:5).
As later lessons will make clear, our whole purpose in this world is to bring forgiveness to it,
to release it from the burden of guilt that we have laid upon it. This is what returns our mind to
the awareness of God. We find God by liberating those around us, lifting our judgment from
them, and acknowledging them as worthy creations of God along with ourselves. Godis
approached through the appreciation of His Son (T-11.IV.7:2).
Lifting the chains of judgment from everyone that I know puts me in a position to forgive
myself (5:1). It brings a warm feeling inside when I can say, God is the Love in which I forgive
myself (5:3). I may not even be aware of any guilt consciously, but when I bless myself with
forgiveness, something melts, and I know that the forgiveness was needed. There is a subliminal
self-criticism that is nearly always going on; and when I break into it, picturing the Love of God
pouring over me like molten gold, knowing and accepting (maybe just in that moment) His total
acceptance of me, I rarely escape the moment without tears of gratitude.
God is the strength in which I trust.
Purpose: To reach past your own weakness to the Source of real strength (4:1), so that
you gain confidence in the face of all problems and decisions.
Longer: Four times (more are urged), for five minutes (longer are urged).
Search your mind for situations about which you have fear. Release each one by saying,
God is the strength in which I trust. Do this for a minute or two.
The remainder is another exercise in meditation. Sink down in your mind, beneath all your
worried thoughts, which are based on your sense of inadequacy. Reach down below these to
the place in you where nothing is beyond your strength, because the strength of God lives in
you. You might imagine you are sinking down beneath the choppy waters on the surface to
the peaceful depths where all is still. You will recognize that you have reached [this place]
if you feel a sense of deep peace, however briefly (7:2). Remember (as previously
instructed) to draw your mind back from wandering as often as needed, and to hold in mind
an attitude of confidence and desire.

Repeat the idea.
Response to temptation: When any disturbance arises.

Repeat the idea, remembering you are entitled to peace because you are trusting in
Gods strength, not your own.
Commentary
It is reported in the Gospel of John that Jesus said, The Son can do nothing of himself, unless
it is something He sees the Father doing.I can do nothing on my own initiative, as I hear, I
judge (Jn 5:19, 30). Basically that is what this lesson is telling us: We cannot do anything by
ourselves. When the lesson speaks of trusting in your own strength (1:1) it is talking about
attempting to do anything by ourselves, as an independent unit, separate from God and His
creation. It is talking about operating as an ego. The lesson is saying that it is simply impossible.
Another example from the Gospels may help. Toward the end of his time on earth, Jesus
compared himself to a vine, and his disciples to branches in the vine. He was speaking, I believe,
from the perspective of the Christ; or perhaps it would be better to say the Christ was speaking
through the man, Jesus. He said: As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the
vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in me.apart from me you can do nothing (Jn 15:4
5).
Think about it. Where does the vine leave off and the branch begin? The branch is part of the
vine. That is its whole existence. It cannot operate independently; it cannot bear fruit if it is cut
off from the vine.
We are parts or aspects of the Sonship, and the Son is one with the Father. What [God]
creates is not apart from Him, and nowhere does the Father end, the Son begin as something
separate from Him (W-pI.132.12:4). Sounds a lot like a vine and its branches, doesnt it?
When we try to operate independently we can do nothing. As we normally think of ourselves,
what is there we can wholly predict and control? How can we be aware of all the facets of any
problem and resolve them in such a way that only good can come of it? (1:4). Left to
ourselves, left to the limited resources of the self as the ego sees it, cut off from everything, we
simply cannot do it. We dont have what it takes. If you are trusting in your own strength, you
have every reason to be apprehensive, anxious and fearful (1:1).
The lesson is asking us to recognize that we are not limited to what we may think of as our
own strength; God is the strength in which I trust. It is asking us to operate based on our union
with God. From where we are at the start of things, it is going to seem as if we are dealing with
some kind of external God, a Voice that speaks within our minds or operates in circumstances
to guide us:
Since you believe that you are separate, Heaven presents itself to you as separate,
too. Not that it is in truth, but that the link [the Holy Spirit] that has been given you
to join the truth may reach to you through what you understand. (T-25.I.5:12)
So it may seem as if we are being asked to submit to a superior force, when in fact all we
are doing is aligning ourselves with all the rest of our own being, from which we have dissociated
ourselves. The Holy Spirit speaks for us, as well as for God, for we are one (see T-11.1.11:1; T30.II.1:12; W-pI.125.8:1; W-pI.152.12:2).
When we realize we cannot live on our ownwhen we accept our dependence on this Higher
PowerGod becomes our strength and our safety in every circumstance. His Voice tells us
exactly what to do to call upon His strength and His protection (3:2).
When we fear, we must be trusting in our own independent strength, which is nonexistent.
Simply feeling inadequate for some task is a form of fear, arising from the belief I am on my
own. Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? (2:3). When fear arises, let me remind
myself that I do not trust in my own strength, but Gods. That reality can pull me up from fear to
a place of deep, abiding peace.
To recognize our weakness as independent beings is a necessary beginning (6:1). If we
deceive ourselves into believing we can handle everything on our own, without God, without our
brothers and sisters, we will crash and burn eventually. But that recognition is not the point at
which to stop; we must go beyond that to realize that we have the strength of God, and that
confidence in that strength is fully justified in every respect and in all circumstances (6:2).
Nearly every time I meditate I repeat, silently or aloud, the words that come near the end of
this lesson:
There is a place in you where there is perfect peace. There is a place in you where
nothing is impossible. There is a place in you where the strength of God abides.
(7:46)
Let us, today, pause frequently to reach down below all the trivial things that churn and
bubble on the surface of [our] mind (7:3), to find that place.
There is nothing to fear.
Frequent reminders: Very frequent, as often as possible.
This has two forms. Use the longer whenever you can.
1. Repeat the idea. You can do this with eyes open under any circumstance, even while in
conversation. It can take as little as two seconds.
2. Take a minute or so, close your eyes, and repeat the idea slowly several times.
Remarks: The longer practice periods have been cleared away today, so you can focus on
frequency. We saw the same thing in Lessons 20, 27, and 40. Todays lesson, therefore, is
part of a series designed to teach us the crucial habit of frequent practice. Therefore,
rather than taking a rest today, really give it your all. The more you put into it, the more
youll get out of it.
Earlier lessons (27, 40) recommended setting a frequency at the beginning of the day and then
trying to stick to it. I would recommend doing the same today. What sort of frequency should you
set? Lets look at previous lessons that specified a frequency:
20: two per hour
27: two to four per hour
39: three to four per hour
40: six per hour
The average is three to four per hour, but notice also that the frequency goes up as the lessons
go up. I would suggest picking a frequency you really think you can maintain, and then setting a
firm intention to stick with it, and even taking a moment to imagine yourself practicing it
frequently under different circumstances. During the day, when you notice you have lapsed, dont
be disturbed; it happens to all of us. Simply get back to practicingimmediately and without
guilt.
Response to temptation: When anything disturbs your peace of mind.

Repeat the idea immediately.
Commentary
One can understand this simple thought in at least two ways:
1. Nothing exists of which to be afraid.
2. Fear? Nothing to it!
As the third paragraph makes clear, this thought is connected to yesterdays lesson about
trusting in Gods strength versus trusting in our own strength, apart from Him. The presence of
fear is a sure sign that you are trusting in your own strength (3:1). As the lesson yesterday said,
Who can put his faith in weakness and feel safe? (W-pI.47.2:3). So, when we trust in our own
strength, we feel fear. When we trust in Gods strength, we do not. Fear is nothing to be afraid of,
however; it is merely a warning sign indicating that our faith is misplaced, and simply calls for
correction, not condemnation.
That there is nothing to fear is a simple fact, from the perspective of the right mind. God is all
there is, and we are part of Him; nothing outside Him exists. Of course there is nothing to fear.
Fear is a belief in something other than God, a false god, an idol with power that opposes and
overcomes God. We secretly believe that we have done so, and so we fear, but what we are afraid
of is ourselves. Yet what we think we have done has never occurred. Therefore there is nothing to
fear. Nothing real can be threatened (T-In.2:2).
If we believe in illusions, fear seems very real, but we are afraid of nothing. The lesson says it
is very easy to recognize (1:4) that there is nothing to fear; what makes it seem difficult is that
we want the illusions to be true (1:5). If they are not true, we are not who we think we are and
who we wish to be; we are Gods creations instead, and not our own. So we hold on to the
illusions to validate our egos, and in so doing, hold on to the fear.
When we allow ourselves to recall that there is nothing to fear, when we consciously remind
ourselves of that fact throughout the day, it shows that somewhere in your mind, though not
necessarily in a place you recognize as yet, you have remembered God, and let His strength take
the place of your weakness (3:2). This is what the Text calls the right mind. There is a part of
our mindsreally the only part there isin which we have already remembered God! That part
of our minds is what is waking us up from our dream.
Have you ever wondered how you happened to come upon A Course in Miracles, and why it
seems attractive to you? Your right mind has created this experience for you; your true Self is
speaking to you through its pages to awaken you. Each time we repeat the thought for today,
There is nothing to fear, we are aligning ourselves with the part of us that is already awake, and
has already remembered. Since we are already awake, the outcome is inevitable. But we need this
appearance of time to give ourselves time, so to speak, to dispense with our illusions and to
recognize the ever-present truth of our reality.
Gods Voice speaks to me all through the day.
Purpose: To tune into and identify with the part of your mind where Gods Voice is
always speaking to you.
Longer: Four times (more if possible), for five minutes.
This is yet another meditation exercise, like Lessons 41, 44, 45, and 47. After closing your
eyes and repeating the idea (not mentioned today, but standard), go into the meditation. Again, I
find it helpful to think of it as having three aspects:
1. Sink past the cloud of frantic, insane thoughts that chokes the surface of your mind. Sink
down to the part of your mind where stillness reigns, where you are truly at home, and
where Gods Voice speaks to you. Sinking down to this part also means listening to this
part.
2. Draw your mind back from wandering by repeating the idea.
3. Above all, hold in mind the attitude that this is the happiest, holiest thing you could do, and
that you are confident you can make it, because God wants you to.
Frequent reminders: Very frequently.

There is a range of options, which go from practicing under limiting circumstances to the ideal
form of practice. This range applies to all the lessons:
1. Repeat the idea with eyes open when you have to.
2. Repeat it with eyes closed when possible.
3. Whenever you can, sit quietly, close your eyes, and repeat the idea. Make this an invitation
to Gods Voice to speak to you.
Commentary
Gods Voice speaks to me all through the day. Yes, It does! It may seem like wishful
thinking to you when you say this sentence, but it isnt. Gods Voice really does speak to us all
through the day, every day. The part of your mind in which truth abides [i.e., the right mind] is
in constant communication with God, whether you are aware of it or not (1:2). We arent usually
aware of this communication, although we could be. Our consciousness simply isnt tuned in.
Its like a radio signal. Here in Sedona we have a radio station called KAZM (chasm, cute,
huh?). KAZM is in communication with my radio all through the day, but I may not have my
radio tuned to that station. The Holy Spirit is in communication with my mind all through the
day, but I may not be tuned in.
There is another part of our mind that carries on the busy-ness of this world. That is the part
we are mostly aware of. Ill label it wrong mind so we can tell the parts apart. This part really
does not exist, and the part tuned in to God (right mind) is really the only part there is (2:23).
Thus, speaking of parts of our mind is really just a helpful fiction.
The wrong mind is an illusion. The right mind is real. The wrong mind is frantic, distraught,
filled with a chattering madhouse of thoughts that sound like the White Rabbit in Alice in
Wonderland. The right mind is calm, always at rest and wholly certain (2:1). The right mind is
what Lesson 47 spoke of when it said, There is a place in you where there is perfect peace (WpI.47.7:4). In this place, stillness and peace reign forever (2:5).
We can choose which voice to listen to, which part of our mind to attend to: the frantic
voice or the peaceful Voice. Does it seem hard to believe that there is a place in you that is
always perfectly peaceful, like the eye of a hurricane? But there is. I found it hard to believe, but
when I began looking for it I began finding it.
Often when we first try to find this place, the other voice shrieks so loudly that it seems we
cant ignore it (as the lesson instructs us to). Just the other day someone was telling me how when
they sat in meditation, the onset of peace was so frightening that they had to jump up and get busy
with something. Isnt it weird that we find peace so unacceptable? Sit for a few minutes trying to
be peaceful and something inside you is screaming, I cant stand it! Thats the frantic voice.
Try, the lesson says, not to listen to it (2:4).
Its worth the effort! That place of peace is there in all of us, and when we find itahhh! I still
have some days when I cant seem to stop the yama yama of my mind (as Werner Erhard calls
that constant mental chatter), but the times when I sink into the peace beyond my thoughts are
increasing, for which I am very grateful. You simply have to stop your activity to find it; you
cant find it without sitting down, quieting down, and shutting down for a while. The world is far
too distracting otherwise, at first.
Eventually we can learn to find this peace any time, anywhere, and even to bring it with us
into chaotic situations. At first, however, we need to act out the stillness in order to find it, closing
our eyes on the world, going past the stormy surface of our minds and into the deep, calm depths,
asking Gods Voice to speak to us.
One more thought. You might think, from this lesson, that if Gods Voice speaks to you all
through the day, it must be easy to hear it. Wrong. The egos voice is characterized here as
raucous shrieks (4:3), frantic, riotous thoughts and sights and sounds (4:4), and constantly
distracted (1:4). Listening to Gods Voice, at first, is like trying to meditate in the middle of a
riot. Its like trying to compose a new tune while a rock band is tuning up. Or like trying to write
a careful letter when three people are shouting different things into your ears. Its hard work. It
takes focus and concentration. It takes, above all, willingness. The Holy Spirits Voice is as loud
as your willingness to listen (T-8.VIII.8:7).
You have to be willing to tune out that other voice. The shrieks of the ego dont just happen
without our volition; they do not stem from some malevolent demon trying to frustrate our efforts
to hear God. They are our own unwillingness taking form; thats all. Weve spent eons turning on
the noisemakers in our own minds. We have to start going around and choosing to turn them off.
So hearing the Holy Spirit isnt something that happens overnightread about it today, start
being divinely guided in all I do tomorrow. No. Its not that simple. In fact, in the Text, Jesus
himself says that learning to listen only to that Voice and no other was the final lesson he learned,
and that it takes effort and great willingness!
The Holy Spirit is in you in a very literal sense. His is the Voice That calls you back
to where you were before and will be again. It is possible even in this world to hear
only that Voice and no other. It takes effort and great willingness to learn. It is the
final lesson that I learned, and Gods Sons are as equal as learners as they are as
sons.
(T-5.II.3:711)
So, let us begin today to learn this so-very-important lesson. Let us listen.
I am sustained by the Love of God.
Purpose: To internalize the idea that you are sustained by Gods Love, not by the things
of the world, and to feel the protection, peace, and safety His Love brings.
Longer: Two times, morning and evening, for ten minutes.
Spend these ten minutes repeating the idea and really dwelling on it and thinking
about it. Let related thoughts come to help you recognize its truth (5:2). Do all this with
the goal of letting the idea sink more deeply into your mind. Bask in the idea. Feel the
benefits it carries for you. Try to feel Gods Love covering you like a blanket of peace
and safety.
This is not a meditation exercise, but an extended exercise in mentally reflecting on the idea.
Your thoughts will tend to wander during lengthy reflection like this. When they do, see those
thoughts as intruders that have inappropriately wandered into the temple of the holy mind of
Gods Son. Repeat the idea to dispel them.

Repeat the idea, not just as rote words, but as a real declaration of independence (WpI.31.4:2)a declaration that you are free of needing to be sustained by the empty things of this
world. Try repeating it once in this spirit right now, and see the effect it has on your mind.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel confronted by a problem or challenge.

Answer what confronts you by repeating the idea. While doing so, remember that
through the Love of God within you, you can resolve all seeming difficulties without
effort and in sure confidence (4:5).
Commentary
What sustains me? What do I turn to when I feel empty or depleted? Godmy eternal
Source? Or something else? I have to admit that often it is to something else that I turn for
renewal. What would it be like to have a habit of turning to the Love of God? What would it be
like to come to rely fully on something so utterly and absolutely dependable?
The list of items in the first paragraph of the lesson contains something that fits nearly every
one of us. Whatever my personal preference for sustainer, the whole bunch of them is just an
endless list of forms of nothingness that [we] endow with magical powers (1:3). When we turn
to them, something in us knows that these things are not really solving anything; they are nothing
but palliatives, placebos that may dull the symptoms for a while but in the end cure nothing.
I think it was Saint Augustine who said that every one of us is born with a God-shaped blank
in our heart. We may try to fill it with all sorts of things, but nothing fits the blank but the Love of
God. We cherish the other things because we are trying to preserve our imagined, independent
identity as an ego in a body. We are cherishing nothingness to preserve a nothing. Wholeness
comes only from union with our Source.
The Love of God can transport you into a state of mind that nothing can threaten, nothing can
disturb, and where nothing can intrude upon the eternal calm of the Son of God (3:3). [Note: a
few early printings of the Second Edition had a typographical error, substituting the word claim
for calm.] I want a state of mind like that. I want that kind of inner stability, that serenity of
consciousness. What else could bring it to me except knowing that I am connected to an unending
supply of bottomless benevolence?
The Psalmist said it well in the First Psalm. The godly, those who know they are sustained
by Gods Love, shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in
his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper (Ps 1:3). When
you become inwardly aware of Gods Love sustaining you, it is like being a tree planted by a
river, its roots constantly supplied by the water that is always there, always being renewed. Or
from the Twenty-third Psalm: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.My cup runneth
over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life (Ps 23:1, 56).
Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever
unfailing. This is the answer to whatever confronts you today.
(4:34)
Again the practice instructions tell us to sink deep into your consciousness (5:1). (Notice
that it is for a ten-minute period, morning and evening; the periods of meditation are getting
longer.) We are to allow peace to flow over [us] like a blanket of protection and surety (5:2).
Often I find it helps me establish that sense by visualizing somethingbeing bathed in golden
light, being embraced by my spiritual guide, or sinking into a warm Jacuzzi. I can let it be a time
of rest, ten minutes in which I simply let go, physically and mentally, and allow myself to
experience peace. I tell myself: I am okay. I am safe. I am at home in God. His Love surrounds
me and protects me. His Love nourishes me and makes me what I am.
Review of Lessons 1 to 5
Nothing I see means anything.
I have given what I see all the meaning it has for me.
I do not understand anything I see.
These thoughts do not mean anything.
Purpose: To review the lessons and therefore let them sink in a notch deeper. Also, to see
how interrelated they are and how cohesive the thought system is that they are leading
you to.
Exercise: As often as possible (suggestion: every hour on the hour), for at least two
minutes.
Alone in a quiet place, read one of the five lessons and the related comments. Notice that
the comments are written as if they are your own thoughts about the idea. Try to imagine
that they are. It will help if you frequently insert your name. This will set you up for the
next phase, in which you generate similar thoughts of your own.
Close your eyes and think about the idea and the comments. Think particularly about the
central point of the commentary paragraph. Reflect on it. Let related thoughts come
(utilizing the training youve received in that practice). If your mind wanders, repeat the
idea and then get back to your reflection. This is the same basic exercise as in Lesson 50, in
which you actively think about ideas in order to let them sink more deeply into your mind.
Remarks:
At the beginning and end of the day read all five lessons.
Thereafter, cover one lesson per practice period, in no particular order.
Cover each lesson at least once.
Beyond that, concentrate on a particular lesson if it appeals to you most.
Commentary
Note first that we arent simply to read this review; we are meant to spend time morning and
evening reviewing all five ideas, and to spend at least one two-minute practice period during the
day on each of the five. Thats five practice periods between the morning and evening, minimum.
It will probably take a little planning to schedule those five interim periods, and the planning time
is worth the effort. Second, notice that these practice instructions apply to all ten review lessons
for the next ten days.
The comments on the five lessons given in Lesson 51 link them together so clearly that little
comment is really needed. As the introduction to this review says in the last sentence, the
emphasis of this review is on the relationships between the ideas and the cohesiveness of the
entire thought system being presented. If you look at them together, they are lessons in letting
go (the words let go or some variant occur in four of the five reviews).
In these first five lessons I am being asked to let go of:
1. What I see
2. My judgments
3. My understanding
4. My thoughts
5. My thought system
What we see in the normal sense is nothing; we need to realize it is meaningless and let it
go, so that vision may take its place. We are not actually seeing things; rather, we are seeing our
judgments on them. If we want vision, we have to realize our judgments are invalid, and cease
letting them govern our sight. If we have misjudged, surely we have also misunderstood. Our
understanding of things is based not on reality, but on our own projections. But we can choose
to exchange our misunderstandings for real understanding, based on love rather than judgment.
Like what we see, our conscious thoughts are without any real meaning; we need to let them
go, along with judgment-based perceptions. They are thoughts of anger and attack, seeing all
things as our enemies. These thoughts which are apart from God require constant justification,
and our upset is no more than an attempt to justify our anger with the world and our attacks upon
it.
As we read over this review, which is written in the first person, we may want to try reading it
aloud, and seeing how we resonate with it. Am I really willing to let go of what I see, my
judgments and my understanding of everything, my thoughts, and my very thought system? Can I
say, I am willing to let it go?
I am upset because I see what is not there.

I see only the past.
My mind is preoccupied with past thoughts.
I see nothing as it is now.
My thoughts do not mean anything.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
Remember that the general practice for these reviews is to read all five thoughts and
comments twice daily, morning and evening, and to spend at least one two-minute period with
each of the five ideas during the day.
The thoughts are thick in these reviews, so I offer only a few observations on things that stand
out for me.
Reality is never frightening (1:2). Reality is, of course, what God created. When I feel
frightened, I find it useful to remind myself that I must be seeing something that isnt really there.
I am the one who makes up frightening illusions. How reassuring to be told, Nothing in
Gods creation is affected in any way by this confusion of mine (1:7). That is the basis for letting
go of guilt. I may be confused, mistaken, deceived, and deceiving, but none of it affects what is
real. Whats real is real no matter what I do. The sun doesnt go out when I cover my eyes. So all
that I have done has had zero real effects! I have nothing about which to feel guilty.
If I see nothing as it is now, it can truly be said that I see nothing (4:2). A thing is as it is
now. It isnt as it was yesterday; it isnt as it will be tomorrow. Things exist now. That is the only
way I can see them. That is how they are. If I am seeing the past, Im not seeing anything. The
past isnt here.
I have no private thoughts (5:2). What if everyone in the world could see right into your
mind? What if the way you thought about your boss affected the war in Bosnia? Guess what?
They can. It does. And yet, they mean nothing (5:5). If you think thoughts you believe to be
private, they are meaningless. They have effects within the illusion, but they affect nothing real.
Only thoughts that are shared have real effects, and the only thoughts that can be truly shared are
the thoughts you think with God.
My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.

I am upset because I see a meaningless world.
A meaningless world engenders fear.
God did not create a meaningless world.
My thoughts are images that I have made.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
Todays review carries enormous impact for me. In each of the short review paragraphs are
sentences that convey to me the awesome power of my own mind: its power to choose its
thoughts, and thus choose the world that it sees.
I have real thoughts as well as insane ones. I can therefore see a real world, if I look
to my real thoughts as my guide for seeing.
(1:45)
I am grateful that this world is not real, and that I need not see it at all unless I
choose to value it. And I do not choose to value what is totally insane and has no
meaning. (2:67)
Now I choose to withdraw this belief, and place my trust in reality. In choosing this,
I will escape all the effects of the world of fear, because I am acknowledging that it
does not exist.
(3:78)
Let me remember the power of my decision, and recognize where I really abide.
(4:6)
The images I have made cannot prevail against Him because it is not my will that
they do so. My will is His, and I will place no other gods before Him.
(5:67)
If I remember the power of my decision, I can choose not to value what is insane; I can choose
to withdraw my belief in it. I do not have to accept that the images I have made have power to
overcome Gods Will; I do not have to make gods out of them. I can look to my real thoughts and
let them guide my seeing. The words choose and decision and will echo through these
paragraphs. What power has been given to my mind!
I once read these ten review lessons onto tape; they fit on less than a 30-minute tape, read
quite slowly. Recording them had tremendous impact on me, and listening to the tape several
dozen times had even more impact. These fifty pithy paragraphs are a remarkable overview of the
Courses thought system. And as I read them aloud, I found myself putting deep feeling into
sentences such as I cannot live in peace in such a world. I am grateful that this world is not real.
And I do not choose to value what is totally insane and has no meaning (2:57). Every time I
came to a line that said, I do not choose or I choose, it was as though something deep within
me was shifting. I felt a growing determination, and a sense of being enabled by God to choose
what my mind would think and what my perception would see. Try reading todays lesson aloud
and see how it feels.
I have no neutral thoughts.

I see no neutral things.
I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.
I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.
I am determined to see.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
This review links these ideas together as a powerful motivator for changing my thoughts.
My thoughts make the world, either the false world or the real world. The world I see is a
representation of my own state of mind (2:4). I can contribute to the making of a world of
separation, or I can, by awakening my real thoughts, awaken those thoughts in others. What I
think and say and do teaches all the universe (4:3). By changing my own mind, I can change
every mind along with mine. When I realize this, I am filled with a dynamic determination to
look upon the real world, to open my mind to the thoughts I share with God, and in so doing, to
transform the universe.
Archimedes is reputed to have said, Give me a lever long enough, and I will move the
world. I have that lever. It is my mind; mine is the power of God (4:6). One man whose mind
is wholly transformed will transform all the world. Jesus was such a man, and the impact of his
thought is still unfolding, the ripples still spreading in the pond of mind. I can join with him and
add the power of my mind to his.
I do want to see lovereplace fear, laughterreplace tears (5:4). I want to let this be done
through me. In each situation in which I find myself today, with each person I meet, may this be
my aim. I am here only to be truly helpful. I am here to represent Him who sent me (T-
2.V(A).18:23). By allowing my mind to be changed, I will bring healing to everyone I meet

today.
I am determined to see things differently.

I can escape from this world by giving up attack thoughts.
I do not perceive my own best interests.
I do not know what anything is for.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
The pattern laid down by the first fifty lessons becomes clearer with each day of review. The
writing in these ten review lessons is among the clearest and most straightforward in the entire
Course.
Of course I am determined to see things differently; disease, disaster and death (1:2) are not
what I want to see. That I see them proves I do not understand God, and I do not know who I am.
The world I see pictures attack thoughts, attack on everything by everything (2:3). In this world
everything lives by consuming the life of something else; whether it is the life of an animal or a
plant makes little difference. Even the lowest life form lives from the energy given off by the
destruction of the Sun. What gives rise to this picture? My own attack thoughts.
My loving thoughts will save me from this perception of the world (2:6). Changing my
mind from attack to love will change the world I see. It is this I choose to see, in place of what I
look on now (3:5).
And no wonder I am confused about my best interests! I dont know who I am; how could I
know what I need? I am willing to accept the guidance of One Who knows me; I understand that I
cant perceive my best interests by myself. I use everything to sustain my illusions about myself
(4:4). What I need is a way to let the world teach me the truth about myself. Seeing it as I see it,
the world is frightening; I want to know the truth.
The transformation hinges on my willingness to recognize that I do not like what I see, and
since what I see comes from what I think, I want to change what I think. I do not know my best
interests, and the purpose I have assigned to everything has been twisted to support my ego
identity (5:2), so now I am willing to let these ideas go. Confused as I am, how could I teach
myself what I do not know? I need a reliable, trustworthy Teacher, and in the Holy Spirit I have
that Teacher.
My only job is to make myself teachable by letting go of my false thinking, letting go of my
attack thoughts. I think they sustain me but they are destroying me. I resolve today to choose
differently, and to open my mind to a way of thinking I cannot, as yet, begin to understand. I open
my heart to love.
Review of Lessons 2630
My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

Above all else I want to see.
Above all else I want to see differently.
God is in everything I see.
God is in everything I see because God is in my mind.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
The Door behind the World
There is a door behind this world which, if opened, will allow me to see past this world to a
world that reflects the Love of God (3:4). It is a door in my mind, a door to vision.
This world, full of pain, illness, loss, age and death (1:3) simply reflects what I think I am
(2:23). It is a hallucination superimposed over reality, hiding it and seemingly replacing it.
The opening line of the review asks: How can I know who I am when I see myself as under
constant attack? (1:2). Think about that. If I am truly under constant attack, beset by illness, loss,
age and death, how can I be a perfect creation of God? How can God even be real? I believe in a
self-image that is constantly threatened. If I am threatened, how could I be an eternal, spiritual
being? If the picture I see in this world is true, then I am nothing, worth nothing, and destined for
destruction. I may as well say, Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die! I may as well
take what I can get because nothing will last, including myself.
Something in all of us, however, tells us that we are more than this (5:2). Something in us
resonates when we read, in the Course, that nothing real can be threatened. If that is true, and I
am real, then the world I see must be false. The picture it is showing me, reinforcing my image of
myself as vulnerable, must be a lie. Either I am real and the world is not, or the world is real and I
am not. For I am real because the world is not, and I would know my own reality (WpI.132.15:3).
Therefore my greatest need is vision. I need to open that door in my mind, look past all
appearances (4:6), and see a world that reflects Gods Love, and by so doing remember who I
really am. Behind every image I have made, the truth remains unchanged (4:2). In my own
mind, behind all my insane thoughts of separation and attack, is the knowledge that all is one
forever. I have not lost the knowledge of Who I am because I have forgotten it (5:23).
I want to open that door behind the world and see the truth again. I want to remember.
I am not the victim of the world I see.

I have invented the world I see.
There is another way of looking at the world.
I could see peace instead of this.
My mind is part of Gods. I am very holy.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
The review today echoes with the word freedom. (Emphasis in following quotes is my
own.)
My chains are loosened. I can drop them off merely by desiring to do so. The prison
door is open. I can leave simply by walking out. (1:36)
I made up the prison in which I see myself. All I need do is recognize this and I am
free.
(2:23)
The Son of God must be forever free.
(2:6)
I see the world as a prison for Gods Son. It must be, then, that the world is really a
place where he can be set free. I would look upon the world as it is, and see it as a
place where the Son of God finds his freedom.
(3:46)
When I see the world as a place of freedom, I realize that it reflects the laws of God
instead of the rules I made up for it to obey.
(4:2)
The beauty of acknowledging that I have invented the world I see is that it affirms my freedom
to see it differently. Recognize that I have made up my prison, and I am free. And I am already
free; all of us are free, now, in our own minds. The prison is an illusion. I can choose my
thoughts, and that is the ultimate freedom. I can choose to look upon the world as a place where I
can be set free, and where you can be set free. I can choose to see the world as a prison, or as a
classroom. How I see it is my choicemy choice! I am free to make that choice.
I can see peace any time I choose to. I am free to do that. These moments I spend in quiet each
day, practicing these lessons, are showing me that. I can create peace in my mind any time I
choose to do so. To choose peace of mind is the ultimate freedom, and depends on nothing
outside of me at all.
I begin to understand, as I share this peace with my brothers, that the peace is not coming from
outside, but from deep within myself (5:3). As my mind changes, the way I see the world
changes with it. It witnesses peace back to me. And so I begin to understand the holiness of all
living things, including myself, and their oneness with me (5:6).
Years ago, when I had only begun to study the Course, I sat down one day and tried to answer
a question: What have I learned about life? What am I reasonably sure of? And the answer that
came to me was very simple: Happiness is a choice I make. I had begun to realize the freedom
of my mind to choose. I had begun to realize that my mind was truly autonomous in this choice. It
needed nothing from outside to make happiness possible; it was purely a choice. And nothing
outside could impede that choice.
I am still learning that lesson, building on it, solidifying it within my experience. That is what
this review is telling us. We are free to choose. We really are free, right now. Our minds are allpowerful in this choice. They lack nothing to make it, and there is nothing that can stop us from
making it. What is more, God wills that we make it because His Will for us is perfect happiness.
Today, let me remember that I want to be happy, and I can choose, in every moment, to be
happy. I want to be at peace, and I can choose, in every moment, to be at peace. Happiness is
peace, for how could I be happy if I am in conflict? Today, I will make this choice!
My holiness envelops everything I see.

My holiness blesses the world.
There is nothing my holiness cannot do.
My holiness is my salvation.
I am blessed as a Son of God.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
Innocenceis the truth about me (1:4). I dont really believe that. I want to believe it, and I
may say I believe it, but if I really believed it I dont think Id still be here. At the least I would
not be seeing the world the way I do, because the way I see the world derives completely from the
way I see myself. I can picture only thoughts about myself (1:5). So if I really believed that
innocence is the truth about me, all I would see, everywhere, is innocence. Holiness.
This is why accepting the Atonement for myself saves the world. If I can accept my own
innocence, all I will see is innocence. We often allow confusion to come into our minds about
who forgives whom first. Do I forgive others, and then see my own innocence? Or do I forgive
myself, thus allowing me to see others as innocent? The answer to both questions is Yes.
How can both questions be answered Yes? Because myself and others are not really
two; we are one. The sin I see in others is always my own, projected from my mind (see T31.III.1:5). When I forgive others I really am forgiving my own sins. Any act of forgiveness,
whether directed outward or inward, results in everyone being forgiven.
Thus, when I perceive my own holiness, I have blessed the entire world. The holiness I see in
myself, when I see it, is something shared by everyone. As my own innocence arises in my mind,
the holiness of the entire world shines forth simultaneously.
Innocence, or holiness, is a central theme of the Course. Everyone has a special part to play
in the Atonement, but the message given to each one is always the same: Gods Son is guiltless
(T-14.V.2:1). But the content of the [universal] course never changes [whatever its form]. Its
central theme is always, Gods Son is guiltless, and in his innocence is his salvation (M-1.3:4
5). It is a message of radical innocence, total innocence, universal innocence, with no one and
nothing left out. No one is condemned. No one is judged guilty. No one is damned.
Recognizing my holiness is recognizing my salvation. It is also recognizing the salvation of
the world (4:23). As a Son of God, I am holy, and thus I am blessed. But if I am a Son of God,
so are you, so is everyone, because I am a Son of God not by any merit of my own, not by any
achievement that distinguishes me from anyone else, but simply due to the fact that God created
me holy. As I recognize this fact about myself I must include everyone God created, or I am
excluded with everyone.
My claim on innocence, and on all good and only good (5:2), lies in the fact that I am the
Son of God. God willed good things for me, and so I must have themnot because I earned them
in any way, but because He wills to give them. His care for me is infinite, and is with me
forever. I am eternally blessed as His Son (5:78).
It does not matter what I think about myself or how badly I may believe I have screwed things
up: I am still His Son. I am still innocent. I am still holy.
Remember this; whatever you think about yourself, whatever you may think about
the world, your Father needs you and will call to you until you come to Him in peace
at last. (S-3.IV.10:7)
Have faith in only this one thing, and it will be sufficient: God wills you be in
Heaven, and nothing can keep you from it, or it from you. Your wildest
misperceptions, your weird imaginings, your blackest nightmares all mean nothing.
They will not prevail against the peace God wills for you. (T-13.XI.7:13)
God goes with me wherever I go.

God is my strength. Vision is His gift.
God is my Source. I cannot see apart from Him.
God is the light in which I see.
God is the Mind with which I think.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
The first emphasis of these five ideas is obviously on God; every thought begins with that
word. God is always with me. He is my strength, my Source, my light, and the Mind with which I
think. As the Bible says, He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and
exist (Acts 17:2728). When I recognize that the environment in which I exist, the very energy
that forms my life, is God, peace comes to my mind. How could I ever be separate from the
Infinite? The Son of God cannot separate himself from what is in him (T-13.XI.10:2), and what
he is in.
The second emphasis I notice is on my seeing. Christs vision is His gift.Let me call upon
this gift today (2:56). I can see only what God wants me to see. I cannot see anything else
(3:34). I cannot see in darkness. God is the only light (4:23). Any seeming vision apart from
God cannot be real. Vision is His gift, Gods Will determines what can be seen, and God is the
light by which we see it. Let me be glad to see what He shows me; let me see as He wills me to
see.
Throughout, the lesson emphasizes my unity with God. If I am one with God and all creation,
how can I see other than He does? To think I see differently, therefore, is to deny what I am and
to wish I were something else apart from God, able to see what He does not. To share His vision
and His thoughts is to affirm my true Self, as He created me.
LESSON 60 MARCH 1
God is the Love in which I forgive.
God is the strength in which I trust.

There is nothing to fear.
Gods Voice speaks to me all through the day.
I am sustained by the Love of God.
you to.
minutes.
Remarks:
Commentary
My dearest friends,
I address you that way because of the line in this lesson, I will recognize in everyone my
dearest Friend (3:5). I was so struck by that line once that, for about four or five months, every
letter I wrote (except to those who probably would not understand) I began with, My dearest
friend [name].
No wonder that the Course tells us, There are no strangers in Gods creation (T-3.III.7:7).
My dearest Friend is in everyone; everyone is, in reality, that Friend. That is their real, albeit
hidden, Identity. Speaking of those who accept the Holy Spirits purpose as their own (T20.II.5:3), the Text says, He sees no strangers; only dearly loved and loving friends (T20.II.5:5).
Imagine seeing the world in that way. Imagine being in love with everyone you met,
recognizing each and every one as a dearly loved friend, and knowing that in their heart of hearts
they are wholly loving, as you are. Imagine being surrounded by love like that. This is the
Courses vision of the real world, the world attained through full forgiveness (see T-17.II.5:1; T30.VI.3:3).
Forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence (1:4). And when I
recognize my innocence, I will no longer see anything to forgive (1:3). I will see only dearly
loved and loving friends. As long as I see something else, something less than that, there is
forgiveness work to be done. We are here for one purpose and one purpose only: to forgive the
world so completely that we absolutely fall in love with everyone and everything; anything less
than that is incomplete forgiveness. What limits our love except some form of unforgiveness?
Only by so completely removing every barrier to love will we come to know the fullness of the
love we are.
The strength of God in me enables me to do this. As I forgive I am remembering that strength
in myself, a strength I have forgotten. I forgive all things because I feel the stirring of His
strength in me (2:5). Gods Voice guides me on this path of forgiveness, step by careful step;
there is really nowhere else to go. I am walking steadily on toward truth (4:4). Sometimes my
footsteps seem to falter, but I cannot really go astray. Gods Love sustains me. Through listening
to its stirrings deep within myself, I come to remember that I am His Son.
Our footsteps have not been unwavering, and doubts have made us walk uncertainly
and slowly on the road this course sets forth. But now we hasten on, for we approach
a greater certainty, a firmer purpose and a surer goal.
Steady our feet, our Father. Let our doubts be quiet and our holy minds be still,
and speak to us. We have no words to give to You. We would but listen to Your
Word, and make it ours. Lead our practicing as does a father lead a little child along
a way he does not understand. Yet does he follow, sure that he is safe because his
father leads the way for him.
So do we bring our practicing to You. And if we stumble, You will raise us up. If
we forget the way, we count upon Your sure remembering. We wander off, but You
will not forget to call us back. Quicken our footsteps now, that we may walk more
certainly and quickly unto You. And we accept the Word You offer us to unify our
practicing, as we review the thoughts that You have given us.
(W-pI.rV.In.1:5
3:6)
LESSON 61 MARCH 2
I am the light of the world.
Purpose: A beginning step in accepting your real function on earth (3:2). This lesson is
a continuation of what began in Lesson 37 (My holiness blesses the world), which
contained the first glimmerings of your true function in the world, or why you are here
(W-pI.37.1:1).
Exercise: As many as possible (suggestion: every hour on the hour), for no more than
one or two minutes.
Tell yourself, I am the light of the world. That is my only function. That is why I am here.
Then think about these statements. Let related thoughts come. If you can, close your eyes
for this. If your mind wanders (rather, when it wanders), repeat the idea. This is the same
kind of practice that you did in Lesson 50 and throughout Review I. By actively thinking
about the idea, you make it your own.
Remarks: Begin and end the day with a practice period. These can be longer than the rest
if you want. These practices will make your day one that begins, ends, and is filled
throughout with affirmation of the truth about yourself. This is the day the Workbook is
leading us into, one in which we practice morning, evening, and throughout the day.
This is the first of the Workbooks seven giant stridesgiant steps ahead in your
journey home. Try to make today exactly that. Use it to build a firm foundation (7:4)
for the giant strides to come.
Commentary
Probably most days, if youre like me, you dont feel like the light of the world. Some days I
feel more like the last dying ember in the fireplace. But this lesson isnt talking about how I feel;
it is talking about what I am in truth. It does not refer to any of the characteristics with which
you have endowed yourself. It refers to you as you were created by God (1:56). It isnt about
who I think I am; it is about my original design specs, straight from the hand of the Creator.
In traditional Christian teaching, Jesus is the light of the world and the rest of us are the blind
people who need his light. To say, I am the light of the world can seem like quite a stretch. It
can seem arrogant, full of pride, even egotistical. Perhaps even delusional. Actually, refusing to
say it is what is egotistical. What is more arrogant, when God has made you the light of the
world, than to say, Sorry, Boss, You were wrong. Im really a poor miserable sinner?
You and I are here to be conduits of Gods light. Being the light of the world is our only
function, and the only reason we are here (5:35). We are bringers of salvation; there is no other
way for salvation to come into this world except through usall of us!
The lesson calls our acceptance and practice of this idea a beginning step in accepting your
real function on earth (3:2), a giant stride (3:3), a positive assertion of your right to be saved
(3:4). It isnt just another lesson; this is a big deal! Getting off the poor me, I need to be saved
bandwagon and onto the bringer of salvation track can be a major turning point for us. The
general tenor of the idea is reflected in the old sixties saying, Are you part of the problem or part
of the solution?
At first it may seem that this idea asks too much of you. Who, me save the world? Are you
kidding? I cant even save myself! But that belief about ourselves is exactly where our problem
lies. Try giving love to someone today and you will find that you can bring light into someone
elses life. Do this enough times and your opinion about yourself will begin to change. Your true
sense of self-worth as a loving being will begin to blossom. In giving help, you will be helping
yourself. In recognizing that being helpful, giving love, spreading kindness, and showing mercy
is the very reason you are here, you affirm the divinity of your Source; you acknowledge yourself
as a child of God.
LESSON 62 MARCH 3
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
Exercise: As frequently as possible (suggestion: every hour on the hour), for one to two
minutes.
Tell yourself (with eyes closed if the situation permits): Forgiveness is my function as the
light of the world. I would fulfill my function that I may be happy.
Then use the practice that you have been doing recently: Think about these statements (in
this case, dwelling particularly on the happiness your function will bring you). Let related
thoughts come. If your mind wanders, repeat the idea and add, I would remember this
because I want to be happy. This extra thought will motivate your mind to come back to
and stay on focus.
Remarks: Notice the emphasis on having a happy day. This is so much of why we
practice, because it will help make our day happy. It will also bring happiness to people
around us, and even to people in distant times and places! This is not a selfish practice we
are doing.
Notice also that this lesson mentions the Workbooks formula of practicing morning,
evening, and throughout the day (4:1). We can assume today that, like yesterday, we can
make the morning and evening practice periods longer if we like.
Finally, note why it is that related thoughts can flow freely: because your heart will
recognize these words, and in your mind is the awareness they are true (4:5). Related
thoughts, in other words, come from a deep well in our mind, in which we already
understand these ideas. They draw that wells wisdom up to the surface and make it our
own.
Commentary
What does the light of the world do? It forgives. As the light of the world, my function isnt to
teach people new ideas, to straighten out their misunderstandings, or to be their knight in shining
armor. My function is simply to forgive them.
Forgiveness is the demonstration that you are the light of the world. Through your
forgiveness does the truth about yourself return to your memory. (1:34)
Forgiveness not only brings light into the minds of those around me, it enables me to
remember the light in myself; it reminds me of the truth about myself. Forgiveness is what saves
me. Doing what I am here to do reminds me of what I really am.
Why? Because illusions about yourself and the world are one (2:1). If I see the illusion of
sin in a brother, I am really seeing my own illusions about myself. When I forgive that brother, I
am forgiving myself, seeing through the illusion that has obscured the truth about both him and
me. When thoughts of attack are replaced with thoughts of forgiveness, I am replacing death with
life.
Forgiveness is the means the Course sets forth as our way out of hell, because the hell we are
in was made by our judgments and thoughts of attack. Forgiving calls upon the Christ in me,
while attacking calls upon my own weakness. As I call upon the Christ in me, the Christ comes
forward, and I begin to recognize the Christ as my true Self. Forgiveness restores the
invulnerability and power God gave His Son (3:5).
Where is forgiveness needed? Not just in what we think of as the big things: betrayal, deceit,
or obvious intent to harm. Any thought in my mind that separates me from another and makes me
different is a thought of attack, and needs to be replaced with forgiveness. Any thought that
belittles another person, demeans them, sees them as less than, views them as less worthy of
love for any reason, pushes them away, views them with dislike, sees myself gaining at their loss,
wishes for their injury or loss in some way, or lacks faith in the love in their heart, is a thought of
attack, and needs to be replaced with forgiveness.
That is my function, today and every day. Let me release the world from the bondage in which
I have placed it. Let me lift my judgment from it, and so rediscover the miraculous truth of my
own divine nature by my willingness to see it in everyone around me.
LESSON 63 MARCH 4
The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.
Purpose: To get in touch with your power to bring peace to everyone, to recognize the
means by which you can do this, and to experience the happiness that comes from this.
Exercise: As often as you can (suggestion: every hour on the hour), for one to two
minutes.
Tell yourself, The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness. I
am the means God has appointed for the salvation of the world.
Then do the practice that youve been doing recently: Think about these statements and let
related thoughts come. If your mind wanders, repeat the idea.
Remarks: The remarks about closing your eyes hold for all the shorter practice periods in
the Workbook (except the open-eyed ones). The principle is simple. One the one hand,
youll benefit more if you close your eyes, because it will allow for greater focus. On the
other hand, if you wait until the situation lets you close your eyes, that will hurt the
frequency of your practice. So close your eyes if the situation permits; if not, go ahead
and practice with eyes open.
Just like yesterday we are told to be happy to practice morning, evening, and
throughout the day. That is because this practice will get us in touch with our function,
and our function is the source of our happiness. As with Lesson 61, the practice periods at
the beginning and end of the day can be longer if you like.
Commentary
Have you ever been the recipient of real forgiveness? There is nothing quite so liberating,
nothing that eases the mind so much, as being truly forgiven. If I think I may have offended
someone or injured them by what I have said or done, and they turn around and truly forgive me,
letting me know that they were not hurt, that they understand me and see me in a light perhaps
even better than I could see myself, it brings incredible peace to my mind. It relieves the pangs of
guilt. There is a sense of love for the other person, a joy that our intimacy has not been impaired
but perhaps even improved.
You and I have the power to bring that kind of peace to every mind. That is what our function
is. We can allow this to be done through us (1:2). What a marvelous purpose this gives to our
livesbringing peace to every mind through our forgiveness. We can liberate everyone around us
from the hell of their own guilt.
Accept no trivial purpose or meaningless desire in its place, or you will forget your function
and leave the Son of God in hell (2:4). When we accept a lesser purpose, we inevitably forget
the primary one. For instance, we may be trying to get someone to act in a way that pleases us
for our personal pleasure. We may have expectations about what someone should do or say.
These lesser purposes can cause us to completely overlook our true function of forgiveness, and
instead heap more guilt upon the person when they fail to meet our expectations.
We need to practice this idea diligently, as often as we can, to reinforce it in our minds. I am
the means God has appointed for the salvation of the world (3:5). Forgiveness flows through me
and brings peace to every mind I encounter today; let me remember to not block the flow.
LESSON 64 MARCH 5
Let me not forget my function.
Purpose: To remind yourself to constantly choose your happiness by choosing to fulfill

your function. To resist the temptation to let the world you see lull you into forgetting
your function.
Longer: At least one, for ten to fifteen minutes.
Close your eyes and repeat these thoughts: Let me not forget my function. Let me not try to
substitute mine for Gods. Let me forgive and be happy.
Then do again the recent practice of reflecting on these statements. Think about them. Let
related thoughts come (it will help if you remember how important your function is to you
and others).
Remarks: It is easy for lengthy reflection like this to turn into a big mind wandering-fest,
for the simple reason that you are not proficient in the mind discipline that it requires
(7:2). So be on the lookout for irrelevant thoughts. When they come, repeat the idea (you
might even want to repeat all three statements). Even if you have to do so twenty times,
that is better than just letting your mind float off into never-never land.
Frequent reminders: Frequently, for several minutes.
At different times, use one or the other of the following:
1. A shorter version of the longer practice. Repeat the three let me statements and then
think only about them. Your mind will wander; when it does, repeat the idea to bring it
back.
2. Repeat the same statements, then look slowly and unselectively about you, saying, This is
the world it is my function to save.
Commentary
Lesson 62 told me that forgiveness is my function, so this lesson expresses a determination not
to forget what I am here for: to forgive the world, bringing peace to every mind.
What causes me to forget? The entire world. Everything my bodys eyes see is a form of
temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself (2:1). The ego made the world and the
body with a certain purpose in mind:
1. To obscure my function of forgiveness
2. To justify my forgetting my function
3. To entice me to abandon God and His Son by taking form in a body
The egos continuation depends on my identifying with a bodily form. The wickedness and
incompletion of the world around me justify my unwillingness to forgive. My involvement in
the world, making it the scope of my goals and even my life, obscures my true function (in
Heaven, creating; here, forgiving). The egos plan seems to have worked pretty well.
The Courses cosmology is fairly unusual and extreme. As it says later in the Workbook, the
Courses teaching is that the world was made as an attack on God (W-pII.3.2:1). It was not
created by God but made by the ego to abandon God, taking on physical form to obscure our
spiritual reality.
If it seems difficult for me to accept this understanding, I am not alone. The Course is quite
aware this is a difficult concept. But when I begin to detect the way my mind works, it becomes a
little easier to accept, because I begin to notice ways in which my mind uses the world, and uses
everything I see with my eyes, to maintain the illusion of separation. As I am moved to forgive, I
also find something in my mind resisting with tooth and nail, trying to justify withholding
forgiveness, trying to get me simply to forget forgiveness entirely. And I begin to recognize that
what the Course is saying here bears a curious similarity to what is going on within my mind.
Perhaps what it is saying, then, expresses truth; a truth I am perhaps reluctant to accept, but which
seems to be borne out by my own experience.
The Holy Spirit has another purpose, however, for everything in the world. To the Holy
Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins
(2:3). Thats what were doing as we forgive others. Fulfilling this function is what brings us
happiness (I can testify to that!).
The connection between forgiveness and happiness is interesting. If you think about it for a
moment, youll realize that when you are unforgiving, you are unhappy about something. To say,
Im not happy about the way you are acting in our relationship, for instance, is equivalent to
saying, I have judged you and found you wanting; I am unforgiving. To forgive someone is to
be happy with them. To forgive means to let go of your justification for being unhappy. When
you forgive, happiness becomes inevitable (4:2). And there is no other way (4:3).
Unforgiveness is precisely a choice to remain unhappy; without forgiveness you cannot be truly
happy. That is the reasoning behind this statement: Therefore, every time you choose whether or
not to fulfill your function [that is, to forgive], you are really choosing whether or not to be
happy (4:4).
The lesson then goes on to point out that every single decision we make in a day can all be
boiled down to this simple choice: Will I be happy, or unhappy? When you can begin to view
your choices in life from this perspective, the choice becomes no choice at all. Who would
knowingly choose unhappiness? When you begin to notice yourself actually doing that, you begin
to understand why the Course refers to us so often as insane.
Let me not forget my function.
Let me not try to substitute mine for Gods.
Let me forgive and be happy. (6:24)
Lets try to remember to do the actual practice today. (I have to confess, Ive been skimping
on the practice.) One thing to notice is the ten to fifteen minute practice period that is called for
today; thats something new. If nothing else, try to fit that one in.
LESSON 65 MARCH 6
My only function is the one God gave me.
Purpose: To let go of your usual goals, even if only for a little while, so you can focus on
accepting the function God gave you as your only function.
Longer: One time, for ten to fifteen minutes.
Repeat the idea, then close your eyes and repeat it again.
Watch your mind carefully for what you would consider normal thoughts passing across it.
Observe each one dispassionately (as you were taught to do in earlier lessons) and say,
This thought reflects a goal that is preventing me from accepting my only function. When
you start to run out of such thoughts, try for another minute or so to catch any remaining
thoughts, though dont strain to find them. The point of this phase is to clear your mind of
your usual goals and functions.
Then say, On this clean slate let my true function be written for meor words to that
effect. Be willing to have your self-assigned functions be replaced by Gods.
Repeat the idea again and spend the remainder of the practice period doing the now familiar
practice of thinking about the idea and letting related thoughts come. Having cleared out
your usual functions, you are now trying to understand and accept (3:1) your true
function, to actively reflect on it so that it becomes more your own. Focus particularly on
the importance and desirability of your function, and the resolution and relief it will bring.
When wandering thoughts arise, I suggest dispelling them with the line you have just used:
This thought reflects a goal...
Remarks: When he says that you need to pick a time for the longer practice period, one
that youll stick to today and for several days to come, that may very well sound
threatening. Yet it makes perfect sense. You are on the road to giving your whole life to
your true function. Giving it one time during the day, a time that is devoted only to it, a
time that is like an unmoving boulder in the flowing stream of your trivial pursuits, is a
start, a foot in the door. If you cant let your true function have even a foot in the door,
how will you ever reach the point where you give your whole life to it?
Frequent reminders: At least one per hour.
Sometimes use the first form, at others times, the second:
1. Close your eyes and say, My only function is the one God gave me. I want no other and I
have no other.
2. Look about you and say the same line, realizing that what you see will look completely
different when you truly accept what you are saying. (I suggest giving this a try now and
seeing the effect it has on you.)
Commentary
What I noticed as I read was the last sentence of the first paragraph:
The full acceptance of salvation as your only function necessarily entails two phases;
the recognition of salvation as your function, and the relinquishment of all the other
goals you have invented for yourself.
(1:5)
Some of us may be yet having trouble with the first phase, recognizing salvation as our
function. It isnt a simple matter. To say, My job is to heal and be healed requires a major shift
of mind for most people. To see ourselves as the light of the world is not something that comes
easily to us. That is why the preceding few lessons have dwelt on that fact, and why it will come
up again in later lessons.
This lesson advances beyond simply recognizing that salvation is our function; it adds the
thought that this is our only function. It makes it very plain that for this to be so, every other goal
must be relinquished. God gave us this one goal, and no other. The others we invented for
ourselves, and every other goal in some way competes with and detracts from this one.
As I go through my day, I watch how my trivial purposes and goals (4:3) interfere with my
pursuit of this one goal. I can watch it in the simple practice proposed for the next several days:
taking ten to fifteen minutes to try to understand and accept the idea for the day. The lesson asks
me to arrange my day so that I have this time set apart for God. Setting apart these fifteen minutes
will necessitate setting aside every other goal for those minutes. It will bring up the very issue
addressed by this lesson: the way in which my other goals compete with the goal given me by
God.
In my understanding of the Course, the matter of recognizing my true goal can come fairly
early in the journey I am on; the process of relinquishing all my lesser goals until I have no goal
but God can take a fairly long time. At the start, we have no idea how many competitive goals we
have set up for ourselves. It takes time to discover and relinquish them all. Today is but a
beginning, but the more seriously I take this idea, the more effective todays practice can be.
LESSON 66 MARCH 7
My happiness and my function are one.
Purpose: To accept that your happiness and your God-given function are not only
connected, but are actually the same thing, regardless of different appearances; and to
accept that they are different in every way from all of the functions your ego has given
you.
Spend the time actively reflecting on the following logical syllogism: God gives me only
happiness [premise 1]. He has given my function to me [premise 2]. Therefore my function
must be happiness [conclusion]. Notice how the conclusion logically follows from the
premises, so that if the premises are right, the conclusion has to be.
Therefore, spend a while thinking about the first premise (God gives me only happiness).
Use paragraph 6 as a guide. It says that, in the end, you must either accept the first premise
or accept that God is evil.
Then spend some time thinking about the second premise (He has given my function to
me). Use paragraphs 7 and 8 as a guide. They say that your function must have been given
by either God or the ego, but the ego does not really give gifts. It is an illusion that offers
illusions of gifts.
Then spend some time thinking about how your life has reflected an alternative syllogism,
which goes something like this: My ego has given me many functions (think about some of
those). None of them has given me happiness (reflect on this). Therefore, my ego never
gives me happiness. Isnt this the only logical conclusion? Doesnt this conclusion make
you want to choose the function God has given you instead?
Finally, try to pour all of this reflection into an acceptance of the conclusion (Therefore my
function must be happiness). Use the reflection to bring you to a point where you really
embrace the conclusion.
Remarks: This lesson is yet another giant stride (our first was Lesson 61), but it will only
be a giant step forward for you if you really give your mind to it. So do so, for your own
sake. Give the longer practice your full concentration, and give the shorter practice your
frequency.
Frequent reminders: Two per hour, for one minute or less.
Say, My happiness and my function are one, because God has given me both.
Repeating this slowly and thinking about it will make all the difference.
Commentary
I find this lesson interesting in the way it makes use of ordinary logic, applied to extraordinary
ideas. The longer practice period is supposed to be spent in thinking about the premises in the
syllogism given in paragraph 5 (5:7; 9:1). In other words, the lesson asks us to test out the logic
of its proposal with our minds. Quite evidently the Course sees a good deal of value in thinking
and reasoning; it is not a Course in mindlessness, as some people seem to believe. Nor is it only a
course in experience. It is solidly laced with reasoning, and expects us to know how to use that
faculty of our minds. I find that a good aid in this kind of practice is writing down the ideas that
come to me as I do it.
The central idea today is one weve seen before: happiness and my function are, at the core,
the same thing. The two premises are fairly simple, especially the first: God gives me only
happiness. If God is a God worthy of my allegiance, a God of love, this must be so. Why follow a
god who makes me unhappy? If God gives unhappiness, He must be evil (6:5). And if God is evil
I may as well quit now; Ill never find happiness living in the clutches of a sadistic god, who
gives his creations unhappiness.
Second, God has given my function to me. This is a little less obvious. Function could be
understood as meaning nature. In simple terms, God created me, and in so doing, defined what
I am. What I am defines what I do. What alternative is there? If God did not define me, what did?
The only alternative is the ego (8:3). Or, I might say, I made myself (which is really the same
thing). But how can anything create itself? What created its power to create? Is it really possible
that the ego made me, or I defined myself? No. Therefore this second premise must also be true:
God has given my function to me.
Now if God gives me only happiness, and God gave me my function, what is the logical
conclusion? My function must be happiness. My reason for being is to be happy. Fulfilling my
function is what brings me happiness.
If we think about all the ways weve tried to find happiness following our egosas we are
instructed to think about, here in the lessonwe must admit, if we are perfectly honest, that none
of them have worked.
The lesson is trying to bring us to the point where we make a choice, the choice between
madness and truth, between listening to the ego or to the Holy Spirit. It is asking us to realize that
everything the ego tells us is a lie, and that only the truth is true; only what God has given us has
reality.
This lesson is the second one called a giant stride (10:5). The first was Lesson 61. Well see
the term again in Lessons 94, 130, 135, and 194. Lesson 61 told us, I am the light of the world,
which is a beginning step in accepting your real function on earth.a giant stride toward taking
your rightful place in salvation (W-pI.61.3:23). We are light-bearers, designed by God to beam
His light to the universe; that is our function. Accepting that is a giant step, a strong beginning.
Now, we are told, My happiness and my function are one. Bringing light to the world is what
happiness is; being the light of the world is fulfilling our function, and fulfilling our function is
happiness.
LESSON 67 MARCH 8
Love created me like Itself.
Purpose: To experience the blazing light of your changeless reality, if only for a moment.
To redefine God as Love and realize you are included in His definition of Himself.
Repeat the idea.
Then spend a few minutes adding related thoughts, along the following lines: Holiness
created me holy. Helpfulness created me helpful. Use only attributes that fit the Courses
teachings about God.
For a brief interval, try to let go of all thoughts.
The remainder is a meditation exercise, using the method you were taught in the 40s:
1. Reach past the thick cloud of all your self-images to the light of your true Self. Sink past
illusions about you and reach down to the truth in you.
2. When you get distracted, repeat the idea. If this is not enough, add more related thoughts,
as in the earlier phase.
3. Hold in mind the confidence that the light of your true Self is there and can be reached,
and that even if you dont reach it now, you will succeed in bringing that experience
closer.
Frequent reminders: Four or five per hour, maybe more.

Repeat the idea. As you do, be aware that this is not your tiny voice telling you this, but the
Voice of truth telling you Who you really are. I recommend repeating it once in this fashion now,
so you can see the effect it has.
Remarks: The comment in 5:2 is very important. The 60s and 70s really focus on
frequency, and this sentence explains why that is so crucial. You need to frequently
practice the truth because you so frequently practice illusion. Specifically, your mind is
so preoccupied with false self-images (5:2). Contained in each normal thought is a false
self-image. That is why you need to inject as many thoughts as you can that contain the
truth about you.
Commentary
The Course spends a disproportionate amount of space telling us what we are, how we were
created like God, Who created us, and how that reality is unchanged and unchangeable (2:1).
Lesson 229 virtually duplicates todays thought: Love, Which created me, is what I am. Review
V has us repeat, God is but Love, and therefore so am I every day for ten days. And then there
are all the lessons on the theme I am as God created me. There are three lessons with that direct
topic (the only lesson given more than once in the same words, in 94, 110, and 162); several
others in which the idea is repeated (132, 139, 237, and 260); and twenty review lessons (201 to
220) in which we repeat the words I am still as God created me daily. Evidently the Course
thinks this idea is worth repeating!
In fact, todays lesson tells us exactly why this thought is so important, and why repetition of
it is so necessary:
It will be particularly helpful today to practice the idea for the day as often as you
can. You need to hear the truth about yourself as frequently as possible, because your
mind is so preoccupied with false self-images. Four or five times an hour, and
perhaps even more, it would be most beneficial to remind yourself that Love created
you like Itself. Hear the truth about yourself in this.
(5:14)
We need to hear the truth about ourselves as often as we can because we have taught ourselves
a false self-image, and we have taught ourselves very, very well. Teach only love, for that is
what you are (T-6.I.13:2) is one of the most famous sayings in the Course, and emphasizes the
same thing: What we are is Love, because Love created us like Itself.
How many of us, if asked, What are you? would find the word love springing
immediately to our minds? For most of us, to think of ourselves as being love and only love is, to
be kind, a stretch. We may think we have some love in us, but to think that Love is what we are?
Not hardly. Thats why we need to hear it as often as possible, why we need to repeat the idea
today four or five times an hour or more during the day. Thats something like eighty times today,
if we are awake sixteen hours.
Love is what I am. That is why I am the light of the world. That is why I am the worlds
savior, and why the Christ in everyone looks to me for salvationbecause what I am is the
salvation of the world (1:25). How differently would I live today if I knew this about myself?
Notice that the lesson does not expect us to get this idea all at once. If we were expected to
grasp it right away, we wouldnt have to repeat it eighty times. All we are looking for is to
realize fully, if only for a moment, that it is the truth (1:6, emphasis mine). Love is in us as our
true Self, and we are attempting to get in touch with the Love within ourselves (3:23). We may
not contact It directly today, but even the effort is worth it, although we may not feel we have
succeeded: Be confident that you will do much today to bring that awareness nearer, whether
you feel you have succeeded or not (4:4).
Some day, though, some time, we will succeed; perhaps even today. Its inevitable because we
cannot hide forever from what we are, we cannot escape from what is within us. At some point it
will happen: You will succeed in goingthrough the interval of thoughtlessness to the
awareness of a blazing light in which you recognize yourself as Love created you (4:3).
You were created by Love like Itself (6:4).
LESSON 68 MARCH 9
Love holds no grievances.
Purpose: To feel the profound sense of peace and safety that comes from being free of
grievances. This will provide the motivation you need to free yourself of them more and
more.
Search your mind for those you hold major grievances against, then for those you hold
seemingly minor grievances against. Notice how no one is completely exempt, and how
alone this has made you feel.
Resolve to see them all as friends. Say to each one in turn: I would see you as my friend,
that I may remember you are part of me and come to know myself. Note the progression
through three stages (friend/part of me/know myself). Try to mean each stage.
For the remainder of the practice period, think of yourself as being at peace with a world
that is truly your friend, a world that loves and protects you, and that you love in return. Try
to actually feel safety surrounding you like a blanket, hovering over you like wings of an
angel, and holding you up like solid rock beneath your feet.
Conclude by saying, Love holds no grievances. When I let all my grievances go I will
know I am perfectly safe.
Frequent reminders: Several (at least three) per hour.

Say, Love holds no grievances. I would wake to my Self by laying all my grievances
aside and wakening in Him.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel a grievance against anyone.
Quickly apply the idea in this form: Love holds no grievances. Let me not betray my
Self. The idea, of course, is that, because your Self is Love, holding grievances is an act
of Self-betrayal. Think about that.
Commentary
This lesson is a powerful teaching on the effect that holding grievances has on our minds and
our thinking.
To hold a grievance is to wish harm on someone; it is, whether we think of it that way or not,
to dream of hatred (2:5). Some of usperhaps most of ushave, at times, literally dreamed of
revenge on someone we perceive as a victimizer. We have, possibly, consciously wished
someone were dead. Probably, however, we have repressed conscious awareness of such thoughts
and have deliberately forgotten we had them. Yet even minor grievances are the same thing,
just in milder form. To hold a grievance is to feel you have been wronged, and the victimizer
deserves to be punished for his or her wrongdoing. To wish someone would get what s/he
deserves is no less hatred than to wish them dead.
Love holds no grievances. Holding a grievance is the converse of love; love and grievances
are mutually exclusive. Yesterdays lesson taught us that Love created me like Itself. To hold a
grievance, then, is to deny that truth; it is an assertion that I am something other than love. We
cannot know our Self as Love if we hold any grievances because holding a grievance is teaching
us the exact opposite.
Perhaps you do not yet fully realize just what holding grievances does to your mind (1:5).
The teaching in the next several lines is meaty. Our Source is Love, and we are created like that
Source. When we hold a grievance, we seem to be different from our Source, and therefore seem
to be cut off from Him (1:6). We are not Love, and God is; we must be separate.
However, the mind cannot quite conceive of a source and its effect as being totally different;
therefore, to cope with the logical dilemma, our mind conceives of God in our own imagined
image: It makes you believe that He is like what you think you have become (1:7). We think
God holds grievances, and dream up religions that speak of sinners in the hands of an angry
God. We make an image of a vengeful, punitive god, and cower in terror away from his
presence, fearful of our very existence.
The effects of grievances do not stop with seeming to split us off from God, making us
different and separate, and then remaking God Himself into a terrifying, vindictive demon.
Within us, our true Self seems to fall asleep and thus to disappear from active participation, while
the part of us that weaves illusions in its sleep appears to be awake (2:1). We lose sight of our
Self and imagine we are something else, a grievance-holding, petty self, angry at the world.
Can all this arise from holding grievances? Oh, yes! (2:23) We have redefined God in our
own image. We suffer guilt. We have forgotten who we are. All this is inevitable for those that
hold grievances.
We have not realized what damage we are doing to our own minds by holding grievances.
This is why the Course teaches that forgiveness is not something we do for the sake of others; we
do it for our own well-being.
It may not seem possible to give up all grievances; thats understood by the lesson (4:2). It
isnt really a matter of possible or impossible, however; its just a matter of motivation. We can
give up any grievance; the question is, do we want to? So this lesson sets out to increase our
motivation by asking us to perform an experiment. Basically, it asks us to try to find out how
you would feel without them (4:4). The idea is, quite simply, that if we can get a taste of what it
feels like to be without grievances, we will prefer the new feeling. Try it; youll like it! as the
commercial says. And once we are motivated, once we want to let grievances gowe will. Our
minds have that much power.
Notice the use of the words trying and try in paragraph 6. We are basically doing an
exercise in imagination here. Imagine being at peace with everyone. Imagine feeling completely
safe, surrounded by love and loving all that surrounds you. Imagineeven just for an instant
that nothing can harm you; that you are invulnerable and totally secure, and that whats more,
there is nothing that wants to harm you even if it could. If you can succeed even by ever so little,
there will never be a problem in motivation ever again (4:5).
Once you get a taste of what this state of mind feels like you are going to want it. Because it
feels really good! You are going to become willing to do whatever it takes to experience this
more and more, for longer and longer, until it becomes permanent.
I want to emphasize that todays lesson isnt telling us, Get rid of all your grievances. It isnt
laying down a law and making us guilty for having grievances. It is simply trying to motivate us
to want to let them go, first by showing us how much pain (illusory harm, but real in our
experience) our grievances are bringing to our minds, and then by getting us to experience what a
mind without grievances feels like. It is getting us to recognize that holding a grievance is a
betrayalnot of God, not of anyone else, but a betrayal of ourselves as Love. Grievances make
us believe we are something we are not, and that we are not what we really are.
LESSON 69 MARCH 10
My grievances hide the light of the world in me.
Purpose: To lift the veil of grievances that has hidden the light of the world in you, so
that you can experience that light and let it shine salvation onto the world. This is yet
another attempt to experience the light in you (see W-pI.41.5:3 and W-pI.44.3:1).
Spend several minutes cultivating the heightened attitude that is so crucial to Course-based
meditation. Think about what you are about to attempt, about its importance to you and to
the world. You are trying to lift the veil and get in touch with the light of the world, so you
can hold it up for all to see and be blessed by. You are trying to reach your only need, your
only function, goal, and purpose. Be determined to reach it.
Then, with eyes closed, let go of all your thoughts. Picture your true mind as a vast sphere
of radiant light, totally engulfed by a layer of dark clouds (your grievances). From your
vantage point outside the sphere, all you can see are clouds.
Now begin the meditation. As before, you can see it as having three aspects:
1. The basic motion is one of traveling through the clouds and into the light. Reach out and
touch them in your mind. Brush them aside with your hand; feel them resting on your
cheeks and forehead and eyelids as you go through them (6:34).
2. If your mind wanders, repeat the idea and then continue your journey through the clouds.
3. Most of all, hold that heightened attitude you cultivated in the first phase, an attitude of
desire (remember how much you want to reach the light), determination (be determined
to get there), and confidence (realize you cannot fail, because this is in accord with Gods
Will).
If you do your part properly, the power of God will do the rest. You will feel His power
lifting you up and carrying you into the light.
Frequent reminders: As often as possible (suggestion: several times an hour).

Say, My grievances hide the light of the world in me. I cannot see what I have
hidden. Yet I want to let it be revealed to me [by God], for my salvation and the salvation
of the world.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to hold a grievance.
Say, If I hold this grievance the light of the world will be hidden from me.
Commentary
I am the light of the world, but the light cannot shine out because my grievances hide it. When
I let my grievances go, the light is released, and releases my brother and myself. My job with
everyone I meet is to share my salvation with him.
Todays practice is another time of attempting to reach the light in you (2:1), or in other
words, to become aware of my Self as God created It, wholly loving and wholly lovable. Notice
how the form of this practice is similar to what weve seen before; it is a pattern that is repeated
often in the Workbook in different forms. In general, the pattern is one of attempting to move
past, or move through, or let go of the thoughts that normally occupy my mind, settling down in
deep stillness, and reaching beyond my surface thoughts to something deep within myself, a Self
I am not normally aware of. This is a Course method of meditation. It is one of the tools given to
us by the Workbook, and should be learned and used even after Workbook practice per se has
ended.
What we are trying to reach is dearer to us than all else (3:1). Reaching it, finding it, and
releasing it to the world is our only purpose and only function on earth. Learning salvation is our
only goal (3:4). I love the poignant imagery of this sentence: We are trying to let the veil be
lifted, and to see the tears of Gods Son disappear in the sunlight (2:5). Can you feel that tug
with me, that longing to release the light of the world that is in you?
There is a light that this world cannot give. Yet you can give it, as it was given
you. And as you give it, it shines forth to call you from the world and follow it. For
this light will attract you as nothing in this world can do. (T-13.VI.11:14)
LESSON 70 MARCH 11
My salvation comes from me.
Purpose: To realize that your salvation is not outside you, that both the sickness and the
remedy are within, and that you are joined with God in wanting the remedy for yourself.
Longer: Two times, for ten to fifteen minutes.
Repeat, My salvation comes from me, and add a statement to the effect that it does not
come from outside you, such as It cannot come from anywhere else.
Close your eyes and for several minutes review external places in which you have sought
salvationpeople, possessions, situations, events, self-concepts. Say, My salvation cannot
come from any of these things [try to really see this]. My salvation comes from me and only
from me.
Then enter again into meditation, trying once more to travel through the clouds to the light
in you. Use the same technique as you did yesterday (you may want to review those
instructions). The difference today is that the clouds, rather than being your grievances, are
the external things in which youve sought salvation. Since these cloud patterns are where
your mind has been fixated, it may be challenging to not get stuck there. The particular
method you use for getting past the clouds is not important; what is important is your desire
and determination to get past them. One method you might find helpful is to imagine Jesus
leading you by the hand through the clouds and into the light. He says that if you do this, it
will be more than just your imagination.
Remarks: Now that we are going up to two longer practice periods a day, he wants you to
do the same thing as beforedecide in advance when youll do the longer practice
periods and then do your best to adhere to that decision. To refresh your mind about why
this is important, read the remarks section in Lesson 65.
Say, My salvation comes from me. Nothing outside of me can hold me back. Within
me is the worlds salvation and my own. While saying this, remember that only your
own thoughts can hold you back. This leaves you in charge.
Commentary
The message of this lesson is really one of the central teachings of the Course. Guilt and
salvation are in my own mind and nowhere else. All guilt is solely an invention of your mind
(1:5).
It is severely tempting to lay the blame for my problems somewhere outside of me. I
instinctively shun taking responsibility for any of my problems, and the idea that all of them are
in my mind and nowhere else seems devastating. However, consider the consequences of the
alternative view: that the source of my problems and of my guilt lies outside of me. If that is the
case, I am the helpless victim of these outside forces. I cannot do anything about them except to
rant and rave at them, hurling invectives of blame and begging for mercy from uncaring powers.
If, however, my problems lie solely in my own mind, then I am capable of doing something
about them. In fact, only I can do anything about them, and nothing outside of me can prevent me
from doing it. Nothing outside of me can hold me back (10:7). I am in complete control; my
salvation comes from me and me alone. I am not dependent on anything outside myself, and
therefore I am already free.
The cost of recognizing that my salvation comes from me and nowhere else is that I have to
give up any idea that the cavalry is going to show up to rescue me. Nothing outside yourself
can save you; nothing outside yourself can give you peace (2:1). Nothing and nobody can do it
for me. Its up to me. My partner in romantic love isnt going to do it for me. My wealth and
position arent going to do it for me. My analyst isnt going to do it for me, nor my guru. Not
even Jesus will do it for me. The Course wont do it for me. Any or all of these may support me,
help me, encourage me; in the end, however, my salvation will come from myself, from the
choices of my own mind. Todays idea places you in charge of the universe, where you belong
because of what you are (2:3). Awesome, and a bit frightening. I dont want to believe I have
that much power, but not believing it is what got me into this mess in the first place. Therein lies
my sickness.
Good news! God wants us to be healed and happy; so do we. Therefore our will is one with
Gods. We have been choosing sickness but we dont really want it, because it makes us
unhappy. So we can agree with God and choose again, choose to be well rather than sick.
In todays exercise we picture ourselves pushing past the clouds again towards the light.
Yesterday the clouds represented our grievances; today, they represent the things we have looked
to for salvation. You cannot find [salvation] in the clouds that surround the light, and it is in
them you have been looking for it (8:2). Oddly, objects of salvation and grievances are not all
that different; a grievance against a brother is also an assertion that something in that brother is
making me unhappy, which is also making him a potential source of salvation: I would be happy
if he would change. To see salvation outside myself, or to see a grievance, are both means by
which I give away my power and deny my sole responsibility for the universe of my mind.
In the exercise of pushing past the clouds, we are told, If it helps you, think of me holding
your hand and leading you. And I assure you it will be no idle fantasy (9:34). For some of us, it
will be helpful to picture ourselves taking the hand of Jesus and being led through the clouds. For
others, the picture would be more disconcerting than helpful; there is, perhaps, healing needed in
our relationship with him before we could find that image appealing. I, for one, find it immensely
helpful to envision one who has already been there and back, and who is willing to lead me
through. He cant do it for me, but he sure can help.
Sometimes I think of Jesus as simply the part of my mind that has already wakened. And he is
part of me, just as you are, and as everyone is. He is not some awesome divine being I cannot
ever hope to be like. He is me, remembering. He is me, awake. To take his hand is to identify
with the Christ in myself.
Go for the light today!
LESSON 71 MARCH 12
Only Gods plan for salvation will work.
Purpose: To truly recognize that only Gods plan will work and to rejoice in this, for it
means escape from the hopelessness of the egos plan and from the pointlessness of
trying to follow both plans at once.
The first part is another exercise in thinking about the idea. Specifically, reflect on the two
parts of the idea. Part one: Gods plan will work. According to recent lessons, Gods plan
involves contacting the light within and letting go of grievances, both of which mean
changing your mind. Part two: other plans wont work. This lesson tells us that the egos
plan involves seeking outside yourself for happiness, holding grievances when the outside
doesnt cooperate, and refusing to change your mind. Try to reach the conclusion, based on
logic and your experience, that only Gods plan holds any hope of delivering actual
happiness.
The second part is the Workbooks first exercise in asking for guidance. Ask God to reveal
His plan for you for today. Ask, What would You have me do? Where would You have me
go? What would You have me say, and to whom? The willingness you are demonstrating
just by doing this entitles you to an answer, so listen with confidence. Refuse not to hear
(9:8). Once you ask, listen for the subtlest inner promptingsit doesnt need to come in
words. If you dont hear anything, you might want to repeat the questions, making them
more specific: What would You have me do today? or Where would You have me go
after lunch?
Frequent reminders: Six or seven per hour, for half a minute or less.
Repeat the idea as an affirmation of where your salvation really comes from.

Be alert all day to grievances. Respond to each one by saying, Holding grievances is
the opposite of Gods plan for salvation. And only His plan will work.
Commentary
After being told yesterday that salvation comes from me and only from me, it is a little
annoying the next day to be told that only Gods plan will work and that the plan I believe in
(which is the egos) isnt worth anything. It kind of seems like give and then take away, doesnt
it? But it isnt really saying anything different. The egos plan involves looking for salvation
outside of myself; Gods plan is wholly centered on my change of mind. In Gods plan, salvation
comes from me; in the egos plan, it comes from any place except me.
To the ego, salvation means that if someone else spoke or acted differently, if some external
circumstance or event were changed, you would be saved (2:2). In the egos view, basically Im
okay, I am the innocent victim; the problem is with something outside of me. Whenever I am
thinking, If this were different, Id be okay, I am believing in the egos plan of salvation
because I am demanding the change of mind necessary for salvationof everyone and
everything except myself (2:5).
Dont get tripped up by the religious-sounding phrase plan for salvation. It may remind you
of some cheap Bible tract announcing Gods plan of salvation. What salvation boils down to
here is simply, Id be okay; my problems would be solved. And the egos plan, simply stated, is
If this were different, I would be saved.
In the egos plan, the minds only purpose is to figure out what has to change for me to be
saved (which presupposes that it isnt me that has to change). The ego will let us pick anything
that wont work (which includes everything in the class of things I am looking atthings outside
of myselfsince salvation comes from me and not something outside me). The ego has me look
everywhere but in the one place in which the answer liesmy own mind.
Gods plan for salvation is that I look for it where it is: in myself.
For this plan to work, however, there is a condition: I have to look in myself and nowhere
else. I cant be looking for salvation in myself and from outside. This just divides my efforts
between two different plans. There are two parts to todays idea: 1) Gods plan will work, and 2)
other plans (i.e. the plans I make up) wont work.
The second part, the lesson implies, may seem depressing. We may feel a flare of anger. In
fact, what keeps us from simply accepting Gods plan is that we want to be right; we want our
plans to work. Wed rather be right than happy, most of the time, although we dont consciously
think that. But the egos plan consists of holding grievances. Havent you ever had the experience
of realizing that you could just let a grievance go and be happy, but that somehow it seems to feel
good to be angry? You dont want to let go. Youd rather be right than happy.
The lesson is saying, You can be saved simply by changing your mind. Nothing outside you
has to change in order for you to be happy. You can simply choose happiness, right now. And
our response, typically? Hell, no! I wont be happy unless s/he changes first. Were holding on
to our plan for salvation and refusing Gods.
Surprisingly, the practice for today is not primarily about letting go of grievances, or looking
within for salvation. It is about listening. It is about asking guidance from God. The emphasis is
on taking our hands off the reins of our lives and giving them over to God. If we can learn to do
that, we may begin to learn that His plans work better than our own.
LESSON 72MARCH 13
Holding grievances is an attack on Gods plan for salvation.
Purpose: To stop attacking Gods plan by miscasting it as something it is not. To instead
welcome it as it is, and realize it has already been accomplished in you.
This is another exercise in trying to hear Gods Voice. This time you are asking God
what His plan for salvation is, in order to replace your assumptions about what it is. Your
grievances have depicted God in your image, as a separate body who feels wronged by
the misbehavior of others (which includes your misbehavior). In this view, for you to
become reconciled with Him, He demands (like any ego) that you sacrifice your
pleasures on His behalf and pay the price for your misdeeds. Cant you see that this view
of His plan is why youve pushed it away?
In the practice period, lay aside your assumptions about what Gods plan is and ask
Him what it is. Ask, What is salvation, Father? I do not know [try to mean this]. Tell
me, that I may understand. While listening, the attitude you hold is everything. Be
confident that He will answer. Be determined to hear (12:6).
When you feel your confidence wane, repeat the question again, consciously
remembering that you are asking of the infinite Creator of infinity, Who created you like
Himself (12:1). It may help to vary the wording of the sentences. For instance, What is
Your plan for salvation? I let go of my assumptions. I really want to understand it.
Listen for the faintest promptings. Trust what you hear. You may want to write it down
afterwards.
Frequent reminders: One, maybe two, per hour, for a minute or so.
Say, Holding grievances is an attack on Gods plan for salvation. Let me accept it
instead. What is salvation, Father? Then wait in silence and listen for His answer,
preferably with eyes closed.
Commentary
This is a long lesson, and a tough one. The scope of ideas presented here is daunting even to
an experienced student of the Course (including me). There is no way I can give a detailed
explanation of all the ideas in this brief commentary, so I am mainly going to focus on a few
interesting ideas.
The general thrust of the argument here is that holding grievances is always concerned in
some way with the behavior of a body. Grievances thus confuse the person with his body; they
are based on the assumption that bodies are what we are, and bodies are what God created. Since
bodies die, God is a liar when He promises life. Death is the ultimate punishment for our sins, and
that is what God gives us.
The ego then comes into the picture in the role of savior, telling us, Okay, youre a body.
So take the little you can get (6:6). We see salvation as some kind of bodily function. Either we
hate our bodies and humiliate them or we love them and try to exalt them (7:23).
As long as the body stands at the center of your concept of yourself, you are attacking Gods
plan for salvation (7:4). Why so? Because Gods plan has nothing to do with the body; it
concerns the mind, the being you are.
One primary thing the lesson is trying to get across is that we are not bodies. It is the body
that is outside us, and is not our concern. To be without a body is to be in our natural state (9:2
3). This flies in the face of our common perception. The nearly universal assumption of man is
that we are inside our bodies. To say the body is outside us seems to make no sense at all. But
actually, it isnt an entirely inconceivable idea. There is a way of understanding how our
awareness can appear to be in the body when in fact it is elsewhere.
Many of you are probably familiar with the idea of virtual reality (VR); that is, an artificial
world you can experience via a computer. My son, Ben, is getting his Computer Science Ph.D. at
Georgia Tech with a strong emphasis on virtual reality. Not long ago he visited VR laboratories
in Japan, where they were experimenting with VR in connection with robots. He put on a VR
helmet (so his eyes and ears now beheld and heard what was projected on the screen of the helmet
or played through its speakers); he wore a VR sleeve on his arm and hand. These were connected
to a robot, which had a camera and microphone on its head and whose mechanical arm and
hand responded to the movements of Bens arm and hand. He was seeing what the robot saw,
hearing what it heard, and picking up objects with its hand.
Then he had a very odd experience. He turned his (the robots) head, looked across the room,
and saw his fleshly body sitting on the other side, wearing all this weird-looking gear. Bens
awareness was inside the robot, although his body was on the other side of the room. He seemed
to be separate from his body.
Our bodies, I believe, are very much like that VR robot. Our minds receive only the input of
the bodys eyes and ears, and so we are fooled into thinking we are inside of it. In reality we are
somewhere else, not inside the body at all. What we are seeing in our bodies is, in truth, only
virtual reality. The body is outside of us in fact, and being without a body is our natural state.
One of the aims of the Course is to help us see our Self as separate from the body (9:5). I
hope these thoughts provide a little help in conceptualizing that possibility.
The practice periods have us focusing on asking, What is salvation, Father? I do not know
(10:67). The intent is to get us to let go of our existing ideas of salvation, which are all
focused on the body, either exalting it or abasing it, so that something else can take the place of
those ideas. Salvation lies in acceptance of what we areand what we are is not a body. The
lesson leaves the answering of the question about salvation to our inner listening. If we ask, it
says, something will answer us (11:3; 12:5).
LESSON 73 MARCH 14
I will there be light.
Purpose: Another attempt to reach the light in you, which will show you the real world.
I see this lesson as very similar to Lesson 69, where you spent a beginning phase reflecting on
how much you want to find the light in you, and then, in the ending phase, entered a meditation in
which you tried to actually reach that light.
Spend several minutes thinking about how salvation is your true will, what you really want.
(To prepare yourself, I recommend rereading paragraphs 69, frequently inserting your
name while you do so.) Think about how you truly want to reach the light in you. Think
about how salvation is your will, not an alien purpose thrust upon you. Since reaching the
light is your will, you can be confident in your attempt to find it today. Carry this attitude of
reaching the light is my will into your meditation.
Then, with gentle firmness and quiet certainty (10:1), tell yourself, I will there be light.
Let me behold the light that reflects Gods Will and mine.
The rest of the practice period is a meditation in which you try to reach the light in you.
Hold your true will in mind and let it, joined with God and your Self, lead you to that
radiant light at the center of your mind. Remember to respond to wandering thoughts with
the idea, and most of all, remember to stay in touch with your will to experience the light.
Frequent reminders: Several per hour.

Say, I will there be light. Darkness is not my will. If you say it as a genuine
declaration of what you really want (11:1), you will get more out of it.
It is important to immediately say, I will there be light. Darkness is not my will.
Remembering that it is not your will to have grievances will release your grip on them.
Commentary
This is a lesson about our will, the will you share with God (1:1). Id like to focus just on
what is specifically said in this lesson about our will.
First, it is a will we share with God. That is, what the Course calls our will is identical to
Gods Will. We want the same thing God wants for us, because we were created as extensions of
His Will; what else could our will be except the same as His?
Your fatherhood and your Father are one. God wills to create, and your will is His. It
follows, then, that you will to create, since your will follows from His. And being an
extension of His Will, yours must be the same.
(T-11.I.7:69)
Our true will (which by the Courses definition is our only will) is not the same as the egos
wishes, the manifold variety of thoughts that seem to conflict with Gods Will and with each
other. From the Courses standpoint these are not our will, just ego wishes. A desire to attack, no
matter how strongly we may consciously identify with it, cannot be our will; it can only be an idle
wish of the ego. Our will represents our Self as God created us; anything that seems to come from
a different source is not will but wish. What this means in practical terms is that our ego thoughts
are not part of our true Self, and in reality we do not will them.
The will you share with God has all the power of creation in it (1:3). Our will therefore must
be realized; nothing can oppose it. We will have what we truly want because our will has all the
power of creation, while the egos wishes have no power at all. We exist in the illusion that our
egos wishes are almost all-powerful, and what we may think of as our higher will often seems
weak by comparison. This is simply not true. It can only appear to be true for a limited time;
eventually, inevitably, the will of our Self must be done.
Your will is lost to you in this strange bartering (3:1). Our conscious awareness is out of
touch with the will of our Self. Our egos need for grievances has created shadow figures in our
minds, figures that seem to attack you (2:2), images from the past that we superimpose over our
perceptions in the present, so that we react to people in the present as if they were these figures
from our past. This traffic in grievances has blocked our real will from our awareness, covering it
with the wishes of the ego until those wishes seem to be our will. We are no longer aware of what
it is we really want.
Can such a world have been created by the Will the Son of God shares with his Father?
(3:2). The obvious answer is no. How could we have willed a world of attack and judgment?
This is obviously not something anyone would want. The world we see reflects the egos wishes,
not our will.
Today we will try once more to reach the world that is in accordance with your will (4:1).
This is the real world, as the Course defines that term. There is a world in accord with our will.
We are not seeing it now, but we can.
Yet the light that shines upon this world reflects your will, and so it must be in you that we
will look for it (4:6). The real world reflects our true will, what we truly want in our eternal Self.
The light that shines on it is in us, and we can find that world by looking within ourselves for the
light.
Forgiveness lifts the darkness, reasserts your will, and lets you look upon a world of light
(5:4). Forgiveness lets go of grievances, thus removing the dark spots on our mind that are being
projected as black blotches of darkness on the world, just as a dust mote in a movie projector
throws a black spot on the screen. Forgiveness allows us to see the world as our Self truly wants
to see it; it reasserts our will.
Suffering is not happiness, and it is happiness you really want. Such is your will in truth
(6:5). It seems silly to say something like Suffering is not happiness, and yet we often treat it as
if it were happiness. We seem to prefer our pain over risking something new; at least we know
how to suffer, and we are oddly afraid that we wont know how to function if we are happy. But
we dont really want suffering; how could we? How could anyone? Our will, in truth, is
happiness.
And so salvation is your will as well (6:7). If we want happiness, we want salvation,
because salvation is happiness.
Salvation means happiness. We want to be relieved of suffering; we want to be happy.
It amazes me sometimes how powerful a message this can be. Most of the time it seems as if I
have a split mind; part of me wants to be happy, and part of me sabotages my every effort. Isnt it
peculiar how common is this thought: Its too good to last? Or Nothing lasts forever? Or
Into each life a little rain must fall? Something in us tells us that we cant be happy all the time,
that we dont deserve it, or even that we couldnt stand it. Ridiculous ideas! The will of our true
Self, with all the power of creation behind it, is that we be happy. Thereforewe will be. It must
be so.
You want to accept Gods plan because you share in it. You have no will that can
really oppose it, and you do not want to do so.
(7:23)
I really do want the Will of God; my will is the same as His! I want to accept salvation. There
is no part of my will that opposes it; only idle, paltry ego wishes seem to. So I cant miss; I cant
fail. My will is not different from Gods.
Above all else, you want the freedom to remember Who you really are. Today it is
the ego that stands powerless before your will. Your will is free, and nothing can
prevail against it. (7:57)
The power of your will and mine can bring light to this world if we simply choose to assert it.
We simply realize what we truly want, and say, I will there be light. And there will be light.
Just as God said, Let there be light, and there was light. Because our will is creative, as His is.
LESSON 74 MARCH 15
There is no will but Gods.
Purpose: To realize that you cannot be in conflict, because your will and every will is
really Gods Will. To experience the peace that comes from this fact.
Say, There is no will but Gods. I cannot be in conflict. Repeat these sentences in a
special way: several times, slowly and with firm determination to understand what they
mean, and to hold them in mind (3:1).
Then for several minutes let related thoughts come. Remember your training in this.
If thoughts intrude about conflicts in your life, quickly dispel them by saying, There is no
will but Gods. These conflict thoughts are meaningless. If a particular conflict keeps
intruding, single it out. Briefly identify the person(s) and situation(s) involved and say,
There is no will but Gods. I share it with Him. My conflicts about _____ cannot be real.
Youll probably need to keep your eyes open for this part to consult the sentences you need
to repeat.
At this point, your mind should be clear and ready to turn inward. The rest of the exercise is
a meditation in which you sink down and inward, into the peaceful place where Gods Will
is your will. If you are succeeding, you will feel an alert, joyful peace. Do not let yourself
slip off into a drowsy pseudo-peace. Repeat the idea as often as you need to in order to
draw yourself back from this.
Remarks: The comments in paragraphs 5 and 6 are among the most important remarks on
meditation in the Workbook. You should carry their counsel into every meditation. On
the one hand, they tell you not to mistake meditation for withdrawal from lifes conflicts
into a mental fantasyland. On the other hand, they urge you to do everything in your
power to avoid such withdrawal. This means: Do not let yourself float off into that sleepy
pseudo-peace that meditation can so easily turn into. Real peace is alert and joyful, not
sleepy and sluggish. When you start to go off into withdrawal, repeat the idea to draw
your mind back. Do this as often as necessary (6:4). It is better to do this over and over,
and never find the peace you seek, than to drift off into that drowsy haze (see 6:5).
Frequent reminders: At regular intervals that you predetermine (suggestion: every half
hour), for one or two minutes.
Say: There is no will but Gods. I seek His peace today.
Then do a brief meditation in which you try to find that peace, with eyes closed, if possible.
Commentary
The lesson states that this idea can be regarded as the central thought toward which all our
exercises are directed (1:1). The Course makes similar claims about ideas that seem quite
different from this one, for instance: There is no world! (W-pI.132.6:2). All of the ideas so
identified, however, boil down to what we can call nondualism. That is, God is unopposed;
nothing apart from Him and His creations exists. There is no devil, no power that opposes God,
nothing that exists independent of Him and therefore capable of having a differing will.
To say that nothing can have a will that differs from Gods must include ourselves. The result
of believing this is that conflict leaves our minds. How could our mind be in conflict if we have
no will that can conflict with Gods?
What, though, can we say of our common experience of wanting things that we think are
opposed to God, or of wanting to do what He does not want us to do? Or even more down to
earth, the experiencing of being torn between conflicting desires? If there is no will but Gods,
how is such experience possible?
The real answer is, it is not possible, unless there are illusions involved: Without illusions
conflict is impossible (2:4). Conflict exists only between two illusions. In reality there is no
conflict, and reality does not conflict with illusions, either:
The war against yourself is but the battle of two illusionsThere is no conflict
between them and the truth.Truth does not fight against illusions, nor do illusions
fight against the truth. Illusions battle only with themselves.
(T-23.I.6:12;
7:34)
When there seems to be a will opposed to God, whether outside of us or within us, we are
seeing illusions.
There is no will but Gods. I cannot be in conflict (3:23). This is the truth. I have often
found that conflict thoughts in my mind can be defused simply by recognizing that they are
meaningless, and that the conflict cannot be real. No peace is possible if I believe that my mind
can be in conflict, but when I realize I cannot be in conflict, incredible peace results.
There is a very interesting observation in paragraph 5 about discerning the reality of peaceful
feelings as opposed to false peace resulting from withdrawal and repression. According to 5:4,
true peace brings a deep sense of joy and an increased alertness, while false peace brings
drowsiness and enervation. In our attempts to enter the quiet and feel our peace, we are
admonished to avoid withdrawal and to pull ourselves back to alertness by repeating todays idea.
There is definite gain in refusing to allow retreat into withdrawal, even if you do not experience
the peace you seek (6:5). From this we can surmise that even conscious conflict is better than
repressed conflict, although the goal is to realize the unreality of the conflict and thus experience
peace.
Another thought: These are really very detailed meditation instructions, and they demonstrate
that students are really expected to be trying to do these exercises for ten or fifteen minutes twice
daily.
LESSON 75 MARCH 16
The light has come.
Purpose: To set aside your unforgiving perceptions of the world and look with vision
upon the real world. Today is cause for special celebration, for it will be a new beginning,
the beginning of your vision and the sight of the real world (11:2).
Tell yourself, as if announcing the glad tidings of your release (5:3), The light has come.
I have forgiven the world.
The rest of the practice period is an exercise in trying to see the world that vision shows
you. Begin by consciously withdrawing all the meanings you have put on the world.
Imagine that your mind is washed of all past ideas and clean of every concept you have
made (6:2). Imagine that you do not know yet what [the world] looks like (6:5). This act
of wiping off the meanings you have written on the world is also an act of forgiving the
world, and this is what grants you vision.
Then wait, with eyes open, to have vision dawn upon you. While doing so, occasionally
repeat, slowly and patiently, The light has come. I have forgiven the world. The main
attitude to hold while you wait is confidence, that you will experience vision because your
forgiveness entitles you to vision (7:1), and because the Holy Spirit will be there with you
and will not fail to give you the gift of vision. Tell these things to yourself and to the Holy
Spirit while you wait, and thereby give yourself the confidence you need. And when your
confidence fades, repeat again the lines with which you began, and then continue waiting
for vision to dawn.
Frequent reminders: Every fifteen minutes.

Joyfully remind yourself that today is a time to celebrate by saying, The light has
come. I have forgiven the world. Say it with a sense of thankfulness to God. Say it as a
rejoicing in the healing of your sight. Say it in the confidence that on this day there is a
new beginning (9:5).
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to be upset with someone.
Do not let this person pull you back to darkness. Say to him instead, The light has
come. I have forgiven you.
Commentary
In this lesson, as in several others, the Course speaks of me as though I have accepted its
message and have forgiven the world; as though I am ready, this very day, to see the real world;
as though I have attained its goal of peace. Perhaps today I do not feel quite worthy of such
confidence. Yet, if what we have been reading the past two days is true, any impression that I
may have that my will differs from Gods is only an illusion. My true Self, which in my right
mind I am aware of, is exactly as this lesson depicts me. This lesson is the truth about myself,
whether or not I have yet recognized it.
If I feel a little hypocritical in practicing this lesson exactly as instructed, so be it. If I have
self-doubts that arise when I say, I have forgiven the world (5:5; 6:9; 10:3), I let them be there;
I attribute no power to them to disturb me. I am simply affirming the truth about myself. Today, I
am at peace, and I bring peace with me wherever I go (1:5). The light has come. I let myself
believe it; I let myself enter into knowing that frame of mind.
Whatever my experience today, this lesson is the truth. I cannot stand against what is within
me; I cannot be other than what God created me to be. The outcome is as certain as God, as the
Text says (T-2.III.3:10). Our single purpose makes the goal inevitable (4:3). I will see the real
world; I will see Heavens reflection everywhere.
Do I feel I lack the certainty of this lessons words? That is exactly why I need to practice
saying them. Perhaps if I give my little willingness to speak them, affirming that this is what I
want to be true, the Holy Spirit will add His strength to my words and make them true for me.
Perhaps even today. The light has come. It is here, right now, with me, available to me.
The Holy Spirit will be with you as you watch and wait. He will show you what true vision
sees. It is His Will, and you have joined with Him. Wait patiently for Him. He will be there
(7:59). So I wait. I wait patiently and not anxiously. It may take time to manifest, but I wait
patiently, confidently, knowing that His promise cannot fail. The vision I seek will come to me.
He will be there.
We are told to tell Him you know you cannot fail because you trust in Him (8:1). So I say it;
I pray, Holy Spirit, I know I cannot fail because I trust in You. I affirm my confidence in my
Self; I affirm the truth about me, and put aside the lies I have believed. I can be confident that this
day is a new beginning for me. Something has shifted within me, and I know that I want the
peace and the light this lesson speaks of. I know that since I want itbecause of what I am, and
because I am joined with the power of the Holy Spirit in wanting it, in agreement with the Will of
GodI cannot fail.
Today is dedicated to serenity (11:1). Today is for celebration of the beginning of my vision. I
accept myself as God created me. The light has come.
LESSON 76 MARCH 17
I am under no laws but Gods.
Purpose: To really understand that you are under no laws but Gods, to see the freedom
in this idea, and to rejoice that it is so.
In the first phase, briefly review the different laws you believe in. These include bodily
laws, such as laws of nutrition, medicine, and economics; social laws, such as laws of
reciprocity and good relationship; and religious laws, which set forth what you must give to
God in order for Him to grant you His gifts.
Dismiss these laws with the thought that there are no laws but Gods. Then wait in
receptive silence to hear Gods Voice (this is another exercise in listening to the Holy
Spirit). While listening, from time to time repeat the idea, as an invitation to Gods Voice to
help you really understand the idea. When you hear the Holy Spirit, He may tell you that
Gods laws, in contrast to the worlds laws, only give. They do not ask for payment
before they deliver you their endless blessings. He may go on to tell you of all the blessings
these laws offer you, including the limitless joys of Heaven, all of which stem from Gods
infinite Love for you. Remember to listen in confidence, knowing that even if you hear
nothing now, Gods Voice is still speaking to you, and that your listening today will bring
you closer to really hearing. If you do hear something, you may want to write it down
afterwards.
Frequent reminders: Four to five per hour (at least).

Repeat the idea as a declaration of freedom from all the tyrannical laws of this world and an
acknowledgment that you live only under the blessing of Gods Love.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel subject to the laws of this world.
Repeat the idea. Because we usually take the laws of the world for granted, we dont
always realize when we feel oppressed by them. Therefore, you may want to periodically
scan your mind for the things that are weighing on you and identify the laws behind
them. At any given moment, for instance, you might find that you feel oppressed by the
laws of hunger, of time (you may be working against a deadline), of money (you may feel
a shortage), and of social dynamics (you may be in a politically delicate situation). Note
the laws you feel oppressing you and respond by repeating the idea as a real declaration
of your freedom from them.
Commentary
This is perhaps one of the most challenging lessons in the Workbook. It confronts, head on, a
whole panoply of security blankets and substitutes for salvation that we have developed, and that
we have convinced ourselves we depend on. It shocks us by its radical assertions. If we are open
to what it says, we will begin to see that the Course is challenging all of our basic assumptions
about life and about ourselves. We are far more entrenched in the egos illusions than we have
heretofore realized.
The following scenario forms the background to this lesson:
1. We are perfect, formless mind, each of us parts of a seamless whole, but we have wished to
separate off and fragment a small piece of mind to call me. Moreover, we have not only wished
to do so, we have convinced ourselves that we have actually done it. Our sense of identity has
become restricted to this little fragment of mind. Our mind has felt enormous guilt because of this
belief, which is false.
2. We have made up a world filled with bodies for two reasons: first, to support our illusions
of separateness; and second, to escape from the guilt in our minds by projecting that guilt onto the
world and the others who fill it. We have become primarily identified with our own body,
rather than even with the fragment of mind we perceive as being within the body.
3. Believing we are the body, and that we (our bodies) are endangered by many things in the
world, we have devised an endless list of means for protecting and preserving our bodies. These
are the laws of the world spoken of in this lesson.
The first sentence of Lesson 76 refers to an earlier statement, in the first three paragraphs of
Lesson 71, that pointed out how many senseless things we have looked to for our salvation
(which can be understood as protection, or safety, or even happiness). In Lesson 71, the key
factor about each of these things was this thought: If this were different, I would be saved (WpI.71.2:4). Lesson 76 now adds the thought that each [of these things] has imprisoned you with
laws as senseless as itself (1:2). For example, if we look to good physical health to save us, we
become bound by a myriad of laws governing health: nutrition, medicine, and so on.
The lesson identifies many of the so-called laws we believe ourselves to be subject to: the
need for money (paper strips and metal discs); the use of medicine to ward off disease; the need
for physical interaction with other bodies (sex, companionship); laws of medicine, economics,
and health (nutrition, exercise, sleep, vitamins); any way we try to protect the body; laws of
friendship, of good relationships, and reciprocity (being fair); even religious laws.
We are not actually bound by any of these laws (1:3). That is a stunning and almost
unbelievable statement. In order to understand our freedom from these laws, however, we must
first realize salvation lies not there (1:4). In other words, we have to realize that our bodies and
our egos are not what need preservation. We have to undo the mistake we have made in
identifying what and who we are. That undoing, of course, is what the entirety of A Course in
Miracles is all about.
In saying that we bind ourselves to laws that make no sense (1:5) as long as we are
seeking for salvation by attempting to change somethinganythingother than our minds, the
Course is telling us that our subjugation to these laws of the world is something that we have
chosen and are continuing to choose, moment to moment. Following the dictates of our own ego
in its attempts to preserve itself at the expense of our reality, we blindly continue to look for
salvation outside of ourselves. That blind pursuit is what binds us to the laws of the world. By
implication, ending that mistaken pursuit will free us from the laws of the world.
We think miracles mean sudden healing of the body, or the arrival of money from an
unexpected source, or the appearance of someone or something we believe will bring us
happiness. To believe this is still to seek for salvation from outside of our own minds, and will
continue to bind us to the laws of the world. Whats worse, it also continues to make our
separated, ego identity seem real to us.
The idea of living without any need for money, or medicine, or physical means of protection
appeals to everyone. That state can be ours, but paradoxically, not by seeking for it. The world
and its laws are not where freedom lies. Having all the money we need magically provided is not
freedom. Having perfect physical health is not freedom. Having good relationships is not
freedom. Freedom has nothing to do with our bodies. Freedom can be found only within
ourselves.
The body is endangered by the mind that hurts itself (5:2). All of our physical lack and
suffering is unconsciously engendered by our minds, in an attempt to keep the mind from
consciously realizing that it is its own victim (5:35). Because of our primal guilt, caused by our
belief in the reality of separation, our mind attacks itself and wants to die (5:5). This is why we
think we are bodies (which do die). The laws we think we must obey in order to save our
bodies are just the minds attempt to camouflage the real problem, which is its own thoughts of
guilt and separation.
Gods laws forever give and never take (9:6). The laws we see are not like this; therefore
they cannot be real, because they do not come from God. And there are no laws but Gods
(9:1). In todays practice we are asked to consider our foolish laws, and then to listen, deep
within, to hear the Voice that speaks the truth to you (9:2). This Voice will tell us of Gods
undying Love, His desire that we know endless joy (10:5), and His yearning to use us as
channels for His creation (10:6). If we hear this message of Love within ourselves, our thoughts
of guilt and separation will vanish. We will realize Who we are. And in so doing, our insane
desire to attack and kill ourselves will be over. The cause of our false seeking will go, and with it,
our bondage to the laws that govern these idols we have made.
By bringing our imaginary laws into direct confrontation with what the laws of God must
belaws in which there is no loss, no giving and receiving of payment, no exchanges nor
substitutions, but only Gods unconditional Lovewe are bringing our illusions to the truth. (See
T-14.VII.14, for an excellent discussion of just why these two systems of belief need to be
brought together so that the falsehoods will vanish in the light of the truth.)
LESSON 77 MARCH 18
I am entitled to miracles.
Purpose: To claim the miracles that belong to you, to claim the assurance that they really
are yours, and to refuse to be content with anything less.
Repeat the idea as a confident request for the miracles that God has promised you. Close
your eyes and remind yourself 1) that you are requesting what belongs to you, and 2) that
by accepting miracles you uphold everyones right to miracles.
For the remainder of the practice period, wait in silent expectancy for the Holy Spirit to
assure you that your request is granted, that you really are entitled to miracles. This, in other
words, is yet another exercise in waiting for something from the Holy Spirit. In previous
lessons (71, 72, 75, 76), you waited for guidance, understanding, or an experience of vision.
Here you are waiting for the assurance that the storehouse of miracles really is open to you,
really is yours. The same things apply here as in the previous lessons:
1. Wait in mental silence and expectancy.
2. Wait in confidence. Since you are asking for the assurance of something that is already
true, you can ask without any doubt or uncertainty.
3. Periodically renew your request and your confidence by repeating the idea.

Repeat the idea. Throughout the day, be on the lookout for situations in which miracles are
called for. You will recognize these situations (7:5). Then ask confidently for a miracle by
repeating the idea.

Say quickly, I will not trade miracles for grievances. I want only what belongs to me.
God has established miracles as my right. Refuse to be satisfied with anything less than
miracles.
Commentary
What we celebrate today is our true Identity as beings who are one with God (1:3, 5, 6). The
key to what the Course calls salvation is simply remembering what we are. I like the threefold
summary that opens the lesson. Just rearranging the words a little, the three items are:
What we are entitles us to miracles.
What God is guarantees we will receive miracles.
Our oneness with God means we will offer miracles to others.
Nothing we think about ourselves, no special powers we believe we have, and no rituals we
observe bring us miracles. They come to us because of what we are, because of something
inherent in our being. The qualifications for miracles are given in creation; we dont have to earn
them.
[The Holy Spirit] will never ask what you have done to make you worthy of the gift
of God. Ask it not therefore of yourself. Instead, accept His answer, for He knows
that you are worthy of everything God wills for you. Do not try to escape the gift of
God He so freely and so gladly offers you. He offers you but what God gave Him for
you. You need not decide whether or not you are deserving of it. God knows you are.
(T-14.III.11:410)
The lesson affirms that we have been promised full release from the world [we] made (3:2),
from all the darkness, pain, suffering and death resulting from our attempts at separateness.
Beyond that we have been assured that the Kingdom of God is within you, and can never be
lost (3:3). Today we are deciding not to question those premises, but to accept them as given
facts. The darkness can be escaped, and the light has never been lost. And so, today, we set our
minds in determination that we will not content ourselves with less (3:5).
The longer practice periods begin with a brief time of affirmation, reminding ourselves that we
have a right to miracles, and that miracles are never given to one at the expense of another. In
asking for myself, I am asking for everyone. After that brief reminder, the time of practice is to be
spent in quiet, waiting for an inner sense of assurance that the miracles we have asked for have
been given. Since we are asking exactly what Gods Will is, for the salvation of the world, there
is every reason to believe that He will respond favorably to our requests.
Actually, asking for miracles isnt really asking for anything. It is an affirmation of what is
always already true. The Holy Spirit cant help assuring us our request is granted! (6:13). How
can He possibly respond differently? He cannot deny our prayer without denying the truth, and
He speaks only for the truth. Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists (T-In.2:23).
That is what this kind of prayer affirms.
In the description of the short practice periods, we are told to ask for miracles whenever a
situation arises in which they are called for (7:4). Then it says, You will recognize these
situations (7:5). There is no question here, not even a need to explain how well know. You will
recognize these situations. Something in us simply knows when to ask for a miracle. Notice too
that we do not try to generate the miracle ourselves, out of our own resources; we ask the Holy
Spirit. We are turning with our need to the Source of miracles; we are not trying to take the place
of the Source. We do depend on what we are as our entitlement to miracles, but we are not
relying on ourselves to find them (7:6).
Lets remember that a miracle as the Course understands it does not necessarily mean any
kind of visible changes. Miracles are thoughts (T-1.I.12:1). They are shifts away from the
bodily level, a way in which we recognize our own worth and our brothers at the same time (T1.I.17:2; 18:4). A miracle is a correction of false thinking (T-1.I.37:1). Miracles are always
expressions of love, but they may not always have observable effects (T-1.I.35:1).
Lets remember, also, that may not always does not mean will never. If I say, I often eat
Wheaties for breakfast but I may not always eat them, the implication is that a lot of the time I
do eat Wheaties. So when the Course says that miracles may not always have observable effects,
it clearly implies that most of the time they do have observable effects. We should not mistakenly
think a miracle has not happened if there are no observable effects, but neither should we
mistakenly set aside any expectation of observable effects. The essential ingredient, however, is
not anything in the material world, but the freeing of our minds from illusions.
LESSON 78 MARCH 19
Let miracles replace all grievances.
Purpose: To lay down the dark shield of our grievances and and gently lift our eyes in
silence to behold the Son of God (2:3).
Select a person about whom you have grievances. Read the list in paragraph 4 and choose
the person who comes to mind while reading that list.
Close your eyes and review how you currently see this person, in two ways. First, review
his negative deeds and traits: his faults, his mistakes, his sins, and all the ways in which
he has caused you difficulty and pain. Second, review his body, both its flaws and better
points (6:4). Visualizing his body is a great way to get in touch with the grievances you
carry toward him.
Then ask the Holy Spirit to show you the shining savior this person really is, beyond your
grievances. Say, Let me behold my savior in this one You have appointed as the one for me
to ask to lead me to the holy light in which he stands, that I may join with him. This very
long sentence is a powerful reversal of how you currently see this person. Now, you see
him as an attacker who stands apart from you. This sentence, however, depicts him as your
savior, whose holiness will lead you into the radiance of his true reality, where you will
discover that you and he are one. The only thing needed for him to fulfill this role is for you
to see him truly, which is what the sentence invites. So dont just say the sentence once.
Repeat it many times during the practice period.
This sentence invites an actual experience from the Holy Spirit. It invites Him to reveal to
you this persons shining reality, which lies past your grievances. So this is yet another
exercise in asking for some inward thing from the Holy Spirit. Remember the training
youve received in this:
1. Wait in stillness. Be very quiet now, and look upon your shining savior (8:6).
2. Wait in confidence. What you have asked for cannot be denied (8:1).
3. Periodically renew your request by repeating the sentence.
Frequent reminders/response to temptation: Whenever you meet or think of or

remember someone.
Pray, Let miracles replace all grievances. This means, Let the miracle of Who you
really are replace my grievances about you. Realize that this releases both of you, along
with everyone else.
Commentary
If I did not have grievances everything would be miraculous to me. The contention of the
Course is that the truth is obvious, and only seems difficult to see because we block it from our
awareness with our grievances. The very purpose of a grievance is to conceal the miracle hiding
beneath it (1:2). The miracle is still there, nevertheless.
Today we want to look on miracles. We will reverse the way you see by not allowing sight to
stop before it sees (2:2). That is what we are in the habit of doingallowing our sight to stop at
the external appearance, without moving our perception beyond that to what the appearance is
hiding. What we see at first, the external appearance, is our shield of hate (1:2; 2:3). It always
shows us things that bring us grief in one way or another. We do not want to stop at that today;
we want to lay down the shield and lift our eyes in silence to behold the Son of God (2:3).
The Son of God is hidden in every one of us. Only our grievances prevent us from seeing him
everywhere.
Some of us may be very aware of grievances; others of us may wonder what on earth is being
talked about. But if we look honestly at the thoughts in our minds, unless we live in perfect true
perception already, free from all suffering, wholly joyful always, we will find grievances there.
We often do not recognize them for what they are. There is a real need for honest self-assessment
to recognize the shields in our minds that block the light from our sight.
Look at some of the suggestions (in 4:5) for picking a person with whom to practice this
lesson. Someone we fear and even hate is probably obvious to us, if we have such a person in
our lives; we can recognize this as a grievance easily. Someone you think you love who angered
you is probably also quite clear; yes, that is a grievance. A friend whom you see as difficult at
timesis that a grievance that blocks light from me? Yes, indeed. Someone hard to please?
Someone we see as demanding, or who we view as being irritating? Are these grievances? Yes!
And even someone untrue to the ideal he should accept as his, according to the role you set for
him. How many of us, who tend to view ourselves as spiritual students of the Course, would
have recognized this subtle judgment as a grievance?
Yes, that opinion you hold about that person who hasnt lived up to his or her potential, the
one you think you love and care for and show so much concern aboutthat is also a grievance,
blocking the light of the Son of God from your vision.
I love the way Jesus says, You know the one to choose; his name has crossed your mind
already (5:1). He so often seems to be intimately familiar with the inside of our minds, doesnt
he?
This exercise is a powerful one. It is also very practical and down to earth, dealing with one
specific person in our lives. Let him be savior unto you today (5:5).
Him? Savior? You want me to let that person be savior to me? How can I possibly see him
like that?
If questions like that come to me, they only demonstrate the illusory solidity of the shield of
grievance in my mind. The Son of God is evident in that one if I am willing to let go of my
grievances.
Now remember: Were just doing an exercise here. Maybe you dont feel ready yet to entirely
let go of all grievances, to relinquish your judgment of this person forever. Okay. How about just
practicing it for ten or fifteen minutes? Just try it on for size, see what it feels like. Thats all that
is being asked.
This is how we save the worldby just this kind of practice. Christ is waiting in each of us to
be released. You have the power to release him in everyone around you today, simply by looking
past your grievances and seeing Christ in them. The Holy Spirit in your brothers and sisters
leans from [them] to you, seeing no separation in Gods Son (8:4). By allowing your brother to
play the role of savior in your mind, you have allowed the Holy Spirit to express through him
the role God gave Him that you might be saved (8:8). You have seen him as he is, and that
vision in your mind will awaken his to see the truth about himself. You will call it out of him
through your faith. This is how we play the role of savior ourselves; as you draw it forth from
your brothers, their gratitude will teach you the truth about yourself, and you will realize that
something in you has manifested in saving grace to lift your brother. What you have given, you
must have had in order to give it. The salvation you have given him is yours, and you recognize it
because you gave it. That is how this process works. We can practice it even in our minds with
people from our past (10:3).
So I take the role assigned me by God. I choose today to let miracles replace all grievances in
my mind. Whenever I notice a grievance, I will ask that a miracle replace it. Let me see you, my
friend, as my savior today. Thank you for being there. Thank you for giving me this opportunity
to give.
LESSON 79 MARCH 20
Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.
Try to free your mind of your perception of your problems. Do your best to entertain some
doubt about the reality of your version of what your problems are (8:3). Try to realize that
the many-ness of your problems is a smokescreen, hiding the fact that you have only one
problem. Do not, however, define what this one problem is.
Then ask what your one problem is and wait for the answer. Even though the lesson has
said your problem is separation, set that aside and listen for an answer that genuinely comes
from within you.
Then ask what is the answer to the one problem. In asking about the problem and the
answer, apply your training in how to listen to the Holy Spirit: wait in mental silence, wait
in confidence (We will be told7:6), and periodically repeat your request while you
wait.
Response to temptation: Whenever you see a problem.

Recognize that this is simply the one problem showing up in disguise. Say immediately,
Let me recognize this problem so it can be solved.
Then try to lay aside what you think the problem is. If you can, close eyes and ask what it
is. You will be told.
Commentary
This lesson, with the next, presents one of the clearest statements of an important Course
principle: One problem, one solution, as it is stated in Lesson 80 (1:5). These lessons merit
repeated reading until the concepts they teach become embedded in our thought processes.
I seem to be faced with a multitude of problems, overwhelming in number and complexity,
ranging from tiny to titanic, constantly shifting, changing, appearing and disappearing in the
moments of my life. If I pause to consider things objectively from this viewpoint the only
possible response is blind panic. Attention paid to one problem obliterates dozens of others,
equally deserving of my attention, from conscious consideration. Like Lucy and Ethel on the pie
conveyor, as things speed up I can only start stuffing some of the pastries down my shirt, trying
to hide them before my failure to handle them becomes evident.
Seen from the perspective of specialness, my problems doom me to failure after failure, with
every moment increasing my overwhelming sense of inadequacy.
What if all of these problems were really just one? What if I already had the solution to that
one problem? I can scarcely imagine the universal sense of relief that would run through my
being if I could grasp that this were true: All of my problems are one, and that one has already
been solved.
Could this be? Yes. If I think my problems are many and separate, if I have failed to recognize
the one problem in them all, I could already have the answer and not know it. I could even be
aware of the answer without realizing its application to what seem to me to be very different
problems. This is the situation of the world. The problem of separation, which is really the only
problem, has already been solved. Yet the solution is not recognized because the problem is not
recognized (1:35).
To break free of this illusory imprisonment, then, my first step must be to recognize the
problem in every problem. I have to become aware of what the problem is before I can realize
that I already hold the solution to it. As long as I think the problem is something other than my
separateness from God (which has already been so completely resolved that it has become a
nonissue), I will continue to think I have problems and lack the solution. I will look for
salvation from my problems everywhere but where the answer is because I have already
discounted the answer as irrelevant to the problem at hand. Who can see that a problem has been
solved if he thinks the problem is something else? (2:3).
The seeming complexity of the world is nothing more than my minds attempt to not
recognize the single problem, thus preventing its resolution (6:1). My greatest initial need,
therefore, is to perceive the underlying constancy in all the problems (6:3). If I can see the
separation at the root of every problem I would realize that I already have the answer, and I
would use the answer. I would be free.
Again, this lesson is so wonderfully forgiving. Even the idea of seeing all my problems as
variations on the theme of separation may seem an impossibly daunting task. So the lesson tells
me:
That is not necessary. All that is necessary is to entertain some doubt about the
reality of your version of what your problems are. (8:23)
The only thing I have to do is to doubt? Hey, I can handle that; Im pretty good at doubting.
All I am being asked to do is to suspend all judgment about what the problem is (10:4).
Suspend means to temporarily abate; the lesson does not even ask me to lay aside my
judgments forever. Just for an instant. Just allow myself to doubt my personal perspective on
things and consider that there might be another way of looking at it.
So today I am called to doubt. To doubt my version of what my problems are. To think to
myself, Im probably not seeing this with complete clarity. Im probably muddling the issues
here somewhere. And then to ask, What is the real problem here? That kind of practice even I
can handle. Thank You, God, for such a simple Course!
LESSON 80 MARCH 21
Let me recognize my problems have been solved.
Purpose: To claim the peace to which you are entitled by the fact that God has solved
your only problem.
This is an exercise in just basking in the awareness that you are problem-free. I see it as being
much like Lesson 50 (you may want to review those instructions now), where you thought about
the idea and rested in the peace that it provided. So do that here. Close your eyes and realize that,
having recognized the problem (yesterday), you have also accepted the answer. This means that
your one problem has been solved. Reflect on this. Think about the fact that all your problems are
gone. Reflect on the fact that you are totally conflict-free. You have only one problem and God
has solved it. Use these thoughts to claim the peace that now belongs to you. Lean back and relax
in that peace. Rest in the feeling of being carefree.
Frequent reminders: As frequently as possible.

Repeat the idea (you may want to shorten it to My problems have been solved), with
gratitude and with deep conviction. If you will, try now repeating it once with gratitude,
and then try repeating it with deep conviction.
Response to temptation: Whenever a specific problem arises, especially an interpersonal
one.
Immediately say, Let me recognize this problem has been solved. Be determined not
to saddle yourself with problems that dont exist.
Commentary
One problem, one solution (1:5). The problem must be gone, because Gods answer cannot
fail (4:2). So I must be at peacewhether I know it or not. I have no more problems. Seeing and
understanding this, accepting it wholly, is the essence of salvation (1:8; 2:5; 5:6).
To see a problem as unresolved is to accumulate a grievance and to block the light from my
awareness. An unresolved problem is an occasion of unforgiveness. It represents something I do
not approve of, a cause of judgment in my mind. Certain it is that all distress does not appear to
be but unforgiveness. Yet that is the content underneath the form (W-pI.193.4:12). When the
Course speaks of our forgiving the world, it means the same thing as our recognizing that all
problems are only forms of separation, which has already been resolved. The answer to every
problem, therefore, is forgiveness, or accepting the Atonement, recognizing that nothing,
whatever form nothing takes, can separate me from the love of God; nothing can take away my
peace.
I am writing this on the last day (1995) of a visit with my son in California. I have spent two
nights sleeping on an air mattress. Last night, the air mattress sprang a leak, and I woke about five
oclock with most of my body on the ground and my arms and legs still half floating several
inches higher, a most uncomfortable position. I couldnt get back to sleep, so I am feeling short of
sleep. Im concerned about driving home from Phoenix late tonight, two hours in the dark desert,
alone, and sleepy.
That seems to be a problem. How is that a form of unforgiveness? How is this problem of
short sleep a manifestation of separation?
If I recognize that my only problem is separation and that it has been solved, I can realize that
a lack of sleep cannot separate me from Gods Love and peace. I can forgive the air mattress, or
forgive my son for providing a flawed bed. I can forgive myself for worrying about the drive. I
can accept that nothing is wrong and that my life is in the hands of God, and all will work out just
as it should. Perhaps my body will be energized enough that I will not be sleepy as I drive home.
Perhaps I will spend the night with friends in Phoenix even though that is not my plan. Perhaps
I will pull off the road and sleep in my truck. Whatever happens, I do not need to be pulled out of
peace by this event; my problem has been solved. I can be at peace now.
Or, if I so choose, I can destroy my last day with my son and grandchildren by obsessing
about my problem. I can worry about falling asleep at the wheel. I can be upset because I may be
forced to change my plan. I can be grumpy and grouchy and miss out on the love that is around
me with my grandchildren. Is that really a choice I want to make?
A collapsing air mattress is not my problem. The only problem is allowing that, or anything
like it, to disturb the peace of God that is always mine if I choose to have it. The only problem is
separation from God. The events in our lives do not, and cannot, cause us to separate from Him.
When we seem to be upset it is always a choice we make; the events we connect to that loss of
peace are only a convenient excuse. Forgiveness involves recognizing our responsibility and
lifting the blame for loss of peace from the persons and events of our lives and accepting that the
peace of God has not been taken from us, cannot be taken from us, and indeed has never left us.
We have merely closed our eyes to it. And we can open them again at any instant we choose to do
so.
The events and persons may or may not change as a result. The Atonement does not plug the
leak in the mattress. It may or may not supply me with more energy to make the drive to Sedona.
Sometimes those things happen, sometimes they dont; it depends on what plan the Holy Spirit
has for me. What happens externally is not the problem, and the solution lies not in externals, but
within me. Will I choose peace, or choose upset? Will I forgive, or will I project my rejection of
peace onto the external things and blame them?
Peace lies in acceptance. I accept Gods peace whatever happens. I refuse to believe that
anything can separate me from the Love of God. I refuse to deceive myself about what the
problem really is. I recognize the problem is within me, and I bring the problem to the answer.
And I rest, trusting the Holy Spirit to arrange the circumstances as He sees fit, not as I think they
should be. I am out of conflict; I am free and at peace.
LESSON 81 MARCH 22
(61) I am the light of the world.
(62) Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
Longer: Two times (once for each of the ideas), for about fifteen minutes.
For three or four minutes, slowly read over the idea and comments (repeatedly if you wish)
and think about them.
Close your eyes and spend the remainder of the practice period listening for the message the
Holy Spirit has for you. We can see this time of listening as having the following
components:
1. Listen quietly but attentively (3:1)listen in stillness and with all your attention.
2. Hold an attitude of confidence (this message belongs to me), desire (I want this
message), and determination (Im determined to succeed).
3. Listening for ten minutes can easily be one big invitation to mind wandering, and so the
majority of instruction for this exercise deals with this issue. For out-of-control mind
wandering, go back and repeat the first phase. For more minor wandering, realize the
distracting thoughts have no power and that your will has all the power, and then replace
the thoughts with your will to succeed. Do so with firmness. Do not allow your intent to
waver (4:1). Refuse to be sidetracked (5:2).
This is not mentioned in the instructions, but you may find it helpful to actually
ask for the message, at the beginning and then periodically throughout. You may
say, for instance, What is Your message for me today? You may even want to
use this request as the specific vehicle for dispelling wandering thoughts.
Repeat the idea as a way of reaffirming your determination to succeed.
First half of day: first lesson
Second half of day: second lesson
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to be upset.

Repeat some variation on the idea, modified to apply to this particular upset.
You may use one of the three specific forms (W-pI.rII.In.6:1) suggested after each lesson.
Notice how they are directed at a specific upset. Virtually every one is aimed at an upsetting
this or an upsetting name.
Or you may generate one of your own specific forms, by using a variation on the practice of
letting related thoughts come. Simply lean back and let your mind come up with a sentence
that applies the essence of the idea to your current upset. For examples, see the specific
forms suggested after each lesson.
Commentary
I am the light of the world. Lighting up the world is our function. The Course is teaching us
to remember Who we are, and to begin to live as Who we are. We are lights, and we can live as
lights in this world, through our forgiveness sharing the happy news of freedom from all guilt.
As St. Francis of Assisi prayed, Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace. May I leave
everyone I meet a little brighter today. May the world seem a little less dark for everyone I
encounter. May each one I touch feel more loveable as a result of meeting me. May I ask to see
the light in every situation; may I respond to darkness with light.
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world. If I do not feel like the light of the
world this day, let me forgive another; everyone I forgive will show me the light in myself. Its
even okay that I dont yet understand what true forgiveness really is; that cant stop me if I am
willing to learn, and I am willing. Every situation that seems to bring distress is a chance to learn
what forgiveness really is. I dont want to use the circumstances of my day for any purpose other
than Gods. Let everything be grist for the mill.
LESSON 82 MARCH 23
(63) The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.
(64) Let me not forget my function.
See Review II practice instructions on page XXX.
Commentary
My forgiveness serves three primary purposes, according to this review:
1. The light of the world is expressed through me, in this world, by means of forgiveness.
Part II of the Workbook says that forgiveness is the reflection of love in this world (WpII.352.1:4); it also refers to it as truths reflection (W-pII.357.1:1). The full reality of love
cannot be known in this world, but we can know its reflection, which is forgiveness. The reality
of what I am is reflected here as I forgive.
2. I become aware of my own reality, the light of the world, by means of my forgiveness.
What comes through me shows me what I am. I become increasingly aware of the Holy Spirit
in me, and the Christ of which He speaks, by seeing His effects through me (T-9.IV.5:5). To learn
that I am love, I must teach love. Forgiveness, loves reflection, is how I do that in this world.
3. The world is healed by means of my forgiveness, and so am I.
As I forgive those around me, they see love reflected through me, and they see themselves in
the light of love and are healed.
It is easy to see why forgiveness plays such a major role in the Course. It is easy to feel
motivated to forgive the world, that it may be healed along with me (1:5).
I like practicing the line Let peace extend from my mind to yours, [name] (2:2). I will
practice it now, as I write this, thinking of all of you who will be receiving this message: May
peace extend from my mind to yours.
With forgiveness as my function, and with forgiveness having so many profound effects, I do
not want to forget it today. It helps me become aware of my Self, and so I want to practice it
today. Let me use everything today as an opportunity to learn forgiveness.
LESSON 82 MARCH 23
(63) The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.
(64) Let me not forget my function.
components:

Commentary
My forgiveness serves three primary purposes, according to this review:
1. The light of the world is expressed through me, in this world, by means of forgiveness.
Part II of the Workbook says that forgiveness is the reflection of love in this world (WpII.352.1:4); it also refers to it as truths reflection (W-pII.357.1:1). The full reality of love
cannot be known in this world, but we can know its reflection, which is forgiveness. The reality
of what I am is reflected here as I forgive.
2. I become aware of my own reality, the light of the world, by means of my forgiveness.
What comes through me shows me what I am. I become increasingly aware of the Holy Spirit
in me, and the Christ of which He speaks, by seeing His effects through me (T-9.IV.5:5). To learn
that I am love, I must teach love. Forgiveness, loves reflection, is how I do that in this world.
3. The world is healed by means of my forgiveness, and so am I.
As I forgive those around me, they see love reflected through me, and they see themselves in
the light of love and are healed.
It is easy to see why forgiveness plays such a major role in the Course. It is easy to feel
motivated to forgive the world, that it may be healed along with me (1:5).
LESSON 83 MARCH 24
(65) My only function is the one God gave me.
(66) My happiness and my function are one.
components:

Commentary
To be without conflicting goals in life is a wonderful blessing. Most of the time, I feel stressed
out with conflicting goals. I want to exercise but I have a deadline to meet for work. I want to
spend time with my friends but my favorite TV program is on. And so on. When I am able to
realize that my only function is the one God gave meforgiveness, or simply being happy
instead of being angry or upsetthings become marvelously clear. My goal becomes to be at
peace, to be happy, to be serene and unaffected by what surrounds me. What to do, what to say
and what to think (1:4) simply come to me. Perhaps I realize that it makes no real difference
whether I exercise or write. Perhaps I realize that one or the other can wait. Remembering my one
and only true goal somehow sorts out everything else.
I used to think that when I had a conflict, the only way to become peaceful again was to make
a decision, to resolve the conflict. It rarely worked. Usually, when I made my choice, I felt some
distress at what I was leaving undone, or some loss at what I could not do because of my choice
(e.g., watch TV or be with my friends; one or the other had to be sacrificed). Lately Ive begun
to realize that if I put becoming peaceful at the top of the list, if I choose to be peaceful first,
before making my decision (perhaps taking a minute just to close my eyes and be quiet,
remembering Who is with me), the decision becomes simple, and there is no sense of sacrifice.
When I put peace first, I just know what to do.
This is the way to be happy. My function is one with my happiness. If I can be at peace, letting
go of my grievances, the little demands I constantly make of life, I am happy. Like forgiveness,
happiness is a choice I can make at any time.
I notice today that the examples given of different ways to apply the ideas in specific
situations seem to emphasize a kind of negation. They stress that the situation, or the way we
perceive it, can not affect us if we so choose. The way I perceive this doesnt change my function,
give me a different function, or justify selecting a goal other than the one God gave me. No
matter what I see, no matter what happens, nothing will alter the fact that the only way I will find
happiness is if I fulfill my function of forgiveness, blessing, and peace. There is no happiness
apart from my function, and I am deceived by an illusion whenever I think there is. Do I expect to
find happiness by indulging worry, justifying my anger, indulging my appetites, or licking my
wounds of pain? It will never happen. Only in forgiveness, only in releasing everyone and
everything from all my demands and expectations, only in quiet peacefulness of mind will I ever
find my happiness.
LESSON 84 MARCH 25
(67) Love created me like Itself.
(68) Love holds no grievances.
components:

Commentary
If I am created in the likeness of my Creator, then I cannot suffer, I cannot experience loss
and I cannot die. I am not a body (1:34). That just makes sense. God cannot suffer, experience
loss or die, and He is not a body. He created me like Himself (1:8); therefore these things must be
true of me. My reality is completely unlike what I believe about myself, for assuredly I have
believed that I can suffer, experience loss and die, and I have identified almost entirely with my
body.
What is it that makes and reinforces this illusion about myself? Grievances. Love holds no
grievances (3:1). I am love, in the likeness of Love which created me, but when I choose to hold
a grievance I am denying my own reality, I am affirming I am not love, because grievances are
completely alien to love (3:2). In so doing, I am reaffirming that I am what I think I have made
of myself, and I am choosing, without conscious awareness, to suffer, lose, and die. The only way
I can rediscover my own reality is to stop holding grievances. A grievance is an attack on my Self
(3:6; 4:4). It affirms that I am something I am not.
If I see ugliness, unloveliness or evil in my brothers I am attacking myself. Deny what they are
and I am denying what I am. Today I choose to see others as I would see myself, and as I would
have God see me. I have the power to make this choice. I see what I desire to see, and today I
desire to see my Self, in myself and in everyone.
LESSON 85 MARCH 26
(69) My grievances hide the light of the world in me.
(70) My salvation comes from me.
components:

Commentary
What is the this referred to in the six specific applications in this lesson? What is it that
might block my sight, that the light will shine away? What is it that I have no need for, and which
tempts me to look away from me for my salvation? What is this that could interfere with my
awareness of the Source of salvation, and which seems to have power to remove salvation from
me?
This is grievances: anything I react to with less than the perfect love which is my reality.
Anything I do not like, or push away from me, or blame for my problems, or look upon as less
than Gods creation. Anything within myself I hold with something other than compassion and
forgiveness. My grievances show me what is not there (1:2). They cause me to see something
that is not real, and I react with fear or hatred or anger. My reactions are as inappropriate as a
childs fear of a curtain flapping in the dark. I am seeing something that isnt there, because only
what God created is real. I am jumping at shadows when the reality is sheer beauty. The
grievances not only show me things that arent real, they hide what I really want.
If this is what my grievances really do, why would I want them? I do not really want them; I
have used them in a mistaken attempt to protect myself, but I can recognize now that I no longer
want them or need them. I do not blame myself for having chosen them in the past but I do not
need to continue to choose them now. I want to see, and so I lay them aside joyfully, without
guilt, without regret.
What I am looking for is in my Self (3:3). I wont look outside of myself today. It is not
found outside and then brought in. But from within me it will reach beyond, and everything I see
will but reflect the light that shines in me and in itself (3:67). My grievances tempt me to look
outside for salvation, thinking I know what must change out there to bring me peace, feeling
anger or sorrow or betrayal as I look on the things I blame for my loss of peace. But I recognize
today that the answer is in my Self. Rather than seeking for the light, I will be the light today, and
lighten my whole world.
LESSON 86 MARCH 27
(71) Only Gods plan for salvation will work.
(72) Holding grievances is an attack on Gods plan for salvation.
components:

Commentary
I find it really interesting how the lessons seem to alternate between seeing grievances, and
where we look for salvation. Im beginning to get the idea, I think: When my ego wants to keep
me from finding Gods salvation within my own Self, it distracts me with some kind of grievance
outside myself. Seeing the cause of my distress outside, I naturally look for the solution outside. I
seek salvation outside myself.
Its never what is outside that is the problem. Those whom you see as guilty become the
witnesses to guilt in you, and you will see it there, for it is there until it is undone. Guilt is always
in your mind, which has condemned itself. Project it not, for while you do, it cannot be undone
(T-13.IX.6:68). What we are seeing out there, the object of our grievances, is only the projection
of self-condemnation. We may change the name of the sin to protect the guilty (ourselves), but it
is our sin we are seeing out there in the world. That is why seeing grievances outside keeps us
from finding salvation inside.
As the review says, we have sought salvation in many different places and things, and it was
never where we looked (1:3). We cant find it out there because it isnt out there, anywhere.
There is no hope for salvation in the worldand that is good news. Its good news because we no
longer have to depend on someone or something outside of ourselves to play its proper role, to
arrive at the right time to meet our needs, or to do anything. We can let go of expecting someone
else to save us, and we can turn to the only thing we can absolutely depend on: ourselves, our real
Self. We can let everyone else off the hook weve been holding them on for our entire lives. We
can tell the world, You are no longer responsible for me. I no longer hold you accountable for
my unhappiness. Ive realized that is my own job, not yours.
I remember how odd I felt, but how happy, to tell my dear friend Lynne, years ago, Ive
realized that I dont need you. She was delighted, being far wiser than I was at the time. I was
afraid she would be insulted; how unromantic a thing to say to a partner in love! I dont need
you. She understood exactly what I meant, though. I was telling her that she was no longer
expected to make me happy; she was no longer saddled with the unbearable burden of my
happiness. Thinking that our love partner is responsible for our happiness is exactly what makes
special relationships into hell, because when I am not happy, I have a grievance, just like in a
labor union: Hey! Youre not living up to your part of the bargain. Youre supposed to make me
happy. And the grievance against our partner keeps us from seeing the salvation in our own
hearts.
Ive always liked the last line in todays lesson: This calls for salvation, not attack (4:4). It
reminds me of the old line in the ancient Superman TV series (the one with George Reeves
guess Im really dating myself here!). Clark Kent looks at some crime or disaster in progress, and
says, This is a job for[in a totally different, super-sounding voice] Superman! Instead of
looking at the events in our lives and thinking, This is a job for the ego. Lets attack! Lets form
and hold a grievance, we can look at the situation and say, This is a job for God! Lets forgive!
Lets respond with love to the call for love. When some need arises around me, which power
will I call on: God, or the ego?
The choice is between misperception and salvation (4:2). The only alternative to salvation is
something unreal, an illusion, a misperception. The only way I can avoid being happy is to
misperceive my brother; if I see him or her truly, I will always find salvation. By holding
grievances, I am therefore excluding my only hope of salvation from my awareness (3:4). What
a silly thing to do! I think Ill stop!
I would accept Gods plan for salvation and be happy (3:6).
LESSON 87 MARCH 28
(73) I will there be light.
(74) There is no will but Gods.
components:

Commentary
Todays review deals with willours and Gods, which are one.
The Course encourages us to make use of the power of our will. It constantly encourages us to
choose again, and says that the power of decision is your one remaining freedom as a prisoner of
this world (T-12.VII.9:1). We can will, or choose, that there be light. Naturally this accords with
Gods Will. You could say, I suppose, that our one true choice is to decide to agree with Gods
Will, and we must make this choice over and over until we realize there is no other will, and
therefore, no actual choice except that between reality and illusion.
In the review of There is no will but Gods there is an interesting summary of the
progression of the egos error:
I believe there is another will besides Gods.
Because of this I become afraid.
Because of fear, I try to attack.
Because I attack, I fear my own eternal safety (thinking God will attack me for being an
attacker).
The solution is simply to recognize that none of this has occurred. Knock down the basic
premiserealize there is no will but Godsand the rest of the progression disappears.
I like the way both ideas are applied to how I see the other people around me: You stand with
me in light, [name] (2:3) and It is Gods Will you are His Son, [name], and mine as well (4:3).
One night in our study group in Sedona we were studying Chapter 14, section V, The Circle of
Atonement. The whole section is about seeing other people as within the circle of peace, seeing
them as included, or seeing them standing with me in light, as it is put here. In that section Jesus
urges us, Stand quietly within this circle, and attract all tortured minds to join with you in the
safety of its peace and holiness (T-14.V.8:6). It says that this is the only purpose to which my
teaching calls you (T-14.V.9:9).
Our only purpose here is to awaken everyone to the fact that they are included in Gods peace
and safety because there is no other will than His. Imagine mentally greeting everyone you meet
today by saying, You stand with me in light. What kind of effect would that have on you? Or
on them?
Lesson 109 says it has a profound effect, not just on people you actually meet, but on
everyone in the world, even those who have passed on beyond the world, and those still to come
to it:
Each hour that you take your rest today, a tired mind is suddenly made glad.
(6:1)
With each five minutes that you rest today, the world is nearer waking.
(7:1)
You rest within the peace of God today, and call upon your brothers from your
rest to draw them to their rest, along with you. You will be faithful to your trust
today, forgetting no one, bringing everyone into the boundless circle of your peace,
the holy sanctuary where you rest. Open the temple doors and let them come from
far across the world, and near as well; your distant brothers and your closest friends;
bid them all enter here and rest with you. (8:13)
You rest within the peace of God today, quiet and unafraid. Each brother comes
to take his rest, and offer it to you. We rest together here, for thus our rest is made
complete, and what we give today we have received already. Time is not the
guardian of what we give today. We give to those unborn and those passed by, to
every Thought of God, and to the Mind in which these Thoughts were born and
where they rest. And we remind them of their resting place each time we tell
ourselves, I rest in God. (9:16)
LESSON 88 MARCH 29
(75)The light has come.
(76) I am under no laws but Gods.
components:

Commentary
The ideas being reviewed today seem to be concerned with very different concepts, yet have a
certain common ground that is brought out in this review. That common ground could be
expressed in this thought: Only what is of God is real; what appears to be in opposition is only an
illusion without power, except that given it through my belief.
The light of salvation has already come. I always choose between truth and illusion (1:5),
and attack and grievances are not there to choose (1:4). I really have no alternative to the light
because there is no alternative. My entire experience of darkness is an adventure in delusion and
nothing more; there is no darkness. I can but choose the light, for it has no alternative (1:7).
This is why the Text tells me that the outcome of my drama here on earth is inevitable. God is
inevitable, and you cannot avoid Him any more than He can avoid you (T-4.I.9:11). In seeking
that my perception be changed, I am only seeking to see what is already there, and what is the
only thing there.
Gods laws alone rule me. The other laws that I think have power over me are laws that I
made up. I suffer only because of my belief in them. They have no real effect on me at all (3:5
6). The laws of the ego cannot constrain me; I can be free of them now because I am, in reality,
always free of them; they have no power. My ego at times seems so very powerful, the knee-jerk
reaction of hurt and anger seems beyond my control and in control of me, but it is not so. I am
free of these laws of chaos, of sin and guilt and punishment and separation. The healing of
every relationship is inevitable because Gods laws make us one, not separate. A happy outcome
to all things is sure (W-pII.292.Heading), because there are no laws but Gods, no will but
Gods. Only my belief in it gives power to the appearance of an opposing will, with opposing
laws.
Let me then, today, look on everything with this insight. Where I seem to see darkness, let me
proclaim the reality of light. Where I see laws opposed to God at work, let me declare them
powerless. Thank You, Father, for the certainty of Your plan, the present reality of Your light.
LESSON 89 MARCH 30
(77) I am entitled to miracles.
(78) Let miracles replace all grievances.
components:

Commentary
Because I am under no laws but Gods (the laws of love and of extension, sharing, and
giving), I am entitled to miracles (1:2). Giving of miracles is what God does, in accordance
with His laws. The laws of grievances tell me I am not entitled to miracles. Every grievance I
hold on to against a brother or sister is really my own mind telling me I do not deserve miracles;
the very act of mental attack involved in holding a grievance makes me feel unworthy of them.
Every grievance is hiding a miracle, and by letting the grievance go I release the miracle to
happen.
There is a reason why God gives me miracles: He gives them so that I can fulfill the function
He has given me (1:5), to continue His extension, to allow Him to love through me. The Course is
emphatic on the fact that only in finding my true function as Gods extension and fulfilling it can
I be happy. My goal isnt being blissed out; it is to receive so that I can give, to accept love so I
can share love with others. Like a light bulb that receives electric current only so that it can shine
forth with light, I receive the miracles of God to extend them to others.
I unite my will with the Holy Spirits (3:2) today; I declare, Let miracles replace all
grievances (3:1). I want all of my illusions to be replaced with truth. I want my grievances to be
banished forever from my mind and replaced with miracles. As I sit quietly this morning I call
people I know to mind and tell them, Let our grievances be replaced by miracles (4:3). I think
of war-torn spots on the globe and say, Let our grievances be replaced by miracles. Today, I
want to offer miracles to each one I meet. I want to be a channel of miracles; let me not block
them with my grievances, Father.
When something arises in my perception that seems like a cause for grievance or grief, let me
remember: Behind this is a miracle to which I am entitled (2:2). Let me tell myself: Seen truly,
this offers me a miracle (2:4). Everything is miracle fodder; nothing is without use in this
classroom of miracles.
LESSON 90 MARCH 31
(79) Let me recognize the problem so it can be solved.
(80) Let me recognize my problems have been solved.
components:

Commentary
This review places a different slant on these two ideas than in the original lessons. There, the
only problem was defined as separation. Here, more directly in sync with the preceding lessons
about grievances, the problem is always some form of grievance that I would cherish (1:2). Of
course there is a close relationship between separation and grievances. A grievance separates me
from whatever or whoever I hold the grievance against. So we could see a grievance as a thought
or belief that separates me from my brothers.
Later in the Workbook the same thought is stated slightly differently, in terms of forgiveness
or unforgiveness: Certain it is that all distress does not appear to be but unforgiveness. Yet that
is the content underneath the form (W-pI.193.4:12). The problem is a grievance, or an

unforgiveness. And it doesnt always seem that way to us. Sometimes, when I feel distress of
some sort, or experience what seems to me to be a problem, I cannot for the life of me see any
grievance or unforgiveness in it. The ego is an expert at camouflage. It survives by trickery and
misdirection: How can it maintain the trick of its existence except with mirrors? (T-4.IV.1:7).
Its temptations to attack or to harbor unforgiveness are often so well disguised I dont detect them
as such, although it is certain that is what they are. The form deceives; the content is the same.
When I come to the Holy Spirit with my problems or my distress, I must be willing to be
shown the grievance or unforgiveness lurking in them. For me, so often, what I find is a form of
grievance against myself, some form of self-judgment. Other times, I dont understand the
connection between my form of problem and forgiveness, but I assert my willingness to be
shown, and I consciously choose a miracle for all concerned, including myself. The problem is a
grievance; the solution is a miracle (1:5). If I cant see the exact instance of unforgiveness in
what I perceive as a problem, at least I can choose a miracle instead of the problem. That
willingness is enough.
The idea that the problem and the answer are simultaneous in their occurrence (3:4) seems
strange. It seems natural to separate them by time: first the problem, then the answer. But if the
problem is separation, or a grievance, the concept becomes easier to understand. God answered
the separation with the Holy Spirit the instant the separation entered the mind of Gods Son (M2.2:6). Every problem I perceive, therefore, has already been resolved before I perceive it. It is
impossible that I could have a problem which has not been solved already (3:7), because
separationthe only problem there ever ishas already been resolved. Therefore I dont have to
wait for circumstances to change; I can accept the peace of complete resolution now, without
anything changing at all. I need not wait for this to be resolved (4:2).
I have a long-standing relationship problem that, in time, has been going on for over fifteen
years, and which shows no outward signs of resolution. The other party has absolutely no interest
inmore properly, has an aversion totalking with me, so resolution, within time, seems
impossible. Yet I can let go of the tension this could produce in me. I can be free of the stigma of
an unhealed relationship. In the holy instant I can know that problem, that rift in relationship,
has already been healed. Down at the core of my mind and her mind, we are already one in love;
everything has been forgiven. The disease of separation has already been inoculated, and the
medicine of forgiveness is slowly and inexorably spreading through both of our minds, moving
from the invisible sphere of spirit into the more concrete, thicker sphere of manifestation in the
material world. There is no cause for concern. It is the destiny of all relationships to become
holy (M-3.4:6). Today, I can recognize that this problem has already been solved. I believe my
doing so speeds the day that healing will manifest in form. It may not be in this lifetime; what
does that matter? The healing has already taken place.
One thing I notice as I think this way about this relationship, even as I write: Accepting that
the problem is already solved frees me from the temptation to blame the other person for her
refusal to make peace. Aha! A grievance was there, wasnt it, Allen? I accept a miracle in its
place; thank You.
LESSON 91 APRIL 1
Miracles are seen in light.
Purpose: To briefly leave your weak, body-based image of yourself behind and have an
experience of your real strength. In its light you will perceive the miracles that have
always been there, waiting for you to see.
Longer: Three times, for ten minutes.
Begin by repeating, Miracles are seen in light. The bodys eyes do not perceive the light.
But I am not a body. What am I? Ask this final question in real honesty. With this
question, you are calling on the strength in you to give you an experience of your reality,
beyond the body. So ask with that intention.
Then spend several minutes listing your attributes as you see them, and allowing them to be
replaced by their opposite. Say, for example, I am not weak, but strong. I am not helpless,
but powerful. I am not doubtful, but certain, and so on. Focus specifically on attributes
that involve weakness.
Then try to experience these truths about you, especially the experience of strength. Try to
lift your faith in your body as central to your reality, for that is what makes you feel weak.
Instruct your mind to instead go to the place of strength in you (this exercise appears to be a
kind of meditation). Remember that your will has the power to do this. You can escape the
body if you choose. You can experience the strength in you (5:56). You might want to
use the beginning question, What am I? as a kind of mantra to take you to this place in
you.
For the remainder, relax in the confidence that your weak efforts are fully supplemented by
Gods strength, which joins you in your practice. His strength will carry you to the deep
place in you where your strength and His light abide.
Frequent reminders: Five or six per hour, at fairly regular intervals (every ten to fifteen
minutes).
Repeat the idea, which means that the miracle is always there if you will just open your eyes.
This is a central idea in the thought system you are learning. That is why it needs such frequent
repeating today.

Repeat, Miracles are seen in light. Let me not close my eyes because of this.
Commentary
As the Workbook lessons get longer it wont be practical to try to comment on everything in
each lesson. That could be more than a person could write in a day; in fact, I have written a 48page booklet on Lesson 135. (A Healed Mind Does Not Plan is the booklet title.) So I will be
picking some aspect of the lesson that particularly speaks to me, and writing about that.
The first idea, central to the lesson, is that miracles and vision necessarily go together (1:1).
We are told this bears frequent repetition, and that it is central to our new thought system. The
whole nature of what the Course means by a miracle is touched on here. A miracle is not really a
change in anything outside of our mind; it is a change in perception, a shift to vision:
As the ego would limit your perception of your brothers to the body, so would the
Holy Spirit release your vision and let you see the Great Rays shining from them, so
unlimited that they reach to God. It is this shift to vision that is accomplished in the
holy instant.
(T-15.IX.1:12)
The miracle is always there (1:4). What changes is our acceptance or rejection of vision; we
either see it or we dont. It is always present. What changes is our awareness. So to experience
the miracle, we must have vision. We must let go of darkness in order to see the light. As the
section titled What Is a Miracle? puts it:
A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all. It merely
looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false.
(WpII.13.1:13)1
The devastation is what we see with our eyes. The Course is very plainspoken about physical
sight: The bodys eyes do not perceive the light (6:3). You do not doubt that the bodys eyes
can see. You do not doubt the images they show you are reality (3:34). And yet the lesson is
clearly asking us to do just that, to doubt that our eyes really see, and to doubt that what they see
is real. We have to let go of the darkness to see the light, and what the bodys eyes show us is not
light; therefore it must be darkness. We need a shift to a new kind of vision.
This need to undo our faith in our eyes and what they see is part of the reason this lesson turns
to a second idea: I am not a body (6:4ff). We are told to instruct our minds that we are not
bodies. We are to will ourselves to realize that we are something else, something that does not see
with the eyes, but in a different way.
The exercises today are designed to help us realize that we are something other than a body;
we are looking for a very concrete experience. In paragraph 7 we are told: You need to be aware
of what the Holy Spirit uses to replace the image of a body (7:2). You need to feel something to
put your faith in (7:3). You need a real experience of something else (7:4). An awareness, a
feeling, an experience. There is something within us, a certain strength, which makes all
miracles within your easy reach (4:4). We dont realize how strong we are! And more than that:
Your efforts, however meager, are fully supported by the strength of God and all His Thoughts
(10:1). I always think of this by an analogy, something akin to sound waves or radio waves.
When my little willingness strikes the right wavelength, I suddenly find myself joined by the
harmony of the universe, a powerful beam of divine energy that resonates with me. If we can
strike the right frequency of thought today, we will find that awareness, sense that feeling, and
have that experience that takes us beyond the body, and into vision.
Isnt this worth ten minutes of effort, three times today? I know I think it is.
Dont be discouraged if you dont feel anything, however. You will find vision. Your efforts
today are not wasted, and do not think that if nothing seems to happen that you have failed. I
remember learning to roller-skate. I started out by falling down a lot. If I had stopped then,
thinking Id failed, I would never have learned to skate. But I didnt. I kept on falling down, and
falling down again, until one day I didnt fall down. With spiritual vision, Im still pretty much in
the falling down stage myself. Ive had some incredible experiences, holy instants, just as in the
early days of skating there were times I went for blocks (skating on the sidewalk, jumping over
the cracks) without falling, before I suddenly fell again. Consistent spiritual vision I dont have as
yet. But the miracle is always there, whether or not I see it! And my vision is improving each
time I practice.
. The What Is pages constitute a problem for the referencing scheme in the Workbook. They are
numbered 1 to 14, just like Lessons 1 to 14. To get around this, Workbook references always contain a
reference to the part of the Workbook, Part I (pI) or Part II (pII). When you see a number 1-14 following
pII, you can know it refers to one of the What Is sections. This still does not make it easy to find! My
solution is to remember the number 210. That, plus ten times the number of the What Is section, gives
you the number of the lesson that immediately precedes that section. Thus, W-pII.3 can be found just
after Lesson 240 (210 plus 30).
LESSON 92 APRIL 2
Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.
Purpose: To experience the light of strength in you, which will reveal to you the miracles
that are always there.
Longer: Two timesmorning and evening, for twenty minutes.
This exercise is another meditation, like youve been doing since Lesson 41. Thats why the
instructions are so briefits assumed that you know how to do this. Here, you try to sink to that
deep place in your mind where light and strength meet, and where your Self stands ready to
embrace you as Its Own (9:2). Seek this place and try to rest in the peace that waits for you
there. Your sinking should not be all your own effort. Let yourself be brought (10:2) there; ask
the truth to lead you there (this was emphasized in Lessons 69, 73, and 91). While going there,
remember to draw your mind back from wandering as needed, and to carry an attitude of
confidence, desire, and determination.

Repeat the idea, recognizing you are being led away from the bodys blindness to the
light of true sight, in which miracles are seen. Do it with a mindset of Im preparing
myself for the evening practice period. In this way, you can use the day to prepare
yourself for a true holy instant at the end of the day.
Commentary
The goal of this lesson seems to me to be finding the meeting place of self and Self, as it is
put in 10:4. It is Gods strength in you that is the light in which you see (3:1). There is
Something in me that is as far beyond what I think I am as the sun is beyond a match. There is an
unimaginable vastness in me that, by these lessons, I am being led to discover. In the two twentyminute practice periods todaythe morning and evening meetings as they are referred to
(11:2)I am attempting to bring self to Self, to bring the match to the sun. I am trying to open
the door to infinity within myself.
This strength within me is mighty beyond the telling of it. It is constant, sure as love, forever
glad to give itself away (8:1). Within me, my Self stands ready to embrace [me] as Its Own
(9:2). I am a triple-A battery standing next to a nuclear power plant, about to plug in to endless
power that ever renews itself. No, that image is too cold; it lacks the embrace spoken of. I am a
tiny, fearful child, about to be swept up in the arms of the universal, endlessly compassionate and
omnipotent Father/Mother/God.
I think that perhaps the way a very young child sees its parentshuge, vast, all-knowing,
totally worthy of trust, able to do anythingis perhaps a reflection of the truth of our relationship
to God, and even our relationship to our own true Self.
I find this lesson enormously encouraging. It tells me strength is the truth about me (4:7).
Those are words worth many repetitions! Truth gives its strength to everyone who asks, in
limitless supply (5:4). This light, this strength, does not change and flicker and go out (7:5).
No one can ask in vain to share its sight (8:2). As a later lesson tells us, No one can fail who
seeks to reach the truth (W-pI.131.Heading). It does not matter how often I have tried and failed,
or how long it has been since I have had a flicker of light in my mind, or how weak and puny
seem the efforts of my heart; I cannot fail. I have the strength of God in me, and it will lead me to
where I want to go.
I come to the practice periods today with trust in that strength. Gods strength. My strength. I
come to allow, just for this brief period, my self to meet my Self. I come to leave the darkness
behind and let true vision, in the light, dawn upon my mind. I care not that it may not seem to
last. I care not that my mind might seem dark before and dark after; for this instant, let me open to
the light, and let it begin its work of leading me home. I bring my doubts, my fears, my open
disbelief and expose them to this light, and in the light they disappear, and my heart floods with
joy. I am being led away from darkness to the light where only miracles can be perceived
(11:3).
LESSON 93 APRIL 3
Light and joy and peace abide in me.
Purpose: To go past your belief that you are sinful and evil, and to experience the sinless
Self that God created as you.
Longer: Every hour on the hour, for five minutes.
Repeat, Light and joy and peace abide in me. My sinlessness is guaranteed by God. I find
it helpful to pause briefly after each quality (Light...and joy...and peace...) so that I can
appreciate each one separately.
The remainder is a brief meditation, in which you try to reach past the false self that you
made, which includes your whole sense of self and all your self-images. Reach deep within
to the Self that God created as you, which is filled with light and joy and peace. Try to
experience Its unity, and to appreciate Its holiness and Love. Let It come into Its Own
(9:6). Remember to hold an attitude of confidence, desire, and determination, and to dispel
distracting thoughts by repeating the idea.
Alternate: On the hour, for at least one minute.

Try to do the hourly five minutes whenever you can. When you are unable or unwilling, at
least do the alternate:
Say, Light and joy and peace abide in me. My sinlessness is guaranteed by God.
Close your eyes and try to realize this is the truth about you.
Response to temptation: Whenever a situation or person tempts you to be upset.

1. If a situation disturbs you, quickly say, Light and joy and peace abide in me. My
sinlessness is guaranteed by God.
2. If a person seems to anger you, tell him silently, Light and joy and peace abide in you.
Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God.
Encouragement to practice: Today is the beginning of a bank of lessons in which you

are asked to practice five minutes every waking hour. To help you rise to this challenge,
these lessons contain a huge amount of encouragement to practice. You can see that
encouragement in the final sentences of this lesson, which tell you that by doing todays
practice you can aid the worlds salvation, bring closer your own part in that salvation,
and gain conviction that light and joy and peace really do abide in you.
Commentary
The lead thought is very positive, reflecting the truth about me, but the first paragraph of the
body of the lesson is quite dark, reflecting what the ego has taught me about myself, and taught
very well. I think I am the home of evil, darkness and sin (1:1). To be sure, not many of us
consciously think this about ourselves, and when such thoughts occur we quickly banish them.
But the way I respond to myself betrays that this is, indeed, how I think about myself. Why else
am I so protective of my private thoughts, for instance? Why am I apprehensive about selfexamination and about looking at my inner motivations? Why am I afraid to leave the body and
appear before God, when that possibility crosses my mind? I have deep-seated doubts about my
own goodness and worth.
Suppose I were to meet someone who could read my mind and know my every thought.
Would I feel comfortable around such a person? Suppose everyone I met could read my every
thought. Imagine I had to wear a helmet with a video screen above my forehead that pictured my
thoughts for anyone to look at. How would I feel? I have no doubt that I would feel very, very
uncomfortable and perhaps terrified, because there are many thoughts that cross my mind all the
time that I would not care to have written on the wall for everyone to see.
Even when I am reasonably confident of the harmlessness of my intentions, there are always
subcurrents to my motivation that even I despise. My most benevolent acts are sometimes laced
with a certain resentfulness or sense of sacrifice, and mixed with ulterior motives. Sometimes I
am quite conscious of not trusting myself in certain situations. Every one of us, in the picture the
Course paints, has this basic self-doubt. We secretly suspect, or even consciously believe, that we
are not wholly trustworthy and not wholly good and loving. And as the lesson says, it is
difficult (2:1) to dislodge these beliefs about ourselves, yet that is what the Course is all
aboutremoving those blocks to the awareness of loves presence, which is our natural
inheritance (see T-In.1:7).
The truth is that, in my innermost Self, I am wholly loving and wholly lovable (see T1.III.2:34). Light and joy and peace abide in me; I am their home, and they remain with me
forever as a creation of God. To begin to question my entrenched negative beliefs about myself
(which is one way of defining what the Course calls guilt), and to begin to see myself as God
created me, I need a very different reference point (3:1). I need to attain to a different state of
mind. That is what the Holy Spirit does for me; that is what happens in the holy instant.
The truth about me is that all the evil that you think you did was never done, that all your sins
are nothing, that you are as pure and holy as you were created, and that light and joy and peace
abide in you (4:1). We resist this message tenaciously, although it is wholly illogical to do so. As
Spock in Star Trek points out, humans are not always logical. Our minds automatically raise up
counterarguments to disprove our own innocence. Or we simply dismiss it as absurd, as
Pollyanna, without even seriously considering it. Why? Because we think that to admit the truth
of our innocence is death. We are so identified with this guilty self-image that to threaten it is to
threaten our very existence, or so it seems. But it is life (4:3), not death. When the Spirit
presents us with a picture of our innocence it terrifies us because it turns our whole world upside
down and uproots our every frame of reference, all based on judgments we have made. It is
frightening to think that we have been so totally mistaken about ourselves, even when the mistake
has been to condemn ourselves and the unfamiliar truth is our own guiltlessness.
One method this lesson uses, very evidently, to help uproot the old, guilty self-image is just to
repeat, over and over and over, Your sinlessness is guaranteed by God (6:1, and six other times
in the lesson). Frequent repetition is an excellent way to reprogram the mind, so we are asked to
spend five minutes every hour, if we can, repeating these ideas and thinking about them, realizing
that they are the truth about ourselves. Light and joy and peace abide in me. My sinlessness is
guaranteed by God (8:23; 10:45).
When it says this, the lesson does not mean that God guarantees to take us as poor, sinful
creatures and make us sinless. That isnt necessary because we were created sinless to begin with
and retain that quality. I have never sinned; that is what the lesson is telling me. Oh, I think I have
(and so do people who know me!), I believe I have, I am utterly convinced that I have, but I have
never sinned. Mistakes, yes, but not sins, because there is no such thing. To sin would be to
violate reality, and to succeed (T-19.II.2:2), and that simply is not possible.
The Son of God can be mistaken; he can deceive himself; he can even turn the
power of his mind against himself. But he cannot sin. There is nothing he can do that
would really change his reality in any way, nor make him really guilty.
(T19.II.3:13)
My sinlessness is guaranteed because I cannot sin; thats simple logic. If something is
impossible for me to do, it is a pretty sure bet that I wont do it and never have done it.
The exercises today are attempts to experience this one Self, this reality as God created it. It
takes letting the other self go. Opening to the immensity of Love that is within us, floating in It,
being surrounded by It, embraced by It. And then the most amazing thought: Here you are; This
is You (9:7). This is You! This Love, this vastness, this infinite compassionThis is You! If
you can, think of the most direct and dramatic experience you have ever had of Gods presence,
or of the presence of love, and tell yourself, That which I experienced in that moment, That is
Me. That is what I am.
LESSON 94 APRIL 4
I am as God created me.
Purpose: To feel the truth in you (3:1); to experience your true Self.
Longer: Every hour on the hour, for five minutes.
Say, I am as God created me. I am His Son eternally.
The remainder is again a brief meditation, in a slightly new format. First, lay aside your
self-imagesthe list of attributes, both good and bad, you have ascribed to yourself (4:1).
Then wait in silent expectancy (4:1) for your true Self to be revealed to you. Wait
confidently, knowing that God has promised you this revelation. This waiting means
holding your mind in stillness, empty of specifics yet filled with the expectancy that Who
you really are will dawn on you. When your mind wanders, repeat the idea to return your
mind to this expectant waiting.
This appears to me to be the first example of what I call Open Mind Meditation, which will
become the Workbooks crowning method of meditation. In this technique, you consciously set
aside your normal thoughts and beliefs, and then hold your mind in stillness, waiting for the truth
to dawn on you. For examples, see the introduction to Review V, paragraph 12; and Lesson 189,
paragraph 7.
Alternate: On the hour.

If you do not do the five minutes on the hour, at least repeat, I am as God created
me. I am His Son eternally. This practice of spending a minute or so with the idea, if
you cant do the full five minutes, will apply to all the five-minute-per-hour lessons.
Frequent reminders: Frequently.
Repeat the idea, in original or expanded form.
Response to temptation: Whenever someone seems to irritate you.

Be certain to respond with, You are as God created you. You are His Son eternally.
Encouragement to practice: You are urged to make every effort to do the hourly
exercises today (5:8). Each one you do, you are promised, will be a giant stride
toward your release (5:9). If you let that line sink in, you will find that it is a tremendous
motivator to practice. That line also means that this lesson is another of the Workbooks
giant strides (the first ones were 61 and 66). This is appropriate because I am as God
created me is the Workbooks premier lesson. It is repeated in 110, 162, and all through
the twenty-day Review VI.
Commentary
This lesson continues with the thought introduced yesterday: Salvation requires the
acceptance of but one thought;you are as God created you, not what you made of yourself (WpI.93.7:1). The Course places a significant emphasis on this single idea. It is the only idea used as
the main theme of more than one lesson; it is the lead thought of this lesson, Lesson 110, and
Lesson 162. It was introduced in the Text (T-31.VIII.5:2). It is a subtheme in Lessons 132 and
139, and Review VI has us repeating every day for twenty days, I am not a body. I am free. For I
am still as God created me. You sort of get the feeling that Jesus wants us to get this idea and get
it good.
Read over the first paragraph of this lesson and you will see just how important this idea is in
the Courses curriculum: it is called the one idea which brings complete salvation (1:1).
So. Why is this single, simple idea so very important? Just this: our entire problem lies in
our belief that, even if God created me whole and complete, somehow I have screwed that up.
Somehow I have lost it, blown it, destroyed it, or corrupted myself. I am as God created me
asserts that none of this is true. God created me whole, and I am as God created me. I am still
whole. I am still holy. I am still sinless and guiltless.
To think that we can change what God created and corrupt it is the height of arrogance; it
asserts that our power is greater than Gods, that we can un-create what He created. If God
created us wholly loving and wholly lovable, then we are still that, no matter what we think, no
matter what we may believe we have done. We are not what we made of ourselves; we are still
what God created. If you remain as God created you, you must be strong and light must be in
you (2:2). So we stand in light, strong in the sinlessness in which [we] were created (2:6). That
is the truth about us, and the Course is all about undoing any belief we may have that contradicts
it and denies the truth.
Todays practice, once again, asks for the first five minutes of each waking hour (3:1) as
times in which we attempt to feel the truth in ourselves, and to reach the Son of God in ourselves.
This practice of five minutes each hour, begun yesterday, is going to continue for another sixteen
lessons through Lesson 110, so get used to it. This is probably the most intense extended practice
the Workbook demands; after Lesson 110 it settles down to a morning and evening period with
shorter hourly remembrances. As you will see, nearly all of these eighteen lessons from 93 to 110
are variations on the theme of reaching the Christ within, the true Self, me as God created me.
Realize how important this is, and make a real effort to do the hourly practices, rearranging your
day as necessary if you can. Remember, though, that yesterdays lesson told us that we may not
want, or even be able, to do this, and if our motivation is not so high, it suggested that we at least
spend one minute per hour reviewing the idea for the day.
Recognize also that the Workbook would hardly include eighteen lessons on the same basic
theme and format if it expected you to get it perfectly in the first one. Getting in touch with our
one Self takes practice, and that is what the lessons are for. The Text refers to the benefits of
practicing the mechanics of the holy instant (T-15.II.5:4) even when you dont actually feel
the truth in you (3:1) every time; practicing the mechanics, going through the motions as it were,
is what brings the reality of the holy instant closer every time we do it. It asserts your willingness
to receive the grace God wants to give you; it breaks down your resistance, which is the only
thing keeping the one Self from your awareness.
The closing words of the lesson emphasize the importance of this practice:
Make every effort to do the hourly exercises today. Each one you do will be a giant
stride toward your release, and a milestone in learning the thought system which this
course sets forth. (5:89)
So join me in a serious attempt to do as these lessons tell us to do. Remember the admonitions
of the introduction to the Workbook (italics are my emphasis):
It is doing the exercises that will make the goal of the course possible.
In.1:2)
(W-
You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked
to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give
them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true. (W-In.8:36)
Do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook
contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more
than that is required.
(W-In.9:45)
LESSON 95 APRIL 5
I am one Self, united with my Creator.
Purpose: To attempt again to reach your one Self. In patience and in hope we try again
today (3:3).
Longer: Every hour on the hour, for five minutes (if you cannot do this, at least do the
alternate).
Say with all the certainty you can give, I am one Self, united with my Creator, at one with
every aspect of creation, and limitless in power and in peace. Youll probably need to
keep your eyes open in order to read the line.
Close your eyes and repeat, I am one Self. Say this several times, slowly and
thoughtfully, attempting to allow the meaning of the words to sink into your mind (11:3).
Saying it in this way will allow it to have a much greater effect on you.
The remainder is a meditation in which you try to reach your one Self, which is perfectly
united within Itself, perfectly joined with all your brothers, and perfectly at one with God.
Feel this one Self in you, and let It shine away all your illusions and your doubts (13:3).
Draw upon all the training youve received in Workbook meditation.
Frequent reminders: As frequently as possible.

There are two forms of this frequent practice:
1. Repeat the idea. Realize that every time you do, healing enters someones mind out there.
2. Say silently to everyone you meet, You are one Self with me, united with our Creator in
this Self. I honor you because of What I am, and What He is, Who loves us both as one.
Applying the idea to everyone you meet is an important practice, which you have
previously done in Lessons 37, 43, and 78.
Encouragement to practice: Here on our third day of the five- minutes-per-hour practice,
we are given an extended explanation as to why this practice schedule is so important
right now. First, you need shorter practice periods. Otherwise, your mind will wander all
over the place, which you probably noticed in those ten to fifteen minute practice periods.
Second, you need frequent practice periods. When there were only two longer practice
periods a day, you probably tended to forget the shorter ones (frequent reminders and
response to temptation). With the longer ones now being more frequent, you will be more
likely to remember the shorter ones. Third, you need regular practice periods. Having
them scheduled at these fixed, regular intervals will make you more likely to practice,
given how resistant you are to practicing.
For all these reasons, he urges you to omit as few of these as possible. The key to
carrying this out is how you respond when youve missed one. Missing a practice period
is simply a mistake, thats all. The way to respond to this mistake is to correct itwhich
means to get back to your practicing. The danger, however, is that youll regard this
mistake as a real sin. This takes the form of you deciding that youve so hopelessly
screwed up that you might as well give up for the day. Sound familiar?
This is a subtle ploy of the ego. It is terrified of what your practice will bring: the
realization of your Self. Its fear is what caused you to miss that practice period in the first
place. Now it has convinced you that since you missed once, you should keep on missing
more. It has successfully nullified the threat of your practice by convincing you not to
practice.
The solution is to regard your initial missed practice period as a mere mistake and
forgive yourself for it. It was no big deal, just a moment of weakness. Seeing it as a
moment of weakness deprives it of power. Now it no longer has the power to dictate
everything that comes after it, to make your day over in its likeness. Now you simply
correct it; you just get back to your practice. This, by the way, is the Workbooks
consistent counsel on how to deal with missed practice periods.
Do your utmost to implement this counsel, starting today. Do not forget today (you
are told this twice, in 14:1 and 14:6). Heaven needs the healing thoughts you will send
out to the world with todays practice. It is confident you will try today, so you can be
confident, too.
Commentary
This lesson is one of my favorites, because it acknowledges both my reality and the lowly
image I have made of myself. It affirms my greatness without denying my illusion of weakness. It
holds up the exalted picture of my one Selfat one with every aspect of creation, and limitless
in power and in peace (11:2). But it does so in the context of speaking about my lapses in
diligence and my failures to follow the instructions for practicing (8:3). It makes me realize
that, somehow, this lofty vision of my Self is not incompatible with my stumbling, bumbling
attempts to follow this course. It lets me know that my mistakes do not negate the truth about me.
If anyone doubts what I said yesterdaythat the overall intent of these next sixteen lessons is
to reach inward to an experience of our one Self, and that the Workbook attaches a great deal of
importance to disciplined practice as a means of attaining that experiencelet him or her simply
read this lesson several times. You cant miss the message, and I cant say it more clearly than the
lesson says it:
Structure, then, is necessary for you at this time.
(6:1)
Do not forget today.try todayBe vigilant. Do not forget today. Throughout

the day do not forget your goal. (14:1, 3, 57)
The lesson seems to be talking about two such disparate things. On the one hand, myself as
God created me, my perfect unity. On the other hand, the emphasis on regimented, very specific,
structured practice, every hour on the hour for five minutes. If I am perfect, why do I need all this
discipline? Why not just affirm the truth about myself and be done with it?
We need the practice just because we do not believe the truth about ourselves. We have all
these hidden warriors in our minds, the subtle and deceitful manipulators of consciousness
planted by the ego that keep us from full awareness. Beware of telling yourself you arent doing
the disciplined practice because you dont need it. Show me you dont need it by doing it, and
maybe Ill believe you. You dont just sit down at a piano and play Tchaikovskys Piano
Concerto No. 1 right off the bat; you start with scales. Scales arent great music but they are the
necessary way to it. Just so, Regularity in terms of time [playing scales] is not the ideal
requirement for the most beneficial form of practice in salvation [the concerto]. It is
advantageous, however, for those whose motivation is inconsistent, and who remain heavily
defended against learning (6:23). Thats me; I dont know about you, but thats me.
The beauty of this kind of repetitive practice is that it discloses all the tricks of the ego that
keep us from God. Just do it, like the Nike ad says, and youll begin to realize how many resistant
strains of antispiritual virus exist in the maze of your mind, how many ways you have invented to
keep you away from knowing your Self. That is one of the primary purposes of the practice:
You have seen the extent of your lack of mental discipline, and of your need for
mind training. It is necessary that you be aware of this.
(4:45)
We have to be aware of our need before we can recognize the solution that has already been
given us. We have to discover the self divided into many warring parts (2:2) before we can
acknowledge the perfect unity (1:4) of our reality. So this practice will uncover our need, and
expose the ego; thats good, thats what it is supposed to do.
But that isnt all. Yes, part of the intent is that we learn to forgive ourselves for failures. But
the purpose is not to fail and then forgive. The purpose is to fail, forgive, and then do it. To say to
yourself, Oh, of course I didnt do the practice today; Im supposed to fail, is just another way
to refuse to let your mistake be corrected. It is unwillingness to try again.
To allow a mistake to continue is to make additional mistakes, based on the first and
reinforcing it. It is this process that must be laid aside, for it is but another way in
which you would defend illusions against the truth.
(9:34)
In other words, accepting failure is not the goalit is what has to be laid aside. Both the
failure to practice and allowing the failure to continue are attempts to keep you unaware you are
one Self (10:2).
One Self, with one purpose: to bring awareness of this oneness to all minds, that true creation
may extend the Allness and the Unity of God (12:2). Let me give myself to this process,
knowing my true purpose, recognizing I am in training to awaken mankind along with me. Let me
take these minutes out of each hour to become aware of Who I am. It is given you to feel this
Self within you (13:5). I want that; today, Father. I want to let go of my shabby illusions and feel
the extent and power of my true Self, given me by You. I want to forget my belief in my
littleness, even if only for a few seconds each hour, and to continually bring myself these
reminders (since I am so quick to forget) until the awareness dawns in permanence on my mind,
never again to be forgotten. So be it.
LESSON 96 APRIL 6
Salvation comes from my one Self.
Purpose: To find the thought of salvation deep within your mind, and let it restore your
mind to its true function of blessing all minds.
alternate).
Say, Salvation comes from my one Self. Its thoughts are mine to use.
The remainder seems to be a combination of meditation (in which you try to contact your
real thoughts, as in Lesson 45) and listening to the Holy Spirit (in which you listen for
spiritual teaching, as in Lesson 76). Search deep within your mind for the presence of the
Holy Spirit. He is there to speak to you your true thoughts, the thoughts of your true Self; in
particular, the thought of salvation. If you succeed, thoughts will come to you telling you
that you are saved and you can save. These thoughts are more than just information; they
will fill your mind with strength, enabling it to bless all minds. Remember the training
youve received both in meditation and in listening to the Holy Spirit: Hold your mind in a
state of quiet attentiveness, listen in confidence, and draw your mind back from wandering
when necessary.

Repeat the idea. While you do, imagine that you are laying another treasure in your treasure
house, a treasure you can claim anytime you want. If you will, go ahead and repeat the idea in this
fashion now.
Encouragement to practice: You may feel uncertain of success today, but your Self
knows you cannot fail. Your practice will bring joy to It, and It will save this joy for you,
storing it in your treasure house until you are ready to take it out and experience it.
Commentary
Although you are one Self, you experience yourself as two (1:1). Experiencing ourselves as
divided is a universal experience. Even the very practice of these lessons makes it evident to us:
on the one hand, we want to do the practice because we want to go to God, we want
enlightenment; on the other hand, when the hour comes and it is time to take our five minutes,
something in us resists doing it. It seems as if there are two selves in us, one good and the other
bad, one wanting the light and the other holding on to the darkness.
Most of my life I lived with this, believing my experience was the truth. Something in me,
however, told me it was not so. How could I be two selves? How could I have two natures, as my
Christian background taught me (flesh and spirit)? It didnt make sense. The nature of something,
of anything, is always one. The Course explains that one, spirit, is real; the other, the separated
self that experiences being a body, is unreal, nothing more than a figment of my imagination. I
am not divided, and all evidence to the contrary is a trick of the mind, a self-deception.
Based on the illusion of being split into opposites, the mind has sought manysolutions
(1:3). It has been duped into believing in the reality of this split, and the reality of physical being.
Therefore it occupies itself endlessly trying to make things work, and they never do. The mind
becomes the servant of the body, trying to devise ways to make the body comfortable, to pleasure
it, to make it last forever, to keep it safe from harm. In doing this, the mind has lost its true
function.
Our one Self is spirit. In its preoccupation with the body the mind has, for the most part, lost
sight of spirit. It needs to regain its true function of serving spirit: Spirit makes use of mind as
means to find its Self expression (4:1). This is what brings us peace and fills the mind with joy,
while serving the body brings it nothing but conflict and pain. The thoughts of spirit seek
expression through our minds; that is what minds are for.
The Holy Spirit is an agent of divine Help, bringing the mind back to its true function of
serving spirit. He is the representative of spirit, of our Self, to our minds, constantly calling us to
set aside this futile fumbling for salvation in the realm of the physical and to open our minds to
spirit. If you are spirit, then the body must be meaningless to your reality (3:7). Because we
have dissociated our minds from their true function, we think we are alone and separate. We need
a Helper Who reminds us of our true connection to spirit.
Our spiritour Selfretains Its thoughts, and they remain within your mind and in the Mind
of God (7:1). We remain, in spirit, as God created us. So we are not trying to change what our
minds are, but rather change the purpose they serve. We are seeking, in these exercises, to
reconnect to spirit, to set aside for five minutes the thoroughly distracting problems of the
physical beings we think we are, and to open ourselves to these thoughts of spirit, to allow our
minds to find their function as channels for spirit. Restored in strength, it [the mind] will again
flow out from spirit to the spirit in all things created by the Spirit as Itself. Your mind will bless
all things (10:34). That is our function; that is what we were created for. The extension of
Gods Being is spirits only function (T-7.IX.3:1).
So I am rediscovering myself as an extender of Gods Being. God is Love and so I love. God
creates, so I create, which here on earth is expressed as healing, as restoring creation to its natural
state.
This Self that the Course is talking about is not something apart from me; it is me. Talking
about seeking the thoughts of my one Self almost makes it seem as if the Self is this separate
Being I am seeking to communicate with. But the Self is me. Here you are; This is You, as it
said in Lesson 93 (W-pI.93.9:7). We are bringing the mind into contact with our spirit, but it is
already me; the light is already in me, the thoughts I am seeking are my own thoughts I have
dissociated right out of my mental awareness.
What we are asked to practice here is not described in great detail. You may be asking
yourself, What is it we are waiting for as we sit for five minutes? And I cant tell you; no one
can. You will know when you find it. The lesson recognizes that we may not connect today; it
uses words like if you succeed (10:1, emphasis mine) and perhaps your mind remains
uncertain yet a while (11:2) It tells us not to be dismayed (11:3) if this is so. Relax with it, be
patient. Do the exercises anyway. Every time you do your Self rejoices, even if that joy does not
penetrate yet into your conscious mind, and it saves the joy, ready to bring it to you in full
awareness when you do succeed and become certain of your one Self.
LESSON 97 APRIL 7
I am spirit.
Purpose: To bring reality still closer to your mind. To bring your mind out of the conflict
of a split identity into the peace of identifying with your one Self.
alternate).
Give the practice period happily to the Holy Spirit. Begin by saying, Spirit am I, a holy
Son of God, free of all limits, safe and healed and whole, free to forgive, and free to save
the world.
The remainder appears to be the same practice as yesterday, a combination of meditation
and listening to the Holy Spirit. Sink to the deep place in your mind where the Holy Spirit
dwells. If you reach this place, He will speak to you, reminding you that you are spirit
(8:2). He will help you understand Who you really are. Keep in mind that He will be using
your practice period to carry healing around the world. The deeper you go, the more healing
He can distribute.

Say, Spirit am I, a holy Son of God, free of all limits, safe and healed and whole, free
to forgive, and free to save the world. Then take a moment and listen for the Holy
Spirits assurance that these words are true.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to yield to the belief that you are not
spirit.
Repeat, Spirit am I, a holy Son of God, free of all limits, safe and healed and whole,
free to forgive, and free to save the world.
Encouragement to practice: Every time you practice your mind comes closer to reality.
This lesson makes the amazing claim that in some practice periods you save a thousand
years. This is because the Holy Spirit takes the healing thoughts you generate in your
exercises and carries them around the world, laying them in every mind that is open to
the healing they bring. Each mind that accepts them reinforces them, so that through this
process, these thoughts become multiplied in power millions of times. The result is that,
when the Holy Spirit gives them back to you, your five minutes can indeed become a
thousand years. This is obviously a huge incentive to practice, for you can not only
immensely speed your own journey, but you can also bring healing to people across the
world.
Commentary
The one Self the Course speaks of is spirit. To affirm, I am spirit is to let go of all illusions
of a split identity, of a good and bad self, and of all attempts we might make to somehow
reconcile the ego self that is bound to a body with the spiritual self that is unlimited by a body.
The nondualism of the Course is not of the nature that says, Everything is one because all
apparent opposites are really opposite poles of a unity. It does not achieve a concept of unity by
somehow uniting the opposites; teaching, for example, that evil and pain are somehow all part of
the One. Instead, the Course affirms unity by declaring that all that seems to be opposed to
holiness and love is nothing more than illusion and does not exist. What is all-encompassing can
have no opposite, declares the Courses introduction (T-In.1:8). We are being asked to know
your Self as love which has no opposite in you (W-pI.99.9:8). Love can have no opposite (WpII.259.2:3).
The Course makes great use of repetition; apparently it firmly believes that repeating the same
idea over and over can have great benefits. We are told to practice this truth today as often as
you can (1:4). Why the emphasis on repetition? Because each time you practice, awareness is
brought a little nearer at least (3:2). You may not achieve astounding breakthroughs; if you are
like most people, probably most of the time you wont. But every now and then, a thousand
years or more are saved (3:2).
For those who think the Course teaches an instant salvation, Id just like to point out
something about that last line. If we can save a thousand years sometimes as we practice, what
does that imply about the length of time the whole journey might take? If we are chopping
thousand-year segments out of it, how long is the whole thing? It has to be at least a thousand
years and a day, right? I dont mean to be depressing about this; the Course presents itself as a
means of saving time, and clearly teaches that any of us could wake up at any moment we choose
to do so. But the implication is pretty clear that it can take thousands of years to get us to the
point of willingness to wake up. So we should not be expecting overnight enlightenment; neither
should we not be expecting it. The attitude towards time that is encouraged by the Course is
unconcern about it, since it is ultimately part of the illusion. Atonement might be equated with a
total escape from the past and total lack of interest in the future (M-24.6:3).
When we make our little effort of five minutes for God, the Holy Spirit joins all of His
strength with us (4:3). He takes the little we give and carries it around the world to every open
mind. The gifts we give to Him are multiplied by Him ten million times (a thousandfold and tens
of thousands more, 6:1). Take that literally or as a figure of speech, it doesnt matter, the meaning
is the same; what we give to Him is multiplied and spread to millions of minds because all minds
are joined. When I practice, I am not practicing for myself alone; my awakening mind stirs every
mind. When you sit quietly for five minutes, you are saving the world.
For each little bit we give, we receive it back multiplied ten million times. It will surpass in
might the little gift you gave as much as does the radiance of the sun outshine the tiny gleam a
firefly makes (6:2). Does this sort of practice matter? You bet it does! When I remember what
this lesson says, my time spent remembering Spirit am I, a holy Son of God (7:2) seems so
much more meaningful and important. It isnt just little me struggling to do my meager practice;
it is the Son of God remembering Himself. It is the awakening of the Christ in all mankind.
LESSON 98 APRIL 8
I will accept my part in Gods plan for salvation.
Purpose: To firmly and happily dedicate yourself to taking your part in Gods plan for
salvation; to really take a stand on this today.
alternate).
This practice strikes me as similar to the practice you did in Lesson 77. There, you
repeated, I am entitled to miracles and then waited for the Holy Spirit to give His
assurance that these words are true. Here, in this lesson, you repeat, I will accept my
part in Gods plan for salvation and then expect the Holy Spirit to infuse your words
with His certainty, so that you really do accept your part. Throughout the practice period,
keep repeating the idea, and let Him make every repetition a total dedication, made with
deep conviction, sincerity, certainty, and full understanding. Let Him turn a mere
repeating of I will accept my part in Gods plan for salvation into an actual accepting of
your part. That is your goal for today, to use these practice periods to take a stand, to use
them to accept your part in Gods plan.
Repeat the idea. Try to think of each hour as preparation time for your next five-minute
practice period. Repeat [the idea] often, and do not forget each time you do so, you have let your
mind be readied for the happy time to come (10:3).
Encouragement to practice: Paragraphs 5 and 6 are a rousing pep talk. They ask the
question: Is it not worth five minutes an hour to receive a limitless reward? I recommend
reading these paragraphs over slowly and thoughtfully, letting their questions and
promises do their intended work in you. Paragraphs 2 through 4 also contain wonderful
encouragement. They tell us that by embracing our part in Gods planwhich is the
point of todays practicewe can lay aside all our doubts and find true certainty of
purpose. They tell us that those who have done that will be with us in our practice,
helping us to take the same stand they did. And these paragraphs also tell us that our
stand will help others in taking theirs, which will in turn reinforce ours (as we were told
in yesterdays lesson).
Commentary
Today is a day of special dedication. We take a stand on but one side today. We
side with truth and let illusions go. We will not vacillate between the two, but take a
firm position with the One.
(1:14)
How happy to be certain! All our doubts we lay aside today, and take our stand
with certainty of purpose, and with thanks that doubt is gone and surety has come.
(2:12)
Perhaps as I read these lines about certainty, I find myself doubting that very certainty. Am I
certain? The thought surely arises. Perhaps I feel as if I dont belong with this lesson. My ego
reminds me slyly that I am not beyond vacillation. How can I say, Doubt is gone?
Yet even in the words of the lesson is the recognition of my condition: All our doubts we lay
aside today (2:2). Yes, doubts are there. Of course they are. Jesus knows that. He is only
suggesting that in these five minutes we spend with him, we lay them aside. Just put them down
and be without them for a few minutes. See what it is like. You can doubt later if you want; for
now, see how happy it is to be certain.
Within me there is a place that is always certain. It has never doubted. It cannot doubt because
it knows. This is my true Self. The doubts are thoughts that question the reality of that Self, the
reality of the part of me that is certain, which is the only real part. I am brought by this lesson to
question my questioning. I am brought to listen to the certainty, the eternal silence of spirit which
knows.
When I am willing, even for a moment, to lay aside my doubts, to still the nattering mind, the
yama yama of my idle thoughts, I encounter a still sureness. It is not a certainty of ideas and
words; it is an assurance of being, a majestic calm. The stillness is beyond space and time. It has
nothing to do with the drama played on this planet.
It is of this we speak today. It is of those who know to touch this eternal calm of which the
lesson says:
They rest in quiet certainty that they will do what is given them to do. They do not
doubt their own ability because they know their function will be filled completely in
the perfect time and place.
(3:34)
I take my stand with those who, before me, have come to this place. It is the same place for all
of us. It is the same Self we come to know. And I know, in that holy instant, that if one has been
here before me, all will come to find it. If one has been hereand I know that many have been
hereall will be here, for one could not come unless it were the reality for all. The nature of this
place, this quiet certainty, is a shared nature. It could not be here for me if it were not here for you
as well. It could not have been there for Jesus if it were not also here for me.
They will be with us; all who took the stand we take today will gladly offer us all
that they learned and every gain they made. Those still uncertain, too, will join with
us, and, borrowing our certainty, will make it stronger still. While those as yet
unborn will hear the call we heard, and answer it when they have come to make their
choice again. We do not choose but for ourselves today. (4:14)
In the center of the storm of doubts and uncertainty there is an eye of calm. The storm rages
on. We still can perceive it. Yet here, here, we are calm. We are quiet. We rest.
Of course you have doubts and uncertainty. That is what you are supposed to notice as you do
this lesson! Just for the moment, be willing to have them disappear. There is One within you who
is always certain, and He is you; you have forgotten that. Let yourself, however briefly, identify
with His certainty, and let go of your identification with the doubts. Make that choice; this is all
that is asked.
He will give the words you use in practicing todays idea the deep conviction and the
certainty you lack. His words will join with yours, and make each repetition of
todays idea a total dedication, made in faith as perfect and as sure as His in you. His
confidence in you will bring the light to all the words you say, and you will go
beyond their sound to what they really mean.
(7:24)
Give Him the words, and He will do the rest (9:1). A wonderful statement! He is simply
asking you to say your faltering Yes. You are not being asked to turn your doubt into faith. He
will do that. My part in Gods plan is very simple: acceptance. My part is not an active role, but
passive. It is to be willing to receive, and that is all. My part is to say, Okay. Yes. I will accept.
Give Him those words; that is all. He will respond with all His faith and joy and certainty that
what you say is true.
Over and over through the day, over and over throughout life, give Him those words: I will
accept my part. Yes.
This is surrender. This is all we do. There is nothing else to do. So simple. So difficult to be so
simple. So difficult to stop trying to make it on our own. Let go, and let God. Yes, God. Yes,
Holy Spirit. I accept my part.
Tell Him once more that you accept the part that He would have you take and help you fill,
and He will make sure you want this choice, which He has made with you and you with Him.
Perhaps Im not sure I want it. But He will make sure I want it. Come to Him just as you are,
with all your doubts, all your fears. Just come. Just say, Yes. I accept.1
. Just a note of interest: There is a poetic meter called iambic pentameter, which consists of lines of ten
syllables, with alternating soft and hard emphasis: da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH da-DAH. You
should be able to detect that, after the title and first line, most (but not quite all) of todays lesson is written
in that meter.
We take a stand on but one side today.
We side with truth and let illusions go.
We will not vacillate between the two,
but take a firm position with the One.
Tomorrows lesson begins the first full lesson in iambic pentameter, and the entire rest of the
Workbook, with minor exceptions, follows suit.
LESSON 99 APRIL 9
Salvation is my only function here.
Purpose: To fulfill your only function by letting your dark thoughts be brought out of
hiding to meet with the light of Gods Thought, so that your darkness is replaced by His
light.
alternate).
Say, Salvation is my only function here. Salvation and forgiveness are the same.
Then invite the Holy Spirit into your mind and ask Him to search out the dark and secret
places in your mindthoughts, beliefs, and goals that you wish to keep hidden, either from
yourself or from others. When one comes to light, repeat the Thought, God still is Love,
and this is not His will. Let the light in this Thought shine away your darkened thought; let
it bring you to a forgiveness of that thought. Thus will that darkened place be filled with
light. Then begin the process again: Let the Holy Spirits light search out another dark,
hidden thought. Then again repeat, God still is Love, and this is not His will, and let this
Thought forgive and shine away the darkness, replacing it with light. While going through
this process, occasionally reflect on the meaning of God still is Love, and this is not His
Will. It means that this world of pain is not His Will. It means that God wills that you are
His Son, at one with Him.
Frequent reminders: In between hourly practice periods.

Repeat the idea, realizing that by doing so you invite forgiveness to replace your fears and
invite love into your mind, which will reveal to you that you are Gods Son.
Response to temptation: Whenever some appearance tempts you to give in to fear and
doubt.
Say, Salvation is my only function here. God still is Love, and this is not His Will.
Realize that this special message has the power to remove all forms of doubt and
fear...Remember that appearances can not withstand the truth these mighty words
contain (11:12).
Commentary
Today we will just comment on a few ideas from this lesson.
Unshaken does the Holy Spirit look on what you see: on sin and pain and death, on
grief and separation and on loss. Yet does He know one thing must still be true: God
is still Love, and this is not His Will.
(5:45)
We see sin and pain and death. We see grief and separation and loss. We think these things are
real. What is worse, we believe them to be Gods Will. If we attribute this world and its creation
to God, these things must be, by implication, Gods Will. He created them. If we believe He
created the world we must believe that, even if the belief is not conscious. At the very least we
believe He willingly created the potential for all this suffering and loss, and somehow planned for
us to go through it all.
Much Christian teaching has been very explicit about this. A loved one dies prematurely. We
are overcome with an agony of grief and loss, and some well-intentioned friend tries to comfort
us with the thought, It was Gods Will. What comfort is that? What does it do but place the
blame for our agony on God? What does it do but make God into a monster, an object of fear or
even hatred?
Sin, pain, death, grief, separation, and loss are not Gods Will. They never have been. Such a
belief stems from a covert belief that God has it in for us, that He is punishing us for our sins. To
hold such a belief we must also hold a belief that we deserve this awful experience. This is the
instant of our belief in separation from God being played out on the stage of the world.
You and I have thought that God wanted this for us. He wanted us to be in this world of pain.
Sometimes we have agreed with what we thought of Him, agreed that we deserved to suffer.
Sometimes we have angrily denied we deserved it, and accused Him of being unfair. Often we
have simply been bewildered, pitifully wondering what we did to deserve all this; sure we must
have done something, but at a loss as to what it might be.
Somehow we have never considered this thought:
All the world of pain is not His Will. Forgive yourself the thought He wanted this for
you.
(7:45)
The essence of our anguish, the element that lends it exquisite sharpness, is the underlying
thought that God wants it for us. What cuts deepest is the hidden belief that God is the source of
this pain. He Whom my heart loves, and loves uncontrollably, has willed this for me. It is my
Father Who inflicts this pain.
We huddle in our suffering and grief, hopeless and lost because we think it is Gods Will.
This is not His Will, Jesus tells us. Forgive yourself the thought He wanted this for you.
How could we think this of God? How could we believe He is so vengeful? We do not yet
realize, yet will discover it so if we grant ourselves this forgiveness, that it is only this thought
about God that grants to pain all its power over us. When grief tears at us, fear grips us, or a deep
sense of loss seems to shred our very soul, if we will allow ourselves to turn to the Holy Spirit
and hear Him say, This is not His Will. God does not want this for you, we will find it possible
to forgive ourselves for thinking it was so. The moment we do, the vitality of pain is removed.
God does not want this for me. This is not from Him. The pain becomessomething else.
It is not God Who wills this pain for us. It is ourselves. We believe God punishes because we
believe we deserve punishment. We experience life as pain because we are unconsciously
punishing ourselves.
We are not talking here of the event we think has caused our pain or fear: the death of the
loved one, the apparent loss of love, the physical suffering. We are talking primarily of the
mental-emotional context in which we are holding it. This is an internal thing. This anguish, this
pain of grief, this terrorthis is not His Will for you. We suffer so incredibly because, all
unconscious, we accept most of life as a punishment. A chastisement. A penalty for being the
awful thing we think we are.
Because we believe the bite of pain is His Will, we cannot take it to Him for comfort. He is its
Source, we think, so we flee from Him. We deny ourselves the relief of His loving Presence. In
that Presence we can find our Self. We can look on our own essence and look upon no obstacle
to what He wills for you (8:3).
Then turn to Him Who shares your function here, and let Him teach you what you
need to learn to lay all fear aside, and know your Self as love which has no opposite
in you. (9:8)
Forgive yourself the thought He wanted this for you. Bring your pain to Jesus. Pain is not
Gods Will for you. The experience you are going through can become a doorway to infinite
release if you let down your defenses against God. His Presence can transform your experience of
pain into one of joy. It can be a path to knowing your Self as Love. Such seems impossible to us,
but then, miracles always seem impossible.
Let down the defenses. God is not angry. He does not want this pain for you. Uncoil from
your tight fear of Him. Shrink not from His touch. Forgive yourself the thought that He inflicted
this on you. Let Him show you your Self as He sees it, and open to His healing Love.
LESSON 100 APRIL 10

My part is essential to Gods plan for salvation.
Purpose: To experience the happiness that is Gods Will for you; to understand that
infecting others with your happiness is how you fulfill your part in the global plan for
salvation.
alternate).
Repeat the idea. Then realize your part is to be happy (7:3); not to make noble sacrifices,
just to be happy.
The rest is a meditation exercise in which you try to find the joy that God placed in you.
Look deep within you. Sink down and inward to find the Christ in you, the source of joy.
As you sink, you will pass by all of your little thoughts and foolish goals (8:5). Dont let
them hold you back. You might even ask yourself, What little thought has power to hold
me back? Or you might simply remember that your one intent is to reach that inexhaustible
well of joy at the center of your being; your one intent is to reach the Christ in you. Seek
Him with confidence. He will be there. And you can reach Him now (9:12). Throughout
the exercise, keep looking deep within for that bottomless well of joy.
Frequent reminders: In between hourly practice periods.

Repeat the idea, remembering that by doing so you are answering your Selfs call to
you. As usual, I recommend repeating it in this fashion now, so you can see the benefits it
brings.
Commentary
God does not have a plan for my life. He has His plan, and I am a part of it. There are not
billions of separate plans for billions of separate individuals. There is the one Will of God, and
each of us has an essential part in it. Part of what is being undone by salvation is the mad belief
in separate thoughts and separate bodies, which lead separate lives and go their separate ways
(1:2). Every one of us has the same purpose, the same function, and in that we are united.
Part of the healing of my own mind is the recognition that the other person does indeed share
the same purpose with me, and in his reality, wants the same thing. If I look at his ego, I see
separate interestsand that may be all that he or she is seeing. But when I give up my
interpretation and allow the Holy Spirit to interpret for me, I see that the other persons fear,
which is manifesting as attack, is really a call for love and is really a witness to the belief in love
within their mind. The result of this is that I see the other person does not need to change to be
one with me; they already are one with me! I have a hidden ally in their mind. I have their own
secret agreement with me on a common goal.
The part God has saved for me (2:1) in His plan is designed to restore me to happiness,
because happiness is His Will for me. There is something in usthe ego, of course!that tells us
it is wrong to want perfect happiness. But if perfect happiness is Gods Will, then to think I dont
deserve it is to oppose Gods Will!
For Gods Will to be complete, my joy must be complete, for His Will is perfect joy for
everyone! If everyone I meet encounters a face shining with joy, they will hear God calling to
them in my happy laughter (2:6).
I am essential to Gods plan; my joy is essential to His plan (3:1). So, today, let me choose the
joy of God instead of pain. Without your smile, the world cannot be savedall laughter can but
echo yours (3:34).
So my job today, and every day, is to be happy. I cannot be happy if I attack, or judge, or
blame, or condemn. I cannot be happy unless I accept; unless I forgive as the Course teaches,
looking past all the egos illusions to see the happy truth in everyone: they want love just as I do.
We teach through our happiness. We call all minds to let their sorrows go by our joy on
earth (4:2). This is plainly speaking about a manifest joy, one visible on our face through a smile
and happy laughter. Gods messengers are joyous, and their joy heals sorrow and despair (4:3).
A good affirmation for the day would be My joy heals.
The part we all have in Gods plan is to demonstrate, by our perfect happiness, that God wills
perfect happiness for all who will accept it as a gift from Him.
Sadness is a choice, a decision to play another part, instead of what has been assigned to you
by God (5:3). It is the egos mad desire to be independent of any power except its own. When I
clamp down on my happiness I fail to show the world what God wills for us all, and thus I fail to
recognize the happiness that is already, always mine.
Today we [I] will attempt to understand joy is our [my] function here (6:1). Nothing has to
change to make this possible. I can be perfectly happy right now, because happiness does not
depend on anything outside of my mind. Getting upset with anything or anyone does not change
it; only happiness heals. Only happiness brings lasting change.
We mistakenly think at times that our happiness somehow enables the error and sin of others.
If someone is being cruel and I continue to be happy, it seems to condone cruelty. However, to be
upset at cruelty does not heal it; it makes it real. It is far more joyous, and far more healing, to see
in the cruelty a groundless fear that masks an appeal for help, that shows by its very obscurity that
within that person is a longing she or he shares with me; a longing for God, a longing for His gift
of happiness. My happiness in the face of cruelty teaches that the grounds for the cruelty do not
exist. It does not attack the symptom of cruelty; it undoes crueltys source. To be happy is not to
lose out, to sacrifice, or to die (7:7). It is to live forever.
It is our little thoughts and foolish goals that hold us back from happiness (9:35). Our mind
has chosen to make something more important than happiness, and what that means in deep,
metaphysical terms is that we have made something more important than Christ or God. If we
look, He is in us. He will be there; that thought is repeated twice (9:1; 10:1). The Christ is in
me, waiting to be acknowledged as myself. That is the only true source of happiness, and we all
have Him already.
My job today is to be His messenger, and to find what He would have you give (10:4). To
find happiness in myself and give my happiness to others: that is the reason I am here, that is why
this day exists for me. I am essential to Gods plan for the salvation of the world. Without my
smile, the world cannot be saved (3:3).
LESSON 101 APRIL 11

Gods Will for me is perfect happiness.
Purpose: To learn that your sins are not real, and therefore that joy is what God wills for
you, not punishment. To experience that joy and escape the heavy load you have laid on
yourself by believing your sins are real.
alternate).
Say, Gods Will for me is perfect happiness. There is no sin; it has no consequence.
Then do the same kind of meditation that you did yesterday. Look deep within, seeking to
find that place where Gods Will for you resides, that place where there is only joy,
remembering that joy is just (6:2), because you never sinned. Remember to focus all of
your intent on reaching that well of joy in you, to draw your mind back when it gets caught
up in those little thoughts and foolish goals (W-pI.100.8:5), and to seek Gods Will in
you with confidence, knowing that it will set you free from all the pain youve caused
yourself.

Repeat, Gods Will for me is perfect happiness. This is the truth, because there is no
sin.
Encouragement to practice: You need the practice periods today (5:1). For they can
teach you that your sins were never real. They can bring you to accepting the Atonement.
Your feet are already set on the path to freedom, and todays practice can give you wings
to speed you along that path, as well as hope that your speed will continue to increase.
Therefore, practice happily. Give these five minutes gladly (7:1).
Commentary
When A Course in Miracles speaks of salvation it means being happy. How starkly this
contrasts with the common view of salvation, which seems to mean some painful purgation of our
sins. If we are honest with ourselves we will find the idea of paying for our sins deeply
imbedded in our consciousness, appearing in obvious and not so obvious ways. One of the most
subtle, but easiest to detect if you are looking for it, is our guilt over being happy.
Havent you ever noticed that? Somehow it just does not feel right or safe to be too happy,
or to be happy too much. We have this weird feeling that if we are overly happy something
really bad will happen to us. The common saying This is too good to last is just one obvious
example of the syndrome. Sondra Rays Loving Relationships Training used to ask the question,
How good can you stand it? Interesting question.
Or, we may feel guilty about being happy when a friend is sad or upset for some reason; we
feel obligated to join them in their misery. And the idea that we could be happy all the time just
seems too ridiculous to consider. We think misery is a natural part of being alive. Maybe we even
thought, with Carly Simon, that suffering was the only thing made me feel I was alive. (Listen
to her song Havent Got Time for the Pain with Course ears. Wow!) We thought we needed it.
We never realize that all of these ideas are directly traceable to our belief in sin and punishment.
We dont realize that we are actively choosing our unhappiness.
There is no need for penance. There is no price to pay for sin, because there is no sin. Some of
us, reading this, will at once think that these ideas are dangerous; if there is no price to pay for
sin, then sinners will go wild. Punishment is necessary to control evil, we think. Within the world
in which the illusion of bodies seems real, control is sometimes necessary, although perhaps far
less often than we think. But debate over how to apply these ideas to social misbehavior (i.e.,
crime) could distract us for months; this is not the real issue here. We believe it is God Who
demands payment for the wrongs we have done to Him. What if we have not done Him any
wrong? What if our sins are no more to Him than a gnat biting an elephant, affecting Him not at
all?
How can I be happy if I believe God is angry at me? How can I be attracted to a salvation that
comes through pain, killing me slowly, draining the life from me until I am skin and bones
(metaphorically speaking)? Hell is not salvation! It is not a God of love Who would demand such
things of us. God is not angry; His Will for me is perfect happiness. If sin is real, punishment is
real, and if punishment is real I have every reason to flee from God. That is exactly why the ego
promotes such a view of God. There is no sin (5:4), says the lesson, and it urges us to practice
with this thought as often as we can today (5:5).
What about justice? Joy is just (6:2). That is what justice is: joy!
When I think on these ideas I often come down to a very simple application, one that comes
up for me almost every day. Whenever I do something I dont approve of, or fail to do something
I think I should have done, or find myself thinking judgmental thoughts about someone, I often
catch myself thinking that I have to go through a decent period of remorse before I can be happy
again. Just because Ive realized my mistake and decided to change my mind cant possibly be
enough to merit being happy again, can it? Dont I have to pay for my sin somehow? Maybe, at
the least, spend ten minutes in meditation? What utter nonsense!
And yet, the idea keeps coming up. It shows me that I have not rid my mind of this sin-andpunishment idea, that I still think that somehow I have to even the account with God before I can
be happy again. What God wants, what God wills for me in that instant and in every instant, is
happiness. Obey God means be happy. It means let go of my self-important penitence and
rejoice in the Love of God. It means accepting the Atonement for myself. What better way to
renounce sin than to stop letting it drag me down into sniveling self-abasement, to refuse to
acknowledge its power to keep me from happiness?
May I, today, refuse to lay the load of guilt on myself. May I lift up my head, smile, and give
God glory by the simple act of being happy. The greatest gift I can give to those around me is my
happiness.
Gods Will for me is perfect happiness. This is the truth, because there is no sin.
(7:67)
LESSON 101 APRIL 11

Gods Will for me is perfect happiness.
Purpose: To learn that your sins are not real, and therefore that joy is what God wills for
you, not punishment. To experience that joy and escape the heavy load you have laid on
yourself by believing your sins are real.
alternate).
Say, Gods Will for me is perfect happiness. There is no sin; it has no consequence.
Then do the same kind of meditation that you did yesterday. Look deep within, seeking to
find that place where Gods Will for you resides, that place where there is only joy,
remembering that joy is just (6:2), because you never sinned. Remember to focus all of
your intent on reaching that well of joy in you, to draw your mind back when it gets caught
up in those little thoughts and foolish goals (W-pI.100.8:5), and to seek Gods Will in
you with confidence, knowing that it will set you free from all the pain youve caused
yourself.

Repeat, Gods Will for me is perfect happiness. This is the truth, because there is no
sin.
Encouragement to practice: You need the practice periods today (5:1). For they can
teach you that your sins were never real. They can bring you to accepting the Atonement.
Your feet are already set on the path to freedom, and todays practice can give you wings
to speed you along that path, as well as hope that your speed will continue to increase.
Therefore, practice happily. Give these five minutes gladly (7:1).
Commentary
When A Course in Miracles speaks of salvation it means being happy. How starkly this
contrasts with the common view of salvation, which seems to mean some painful purgation of our
sins. If we are honest with ourselves we will find the idea of paying for our sins deeply
imbedded in our consciousness, appearing in obvious and not so obvious ways. One of the most
subtle, but easiest to detect if you are looking for it, is our guilt over being happy.
Havent you ever noticed that? Somehow it just does not feel right or safe to be too happy,
or to be happy too much. We have this weird feeling that if we are overly happy something
really bad will happen to us. The common saying This is too good to last is just one obvious
example of the syndrome. Sondra Rays Loving Relationships Training used to ask the question,
How good can you stand it? Interesting question.
Or, we may feel guilty about being happy when a friend is sad or upset for some reason; we
feel obligated to join them in their misery. And the idea that we could be happy all the time just
seems too ridiculous to consider. We think misery is a natural part of being alive. Maybe we even
thought, with Carly Simon, that suffering was the only thing made me feel I was alive. (Listen
to her song Havent Got Time for the Pain with Course ears. Wow!) We thought we needed it.
We never realize that all of these ideas are directly traceable to our belief in sin and punishment.
We dont realize that we are actively choosing our unhappiness.
There is no need for penance. There is no price to pay for sin, because there is no sin. Some of
us, reading this, will at once think that these ideas are dangerous; if there is no price to pay for
sin, then sinners will go wild. Punishment is necessary to control evil, we think. Within the world
in which the illusion of bodies seems real, control is sometimes necessary, although perhaps far
less often than we think. But debate over how to apply these ideas to social misbehavior (i.e.,
crime) could distract us for months; this is not the real issue here. We believe it is God Who
demands payment for the wrongs we have done to Him. What if we have not done Him any
wrong? What if our sins are no more to Him than a gnat biting an elephant, affecting Him not at
all?
How can I be happy if I believe God is angry at me? How can I be attracted to a salvation that
comes through pain, killing me slowly, draining the life from me until I am skin and bones
(metaphorically speaking)? Hell is not salvation! It is not a God of love Who would demand such
things of us. God is not angry; His Will for me is perfect happiness. If sin is real, punishment is
real, and if punishment is real I have every reason to flee from God. That is exactly why the ego
promotes such a view of God. There is no sin (5:4), says the lesson, and it urges us to practice
with this thought as often as we can today (5:5).
What about justice? Joy is just (6:2). That is what justice is: joy!
When I think on these ideas I often come down to a very simple application, one that comes
up for me almost every day. Whenever I do something I dont approve of, or fail to do something
I think I should have done, or find myself thinking judgmental thoughts about someone, I often
catch myself thinking that I have to go through a decent period of remorse before I can be happy
again. Just because Ive realized my mistake and decided to change my mind cant possibly be
enough to merit being happy again, can it? Dont I have to pay for my sin somehow? Maybe, at
the least, spend ten minutes in meditation? What utter nonsense!
And yet, the idea keeps coming up. It shows me that I have not rid my mind of this sin-andpunishment idea, that I still think that somehow I have to even the account with God before I can
be happy again. What God wants, what God wills for me in that instant and in every instant, is
happiness. Obey God means be happy. It means let go of my self-important penitence and
rejoice in the Love of God. It means accepting the Atonement for myself. What better way to
renounce sin than to stop letting it drag me down into sniveling self-abasement, to refuse to
acknowledge its power to keep me from happiness?
May I, today, refuse to lay the load of guilt on myself. May I lift up my head, smile, and give
God glory by the simple act of being happy. The greatest gift I can give to those around me is my
happiness.
Gods Will for me is perfect happiness. This is the truth, because there is no sin.
(7:67)
LESSON 102 APRIL 12

I share Gods Will for happiness for me.
Purpose: To further loosen the hold of your belief that pain buys you something. To
realize pain has no benefit, no purpose, and no reality. To realize that what you want is
the same perfect happiness God wills for you.
alternate).
Say, I share Gods Will for happiness for me, and I accept it as my function now. Try to
mean it, try to make it an actual act of accepting Gods Will.
Then, again spend the rest of the time in meditation trying to reach the happiness Gods
Will has placed in you (3:1). This is the practice you did in the previous two days and will
continue doing for several more. Remember to seek this place with real desire, for only here
do you feel at home, at rest, safe, and at peace. Remember also to seek with confidence, for
if you really will with God to reach this place, then quite simply, you cannot fail to find it
(4:4).

Repeat, I share Gods Will for happiness for me, and I accept it as my function now.
Commentary
I share Gods Will for happiness for me.
How nice that the Workbook is going to spend several days devoted to exercises planned to
help you reach the happiness Gods Will has placed in you (3:1). I notice that Im not trying to
make myself happy but rather trying to reach a preexistent happiness. An American guru (who
went at one time by the name Da Free John, now often called Adi Da) once said, You are always
already happy. That phrase stuck in my mind, and it is consonant with what the Course is saying
about happiness.
The Self within me is always happy. It was created happy by God; Gods Will placed
happiness within me. I am not trying to create happiness; I am merely attempting to locate it
within myself, to discover it there.
Happiness is contrasted with our belief in the merit of suffering. The lesson isnt expecting us
to be at the point of total freedom from this belief. Yet this belief is surely shaken by now, at
least enough to let you question it, and to suspect it really makes no sense (1:3). This belief is
what has been superimposed on our native happiness, obscuring it and causing us to experience
pain and suffering. Our happiness is hidden under layers of pain only because we believe there is
value in the pain. And I know that I do at least question this belief. I dont want to suffer; of
course I dont. Yet if I do suffer, I have chosen it, not because I want the pain but because I want
what I think the pain will get me. The message of the lesson in this regard is: Pain is
purposeless, without a cause and with no power to accomplish anything (2:1). Not only so, but
everything that I think the pain will bring me is equally lacking in existence. The whole thing is a
deceptive mirage conjured up by the ego to keep us from our eternal satisfaction in God.
So today we declare that we share Gods Will for happiness for ourselves. We declare that we
will to be happy. Simple being what God created is our function. Be happy, for your only
function here is happiness (5:1). The next line (5:2) speaks of our being less loving to our
brothers than God is, and says there is no need for it. Unhappiness is our excuse for being less
loving than God. How can I open my heart to you in love when I am unhappy? By choosing to be
happy I am enabling myself to be wholly loving. The Course always seems to be making these
interesting connections between things that would never occur to me, but which seem obvious
when it points them out.
LESSON 103 APRIL 13

God, being Love, is also happiness.
Purpose: To try again to correct our false belief that God is fearful. To realize instead
that, since God is Love, He must be a giver of pure joy.
alternate).
Say, God, being Love, is also happiness. To fear Him is to be afraid of joy.
Then, just as in previous days, enter into a meditation aimed at finding the happiness God
placed in you. Seek this holy place in you filled with anticipation, expecting Gods joy to
take the place of your pain. Realize you cannot fail, because you seek what is already yours.
Also seek this place filled with a sense of welcoming the happiness that will surely come to
you. And remember to draw your mind back when it drifts off to thinking about all the false
promises held out to you by the worlds definition of happiness.

Reinforce your expectation that you will find Gods joy by saying, God, being Love,
is also happiness. And it is happiness I seek today. I cannot fail, because I seek the
truth. By bolstering your expectancy, this will enhance the depth of your hourly practice
periods.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel any form of fear.
Quiet all your fears with these words: God, being Love, is also happiness. And it is
happiness I seek today. I cannot fail, because I seek the truth.
Commentary
God, being Love, is also happiness. Theres one I never heard in church! God is
happiness. (Well, the Westminster Catechism of the Presbyterian Church did say that mans
chief end is to love God and to enjoy Him forever. But you didnt hear enjoying God talked
about very often.) Yet the way the lesson logically presents it, the idea is obvious and
inescapable. Without love, no one could be happy. If love were absent, happiness would be
absent also. That seems so simple to understand. Happiness must be an attribute of love; they go
or come together.
God is Love. Love has no limits, being everywhere (1:4). Because that is true, happiness or
joy must also be everywhere, just as God is. So God is happiness, as well as love.
The denial of happiness, then, is the denial of God. As a matter of fact, the Text says
something very much like that in Chapter 10, when it says that depression is blasphemy (T10.V.12:34). Careful, though; the point of saying this is not to make us guilty about being sad or
depressed. The Courses point is to undo guilt, not to create it. It is pointing out the cause of our
sadness and depression to us. It is saying, Youre hurting because you are turning your back on
God, on Love, on Happiness Itself. It isnt something outside of you, out of your control, that is
doing this to you. You have the power to change this, to choose again and lift that depression.
We are sad and depressed because we think that what we have made is real (2:1). We think
there are gaps in love (1:6), that it is not everywhere and always. We are sad because we
believe we are, to some degree at least, outside of Gods Love, beyond its limits. And we are
not; we cannot be outside of His Love. If we knew that in the core of our being, we could never
be unhappy.
Because I believe love has limits, I have come to be afraid of it: afraid it will be withdrawn,
afraid of its conditions, afraid that what seems to be love is only a tease, a tantalizing promise that
threatens to disappear if I misbehave. That fear, that constant anxiety over loves potential for
disappearance is the source of my lack of joy. How can I be joyful, even when things are good,
if love may be withdrawn at any moment? This is the error of our minds we are practicing to
uncover, bring to the light, and let go of.
Right now, this moment, I am encircled by His embrace. Right now, without a single thing
changing, the Love of God radiates to me without limit and without reservation or question. To
know this is happiness, and it is this I seek today.
LESSON 104 APRIL 14

I seek but what belongs to me in truth.
Purpose: To clear a place in your mind where Gods gifts of joy and peace are welcome
and experienced.
alternate).
Begin with, I seek but what belongs to me in truth. And joy and peace are my
inheritance.
Then again embark on a meditation aimed at experiencing the joy God has placed at the
center of your being. This lesson speaks of going to the holy altar within you, the deep
place in your mind that contains your fundamental devotions (you may want to visualize
this altar). You have covered this altar with the meaningless gifts of the world, thereby
obscuring Gods gifts. In your meditation, try to clear these gifts away. We clear a holy
place within our minds before His altar (4:2). Then seek the gifts of joy and peace that
God has laid on this altar for you. They are already there, even though you do not see them
yet. Ask to recognize them. While seeking them, hold above all else an attitude of
confidence, trusting that Gods gifts are your inheritance, that they belong to you, that they
have always been yours, and that you can claim them now.

Repeat, I seek but what belongs to me in truth. Gods gifts of peace and joy are all I
want. Doing so frequently will keep you from losing sight of Gods gifts in between
your hourly practice periods.
Commentary
Today I set aside the complex and focus on two very simple things: joy, and peace of mind.
For today I will not concern myself with profound metaphysical truths, nor the invisible reality of
my Self. Today I simply seek to know the peace and joy that are mine by right of what I am. I
forget about the urgency of my self-made goals, the self-imposed importance of everything I
think that I must do. I ignore the man-made standards by which I so often judge myself or let
others judge me. Today I center on the only things that are truly important: joy, and peace of
mind.
What could be of more value than these? If I lived in a palace, had unlimited wealth, and the
partnership of the most perfect mate in the world, and had not peace of mind and joy, I would still
be poor. If I lived in a hovel with peace of mind and joy, I would be rich.
And I can have these things; they are my right because of what I am. Joy is my divine right.
Peace is my divine right. They are within reach of everyone, regardless of background, regardless
of education, regardless of income. Today, in the times I pause to remember, this is what I want
to remember. I open myself with gratitude to God Who gave me these gifts; I honor Him by
enjoying them. I honor Him by being joyful and peaceful in these five minute periods, and I will
not forget in between.
I recall a seminar I did years ago in which we engaged in deep self-searching, attempting to
ferret out some of the lies we had been telling ourselves, the negative, self-deprecating thoughts
that dragged down our lives. We then distilled these down into what seemed, for each individual,
the fundamental lie we were telling ourselves about ourselves. Next, we were asked to take that
lie and reverse it, turn it into an affirmation. And finally, we walked about the room, introducing
ourselves to one another, and stating our eternal truth.
I will never forget one woman, although I forget her name so I will simply call her Carol. She
walked up to me, looked me directly in the eyes, and smiled a radiant smile. Hi! she said. Im
Carol, and my joy heals.
And you know what? It did. Right in that instant. Something clicked within my mind, and I
have never forgotten her, never forgotten her joy. She had discovered a truth about herself. Joy
heals! When I am joyful, those around me are healed. Havent you ever noticed that about other
people who are joyful, truly joyful? Their joy heals you. What could be of more value than joy
such as that?
Peace heals, too. One peaceful person in a room full of agitated individuals can bring calm to
everyone. I choose to be that person today, because it is my right. I settle down in each practice
time and clear a place within [my] mind before His altar (4:2). I clear that place to receive the
eternal gifts, the joy and peace God wants to give me. Nothing else belongs to us in truth (4:4).
None of the other things I think I want belong to me in the way that joy and peace belong to me.
These are possessions that bless the world, instead of taking from it. No one loses because I
have joy and peace; everyone gains.
I already have these gifts! I seek but what belongs to me in truth. Joy belongs to me; peace
belongs to me. Thank You, God. Thank You.
LESSON 105 APRIL 15

Gods peace and joy are mine.
Purpose: To accept Gods gifts of peace and joy, and understand that in doing so you
actually increase His peace and joy, rather than taking them from Him. Thus, you learn a
different way of looking at a gift (3:3).
alternate).
Think of those to whom you denied Gods peace and joy, for thus you denied them to
yourself. Say to each one, My brother, peace and joy I offer you, that I may have Gods
peace and joy as mine. By giving Gods gifts where you withheld them, you will now feel
entitled to claim them as your own. Doing this preparatory step well will guarantee your
success in the following step.
Then close your eyes and say, Gods peace and joy are mine, and try to find those gifts
deep in your mind. Let yourself experience the joy and peace that belong to you. Let Gods
Voice assure you that Gods peace and joy really are yours. This appears to be another
meditation aimed at making contact with the happiness God placed in you.
Alternate: On the hour.

If you cannot do the five minutes on the hour, dont think that doing a shortened
version is worthless. At least repeat, Gods peace and joy are mine, realizing that by
doing so you invite Him to give you the happiness He wills for you.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to deny Gods gift to someone.
Be grateful to this person for providing you with another chance to receive Gods
peace and joy by giving them away. Channel your gratitude into this blessing: My
brother, peace and joy I offer you, that I may have Gods peace and joy as mine.
Commentary
Todays lesson adds to yesterdays emphasis on peace and joy. It reiterates much of what was
in that lesson, but adds the thought that we receive these gifts by giving them.
A major learning goal this course has set is to reverse your view of giving, so you can
receive (3:1). This idea, that we receive by giving, runs all through the Course, and is given
considerable importance, but this is the only place I know of that learning this lesson is
specifically identified as a major learning goal of the Course.
We noted yesterday that peace and joy are gifts that increase by being shared. To share my
peace with you increases it rather than diminishes it. This lesson makes the rather startling
assertion that when I receive peace and joy from God, Gods joy grows (4:1). By accepting peace
and joy as mine, I am allowing God to complete Himself as He defines completion (5:2).
Through my experience of this, I learn what my own completion must be (5:3). Even the psalmist
of the Old Testament knew something of this when he wrote:
What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of
(Ps 116:1213, KJV)
salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
What gift can I give to God to thank Him for His blessing? I can give Him the gift of receiving
His salvation and calling on His love. I take the gifts of joy and peace, and He will thank [me]
for [my] gift to Him (5:6).
We have all experienced this in some small way, at least. We know the joy of giving. We
know that when we give love, and it is received, our love is strengthened, not weakened. Shared
love is a great joy. Love received is far richer than love unacknowledged. Even receiving the joy
of a child over a new toy or a new pet visibly adds to the childs joy. These are small reflections
of how Gods giving works, and we are meant to be part of it. This kind of giving, the giving of
things that increase by being given away, is how we create (True giving is creation4:2) and
how we complete ourselves.
The exercises today prepare us to receive peace and joy. The preparation consists of
consciously giving away peace and joy to those to whom we have denied them in the past: our
enemies. The people who, in our eyes, have not deserved to have peace and joy. We did not
realize that in denying the gift to them, we were denying it to ourselves in equal measure. If what
we give increases in us, then if we withhold it we are withholding from ourselves as well.
To truly say, and to experience, that Gods peace and joy are mine, we must open our hearts
to share peace and joy with the world. It begins with that person to whom my heart has been
closed. My brother, peace and joy I offer you (7:2; 9:6). If I will open my heart to allow love to
flow out, it will also flow in. As I open my heart, allowing peace, joy, and love to flow out to
those around me, what I am doing is letting what cannot contain itself fulfill its aim of giving
everything it has away, securing it forever for itself (4:5). What is it that cannot contain itself?
My Self, my own Being.
This irrepressible Giver is me.
LESSON 106 APRIL 16

Let me be still and listen to the truth.
Purpose: To lay aside the egos voice, still your mind, and listen to your Fathers Voice,
and then to offer Him your voice to speak to all who need to hear His Word.
alternate).
Say, I will be still and listen to the truth. What does it mean to give and to receive?
Spend the rest of the time waiting for your answer from the Holy Spirit. It is important,
however, to understand what you are really asking. You are asking to receive from Godto
hear His Voice and receive His Word, to be filled up from withinso that you can give to
your brothers, which in turn will make your receiving even more full and complete. It is
important, then, to offer Him your willingness to give what you receive. This giving will
apparently happen both within the practice period, as your mind goes out to other minds,
and after the practice period, as what you experience today inspires you to actually begin
the ministry for which you came (8:3). While you wait for your answer, remember the
training you received in earlier lessons: Hold your mind in silent readiness, drawing it back
when it lapses into listening to the egos voice. Listen with confidence: expect an answer
(8:1). And periodically repeat your question, to renew your posture of expectant waiting.

Say, Let me be still and listen to the truth. I am the messenger of God today, My
voice is His, to give what I receive. This will reinforce your choice to receive His Word,
which prepares you to give.
Encouragement to practice: Be aware that your practice is not an act of solitary selfindulgence. Rather, by sitting down and doing your practice, you will literally be
releasing minds all over the world. For each five minutes spent in listening, a thousand
minds are opened to the truth and they will hear the holy Word you hear (9:2).
Commentary
At first todays lesson does not seem to follow yesterdays theme on giving and receiving, but
midway through it switches back to that theme. It seems like an abrupt switch, perhaps. The first
part of the lesson, speaking of stilling our minds to listen to Gods Voice, doesnt seem to lead
naturally into thoughts of giving and receiving.
Yet this is what we are listening for; this is what we hear. We are learning of our true nature.
This is the message of salvation: When everything is yours and everything is given away, it will
remain with you forever (7:1).
What am I in this world for? According to this lesson, it is to hear the Voice for God telling
me of Gods eternal gift to me, the gift of Christ, the gift of my SelfGods dear Son, whose
other name is you (4:7). And it is to extend that same message to the world. This is the ministry
for which you came, and which will free the world from thinking giving is a way to lose (8:3).
Hearing Gods Voice and speaking for it are as inextricably linked in this lesson as are giving
and receiving. If I truly hear the Voice, I will give Him my voice to speak through me. If I receive
the Word, I will share it, because the message is sharing. Gods Word to me is that I am a savior,
a healer, and a bringer of truth. I am His Son, His offspring, like Him, extending healing, offering
peace and joy to everyone, letting them know they are His offspring as well.
Sometimes I think we take the Course too seriously and need to lighten up. At other times I
think we take it too lightly, and need to take it more seriously. For instance, this lesson tells me
that every time I pause for five minutes to be still and listen to the truth, one thousand minds are
opened to the truth (9:2). Suppose I took that seriously? Suppose I paused every hour, as
instructed. In the course of the day, fifteen thousand minds would open to the truth. Suppose
everyone reading these comments did that (about six hundred people)? Then nine million minds
would open to the truth!
I dont take this kind of thing seriously enough. I shrug if off, thinking that if I only practice
once or twice during the day, its enough. Recently, the old Charlton Heston movie The Ten
Commandments played on TV. I watched a few minutes of it, enough to remember a line from it
that always impressed me. Moses, suffering setbacks in the early days of trying to get Pharaoh to
release the Hebrews, prays to God, saying, Lord, forgive me for my weak use of Thy great
power. When I read todays lesson I thought about that line. I thought about how I treat these
practice times, many days, as if they dont really matter. I imagine myself as of little consequence
in His plan, at least most of the time. But if I take this lesson seriously, I could be instrumental
today in bringing light into fifteen thousand minds!
Im not trying to lay guilt on anyone, least of all myself. I am trying to raise my own
consciousness concerning the power God has placed into my handsor, more properly, into my
mind. Each of us who connects with the truth in our minds today, listening to the truth, is
contributing to the elevation of consciousness onI was going to say, on this planet, but it is
far more than that, it is the arousal of Christ-consciousness in the whole universe. That little five
minutes, in which, perhaps, nothing seems to happen; in which you may be fighting a wandering
mind; or which seems at times to be interminable as your ego prods you to get back to work or
whatever you are doingthat little five minutes is a very significant contribution to the salvation
of the world.
Let me be still and listen to the truth. I am the messenger of God today, My voice is
His, to give what I receive.
(10:34)
LESSON 107 APRIL 17

Truth will correct all errors in my mind.
Purpose: To let Christ lead you to an experience of the truth, so that you can join Him in
His function of bringing truth to the world.
alternate).
Start by asking your Self, the Christ, to go with youwhich makes sense for you can never
be apart from Him. While asking, also pledge to Him to let His function [of saving the
world] be fulfilled through you (9:2). That is the point of todays exercise: to let Him fill
you with the truth, so you can bring it to the world (this is very similar to yesterdays
exercise).
Then ask that the truth come into your mind. Ask with confidence, with certainty of
success. Count on truth to be there, for it belongs to you. State your request this way:
Truth will correct all errors in my mind, and I will rest in Him Who is my Self (9:5).
Then let Him lead you gently to the truth, which will envelop you and give you peace so
deep and tranquil that you will return to the familiar world reluctantly (9:6). This appears
to be a meditation much like those in 69, 73, and 91, in which you rely upon a strength
beyond your own to carry you to your inner goal.
Frequent reminders: Do not forget today.

Repeat the idea with confidence, realizing that you are speaking for yourself (for your
own desire for release), for the world (for its desire for release), and for Christ, Who
would release the world (11:2).
Encouragement to practice: Be aware that by letting truth into your mind you will
indeed benefit the world. During the practice period, the truth will go out from your mind
to other minds to correct their errors. And then, after the practice period, the truth will go
with you as you are sent to those in need to give them the gift of truth.
Commentary
This is the promise that gives courage! Errors are only errors, not flaws. What are errors but
illusions that remain unrecognized for what they are? (1:2).
An illusion that is not recognized as illusion causes us to react as if it were real. If I see an
illusory enemy and respond with attack, that does not make me bad or stupid. The reaction is
appropriate, given what I believe to be the truth.
I can recall many evenings in the past where I was sitting at home feeling lonely and worldweary. Something in me saw an illusion and believed it to be true. I saw some loneliness or
weariness, a need to be comforted, and so I sought comfort in television and in staying up late.
What I did was not the mistake; the mistake was believing the illusion was real. When I look at
the illusion, it vanishes.
The holy instant is a state of mind without illusions, a moment of unquestioned peace, when
you were certain you were loved and safe (2:3). It is a foretaste of the state your mind will rest
in when truth has come (3:1). It is my true state. I can find that true state any time I am willing to
look at my illusions and to let them go. So often, late at night, I used to feel disconnected,
unfulfilled, empty somehow, and I tried to fill that emptiness with fantasy, television, reading, or
food. The emptiness is illusion. When I feel that emptiness let me remember it is not real; let me
affirm my fullness.
The state of mind that stays exactly as it always was, without shifting and changing, still
seems so far away from me. Jesus says, in effect, It will be yours; it already is yours. It is
guaranteed. It is impossible that anyone could seek it truly, and would not succeed (6:4). The
seeming shifts and changes I go through now are all part of the illusion; they are not real, they are
not truly happening. I am safe. I am steady. I am whole.
When the shifting and faltering seem to occur, let me remind myself they are only a dream.
They mean nothing, they change nothing. Let me not accord them strength to disturb my peace.
Let me not make the mistake of identifying with that shift and change and thinking it is me that is
shifting and changing. I am fixed and unalterable.
The errors in my mind are those that tell me I could be apart from Jesus, the Christ. He is my
brother. We are the same. He is my Self. How can I be apart from my Self?
Let me take regular times today to return to this center, to recognize that Jesus and I are one
Self. Today I will bring any thought that tells me anything different to him for correction. Any
thought that tells me I am something other than this calm, serene, fearless, wholly fulfilled Being.
Let me watch my mind for thoughts that say otherwise and bring them fearlessly to the light of
truth. Jesus, help me to break the connection, the identification with any thought of weakness or
emptiness or disconnectedness. Let me lean on your strong arm and trust in you. Let the demons
scream and rant and rave around me:
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for
Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. (Ps 23:4)
You are the Strong One in me, and You are my Self.
LESSON 108 APRIL 18

To give and to receive are one in truth.
Purpose: To offer peace to everyone and feel peace return to you. To thereby learn the
unity of cause and effectthat giving (cause) and receiving (effect) are the same.
alternate).
Say, To give and to receive are one in truth. I will receive what I am giving now.
Close your eyes and offer everyone those inner states and qualities that you would like to
receive. Say, for example: To everyone I offer peace of mind. To everyone I offer
gentleness. Say each one slowly, and then pause a while, expecting to receive the gift you
gave (9:1). Trust it to come back in the amount that you gave. You may want to single out
one person as the one you give your gifts to, understanding that through giving to him you
give to everyone.

Repeat the idea, realizing that each repetition makes your learning faster and more
sure (10:3).
Encouragement to practice: Try to think of todays exercises as quick advances in your
learning (10:3), revealing to you the nature of cause and effect, and heightening the
speed of your progress.
Commentary
The early part of the lesson describes the state of One-mindedness, where all opposites have
been resolved into one concept which is wholly true (1:3). When that occurs, the concept will
disappear because
the Thought behind it will appear instead to take its place. And now you are at peace
forever, for the dream is over then.
(1:45)
This is Heaven; attaining this state is beyond the scope of the Course. But it is our eventual
goal, a place where perception and concepts have vanished, and only knowledge remains.
That state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all (2:2)
is within me. It is the Christ mind, and from it comes my peace of mind; from it comes single
perception. It is this I call upon or tap into, drawing it into myself until it takes me over. It is
where I am always and what I am forever, but which I have forgotten.
One of the best and most useful lessons we can learn while drawing on this state of mind is
that giving and receiving are one and the same. Like all opposites, they are not truly opposite at
all; they are part of a unified spectrum of reality. Neither precedes the other; both occur together.
Through actual experience with this particular example of the resolution of opposites we can
begin to learn how all opposites are reconciled.
We can produce an experience of this resolution at will. It is an experiment that always works.
Sit quietly, and mentally begin to send peace to everyone. Think of specific persons, and say
to them in your mind, I offer you quietness. I offer you peace of mind. I offer you gentleness
(based on 8:68).
Go through your list of friends and relations mentally, sending peace to each and every one of
them. Offer it to the world at large.
What we find as we do this is that, as we offer peace to others, we experience it ourselves.

Quite literally, what we give, we receive. Immediately. There is no pause, no delay for feedback.
Our act of giving is quite literally also an act of receiving. There is one act and it contains both
things, because there are not two things, only one.
The generalization of this lesson is that cause and effect are one in truth (my interpretation of
10:23). It leads us to realize that my thought of attack on another is literally an attack on myself,
at that very moment. We think of cause and effect in a linear fashion, as if what I do today will
impact on me tomorrow and in the future. That is an incomplete picture. In fact, there is no time
delay at all. My thought of attack impacts on me now, just as my thoughts offering peace
immediately make me peaceful. Thought and action are likewise the same. I am constantly
engendering the universe of my experience. In reality, there is nothing outside my mind. Nothing
but these thoughts exists. The world we see is just our thoughts given form. They have never left
our mind in truth.
LESSON 109 APRIL 19

I rest in God.
Purpose: To rest in God, untouched by the storms of the world.
alternate).
This exercise is a meditation in which you sink into stillness by using the line I rest in
God. Let that line draw you into a rest in which you have no cares and no concerns
(5:1), and in which the turmoil of the outer world cannot touch you. While in this state,
call to all your brothers, your distant brothers and your closest friends (8:3), and
welcome them into the holy temple within where you rest with God. Realize that their
rest will deepen and complete yours.
Repeat the idea, realizing that you are not only reminding yourself of your resting
place, but reminding all Sons of God of their resting place, including those no longer in
the body and those not yet born. Try repeating the idea now while holding in mind the
sense that I am reminding every mind of its true resting place.
Response to temptation: Whenever you face a problem or experience suffering.
Repeat the idea, knowing it has power to heal all suffering, solve all problems, and
carry you past storms and strife into the peace of God.
Encouragement to practice: Incredible power is ascribed to your practice of todays idea
(see especially the first three paragraphs), not only for you, but for everyone. Repeating
todays idea has power to call every mind to rest along with you, including those who
came in the past or havent come yet (see 2:5 and 9:5). Paragraphs 6 and 7 relate an
inspiring scenario. Your five minutes bring healing to an injured bird and a dry stream.
Then, a tired mind, so weary that hes not sure he can carry on in life, hears the bird start
singing and sees the stream start flowing. And witnessing this rebirth gives that mind the
strength and hope to carry on. Whether or not we think this specific scenario will happen,
we need to realize that our practice has the power to spark effects like these.
Commentary
This lesson epitomizes what so many of the lessons are trying to get me to do: simply to take a
little time out of my day to rest in God. To be quiet. To be at peace. To sense the stillness that lies
at the depths of my being, placed there in creation by God. To do this not just once in the
morning, but often during the day, repeatedly reminding myself that this peace, this serenity of
being, is my natural state, while the frenzy of distractedness, the ping-pong of opposing thoughts
that so habitually occupies my mind, is what is unnatural. What has seemed to me to be normal
has been nothing but frantic fantasies [that] were but the dreams of fever that has passed away
(5:5).
There is a place in you where this whole world has been forgotten; where no
memory of sin and of illusion lingers still. There is a place in you which time has
left, and echoes of eternity are heard. There is a resting place so still no sound except
a hymn to Heaven rises up to gladden God the Father and the Son. Where Both abide
are They remembered, Both.
.The changelessness of Heaven is in you, so deep within that nothing in this

world but passes by, unnoticed and unseen. The still infinity of endless peace
surrounds you gently in its soft embrace, so strong and quiet, tranquil in the might of
its Creator, nothing can intrude upon the sacred Son of God within.
(T29.V.1:14; 2:34)
And here I rest in God. Here I breathe the air of Heaven. Here I can remember what I am.
The lesson tells me of wondrous things that come from my willingness to take these times of
rest. These moments of quiet are not for me alone. They are my mission for the world; through
them I am bringing peace to every mind. Our practice times are no small thing, to be lightly
skipped over; the author places extraordinary importance on them:
He says they bring the end of suffering for the entire world (2:5).
He tells us there is no suffering, nor any problem, they cannot solve (3:34).
Through these times we are calling all the world to join us in rest (4:56).
Every time we rest, we heal the world: We gladden a tired mind, give song to a wounded
bird, and give flowing water to dry stream beds (6:12).
I came to bring the peace of God into the world. This is my trust (8:2), my sacred mission,
my reason for being. Jesus asks me to open the temple doors and let them come from far across
the world, and near as well; your distant brothers and your closest friends; bid them all enter here
and rest with you (8:3). This is what I am doing each time I stop the mental chatter and sit,
quietly, and rest in God. I am like Buddha, casting his compassion on the world. I am Buddha; I
am Christ.
I envision myself as a cell in a cosmic body, a body that has been invaded by a deadly virus,
the virus of antagonism, of disharmony, of hatred, envy, and strife; the virus of bitterness, sorrow,
and pain; the virus of despair, depression, and death. As I take my time of rest, it is as if this little
cell has discovered how to produce the antitoxin, the remedy for the virus: the peace of God. And
the connecting current of our shared thoughts is the bloodstream that carries this antitoxin to other
cells, who absorb it and begin, in turn, to produce this healing substance. Peace of mind, the
antitoxin for the world.
It is for this I have taken birth. It is for this I am here, and nothing else. Through these simple
practices, we bring healing to all of time, past and future:
Time is not the guardian of what we give today. We give to those unborn and those
passed by, to every Thought of God, and to the Mind in which these Thoughts were
born and where they rest. And we remind them of their resting place each time we
tell ourselves, I rest in God.
(9:46)
LESSON 110 APRIL 20

Purpose: To cease worshipping false images of who you are and to instead seek and find
your true Self.
alternate).
Say, I am as God created me. His Son can suffer nothing. And I am His Son.
The rest of the practice period is a meditation which is extremely similar to what you did
with the first occurrence of this idea, in Lesson 94 (you may want to go back and read my
practice instructions for that lesson). Your whole focus should be on seeking that deep place
in your mind where your true Self, the Christ, abides. To get there, you need to set aside all
your images of who you arethey are the idols and graven images referred to in the lesson.
As usual, remember your training in meditation: focus all your intent on sinking down and
inward to the center of your mind, draw your mind back from wandering as often as
necessary, and approach your Self with desire, for it is your Self Who has the power to save
you.

Repeat the idea to remind yourself of your true Identity as the holy Son of God.
Encouragement to practice: You are told to practice todays idea with gratitude (5:3)
because, quite simply, it carries so much power (as you can see from reading the first five
paragraphs). This is the Workbooks premier lesson. You are reminded repeatedly today
that todays idea is enough (1:2; 2:24) to save you, that it is all you need (2:1; see
also 3:3).
Commentary
This one thought, we are told, is enough to save not only ourselves, but the world, if we
believe it to be true.
Its truth would mean that you have made no changes in yourself that have reality, nor
changed the universe so that what God created was replaced by fear and evil, misery
and death.
(1:3)
This is the primary meaning of this idea for me: nothing I have done has changed anything.
Ego thoughts have done nothing, changed nothing. Fear and evil, misery and death have not
occurred. I remain as God created me. I have not damaged anything. The tiny, mad idea to
replace God on His throne accomplished absolutely nothing. I am still perfect, innocent, golden
love.
It is enough to let time be the means for all the world to learn escape from time, and
every change that time appears to bring in passing by.
(2:4)
We tend to see the ravages of time. We see the aging body. We see loved ones come and go.
We see decay and death and loss. But time can be the means by which we learn escape from time
and all its changes. We learn through time to look beyond the appearances of change to what is
unchanging, and we come to learn that only that is real. Lead me in the way everlasting (Ps
139:24).
If you are as God created you, then there has been no separation of your mind from
His, no split between your mind and other minds, and only unity within your own.
(4:2)
No separation, no split, no schizophrenia. I am one Self, united with my Creator, and limitless
in power and in love. I can trust my brothers, who are one with me, because I am as God created
me and have never split from them. What I find within myself when I listen to the Spirits quiet
voice is what all others are as well. I find within myself the Holy One. I am This; you are This.
Let me simply become aware of any thought that says anything different, any picture of myself
that creates a false and limited idol, and just drop that thought.
Deep in your mind the holy Christ in you is waiting your acknowledgment as you.
And you are lost and do not know yourself while He is unacknowledged and
unknown.(9:45)
LESSON 111 APRIL 21

(91) Miracles are seen in light.
(92) Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one.
See Review III practice.
Commentary
I am willing today to open my mind to the light. I am eager to emerge from my darkness, and I
will not fear what the light will expose. Nothing I have been hiding can hurt me. I am hungry for
the truth. Within me is only innocence, and not what I have feared was there. Within me, in the
light, is what I have been longing all my life to find. I am a miracle.
The light of God is my strength. I feel unable to rise up to this high calling, but my weakness
is the darkness His light dispels. I do not need to be strong to come to the light; the light gives me
strength as I approach it. I feel I lack the strength to see with the purity of vision called for by the
Course, but God gives me the strength I need, and in His light, I see. Thank You, Father, for the
light You shine into my mind today. Thank You for the light right now, in this moment.
LESSON 112 APRIL 22

(93) Light and joy and peace abide in me.
(94) I am as God created me.
See Review III practice instructions.
Commentary
I am the home of light. My native being is inherently compatible with light. Light belongs
with me and in me. I am not the home of darkness. By nature, when unhindered by illusion, I
radiate light to everything around me.
I am the home of joy. Sorrow and sadness are unnatural to me. When joy enters my mind it
feels as if it belongs there. There is nothing in me that is inconsistent with pure joy. There is
nothing in me that inhibits an atmosphere of constant joy. By nature, joy emanates from my being
and stays with me. I am comfortable with joy, and joy is comfortable with me.
I am the home of peace. I am where peace belongs. Peace is native to my mind. Peace is my
natural state of mind, when it is set upon the truth. Nothing in me is discordant with a steady state
of peace. Peace harmonizes with my being. My natural radiance spreads peace to every mind
around me.
This is how God created me. This is how I am, and will be forever. I am as changeless as God
Himself, one with Him, and He with me. Nothing I have ever done or said or thought has changed
this truth about me. What I am cannot change; what I am is eternal and consistent in its being.
Today, recognizing the truth about myself, I welcome the light. I welcome pure joy. I
welcome Gods peace. And I share them with the world.
LESSON 113 APRIL 23

(95) I am one Self, united with my Creator.
(96) Salvation comes from my one Self.
Commentary
There is something inexpressibly appealing about the idea of being one Self. Much of
modern psychology talks about integration of the disparate aspects of our being. So much of the
time we feel as if we are made up of varying segments, sometimes cooperating but more often
than not conflicting with one another. There is what the Jungian analysts refer to as our shadow
self, all the dark, repressed tendencies that follow us around as dark figures in our dreams.
The Course holds out the vision of a unified Self. It speaks of a mind at peace within itself
(W-pII.8.3:4). It tells us that because we must be only one Self, we cannot be in conflict. The
Text talks about our war against ourselves (Chapter 23), and says that the apparent conflict we
see in the world around us is nothing but a reflection of the illusion of conflict we all carry within
our own minds. It says, Peace begins within the world perceived as different, and leading from
this fresh perception to the gate of Heaven and the way beyond (W-pI.200.8:2). The peace must
begin within us, in the serenity and calm of an integrated self, in a mind free of conflict and
attack.
The Self we are speaking of is more than just a whole individual, however. It is one Self
shared by all, at one with all creation and with God (1:2). The two are really different aspects of
the same thing, for as we free ourselves of conflict within ourselves, our conflict with the world
will miraculously disappear.
This is why salvation comes from this one Self. When we have consolidated ourselves,
recognized the truth of our unified being, this condition of wholeness naturally extends to others.
From within the circle of Atonement (T-14.V), we draw others to their own wholeness, shared
with us.
Today I still my mind from all its conflicts. I dissociate myself from the dissociation, I
separate myself from the separation. I take time in quiet to break my sense of identification with
this image of a shattered self, and I let myself sink down into the awareness of one Self within
me, Who I really am. Conflicting images of myself come and go with startling frequency; they
cannot be my reality. Something persists beneath it all, the hum of being in which all the flash
and drama seems to occur. It is this steadiness that I am, not the ephemeral shooting stars of
thought that seem to demand my attention. I embrace this one Self, avidly, saying, Salvation
comes from my one Self. This oneness is my salvation. This oneness is my reality.
LESSON 114 APRIL 24

(97) I am spirit.
(98) I will accept my part in Gods plan for salvation.
Commentary
No body can contain my spirit (1:3) or limit it. So often, even when we connect with
spiritual reality in some way, we think of ourselves (as someone has said) as human beings
having a spiritual experience; it would be more accurate to conceive of ourselves as spiritual
beings having a human experience. The first way of looking at it makes our humanness the basic
reality, with the spiritual something that comes and goes within that reality. The second way of
looking at it realizes that the spiritual is our basic reality, and the human experience is
something that comes and goes within that reality. I am spirit (1:1). That is what I am. The
experience of being a human being in a body is a temporary, passing thing. It does not alter what
I am, and it cannot limit what I truly am, although it seems to do so because I believe in
limitation.
The value of such things as psychic or paranormal experiences lies in the degree to which they
help us realize that the limits under which we habitually operate are not firm and fixed. Minds
really are joined, space and time are not absolute limits, and so on. We all have many abilities of
which we are not aware (see M-25.1:3), because we are not bodies but spirit. The transcendence
of these limits, while appearing supernatural from the bodily perspective, is really completely
natural; it is the limits that are unnatural (see M-25.2:78). Anything that breaks our illusion of
being limited to the body and makes that illusion less solid in our perception is useful, to the
degree that we use these experiences or powers under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The
experiences and powers are not ends in themselves.
Our primary purpose is not to develop paranormal abilities, but to fulfill our part in Gods plan
for salvation, which is simply to accept His Word about what I am and will forever be (2:2). In
other words, spirit, complete and holy and everlasting. Notice that: my function, my part in the
plan, is to accept the truth about what I am. It may seem as though that has nothing to do with
anyone else, but it has everything to do with everyone else, because what I am is a part of
everyone and everyone is a part of me. My illusion is that I am separate; the truth is that we all
are one. To accept the truth about myself is to accept you as part of me, and us together as part of
God. That involves forgiving you, forgiving the world, and forgiving God. To accept the
Atonement for myself means to extend the Atonement to everyone around me; I cannot find my
Self if I exclude you. To accept the fullness of my Self and my own creative power, I must cease
to see myself as the victim of anyone or anythingbecause that is not the truth about what I am.
To accept my unsullied integrity of being, I must cease to blame you for anything and realize that
I am affected only by my own thoughts.
Today, I will relax and let go of bodily limits. I will look at the limits I believe in and remind
myself they are unreal. I will cease to value what is valueless (W-pI.133.Heading) and let go of
my investment in my body. I will care for it as I would any useful possession, but I will try to
undo, at least a little, my attachment to it and my feeling of identity with it. It will die. It will
cease to be, but I will not, for I am spirit. I will accept this reality about myself because this is my
part in Gods plan for salvation.
LESSON 115 APRIL 25

(99) Salvation is my only function here.
(100) My part is essential to Gods plan for salvation.
Commentary
My job is to forgive the world for all of my mistakes (1:2). Unless I have some idea of the
Texts teaching about projection I wont have a clue as to what this means. Every sin I see out
there in the world (even things like terrorist bombings) is, in some way, a projection of a
judgment I have made on myself. My reluctance to forgive anything, or to see it as a call for love
which merits a response of healing love, is a reflection of the degree to which I havent forgiven
myself. The form I perceive out there may be shifted, altered, and transmogrified from my own
form of sin so that I dont recognize it. In fact, so far as the ego is concerned, the more
unrecognizable the better. But the content is always the same. I may not blow up children, but if I
judge those who do as unforgivable I am harboring a belief in vengeance that I havent forgiven
in myself, and my judgment of the bombers is my judgment of myself.
Therefore, when I release the world from guilt I have released myself.
My only function is to forgive. Not to be a success in the world, not to change anything, just to
forgive. Its only when I accept this that I come to real inner peace.
My doing thismy part in forgivenessis essential to the whole process. For the world to
find its complete guiltlessness I must stop laying guilt on it. There are people around me today
who need guilt lifted from their shoulders, and doing that is why I meet them. It may look like
Im doing business, buying and selling, teaching, mending broken bones, or programming
computers, but the real reason I am here is to save the world, to forgive, and to release from guilt.
LESSON 116 APRIL 26

(101) Gods Will for me is perfect happiness.
(102) I share Gods Will for happiness for me.
See Review III practice instructions on page XXX.
Commentary
Somewhere in our collective psyche there is a dark and terrible myth. The myth is that Gods
Will means suffering and sacrifice, the loss of all that we love, giving up everything that is dear to
us for the sake of His Kingdom. Doing Gods Will in this myth is a dark and cheerless thing. In
one of her lectures, Marianne Williamson characterized it as: I thought I would have to wear
gray for the rest of my life.
Gods Will is happiness. How could Love want anything else for us? Every human being,
even the lowest, wants those they love to be happy. How could we have ever imagined that God,
the perfect Lover, wanted anything other than perfect happiness for us?
All our suffering, then, must come from a belief that there is some other will opposing
Gods that wants to ruin our happiness. We secretly suspect, perhaps, that that will is our own. If
not, we know they are out there someplace, and they have it in for us. Yet there is no other
will. There is no malevolent power stalking the universe and targeting us for destruction. There is
only God.
I share Gods Will for happiness for me. I am not incurably self-destructive, with some dark
and unfathomable vein of antipathy towards God, the universe, and myself inescapably driving
me to death. My real will is one with Gods, and I will happiness. I will there be light, as
Lesson 73 said. His Will is really all I want.
The Course talks a great deal about the dark foundations of the ego that drive toward death.
Those Stygian currents do flow within our minds, and they do warp and befoul our experience in
this world. But the Course does not leave us there, without hope. It bears the message that
although the ego seems very real, it is not us. It has no power over us; it is a mistaken fabrication
our minds have made. And because we made it, we can unmake it. Because we chose it, we can
choose again. If we stop being afraid of those murky corners of our minds and look at them, we
will recognize they have no substance. We will see through them to our true Self. We will see
what those dark foundations have been hiding all this time: our own intense and burning love for
God, and His for us (see T-13.III.2:8). Here, in the real foundation of our being, we want what
God wants, we love what God loves, and we will what God wills.
Today, then, I let myself rest in the happy thought that at the root of my being is an irresistible
drive towards truth. Perhaps I do not yet experience perfect happiness, but I will. I must.
Because the heart of my heart wills it, and joins with God in willing it, and there is nothing that
stands in the way that has any reality or power to resist.
Nothing can prevent what God would have accomplished from accomplishment.
Whatever your reactions to the Holy Spirits Voice may be, whatever voice you
choose to listen to, whatever strange thoughts may occur to you, Gods Will is done.
(T-13.XI.5:34)
There is no chance that Heaven will not be yours, for God is sure, and what He wills
is as sure as He is.
(T-13.XI.8:9)
LESSON 117 APRIL 27

(103) God, being Love, is also happiness.
(104) I seek but what belongs to me in truth.
See Review III practice instructions on page XXX.
Commentary
Let me remember love is happiness, and nothing else brings joy (1:2). One of the things
that over time has convinced me of the truth of the Course is this very experience: I am happiest
when I am loving. I dont just mean Im happy when Im in love, in the romantic sense of the
word, although that certainly isnt excluded. When love flows through me, whether it is in a
closely intimate relationship or in something more distant (sitting here writing these notes and
thinking of all of you, for instance), I am happy. Loving makes me happy. No, more than that:
Love is happiness (1:2).
(Barry Kaufman wrote a wonderful book called To Love Is to Be Happy With.1 I always
thought that was a profound title.)
On the other hand, anger is misery. If I think about how I feel when I am angry, I will notice
that I dont like the way I feel. As much as the Course is about concepts and about changing our
mind, often the change of mind is a decision about feelings: You can begin to change your mind
with this: At least I can decide I do not like what I feel now (T-30.I.8:12). Feelings can be very
useful when we think about them, and use them as motivators for changing our mind. Anger
makes me miserable; loving makes me happy. Therefore, I will choose love. Is that paying
attention to feelings, or is it logic? Or both? Whatever it is, it works.
I said that noticing that loving and happiness go together has helped convince me that the
Course is true. Heres why. The Course says we are wholly loving and wholly loveable. It says,
Teach only love, for that is what you are (T-6.I.13:2). Sometimes I dont feel as if I am love.
Yet if when I love I am happy, love must be my will; it must be my nature. What is happiness,
except the freedom to be myself and to fulfill my nature? If I am happy when I love, then I must
be love.
That is what this line means: Love is my heritage, and with it joy (2:2). My heritage. My
nature. What I am. Love belongs to me in truth, and with it happiness, since they are the same
thing.
Today, as often as I can, I intend to remind myself: Love is happiness. And then, in that
moment, to just be the love that I am. If I want to be always happy, let me always be loving. And
joyous! Oh, the happiness and joy when the heart opens and lets out the love! May I not cause
myself pain today by holding it back. God bless you all!
. Barry Neil Kaufman, To Love Is to Be Happy With (New York: Fawcett Crest Books, 1977).
LESSON 116 APRIL 26

(101) Gods Will for me is perfect happiness.
(102) I share Gods Will for happiness for me.
Commentary
Somewhere in our collective psyche there is a dark and terrible myth. The myth is that Gods
Will means suffering and sacrifice, the loss of all that we love, giving up everything that is dear to
us for the sake of His Kingdom. Doing Gods Will in this myth is a dark and cheerless thing. In
one of her lectures, Marianne Williamson characterized it as: I thought I would have to wear
gray for the rest of my life.
Gods Will is happiness. How could Love want anything else for us? Every human being,
even the lowest, wants those they love to be happy. How could we have ever imagined that God,
the perfect Lover, wanted anything other than perfect happiness for us?
All our suffering, then, must come from a belief that there is some other will opposing
Gods that wants to ruin our happiness. We secretly suspect, perhaps, that that will is our own. If
not, we know they are out there someplace, and they have it in for us. Yet there is no other
will. There is no malevolent power stalking the universe and targeting us for destruction. There is
only God.
I share Gods Will for happiness for me. I am not incurably self-destructive, with some dark
and unfathomable vein of antipathy towards God, the universe, and myself inescapably driving
me to death. My real will is one with Gods, and I will happiness. I will there be light, as
Lesson 73 said. His Will is really all I want.
The Course talks a great deal about the dark foundations of the ego that drive toward death.
Those Stygian currents do flow within our minds, and they do warp and befoul our experience in
this world. But the Course does not leave us there, without hope. It bears the message that
although the ego seems very real, it is not us. It has no power over us; it is a mistaken fabrication
our minds have made. And because we made it, we can unmake it. Because we chose it, we can
choose again. If we stop being afraid of those murky corners of our minds and look at them, we
will recognize they have no substance. We will see through them to our true Self. We will see
what those dark foundations have been hiding all this time: our own intense and burning love for
God, and His for us (see T-13.III.2:8). Here, in the real foundation of our being, we want what
God wants, we love what God loves, and we will what God wills.
Today, then, I let myself rest in the happy thought that at the root of my being is an irresistible
drive towards truth. Perhaps I do not yet experience perfect happiness, but I will. I must.
Because the heart of my heart wills it, and joins with God in willing it, and there is nothing that
stands in the way that has any reality or power to resist.
Nothing can prevent what God would have accomplished from accomplishment.
Whatever your reactions to the Holy Spirits Voice may be, whatever voice you
choose to listen to, whatever strange thoughts may occur to you, Gods Will is done.
(T-13.XI.5:34)
There is no chance that Heaven will not be yours, for God is sure, and what He wills
is as sure as He is.
(T-13.XI.8:9)
LESSON 117 APRIL 27

(103) God, being Love, is also happiness.
(104) I seek but what belongs to me in truth.
Commentary
Let me remember love is happiness, and nothing else brings joy (1:2). One of the things
that over time has convinced me of the truth of the Course is this very experience: I am happiest
when I am loving. I dont just mean Im happy when Im in love, in the romantic sense of the
word, although that certainly isnt excluded. When love flows through me, whether it is in a
closely intimate relationship or in something more distant (sitting here writing these notes and
thinking of all of you, for instance), I am happy. Loving makes me happy. No, more than that:
Love is happiness (1:2).
(Barry Kaufman wrote a wonderful book called To Love Is to Be Happy With.1 I always
thought that was a profound title.)
On the other hand, anger is misery. If I think about how I feel when I am angry, I will notice
that I dont like the way I feel. As much as the Course is about concepts and about changing our
mind, often the change of mind is a decision about feelings: You can begin to change your mind
with this: At least I can decide I do not like what I feel now (T-30.I.8:12). Feelings can be very
useful when we think about them, and use them as motivators for changing our mind. Anger
makes me miserable; loving makes me happy. Therefore, I will choose love. Is that paying
attention to feelings, or is it logic? Or both? Whatever it is, it works.
I said that noticing that loving and happiness go together has helped convince me that the
Course is true. Heres why. The Course says we are wholly loving and wholly loveable. It says,
Teach only love, for that is what you are (T-6.I.13:2). Sometimes I dont feel as if I am love.
Yet if when I love I am happy, love must be my will; it must be my nature. What is happiness,
except the freedom to be myself and to fulfill my nature? If I am happy when I love, then I must
be love.
That is what this line means: Love is my heritage, and with it joy (2:2). My heritage. My
nature. What I am. Love belongs to me in truth, and with it happiness, since they are the same
thing.
Today, as often as I can, I intend to remind myself: Love is happiness. And then, in that
moment, to just be the love that I am. If I want to be always happy, let me always be loving. And
joyous! Oh, the happiness and joy when the heart opens and lets out the love! May I not cause
myself pain today by holding it back. God bless you all!
. Barry Neil Kaufman, To Love Is to Be Happy With (New York: Fawcett Crest Books, 1977).
LESSON 118 APRIL 28

(105) Gods peace and joy are mine.
(106) Let me be still and listen to the truth.
Commentary
The substitutes that I have made are what stand in the way of my accepting Gods peace and
joy. I already have Gods peace and joy, but my ego has decided they are not enough. As the
Course says, I want more than everything (T-29.VII.2:3); my own wholeness is not enough.
That section of the Text actually says that my seeking for more than everything is shown by the
very fact that I am in this world. No one who comes here but must still have hope, some
lingering illusion, or some dream that there is something outside of himself that will bring
happiness and peace to him (T-29.VII.2:1). Happiness and peace is what I am looking for, but
outside of myself. I have denied that they are within me, where God placed them.
In order to find the peace and joy that are inherently mine, I have to exchange all the
substitutes I have made. I have to let go of looking for happiness anywhere outside of myself.
That isnt easy, in my experience. It seems to happen gradually, over time. Little by little we learn
that what we are looking for in the world simply isnt there, not in any lasting way. Little by little,
in parallel, we begin to take little tastes of our internal joy and peace. As we begin to weigh the
two experiences it starts to become obvious that the peace and joy that come from within are
much more reliable and satisfying than that which comes from without. We may try for a time to
hold on to both, but it doesnt work. Eventually we will let go, and fall back into the arms of God.
Eventually we will simply accept Gods peace and joy.
My voice keeps trying to declare how things should be. Essentially the Course is telling us to
stop listening to our own advice: Resign now as your own teacher (T-12.V.8:3), it urges us. We
have to stop thinking we are in control, that we know what to do and what is needed, and learn to
listen. Like a drowning person, our own efforts to save ourselves are the biggest barrier to our
Life Guard. We need to trust Him, to lie back and let go.
The best way I know of to learn to do this is to practice doing it. To simply sit down for five,
ten, fifteen minutes (whatever the lesson calls for, whatever seems right) and, after very briefly
reviewing the idea of the day, just to be quiet. It seems hellaciously difficult, many days, to
simply be quiet. The minute I try my mind starts reminding me of things: Dont forget to make
that phone call. You need yogurt from the store. What are you going to do about your relationship
with X? You havent done your laundry this week. You are overweight and youre going to die.
I take a deep breath. Another. Another. I repeat the words for the day, Let me be still and listen
to the truth (2:1). Or I say, Help! to the Holy Spirit. I let the thoughts come and go. I step back
and watch them and try not to get drawn in. And I listen; maybe there is some word from my
Teacher that will come. And sometimes, there is. Sometimes I just get very quiet, and the chatter
of thoughts subsides, if not completely, to a dull, background murmur, like a crowd in a busy
restaurant that Im not really paying attention to. I practice getting quiet and listening. I dont
know about you, but I think it is a worthwhile exercise. Sometimes, it even carries over into my
day, and I find myself listening to the Voice and not to myself as I move through it. And thats
what its all about.
LESSON 119 APRIL 29

(107) Truth will correct all errors in my mind.
(108) To give and to receive are one in truth.
Commentary
The first idea speaks of the correction of all error. The two explanatory sentences that follow
speak on a very high level, defining error as any thought that we can be hurt. What I am is
spirit. Spirit is eternal and unchanging, created by God like Himself. By the Courses definition,
what can be hurt or damaged is not real. That includes our bodies, our woundable psyches,
everything we see in the physical universe; all of it has an end. Nothing real can be threatened,
says the introduction to the Text (T-In.2:2). What I am learning is the invulnerability of my being,
the eternal safety of my Self, at rest in the Mind of God.
We are undergoing a very gradual and gentle weaning away from our identification with the
ephemeral. What we are, in truth, does not die. We have dreamed a dream, and foolishly have
come to believe the dream is us. We are not the dream; we are the dreamer. (The Text speaks at
length of this in Chapter 27, sections VII and VIII.) The Holy Spirit eases us through a
transitional phase, changing our terrifying dream into a happy one, so that we will waken softly
and joyfully, no longer gripped by terrors of the night.
How are we to shift our dream? It is too great a leap to go from a state where pain and hurt
and death are bitter realities to us, into an awareness of our eternal nature. So the second idea for
today speaks of the means by which we can begin, gently, to shift into the happy dream:
forgiveness. We come to recognize our sinlessness, and thus our Self, by forgiving all things
around us. We have to learn to accept the truth in ourselves, and we do so by learning to see past
the error in others, until with a start of recognition, we realize that what is beneath the errors of
others is Something we share with them. We find ourselves in our brothers and sisters, through
forgiveness. What we have learned to give to others has, all the time, been given to ourselves. We
awaken by awaking others. We teach peace to learn it. In kindness and mercy towards others, we
ourselves fall into the kind and merciful heart of God.
LESSON 120 APRIL 30

(109) I rest in God.
Commentary
Every now and then Im glad my old high school English teacher taught me to diagram
sentences. I find myself doing things like noticing the main phrases in a sentence like this: I rest
in God and let Him workwhile I rest (1:2). For me, today, what this says is just to relax and
trust the process. Just to let go and let God, as the saying goes. Sunday is traditionally a day of
rest in the Christian tradition, and for most of us, a day in which it is convenient (more than
other days) to practice resting. Periodically it is beneficial to take one day, and consciously make
it a day of rest for yourself. That doesnt mean you might not do something productive, but if you
do, it will be because it is something you enjoy doing, something you want to do.
Today I want to remember peace.
Sometimes I get so worried I wont make it. I pick at the scabs of my healing mind, wondering
when they will heal completely. I fuss and wonder what else I can be doing to make the healing
happen faster. Fussing just makes it worse. Fussing is what I am being healed from. So let me rest
today. Ahhh!
As I rest, my Father tells me Who I really am. The memory of God comes to the quiet mind
(T-23.I.1:1). When I allow myself to settle back in spirit, I find a firm foundation, the bedrock of
my Self, as God created me. Im okay. The turmoil I am so concerned about is nothing but sick
illusions of myself (2:3). What I am is just fine, and I dont have to protect It. I am home.
LESSON 121 MAY 1

Forgiveness is the key to happiness.
Purpose: To learn to give forgiveness and see that, when you do, you receive forgiveness.
Morning/evening practice: Two times, for ten minutes.
Identify someone to forgive. Think of someone you dislike or despise or find irritable or
want to avoid. The one that has already come to your mind will do.
Close your eyes and see him in your mind, and look at him a while. Try to find some little
spark of light in your picture of him. You are looking for some loving or true quality in
him, or perhaps some kind thought or caring gesture of hissome distant reflection of the
light of God in him. Everything hinges on this, so take your time. Once you find something,
see it symbolized as a tiny spark of light somewhere in your dark picture of him. Then see
this tiny spark slowly expand until it completely covers your picture of him, replacing all
the darkness with light. In other words, see him only in light of this one loving quality or
act. See this as the only clue to who he really is. If you succeed, he will seem to be a holy
person, without a single flaw, radiating light. You might even imagine Great Rays shining
out from him. Now look at this changed picture a while. Appreciate how lovely and spotless
it is.
Now think of someone you consider a friend. Try to transfer the light you saw around your
enemy to this friend. This makes the friend seem to be much more than a friend. He is
revealed to be your savior, with power to enlighten you with just one glance of his holy
eyes.
Now let your savior offer you the light you gave to him. Then let your former enemy unite
with him, so that they both offer you this light. Why wouldnt they give this holy gift to
you, when you gave it to them, and revealed your holiness in the process? See rays of
forgiveness pouring off of them and onto you, absolving you of your sins, causing you to
radiate the same Great Rays that they do. See yourself at one with them, united in the holy
light of forgiveness that you have given and received. Now have you been forgiven by
yourself (13:3).
Frequent reminders: Every hourdo not forget.
Repeat, Forgiveness is the key to happiness. I will awaken from the dream that I am mortal,
fallible and full of sin, and know I am the perfect Son of God. To understand these lines, it helps
to insert through forgiveness at the beginning of the second sentence. Remember the old adage
To err is human, to forgive divine? Forgiveness is what proves to us that we are more than
human, that we are divine.
One more point: If you are really going to say these lines every hour, youll need to either
spend time memorizing them or have them written down on a card.
Commentary
The longer I study the Course the more this lesson makes sense. When I first read it, it seemed
unlikely to me that forgiveness was the key to happiness. I could see it being a key but not the
key. As the Courses explanation of the root of our problems began to sink in, however, I began
to see that in one way or another, unforgiveness was behind every problem. Then it began to
make sense that forgiveness would solve them all.
Look at the litany of ills that comprise this description of the unforgiving mind (2:15:5):
Fear
A cramped, constricted mindset that offers no room for love to grow and thrive
Sadness, suffering, doubt, confusion, anger
The pairs of conflicting fears; the one that speaks to me most eloquently is afraid of every
sound, yet more afraid of stillness (3:1)
The distortion of perception that results from unforgiveness, making us unable to see
mistakes as what they are, and perceiving sins instead
Babbling terror of our own projections (4:2)
I recognize myself, or at least memories of myself, in so many of these phrases: It wants to
live, yet wishes it were dead. It wants forgiveness, yet it sees no hope (4:34). Ive felt like that.
These paragraphs describe us all. I think that if someone does not recognize themselves
somewhere in here, they are not being honest with themselves. And the most awful thought of all
is this one: It thinks it cannot change (5:3). Hasnt that fear struck at your own heart at one time
or another? I know it has struck at mine.
When we admit to ourselves that these descriptions fit us, that we find ourselves in one or
another of these states of mind, the very word forgiveness sounds like an oasis in the Sahara.
Cool, soothing and refreshing. As we were told in Lesson 79, we have to recognize the problem
before we realize what the solution really is.
Forgiveness is acquired. It is not inherent in the mind (6:12). This states a fundamental
principle that explains much of the methodology of the Course, and explains why some sort of
transition is necessary between where we think we are and where we already are in truth. If we
are already perfect, as God created us, why do we have to learn anything at all? Because the
solution to the problem of guilt is forgiveness, and forgiveness was not part of our mind as God
created it. There was no need for it. Without a thought of sin the concept of forgiveness is
meaningless. Because we taught ourselves the idea of sin, now we must be taught the antidote,
forgiveness. Forgiveness has to be acquired.
But the unforgiving mind cannot teach itself forgiveness. It believes in the reality of sin, and
with that as a basis, forgiveness is impossible. Everything it perceives in the world proves that
all its sins are real (3:3). Caught in unforgiveness, we are convinced of the correctness of our
perception of things. We do not question it. From that perspective there is no way our minds can
even conceive of true forgiveness. This is why we need the Holy Spirit: a Teacher other than
yourself, Who represents the other Self in you (6:3). There has to be a higher Power Who
represents a different frame of mind. The source of our redemption has to be outside of the ego
mindset, apart from it, untainted by it. And so He is.
He teaches us to forgive, and through forgiveness, our mind is returned to our Self, Who can
never sin (6:5). Each person outside of us, each representative of that unforgiving mind crowd,
presents you with an opportunity to teach your own [mind] how to forgive itself (7:1). Our
brothers and sisters, manifesting their egos, full of the fear, pain, turmoil, and confusion of the
world, snapping at us in their terror, are our saviors. In forgiving them we forgive ourselves in
proxy. As we teach salvation we learn it. As we release others from hell, we release ourselves. As
we give, we receive.
This is what the Course is all about. As we practice today, lets realize that we are engaging in
the central exercise of the Course; we are learning the key to happiness. And lets not think we
already know forgiveness; let us come with humility, ready to be taught by One Who knows.
LESSON 122 MAY 2

Forgiveness offers everything I want.
Purpose: To feel the peace forgiveness offers, and the joy the lifting of the veil holds out
to you (11:2).
Morning/evening practice: Two times, for fifteen minutes.
Sink into the place in your mind where the gifts of forgiveness abide. Try to experience the
happiness, peace, and joy that forgiveness offers you. Seek that place in you earnestly, and with
gladness and hope. This practice seems to be an example of Workbook meditation. It seems very
similar to the practice in the early 100s, where you quieted your mind and tried to experience the
happiness and joy that God has placed deep within you. Based on past lessons, you probably
should begin by repeating the idea for the day, and then use that idea from time to time to pull
your mind back from wandering.
Remarks: Approach these practice periods filled with hope, because you have reached a
crucial turning point in your journey. After this, the road will be much smoother and
easier. Practice earnestly and gladly (9:2), with confidence that today salvation can be
yours.
Frequent reminders: Every fifteen minutes, for at least one minute.
Say, Forgiveness offers everything I want. Today I have accepted this as true. Today I have
received the gifts of God.
Remarks: These shorter practice periods are obviously extremely important. Practicing at
least a minute four times an hour is no small feat for most of us. The purpose of these
shorter practice periods is to keep in our minds the gifts we accepted in the morning
practice. Those gifts will fade away unless we renew them throughout each hour. I
suggest repeating these lines as a genuine, heartfelt dedication to accepting the truth of
todays idea. When repeating these lines you may want to make them specific:
Forgiving [name] offers everything I want [happiness, peace, safety]. Today [day of
week] I have accepted this as true. Today [date] I have received the gifts of God.
Commentary
There is a phrase near the end of this lesson that never fails to stand out to me. It speaks of
how forgiveness enables me to see the changeless in the heart of change (13:4). For me, this
phrase has become a whole other way to look at what forgiveness is.
Behind every appearance lies something that does not change. Appearances change, and
rapidly. This is true both physically and in more subtle perceptions. But the spirit within us does
not change, having been created by the eternal. Forgiveness is a way of looking past the
appearances to the unchanging reality. It disregards the temporary picture of the egos mistakes
and sees the Son of God. As Mother Teresa said of each one she helped, we see Christ, in his
distressing disguises.
Forgiveness lets the veil be lifted up that hides the face of Christ from those who
look with unforgiving eyes upon the world.
(3:1)
Forgiveness is giving up all the reasons we have built up for withholding love. The veil of all
our judgments is lifted, and we behold something marvelous, something wonderful, something
indescribable. What you will remember then can never be described (8:4). (So I wont try!)
When forgiveness has removed the blocks to our awareness of loves presence, we see love
everywhere. Love is unchanging and unchangeable. There is no wonder, then, that forgiveness
offers everything we want, bringing peace, happiness, quietness, certainty, and a sense of worth
and beauty that transcends the world (1:4). When you see the changeless in the heart of change,
distress drains right out of your heart because there is no reason for it.
Why are our moods and feelings such a problem to us? Because we identify with them,
because as the moods and feelings change we believe we have changed. The Course is teaching
us to learn to identify with something beyond change, with the Mind of Christ within ourselves
that never changes and never will. Here is a very simple rule of thumb: What changes is not me.
My Self is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable (W-pI.190.6:5).
This is starting to take better shape in my mind as I began to see that forgiveness is simply to
see the changeless in the heart of change. It is to recognize that the only thing that needs to be
changed is the thought that it is possible to change the Mind of the Son of God. It is to realize that
all my ego thoughts have changed nothing, and all my brothers ego thoughts also change
nothing. It is to realize that what is changeable is not me; to cease to identify with that which
changes, and to cease to believe that my brother is my changing perceptions of him. Forgiveness
means looking beyond what is changeable to that which is changeless.
Our pain comes from identifying with the ephemeral. Our peace comes from identifying with
the eternal. Nothing that changes is created by God. Nothing that changes is really me. What is
changeable is threatened by change, and nothing real can be threatened (T-In.2:2). Therefore,
nothing that changes is real.
All that changes is nothing but a passing landmark on the journey to the eternal. It is nothing
to be held on to. Think of a line of stones by which you cross a creek; you do not cling to each
stone as you pass it. You appreciate its value in moving you toward the other side, but you do not
lament its passing. Your goal is the other side. That is the only value of things in this world,
things which include our own bodies and the bodies of our loved ones as well as material things,
or even concepts in our thought system. Changing things are to be valued only as stepping stones
to that which is eternal, to be gently released as we take the next step toward the changeless,
which is always with us, always the reality of our being, even as we appear to journey towards it.
LESSON 123 MAY 3

I thank my Father for His gifts to me.
Purpose: The Workbook is assuming you have made some real progress on your journey
to God, with the result that your journey will now be smoother because much of your
resistance has subsided. You are to devote today to giving thanks for these gains. You do
not realize their full extent. Only by giving thanks for them will you appreciate how great
they really are.
Morning/evening practice: Two times, for fifteen minutes.
You spend these fifteen minutes giving thanks to God and receiving His thanks to you. What
exactly are the things for which you give thanks? I detect three classes of things. First, Gods gifts
to you in Heaven: His eternal Love for you; the fact that He created you changeless, so that none
of your mistakes can taint your Identity. Second, His gifts to you on earth: that He has not
abandoned you but is always with you, speaking His saving Word to you; that he has given you a
special function in His plan. Third, the gains you have made as a result of His gifts: the fact that
the Holy Spirit is gradually saving you from your ego.
You also spend time receiving Gods thanks to you. What exactly is He thanking you for? He
is thanking you for hearing His message, applying it, and speaking it to others. He is thanking you
for healing others through your demonstration of greater sanity, health and security. He, in other
words, is thanking you for your application of His truths, just as you are thanking Him for this
same thing. Take time to open your mind to the idea that God is not judging you, but thanking
you, wholeheartedly and with total sincerity, and that His thanks to you and yours to Him join as
one.
Remarks: God will take your gift of thanks to Him, multiply it hundreds of thousands of
times, and return it as His immeasurable thanks to you. This multiplication of your gift
will give it vastly increased power to save you and the world. Each second that you give
will be returned to you in the form of years of progress, enabling you to take eons off the
worlds journey to God.
Frequent reminders: Every hour, for an unspecified time.
Repeat the idea and spend some time thanking God for all His gifts to you.
Commentary
Todays lesson causes me to reflect on all my Fathers gifts to me, personally. I think that is
what it is intended to do for each of us, sort of a day to count your blessings. So bear with me as I
share some of my personal reflections with you, and take it as inspiration to do the same for
yourself.
I think Ive been on a spiritual journey most of my life, perhaps all of it. I can remember
certain incidents as a very young boy that seemed to say my direction was already set, way back
then. I wrote a poem once for my babysitter; I think I was in second grade at the time. I can still
recall the words:
Thank
Thank
Thee
Thee
for
for
the
the
sun
bush
and
and
fields,
tree,
Thank
Thee
for
Thank Thee, Lord, Thank Thee.
the
things
we
eat.
I remember one Monday after school, when I was about ten, gathering three of my friends
around me on a street corner and trying to explain to them why I was so impressed with the
Sunday School lesson Id heard the day before. It was a lesson on Ecclesiastes 11:1, Cast thy
bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days. I was so struck by the principle
involved, that what you give comes back to you, and that our wealth could be measured by how
much we give, rather than what we acquire. It is a message that I heard again, very clearly, many
years later in the Course.
I had a deep spiritual hunger and desire for God all through childhood, although I veered off in
other directions for some time, getting into trouble for youthful pranks, even police trouble, and
being horribly embarrassed at being caught shoplifting by a store owner who had offered me a
summer job (which of course I did not get). I had experiences of what I would now call a holy
instant several times, a sense of the nearness of God, and yet I couldnt seem to find Him most of
the time.
At sixteen I had a born again experience, and I became, for the next twenty-two years, a
fundamentalist Christian, although never firmly aligned with any religious denomination.
Something kept me breaking out of all the molds people tried to cast me into. I read the mystics, I
read the heretics, as well as the Bible. I didnt want anyone to draw me a map of the New
Jerusalem; I wanted to walk its streets for myself. I spent years in a typical Western religious
pattern, fighting against sin as Jesus calls it in the Course (T-18.VII.4:7). As he says in that
sentence, It is extremely difficult to reach Atonement that way!
All through those twenty-two years, I hungered for God. All through those twenty-two years, I
was miserable most of the time, disgusted with myself. All through those twenty-two years, I
wondered if I would ever make it. Finally, at the end of those years, I gave up. I laid aside my
Bible and let it gather dust. I decided that Christianity was, for me, a dead end. I despaired of ever
crossing Jordan and entering the promised land. I decided I was just going to have to accept
life as it was, and learn to live with it.
About six years went by. I was still seeking something, but no longer seeking anything
spiritual. Or so I told myself. My relationship with God was in a holding pattern, and we werent
talking. I read psychology. I did the est training. I read Zen books and tried meditating a bit. I
studied Science of Mind. I also enjoyed the world thoroughly, as Id never allowed myself to do
before, including some great sex, and making more money than Id ever had in my life. I began to
realize that the things which spoke to me in the psychology, secular philosophies, and Eastern
religious writings that I was studying were all exactly the same things that had really spoken to
me in Christianity. There was a perennial philosophy, as Aldous Huxley called it, that ran
through everything, a central core of truths that everyone who ever made it, regardless of their
religious background or lack of one, seemed to agree on. And the more I got clear about it, the
more I realized it was all stuff Id always known somehow. Like cast your bread upon the
waters.
Then, in January 1985, I found A Course in Miracles. Ever since, Ive been reading and
studying these books, and practicing as best I can what they say. And as I look at my life today, I
can see that somewhere along the line my life underwent a major shift. I moved from a gloomy
certainty that I would never find real happiness to a steady conviction that I have found it.
So as I read todays lesson, a deep sense of gratitude washed over me. As I read the first
paragraph, I felt I could honestly say it applied to me very well:
There is no thought of turning back, and no implacable resistance to the truth. A bit
of wavering remains, some small objections and a little hesitance, but you can well
be grateful for your gains, which are far greater than you realize. (W-pI.123.1:34)
A few days ago (in 1995) a friend of ours, Allan Greene, passed away at 51. He was a
quadriplegic who moved to Sedona just over a year ago to take part in the ACIM classes and
support groups of the Circle of Atonement. Our support group met in his home, since he was
almost completely immobile. He could move nothing but his head and his shoulders, the latter
just slightly. Within the last two years, a leg and a hand had to be amputated. He used to say that
he was giving up his identification with his body piece by piece. Allan was a long-time student of
the Course, one of the very few I know who actually knew the Courses scribe, Helen Schucman.
He argued with it for a long time, but had settled in to a steady determination to realize all that it
taught. Under adversity far greater than most of us can imagine, Allan maintained an amazing
sense of humor and a joyful determination to heal his mind, whatever happened to his body.
Miracles happened around him regularly; he took them as a matter of course. Last month, when
he was having his gall bladder removed, he took no anesthesia because he had no feeling in his
lower body at all, but a nurse held a screen during the operation so he would not have to watch
himself being cut open. During the whole operation, Allan was conversing with the nurse about A
Course in Miracles!
Last night (May 2, 1995) we had a memorial meeting for Allan. A very large number of
people attended, and one after another shared how Allan had touched their lives, including a half
dozen or so of the professional caretakers who had administered to him over the last year. It
became evident that Allans life had impacted scores and scores of people. I am sure his gains
were, as our lesson tells us, far greater than he realized. I know Allan did not think of himself as
particularly advanced. He lamented almost to the end about what a slow learner he was. He often
argued with his caretakers, and had one or two walk out on him in a rage. He had his doubts. But
from the evidence tonight in people whom he loved and people who loved him, he had advanced
much farther than he thought.
I hope that is true of me; I believe it is true of all of us. We cannot know now, although Im
sure we shall at some point, all the positive impacts we have had on those around us with things
as little as a smile, a small act of kindness, or a gentle, loving touch at the right moment. Perhaps,
as it often was with Allan, nothing more than our laughter, or making someone else laugh. Last
Thursday, when Allan was in the hospital, we paused in our ACIM evening class and had a few
minutes of silence for him. The next day, the day before he died, one of our students phoned him
in the hospital and told him about our minutes of silence. Allan said, It would have been more
appropriate if youd had a few minutes of telling jokes.
Let me then, today, take time to express my gratitude to God for all His gifts to me. I thank
Him for this Course, which has become my certain way home. I thank Him for the relief from all
those years of quiet desperation. I thank Him that, when I wandered off, He never deserted me. I
am so grateful for His Spirit within me, my Guide and Teacher, and for all the loving friends and
companions on the journey He has brought my way (especially, tonight, for Allan). I am so
grateful for all of you, and for the opportunity He has given me to share with you all, and to
receive from all of you. I thank Him that I am beginning to remember my Self. I thank Him for
the steadily increasing assurance that I will find my way all the way home.
I thank my Father for His gifts to me!
LESSON 124 MAY 4

Let me remember I am one with God.
Purpose: To practice and experience the idea that you are one with God, and to thereby
lay hold of your own peace and also free the world. Today is a turning point in the
Workbook, your first half hour practice time, and also your first longer practice in which
you are given no instructions and are left to fly on your owna preview of things to
come. The practice is deepeninggetting longer as well as less structured.
Longer: Onewhenever it seems best, for thirty minutes.
There are no specific words or guidelines for this meditation. You are simply meant to devote
the practice period to todays idea, to abiding in oneness with God, to trying to experience that
oneness, and to letting His Voice direct your practicing. Jesus is clearly trusting that you have
learned enough from the lessons thus far to spend this quiet time profitably, without getting
hopelessly lost in mind wandering. You therefore should draw upon all the training you have
received up until now, and should also be open to the Holy Spirits promptings during this time.
Encouragement to practice: Paragraphs 9-11 are there to provide incentives to really do the
practice and to appreciate how important it is. They teach us to see this half hour as a
mirror, surrounded by a golden frame, set with thirty diamonds, one for each minute.
During this half hour we will look into this mirror and see our face transfigured into holy
the face of Christour true Self, Who is at one with God. In this mirror, we will
recognize ourselves as Who we really are. Even if nothing of the kind seems to happen
during this time, we can be confident that sometime, perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow
(10:1; 11:1, 3), this experience will come to us as a result of this half hour.
Frequent reminders: Hourly.
Repeat, Let me remember I am one with God, at one with all my brothers and my Self,
in everlasting holiness and peace. Doing so will add yet more diamonds to the frame
around the mirror in which you see your true Self. I suggest either memorizing this
sentence (which is composed of three lines of iambic pentameter) or writing it down on a
note card. I also recommend that, while repeating it, you try to feel each kind of oneness
individuallyfirst oneness with God, then oneness with your brothers, then oneness with
your true Self.
Commentary
This lesson holds forth a very high view; it comes from an elevated state of mind. Basically, in
the first part of the lesson it seems to assume we are enlightened already. And, of course, from the
perspective of this state of mind, we are. Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all
(W-pI.188.1:4). If it is not a change, then enlightenment must mean recognizing what is always
so. This lesson, then, is simply stating the truth about us, the truth that we have been hiding from
ourselves.
To pray, to give thanks for the truth as God sees it, the truth about us as He sees us, can be a
very profitable exercise. Try taking a paragraph of this lesson (or the whole lesson) and turning it
into thanksgiving, verbalizing your thanks as you read. For example, from the second paragraph, I
might say:
Thank You for the holiness of our minds! Thank You that everything I see
reflects the holiness of my mind, which is at one with You, and at one with itself.
Thank You for being my Companion as I walk this world; for the privilege of
leaving behind shining footprints that point the way to truth for those who follow
me.
This indeed is our calling; it is why we are here. Perhaps most of the time we dont remember
our Identity in God. All the more reason to set aside a day given to remembering, for reminding
ourselves. We could understand this lesson as a portrait of an advanced teacher of God.
Everywhere she walks, light is left behind to illuminate the way for others. The teacher walks in
constant awareness of Gods Presence. She feels God within. Gods thoughts fill her mind, and
she perceives only the loving and the lovable. This teacher of God heals people in the past, the
present, and the future, at any distance.
Slip into that mindset for a while today, my heart. Be the Christ; let all the obstacles to it that
your mind throws up be brushed aside. Practice awareness of oneness with God.
In the latter part of the lesson it is clear that the author hasnt flipped out and isnt living in a
dream world. He knows very well that we might sit for our half hour and get up thinking that
nothing happened. He knows that, for most of us, what he is talking about is so far from our
conscious awareness that we might devote thirty minutes to trying to recognize it and not find a
glimmer of it. He doesnt care. He doesnt care because, from where he sits and how he sees, he
knows with total certainty that what he is saying about us is the truth. And he tells us not to let it
bother us:
You may not be ready to accept the gain today. Yet sometime, somewhere, it will
come to you, nor will you fail to recognize it when it dawns with certainty upon your
mind.
(9:23)
Even though we experience nothing, he tells us that no time was ever better spent (10:3).
The practice for today of a single half hour given to remembering oneness is unusual in the
Workbook. The routine goes back to two fifteen-minute periods, or three ten-minute periods, in
the coming days. But what is more significant, actually, is the lack of rules [and] special words
to guide your meditation (8:4). Hes leaving us on our own today. If we have been doing the
exercises all along, we should have a pretty good idea of some of the techniques we might want
to use, and we can use any of them, or anything that comes to us. Actually he isnt leaving us on
our own; hes leaving us in the hands of Gods Voice, our inner Guide. Ask how to spend this
half hour of meditation, and listen to what comes to you.
Abide with Him this half an hour. He will do the rest.
(8:67)
You can be sure someday, perhaps today, perhaps tomorrow, you will understand
and comprehend and see. (11:3)
LESSON 125 MAY 5

In quiet I receive Gods Word today.
Purpose: To hear God speak to you, to receive His Word.
Longer: Three times (at times best suited to silence), for ten minutes.
Yesterday we were told that we needed no special instructions for our longer practice period.
In keeping with this, we are told today that all we need is to still our minds. You will need no
rule but this (9:2). The lesson, however, does tell us a little more than this. We can arrange its
instructions into three steps.
1. Still your mind. Still your chaotic thoughts, meaningless desires, and all your judgments.
2. Go to that deep, quiet place within the mind where He abides forever (4:3), the throne of
God within your mind, the quiet center.
3. Wait and listen. Once you reach that place of stillness in your mind, your task is over. You
merely wait and listen, in confidence that your Father will come to you and speak His
Word to you. Hearing this Word, of course, can take many different forms, from hearing
actual words to receiving ideas, pictures, or just feelings.
During this time, you will need to frequently clear your mind of all those petty thoughts and
desires that try to intrude. For this purpose, I suggest using todays idea, or picking a phrase, such
as only be still and listen (9:3). As usual, begin the practice time with a slow repeating of the
idea.
Frequent reminders: Hourly, for a moment.
Repeat the idea. Realize that by doing so you are reminding yourself of todays special
purposeto receive Gods Word. Then spend some time listening in stillness.
Commentary
All we are being asked to do today is to be quiet for ten minutes, three times during the day
and for a moment each hour. Just to be quiet. Only be quiet. You will need no rule but this
(9:12). Only be still and listen (9:3). His Voice awaits your silence, for His Word can not be
heard until your mind is quiet for a while, and meaningless desires have been stilled (6:2).
Isnt it amazing how much practice it takes to learn to be quiet? I cant tell you how many
times Ive sat down to meditate and be quiet only to find myself, sometimes only a few minutes
later, so distracted by some passing thought that I open my eyes and start to get up to do
something before Ive even realized what Im doing. I plop back down in my chair muttering
Good grief! to myself at the distractedness of my mind. Draw a deep breath, think to myself,
Quiet, Allen. Quiet. Peace, be still.
The difficulties I have with being quiet, rather than standing as an insurmountable obstacle to
me, have simply become indicators of how much I need this practice. Clearly, the Course is
teaching us that a quiet mind is essential. The memory of God comes to the quiet mind (T23.I.1:1). We cant hear His Voice until we are quiet for a while.
The Course describes the voice of the ego in various colorful phrases: senseless shrieks,
raucous shrieks, loud discordant shrieks, the senseless noise of sounds that have no
meaning, frantic, riotous thoughts, raucous screams and senseless ravings, a loud,
obscuring voice, a frantic rush of thoughts that made no sense.1
Our ego is a constant noise machine trying to cover up the Voice for God; we need to learn to
still our mind, to cease to pay attention to the egos loudness. The ego is noise; the Spirit is quiet.
There is merit, then, simply in being quiet, even if nothing else seems to happen. Let me, then,
remember to take this time to be quiet, to be still, and to listen.
1 References for the above descriptions of the egos voice: T-25.V.3:5; W-pI.49.4:3; P-2.VI.2:6; T-31.I.6:1; W-pI.49.4:4; T-21.V.1:6; T-27.VI.1:2; W-pI.198.11:2.
LESSON 126 MAY 6

All that I give is given to myself.
Purpose: To understand the idea that giving is not loss, but receiving.
Longer: Two times, for fifteen minutes.
Todays idea is so alien to our normal way of thinking that we need inner help from the Holy
Spirit to really understand it. It cannot be done with the intellect alone. To seek this help, close
your eyesand seek sanctuary in the quiet place (10:1) where you go in meditation. Once you
reach that place, repeat todays idea, and ask for help in understanding what it really means
(10:2). Be willing to lay aside your false belief that giving is loss, and to gain a whole new
understanding, in which you realize that giving is a gift to yourself. See the Holy Spirit as present
in your practice period, and be prepared to repeat your request for true understanding until you
receive that understanding.
Remarks: If you only catch a tiny glimpse (8:5) of the idea, of the real meaning of
giving, it is a glorious day for you and for the world. For this idea would make
forgiveness no longer a strain, but something you would be naturally compelled to give
all the time, as a way of giving to yourself.
Frequent reminders: As often as you can (do not forget for long), for a moment.
Repeat, All that I give is given to myself. The Help I need to learn that this is true is with me
now. And I will trust in Him. Then do a miniature version of the longer practice period: quiet
your mind and open it to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to replace your false beliefs about giving
with the truth. Through these practice periods, you can keep the sense alive all day long that your
goal today is of great importance.
Commentary
This is a lesson that clearly aims at thought reversal (1:1). It begins with the presumption that
we have false ideas about forgiveness: You do not understand forgiveness (6:1). In the sixth
paragraph it explains that our false understanding of forgiveness is the reason we cannot
understand how forgiveness brings us peace, how it is a means for our release, nor how
forgiveness can restore our awareness of unity with our brothers. Our misunderstanding of
forgiveness is the reason that we may have had trouble really entering in to Lessons 121 and 122,
which told us that forgiveness is the key to happiness and offers us everything we want.
The idea that all that I give is given to myself is crucial to reversing our thought;
understanding it would make forgiveness effortless. Paragraph 2 goes through a list of what you
do believe, in place of this idea (2:1). So, lets practice some thought reversal, and reverse the
meaning of this paragraph to see what is implied by this key idea for the day.
If we understood that everything we give is given to ourselves, we would realize that other
people are not apart from us. Their behavior does have bearing on our thoughts, and our behavior
has bearing on their thoughts. Our attitudes affect other people. Their appeals for help are
intimately related to our own. They cannot be seen as sinners without affecting our perception
of ourselves. We cannot condemn their sin without condemning ourselves and losing our peace of
mind.
If we understood all this and believed it, forgiveness would happen naturally. We would
realize that judging someone as sinful causes our own guilt and loss of peace, and we would not
choose to do it. We would realize that how we see the other person is how we see ourselves, and
we would not want to see ourselves that way. We would learn very quickly to perceive that their
ego actions are not sins but calls for help, closely tied to our own calls for help, and we would
respond accordingly. We would know that our judgmental attitude has an adverse effect on the
behavior of others, and would choose to change our attitude. We would adjust our thoughts so as
to have a beneficial effect on their behavior instead of a detrimental effect. We would recognize
that we are not separate and apart, but share in the same struggle with fears and doubts, as well as
sharing in the release from those things.
Given all this, we could understand how forgiveness is the key to happiness. We would see
that if judging causes loss of peace, then forgiveness could bring us to peace again. We would
understand how forgiveness restores our awareness of unity with one another. We could see how
forgiveness can release us from what seems to be a problem with someone else.
The practice today is really a kind of thinking meditation. We are asked to come to the Holy
Spirit with todays idea, All that I give is given to myself, and to open ourselves to His help in
learning that it is true, opening your mind to His correction and His love (11:6). We are asking
for help in understanding what todays idea means (10:2), and what forgiveness really means. We
are reflecting on the ideas with His assistance, asking for new insights, new understandings.
Our behavior, our attitudes, and our painful experiences in this world are all evidence that we
do need to have our thoughts corrected. If we truly believed what todays idea says, we would not
be having these painful experiences. We must have false ideas still lodged in our minds, and we
need to be healed. Perhaps we think we understand what is being said, and no doubt there is a part
of us that resonates with them or we would not be studying these lessons. It is the other part we
are concerned about, the hidden warriors, the contrary beliefs we have dissociated and even
hidden from conscious awareness.
If we ask for help sincerely, help will be given (8:3). Today will bring new understanding.
Perhaps it will come in the form of new insights as we meditate. Perhaps it will come in the
laboratory of life, as circumstances shock us into awareness of how we still believe one or
another of the ideas this lessons mentions in describing what we do believe in place of todays
idea. But it will come.
The help I need to learn that this is true is with me now. And I will trust in Him.
(11:45)
LESSON 127 MAY 7

There is no love but Gods.
Purpose: This is an extremely significant lesson, for it asks you to take the largest single
step this course requests in your advance towards its established goal (6:5). You take
this step by releasing your beliefs that limit love and opening your mind to God so that
He can teach you loves true meaning.
This exercise is very similar to yesterdays, in which you went to the quiet center in your mind
and asked Gods Voice to correct your false beliefs about giving. Today, you do the same, only
asking God to correct your false beliefs about love.
Repeat the idea and then open your mind and rest (8:2). Now let go of your beliefsone
after anotherin the laws and limits of this world, for all of them justify limited and changing
love. Let go of your beliefs in partial love, selective love, and changing love. As you give up each
such belief, God will replace it with a spark of truth (9:3), an understanding of what love really
means. Call to Him and ask Him to illuminate your mind on the true meaning of love. That is the
essence of this practice period: to open your mind, let go of your beliefs that limit love, and ask
God to teach you the real meaning of love, which is far greater and more sublime than your mind
alone could ever understand.
Remarks: Gladly give this time. It is the best use of time you could ever make. For if you
gain the tiniest glimpse of loves real meaning, you truly have taken a giant stride. You
have gone forward in your journey countless years and have brought freedom to everyone
who comes here.
Frequent reminders: Three times per hour, at least.
Think of someone you know and silently repeat to him these lines: I bless you, brother, with
the Love of God, which I would share with you. For I would learn the joyous lesson that there is
no love but Gods and yours and mine and everyones. Like the longer practice, this is a
powerful technique for opening your mind to the real meaning of love.
Commentary
Perhaps you think that different kinds of love are possible (1:1). To my mind there is no
perhaps about it; we all think that there are different kinds of love, varying from friend to
family to children to lover, from person to animal to thing. The lesson asserts that there is only
one LoveGods Love. To think that love changes depending upon its object, says the lesson, is
to miss the meaning of love entirely (2:1).
It [love] never alters with a person or a circumstance (1:6). To us, this can seem to be a very
intimidating description of love, because what we call love does not fit this picture. Our love
comes and goes, waxes and wanes, varying with the person or the circumstance like a
thermometer to the temperature. Love, as described in this lesson, is wholly unaffected by
anything outside itself. This is truly unconditional love.
I am uplifted today by the idea that, if this is Gods Love, and this is the only love there is,
then His Love for me never alters, and has no divergencies and no distinctions (1:4). Nothing I
do, or do not do, modifies His Love for me in the slightest. Gods Love just is, eternally,
endlessly. It has no opposite (3:7). It is the glue that holds everything together (3:8). It is the
substance of the universe.
It can be comforting when we think of Gods Love for us being like this. It can be
intimidating, however, when we realize that we are being asked to love one another in the same
way. It seems beyond us, and if we are judged on whether or not we match up to this love, it
would appear that we all come short of the glory of God, as the Bible says in Romans 3:23. The
lesson, however, meets this fear in us head on, and meets it with an incredible assertion:
No course whose purpose is to teach you to remember what you really are could fail to
emphasize that there can never be a difference in what you really are and what love is (4:1). In
short sentences, this is telling us: Love is eternal, unconditional, and unalterable. You are that
love. You know this love were talking about, that seems so foreign to us, so beyond our
capabilities? Well, this is what you really are! It is the other image of yourself, incapable of such
love, shifting and changing with every circumstance, that is the lie. This lovethis is the truth,
this is you. There is absolutely no difference between this love and what we are!
What you are is what He is. There is no love but His, and what He is, is everything
there is. (4:34)
We arent going to see this about ourselves by looking at the world (6:1). It isnt something
that can be seen with the bodys eyes; yet it is perfectly apparent to the eyes and ears that see and
hear love (what is called elsewhere the vision of Christ). That is the goal of todays lesson: to see
that love in ourselves, to catch even the faintest glimmering of what love means (7:1), to
understand the truth of love (9:4). This attempt to quiet our minds, to free our minds of all the
laws we think we must obey, all the limits we have placed on ourselves, and all the changes we
believe we have made in ourselves, and to find our Self, Who is Lovethis attempt is called the
largest single step this course requests in your advance towards its established goal (6:5). If we
succeed, we will have advanced in distance without measure and in time beyond the count of
years to your release (7:1). This is no small thing! To be able, even in a very small degree, to
perceive ourselves as this love; to catch a hint of the fact that love is everything there is, including
ourselves. This is a quantum leap indeed! To spend a little time for this purpose is worth it.
There is no better use for time than this (7:2).
As we begin to realize that love is all there is, that this love is everything including ourselves,
we will realize that it includes everyone else as well. The only way love can be everything is if it
includes everyone! So we begin to see not only ourselves, but the world, in a new way:
The world in infancy is newly born.
(11:1)
Now are they all made free, along with us. Now are they all our brothers in Gods
Love.
(11:34)
We cannot leave a part of us outside our love if we would know our Self. (12:1)
And so, three times an hour, we are asked to remember a brother or sister who is making this
journey with us, and to mentally send them this message, as I now send it to you:
I
bless
you,
brother,
with
the
Love
Which
I
would
share
with
you.
For
I
The
joyous
lesson
that
there
is
But Gods and yours and mine and everyones.
(12:45)
of
would
no
God,
learn
love
LESSON 128 MAY 8

The world I see holds nothing that I want.
Purpose: To let go of the value we have placed on the things of the world, so that our
mind is free to experience what is truly valuableour home in God.

This practice is one of unchaining our mind so that it can fly home to God. We can see it as
having two phases. In the first phase, we withdraw the value we have placed upon the world. We
withdraw all the purposes we have given things in the world, the purpose of satisfying our
personal interests (as Lesson 25 said). This is likened to taking the chains off our mind.
Unchained, it will then be free to spread its wings and fly inward to where it belongs, to its home
in God. The second phase of the practice period, then, is this process of our mind flying to its
home. It is a process of stilling and opening our mind, and letting it be guided to its resting place
in God. Throughout this process, we will need to be letting go of our wandering thoughts, which,
of course, almost always relate to things we value in the world. To pull our minds back from
these thoughts we can repeat the idea for the day.
Remarks: Every practice period will shift your whole perspective a littleit will
withdraw some of the value you have placed upon the world.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel yourself valuing something in the world.
Realize that doing so will lay a chain upon your mind. Instead, protect your mind by saying,
with quiet certainty, This will not tempt me to delay myself. The world I see holds nothing that I
want. If you really watch your mind, you will find no shortage of subjects for practice. I also
highly recommend taking some time to memorize these two lines. If you are really going to use
them frequently, having them memorized is almost a requirement.
Commentary
The general thought of this lesson is similar to the first three of Buddhas Four Noble Truths:
that life is suffering; that the cause of suffering is tanha, or desire for self at the expense of others;
and that the way out of suffering is through the relinquishment of such desires.
Believe this thought, and you are saved from years of misery (1:2). The lesson is asking us
to give up all attachment to things of this world, to put an end to suffering by putting an end to
craving anything the world offers. It can seem to be a harsh lesson, and yet it is eminently
sensible: if you do not desire anything, you cannot be disappointed.
The things of the world act as chains when we value them (2:1). What is perhaps harder to
grasp is that this is the purpose for which we made them: they will serve no other end but this.
For everything must serve the purpose you have given it, until you see a different purpose there
(2:12). When we assign to the things of the world a purpose in time, usually some form of
gratification or self-aggrandizement, we chain ourselves to this world. Inevitably, since
everything in the world must have an end, this causes us untold pain. All our mistaken valuing
accomplishes is to tie us to the world and to keep us from our final healing.
To the Holy Spirit, the only purpose of this world is the healing of Gods Son (see T24.VI.4:1). There is nothing in the world worth striving for. The only purpose worthy of your
mind this world contains is that you pass it by, without delaying to perceive some hope where
there is none (2:3). This is similar to this statement in the Text: The Holy Spirit interprets
times purpose as rendering the need for time unnecessary (T-13.IV.7:3). The Holy Spirit
appropriates time, the world, and everything in the world for the purpose of salvation and the
healing of our minds. To Him, nothing here has any other purpose.
Therefore, the world itself holds nothing that we want. All of it is, to borrow from the title of a
book by Ram Dass, grist for the mill. All of it becomes the means to an endour awakening to
life, our return to God. There is nothing in the world that is an end in itself.
When the lesson advises us, Let nothing that relates to body thoughts delay your progress to
salvation (4:1), it is saying the same thing in other words. Body thoughts refers to our
mistaken identification with our bodies. It is everything that stems from the idea that I am a
body, and to benefit and protect myself I must make taking care of my body a number one
priority. Our cravings for bodily pleasure, bodily comfort, bodily protection, bodily longevity,
and bodily beauty all fall into the category of body thoughts. Making such things our primary
concern can only delay our progress.
The lesson is asking us to practice mentally letting go of all thoughts of values we have given
to the world (5:1). We are asked to loosen it [the world] from all we wish it were (5:3). That is
a tall order, isnt it? We spend so much of our time wishing things were different and trying to
make them be that way. In fact, if we look at our lives honestly, wishing something or someone
were different and trying to bring about that change is the activity that occupies most of our lives.
For the purposes of this lesson, then, practice taking a few minutes to let your mind rest from
such activity: Pause and be still a while, and see how far you rise above the world, when you
release your mind from chains and let it seek the level where it finds itself at home (6:1). Your
mind, the lesson tells us, knows where it belongs (6:3). If you loosen the chains of your desires,
it will fly in sureness and in joy to join its holy purpose (6:4). Each time you practice such an
exercise for only ten minutes, your whole perspective on the world will shift by just a little
(7:3). Let your mind rest, then, from its constant craving, and relax as its homing instinct takes
over and brings you to where you really belong.
Throughout the day, the lesson is asking us to notice when we think we see some value in the
world, and when we do, to mentally correct the notion with these words:
This will not tempt me to delay myself. The world I see holds nothing that I want.
(8:34)
LESSON 129 MAY 9

Beyond this world there is a world I want.
Purpose: To have a day of grace in which you see the world you really want. Through this
you will realize that giving up the world you do not want is a giving up of nothing in
order to gain everything.
Longer: Three timesmorning, evening and once in betweenfor ten minutes.
Begin by repeating, Beyond this world there is a world I want. I choose to see that world
instead of this, for here is nothing that I really want. Try to say these lines with feeling. They
are trying to inspire in you a real desire to exchange this world for the real world, and a genuine
choice resulting from that desire. Feel the desire. Make the choice. Then close your eyes and
watch and wait expectantly for an experience of true vision, a glimpse of the real world. I see this
practice as very similar to Lesson 75. You might want to read paragraphs 6-8 in that lesson. The
main difference in this lesson is that we are seeking an eyes-closed (rather than eyes-open)
experience of vision. We are seeking to see a light of meaning and holiness that our eyes cannot
see, only our mind. While you sit and watch and wait, feel your desire to see a world of meaning
that is totally harmless, peaceful, benign, and loving, without a trace of pain or loss. You may
want to repeat the idea from time to time, to renew your focus and to clear your mind of
wandering thoughts.
Frequent reminders: Once per hour, for a moment.
Clear your mind and dwell on these lines: The world I see holds nothing that I want. Beyond
this world there is a world I want. Make this repetition a confirmation of the choice you made in
the longer practice periodsto exchange this world for the real world.
Commentary
The Course is so down-to-earth sometimes! You cannot stop with the idea the world is
worthless, for unless you see that there is something else to hope for, you will only be depressed
(1:2). So true! The statement that the world is worthless is pretty blunt; there cant be much
debate about what it means. And I have to confess that even after ten years of studying the Course
and, over time, coming to agree with its ideas, I still find that wording a little jarring. I can almost
hear myself replying, Uhhhthat isnt exactly how Id put it. Because there is still something
in me that wants to find some value here, something worthwhile, something worth preserving and
striving for.
The emphasis of the Course, however, isnt on giving up the world, but on exchanging it for
what is far more satisfying, filled with joy, and capable of offering you peace (1:3). Well, thats
not such a bad deal, is it?
It begins to look especially good if we take a hard look at the world were trying to hang on
tomerciless,unstable, cruel, unconcerned with you, quick to avenge and pitiless with hate
(2:3). Events such as the 1995 bombing of a government building in Oklahoma City, and the
rabid rage against the bomber, are both testimony to this. The bomber was thought to be
avenging the governments actions against David Koresh in Waco, and then people wanted
vengeance on the bomber. The many wars motivated by racial, religious, or ethnic differences are
vengeance cycles that have been going on for centuries. This is the way the world is. No lasting
love is found, for none is here. This is the world of time, where all things end (2:56). That,
perhaps, is the cruelest part of all about this world. Even when you do find love, it cant last
forever.
Sowouldnt you rather find a world where it is impossible to lose anything? Where
vengeance is meaningless? (3:1). Is it a loss to find all things you really want, and know they
have no ending and they will remain exactly as you want them throughout time? (3:2). Its
speaking here of what the Course calls the real world, and the following sentenceyou go
from there to where words fail entirely (3:3)is talking about Heaven, a nonphysical existence
in eternity.
What is it talking about when it speaks of all things you really want? If they are things that
have no ending and dont change over time, they cant be anything physical; certainly not bodies.
It is speaking of Love Itself; it is speaking of our Self which is spirit, and which we share with
everyone. We are here to find the changeless in the midst of the changeable, and to learn to value
what is changeless and to let go of what is changeable.
When we choose the changeless, and value the real world of spirit instead of what changes and
decays, it brings us very close to Heaven, and prepares us for it. Loosing our grasp on the world
makes the transition to Heaven easy.
Holding on to the world brings loss. When you try to cling to the perishable you doom
yourself to suffering. As we saw in yesterdays commentary, Buddhism has long taught a similar
lesson.
Doing the practice exercises for today has a remarkable effect. When I say, The world I see
holds nothing that I want. Beyond this world there is a world I want (9:45), I find myself
noticing all the attachments I still have to things in this world; I find myself noticing that my
conception of what it is beyond this world that I really want is a bit vague. And so I bring that
attachment and that unclarity to the Holy Spirit, and ask that He help me in those areas. I know
He will.
LESSON 130 MAY 10

It is impossible to see two worlds.
Purpose: To realize that you cannot have a little bit of this world and still see the real
world, that you must choose one or the other. To make the choice for the real world by
letting go of all value given this world. This is another of the Workbooks giant steps (see
9:2).
Longer: Six times, for five minutes.
Todays practice is extremely similar to the last two days, especially Lesson 128. Begin by
repeating the opening lines: It is impossible to see two worlds. Let me accept the strength God
offers me and see no value in this world, that I may find my freedom and deliverance. You are
asking for Gods strength to uphold you and help you make a definitive choice of the real world
over this world. Try to really mean this request. Then close your eyes and spend some time
emptying your hands of all the petty treasures of this world (8:3). Then reach out for an
experience of true perception, the kind of seeing which your eyes alone cannot see. Desire to see
only the other world, the world of love. During this time, wait for God to help you (8:4). Trust
that He will be there, helping you make the choice to value only the real world. While you wait,
you may want to repeat, Help me see only the real world.
Response to temptation: Whenever you find yourself valuing anything in the world.
Remember that by valuing a little part of hell you are really choosing all of hell, and blocking
out Heaven entirely. Say, It is impossible to see two worlds. I seek my freedom and deliverance,
and this [thing I feel attracted to] is not a part of what I want. You will need to watch your
mind carefully all day, because today you are watching not for disturbances and upsets, but
attractions.
Commentary
Todays lesson is extremely uncompromising. The first two paragraphs are as clear a
statement of the Courses understanding of perception as there is in all three volumes. What we
value we want to see, what we want to see determines our thinking, and what we see simply
reflects our thinking. No one can fail to look upon what he believes he wants (1:6). Or, as it is
twice stated succinctly in the Text, Projection makes perception (T-13.V.3:5; T-21.In.1:1).
On top of that, since we cant hate and love simultaneously, we cant project totally opposite
worlds simultaneously. We project the world of fear or the world of love. And the world you see
is proof you have already made a choice as all-embracing as its opposite (6:2). In other words,
the world we see proves that our minds have made an all-embracing choice for fear. Fear has
made everything you think you see (4:1).
As I said, this is very uncompromising. It does not allow for any part of this world to be
excluded from the category of projection of fear. The world we see is
quite consistent from the point of view from which you see it. It is all a piece
because it stems from one emotion [fear], and reflects its source in everything you
see.
(6:45)
If we try to exclude part of it from this portrait, maintaining that surely this part is good, we
are trying to accept a little part of hell as real (11:1). It guarantees that the whole picture will be
hell indeed (11:1).
On the other hand, the Course does not try to foster any rejection of the world. It tells us that
only the part of it we look upon with love is real (see T-12.VI.3:23). Therefore we are urged to
love all of it equally, and thus make the world real unto yourself (T-12.VI.3:6). Our attempts at
salvaging parts of the world as real are mistaken in that they separate and make certain parts
special, more loveable than the rest.
As we see it, through eyes of fear, this world is without any value whatsoever. Let us accept
Gods Strength and see no value in the world (8:6). If we are willing to do this we will see
another world, with sight that is not the kind of seeing that your eyes alone have ever seen
before (9:4). When you want only love you will see nothing else (T-12.VII.8:1).
To be a little more practical for a moment: I have found the final words of this lesson to be an
incredibly useful phrase in times of distress of all kinds: This is not a part of what I want (11:5).
If I see only what I want to see, and I am seeing something distressing, let me affirm my choice to
change my mind: I dont want this any more. Although my application of it is still very
inconsistent, I have seen this simple affirmation make separateness in a relationship evaporate. I
have seen it make a sense of poverty evaporate. I have seen it change my body, and give it an
energy I thought I had lost. I have watched it reverse impending illnesses. I recommend it highly
to you all.
LESSON 131 MAY 11

No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.
Purpose: God made an ancient promise to you, and you did to Him, that you would one
day go beyond the door in your mind and find the real world. Today that promise will be
fulfilled.
The instructions in paragraphs 11-13 are so clear that I have merely laid the sentences out on
separate lines:
Begin with this:
I ask to see a different world, and think
a different kind of thought from those I made.
The world I seek I did not make alone,
the thoughts I want to think are not my own.
For several minutes watch your mind and see, although your eyes are closed, the senseless
world you think is real.
Review the thoughts as well which are compatible with such a world, and which you think
are true.
Then let them go, and sink below them to the holy place where they can enter not.
There is a door beneath them in your mind, which you could not completely lock to hide
what lies beyond.
Seek for that door and find it.
But before you try to open it, remind yourself no one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.
And it is this request you make today.
Nothing but this has any meaning now; no other goal is valued now nor sought, nothing
before this door you really want, and only what lies past it do you seek.
Put out your hand, and see how easily the door swings open with your one intent to go
beyond it.
Angels light the way, so that all darkness vanishes,
and you are standing in a light so bright and clear that you can understand all things you
see.
A tiny moment of surprise, perhaps, will make you pause
before you realize the world you see before you in the light reflects the truth you knew,
and did not quite forget in wandering away in dreams.
(W-pI.131.11:2-13:3)
Shorter: Often.
Repeat the idea, while keeping in mind that today you will go beyond the door and find the
truth, and that today is therefore a day of grace, a time for gladness and celebration. I highly
recommend really reminding yourself of this latter fact. It will change your mood during the day
if you remember.
Response to temptation: If you forget what a special day it is and fall into depression or
complaining.
Remind yourself of the true nature of this day by repeating, Today I seek and find all that I
want. My single purpose offers it to me. No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth. How can
you feel dismal when you realize that you are finding all you ever wanted? I recommend either
writing down those lines on a card and keeping them handy or, better yet, memorizing them.
Commentary
At times it seems to nearly everyone that the search for truth is one that will never succeed. It
seems that we seek, and seek, and seek some more, and never arrive at certainty. Todays lesson
comes as a welcome reassurance that the search for truth is the only search that will inevitably
succeed.
Searching is inevitable here (3:1). Its the nature of the world, the nature of the predicament
weve put ourselves into. Searching is why we came here, and so you will surely do the thing
you came for (3:2). If were going to search, then, we may as well search for something worth
finding: a goal that lies beyond the world and every worldly thoughtan echo of a heritage
forgot (3:4). What we are searching for is Heaven, a heritage forgot. What we are searching
for is the home we left behind and almost put out of our minds, although to do so entirely is
impossible. Thats why we are driven to search. Behind the search for every idol lies the
yearning for completion (T-30.III.3:1).
What we are seeking for is what we are; that is why finding it is inevitable. No one can fail to
want this goal and reach it in the end (4:3).
Sometimes it may seem as though truth has deserted you. I think some experience of that is
almost inescapable for all of us, a last-ditch effort of the ego to dissuade us from the search when
we are getting too close. I know it has happened to me, and all I can tell you is, Hang in there.
Your search cannot fail, even though you may think it has already failed. I know I came through
that dark period of my life. I dont know how I did because I didnt seem to have anything to do
with it, which is part of what convinces me that my coming out of it is real and lasting. I still
dip into despair from time to time, but I will never again live there. No one can fail who seeks to
reach the truth.
What we are looking for, and perhaps can find today, is something that is beneath all the
thoughts in our minds that are compatible with this senseless worlda door beneath them in
your mind (11:8). A door in our minds! Past that door is a light so bright and clear that you can
understand all things you see (13:2). Todays exercise is wonderful for visualization, actually
picturing that door, seeing ourselves standing before it, and with one intent, pushing it open to
pass through, out of this world and into another, like the wardrobe doorway into Narnia in C. S.
Lewiss fantasy books. These exercises are like rehearsals, and as we repeat them, they grow
more and more real to us, engaging our minds and training them in a pattern that leads to real
discovery of the real door, within our minds, to Heaven.
LESSON 132 MAY 12

I loose the world from all I thought it was.
Purpose: To free the world from all the idle thoughts we ever held about it, and about all
living things we see upon itthat we may be free (14:1, 5).

Begin by repeating, I who remain as God created me would loose the world from all I
thought it was. For I am real because the world is not, and I would know my own reality. The
rest of the practice period sounds like Workbook meditation to me, in which we place our minds
in a state of rest, alert but with no strain (15:4). Based on the lines we repeat, this exercise
reminds me of a couple of other lessons128 and 188in which we have a sense of
withdrawing our mind from its focus on the outer world and drawing it inward to the quiet center,
where we rest, where our thoughts are transformed, and where we experience our true reality.
Remarks: You will sense your own release, but you may not realize that your release will
also free the world, bringing healing to many brothers far and near.
Response to temptation: Whenever you believe that your thoughts have no power to help
the troubling situations we see around us.
When you notice such a thought, repeat, I loose the world from all I thought it was, and
choose my own reality instead (it will be helpful to memorize it), realizing that by doing so you
are unleashing your minds power to free the world, and adding to the freedom you gave in the
longer practice period.
Commentary
To me, today, the point of this lesson is: I have the power to do that. I can loose the world
from all I thought it was, simply by changing my own mind.
This lesson contains what is perhaps the most startling statement in the Course:
There is no world! This is the central thought the course attempts to teach. (6:23)
The lesson admits that not everyone is ready to accept this idea, although it makes it clear that
all of us will, eventually, accept it. (Such acceptance could take many lifetimes, I think, and
doubtless we have gone through many already to get wherever we are; this is my own opinion,
not necessarily that of the Course.)
In speaking of this in the analogy of a madman, the first paragraph says that no madman can
be swayed by questioning his thoughts effects (1:6). From the perspective of the Course, it is
the world that is the effect of our thoughts. So the approach that will lead us, eventually, to
understand that there is no world does not follow the path of directly questioning the reality of the
world. That is a fruitless approach, as fruitless as trying to persuade a madman that his
hallucinations are not real. The approach that bears fruit is raising the source to questionthat is,
in questioning the thoughts that produce the hallucinations.
Change but your mind on what you want to see, and all the world must change accordingly
(5:2). As we begin to allow thoughts of healing to flow through us, we open ourselves to learn the
lesson. Their readiness will bring the lesson to them in some form which they can understand
and recognize (7:2). The focus for us, then, is not on denying the reality of the world, but on
opening our minds to bring healing to the world we see. Doing so will bring us experiences that
will convince us that the world is not as real as we supposed. We may have a near-death
experience. We may undergo some experience of enlightenment that shows us an incontrovertible
reality that contradicts all that we have believed to be reality up until that time. We may, in fact,
experience something in doing todays exercises that will bring us our awakening.
The unreality of the world dawns upon us as we begin to grasp the reality of our Self: To
know your Self is the salvation of the world (10:1). If we are as God created us, then what
appears to change us cannot exist, it cannot be real; there cannot be a place where we can suffer,
or time to bring change to us. The world is the effect of our thoughts, and nothing more: You
maintain the world within your mind in thought (10:3). As we discover what we truly are by
allowing love to move through us in healing, we realize that If you are real the world you see is
false, for Gods creation is unlike the world in every way (11:5). We release the world from
what we thought it was by accepting our oneness with God, and realizing that the world, as we
see it, cannot be real because it does not reflect this truth: What He creates is not apart from
Him, and nowhere does the Father end, the Son begin as something separate from Him (12:4).
To loose the world is to heal it. The meditation for today is one in which we send out these
thoughts to bless the world (16:1). I loose the world means that I extend healing to all the
world, I free it from suffering, I absolve it from guilt, I heal it of sickness, I lift all thoughts of
vengeance from it. It is taking this role as savior to the world that reveals our Self to us, and
transforms our thoughts and, in turn, the world that is their effect. This is the power of your
simple change of mind (17:1).
LESSON 133 MAY 13

I will not value what is valueless.
Purpose: To empty our hands of all the things we value in this world and to reach the
state of Heaven.
Repeat, I will not value what is valueless, and only what has value do I seek, for only that do
I desire to find. Then try to find the valuable within yourself. Hold in mind an honest
willingness to not deceive yourself about what is valuable. Refuse to fool yourself into thinking
that the things of this world can bring you real, lasting happiness. Try instead to value only the
eternal, in your brothers and in yourself. Empty your hands of the treasures of this world. Open
your mind and let go of its usual attachments. In this empty, open state, come before the gate of
Heaven within you, and it will swing open, offering you the gift of everything.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel burdened or feel confronted with a difficult
decision.
Immediately respond by repeating, I will not value what is valueless, for what is valuable
belongs to me. This will remind you that no decision can be difficult, because you choose
between the infinitely valuable and the totally worthless.
Commentary
The laws that govern choice are two:
There are only two alternatives: everything or nothing.
There is no compromise; there is no in-between.
The criteria for judging what is worth desiring are:
Will it last forever? (If not, it is nothing.)

Is it a choice in which no one loses? (If not, you are left with nothing.)
Is the purpose free of the egos goals? (If not, there is compromise.)
Is the choice free of all guilt? (If not, the real alternatives have been obscured.)
These are stringent rules! They are clear, but not easily learned. How can we know whether or
not the ego's goals are intruding, for instance? Here it is easiest of all to be deceived (8:5). The
ego masquerades in innocence. Yet the lesson asserts that the ego's camouflage is only a thin
veneer, which could deceive but those who are content to be deceived (9:1). Its goals are
obvious to anyone who cares to look for them (9:2). We need only to be willing to look, and the
ego detector is quite simple: guilt. If you feel any guilt about your choice, you have allowed the
egos goals to come between the real alternatives (11:2).
If I apply these criteria for choice to the decisions in my life, my life will be constantly
revolutionized. The first criterion alone rules out absolutely every goal involving anything
material, including bodies and ordinary human relationships. Will it last forever? What lasts
forever in this world? Only love. And not all that we call love lasts forever; weve all
demonstrated that for ourselves, in all likelihood, or seen it all around us. The assertion of the
Course, by the way, is that if it doesnt last, it wasnt love to begin with:
Where disillusionment is possible, there was not love but hate. For hate is an
illusion, and what can change was never love.
(T-16.IV.4:34)
But there is a love not of this world; a light we cannot find in the world but which we can give
to the world (see T-13.VI.11:12).
As Stephen Levine has written, we cannot own love, but we can be owned by it. And that is
what is being said here.
We may think that most of our choices are not so monumental as all this. But they are all this
very choice. In every moment we are choosing to give ourselves to love, to be taken over by it
and used by it, or we are choosing to withhold ourselves from it, in fear. To choose love is the
only guiltless choice.
It isnt complex. Complexity is nothing but a screen of smoke, which hides the very simple
fact that no decision can be difficult (12:3). It is the decision: Let me be love in this situation
and nothing else. No, we dont know how to do that. That is why we must come with empty
hands and open minds (13:1). Holding on to nothing, unencumbered (14:1) by any lesser values.
And with no preconceptions about what being love meansopen minds. In the words of a poem
by the Christian poetess Amy Carmichael:
Love
through
Make
me
Through
which,
As though it were not there.
me,
Love
like
Thy
unhindered,
of
clear
colors
God.
air,
pass
LESSON 134 MAY 14

Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
Purpose: To practice true forgiveness, that you may free your brother, free yourself from
the chains youve wrapped around you, and lay down footsteps to light the way for those
who follow you.
This exercise requires some explanation. First, Would I condemn myself for doing this?
does not mean If I did this, would I condemn myself? Rather, it means Do I really want to
condemn myself for doing this (because if I condemn him I will condemn myself)? This sort of
would you? is found throughout the Course. For instance, Would you know the Will of God
for you? (T-8.V.5:1), which means Do you want to know the Will of God for you?
Ask the Holy Spirit, Who understands the meaning of forgiveness, Let me perceive
forgiveness as it is.
Then choose a brother to forgive, under His direction.
Now catalogue this persons sins, one by one (but keep from dwelling on any one of
them). With each one, ask yourself, Would I condemn myself for doing this?because
when you condemn this brother for this specific sin, you hold yourself to the same
standard. You search your mind for a similar sin in you, and then condemn yourself for it,
just as you condemned him. To really make this meaning go in, you may want to do an
expanded version of the question. Say, Do I want to condemn myself for [name the sin
you see in him; e.g., being overly judgmental of others]? I will not lay this chain upon
myself. I will not condemn him for doing this. As you name his particular sin, make it
general enough that it covers something you tend to do.
If you practice well, you will feel a burden lifting from you, perhaps even from your chest,
as if chains are being lifted from your chest. Spend the remainder of the practice period
feeling liberated from the chains you tried to lay on your brother, but laid instead on
yourself.
Frequent reminders: In everything you do.
Remember, No one is crucified alone, and yet no one can enter Heaven by himself. This
means, when you crucify your brother, you crucify yourself as well. And when you set him free,
you open the gates of Heaven to both of you.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to attack yourself by condemning
another.
Say, Let me perceive forgiveness as it is. Would I accuse myself of doing this? I will not lay
this chain upon myself. This is obviously a miniature version of the longer practice period.
Commentary
This lesson contains a very focused discussion about what it means to forgive. It deserves
not only careful practice as a Workbook lesson, but careful study, as a separate exercise when you
have more time. Several of these longer Workbook lessons fall into that category.
The main teaching of this lesson is that forgiveness, to be true, must be fully justified. It
applies only to what is false. Sin, if real, cannot be forgiven (5:34). True forgiveness sees the
nothingness of sins. It looks on them with quiet eyes, and merely says to them, My brother,
what you think is not the truth (7:5).
The lesson itself explains that main idea very well. I want to focus instead on the results of
forgiveness: the relief it brings to us. Forgiveness is a deep relief to those who offer it (6:1). It
wakens us from our own dreams. Even if you dont understand all the Course theory behind
forgiveness, when you forgive, when you let go of your grievances against someone, you can
experience the lifting of a tremendous burden from your own heart. You may not understand why
that happens, but you can know that it is true. As the lesson puts it: You will begin to sense a
lifting up, a lightening of weight across your chest, a deep and certain feeling of relief (16:3).
Forgiving is a very happy feeling. Why is that? Because, without realizing it, when we
condemn someone else for their sins we are secretly condemning ourselves. By condemning
another, I am saying, Sin is real and deserves to be punished. If I subscribe to that principle,
then I must also believe that when I sin, I too deserve to be punished. My form of sin may not
be the one I condemn in my brother; indeed, I may be accusing him, or her, of something I think I
would never do, and I imagine that because I am free from that particular fault, somehow my
condemnation of another will purchase my salvation. But I have supported the principle that sin is
real and deserves punishment. Inevitably I know, deep within me, that I, too, have sinned in
some way. And if I have, I have nothing to hope for but punishment. What I apply to my brother
applies to me as well.
When we are tempted to condemn someone, the lesson advises us to ask ourselves, Would I
accuse myself of doing this? (9:3) or Would I condemn myself for doing this? (15:3). The
words would I are meant in the sense of do I want to? The question is not If I did what this
person has done, would I judge myself for it? Because, if I am judging the other for it, I
definitely would judge myself if I did the same thing. We usually reserve our sternest judgment
for things we think we would never do, precisely because we would condemn ourselves for doing
them. When we read this question, for instance, and think of a child molester, if we understand
the question incorrectly we may answer, I certainly would condemn myself if I did that!
What the question is really asking is, Do I want to make sin real and insist it must be
punished? Because if I do, I am condemning myself to punishment also. We are laying chains of
imprisonment on ourselves when we lay them on anyone (17:5; 16:4).
This is why releasing my brother from his chains brings relief to me. I am liberating myself
from the principle that sin is real and must be punished when I liberate this other. And what a
relief it is! The one who forgives, and offers escape to this other, now sees that escape is possible
for himself as well:
He does not have to fight to save himself. He does not have to kill the dragons
which he thought pursued him. Nor need he erect the heavy walls of stone and iron
doors he thought would make him safe. He can remove the ponderous and useless
armor made to chain his mind to fear and misery. His step is light, and as he lifts his
foot to stride ahead a star is left behind, to point the way to those who follow him.
(12:15)
Forgiveness is a deep relief.
LESSON 135 MAY 15

If I defend myself I am attacked.
Purpose: To lay aside your plans and learn your part in Gods plan; to bring closer the
time when your light, joined with the light of your followers, will light up the world with
joy. This is a crucial day in your awakening; it is Eastertime in your salvation. This is
another of the Workbooks giant strides (26:4).
Repeat, If I defend myself I am attacked. But in defenselessness I will be strong, and I will
learn what my defenses hide.
Then rest from all planning and all thought. Your plans have been walls that you erected to
shut out the Holy Spirits plan for your life. His plan is that you become a light (20:1)
whose followers (20:3) light up the world. So let go of your ideas about your life and
open your mind to His. Come without defenses and listen as He reveals to you the part for
you within the plan of God (25:5). He may just tell you plans for today, but those plans
will be part of His larger plan for you. Do not fear that these plans will ask sacrifice from
you. They are the way to your release. And everything you need to accomplish them will be
given you. Since this is an exercise in listening to Gods Voice, remember the training
youve received in listening for guidance: wait in mental silence, wait in confidence, and
periodically repeat your request.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel tempted to make your own plans.
Repeat, This is my Eastertime. And I would keep it holy. I will not defend myself, because the
Son of God needs no defense against the truth of his reality. This is long enough that youll
probably need to write it on a card if youre going to use it.
Remarks: As you go through the day, try not to shape and organize it according to what you see
as your needs. Instead, if you listen to His plans and follow them, you will find inconceivable
happiness, and the whole world will celebrate your Eastertime with you (26:4).
Commentary
If I defend myself I am attacked. The general thought that heads this lesson states that all
forms of defense are actually witnesses to attack, or to your belief in attack. If you see a need for
a defense, you must be perceiving an attack.
The self you think you are is something so weak it needs defense; your true Self, which is
mind or spirit, needs no defense. This lesson shows that when you make plans whose purpose is
to defend your small self (the image you have made of yourself, comprised of your ego and its
expression, the body), you are indirectly attacking your true Self, because you perceive that Self
as attacking you.
The Course continually teaches us that all attack is self-attack (T-10.II.5:1; line not in First
Edition). It says we constantly attack ourselves, but we are blind to the fact. We think the attack
comes from somewhere outside ourselves, and never realize that it stems from our own thoughts
of guilt. Over and over, the Course tells us to look at what we are doing and thinking, to
recognize the self-attack, and to choose to let go of it.
Lesson 135 applies this general principle to a particular area of our lives that we have
probably not thought of as self-attack: planning. First, it points out that all defenses are a form of
self-attack because they make the illusion of threat real, and then attempt to handle threats as if
they were real. It asks us to look closely at what we think we are defending, how we defend it,
and against what.
Second, it identifies our plans as a form of defense. Plans are a form of defense against
anticipated future threats. If that is so, the reverse is true: All defenses are the plans you
undertake to make against the truth (17:1). In other words, defenses and plans are the same
thing. When you set up a defense, you are making plans. All defenses are plans, and all selfinitiated plans are defenses.
In sum, making plans is a form of defense, and all defenses are attacks on myself. Therefore,
making plans is just another form of self-attack, to be noticed and abandoned.
Finally, the lesson discusses how a healed mind (11:1; 12:1) approaches life: not making
plans, but receiving plans from the Holy Spirit, with full present trust in the guidance of the Holy
Spirit, and with confidence in His plan. Only this approach allows for change, healing, and
miracles to take place in the present moment.
A healed mind does not plan. It carries out the plans that it receives through
listening to Wisdom that is not its own. (11:12)
This does not mean that a healed mind does not follow a plan. It follows a plan; it just doesnt
make the plan. It receives the plan through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In simple language, the healed mind listens to the Holy Spirit and does what He directs,
instead of listening to the egos plans, which are always based on fear and take a defensive
posture. The egos plans are always trying to protect and preserve the body; often, the plans of the
Holy Spirit seem to be unconcerned about the body at all. The Holy Spirit has very different
priorities.
When the Course is talking about a healed mind it is talking about the goal of the Course
the state your mind will be in after you graduate from the Course. This isnt something you
simply step into after reading a few lessons; this is what you will be like after working with the
Course and completely integrating it into your life.1
. The thoughts expressed above have been taken almost directly from a booklet I wrote, A Healed Mind
Does Not Plan, published by Circle Publishing. This is a booklet that deals entirely with the subject of
planning and decision making as taught in the Course.
LESSON 136 MAY 16

Sickness is a defense against the truth.
Begin with this healing prayer: Sickness is a defense against the truth. I will accept the
truth of what I am, and let my mind be wholly healed today. With this prayer, you are
asking that your mind no longer employ sickness to prove to you that you are a body.
Instead, you ask for the realization of who you really are, which is spirit.
After making this invitation, keep your mind silent and alert, poised to receive the answer to
your request. Open your mind and let healing flash across it. Let all the purposes that you
gave the body be wiped clean, as the truth of who you are dawns upon your clear and open
mind.
Remarks: If you practiced well, your body will have no feeling. It will feel neither ill nor
well, neither good nor bad. It will have no power to tell the mind how to feel. Only its
usefulness will remain. Indeed, its usefulness will increase, for it was the purposes you
laid on it that made it weak, vulnerable, and sickly. As these are laid aside, the strength
the body has will always be enough to serve all truly useful purposes (18:2). You must,
however, protect this state with careful watching, responding quickly to any thoughts
which imply that you are a body. For these thoughts make the mind sick, and it will then
attack the body with sickness.
Response to temptation: Whenever you have attack thoughts, judgments, or make plans.
Give instant remedy (20:1) by saying, I have forgotten what I really am, for I mistook my
body for myself. Sickness is a defense against the truth. But I am not a body. And my mind cannot
attack. So I cannot be sick. The last lines hearken back to a Text passage, which says that there
are two premises necessary for sickness to occur: that the body is for attack, and that you are a
body (T-8.VIII.5:7). If you can truly accept that you are unable to attack, and that you are not a
body, then sickness is inconceivable (T-8.VIII.5:8).
Commentary
This is another of those lessons that will repay careful study; there is a lot of good stuff in
here!
The main thought is plainly stated: Sickness is a means we use to defend ourselves against the
truth. It is a decision we make, chosen quite deliberately when truth gets too close for comfort, in
order to distract ourselves and root ourselves once again in the body. On the bright side, then,
when we get sick we can congratulate ourselves that we must have been letting in the truth if the
ego is getting this scared of it!
For instance, in 1995 Robert and I gave a weekend intensive on We Are the Light of the
World: Accepting Our Function. During that weekend I found myself being deeply impressed by
the message the Course was conveying to us all. The day after the intensive I got diarrhea. Now,
there is little that brings you down to a body level like having to run to the toilet all the time! But
I actually found myself being amused by it. How like my ego! I thought. What a predictable
reaction! Instead of having the desired (by the ego) effect, it had the opposite; it served to
remind me of the truth instead of distracting me from it. And guess what? It very quickly went
away. Defenses that do not work at all are automatically discarded (T-12.I.9:8).
Most people react to being told that they choose sickness by flatly denying it. This is not
something that is easy to discover. The lesson says our choice is doubly shielded by oblivion
(5:2). We choose first to hide the pesky truth that has been nibbling away at our delusions of
separation and of the physical nature of our identity by making ourselves sick; that is the original
decision we made. We then choose to forget we did it; the first shield of oblivion. Finally, we
forget that we chose to forget, the second shield. All of this happens in a split second (see 3:4;
4:25:1). In that split second we are conscious of what we are doing, but the shields are up so
quickly that the whole process seems to be unconscious (3:3).
We need to remember what we have forgotten, the deliberate forgetting of our choice. We can
remember if we are willing to reconsider the decision which is doubly shielded (5:2), that is,
the decision to run away from the truth, the decision that truth is something against which we
need to defend ourselves. This is why the exercise for the day is:
Sickness is a defense against the truth. I will accept the truth of what I am, and let
my mind be wholly healed today. (15:67)
The antidote to the whole process is not attempting to heal the sick body, but to accept the
truth about myself, to let my mind be healed. Sickness is a side effect of rejecting the truth about
myself; the cure is to accept the truth instead, to reconsider the original decision which, although
veiled from conscious awareness, must be there for sickness to have occurred.
The lesson warns us, in the final paragraph: Do not be confused about what must be healed
(20:2). It isnt the body that needs healing; it is the mind. This agrees with the Text, which tells
us:
When the ego tempts you to sickness do not ask the Holy Spirit to heal the body, for
this would merely be to accept the egos belief that the body is the proper aim of
healing. Ask, rather, that the Holy Spirit teach you the right perception of the body,
for perception alone can be distorted.
(T-8.IX.1:56)
It is that original decision to reject the truth of what we are, because it seems to threaten what
we think we are, that must be questioned and reversed.
The lesson says some rather incredible things about the body of a person whose mind is
healed, and whose body has been accepted as nothing but a tool to be used to heal the world. The
bodys strength will always be enough to serve all truly useful purposes. The bodys health is
fully guaranteed, because it is not limited by time, by weather or fatigue, by food and drink, or
any laws you made it serve before (18:23). If a body is not limited by time it does not age. Not
limited by weather means it needs no clothing or shelter. Not limited by fatigue, it needs no sleep.
Not limited by food or drink, it does not need to eat. Who of us can say this is true of us?
Perhaps we have experienced a few glimmers of such brilliant light, fatigue thrown off, lack of
food overlooked for a time. But no one I know is at this stage of perfect trust. We have a ways to
go, you and I. So I do not think we need be surprised when a cold attacks, or the flu gets us down,
or even if something more serious happens. Were still afraid of the truthbig surprise! Rather
than thinking, Oh, why did I do this to myself? What is wrong with me that I am still getting
sick? let me say, Oops! I made a mistake. I forgot what I really am and mistook my body for
myself. Silly me! I just need to remember that I am not a body; this isnt what I am. The
sickness of the body can then become a catalyst for the healing of my mind, instead of a
defense against the truth.
LESSON 137 MAY 17

When I am healed I am not healed alone.
Purpose: To let your mind be healed, that you may send healing to the world, aware that
you and the world are healed as one.
Longer: Twomorning and evening, for ten minutes.
Say, When I am healed I am not healed alone. And I would share my healing with the
world, that sickness may be banished from the mind of Gods one Son, Who is my only
Self.
Then rest in stillness. And as you rest, let the Word of God come in to heal your insane
thoughts, so that this healing can go forth from you to the world. Once the healing comes
into your mind, you may try to muster a general feeling of giving it out to everyone, or you
may pick particular people to send it to. You may even feel that certain individuals are
being placed in your mind to send healing to, perhaps even total strangers.
Remarks: This exercise will prepare you for the hourly practice.
Shorter: Every hour on the hour, for one minute.
Remember your purpose today by repeating, When I am healed I am not healed alone. And I
would bless my brothers, for I would be healed with them, as they are healed with me.
Remarks: Is it not worth a minute to receive the gift of everything?
Commentary
Although this lesson has a great deal to say about healing in general, its primary message is
that healing, which is our function in the world, is essentially a phenomenon that is shared, and
that to heal is to share. Healing restores oneness. Those who are healed become the instruments
of healing (11:1).
Sickness is a retreat from others, and a shutting off of joining (1:3). It is isolation (2:1).
Healing reverses that; it is a move toward others, a joining, and a union. The healing being
spoken of in this lesson is a healing of the mind, and not necessarily of the body. Our function is
to let our minds be healed, that we may carry healing to the world, exchangingseparation for
the peace of God (13:1).
Whatever the state of my body, it cannot interfere with this function. My body cannot restrain
or limit my mind. Minds that were walled off within a body [become] free to join with other
minds, to be forever strong (8:6). My task today, and every day, is to allow my mind to be
healed, and to allow healing to flow through my mind to other minds, carrying healing to the
world. That can occur whatever state my body is in. I do not normally realize how powerful my
mind is, and how extensive the effects of its healing can be. And as you let yourself be healed,
you see all those around you, or who cross your mind, or whom you touch or those who seem to
have no contact with you, healed along with you (10:1).
As I open my mind to healing today, I realize that whatever the state of my body, what is
opposed to God does not exist (11:3). When I refuse to accept sickness as my reality, my mind
becomes a haven where the weary can remain to rest (11:3). Sickness is just a special case of I
am my body. So what we are called on to do is not just to refuse the limitations of sickness, but
to refuse the limits of the body altogether. Today, I choose to let thoughts of healinggo forth
from what is healed to what must yet be healed (12:6). I set aside some time, ten minutes in the
morning and evening, and a minute every hour, to give my mind over to its function of sharing
healing thoughts with the world. Reach out to all your brothers, and touch them with the touch
of Christ (T-13.VI.8:2).
Today, I want to let healing be through me (15:1). I want to be a channel, a channel of
blessing to the world. What other purpose could bring me such joy?
LESSON 138 MAY 18

Heaven is the decision I must make.
Purpose: To make the choice for Heaven, the choice that time was made to help us
make (7:1).
Longer: Twothe first and last moments of your day, for five minutes.
Use these five minutes to make a firm, definitive choice for Heaven. Begin by saying,
Heaven is the decision I must make. I make it now, and will not change my mind, because it is
the only thing I want. Then spend the rest of the time bringing your mind to a place where you
truly mean these words. This will probably involve bringing to light unconscious beliefs that life
is a terrifying exercise in which all hope is finally swallowed up in death, and in which death is,
sadly, the only escape from conflict. Bring this belief system to light and call on Heavens help,
and you will see that this view is totally invalid, nothing but an appearance of the truth (11:2).
Then set this hellish view of life, divested of all reality, next to the alternative: Heaven. If you do,
you will see that choosing Heaven is so obvious and natural that it is no choice at all.
Shorter: Hourly, for a brief quiet time.
Consciously reaffirm the choice you made in the morning by saying, Heaven is the decision I
must make. I make it now, and will not change my mind, because it is the only thing I want.
There is a real emphatic note in these lines, so you might want to emphasize must and now
and will not.
Remarks: Devote the evening practice to reaffirming the choice you made at the beginning of
the day and reinforced every hour of the day. By ending in this way, you make the entire day
about the choice for Heaven.
Commentary
The lesson makes some stark contrasts between this world and creation. One is a realm of
duality, in which opposition is part of being real (2:2). The other is a realm of unity, of perfect
oneness: Creation knows no opposite (2:1). This is a classic discussion about what can be
called duality and nonduality.
Nonduality, or oneness, is what is real. Where there is only oneness there can be no choice,
because there is nothing between which to choose. If oneness is reality, then choice, any choice,
is an illusion and nothing more. Choice is impossible, inconceivable. That is the reality.
Within our dream, however, choice is not only possible; it is inevitable, it is life. Within this
world, truth cannot enter because it would be met only with fear; the choicelessness of oneness
seems the ultimate threat to a mind that thinks duality is all there is. Therefore, in this world, we
are learning to make one, final choice. It is a choice to end all choices, the choice between
illusion and reality. Time exists for nothing but this choice, to give us time to make it. We are
being asked to choose Heaven instead of hell.
Years ago, before I encountered the Course, I had been through a lot of things, read a lot of
books, and attended a lot of seminars. I sat down one day to try to distill, in writing, what I had
learned from life. I was writing for my sons, then in their teens. I recall quite clearly that at that
point in my life, I felt I was only sure of two things:
One, you can trust the Universe.
Two, happiness is a decision I make.
I wont bother to comment on the first item here, but the second is something very
fundamental to the Course, the realization that nothing outside my mind makes me happy or
unhappy; my happiness is entirely the result of my own choice.
When I first read this lesson in the Workbook I was stunned by the similarity of the concept,
even the very words. Heaven is the decision I must make. Perhaps the fact that I had arrived at
this conclusion on my own was one of the reasons I took so rapidly to the Course; it confirmed
what, to me, was the essence of my own personal wisdom, words that as far as I knew were
entirely my own. Here was this book, saying the same thing. In saying that we must choose
Heaven, and that this is the decision we have to make, the Course is saying that learning this is
what life is all about. It is the choice that time was made to help us make (7:1). It is a choice, a
decision, that accepts the total responsibility of the mind for the way it perceives reality.
But the lesson is saying far more than this. The discussion of duality and nonduality in this
lesson explains clearly why so many of us, indeed most of us, experience such tearing, inner
conflict over accepting the simple truth. We have become convinced that opposites and conflict
are not simply part of life, they are life. They are reality to us. Life is seen as conflict (7:4).
This belief shows up, for instance, in the somewhat frivolous objection that Heaven, where
nothing changes and there are no opposites, sounds boring. We are addicted to the drama, devoted
to the delicious agony of indecision. To be without choices, to us, seems like death. To finally
and completely resolve the conflict appears to us like the end of life itself.
Yet that is what the Course promises and asks of us: the end of all conflict. When this truly
dawns on our minds, we often recoil in mortal terror.
These mad beliefs can gain unconscious hold of great intensity and grip the mind
with terror and anxiety so strong that it will not relinquish its ideas about its own
protection. It must be saved from salvation.
(8:12)
It is unconscious; we do not realize what is going on. But we literally run away from the truth,
and shrink from total love, not knowing what we are doing. Virtually everyone who works with
the Course over any length of time experiences something like this in their life. It seems as
though we are being asked to die. And in a sense, we are: die to life as we have known it.
The only way out is through. Through fear to love. Heaven is chosen consciously (9:1). For
a decision to be conscious, both alternatives must be seen clearly. We have to see hell in the plain
light of day, as well as Heaven. Our fear of hell, our terror of destruction, our agony of guilt must
be raised to understanding, to be judged again, this time with Heavens help (9:3). It was our
own minds desire for an alternative to Heaven that made hell, and we must understand that
duality is a beast of our own makingand that our desire had no real effect.
Who can decide between the clearly seen and the unrecognized? Yet who can fail to make a
choice between alternatives when only one is seen as valuable; the other as a wholly worthless
thing, a but imagined source of guilt and pain? (10:23). Our making of duality has seemed like
such a monstrous thing; buried in our unconscious, it was made enormous, vengeful, pitiless
with hate (11:4), but when it is brought into conscious awareness, now it is recognized as but a
foolish, trivial mistake (11:5). Our guilt over it is all that holds it in place. When we look at it
again, this time with Heavens help, the choice to let it go becomes the only possible decision
we can make. And in that decision, we are released.
LESSON 139 MAY 19

I will accept Atonement for myself.
Purpose: To accept the truth about yourself, and go your way rejoicing in the endless
Love of God (10:2).

Longer: Two timesmorning and eveningfor five minutes.
Begin by reviewing your mission: I will accept Atonement for myself. For I remain as God
created me.
Then go into a meditation aimed at reconnecting with the knowledge of who you are. You
havent lost this knowledge. It is still there, deep within your memory. You may want to
picture this knowledge as a light at the very center of your mind, and then focus on sinking
down and inward to make contact with it. Increase your motivation to reach this knowledge
by realizing that you can remember it for everyone (11:5). Whenever your mind wanders
off, be sure to call it back by repeating the opening lines.
Shorter: Hourly, for several minutes.
Do a shorter version of the longer practice (begin by repeating, I will accept Atonement for
myself. For I remain as God created me). Lay aside all distracting thoughts. Let all false beliefs
about yourself be cleared away, and learn that the chains that would hide your Self from your
awareness are nothing but fragile cobwebs.
Commentary
What does it mean to accept the Atonement for myself? This lesson puts an end to any idea
that this is a selfish notion, or that it means my only concern is myself, or my personal happiness.
Nothing could be clearer than this: It is more than just our happiness alone we came to gain.
What we accept as what we are proclaims what everyone must be, along with us (9:45).
To accept the Atonement for myself means to accept the truth of what I am, to decide to
accept ourselves as God created us (1:2). And what am I? I already know, in my heart of hearts,
but I resist knowing. This lesson is magnificent in its trenchant dissection of the insanity of the
way we question our Identity. It questions all our questioning. It raises all our doubts to doubt. It
denies the possibility of denial. It belittles our thoughts of littleness. How can we be anything
except what we are? How can we not know what we are? The only thing that can be surely
known by any living thing is what it is (2:3).
God created us as extensions of His Love. That is our mission; it is what we are. To accept the
Atonement is to accept this truth about ourselves. To accept the Atonement is to begin to function
as Gods Love in the world.
Every time we refuse to see the magnificence in another we are denying our own. We look on
others with less than love because we refuse to see how much we merit it. We are Gods
representatives on earth; accepting the Atonement is to accept our mission. We are here to restore
the grandeur of what we all are to every mindnot just to our own. This grandness, this
magnificent inclusiveness, this divine generosity is our very being. We are the open heart that
embraces the world, remembering how much a part of us is every mind (11:6).
In us our Fathers Love can contain them all. Our heart is big enough for all the world.
This is Who we are. Today, let me remember. Today, let me accept my holy aim. Today, let
me know myself as part of this great throbbing, all-embracing Heart of God.
LESSON 140 MAY 20

Only salvation can be said to cure.
Purpose: To seek healing for the mind, not the body, by hearing the Voice of healing,
which God placed inside you, so close that you cannot lose it.
Longer: Two timesat beginning and end of dayfor five minutes.
Let all your interfering thoughts be laid aside as one, for there are all equally meaningless.
With empty hands, lifted heart and listening mind, pray, Only salvation can be said to
cure. Speak to us, Father, that we may be healed. You are asking that the Voice of healing
speak to you, to heal your mind, the source of all sickness.
Then, in the silence of all thought, listen for Gods Voice, Which will cure all ills,
regardless of their size or shape. Feel His salvation blanket you with protection and deep
peace, allowing no illusion to disturb your holy mind.
Remarks: You will succeed to the degree you realize there are no meaningful distinction
among illusions. They are all unreal. That is why they can be cured.
Shorter: As the hour strikes, for a minute.
Do a short version of the longer practice period. Say, Only salvation can be said to cure.
Speak to us, Father, that we may be healed. Then listen in joyous silence, and hear Gods
answer.
Commentary
The cure that the Course is talking about is a healing of the mind, not of the body.
The body needs no healing. But the mind that thinks it is a body is sick indeed!
(T-25.In.3:12)
The lesson is the mind was sick that thought the body could be sick.
28.II.11:7)
(T-
To seek a cure in the physical realm, by any means (even New Age means) is what the Course
would call magic. (Calling it magic doesnt mean we cant use it if our fear level requires it;
the Course advocates a compromise approach in such circumstances. See T-2.IV.45 and T2.V.2, which I discuss a bit later.) The Atonement heals the mind that thinks the body can be sick.
This is no magic (6:4).
This lesson applies to bodily sickness, but it applies equally to any apparent problem in this
material world: financial lack, loneliness, and so on. These problems all occur within the dream,
and finding a magic formula within the dream is never the solution (2:2). We are curing the
symptom and not the disease. The root of the problem is within the mind. Let us not try today to
seek to cure what cannot suffer sickness (7:1). Our problems are not physical in nature. We will
not be misled today by what appears to us as sick (9:1). So do we lay aside our amulets
[crystals? religious medallions?], our charms and medicines, our chants and bits of magic in
whatever form they take (10:1).
Early in the Text, Jesus makes it clear that magic is not evil. It just doesnt really work. It is
only a stop-gap, an attempt to rid ourselves of symptoms without really curing the disease. Yet
sometimes that is the best we can do. We have a headache, and with a splitting headache it is
often difficult to quiet the mind and peacefully meditate ourselves well. So we use magic. We
take the aspirin; there is no shame in this. Only let us not deceive ourselves that we have really
done anything to cure the disease; we have simply masked the symptom. If you are afraid to use
the mind to heal, you should not attempt to do so (T-2.V.2:2). If our fear level is high, a
compromise approach may be necessary (T-2.IV.4:47).
Only salvation can be said to cure. The magic of this world can mask symptoms but not
cure. The mind that brings illusions to the truth is really changed. There is no change but this
(7:45). Today we are asked to practice just this: bringing our illusions to the truth, allowing our
guilt to be removed from our minds. This cures, and nothing else. There is no place where He
[God] is not (5:5), and this includes our minds. Sin would keep Him out, but since He is
everywhere, sin cannot be anywhere (see 5:17); sin cannot be in our minds. This is the thought
that cures (6:1). Sin, and therefore sickness, cannot be real because God is in us; He has not left
us, and what we think is sin cannot be so. In our awareness of His presence, guilt disappears, and
with it, the cause of sickness.
LESSON 141 MAY 21

My mind holds only what I think with God.
(121) Forgiveness is the key to happiness.
(122) Forgiveness offers everything I want.
See Review IV practice instructions.
Commentary
Forgiveness really does offer us everything we want, and without true forgiveness, happiness
just isnt possible. We may not consciously and completely believe this as yet, but our right mind
believes it, and always has. Forgiveness operates not just on what I think the world did to me (in
reality it did nothing to me), but also on what it did not do that I wanted it to. The older one gets,
the more disillusioned one becomes about the world. We speak of people becoming worldweary and cynical as they age, because despite the high hopes we had when younger, despite the
brilliant promises the world seemed to make to us, it disappointed us. It did not make us happy.
We discover that the world isnt fair, that good people dont always succeed, that we dont always
get what we want. And even when we do, it isnt as good as we had hoped.
Forgiveness involves recognizing that we are the ones who laid these expectations on the
world, and we are the ones who made it to disappoint us. We asked the impossible; nothing in this
world will ever satisfy us or make us happy. Happiness is to be found in our native state and there
alone, that is, in union with God and with the Sonship. To forgive the world means to stop
begrudging its imperfections. We cannot blame the world for our pain, nor can we blame it for its
failure to make us happy. We cannot blame it at all. When at last our teeth unclench, our fists
relax, and our breath eases as we release these deep-seated grievances, what we discover is our
own inherent happiness, there all along, but masked by our unforgiveness.
LESSON 142 MAY 22

(123) I thank my Father for His gifts to me.
124) Let me remember I am one with God.
Commentary
That my mind holds only what I think with God is not something I have to work at to attain. It
is not a thought to be repeated like a purgative, to drive out opposing thoughts, with the undertone
of I have to make my mind have only Gods thoughts in it. That my mind holds only what I
think with God is a fact, and represents the truth of What you are and What your Father is (WpI.rIV.In.2:3).
As we were told early in the Workbook, when we think that we are thinking without God, we
are not really thinking at all; our mind is actually blank. While thoughtless ideas preoccupy your
mind, the truth is blocked. Recognizing that your mind has been merely blank, rather than
believing that it is filled with real ideas, is the first step to opening the way to vision (WpI.8.3:23). Now we are emphasizing that the presence of these thoughts means that you are
not thinking (W-pI.10.3:2).
The Thoughts of God that fill my mind in reality are my Fathers gift to me. I am opening my
mind, today, to His Thoughts. What I ordinarily think of as thoughts that interfere or conflict with
Gods Thoughts are like the static on a radio that interferes with the actual signal. They are not
thoughts; they are static, they are noise. The signal is still there, but the static needs to be tuned
out so that the signal can come through. The truth about me is that I am one with God; His Mind
is my mind, His Thoughts are my thoughts. I am not something other than what He is. This is
the truth of What you are and What your Father is.
To say that my mind holds only what I think with God can be a joyous affirmation of the truth.
It can remind me of His gifts to me, and remind me that I am one with Him. That in me which
seems contrary to God, distant from God, or opposed to God, is not who I am; it is not my reality.
It is without meaning. There is nothing opposed to God in my mind. Another way of putting that
is that what seems to be in me, opposing God, is actually nothing; it is an illusion or a
hallucination, with no power and no strength of its own. It is empowered only when I believe in
it. Today, I choose to deny that anything not of God has any power over me. I choose to
remember what my reality is. I choose to remember that I am one with God.
LESSON 143 MAY 23

(125) In quiet I receive Gods Word today.
(126) All that I give is given to myself.
Commentary
Gods Thought creates. We were created when God thought of us; His Mind extended
outward, and what was in His Mind extended into and became our mind. Speaking of the main
theme thought, My mind holds only what I think with God, the review introduction says, It is
this thought by which the Father gave creation to the Son, establishing the Son as co-creator with
Himself (W-pI.rIV.In.2:4).
Our minds must therefore be like His, creating like His by extending our thoughts outward.
We are Gods Thoughts, and His Thoughts have His nature:
As Gods creative Thought proceeds from Him to you, so must your creative thought
proceed from you to your creations. Only in this way can all creative power extend
outward. Gods accomplishments are not yours, but yours are like His. He created
the Sonship and you increase it. You have the power to add to the Kingdom, though
not to add to the Creator of the Kingdom. You claim this power when you become
vigilant only for God and His Kingdom. By accepting this power as yours you have
learned to remember what you are.
(T-7.I.2:39)
As we receive Gods Word today, so we must give it. If we receive it we will give it, because
what we receive is a thought of sharing. We were created by this sharing of thought, this
extending of Gods Self; sharing, or giving ourselves, is our heritage, the essence of what we are.
In the first thought we review for today are the words I receive; in the second thought are the
words I give.
Accepting or remembering what we are means realizing we are beings who extend, who give,
who share. Created by Love, we are lovers. This is why the Course places such stress on
accepting our function as saviors of the world; in accepting this, we are accepting our Self as God
created It. We are merely taking our place in the creative process, choosing no longer to block the
flow of love from God to us, and through us to the world.
To create is to love. Love extends outward simply because it cannot be contained.
(T-7.I.3:34)
In quiet today I receive Gods Word, which is the affirmation of His Love for all His
creations. I open myself to acknowledge that Love, receiving it for myself. And then I step forth
to give as I have received, knowing that in giving to my sisters and my brothers, I am indeed
giving that Love to myself. My giving of it is my receiving of it. By my words, my thoughts, my
expressions, and my attitudes I communicate to all around me the Word I have received: You,
too, are loved. You, too, are loving. You, too, are the expression and channel of the Love of
God.
LESSON 144 MAY 24

(127) There is no love but Gods.
(128) The world I see holds nothing that I want.
Commentary
How is it that the theme thought for the review, that my mind holds only what I think with
God, fully guarantees salvation to the Son (W-pI.rIV.In.2:5)? It means that there is nothing in
my mind that opposes God. It means that what seems to be contrary to Gods thoughts, the things
I see within myself that are ungodlike or unloving, are misperceptions of myself. It means that
there is nothing in reality that can keep me from completion as Gods offspring. The enemies and
obstacles that seem to stand in the waymost especially the ones that seem to be part of meare
not real, and have no substance.
If there is no love but Gods, and my mind holds only what I think with Him, then the
emptiness I sometimes feel within myself, the lack of love, the longing for a fully satisfying love
that never fails and is always there, something I can depend upon in every situation, will be
fulfilled. Thinking that I am seeking for love in this world is simply a mistake. The love I am
looking for is within me, right in my own mind. I am not looking for anything in this world,
although I so often think I am. I am looking for something I already have, but have denied. And
the way to find it is to give it. To be it.
Love is not something I can possess. Love is something that can possess me, and in that
possession is satisfaction. The attempt to collect love, to possess it and to hoard it brings me pain.
My joy can be found in pouring love out, sharing it, blessing the world with it. To recognize that
my mind holds only this love, and to open it to the world, is all that I truly want. This, and only
this, will bring me happiness.
The words The world I see holds nothing that I want could be spoken in despair. The
unspoken thought behind them might be, Nothing here is good enough for me. Nothing here
satisfies, and I will therefore never be satisfied. Or, these words can be spoken with joy. If I am
driving a brand new car, exactly the kind I most want, equipped with every accessory I have ever
desired, and I pass an auto junkyard, I can look at that junkyard and say, That junkyard holds
nothing that I want. I can speak the words with satisfaction. I can say the same thing as I pass a
luxury car dealership, because I already have what I want. Likewise, if I already have what I want
in God, there is no despair in the words This world holds nothing that I want. My wants are all
filled.
If there is no love but Gods, and He has imparted Himself, His very Thought, to my mind, I
can look calmly at the world and realize that there is nothing in it to compare with what I have. I
have an artesian well of love springing up in my heart. I can never lack for love. I am that very
love, and I see that same love in every being around me, springing from the same Source.
Love is all around me and within me, if I am only willing to see it. Let me look for Gods
Love today in everything I see, and let me rejoice every time I find it. Let me acknowledge it in
every smile. Let me give it every chance I have to do so. Let me encourage every spark of it in
others, and in myself. This is where salvation lies. This is my function and my happiness. And it
is guaranteed, because my mind holds only Gods loving Thoughts.
LESSON 145 MAY 25

(129) Beyond this world there is a world I want.
(130) It is impossible to see two worlds.
Commentary
Though the mind of Gods Son holds only what he thinks with God, Lack of forgiveness
blocks this thought from his awareness (W-pI.rIV.In.2:7). Therefore, the world I see is a world
shown to me by unforgiveness. It is the delusional system of those made mad by guilt (T13.In.2:2). The only thing that keeps up the illusion of this worlds reality, with its seeming
punishment, pain, sorrow, separation, and death, is a lack of forgiveness. Why does my body
seem to be what I am? Why does the pain I experience, mental, emotional, and physical, seem so
real? Why does loss seem so real? All of its reality originates and is sustained by a lack of
forgiveness in my mind. This is why, as Lesson 121 says, Forgiveness is the key to happiness
(W-pI.121.Heading).
There is a world I truly want, a world that lies beyond this world. The Course calls it the real
world. The real world is the state of mind in which the only purpose of the world is seen to be
forgiveness (T-30.V.1:1). The real world is attained simply by complete forgiveness of the old,
the world you see without forgiveness (T-17.II.5:1). My perception shifts from seeing the world
of pain to seeing the real world by means of one thing: forgiveness.
This is why it is impossible to see two worlds. Either my mind is forgiving, or it is not. Either
it condemns what it sees, or it accepts in merciful forgiveness. Let me begin within myself: how
unkind I am to myself in the way I think of myself! How merciless I am in judging my mistakes!
This harshness with myself is the origin of the harsh world I see.
There is within me, and within us all, a vast space of kindness, an enormity of heart that
embraces everything in love. This is the Mind I share with God. Within me, too, is a fearful child,
awash in pain, believing it has eternally damaged the universe. Let me turn with love to that hurt
part of myself and open my arms in comfort and gentle loving-kindness. My heart is big enough
to hold this pain instead of rejecting it. The love I share with God is vast enough to grant mercy to
myself. Let me not shut myself out of my own heart any longer. Let me take myself in, in warmth
and gentle welcome.
Let me look on the ones close to me, as well, with this same gentle, kind acceptance. Here is
the cure for my loneliness and pain, for there is nothing so painful as a closed heart. Indeed there
is no pain but this. Pain is constricting the heart. Pain is denying the love that I am. In this subtle,
internal gesture of rejection lies the origin of the world I see. In the undoing of this contraction of
pain is my salvation, and the salvation of the world. Here is the entry to the real world, a world
bright with love, radiant with hope, certain in its joyfulness.
Beyond this world, there is a world I want, and the key to open the door is forgiveness.
LESSON 146 MAY 26

(131) No one can fail who seeks to reach the truth.
(132) I loose the world from all I thought it was.
Commentary
Continuing to develop some ideas from the review about the theme thought, I was struck by
these words, from paragraphs 2 and 4 of the introduction:
Yet it is forever true [that my mind holds only what I think with God].
pI.rIV.In.2:8)
(W-
And yet, your mind holds only what you think with God. Your self-deceptions
cannot take the place of truth. No more than can a child who throws a stick into the
ocean change the coming and the going of the tides, the warming of the water by the
sun, the silver of the moon on it by night. (W-pI.rIV.In.4:1-3)
It is forever true that my mind holds only what it thinks with God. It was true when God
created me. It will be true when the journey is over and I am home with God. And it is true right
now. Forever true. The third paragraph talks about the many forms of unforgiveness, the way
unforgiveness is carefully concealed in my mind, the defenses of the ego, its illusions, its use of
self-deception to keep the mindless game going. Yet, despite this, My mind holds only what I
think with God. Nothing I do affects this fact. All the self-deception in the world can only hide
the truth, not change it. Your self-deceptions cannot take the place of truth (W-pI.rIV.In.4:2).
The image of the child throwing a stick into the ocean is just perfect. I remember as a very
young boy I used to go to Cape Cod. I would stand in the surf, with waves perhaps two or three
feet high breaking before me, and I would punch the waves, battling with them, driving my fist
through them. To me at the time, I was like a warrior, fighting against the ocean. Im sure the
ocean was deeply concerned! Im sure my mighty efforts slowed down the tide a bit, at least. Sure
they did. Right, of course.
Our rebellion against God has had about that much effect. In other words, none. The very
idea that we could alter Gods creation is as ludicrous as the child with the stick seriously
believing he had damaged the ocean when he threw the stick in.
This is why no one can fail who seeks to reach the truth. Because the truth is right there, in
my mind, where it always has been and forever will be. I cant fail to find it because I havent lost
it! Ive still got it.
I have looked upon this world and believed it to be a place where God is not. Ive seen what
appears to be an outrageous lack of love. Ive been deeply disappointed with the world. Well, I
loose the world from all I thought it was. I let all those impressions of the world drop away,
because it cant be what I thought it was, not if all of our minds still hold only what we think with
God. Something is wrong with this picture! Just when I thought I had begun to figure out the
world, along comes the Course and says, Not even warm. So I let my judgments about the
world fall away, and open my mind to be taught anew. Maybe, just maybe, the way Ive seen it
had something to do with what I was thinking about myself, with my belief that my mind was at
war with God. Maybe Ive seen a world at war with God because that is how I imagine my mind
to be, and Ive projected that onto the world. And maybe, if I let go of my foolish ideas about
myself, my image of the world will change, too. Im willing to give it a try.
LESSON 147 MAY 27

(133) I will not value what is valueless.
(134) Let me perceive forgiveness as it is.
Commentary
Let me, today, look at the things I value and reconsider them all. Why am I doing this
particular thing? What is it I am valuing here? The things we value are often quite foolish when
we look at them. For instance, when I have begun to experience the nourishing warmth of true
intimacy in relationship, nothing seems worth the closing off of that warmth. I recall reading
about a fundamentalist church that split up over the issue of whether or not it was sinful to plug in
a guitar. How, I wondered, could anyone value anything like that enough to shut out from their
hearts people who had once been close friends? So many relationships break up over issues that
seem just as trivial.
Forgiveness sees that nothing is worth shutting another child of God out of my heart. We have
so many absolutes in our consciousness, things we consider more important than love, more
important than unity, more important than our own peace of mind. Have I come, yet, to value
peace of mind above everything else? Have I come to the point where anything that interferes
with the flow of love through me is quickly discarded?
We need to become aware of the source of our own pain. We ache when we close down our
hearts. We ache when we refuse to forgive, when we latch on to the wrongs that have been done
to us and fondle them over and over, refusing to let them go. Love holds no grievances (WpI.68.Heading). Forgiveness is a gift to myself; it is a release from my own pain. What am I
valuing above the free flow of love, the warmth of union with my brother or sister? Let me
choose to no longer value this valueless thing, and choose to forgive.
Let me take five minutes this morning, and five minutes tonight, to open my mind and clear it
of all thoughts that would deceive (W-pI.rIV.In.5:2). Let me brush aside lesser values, and
remember that my mind holds Gods own thoughts. Let me value these thoughts above all else.
Let me rejoice in the congruence of my mind and Gods Mind, and recognize that this blending of
my mind with Gods, this sharing of His thoughts, is all that is truly valuable to me.
LESSON 148 MAY 28

(135) If I defend myself I am attacked.
(136) Sickness is a defense against the truth.
Commentary
What seem to me to be obstacles within my mind, out-of-control thoughts that hinder me on
my spiritual path, are my defenses against the truth. Nothing enters my mind without my
permission. No one is thinking thoughts in my mind except me (and God). As Lesson 26 taught
us, my attack thoughts are attacking my own invulnerability. I may think I am attacking someone
else, but I am really attacking my own Identity with God.
My ego has built up a clever, multi-layered defense system against the truth, and has hidden it
in obscurity and disguise. The process the Course sets before me is one of uncovering these
defenses, becoming aware of them, judging them as insane, and letting them go. All of them are
false, and what is false cannot affect what is true. Beneath all the camouflage of the ego, my mind
still holds only what I think with God. The rest is elaborate illusion with no real power to cause
any effects whatsoever.
Sickness is one very prominent and very effective defense system of the ego. In sickness,
something my mind has caused appears to be an attack from the outside, a visible or invisible
enemy with very visible effects on my body. It is something I must continually defend against,
and fight with every resource when it strikes. As soon as one disease is conquered, another seems
to arise with even more devastating effects. Most of mankind is not ready to accept that sickness
is only of the mind. I have not fully accepted it myself; my level of fear is still too high. So there
is every reason to continue to alleviate diseases in the ways we have been doing, yet we must
realize that we are only muting the symptoms and not eradicating the cause. Only as more and
more of us begin to realize that our minds hold only what we think with God, and that everything
which seems to be other than from God is an illusion of our creation, will the need for the
compromise approach of physical medicine begin to disappear.
Today in my practice I am contributing to the ultimate cure of every disease. As I search out
my own inner defenses, which are actually forms of self-attack, and let them go, I am
collaborating with the power of God to free mankind from disease, and not only disease, but
every such ego-based system of defense against the truth. As I clear my mind of all thoughts that
would deceive (W-pI.rIV.In.5:2), and place Gods Mind in charge of the thoughts I receive (WpI.rIV.In.5:4), I am not working alone. They [the thoughts] will not come from you alone, for
they will all be shared with Him (W-pI.rIV.In.6:1).
Let me, then, take the assigned times today to remember the true Source of all my thoughts,
and to allow the Holy Spirit to clear the cobwebs of deception from my mind. Let me take five
minutes in the morning to set the day along the lines which God appointed (W-pI.rIV.In.5:4).
Each time I do so, each day I remember my practice, I bring myself and all the world nearer the
day when all deception will vanish in the light.
LESSON 149 MAY 29

(137) When I am healed I am not healed alone.
(138) Heaven is the decision I must make.
Commentary
More and more, as we progress through the Workbook, what we are being asked to do is really
to commune with God. Or, to put it in more mundane terms, to get back into communication with
Him:
You taught yourself the most unnatural habit of not communicating with your
Creator. Yet you remain in close communication with Him, and with everything that
is within Him, as it is within yourself. Unlearn isolation through His loving
guidance, and learn of all the happy communication that you have thrown away but
could not lose. (T-14.III.18:13)
As we clear our minds of lesser thoughts and tune in to the thoughts we share with God,
thoughts will come to our minds, and they wont be from ourselves alone:
And so each one will bring the message of His Love to you, returning messages of
yours to Him. So will communion with the Lord of Hosts be yours, as He Himself
has willed it be. (W-pI.rIV.In.6:23)
Connecting in my mind with God connects me, as well, with my brothers and sisters, because
all of us are connected to the Source. I am not healed alone.
I could use a message of His Love today; how about you? And I wouldnt mind returning
my message of love to Him, as well. There are moments in a loving relationship where the love
just seems to be ping-ponging back and forth so fast you cant follow it, you cant even be sure
whose love is whose. It outstrips ping-ponging, in fact; it transcends the back-and-forth motion
implied by that analogy and becomes a constant, cyclical current of love, going both ways
simultaneously. You dont even feel as though you are doing anything; you are just caught in the
current, possessed by love. Sort of the way you might feel when you look into your beloveds
eyes and feel you are falling in, when the love coming back at you is almost too much to bear,
and the love you are feeling threatens to blow your circuits. Id like a moment like that today with
my Beloved. Well, Id like a moment like that this year. Ive had such moments, but they are rare.
Why are they rare? Having those moments of communion, which are a foretaste of Heaven, is
up to me. Its a decision I must make; no, the decision I must make:
The instant in which magnitude dawns upon you is but as far away as your desire for
it. As long as you desire it not and cherish littleness instead, by so much is it far from
you. By so much as you want it will you bring it nearer. (T-15.IV.2:24)
It is nearer than my own heart, so close. This ecstasy of love, this communion with God, is
actually going on right now. My right mind has never ceased to be in perfect communication with
Him (see T-13.XI.8). The part of your mind in which truth abides is in constant communication
with God, whether you are aware of it or not (W-pI.49.1:2).
So all that is necessary is to decide that I want it, and it is there. I just plug in to it. What is it
that prevents me from choosing it? What keeps me from letting myself fall in love with God?
What holds me back? Am I willing to be in love with everyone, or am I afraid of appearing too
mooshy? Am I afraid of being out of control? Am I afraid of being too vulnerable? What holds
me back? Let me look at myself today and ask myself, Why am I not experiencing being in
Heaven right now?
When you realize that you could just switch over at any instantand that you dont!it is a
sobering moment. All of a sudden you cant blame anyone or anything for experiencing anything
less than Heaven. You recognize that you are choosing it; I am doing this to myself (see T27.VIII.10:1). There is literally nothing to prevent me from experiencing the holy instant right
now. Nothing but my refusal to accept it; nothing but my fear. So we begin today considering
the choice that time was made to help us make (W-pI.138.7:1). There is no rush; we have all of
time to make this choice. But why wait? Why not now?
LESSON 150 MAY 30

(139) I will accept Atonement for myself.
(140) Only salvation can be said to cure.
Commentary
Accepting Atonement for myself means, to me, allowing God to release me from all kinds of
guilt. Letting go of all my judgments against myself, all my diminishing self-evaluations. It
means accepting that I am not my thoughts and, above all, I am not my ego. I am not what I have
thought I am. I am not what I am afraid I am. Accepting the Atonement for myself means that I
can look upon my own ego without condemnation, recognizing it as no more than a foolish
mistake about myself that can be corrected.
When I accept Atonement for myself, I stop measuring myself against arbitrary standards and
accept myself just as I am. I am able to look upon myself with love, to view myself with merciful
acceptance. In the holy instant, I accept the Atonement, and to enter such a moment it is not
necessary that I have no thoughts that are not pure, only that I have no thoughts that I want to
keep (see T-15.IV.9:12). I recognize that I have made mistakes, but I am willing for every
mistake to be corrected, and I accept no guilt concerning those mistakes. I do not allow my
mistakes to keep me from the holy instant, because the holy instant is the place those mistakes
can be corrected, and their consequences undone.
This is salvation. This is the undoing of errors, the correction of mistakes.
Salvation is undoing in the sense that it does nothing, failing to support the world
of dreams and malice. Thus it lets illusions go. By not supporting them, it merely lets
them quietly go down to dust.
(W-pII.2.3:13)
This is the only thing that can be said to truly cure. Anything less than this is mere alleviation
of symptoms, mere shifting of form without any change in content. The root cause of guilt must
be undone. The Holy Spirit knows that all salvation is escape from guilt (T-14.III.13:4).
To know that my mind holds only what I think with God is to escape from guilt. To know that
my mind holds only what I think with God is salvation, and truly cures my ills. Atonement is
Gods answer to everything within my mind that appears to be other than God. It erases every
thought opposed to truth and leaves me with the clean, crisp truth of my own innocence. I can
bring every impure thought, every unworthy thought, every guilty thought, every thought of
isolation and separateness, every thought of pain and vengeance and despair to this miraculous
place of Atonement, lay it there on the altar, and watch it disappear:
This is the shift that true perception brings: What was projected out is seen
within, and there forgiveness lets it disappear. For there the altar to the Son is set,
and there his Father is remembered. Here are all illusions brought to truth and laid
upon the altar. What is seen outside must lie beyond forgiveness, for it seems to be
forever sinful. Where is hope while sin is seen as outside? What remedy can guilt
expect? But seen within your mind, guilt and forgiveness for an instant lie together,
side by side, upon one altar. There at last are sickness and its single remedy joined in
one healing brightness. God has come to claim His Own. Forgiveness is complete.
(C-4.6:110)
LESSON 151 MAY 31

All things are echoes of the Voice for God.
Morning/evening practice: Fifteen minutes.
Repeat the idea slowly, just once. Then watch your mind; observe your thoughts. As each
thought crosses your mind, give it to the Holy Spirit. Then listen as He gives it back in purified
form. What He will do is take your thought and strip away all the egoic elements in it, leaving
only whatever light that was contained in it: the love, the kindness, the pure intentions, your
desire for peace and for God (for teaching on this idea, see T-5.IV.8:1-6). For example, lets say
the thought you give Him is Im running out of time to get this task done. The purified version
that you receive back from Him might be I really want to do this right. I want to do right by the
people this affects. In other words, you will be giving Him thoughts that are very mixed bags
patterns of darkness interlaced with threads of light. When He gives them back, however, only the
threads of light will be left. They will be pure light, and so will reveal the light in you. And you
will see them come together into a single, perfect thought, which will shed its blessing on
everyone.
Remarks: This process of purification of your thoughts will resurrect your mind, making
today your personal Eastertime. It will also inaugurate your ministry. For your ministry is
simply to extend your purified thoughts, which will release everyone from guilt and teach
them their sanctity.
Shorter: Hourly.
Repeat the idea (which basically means that you can see in all thingsin the world and in
your mindthe interpretation that the Holy Spirit has given that thing. You can experience all
things as echoes of the Voice for God). Thank the Holy Spirit for the purified thoughts He gives
you, and trust that the world will happily accept those thoughts as its own. This seems to imply
that on the hour you will do a miniature version of the longer practiceperhaps giving a thought
to the Holy Spirit and listening for Him to give you back a purified version of that thought.
Commentary
The world as we see it seems to bear unrelenting witness to separation, sin, death, hatred, and
the transient nature of everything. The world seen with the vision of Christ, as the Holy Spirit
sees it, bears witness to the truth, to unity, holiness, life, love, and the eternal nature of
everything. Everything is echoing the Voice for God, all the time, but we do not hear it. We hear
the egos voice with relentless consistency. The two views could not be more stark in their
contrast. Why do we display such a prejudice for the egos view?
The early part of this lesson points out that the reason the world so often seems so solidly real
to us is because of our underlying doubt of its reality. It asks us to look at the fact that the ego
goes too far in its stubborn insistence that what our eyes and ears show us is solidly reliable. It
says that, although we know very well from our experience that our senses often deceive us, and
our judgments are often wide of the mark, we irrationally continue to believe them down to the
last detail. We show surprise whenever we discover that what we thought was true is not, in fact,
true, even though we have had this experience hundreds or thousands of times. And it asks:
Why would you trust them [your senses] so implicitly? Why but because of
underlying doubt, which you would hide with show of certainty? (2:56)
It is like the line in Shakespeares Hamlet: The lady doth protest too much, methinks. It is
the behavior of someone who is trying to shout down their doubts with protestations of absolute
certainty. So, to the Holy Spirit, our very certainty of the worlds reality is a proof of
underlying doubt! We are certain even when it is unreasonable to be certain, and that is a certain
evidence of hidden uncertainty.
We who study the Course are used to the idea that we project our guilt and anger onto others.
Here, however, the Course introduces the idea that there is a way in which our egos project
themselves onto us. The ego doubts. The ego condemns itself. The ego alone feels guilt. Only the
ego is in despair (see 5:16). But it projects all of these things onto us, and tries to convince us
its evil is your own (6:2). It plays this trick on us by showing us the world through its eyes, and
introducing the things of the world as witnesses to our evil, our guilt, our doubt and despair. The
ego is desperate for us to see the world as it wants us to because the egos world is what proves to
us that we are identical with the ego. For instance, it leads us to evaluate our own spiritual
progress and to find ourselves wanting; it induces us to despair. Why? Because it [the ego] is
feeling despair. It knows (without admitting it) that it is going to lose. This is why spiritual
despair so often strikes after a major spiritual advance. The ego feels despair, and projects that
despair onto our minds, trying to convince us the despair is ours rather than its.
This is why the ego is so insistent on convincing us of the worlds reality. It needs the world to
build its case.
The lesson asks us to raise all our evaluations, which we have learned from the ego, to
question, and to doubt the evidence of our senses. It asks us to let the Holy Spirit be the Judge of
what we are, and of everything that seems to happen to us (8:1; 9:6). If we try to judge things by
ourselves, we will be deceived by our own egos, and the way in which we see ourselves and the
world will become a witness to the egos reality. If, however, we let go of our judgments and
accept the judgment of the Holy Spirit, He will bear witness to our beautiful creation as Gods
Son. Everything we see, if we look with Him, will show us God.
Read the eleventh paragraph; it describes perfectly just how the Holy Spirit accomplishes this
retranslation of everything. When we give Him our thoughts, He gives them back as miracles
(14:1).
Let me, then, give my thoughts to Him today. Let me not hide my thoughts from Him, nor try
to alter them myself before I expose them to His sight. Let me ask Him to work His alchemy on
them, to transmute the lead into gold before my eyes. That is His job. Every thought has elements
of truth in it, to which we have added falsehood and illusion. The Holy Spirit strips away the
false, and leaves the golden kernel of truth. He does not attack our thoughts; He purifies them. He
shows the love beyond the hate, the constancy in change, the pure in sin (11:3). He does this
with our very thoughts, and so reveals to us the gentle face of Christ as our very Self.
LESSON 152 JUNE 1

The power of decision is my own.
Purpose: To be truly humble and lay aside my self-concepts, which arrogantly claim that I
am weak and sinful, and accept the power of my true Self.

Morning/evening practice: Five minutes.
Repeat these lines: The power of decision is my own. This day I will accept myself as what
my Fathers Will created me to be. You could rephrase this as: With the unlimited power
of my decision, I will accept the unlimited power of my Self.
Then spend some time giving up your self-concepts, which are just lies youve told yourself
about who you are. They say that you are weak, at the mercy of a world you did not make.
They say that you are sinful, and should be ashamed of what you are. Lay aside all of these
self-concepts, recognizing that their littleness is actually arrogant, since they imply that God
is wrong about you.
Then wait in silence, as you humbly ask your Self to reveal Himself to you in all His
mightiness, changelessness, and wholeness. Lift your heart in true humility to your Creator,
and allow Him to show you the infinite Son that He created as you. Expect His Voice to
respond, and to replace your false self-concepts with the realization of your true Self.
Whenever your mind wanders, repeat the opening lines again, and return to waiting.
Shorter: Hourly.
Do a miniature version of the longer practice, inviting the realization of your Self with these
words: The power of decision is my own. This day I will accept myself as what my Fathers Will
created me to be.
Commentary
The central appeal of this lesson is to get me to accept [my] rightful place as co-creator of the
universe (8:3). It attempts, through its logical arguments, to persuade me to accept the fact that I
made the world I see (6:1). Nothing occurs but represents your wish, and nothing is omitted that
you choose (1:5).
If that is true, and I accept it, then the main thought of the lesson makes sense: The power of
decision is my own. My choice makes the world. What grants our illusion of pain, sin, and death
such apparent solidity is that we believe it exists outside of our power; that we are not responsible
for it. If, however, I can accept that I made it what it is, then I can recognize the possibility of
exercising the same power of choice to make it disappear. If I deny that I made it I cannot
unmake it.
If, however, I recognize that I have made the world I see, I am accepting at the same time that
God did not make it. The absurdity of the idea that God created this world is clearly stated here:
To think that God made chaos, contradicts His will, invented opposites to truth,
and suffers death to triumph over life; all this is arrogance. Humility would see at
once these things are not of him. (7:12)
If they are not of Him, they must be of memy fabrications, the results of my power of
decision, and therefore things that I can undo.
Applied to myself, these ideas mean that I must be still whole, unchanged by mistakes:
As God created you, you must remain unchangeable, with transitory states by
definition false. And that includes all shifts in feeling, alterations in conditions of the
body and the mind; in all awareness and in all response. (5:12)
I love those words transitory states by definition false. If it changes, it is not real. Wow!
What does that do to any concerns I might have about mood swings? About aging? About
sickness? About the level of my income? (Transitory seems so apropos in regard to income!)
How about alterations in awareness? Transitory, therefore false. Alterations in my response to the
Course? Transitory, therefore false. Truth is true, and only truth is true; any and all alterations are
contradictions introduced by [me] (4:4).
I have begun to learn that when I feel bummed out, for any reason, I can remind myself that
this feeling is transitory and therefore false; nothing to be concerned about. This doesnt always
immediately dispel my feeling bummed out, but it does prevent me from feeling guilty about
feeling bummed out, or feeling anxious that something is seriously wrong with me. As a result,
the negative feeling does not last as long as it used to, because I am no longer adding additional
layers of self-condemnation on top of the original feeling.
Such an attitude somehow distances me from the transitory feelings or shifts in my awareness.
Instead of relating from the feeling I begin to relate to it, with gentleness and merciful
forgiveness. Some have expressed the difference in words by saying things like My body is
sick instead of I am sick, or I am experiencing a depression instead of I am depressed.
Instead of the passing thought or feeling being mistaken for me, I am aware of me over here,
consistent and unchanging, but experiencing this transitory state of mind. I am distinct from,
and not identified with, the passing show of my mind. And in that situation, I can recognize: The
power of decision is my own.
LESSON 153 JUNE 2

In my defenselessness my safety lies.
Purpose: To learn that defenselessness is strength (6:1), for it rests on awareness of
Christs strength in us, a strength so great that it can never be attacked.
Morning/evening quiet time: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty or more.
This practice sounds the same as yesterdays, where you laid aside the self-concepts that
portray you as weak, and let the awareness of your true Self arise in you. Here, you do the same
thing, with special emphasis on getting in touch with His strength in you. If you succeed, you will
realize that you have no need for defense, for you were created unassailable. Let the morning time
be your preparation for a day of defenselessness. Clothe yourself in the strength of Christ.
Hourly remembrance: One or two minutes as the hour strikes (reduce if circumstances do
not permit).
Repeat the idea, remembering while you do that Christ remains beside you, giving you His
strength, making defending yourself unnecessary.
Then sit quietly and wait on God. Thank Him for His gifts in the previous hour. And let His
Voice tell you what He wants you to do in the coming hour.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel tempted to defend yourself.
Repeat the idea as a way of calling upon the strength of Christ in you. Then pause a moment
and listen for Him saying, I am here (19:6).
Overall remarks: The Workbook clearly considers this lesson a turning point. We are
given here our practice instructions for the next forty-eight lessons! And we are told (in
paragraph 20), that our practicing will now begin to take the earnestness of love (20:1).
Rather than being a fulfillment of duty, it will be a sincere and natural expression of our
heart. Let us take this step forward in confidence. Jesus asks us to be not afraid or timid
(20:2), because we simply cannot fail. God will make sure that we make it to our goal.
Commentary
In regard to our practice, notice that this lesson presents instructions that are to be followed
for quite a while (15:1). Specifically, the form of practice given today continues for every
lesson through Lesson 170. They are given this once and not referred to again except in brief
mentions; we are supposed to remember the instructions from this lesson. Notice, too, that the
instructions about what we are to do in this five- to thirty-minute period each day are rather
vague. Mostly they are summed up as giving our attention to the daily thought as long as
possible (15:2). We are told that our practicing will now begin to take the earnestness of love
(20:1). The longer practice periods have become a time to spend with God (15:5); we enjoy His
loving Presence so much that half an hour seems too short! To some degree, by this time, our
practicing has switched from sessions with a drill sergeant to a rendezvous with our Lover. If that
hasnt happened for us yet, it will: There can be no doubt that you will reach your final goal
(20:3).
The lesson opens by pointing out that this world is not a safe place: It is rooted in attack
(1:3). Peace of mind in this world is impossible (1:5). On every side are things that provoke us to
defensiveness (2:12). But defenses affect not only what is outside of us; they affect ourselves.
They reinforce our sense of weakness (2:4), and since they ultimately do not work (2:4), they
betray us. We are betrayed by the world outside and by our own defenses within (2:56).
It is as if a circle held it [the mind] fast, wherein another circle bound it and another
one in that, until escape no longer can be hoped for nor obtained. (3:1)
We are trapped in concentric vicious circles of attack and defense; we find ourselves unable to
break out of the attack-defense cycle (3:23).
We do not realize how profoundly our minds are threatened by the world around us. If we try
as hard as we can to conceive of someone caught deep in a frenzy of intense fear, The sense of
threat the world encourages is so much deeper, and so far beyond the frenzy and intensity of
which you can conceive, that you have no idea of all the devastation it has wrought (4:3). All of
us, the Course is saying, are living in blind panic masked by a superficial act of being calm. Panic
is always there, just below the surface. Think of the things that threaten us constantly, and the
attention that is paid to them in our personal lives and in the media. Nuclear holocaust. Street
gangs. Drunk drivers. All drivers. Corrupt politicians. The greedy power structure. Threatening
economic collapse. Food additives, depletion of the ozone layer, vitamin-depleted foods, growth
hormones in our milk, nitrates in the bacon, cholesterol, saturated fat, sugar, polluted water
supplies, drought, heat waves, blizzards, floods, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, alien invasion,
lying news media, insects in our homes, aging bodies, untrustworthy love partners or business
partners, AIDS, cancer, heart diseasethe list could go on and on. And we have not begun to
speak of the threat of foreign invasion or economic takeover, racial animosities, or religious
intolerance.
We are slaves of the worlds threat (5:1). You do not know what you do, in fear of it. You do
not understand how much you have been made to sacrifice, who feel its iron grip upon your
heart (5:23). Try to imagine, for a moment, what it would be like to be completely without any
and all fear concerning the things we have mentioned. If you are like me, you cant even imagine
it. We have become so accustomed to the subliminal hum of fear! Nor do we realize how much
we have sabotaged our own peace by our stance of constant defensiveness (5:4).
The choice this lesson presents to us (6:3) is between two things: the silly game (6:4) of
defensiveness, played by tired children too sleepy to remember what they want (a bit like how I
feel right now!), and the game that happy children play (12:1), a joyous game that teaches us
that the game of fear is gone. The happy game is salvation (12:1), or functioning as a minister
of God in the world, offering the light to all our brothers. In brief, we can spend our time trying to
defend ourselves, or we can drop our defenses and reach out in love to the world. Those are the
only options.
The game of defensiveness is a deadly one. In defensiveness lies madness in a form so grim
that hope of sanity seems but to be an idle dream, beyond the possible (4:2). Defenses bind us
into an attack-defense cycle that never ends.
Defenselessness is based on the reality of what we are. We need no defense because we are
created unassailable (9:1). It witnesses to our strength. As Gods ministers we are protected. We
need no defense because we are the ones who are among the chosen ones of God, by His
election and [our] own as well (10:6).
To choose defenselessness is to choose the strength of Christ, instead of our own weakness.
To reach out to heal, instead of contracting inward in self-defense, puts us in an unassailable
position. Our true safety lies, not in protecting what we have, but in giving it away, because this
firmly identifies us with the Christ.
LESSON 154 JUNE 3

I am among the ministers of God.
Purpose: To be Gods minister in this world, to give Him our voice, hands, and feet.
Through this we unite with His Will and thus unite with all the gifts contained in His
Will.
Repeat, I am among the ministers of God, and I am grateful that I have the means by which
to recognize that I am free. The means refers to giving Gods messages to your brothers.
Spend the practice period letting the truth of these words sink into your mind. Let the world
recede as you focus totally on these words. Let them light up your mind; let them change your
mind. Do this in whatever way works for you.
The purpose of this practice period is to prepare you to use those meansto go out and
minister to your brothers. Unlike other lessons, the main focus in this lesson is on what you will
do after the practice period. During the day, show you understood the words you practiced by
giving God your voice, so that He can speak words of love through you to your brothers. Give
Him your hands, so that He can use them to deliver messages of love to your brothers. Give Him
your feet, so that He can direct them to wherever someone is in need.
By doing this, you will be uniting your will with Gods Will. And when His Will is yours, all
the gifts contained in His Will will be yours as well. By being His instrument you will gain His
treasures.
not permit).
Repeat the idea and then sit silently and wait on God. Ask Him how He would have you
minister to your brothers in the hour to come, and then listen intently for the answer of His Voice.
Commentary
As I see it, this lesson has two main things to say to me:
1) My function on earth is to be a minister (or messenger) of God, and the specific form that
function takes is determined, not by me, but by the Holy Spirit.
2) As a messenger, my function is to receive Gods messages for myself, and then to give
them away, as directed by the Holy Spirit. By giving away the messages I will recognize and
understand the messages I have received.
The Holy Spirit knows me to the core. He knows my individual strengths and weaknesses; He
knows the larger plan (1:5) I cannot possibly know; He knows how best to use my particular
strengths, where they can best be applied, for what, to whom, and when (2:2). Therefore, it is
unwise to try to evaluate myself or to direct my own functioning in this world, and far wiser to
place myself in His hands. Because of this, I will choose no roles that are not given [me] by His
authority (7:3). He chooses my function for me, tells me what it is, gives me strength to do it and
to succeed in everything related to it (3:2).
A major part of the training program in the Workbook is learning to hear His Voice and to
submit to Its authority. Learning to hear His Voice isnt something that comes without any effort.
Indeed, it takes effort and great willingness (T-5.II.3:910). I may feel at first that I dont know
how to hear His Voice, but that is exactly why I need this practice. I dont know, as I begin, how
to tell the Voice of the Holy Spirit apart from my own egos voice; I need training in that
discernment, and some of it will be trial and error. But if I will follow the instructions in this
book, I will learn.
The second point is really an encouragement to take up the function given me by God, which
in a generic sense is to be His messenger:
He needs our voice that He may speak through us. He needs our hands to hold His
messages, and carry them to those whom He appoints. He needs our feet to bring us
where He wills, that those who wait in misery may be at last delivered. And He
needs our will united with His Own, that we may be the true receivers of the gifts He
gives.
(11:25)
Clearly, He directs me very specifically, choosing where I go physically, whom I speak to, and
what I say. Yet the main thing is that I accept this overall function of messenger for my life; if I
accept that, the specifics will follow.
There is a three-step process clearly delineated in this lesson: 1) receive, 2) give, and 3)
recognize.
First, I receive the message for myself, accept it, and apply it to my own life. I accept the
Atonement for myself, seeing that the appearance of guilt within me is an illusion, and
recognizing the innocence it hides. I accept my acceptance with God. I let go of my false and
guilty self-concept.
Second, I give this message to those to whom the Holy Spirit sends me. This can be with
words, with actions, or simply with the attitude of mercy and acceptance I show to those I meet. I
give the message I have received. I show them the mercy God has shown to me. I see in them
what I have begun to see in myself.
Third, as a result of giving, I recognize the reality of what I have received. No one can
receive and understand he has received until he gives (8:6). Giving away the message cements it
and validates it in my own mind. We will not recognize what we receive until we give it (12:1).
The second step is an essential part of the whole process. Without giving away the message,
the cycle cannot be completed; my own recognition of salvation cannot become complete. It is
not enough simply to receive the messages of God. Yet another part of your appointed task is yet
to be accomplished (9:4). The messages must be given away, shared, in order to be fully
received. I must take up my function as the messenger of God if I am to understand what I have
been given.
Notice that the practice instructions are adapted from Lesson 153, where we were told we
practice in a form we will maintain for quite a while (W-pI.153.15:1). These instructions will be
followed until new ones are given in Lesson 171 (Review V), and apply to Lessons 181200 as
well.
LESSON 155 JUNE 4

I will step back and let Him lead the way.
We are obviously getting fewer instructions for what to do during the longer practice periods.
We are meant to increasingly rely on what has worked for us before and what the Holy Spirit
inspires us to do in the moment. During todays longer practice, we are meant to mentally link up
with God, Who will speak to us, telling us how much He loves us and how He has entrusted our
brothers to us, trusting perfectly that we will lead them home to Him. So repeat the words given
(I will step back and let Him lead the way, for I would walk along the road to Him), and then
enter deeply into your mind, listening quietly for His Voice. Remember your training in how to
do this: listen in stillness, in confidence, and in patience, repeating the lines when your mind
wanders.
The purpose of the morning practice is to firmly take hold of His Hand, so that He can lead
you, while you in turn lead your brothers. By preparing you to serve your brothers, the purpose of
todays practice is essentially the same as that of yesterdays.
not permit).
Repeat the idea and then listen quietly for Gods Voice. Ask Him how He would lead you in
the coming hour, how He wants you to guide your brothers along the way to Him. And thank Him
for His leading in the hour gone by.
Commentary
There is a way of living in the world that is not here, although it seems to be (1:1). And to
this way of living we all aspire. The remarkable thing about the Course is that it offers what
might be called a middle way between renouncing the world and diving into it. Many, perhaps the
majority, of spiritual seekers make the mistake of thinking that a spiritual life must somehow look
different. Some dress differently; some abjure the modern conveniences; some find spirituality in
vegetables; some fill their homes with incense; some live in poverty, or apart from normal
worldly concourse.
This lesson is one of the clearest statements in the Course that a good Course student does not
change appearanceexcept that perhaps he smiles more frequently. There are spiritual paths that
demand a changed appearancea shaved head, difference in dressand this is not to put down
these other paths. But they are not the way of the Course. One of the more difficult lessons for
students of the Course, in my observation, seems to be learning to be normal. A true student of
the Course is like anyone else, so much so that those who have not yet perceived the way
willbelieve that you are like them, as you were before (1:5).
Yet we are different. The difference is inward; we have stepped back, taken our hands off the
controls of our lives, and we are letting our Inner Guide lead the way to God. Everyone, including
ourselves, came to this world by choice, seeking for a place where they can be illusions, and
avoid their own reality (2:2). But we have discovered that we cannot escape our reality, and we
have chosen to place diminishing importance on the illusions, and to follow the truth. We have
taken up our function, and we recognize that we are here now, not for ourselves alone, but to
serve those around us as we serve ourselves (5:4). We walk to God, and we lead the world to God
with us (12:1; 13:1). We step back, and let Him lead the way.
LESSON 156 JUNE 5

I walk with God in perfect holiness.
Although we are not given specific instructions for particular practice periods, we are told how
to practice generally today. Before we set our feet on the path, we walked around unconsciously
believing that we walked alone, accompanied only by our sinfulness. We carried the weight of
what we thought we had done like a heavy rock on our shoulders. Once we stepped onto the path,
we opened our mind to the idea that God was walking with us, that His Being was inseparable
from our being, and that therefore we carried holiness with us, not sinfulness. Now we are of two
minds, at times believing we walk alone in sinfulness, at times believing we walk with God in
holiness.
Our practice, then, consists in asking ourselves, Who walks with me? Meaning, is it God or
sin? As we ask, we need to realize this is a genuine question; we are really not sure yet what the
answer is. And then we need to answer with these words: I walk with God in perfect holiness. I
light the world, I light my mind and all the minds which God created one with me. As we say
these words, we need to realize that they are not just our own words trying to answer our
question. They are the words that God has given us; they are Him answering for us (8:4).
If we can truly embrace this answer, then our holiness will shine forth for all to see. As
paragraph 4 says, even the waves, flowers, trees, and wind will respond to us as if we are visiting
royalty (bowing down in front of us, laying a carpet before us, shielding our head from the heat,
filling the air with sweet-smelling incense), for they will innately sense the heavenly King
walking with us.
not permit).
Ask the question: Who walks with me [God or sin]? And then answer with the lines, I
walk with God in perfect holiness. I light the world, I light my mind and all the minds which
God created one with me.
Then thank God for walking with you in the hour gone by. You might even think of events
from that hour that were evidence of Him walking with you.
And finally, ask Him for guidance for the coming hour: where He wants you to walk and
what He wants you to do.
Suggestion: You may want to do this practice of asking the question (Who walks with me?)
and repeating the response (I walk with God) many times during each hour. The lesson
mentions doing it a thousand times a day, or approximately once every waking minute. This
remarkable frequency is perhaps a bit beyond our current level of discipline. We will experience
powerful benefits even if we do it a few times each hour.
Commentary
Ideas leave not their source (1:3). When a mind thinks an idea, that idea stays in the mind; it
does not become a separate thing, apart from the mind that thought it. And I am a Thought of
God; therefore, I cannot possibly be apart from Him. I have thought I was separate. Indeed, much
of the time I still think and behave as though I were separate from God. But I am not; I cannot be.
To be apart from God is impossible. God is Being; He is Existence. Whatever exists is in Him.
He is Life; whatever lives, lives in Him. He is what your life is. Where you are He is. There is
one life. That life you share with Him. Nothing can be apart from Him and live (2:59).
God is also holy. If God is holy, and I am in him, I am holy, too. What lives is holy as
Himself (3:3). Therefore, I walk with God in perfect holiness. I could no more be sinful than
the sun could choose to be of ice (3:3). This is not a feeble hope; it is a fact. It is the truth about
me, and about you, and about everyone who lives.
Yet we have taught ourselves that this truth is not true. It fascinates me to see what
contradictory ideas arise in my mind when I repeat this statement. It would be a useful exercise to
write todays idea as an affirmation, ten times or more, and in a second column, write down the
response of the mind to this idea. You might get things like this:
I walk with God in perfect holiness. Im not so holy. I walk with God in perfect
holiness. I have a long way to go to be holy. I walk with God in perfect holiness. I dont
like being called holy. I walk with God in perfect holiness. Most of the time I walk alone.
And so on. Whats interesting about such an exercise is that it reveals the train of thought that
dominates my mind, that opposes todays idea and constantly counteracts it. It is this chain of
negative thought that blocks the light in me. All the responses are some form of the idea I am a
sinner, which I would probably vehemently deny that I believe, if anyone asked me. And yet,
faced with the affirmation that I walk with God in perfect holiness, these forms of that idea arise
spontaneously. Where are they coming from? Obviously from a backlog of very careful mind
training by the ego, very effective brainwashing, so well done that I dont even realize my mind
has been programmed.
Do I believe I am a sinner? You have wasted many, many years on just this foolish thought
says the lesson (7:1). Yes, indeed I do. But when I am made aware of these negative thoughts
about myself, I can let them go. I can step back, and stop accusing myself. When I do, the
light in you steps forward and encompasses the world (6:2).
How can we counter the programming of the ego? One way, clearly recommended by this
lesson, is explicit counter-programming. It recommends that a thousand times a day we ask
ourselves the question Who walks with me? And then, that we answer it by hearing the Voice
for God, saying for us:
I walk with God in perfect holiness. I light the world, I light my mind and all the
minds which God created one with me. (8:56)
Certainty of our holiness does not come with a single repetition of todays idea. We need
thousands of repetitions. We need to keep repeating it until we are certain of it. If we took this
literally, repeating the idea a thousand times would mean repeating it a little more often than once
per minute, all day long, assuming we are awake sixteen hours. Thats a lot of repetition!
Let me today see the quaint absurdity (6:4) of the idea of sin, and laugh at the thought. Let
me begin to absorb the wonderful teaching of the Course that sin is a foolish thought, a silly
dream, not frightening, ridiculous perhaps (6:5). And let the wonder of it steal over me: I walk
with God in perfect holiness.
LESSON 157 JUNE 6

Into His Presence would I enter now.
Purpose: To usher in our first direct experience of Heaven. This is a holy day, a crucial
turning point in the curriculum, the beginning of a new journey. Today will launch your
ministry. Your only purpose now will be to bring to the world the vision that reflects
what you experience today. And you will be given power to touch everyone with that
vision.
Approach this practice with a sense of sanctity, for you are attempting to pass beyond the veil
of the world and walk into Heaven. Repeat the idea (you may want to repeat it over and over
again), and let it bring you into that deep place in your mind, the place of stillness and rest. Then
wait there in still anticipation and in quiet joy (4:3), for the experience promised you. Trust that
your Self will carry you to where you need to go. He will lift your mind to the highest reaches of
perception, to the holiest vision possible. Here at the door where learning ceases (2:3), you will
pause for a moment, and then walk through that doorway into eternity. You will pass beyond all
form and briefly enter Heaven.
Today is meant to be your first experience of what the Text calls revelation, direct union with
God and your Self. Yet if it happens (and tomorrows lesson will seem to acknowledge the
obvious fact that it may not; see W-pI.158.11:1), it will not be your last. You will come into this
experience increasingly. Each time will bring both you and the world closer to the day when this
experience will be yours for all eternity.
not permit).
Repeat the idea and spend a quiet moment with it, seeking to enter into the Presence of your
Self. Then thank God for His gifts to you in the previous hour, and let His Voice tell you what He
wants you to do in the next hour.
Commentary
Experience and Vision
Today Id like to share some thoughts based mainly on Lesson 157, but with some references
to Lesson 158 also. This lesson introduces a series of lessons designed to lead us into the holy
instant, which is a major goal of the Workbook. From this point on, Every lesson, faithfully
rehearsed, brings you more swiftly to this holy place (3:3).
The Course talks here of both an experience and of vision which results from the experience.
The holy instant contains a moment of knowledgesomething beyond all perceptionfrom
which we return with the vision of Christ in our minds, which we can offer to everyone.
The experience spoken of here is simply entering the Presence of God. It is a different kind
of feeling and awareness (1:4) in which we learn to feel the joy of life (1:6). It is called
elsewhere the holy instant. Lesson 157 calls it a touch of Heaven (3:1) and a moment in which
we are left to our Self. It is an instant in which the world is quietly forgot, and Heaven is
remembered for a while (6:3). We leave time for a moment and walk into eternity (3:2). It is not
something we do ourselves; the Holy Spirit, the Giver of the happy dreams of life and
Translator of perception into truth, will lead us (8:2).
The vision spoken of is the result of the experience. This is not a vision, something that is
seen, but vision, a way of seeing. We are not talking of some trance state, some appearance
within our minds of mystical sights. We are talking about a different way of seeing the world, a
different mechanism of sight, something other than the physical senses. Eastern religion might
talk about opening the Third Eye to indicate the same sort of thing.
In experiencing the holy instant, we have awakened a different way of seeing. That new sort
of vision does not disappear when we come back to the world, so to speak (7:1). It is only a
figure of speech to say we come back. We never left. Or perhaps better, since Heaven is what is
real and this world is the illusion, we never came here at all. What comes back with us, into the
dream, is the remembrance of God and Heaven, the remembrance of what we saw in that holy
instant. We continue to see glimpses of it beyond the sight of the world, seeing the real world
beyond the world, and beyond that, Heaven.
Each (apparently separate) holy instant we experience strengthens this new vision, this new
mechanism of seeing. This is the purpose of the Workbooks recommendations for daily morning
and evening periods of meditation; they are practice sessions, exercises to develop our new
vision. We are meant, of course, to exercise this vision constantly during the day, to have
repeated holy instants all day long. If we compare this to learning a language, the meditation
sessions are like language labs and grammar studies. The concentrated language exercises are not
an end in themselves but are meant to prepare us and improve our speech and understanding as
we go out and actually use the language. Likewise, meditation is not an end in itself. It is an
exercise to strengthen spiritual vision, but the purpose is to go out into daily life and begin using
that new vision as often as possible.
Lesson 157 says, We cannot give experience like this directly. Yet it leaves a vision in our
eyes which we can offer everyone (6:23). I cant give you a holy instant directly. I can tell you
about it, but you have to do the work yourself and have the experience yourself.
What I can give you or offer to you is the new vision, the new way of seeing the world. The
vision we can all teach, as fledgling teachers of God, is that of forgiveness and love within the
world. I can teach you that it is possible to see the invisible beyond the visible, to see the
undimmed truth behind the clouds of doubt, fear and defense. I can teach you to see no one as a
body. Greet him as the Son of God he is, acknowledging that he is one with you in holiness (WpI.158.8:34). By seeing you without guilt I teach you that seeing without guilt is possible.
And in willingness to practice the vision, willingness to ask to be shown a different way of
seeing, the experience of the holy instant comes.
LESSON 158 JUNE 7

Today I learn to give as I receive.
Purpose: To practice seeing your brothers with Christs vision, seeing past their bodies,
their mistakes, and their fearful thoughts, to the pure, untainted holiness of their true
Identity.
Begin, as always, by repeating the idea for the day. Its meaning can seem vague, but the lesson
makes it clear. It means: Today I learn to give my brothers a vision of Who they really are, as I
receive from God the knowledge of Who I really am. The knowledge God gives you cannot be
given directly; you can only give it in reflected form, by giving to others your vision of their
holiness.
Then use the rest of the time as the Spirit moves you and as the Workbook has taught you to
do. The main thing you have been taught to do during these longer practice periods is to quiet
your mind and sink down and inward to the deep sanctuary within you, keeping your focus and
drawing your mind back from wandering by repeating the idea for the day.
Today, do this with the intent of getting in touch with the knowledge of Who you are, so that
you will have something to give your brothers. By dipping into this deep well within you, you
will gain the awareness that we are not our bodies, and this is the awareness you are to give your
brothers today.
not permit).
Repeat the idea and then (this is my recommendation) spend some time trying to see a
particular brother through the eyes of Christ. Consciously try to see past his body and
personality to the holy light of his true reality.
Then thank your Father for the gifts He gave in the previous hourperhaps gifts of seeing
past a certain brothers appearance to his reality.
Finally, ask for guidance for the coming hour. You may want to think of people whom you
might meet up with, and prepare yourself for those meetings by intentionally seeing past
each persons body to the holiness that shines beyond.
Frequent reminder: Whenever you encounter someone.
Remember to see each brother you meet with the Christs vision. See him as Gods Son, at
one with you, not as a separate mind housed in a separate body. To motivate yourself, remember
that whatever you see in him you see in yourself. If you see him with Christs vision, then that
vision will shine on you.
Commentary
This lesson has a lot of profound metaphysics in it, particularly the stuff about time. If youd
like to dig into the Courses concept of time, a terrific starting place is Ken Wapnicks book A
Vast Illusion: Time in A Course in Miracles. I cant write a book tonight and you probably dont
want to read one right now! So Im going to skip over most of that stuff.
The practical point this lesson is trying to make is that knowledge, which lies in the sphere
of Heaven, is outside the scope of this Course. We all received knowledge when we were created;
every living thing knows, inherently, that it is still connected to its Source: a mind, in Mind and
purely mind, sinless forever, wholly unafraid because you were created out of love (1:2). It may
seem to us that this is something we do not have, and that it is this we are trying to give to others
and to receive for ourselves. But we cant give it because everyone already has it. It exists outside
of time entirely. The point in time at which the experience of this knowledge reveals itself to us is
already determined, by our own minds (2:9). When it happens, it will happen.
Within timewhich is an illusionwhat we can give, and receive, is forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the gift that reflects true knowledge in a way so accurate its image shares its
unseen holiness (11:2). What we can give is a vision of sinlessness, Christs vision. We can
look past the body and see a light; look past what can be touched and see an idea; look past the
mistakes and fears in our brothers and sisters, and see their inherent purity. We can greet one
another and in each one, see him as the Son of God he is, acknowledging that he is one with you
in holiness (8:4).
We are not giving knowledge. When we meet someone, we can give them our vision of
themselves as sinless. In the way that we perceive them, they can find a new perception of
themselves, one they have not found on their own. As they respond to our merciful vision, they
will reflect that vision back to us, enabling us to perceive the Love of God within ourselves.
When we forgive another, we have simultaneously forgiven our own sins, because in your
brother you but see yourself (10:3).
We cannot know when revelation of truth, the experience of our reality, will come to us. The
time is set; the drama is being played out; there is not one step we take only by chance (3:13).
And yet, each act of forgiveness brings the day nearer. Our concern, then, is not with the final
experience, but with the practice of vision, seeing with the eyes of Christ. This is something we
can attain; this is something we can do something about. And we can do so today. Right now.
This can be taught; and must be taught by all who would achieve it (8:1). The way to learn
the vision of Christ is to give it. The way to achieve the vision of ourselves as Christ sees us is to
practice seeing others with His eyes. We give it to have it. This is the whole plan of the Course.
LESSON 159 JUNE 8

I give the miracles I have received.
Purpose: To open Christs treasure house deep in your mind, gather lilies of forgiveness
from it, and then give them away to your brothers. Only by giving them away will you
realize that you have received them.
As is usual at this stage, we are not given explicit instructions for what to do during our
practice periods. So what follows is a suggestion based on the content of the lesson.
Close your eyes, repeat the idea, and sink down deep into your mind. As you approach the
quiet center of your mind, you see a treasure house, a beautiful, gleaming structure that radiates a
sense of holiness. You approach the massive doorway, wondering if you will be able to get in.
Yet the lesson reminds us, No one will be turned away from this new home, where his salvation
waits (7:4). The door swings silently open before you, and as you enter in you behold the
treasure that is stored in this place. Rather than gold and silver, you see a sacred garden of the
most amazing lilies you have ever laid eyes on. They literally shine with holiness. You can swear
you hear the faint singing of heavenly choirs in the air around them. You realize that these are the
lilies of forgiveness. These are miracles. You also realize that the soil they are growing in is
Christs vision, the miracle in which all miracles are born (4:1).
You are here to gather these miracles and take them back to the world. So walk into the garden
and begin to pick the lilies. Dont be shy; that is what they are for. As you pick each one, notice
that two more spring up in its place. Now, with an armful of lilies, you are ready to go out into
your day, ready to give these miracles to everyone you encounter.
After the practice period, as you go through your day, imagine yourself giving one of these
lilies to each person you meet. Your lily is your acknowledgment that this person is the Christ,
washed clean of his past, ready to arise from the tomb of his sins and be reborn. So as you give
the lily, you might say silently, You are forgiven. This is your Eastertime.
not permit).
I suggest repeating the idea and then choosing one person. Then imagine giving this person a
lily, while you say, You are forgiven. This is your Eastertime. Then ask God what lilies He
would have you give in the coming hour, and thank Him for the lilies He gave through you in the
hour gone by.
Commentary
You might notice that todays lesson title is almost the same as yesterdays: Today I learn to
give as I receive. There is definitely a commonality of thought that runs through these two
lessons, even extending two lessons back. They all talk of Christs vision. They are all presenting
a picture of the holy instant as a key part of our spiritual practice, although that term is not
specifically mentioned in every lesson.
The general picture being presented is of our ongoing spiritual practice. It is this: We enter
frequently into a holy instant. There, we experience a touch of eternity or Heaven, a taste of the
knowledge of the truth. While we cannot carry this experience back with us to the world, we can
carry back what that experience is like, translated into perception; this is called the vision of
Christ, which is manifested in forgiveness.
In this lesson, the holy instant is only hinted at by such phrases as Let us an instant dream
with Him (10:6), or Receive them now by opening the storehouse of your mind, where they are
laid (2:5). The Holy Instant is the treasure house we come to, the place in which we receive
the gifts of Christs vision. We must receive before we can give.
But we cannot recognize, or become fully aware of, what we have received until we give it
away: To give is how to recognize you have received. It is the proof that what you have is
yours (1:78). The extension of Christs vision is an integral part of the plan of salvation
presented by the Course. It is what brings us to certainty. This is quite similar to the principle
taught by AA, that you stay sober by helping someone else to stay sober. Here,
You understand that you are healed when you give healing. You accept
forgiveness as accomplished in yourself when you forgive. (2:12)
It is only as we bring the lilies of forgiveness from the holy instant, where we received
them, and distribute them into the world that we truly know we are forgiven. It is in giving away
miracles that we receive them.
Father, help me today to realize that I am rich. The storehouse of my mind is filled with
miracles. I can come to this storehouse and, in this holy instant, receive them. You entrust them to
me for the giving. Let me pause often today, to meet here with You, and then carry these
treasures forth to offer them to the world. This is my whole purpose in life; this is why I am here.
LESSON 160 JUNE 9

I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.
My suggestion: Begin by realizing that the experience of fear and the experience of home are
mutually exclusive. When you feel truly at home, you feel a sense of shelter and safety, a sense of
joining and belonging, a sense of comfort and peace. When you feel afraid, you feel the absence
of all these things. In essence, you feel homeless.
Now spend some time trying to get in touch with each state. First, imagine feeling completely
at home inside yourself, regardless of what goes on outside you. Imagine knowing who you are,
feeling at home with yourself. Imagine feeling at home with God, enfolded in His Love. Imagine
fear being a thought loitering on the periphery of your mind, trying to invade the peace of this
inner home, knocking on the door, tapping at the window, but unable to get in.
Then switch to getting in touch with the state of fear, the state that we all live in. Notice how
in this state, fear, anxiety, and worry are your most natural reactions to the happenings of the
world, so natural as to be automatic reflexes. This leaves you feeling that you have no safe
harbor, no true shelter. You feel separate from God and alienated from yourself. It is as if you are
loitering on the outside, while fear sits unchallenged on the throne of your mind.
Now ask yourself with real sincerity, Who is the stranger? Is it fear or is it you? Who sits at
home in your mind, and who is on the outside, wandering homeless? Is it fear or is it you? Which
of the states you just reviewed is the truth and which is the lie?
Now answer with the words that God has given you: I am at home. Fear is the stranger
here. Realize that this answer is true because it comes from God. Repeat it over and over. Try to
feel the truth in it.
Finally, let this idea draw you down into your mind, to the place where you are at home and
where fear has no place. Feel the attraction of home drawing you deep within. Sink down to
where you are at one with your Self, at home in your Creator. To renew your focus, from time to
time repeat, I am at home. And whenever a thought wanders into this holy home, say, I am at
home. This thought is the stranger here.
not permit).
Repeat the idea, letting it draw you to a place in your mind where you feel truly at home.
Thank your Father for the letters from home He sent you in the previous hour, in the form of
loving interactions and shifts in perception. And ask Him what to do in the coming hour.
Response to temptation: When you are tempted to be afraid or to see a brother as a
stranger.
1. When you tempted to be afraid, say, I am at home. This thought of fear is the stranger
here. While you do, imagine yourself at home within your mind while the thought of fear
loiters outside, powerless to get in.
2. When you are tempted to see a brother as a stranger, remember that he is part of your Self.
You might say silently to this brother, You are at home with me. There are no strangers
here.
Commentary
Fear in this lesson is virtually synonymous with ego. The picture being given is that we
have invited fear, personified as a stranger, into our house, and the stranger has taken over and
declared that he is us. He has taken over our identity almost completely. And the insane part of it
all is that we have gone along with the stranger. We have accepted that this stranger is really us,
and we have given our home over to him completely. We have been dispossessed.
Who is the stranger? You, or the ego? It is so easy, when thoughts of fear occupy our minds,
to believe that the fear is us. The anger is us. The loneliness is us. The sense of helplessness is us.
We have habituated ourselves to identifying with our thoughts and feelings of fear; we believe
they are us. The thrust of this lesson is that all of these manifestations of fear are an interloper,
not a genuine part of us at all. You are not the ego; the ego is not you.
Stephen Levine, in several of his books, talks about relating to our fear rather than relating
from it. The distinction he is making is between identifying with the fear (relating from it) or
distinguishing our self from it (relating to it). When I relate from my fear, I am in its grips. The
fear runs me; the fear is me. When I relate to my fear, however, I can look on it with
dispassionate mercy. I can react to it with mercy, and heal instead of go into panic. It is the
difference between saying, I am afraid, and saying, I am having thoughts of fear or I am
experiencing fear. My thoughts are not me. I am the thinker who is thinking the thoughts, but I
am not the thoughts.
When we can separate ourselves from the fear we feel, we already have identified with our
true Self. Our Self is certain of Itself, and It operates to heal our minds, to call us home. As we
give this Self welcome in our minds, we remember who we are.
Yet this new vision of ourselves, of necessity, includes everyone. It is as though God were
offering us a pair of glasses and saying, If you put these on, you will see your true Self. But
when we discover that, in putting them on, we see not only ourselves in a new light, but everyone,
we rebel. We want to see ourselves as innocent, but we are unwilling to see everyone that way. If
we refuse to see those around us as innocent, we will put down the glasses, refuse the vision of
Christ, and we will not be able to recognize ourselves (10:5). You will not remember Him [God]
until you look on all as He does (10:4).
When thoughts of fear enter my mind today, let me recognize that they are the stranger, the
interloper, and that I am the one who is at homenot fear. Fear does not belong. I do not need to
accept it in my mind. But let me not fight against it; let me look on my own thoughts of fear with
compassion and understanding, recognizing them as merely a mistake, and not a sin. There is no
guilt in feeling fear, or there need not be. I can step back from these thoughts, step back into my
Self, and see them as the illusions that they are. I can look upon myself with love. And from this
same place of merciful awareness, I see all my brothers in the same light: caught in fear,
mistaking the fear for themselves, and needing not judgment and attack, but forgiveness,
kindness, and mercy.
LESSON 161 JUNE 10

Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.
Purpose: To take a stand against our anger (1:1). To remove the fears we have
projected onto our brothers and see the divine savior that they really are.
Select one brother as a symbol of all brothers. Through forgiving him, you forgive
everyone.
Visualize him as clearly as you can: his face, hands, feet, and clothing, his smile, his
familiar gestures. Doing this gets you in touch with all the negative meanings you have
projected onto him. As the lesson said earlier, the body of another is a great projection
screen.
Then realize that what you are seeing blocks the vision of your savior. Deep inside this
person is a holy being who, like a great spiritual master, can enlighten you with his
blessing, can free you from your self-imposed chains. If you saw him for Who he really is,
you would be tempted to kneel at his feet.
Ask this holy being to set you free. Say, Give me your blessing, holy son of God. I would
behold you with the eyes of Christ, and see my perfect sinlessness in you. Repeat these
lines over and over, in the same spirit in which you would ask the blessing of an
enlightened master.
You have called on the Christ in him, and the Christ in him will answer you. The scales will
fall off your eyes and you will realize that you have been completely wrong about who this
person is. Behold him now, whom you have seen as merely flesh and bone, and recognize
that Christ has come to you (12:3)come to you to reveal the Christ in you.
not permit).
Repeat the idea, perhaps applying it to a particular person. Then thank God for the blessings
He has given you in the hour gone by. And ask Him for His direction for the hour to come.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to attack a brother.
Use the idea instantly. Let it help you see past the appearance of a devil (12:6), or a wild
animal itching to rip you apart (8:2-4), to the reality that here before you is the Christ.
Commentary
[Todays comments are something I wrote several years back while I was working as a
computer consultant in New York City. On this particular day, I had expected to be able to work
from home, via modem, but my client had insisted I come into the office. This threw off my plans
for a long quiet time. The comments that follow were what came to me as I read over the
lesson.]
Today wetake a stand against our anger, that our fears may disappear and offer room to
love (1:1). How coincidental that I begin this lesson with flares of anger at having to rush off
to work! When a brother or a circumstance seems to cause anger in me, instead of listening to the
ego and agreeing that the brother or circumstance is the cause of my anger, let me see that the
brother is giving me a blessing by revealing to me that I am angry, that I have dropped the hand
of Jesus.
Think about it logically for a moment. If I am totally connected to the Love of God in my
heart, nothing will be able to disturb my peace. If something comes along that does (seemingly)
disturb my peace, something must have happened beforehand. I must have disconnected from
Gods Love first, in order to react as I do. That something, then, instead of causing my upset, is
merely revealing it to me. I can therefore see my brothers action, or the circumstance, as a
blessing, a message from God, a lesson God would have me learn.
Complete abstraction is the natural condition of the mind (2:1). Abstraction is the concern
with content rather than form. It separates the inherent qualities or properties of something from
the actual physical object to which they belong. The natural state of mind considers content apart
from concrete existence (American Heritage Dictionary).
Part of the mind, says Jesus here, has become concrete and specific rather than abstract. It sees
fragments of the whole, rather than the whole. This is the only way we could see the world.
The purpose of all seeing is to show you what you wish to see (2:5). If I am seeing something
that makes me angry or upset, it is because I wish to see it. The mind, dealing in the abstract,
has already separated from the Love of God (or thinks it has, or wishes to, since that separation is
inherently impossible). Therefore, it splinters reality, sees specific forms that seem to justify its
separation, upset and anger. It creates illusions that seemingly give valid reasons for being upset.
It accomplishes this only by seeing fragments instead of the Whole. If I could see the whole
picture, as God does, including things I cannot even imagine from my limited perspective, I
would never be upset. I have made up those specifics. Since I have made them up, and am
immersed in specifics that were made for the purpose of justifying my separation from God, now
it is specifics we must use in practicing (3:2). The Holy Spirit will take the specific
circumstances I have made as an attack on God and use them to bring me back. How?
We give them to the Holy Spirit, that He may employ them for a purpose which is
different from the one we gave to them. Yet He can use but what we made
(3:34)
(In other words, all we have to work with are the specifics weve made up, so He will use
them.)
to teach us from a different point of view, so we can see a different use in
everything.
(3:4)
The mind that taught itself to think specifically can no longer grasp abstraction in the sense
that it is all-encompassing (4:7). Ideas like All minds are joined and One brother is every
brother mean absolutely nothing to us! We cannot grasp them. These abstract statements simply
dont help us, immersed in the illusion as we are.
We cling to the specifics, to symbols like the body, because our egos want fear, and that is the
only way fear can seem real. There is no reality to fear itself, but the symbol of fear can seem
very real. So we focus on the symbols, the specifics, the body. We feel limited by our own body,
and by other bodies; we see bodies as attacking us.
What I see, when I see a brother as a body attacking me, is my own fear external to myself,
poised to attack (paragraph 8). We tend to think that when we project fear, we see people who are
afraid; not so, what we see are people who seem to be making us afraid. We see a monster that
shrieks in wrath, and claws the air in frantic hope it can reach to its maker and devour him
(8:4). When I am upset and angry at my client for forcing me to come to in to the office, that
external specific is actually revealing to me my own fear of Gods Love! It is giving me the
opportunity to see beyond the apparent attack and to ask him for a blessing, to show me my own
perfect sinlessness.
If I allow the Holy Spirit to show me my brother as he is, instead of how my fear has made
him, what I see will be so awesome that I will hardly be able to keep from kneeling at his feet in
adoration (9:3). And yet what he is, I am, and so I will, instead of kneeling, take his hand (9:4).
I call upon the Christ in him [my client] to bless me. I am seeing only a symbol of my own
fear of God. I bring that fear to the Holy Spirit now. And as I do, I begin to feel a spark of true
gratitude to my brother for offering me this salvation from fear. I feel the resentment about
having to commute into the city melting away. This, too, is a lesson, and a very good one. Thank
you, Jesus, for this lesson. And thank you, my brother.
LESSON 162 JUNE 11

Purpose: To accept the perfect holiness that is your right, to recognize the Son of God in
you. And to thereby bring this acceptance and recognition to everyone.

My suggestion: Spend this time in deep meditation. Let the power of these sacred words (I
am as God created me) carry you to the place in your mind where you experience the Self that
God created as you. You might want to begin this meditation by reviewing the various images
you hold of yourself, stating each one in the form I see myself as and letting each one go by
affirming, But I am as God created me.
not permit).
Dwell on the idea and let it carry your mind to stillness. Then thank your Father for His gifts
in the hour gone by. And ask His guidance for the hour to come.
Overall remarks: I recommend making a conscious decision to steep your mind in these
words today. Begin the day with them, end the day with them, and try to keep them with
you all the time in between. If you do so, you will experience their power to uplift your
condition. They can transform your mind into the treasure house in which all of Gods
gifts are stored, ready for you to distribute them to the world. Todays lesson assumes
that your understanding of this idea has deepened, for whereas in earlier occurrences of it
(94 and 110), you were given additional lines to repeat, this lesson says you need no extra
thoughts to draw out its meaning (4:2).
Commentary
For the third time we encounter as the main thought of a lesson what may be the single most
repeated thought in the Course. (The first two lessons were 94 and 110; the idea was featured in
Lesson 93 as well.) The phrase as God created occurs 105 times in the Course. We will see it as
a focus of our Workbook review period in another twenty lessons, 201220.
Why is this idea so important and repeated so often? This single thought, held firmly in the
mind, would save the world (1:1). In the Text, our entire spiritual journey is characterized in
terms of this idea: You but emerge from an illusion of what you are to the acceptance of yourself
as God created you (T-24.II.14:5). If these statements are true, it is reason enough to memorize
this idea and repeat it over and over until it becomes part of our pattern of thought. We might say
that the entire Course is aimed at nothing more, and nothing less, than bringing us to the point
where we hold this thought firmly in our minds.
In paragraph 4 our practice for the day is described as a very simple practice. All we need are
the words of the main idea: They need no thoughts beyond themselves to change the mind of
him who uses them (4:2). The change of mind the Course aims at is simply the acceptance of
ourselves as God created us. By focusing on this thought, meditating on it, repeating it, and
chewing it over in our minds, we accelerate this change of mind. And thus you learn to think
with God. Christs vision has restored your sight by salvaging your mind (4:45).
In Lesson 93, there was a useful addition to the words that helped clarify their meaning for
me:
Salvation requires the acceptance of but one thought;you are as God created
you, not what you made of yourself. Whatever evil you may think you did, you are
as God created you. Whatever mistakes you made, the truth about you is unchanged.
Creation is eternal and unalterable.
(W-pI.93.7:14)
We are not what we made of ourselves. Our mistakes have not changed the truth about us.
That is what accepting this idea means: the recognition that nothing we have done has been able
to alter our relationship to God in the slightest, nor to change our nature, given us by God in
creation. Our most shameful acts, the thoughts we would never want exposed to the world, have,
none of them, changed Gods creation in the slightest. There is no reason for guilt, no cause to
shrink from God in fear; our imagined sins have had no effect. We are still safe, and complete,
and healed, and whole.
How are we to use this thought? Holy indeed is he who makes these words his own; arising
with them in his mind, recalling them throughout the day, at night bringing them with him as he
goes to sleep (3:1). It reminds me of the words written about the words of God in the Old
Testament: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up (Dt 6:7). In other words, make them a part of your entire life, especially on
rising in the morning and when going to bed.
To acknowledge that I am as God created me is to recognize the Son of God. It is to be free
of guilt. It is to know the innocence of every living thing. It is to acknowledge God as perfect
Creator. It is to release the past. It is to forgive the world. In these words is everything we need:
LESSON 163 JUNE 12

There is no death. The Son of God is free.
Purpose: To take a stand against every form of death; to realize that, unless God is dead,
death itself must be unreal. To look past the outward appearance of death (which is all
around us), and see the true life which shines in all things. Thus we release all those who
worship the idea of death.
Begin with the prayer at the end of the lesson (this is the Workbooks first prayer). Make it
your prayer for the day. It asks that God bless your eyes, to give them power to see beyond the
illusion of death that confronts you everywhere, and to see the eternal life that shines in all things.
Through this sight, you abandon the religion of worshipping death, and you rescue others from
this same dangerous cult.
After the prayer, do whatever you feel guided to do with the practice period. Since the prayer
focuses on seeing with Christs vision, you may want to try to sink down in your mind and join
with the Christ in you, so that His eyes become your eyes.
not permit).
Repeat the idea. You may also want to pray the prayer again; I highly recommend that. Then
thank God for His gifts in the previous hour, and let His Voice tell you what He wants you to do
in the next hour.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to believe in a form of death.
Forms of death include anything where lifein the broadest sense of the wordappears to be
losing the battle. This would include sadness, fear, anxiety, doubt, anger, envy; in short, any
negative emotion (see 1:2), as well as sickness and physical death. In the face of these,
immediately repeat the idea for the day. Realize it means that life and death cannot both be real,
since they contradict each other. And since life is of God and God cant be killed, unlimited life is
the only reality there can be. We are not imprisoned by the power of death. We are free in Gods
unlimited life.
Commentary
When the Course says, There is no death, it is not talking about the death of the body. In
fact, elsewhere it states that the body does not die, for the simple reason that it never has lived (T28.VI.2:4; T-6.V(A).1:4). To talk of physical immortality and to base it on ACIM is foolishness.
How could what never lives live forever?
Death, says the lesson, is a thought (1:1). Not an event in the physical world, but a
thought. In its simplest form it is the thought Life ends. It is from this root thought that many
different forms spring forth. Sadness is the thought of death. Fear is the thought of death. Anxiety
is the thought of death. Lack of trust is the thought of death. Concern for the body is the thought
of death. Even all forms in which the wish to be as you are not are really variants on the
thought of death (1:2). My concern with my body and wishing to lose weight is a veiled form of a
death thought. Part of the motivation to avoid being overweight is to live longer. But if the
body is not alive at all, what are we talking about?
Even the apparently spiritual thought of desiring to leave the body behind and to be free of it
is a way of seeing physical death as some sort of salvation. My body is a wholly neutral thing
(W-pII.294.Heading). It is neither a holy thing, destined to exist forever if we become sufficiently
spiritual, nor is it a trap, prison, or real limitation on spirit. Being in a body does not keep me
from being completely spiritual. Being in a body does not make me an ego. Rather, it is being an
ego that makes the body!
In the worlds way of thinking, death is the only certainty. Everything else is too quickly lost
however hard to gain (3:1). As the Preacher of Ecclesiastes cries, Vanity of vanities! All is
vanity, futility and striving after wind (Eccl 1:2, 14, paraphrased). Wealth, luxury, family,
friends, nothing satisfies, and nothing lasts forever. Death takes them all in the end. Death never
fails to triumph over life.
The Course says that to accept this thought systemwhich we all do to a greater or lesser
degree, and far more extensively than any of us recognizeis to proclaim the opposite of God
(death) as lord of all creation, stronger than Gods Will for life (4:3). Each apparent triumph of
death is a witness that God is dead (5:13). He Whose Will is life could not stop this death, so He
must be dead. And as we watch the deadly drama, we whisper fearfully that it is so (5:4).
We may respond by saying we dont want to believe it. We dont want to worship death; we
dont want to die; we want to believe in God and believe in life. In fact, however, we do want to
believe in death, at least in certain forms of it. Weve already pointed out that anger is a death
thought. In anger, we want something or someone to go away or not be, which in its essence
means we want them to die. We actually hold on to guilt because we think guilt is useful; we are
afraid that without guilt everything would be chaos. Guilt or condemnation is a judgment that
some certain aspect of things does not deserve to exist. It is a wish for death, death of part of
ourselves or of another. And certainly we hold on tenaciously to the wish to be as you are not
(1:2).
We try to compromise. We want to hold on to certain death thoughts while letting others go.
The lesson says this is impossible. You cant select a few [forms of the death thought] you
would not cherish and would yet avoid, while still believing in the rest (6:1). Why? Because
death is total. Either all things die, or else they live and cannot die. No compromise is possible
(6:24).
If death exists at all, it totally contradicts life. It is lifes opposite; surely that is clear. The
lesson says, What contradicts one thought entirely can not be true, unless its opposite is proven
false (6:5). In concrete terms we could paraphrase these words in this way: Death contradicts life
entirely, and cannot be true unless life is proven false. The reverse is also true: Life contradicts
death entirely, and cannot be true, unless death is proven false.
If God is the Will to life, how can death exist? Something must be there contradicting His
Will, something more powerful than God. Anything more powerful than what we call God must
actually be God, the real God. So if we are saying death is real in any formphysical death, or
anger, or envy, or fearwe are saying death is God, and the God of life is dead.
Here again we find an echo of the profound words from the Texts introduction: Nothing real
can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists (T-In.2:23). Life cannot be threatened. Death does not
exist.
The idea of the death of God is so preposterous that even the insane have difficulty in
believing it (7:1). It is absurd to believe that God died! Yet, the point the Course is making here
is that this is what we must believe if we believe in death in any form.
Deaths worshippers may be afraid (8:1). Hes speaking about us, about you and me. We are
afraid of death, lets be honest about that.
And yet, can thoughts like these be fearful? If they saw that it is only this which they
believe, they would be instantly released. (8:23)
In other words, can the thought that God died be fearful? It is so patently absurd, so utterly
ridiculous, so absolutely, obviously untrue. If we saw that this is what we are believing, when we
believe in death in any of its myriad forms, we would be instantly released. We would laugh at
ourselves!
Belief in death is just another form of the tiny, mad idea at which the Son of God
remembered not [i.e., forgot] to laugh (T-27.VIII.6:2). If we truly saw that worry about physical
death, sadness, anger, envy, anxiety, fear, doubt, mistrust, concern for bodies, and the desire for
change are all just forms of the idea God is dead, we would laugh at them! We would see that
all of this is no big deal, all of it is just a silly idea that is downright impossible and therefore
nothing to worry about at all.
And so,
There is no death, and we renounce it now in every form, for their salvation [those
around us who believe in death] and our own as well. God made not death. Whatever
form it takes must therefore be illusion. This is the stand we take today. And it is
given us to look past death, and see the life beyond.
(8:59)
No one is saying this is easy. In the illusion of time it does not happen overnight. In practice, it
takes countless repetitions, constant vigilance of the mind, until we learn to uproot and deny all
the forms that denial of truth has taken in our minds. To believe in death in any form is to deny
life and thus deny truth. Our function here is to deny the denial of truth (T-12.II.1:5). It is to
recognize the thoughts based on death and see they are simply silly and meaningless.
When I find myself being worried, anxious, or sad, I can ask myself, Is God dead?
Somehow I find that helps me see the absurdity of it all. I lift a bag of groceries and the bottom
falls out, spilling food all over the floor, and I am flushed with anger and deep sadness, in the
form of feeling sorry for myself. Suppose in that moment I ask myself, Is God dead? For that is
what my anger and sadness is proclaiming: God is dead. It suddenly seems so absurd for me to
leap from spilled groceries to the death of God, so absurd I can laugh. And pick up the groceries.
More seriously, perhaps I experience a great loss. My loved one dies, or perhaps I go
through a wrenching divorce. The sorrow seems unending, and I feel as if life is over. Is God
dead? In contrast to the magnitude of God, my personal [and illusory] loss is as nothing. Do I
really believe that what happens in my little life can destroy the reality of God? Of course not.
Especially if what I believe happened isnt even real.
Naturally in such profoundly disturbing circumstances I dont recover as quickly as I might
over a bag of spilled groceries. Yet the same thoughts suggested by this lesson can be of immense
comfort. Nothing dies. Nothing real can be threatened. Whatever form death takes must be
illusion. When a body dies nothing really dies. When a divorce rips a beloved body out of my
experience, nothing has truly been lost. Ive been attached to an illusion, but God is still alive.
The pain and agony of loss through death or divorce can continue for months. Denying what I
feel is simply not healthy, and I do not mean to suggest that we should attempt to stuff our grief
with idealistic affirmations that Death isnt real and Nothing has been lost. Rather, as the
Course so often suggests, I can simply look at what I am thinking and feeling and recognize that,
however real it feels, it is based on a denial of the truth. I can remind myself, Im believing that
death is real, and loss is real. Im believing that God is dead, and thats just a foolish notion. This
pain, which I am indeed feeling, is therefore not real and is nothing to be concerned about. Im
okay, and God is still alive.
You might call it lucid living, similar to lucid dreaming. Although the experience you are
going through seems terribly real, and the grief and sadness are real in proportion to your belief in
the reality of the loss, there is still a part of you that is aware that you are dreaming, that you are
being fooled by an illusion. You are fooled by the illusion, you do suffer the grief and sadness,
but part of you knows it isnt really real.
Thats all the Course is asking us to do. Were not being asked to abruptly jettison our feelings
and our misthoughts. All the Course asks is that we recognize that they are based on a lie, that
really they are proclaiming God is dead, and that simply isnt true. If we do that, the Holy Spirit
will do the rest. Bit by bit, gradually (so it seems to us), the shadows of illusion will begin to lift
from our minds. The form of life beyond the death we see will begin to take on definition and
shape in our minds, and the illusion will become more and more shadowy. Our belief in deaths
many forms will weaken, and our belief in life will strengthen. The events of the illusion will
have less and less effect on us, and we will experience the second phrase of this lessons title:
The Son of God is free. We will know that we are eternally alive, and always have been, and
there is nothing to fear.
LESSON 164 JUNE 13

Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.
Enormous promises are attached to todays practice, if we do it faithfully (4:5), if we practice
in earnest (9:5). So lets bring every ounce of willingness we have to this practice today.
Begin by going through a process of letting go all things you think you want (8:1). Go
through a list of things your ego is attached to, and with each one, be willing to consider, just for
the duration of this practice period, that it has no real value. You might imagine that you are
inside the room of your mind, a room cluttered up with all the trifling treasures (8:2) you are
attached to. One by one, clear out those worthless treasures from this room.
Now you have a clean and open room, ready to receive real treasure from Christ, the treasure
of salvation (8:2). Let this room fill with an ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not
lost (4:2). Let it be pervaded by a sense of holiness in you the thought of sin has never touched
(4:3). Hear your Father calling to you, and then hear the Christ in you answer for you. Most of all,
try to let in Christs vision. Open the curtains in this room; let in the light. Through these open
windows, you now can see the world anew, shining in innocence, alive with hope (WpI.189.1:7).
Now the room of your mind has become His treasure house, filled with the gold and silver of
His miracles. Now, wherever you look, your eyes deliver these miracles, as you bless what you
see with your loving gaze. Step out into your day knowing that this is your job, to heal everyone
you see by looking on them with His forgiving vision (7:6).
not permit).
Repeat the idea as a way of entering the treasure house of your mind and feeling your oneness
with God. Then thank Him for the treasures He bestowed on you in the last hour. And ask Him
what He would have you do in the next hour.
Commentary
To anyone who has done the Workbook lessons to this point, it is clear that the recent lessons
are reaching for some new kind of level. There is a consistent emphasis on what the Course calls
the holy instant, although many of the lessons do not use the term. But when a lesson, as this one,
speaks of this instant, now as the time in which we come to look upon what is forever there
(1:3), or of the time we give to spend in quiet with Him, beyond the world (3:2), it is clearly
indicating times in which we enter the holy instant, a moment of eternity within time.
The practice being asked of us (since Lesson 153), day after day, is to set aside times of no
less than five minutes, and as much as a half hour or more, morning and evening, to exercise our
spiritual sight and hearing. We are being asked to listen to the song of Heaven (1:6) that is
continually sounding beyond all the sounds of this world. This melody from far beyond the
world (2:3) is the song of love, the call of our hearts to Him, and of His to ours.
These times are periods in which we forget all our sins and sorrows (3:3), and remember the
gifts of God to us (3:4). We practice setting aside the sights and sounds of the world that
constantly witness to us of the egos message of fear, and we listen to the song of Heaven. We
quiet ourselves, still our minds, and try to get in touch with the silence into which the world can
not intrude (4:1), the ancient peace you carry in your heart and have not lost (4:2), and the
sense of holiness in you the thought of sin has never touched (4:3). All of this, as the first
paragraph says, is forever there; not in our sight, but in the eyes of Christ (1:3). We are not
creating it; we are not making it happen; we are brushing away everything within our minds that
veils it from our sight. Now is what is really there made visible, while all the shadows which
appeared to hide it merely sink away (5:2).
Such practicing puts our minds in a state in which we feel pure joy. Joy is the word that comes
to my mind to describe what a holy instant feels like. There is a sense of contentment, an
assurance that, despite all evidence to the contrary, all is well. There is a peaceful relaxation into
the mind of God. Our minds naturally reach out in love to all the world from within this holy
place, blessing rather than judging.
It may be difficult for us at this juncture to fully understand how such quiet practice,
something that takes place completely within our own minds, can save the world (6:3). The
lesson states in no uncertain terms that, by means of this practice, We can change the world
(9:2). How can that be? It is so because all minds are joined, and while we may understand the
concept, our sense of its reality may be very weak. That is normal; the effect on the world
proceeds whether we are aware of it or not. We can, for the time being, focus on the personal
benefit: But this you can surely want; you can exchange all suffering for joy this very day (9:4).
If you are like me, the reality and importance of this practice grows slowly. There are many
days we let slip by without taking the time to do the work on our minds the Workbook calls for.
The details of life, the press of business, the daily crises shriek for our attention, drawing us
away, as they are meant to do. It takes some determination to put this quiet time with God first,
above all else. But when we do so, an amazing thing happens. As Lesson 286 puts it: Father,
how still today! How quietly do all things fall in place! (W-pI.286.1:12). I recall, long ago,
reading how Martin Luther once wrote, I have so many things to do today, I must spend three
hours in prayer to prepare myself. There was a man who understood, within his own context,
that preparing his mind with God was the most important thing, and that the more pressing the
world seemed, the more he needed that quiet time in Gods presence.
LESSON 165 JUNE 14

Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.
Purpose: To stop denying the Thought of God; to experience it and then abandon all else
as worthless in comparison.
Practice in whatever way the Holy Spirit inspires you to, but the essence of it should be
undoing your denial of the Thought that created you and sustains you, and asking to know that
Thought. Thus, there should be both a negative focus on letting go of your denial, your resistance,
and a positive focus on asking for the experience of the Thought of God, the experience of
Heaven. Ask with desire (5:1) and with hope (7:1). It is all right if you doubt how much you
want this. Certainty will only come through experiencing what you ask for. This will carry you
past all your doubts, to where you know that this experience is indeed the only thing you want.
not permit).
Repeat the idea, trying to let go of your denial and inviting the awareness of Heaven. Then
thank God for His gifts in the hour gone by, and ask for His guidance for the hour to come.
Commentary
Todays lesson, tomorrows, and those just before and after, are a strong encouragement to
move forward. The Course, in these days, is trying to draw us past the point of hesitation and into
a firm commitment.
What makes this world seem real except your own denial of the truth that lies
beyond?What could keep from you what you already have except your choice to
see it not, denying it is there?
(1:1, 4)
Ken Wilber, the author of many books on transpersonal psychology and spiritual growth,
points out that, viewed as evolution, spiritual growth proceeds to the degree we are willing to die
to the lower level of life in order to transcend it and remember (or re-member) the higher level.
The fact that our experience is on an ego level is not because the higher is not already here, it is
because we have chosen the lower as a substitute for the higher, and we do so in every instant. It
is not until the lower level is lived out, tried to the fullest, in a sense, and found lacking, that
motivation exists to move us higher.
We need to become disillusioned with the ego to the point that we begin to see through its
illusions. The degree to which the ego seems real to us is the measure of our denial of the truth
that lies beyond (1:1). We cant see the real world because we dont want to. We are actively
denying it. The reality of the real world, if perceived and accepted, will mean the end of reality as
we now know it. Heaven appears to us as a threat to our imagined comfort on the ego level.
Jesus appeals to us,

Deny not Heaven. It is yours today, but for the asking. Nor need you perceive
how great the gift, how changed your mind will be before it comes to you. Ask to
receive, and it is given you. Conviction lies within it. Till you welcome it as yours,
uncertainty remains. Yet God is fair. Sureness is not required to receive what only
your acceptance can bestow.
(4:18)
You dont have to be sure before asking for Heaven. You dont have to be certain. Sureness
is not required (4:8). In fact, you cannot be sure or certain before asking because conviction lies
within it (4:5); that is, you dont find the conviction, the sureness, the certainty until you have
Heaven, and you cant know you have it until you ask.
As we live thinking we are egos, considering moving forward, considering leaving the ego
behind, the ego fights for its own existence. You dont know what you are getting into here, it
tells us. How can you be sure youd like it? Youd better make sure before you make a move.
Certainty, sureness, and conviction come from experience. When you have experienced the
real world, even a glimpse, you will know you want it, you will know it is what you want and
what you have mistakenly been seeking in the shadow world of the egos illusions. So ask for
Heaven.
Another comfort is that we dont have to understand all that Heaven, or the real world, is,
before we experience it. You dont have to have a clear idea of what youre asking for, of how
changed your mind will be (4:3). That change of mind does not precede the decision to ask, it
follows it. It is the desire that allows it to come.
You dont even need to be sure that Heaven is the only thing you want!
You need not be sure that you request the only thing you want. But when you have
received, you will be sure you have the treasure you have always sought. (5:23)
Its all right to go into this with reservations, such as Maybe I can have the real world and
still hold onto my special relationships. Or maybe I can have inner peace and still enjoy my little
pleasures. Those reservations will vanish once you taste the real thing. A very poor analogy, but
one that makes the point: How can you keep them down on the farm after theyve seen Paris?
Once you taste the treasure you have always sought why would you go back to lesser things?
We already have the certainty within ourselves, in reality. Thats part of what weve covered
over with ego illusions. When we find the Self, we find it complete with certainty. The process of
the Course, of removing blocks to the awareness of loves presence (T-In.1:7), is restated here
in terms of that inner certainty: This course removes all doubts which you have interposed
between Him and your certainty of Him (7:6).
The process consists of becoming aware of our doubts, owning them, acknowledging them,
and then not taking them seriously. This is exactly the same process we go through with other
such blocks, like anger and sadness and pain. See them clearly so you can see that the doubts, too,
are part of the illusion. They are meaningless, for God is certain (7:3). His sureness lies
beyond our every doubt (8:3).
Certainty is not something we can generate for ourselves. We count on God, and not upon
ourselves, to give us certainty (8:1). But for that to happen, we must be willing to move forward,
to be willing to die to the level of life we know now and to ask for something more, a different
way of seeing, a different kind of vision. We need to be willing to ask that the Thought of God
enter our minds and displace the distorted thinking we have been doing. We need to follow the
instructions, so to speak, given in the Course; if we do, certainty is sure to come to us.
LESSON 166 JUNE 15

I am entrusted with the gifts of God.
Purpose: To give the gifts of God to those who still walk the lonely road you are
escaping. To demonstrate through your happiness what it means to receive the gifts of
God.
My suggestion: Spend time feeling the touch of Christ. You have made a false self that is akin
to a mentally ill homeless person (see 4:4). As a result, you wander about feeling alone and
impoverished. In your meditation, let Christ tap you on the shoulder and give you the awareness
that you are not alone and you are not impoverished. Experience the joy that comes from feeling
His touch.
This will prepare you for a day in which your hand becomes the giver of Christs touch
(14:5), in which you become the reminder to the homeless people around you that they are not
alone and are not impoverished. You do this primarily by demonstrating the joy you have
received from Christ. Be witness in your happiness to how transformed the mind becomes which
chooses to accept His gifts and feel the touch of Christ (15:4).
not permit).
Repeat the idea and try to feel the touch of Christ. Then thank God for the gifts He placed in
your hands in the past hour. And ask Him how He would have you give these gifts in the coming
hour.
Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to be sorrowful, fearful, tearful, or
sick.
My suggestion: Repeat the idea in order to dispel these feelings, for they betray your trust,
your mission. Whenever you are afraid, hear Christ reply with, It is not so (11:3). When you
feel poor, let Him point out His gifts to you. When you feel lonely, let Him speak of His
companionship.
Commentary
This lesson carries on the general tone of the previous one, attempting to persuade us to keep
moving forward, past the illusion of ourselves we have been content to live with. It opens with
the idea that God trusts us so much He has given everything to us. Everything. He knows His
Son, and just because He knows us, He gives us everything without exception. His trust in us is
limitless. We doubt our own certainty, but Gods we can depend on.
I trust Gods trust in me.
What we fear is that trust in God is treachery to ourselves (3:2). We are attached to this
world we made.
To admit it is not real is to betray myself. If I have progressed beyond the point of believing
that I can create like God, that I can make a world that is perfect somehow, at least I want to cling
to the notion that I can unmake what God made, that I can destroy the world and shatter its
perfection. To be told my actions, my sins, my denials, my doubts, and all their like are without
effect is demeaning to my ego self. So I contradict the truth of Heaven to preserve what I have
made.
There is a part of each of us that wants to be a tragic figure, like some hero or heroine in an
opera (6:1 and following). We want to be able to say, Behold how nobly I withstand the slings
and arrows of outrageous fortune. We think, all unconsciously, that without the outrageous
fortune our nobility would be lost.
When I listen to my ego, this is how I want to see myself. Such a tragic figure! Poor thing, so
weary and worn. Look at his threadbare clothing! How he must have been deprived! And his
feetOh! Poor thing! They are bleeding.
We can all identify with this figure. Everyone who comes here [to this world] has pursued the
path he follows, and has felt defeat and hopelessness as he is feeling them (6:2). You know what
this is talking about. Youve been there, maybe you are there now. You know what defeat and
hopelessness means, youve felt it too.
Yet is he really tragic, when you see that he is following the way he chose, and need
but realize Who walks with him and open up his treasures to be free?
(6:3)
Is he, the tragic hero [who is you and me], really tragic? Or is he just foolish? Is he just
making a silly mistake? When you see that he is choosing his path and could choose otherwise,
can you consider his suffering tragic?
This is your chosen self, the one you made as a replacement for reality (7:1). This, folks, is
the ego self we have chosen to be. Its how weve seen ourselves. This is the self we are
defending. This is the person we have become, and we resist all the evidence and witnesses that
prove that this is not us.
Jesus calls on us to drop the victim act and recognize that I am not the victim of the world I
see (W-pI.31.Heading), that
I am responsible for what I see. I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide upon
the goal I would achieve. And everything that seems to happen to me, I ask for and
receive as I have asked. (T-21.II.2:35)
You see yourself as this tragic figure, but Jesus response is: [Christ] would make you laugh
at this perception of yourself (8:3).
Id like to meditate on that a while. Jesus wants to make me laugh! Jesus is a frustrated
comedian. Well, maybe not frustrated; look at what he accomplishes through Marianne
Williamson. He wants us to laugh at our egos! He wants me to see the humor of my position,
pleading tragedy when Ive deliberately chosen to be what I am.
Where is self-pity then? And what becomes of all the tragedy you sought to make for
him whom God intended only joy?
(8:45)
The self-pity and the tragedy just disappear, thats what happens. When you laugh at the
sorry figure of the ego, the tragedy vanishes.
The next paragraph describes very well where some of us are right now, just starting to realize
that we are not the ego. This lesson is written on many levels, addressing first, as weve seen, the
person hiding in the ego illusion of tragedy; then, in these next sentences, the person who has
begun to realize that the miserable ego is not his true Identity; and finally, in paragraph 11 on, the
person who has clearly seen and accepted that you are not what you pretend to be (11:2).
In paragraph 9 we see the person in the middlefeeling torn, afraid, almost under attack by
God, Whom he has habitually avoided all his life. Lets listen in to our responses as Jesus tries to
make us laugh, and see alongside it the humorous truth.
First, we sense the presence of God, Whom we have been hiding from: Your ancient fear has
come upon you now, and justice has caught up with you at last (9:1).
Our reaction: Oh, rats! Its God! Now Im going to get it.
Jesus: Its silly to be afraid of God, silly to think He is your Enemy and wants to hurt you.
What a laughable idea, to be afraid of God!
The lesson: Christs hand has touched your shoulder (9:2).
Our reaction: What was that really weird feeling? Oh, Christwas it Christ? Is that His Voice
in my mind? I must be losing it.
Jesus: It is your brother, and he wants to bring you home. How foolish to fear him!
The lesson: and you feel that you are not alone (9:2).
Our reaction: And Im not sure I like the idea of someone always with me, looking over my
shoulder.
Jesus: What a funny reaction! I am your Comforter and Teacher, not your judge. Its silly to
think you prefer being alone.
The lesson: You even think the miserable self you thought was you may not be your Identity.
Perhaps Gods Word is truer than your own (9:34).
Our reaction: I cant believe Ive started to doubt these things Ive believed all my life! I must
be insane!
Jesus: On the other hand, who has more chance of being right: you, or God? Be real!
The lesson: Perhaps His gifts to you are real (9:5).
Our reaction: Yeah, and maybe its just my imagination.
Jesus: But what if they really are real, these gifts? Isnt it foolish not to find out?
The lesson: Perhaps He has not wholly been outwitted by your plan to keep His Son in deep
oblivion, and go the way you chose without your Self (9:6).
Our reaction: Yeah, and maybe He has. Maybe Ive screwed it up so bad that even God cant
fix it.
Jesus: Now thats truly funny! You, outwitting God? Right, sure, thats really brilliant
thinking. God decides He wants something and you are going to keep it from happening?
Our reaction: But if I didnt outwit Him, then I must still be what He made me to be. Im not
sure I want to give up believing in what Ive always thought I am. I feel threatened.
Jesus: So, okay. Hold on to the picture of yourself youve always had; Im sure youve really
enjoyed being you, that way. Right? God isnt fighting it.
The lesson: Gods Will does not oppose. It merely is (10:12).
Youre not fighting with God, and He is not fighting with you. He doesnt fight, He doesnt
oppose. He merely is. What you are fighting (and this is fall-down, bust-a-gut funny) is reality
itself. Thinking you are separate from God is about as smart as a drop of water deciding its not in
the ocean any more. Its like a lion deciding it wants to be a mouse. Youre trying to be what you
are not; thats what causes all the strain, when it should cause nothing but laughter. The fight is
all on your side against an imagined enemy. You are the Answer to all your own questions. There
is nothing to be afraid of here. The truth about yourself is wonderful, not frightening.
In the remainder of the lesson, Jesus talks of three things we need to know. First, all the gifts
that God has given us, that is, the real Self that we are, whole, healed, and abundant. Second, His
Presence with us, our Companion on the journey. And third, that the gifts we have are made for
giving away; we have a purpose here, to give these gifts to all who chose the lonely road you
have escaped (13:1).
In a sense those are the three main thrusts of A Course In Miracles. First, learning the true
nature of Self, the holiness and joy of our own being. Second, and equally important until we
leave this world, is the sure knowledge of His Companionship on the way, the help we need to
make it through. And finally, that the nature we have realized is that of Giver and Lover; to know
we have the gift, we must give it. We must teach the world by showing it the happiness that
comes to those who feel the touch of Christ (13:5).
Our mission is just that: to be happy. Your change of mind becomes the proof that who
accepts Gods gifts can never suffer anything (14:5). We are here to
become the living proof of what Christs touch can offer everyoneBe witness in
your happiness to how transformed the mind becomes which chooses to accept His
gifts, and feel the touch of Christ. Such is your mission now.
(15:2, 45)
Recognize His gifts. Feel His touch. And share His gifts with the world through our happiness
(not through beating people over the head with them). Those are the three stages of moving
forward.
Another way to put it: Drop the victim act and take responsibility as the source of your life.
Choose Heaven instead of hell, ask your Companion for His help. And be the proof of Heavens
reality by your radiant joy and refusal to suffer anything.
LESSON 167 JUNE 16

There is one life, and that I share with God.
Purpose: To accept that the life God gave us has no opposite, cannot change, cannot die,
and cannot even sleep. To strive to keep our mind as He created it, to let Him be Lord of
our thoughts today. This is a companion lesson to 163, There is no death. The Son of
God is free.
Remember that during the longer practice periods, at this point in the Workbook, you are
supposed to do what you feel guided to do and what has worked for you up until this point.
My suggestion for today is to try to get in touch with mind awake (8:1). This lesson teaches
that our experience of death is not thrust upon us from the outside, but is solely the result of our
idea of death (2:3). Under the sway of this idea, it says, our mind seems to fall asleep in Heaven
and dream of a life separate from God, a life in this world. And yet, says this lesson, the mind
merely seems to go to sleep (9:2; italics mine). In fact, the mind cannot change what is its
waking state (6:2). Thus, the appearance of your mind as a volatile, changing field, with
thoughts of fear and hope constantly sweeping across it, is an illusion. Your mind is really
eternally awake, and as such is completely changeless and unlimited. That is the reality of your
mind. Try, then, in your meditation, to get in touch with this reality. Try to leave behind the
illusion of your mind as a restless sea, and experience its reality as a boundless and steady light.
not permit).
Repeat the idea and then spend a moment resting in the wakefulness that is the reality of your
mind. Then thank God for His gifts in the last hour. And ask Him how you can express the truth
that there is no death in the hour to come.
Response to temptation: (Suggestion) whenever you feel tempted to acknowledge death in
any formas sorrow, anxiety, weariness, discomfort.

Repeat the idea immediately. Realize that your negative emotion is a denial of life, and use the
idea to remind yourself that life is the only reality.
Commentary
There is a repetition here, or perhaps a statement that I anticipated when, in writing about
Lesson 163, I said, Belief in death is just another form of the tiny, mad idea at which the Son
of God remembered not [i.e., forgot] to laugh. This lesson says that death is but an idea,
irrelevant to what is seen as physical (3:2). Later it says, Death is the thought that you are
separate from your Creator (4:1). That is the essence of the idea of death: separation from Life.
This is why we can say, There is no death. It is simply impossible. God is Life, and what He
creates must be living. To cease living would be to separate from God, to become His opposite.
Since God has no opposite, there is no death.
There is no death because what God created shares His Life. There is no death
because an opposite to God does not exist. There is no death because the Father and
the Son are one. (1:57)
Ideas leave not their source (3:6). That idea is central to the Course. Ideas exist only in the
mind that thinks them. Ideas do not exude out from mind, take on an independent existence,
become self-sustaining, and become capable of opposition to the mind that created them. They
simply dont do that.
I am an idea in Gods Mind. I am the thought of me. I cannot depart from Gods Mind, live
independently of Him, dependent only on myself, capable of a will that opposes Gods. I simply
cannot do it. I can only imagine I am doing it.
[Death] is the fixed belief ideas can leave their source, and take on qualities the
source does not contain, becoming different from their own origin, apart from it in
kind as well as distance, time and form. (4:3)
I cannot do that; I cannot leave my Source and take on qualities not contained in that Source.
Therefore, I cannot die.
We need to see that, as Lesson 163 (paragraph 1) said, death takes many forms. The
attraction of death spoken of in the Obstacles to Peace section (T-19.IV) reflects all those
forms. This lesson lists a few more:
Yet we have learned that the idea of death takes many forms. It is the one idea which
underlies all feelings that are not supremely happy. It is the alarm to which you give
response of any kind that is not perfect joy. All sorrow, loss, anxiety and suffering
and pain, even a little sigh of weariness, a slight discomfort or the merest frown,
acknowledge death. And thus deny you live.
(2:37)
What is death? Any feeling that is not supremely happy. Any response to anything in our life
that is not perfect joy. Can we see how anything less than supreme happiness and perfect joy is a
denial of life and an affirmation of death? To be less than perfectly joyful is to assert there is
something other than God, other than Life, other than Love; something other that dilutes the
radiant Being of God.
I am not advocating becoming a bliss idiot, walking around in total denial of the pain and
suffering of our lives and of those around us, frantically asserting, Everything is perfect. None of
this is real. Its all illusion, ignore it. Only God exists.
Rather, I am encouraging the exact opposite. I am suggesting that we need to start noticing
just how much the idea of death influences us. We need to notice those little sighs of weariness,
those twinges of anxiety, and recognize that the idea of death underlies them all, the idea that
separation from God is real, that something other than God exists, opposing and nullifying His
radiance. We need to notice how we believe we are that something other, or at least part of it.
Notice, and say to God, Im believing in death again. Im feeling separated from You. And I
know, therefore, this feeling doesnt mean anything, because there is one life, and I share it with
You.
It is only when you recognize that you are responsible for those death thoughts that you can
truly understand they have no reality except in your own mind. To affirm they have no reality
without first taking responsibility for them is unhealthy denial. It leaves them without a source,
and they must have a source. So your mind supplies an imagined source in God or somewhere
outside yourself, and you are back to the separation thought again, because there is nothing
outside God nor outside you. By screaming, Its all illusion! without truly knowing that you are
the illusionist, you make the idea of death into something real, something to be fought against and
repressed.
To recognize death thoughts as illusion does not require that you do violence to your mind.
Seeing beyond illusion is the most natural thing in the world when it happens naturally, as the
result of taking responsibility for the illusion. To see the world as illusion does not require
concerted and sustained effort. It is not something you can try to do. If you are trying, youre
doing it backwards.
The same principle operates when people say, Im trying to see the Christ in him. You cant
try to see Christ in a person; you either do or you dont. When your eyes are open and nothing is
in the way you dont have to try to see! You just see.
Spiritual vision is the same. Christ is there, in every person, and you are quite capable of
seeing Him there. The problem is, youve erected many barriers, many screens, that block your
sight. Youre seeing the reflection of your own ideas instead of seeing who the person really is,
which is Christ.
The way to spiritual sight, the way to see Christ in a brother, therefore, is to become aware of
all the screens you are throwing up, all the illusions you are projecting from your own mind,
blocking true vision. Paradoxically, you dont see Christ in a brother by looking at him, squinting
and trying to pretend he is a loving being; you see Christ in him by looking at your own mind,
your own thoughts, which are the barrier to vision.
Perhaps you are afraid of the person in some way. He appears to you as a threat of some sort,
perhaps prone to attack you physically, or to take your money. Instead of trying to see through
that picture of him as a bad person, a threat to yourself, look at that picture itself and ask where it
came from. With the Holy Spirits help, you will see that it originated entirely in your own mind.
It is the sum of your own judgments solidified into an opinion. It is how you have taught yourself
to see your brother. And that is all.
You know, or you should, that you are not capable of judgment. You cannot possibly have all
the evidence. So you can turn to the Holy Spirit and say, I recognize that my opinion of my
brother is my own creation. It is based on the idea of death, of something separate from and other
than God. As such, I know it is only a bad dream. It has no meaning. My brother is not what I
think he is, and I am not a bad person for having this thought; Im just making a mistake. I am
willing to let go of it, and since I am its only source, I can let go of it.
You may go on feeling afraid. The key difference is not whether or not the fear disappears, as
it sometimes will. The key difference is that, if the fear (or whatever feeling or judgment it may
be) is present, you are aware that you are making it up and it isnt real. This opens the way for a
different vision to dawn on you. If what you have been seeing is illusion, there must be something
else, some other way of seeing, that is real.
The vision of Christ, which is what the Course calls this different way of seeing, may not burst
on your sight after one application of this mental process. It probably wont. Weve got lots and
lots of barriers to that vision, and you may have recognized only one of many things preventing
you from seeing Christ in your brother. Thats okay. Youve understood that this particular
barrier is an illusion, and affirmed there is another way of seeing your brother. Thats all you
have to do. You dont have to try to find the other way! When you are ready, when the barriers
are recognized as something you make up, the vision will just be there.
It will just be there because it is already there. The Christ in you already recognizes Himself
in your brother. The process is similar to tuning out static in a radio with electronic filters. There
is a signal you want to hear, but too much noise and static prevents its being heard. You identify
the static, isolate it, electronically instruct your equipment to ignore it, and eventually, the clear
signal comes through.
What you are doing in the process the Course recommendslooking at the ego and its
thoughts of death, identifying them, and deciding to ignore them because they come from an
undependable sourceis tuning out the static. Keep doing that, and the clear signal of Christs
vision will come through. It is there, in you, right now. You just cant hear it for all the noise
the ego is making.
LESSON 168 JUNE 17

Your grace is given me. I claim it now.
Purpose: To ask for and experience the gift of Gods grace, which will give us first the
gift of vision, and then eternal knowledge. This will momentarily lift us into Heaven,
restore all forgotten memories and give us certainty of Love. This is a new and holy day.
Begin with the prayer at the end of the lesson: Your grace is given me. I claim it now. Father,
I come to You. And You will come to me who ask. I am the son You love. Make this prayer as
heartfelt as you can. In it, you are lifting your heart to God and asking Him for the gift of grace,
in which He leans down to you and raises you up to Him, restoring you to full awareness of Him
and His Love. The next lesson will explain that such moments will only replace the thought of
time but for a little while (W-pI.169.12:3), but this little while can change your life forever. So
ask for it with all the desire you can, and then hold your mind in silent expectancy, poised,
motionless, waiting for the descent of His grace. And when your mind wanders, repeat the prayer
again to bring it back to that motionless waiting.
not permit).
Repeat the prayer and spend a moment waiting in stillness for Gods grace. Then thank Him
for the reflections of grace you experienced in the hour gone by. And ask Him what He would
have you do in the hour to come.
Commentary
What is grace?
This lesson answers not in the impassive terms of a formal definition, but in the picture of a
warm, personal conversation with God. God speaks to us. Shall we not speak to Him? (1:12).
Grace is the concomitant of Gods Love, something that comes along with it as part of the
package. He has always loved us (1:711). Grace is the effect or application of that love which
guarantees His Love will be fully recognized and received. Grace is whatever it takes to bring us
out of our sleep. It is the movement of love that woos us back to Him, the quiet whisper of His
Voice in our minds that will not let us go, the careful planning of our curriculum to help us
unlearn everything we have taught ourselves of fear, the activity of Spirit that works constantly to
win back our trust, restore our joy, assuage our guilt. It is His answer to our despair. It is the
means by which we recognize His Will (2:34).
His grace is given me. His grace is a given, a certainty, part of what it means that God is
Love. It is a gift, always available, always being given, awaiting only my acknowledgment (2:5).
It is the gift by which God leans to us and lifts us up (3:2). And ultimately, grace is that aspect
of His Love in which finally He comes Himself, and takes us in His Arms and sweeps away the
cobwebs of our sleep (3:4).
Shall I not, then, today, sit down for a few minutes of quiet conversation with this God of
Love? Can I not take the time even to ask Him to grant me this grace, which He has already
granted? Can I not express my willingness to receive it, to allow this sorry world to disappear
from my sight, replaced by true vision? Can I not tell Him that I long, at least in part of myself, to
be swept into His Arms? I may feel as though I am making some kind of surrender or concession;
I may believe I am giving something up, or losing something dear to me. Yet if this opening to
grace is surrender at all, it is surrender only to Love. It is a sigh of lost resistance to what I have
always, always wanted. It is a loss of pretense, a falling back into what I have always been. It is
surrender to my Self. It is capitulation to my Beloved; nothing more than that, and nothing less. It
is the ultimate manifestation of falling in Love.
Do I doubt my own capacity to love, and to respond adequately to Gods immaculate, eternal
Love? Our faith lies in the Giver, not our own acceptance (5:2). It is not the power of my
choice or my faith that works the miracle, it is the power of Him Who gives it. His grace gives me
the means to lay down all my errors (5:3), even when I doubt my own ability to do so. That is
what grace is for. Grace supplies everything I think I lack. As God once said to the Apostle Paul,
My grace is sufficient for thee (2 Cor 12:9). What is grace? Everything we need to bring us
home to God, whatever form that might take.
LESSON 169 JUNE 18

By grace I live. By grace I am released.
Purpose: To ask for grace, and the temporary experience of Heaven that comes from
grace. And then to return and bring to others the gifts that you received from grace.
Today you are again asking for the gift of grace, which will momentarily lift you into the
knowledge of Heaven. Begin with this prayer: By grace I live. By grace I am released. By grace
I give. By grace I will release. The first half of this prayer asks that your mind be raised up into
the daylight of reality, where you will experience pure oneness. This is the experience we try to
hasten (7:1). This is not the final revelation that will one day come to you, in which you finally
disappear from time and space altogether, but it does signify that that day is coming. This is
essentially a meditation in which you are going for it all, so bring to it all that you have learned
about meditation, as well as all of your desire for God.
The second half of the prayer speaks of the aftereffects of the moment of grace. Once you
emerge from your instant of timelessness, people will see the light that lingers in your face
(13:2), and you will give them the miracles that were laid in your mind in that holy instant.
not permit).
Repeat the prayer used in the longer practice, asking again for Gods grace. And then thank
God for whatever reflections of grace came your way in the previous hour. And ask Him how, in
the coming hour, He would have you give the gifts you received in your meditation.
Commentary
Grace, Jesus tells us, is an aspect of the Love of God which is most like the state prevailing in
the unity of truth (1:1).
I suppose one might say that to live by grace means to live with full, conscious awareness of
Loves Presence while in the world. In that sense, it is equivalent to living in the real world.
This fits in with the rest of the first paragraph. The state of grace, or living by grace and
constantly receiving grace, is something beyond learning. Learning only prepares us for it, for
learning is purely in this world. Really, what we are doing is unlearning all our denial of the truth
about our Self.
It isthe goal of learning, for grace cannot come until the mind prepares itself for true
acceptance (1:3). Learning prepares us to accept grace. It does not give us grace, but it prepares
us to receive it, to accept it, which implies that grace is already available but we are not able to
accept it.
Grace becomes inevitable instantly in those who have prepared [a place in themselves where
it can be] willingly received (1:4). Grace is simply there, instantly, whenever we are ready to
receive it. Learning is necessary to produce the state of willingness; then the grace just pours in.
We dont have to do anything to bring it, but we do have to progress through (un)learning to
remove our unwillingness to receive.
There then follows what is perhaps the best definition of grace in the lesson: Grace is
acceptance of the Love of God within a world of seeming hate and fear (2:1).
Grace means seeing through the illusion. I am still in this world of seeming hate and fear
and yet, somehow, I accept the Love of God. I accept that He is wholly Love, not angry and
vengeful, not something to be feared because of my sin, not someone to be blamed for the
seeming ills of the world: God is Love. Instead of seeing the world as solid and real, and
wondering how God can be loving when all this is going on, those whose minds are lighted by
the gift of grace can not believe the world of fear is real (2:2). Those who know grace know that
God is real, love is real, and it is the world of fear that is the illusion.
Grace is not learned. The final step must go beyond all learning.
(3:12)
This is not something you learn. It cannot be learned. It must come from outside the context in
which learning occurs, which is purely the ego context. The Course often says there is no learning
in Heaven, or in God. How could there be learning where everything is known?
Grace is not the goal this course aspires to attain. Yet we prepare for grace in that an
open mind can hear the Call to waken. It is not shut tight against Gods Voice. It has
become aware that there are things it does not know, and thus is ready to accept a
state completely different from experience with which it is familiarly at home.
(3:36)
So, since learning is the goal of the Course, grace is not; it is beyond what the Course teaches
because it cannot be taught. But the learning of the Course, which is really unlearning, prepares
us for grace by loosening the tight grip of the ego on our minds. The goal of the Course, as seen
in this paragraph, is an open mind and an awareness that there are things we dont know.
We do not realize the extent to which our minds have been closed, shut tight against Gods
Voice. That is what we must learn. What we learn is all the ways we shut God out. When we
learn that completely, there is nothing left to shut Him out and He is simply there, as He has
always been.
The lesson then goes on to talk of the state of Heaven or oneness. I dont have time to
comment on it here; the lesson speaks for itself when it says, We cannot speak nor write nor
even think of this at all (6:1).
Yet forgiveness, taught and learned, brings with it the experiences which bear
witness that the time the mind itself determined to abandon all but this is now at
hand.
(7:2)
In other words, forgiveness is what we now teach and learn, not grace. Forgiveness is the
learning process, the preparation for grace, and it gives us witness experiences, foretastes of what
it is like to live in grace.
Now we have work to do, for those in time can speak of things beyond, and listen to
words which explain what is to come is past already. Yet what meaning can the
words convey to those who count the hours still, and rise and work and go to sleep
by them? (10:34)
We are still in time. Lets be real and practical here. Talking about things beyond and trying
to understand how what is to come (enlightenment or awakening, which is in our future, as we
perceive it) is past already (that is, the journey is already over, were already enlightened, and
oneness is a constant state which is here now, forever as it always was)talking about these
things can be fascinating, a little encouraging perhaps, but how on earth can we understand it?
We cant! The words convey very little meaning to us while we live and order our lives by time,
by counting the hours.
It is good to think of these things a little, but to do so is not our main task. In fact, it can be a
waste of time if it distracts us from the fact that we have work to do here, now. Forgiveness
work. Sitting around discussing what it means to live constantly by grace, in the real world, or
what follows in the experience of Heaven, is meaningless without that very real and practical
work of forgiveness going on in our lives.
We wont understand Heaven until we get there. Grace foreshadows Heaven, and we cant
even understand that yet, not fully. We can have tastes of it, though, in the holy instants in which
we connect with God and with Love in our minds. So,
now we ask for graceExperience that grace provides will end in time[it does]
not replace the thought of time but for a little while.
(12:23)
The experiences of grace come, and they go. We experience being outside of time but for a
little while. These experiences, which come in moments of true forgiveness, are all we need for
now. The interval suffices (13:1). The holy instants, the little while of each forgiveness
experience, is enough. It is all we need.
It is here that miracles are laid (13:2). In other words, the holy instant opens us to miracles.
It is the way that miracles flow into our lives, to be returned by you from holy instants you
receive, through grace in your experience, to all who see the light that lingers in your face
(13:2). When you come back from the holy instant, there is a light that lingers in your face.
Other people see it, and to them, you bring the miracles you received in that moment.
What is the face of Christ but his who went a moment into timelessness (13:3)
This is talking about you and me. The face of Christ is your face, my face, when we have
received a holy instant and return to the world of time; our faces glow with the light of Heaven.
and brought a clear reflection of the unity he felt an instant back to bless the
world? (13:3)
That is our function here in the world: to bring a clear reflection of Heavens unity back to
bless the world. To ask for grace, to open our mind to receiving grace from God, to choose, as
often as we can, to go into that holy instant in which we feel the unity of Heaven, and then to
return with a reflection of that to bless the world. Notice that the unity is felt and not just
intellectually accepted and understood. It is felt. That is what happens in a holy instant.
We hear about living the in the real world, or what it must be like to live in a constant state of
oneness (Heaven), and we want it. We want it now. We get frustrated because the holy instants
come and go, they last but for a little while and we find that disappointing. Jesus is explaining
here that the learning stage is absolutely necessary, and we should not feel frustrated, we should
not think we are failing in our work if the holy instants dont last.
How could you finally attain to it forever, while a part of you remains outside,
unknowing, unawakened, and in need of you as witness to the truth?
(13:4)
Your brothers around you in the world, unknowing, unawakened, are your own thoughts in
form. They are a part of you which remains outside. You have a mission here, a purpose to
fulfill. Awakening must be communicated. You want a steady state of holy instant-ness, but
Jesus asks, How could you attain that if part of you is outside that state of oneness, unknowing,
unawakened, unaware? Your oneness must include them.
Jesus says we should actually be grateful to come back from these holy instants, back to the
world of time. Listen:
Be grateful to return, as you were glad to go an instant, and accept the gifts that
grace provided you. You carry them back to yourself.
(14:12)
If the holy instant is a moment in which you are aware of oneness, in a sense you have to
come back. You have to come back because you are aware of your oneness with those who
havent seen yet. They are part of you, and so you have to go back to bring the gifts of grace to
that part of yourself that is still not awake, as you see that reflected in your brothers.
Jesus tells us clearly to be content with this, to not ask for the unaskable (14:7). To want
Heaven for myself while leaving my brothers behind is to fly in the face of what Heaven is: the
awareness of oneness. A private salvation is unaskable. We go together or we go not at all.
Some might react to this as though the mass of humanity is holding us back and preventing
our full enlightenment. Such a thought is still based on a consciousness of separation and so is
totally alien to grace and Heaven. The world you see is not a force separate from you, restraining
you. It is a reflection of your own self-restraint, your own resistance which has yet to be
overcome or unlearned. The world is not outside your mind, but in it. You are the world, that is
what you are learning.
You become what you always have been by accepting your role as savior to the world. Your
salvation is the worlds salvation. They are not two things, they are the same.
We come back to save the world. That doesnt mean that we have our little moment of bliss
and then come back to preach to the world about it and tell them how enlightened we are, and
why dont they get with it? If your salvation is the worlds salvation, the reverse is true: the
worlds salvation is your own. You save the world by working on yourself. The sole
responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the Atonement for himself (T-2.V.5:1). You
save the world by changing your own mind, because that is where the world is, in your mind.
There is only one mind, only one of us here.
When you are at a movie, if there is a problem on the screen you dont run to the screen to fix
it; you find the projector and fix that. Those unenlightened people you see out there are parts of
your own mind that you havent recognized as part of you; you dont bring them with you by
trying to work to fix the screen (those separate people out there), you do it by working with the
projector, the cause (your own mind).
Be glad to go an instant, and be grateful also to return, to bring the light of God to the world.
You bring it to yourself. It is in seeing that fact that you will be saved. The returning is not a step
back into time. No, it is a step forward in your own awakening, the means by which you bring all
the world with you into timelessness, there to be the oneness you have touched and known.
LESSON 170 JUNE 19

There is no cruelty in God and none in me.
Purpose: To stand before your devotion to cruelty as a means of safety, see it as a
meaningless idol, and choose to serve this idol no longer.

We need to look honestly at our belief that attacking others in self-defense keeps us safe. This
amounts to a belief that cruelty keeps us safe, since all attack intends to hurt and the intent to hurt
is cruel. This has enthroned cruelty as a god in our mind, a god we dare not question.
Yet today, we must question this god. We must look dispassionately at our belief that cruelty
means safety. So first, get in touch with this belief in you. Note how you do believe that, when
attacked, your attack in return will keep you safe. Then be willing to question this belief.
Consider the possibility that your own defense against an attack is what gives it power in your
eyes. Consider the possibility that your own cruelty is ultimately what makes you afraid. And
consider that this belief that cruelty equals safety is just thata belief, an idea to be calmly reexamined, not a god to be worshipped.
Now turn to another aspect of this belief. You realize that God wants you to lay down your
arms, to give up attack and defense. This makes Him appear to be cruel, for He seems to want to
strip you of your protection. He apparently wants you to be all meek and saintly while you get run
over. As soon as you see cruelty as the god that protects you, then the real God of Love will seem
cruel, as if your protection does not matter to Him. Look at this belief. Be willing to question it. Is
it possible that He wants your safety more than you do? Is it possible that love is your safety
(W-pII.5.5:4)?
In looking at both beliefsthat cruelty is your god and that God is cruelyou are standing
before the same idol, and making a choice. Will you restore to love what you have sought to
wrest from it and lay before this mindless piece of stone? (8:4). While trying to make this
choice, keep repeating the idea There is no cruelty in God and none in me. Consider that God
is only Love and that your nature is like His, that cruelty is quite simply unnatural for you.
Genuinely try to look for the last time upon this bit of carven stone you made, and call it god no
longer (11:2).
If you succeed, you will walk out upon a new world, which you will see through new eyes.
You will look on the same people, but whereas before you saw danger in them, now you will see
Gods glory in them. Where before your heart was filled with fear and cruelty, now it will be
filled with nothing but love.
not permit).
Repeat the idea, trying to renounce your allegiance to cruelty and to accept the love that is
your true nature. Then thank God for the gifts of His Love that came your way in the hour gone
by. And let Him tell you how to express the newfound love in your heart in the hour to come.
Commentary
The basic thought todays lesson contains is that our attempts at defending ourselves are what
make external attack seem real to us.
We fear because we believe, somewhere deep in our hearts, that we have attacked, and
deserve punishment for our attack. We sense within ourselves a belief that to hurt another brings
[us] freedom (1:4). This belief lies behind every attack we attribute to self-defense. No matter
how hard we try to justify our attacks, something in us knows that our intent is to hurt the other
person because we believe that hurting them will somehow free us from something. In a nutshell,
we believe that we are inherently cruel.
We project our belief in attack onto something external; we see the attack as coming from
outside of our own mind. In reality, there is nothing outside of our mind; we are the ones who
attack ourselves by our guilt, but we believe we see the attack external to ourselves, justifying
further attack on our part. Thus fear and defense become the means of preserving ourselves. And
love is endowed with the attributes of fear (5:3); that is, because love would counsel us to lay
down our defenses, it becomes something to fear. Love becomes dangerous.
From this perspective, fear and cruelty become a god, an idol, something to be preserved at
all costs. To let go of fear becomes the ultimate danger. We fear being without fear more than
anything else; we cling to our fear, believing that it protects us.
Taken to the extreme, this worship of fear and cruelty ends up being projected onto God
Himself; we see Him as a vengeful God, breathing fire, threatening us with hell, ready to dupe us
with His talk of love, laughing with savage glee as we go down to defeat. In fact, it is our fear of
God, buried as well as we can bury it, disguised in many forms when it leaks out of our
unconscious, but ever present, that is the basic premise which enthrones the thought of fear as
god (9:4). Ultimately, all our defenses are defenses against God. Buried deep in our psyche is
our conviction that the universe is out to get us. Most of our lives, if we look at them with
honesty, are spent in buttressing our fortifications against things that seem to threaten us.
The Course calls on us to lay down our defenses as the only way of discovering that the threat
is unreal (2:67). God is not angry. The universe is not out to get us. If God appears to us to be
separate from us, only the walls we have erected make it seem so. We are the victims only of our
own defenses.
We have no reason to fear. We are not cruel; we cannot be, for God Who created us has no
cruelty in Him. There is no punishment hanging over our heads. We are the innocent Son of God,
the Son He loves. Without that primal fear, there is nothing to project upon others; when we cease
to project our fear, there is no perception of attack from without; when no attack is perceived
without, there is no need for defense.
If we assess our god of fear and defense honestly we have to see that it is made of stone. It
has no life; it cannot save us. Fear begets fear; attack begets attack. The wars of the world testify
to this endlessly. Hurting others never makes us safe; it only adds to the cycle of fear and attack.
To realize that our trusted method of securing safety is worthless, that our champion warrior is
a traitor, can be a terrifying moment. The missile silos in which we have placed all our trust are
pointed at our own hearts! This moment can be terrible. But it can also be the time of your
release from abject slavery (8:12). To think of giving up defense entirely can momentarily
paralyze us with fear. But it can be the moment in which we are free to recognize that what we
fear does not exist, and the enemy we have striven to keep out is allowed to enter, bringing His
peace with Him.
LESSON 171 JUNE 20

God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
(151) All things are echoes of the Voice for God.
(152) The power of decision is my own.
See Review V practice instructions.
Commentary
Another review! As you read through the introduction to the review, you will notice that there
are no detailed practice instructions. The summary, given in paragraph 11, is the only reference to
the actual practice we are meant to follow. A morning time, an evening time, and keeping the idea
in our remembrance throughout the daythats all the instruction we are given. Actually, the full
instructions were given in Lesson 153, paragraphs 1518. There, the instructions were said to be
a form we will maintain for quite a while (W-pI.153.15:1). That while is still continuing.
In the ten days of review, I will be commenting mainly on the review introduction, rather than
the daily ideas being reviewed. Today Ill cover the first three paragraphs, and then one paragraph
a day for the remaining nine review lessons. The theme idea for the review is: God is but Love,
and therefore so am I. We are told (4:2) that each of the twenty thoughts we are reviewing
clarifies some aspect of the theme thought; I will also attempt to point out some ways the theme is
connected to each days two thoughts.
The introduction to our review opens with a powerful appeal to us to take our practicing
seriously, to give more effort and more time to what we undertake (1:2). Once again, as in
Review IV, we are reminded that this series of lessons is meant to help us in preparing for
another phase of understanding (1:3). Review IV made it clear that this is a reference to the
second part of the Workbook: This timewe are preparing for the second part of learning how
the truth can be applied (W-pI.rIV.In.1:1). The realization that we are preparing for something
more, a shift into another phase, is meant to motivate our efforts so that we take this step
completely, that we may go on again more certain, more sincere, with faith upheld more surely
(1:4). One gets the sense that the effectiveness of the second half of the Workbook depends, in
large measure, on how much time and effort we are willing to put into our practicing right now.
I remember the first few times I did the Workbook, I always felt the second half was a bust.
Anticlimactic. I also remember that I made no serious effort to follow the practice instructions; I
just read the lesson every morning. I am absolutely certain that there is a direct connection
between those two facts: my feeble practice, and my sense of anticlimax.
The Workbook recognizes that we have been wavering, and that we have had doubts that
caused us to be less than diligent in practicing. It does not berate us over this, but it does make
clear that if we want the results, we have to follow the program. The reward will be a greater
certainty, a firmer purpose and a surer goal (1:6).
The prayer in paragraphs two and three would be, in my opinion, a good one to use every day
during this review. It needs no comment; the meaning of every line is quite clear. It is a prayer for
diligence in practicing. It is an affirmation of faith that, even if we forget, stumble, or wander off,
God will remember for us, raise us up, and call us back.
Todays two thoughts connect easily to the theme idea. If God is only Love, and I am also
only love, then everything echoes His Voice. Everything is nothing but an aspect of Him. The
decision I face, today and every day, is whether or not to accept this fact. Will I live today as an
expression of the Love of God, or will I choose to attempt what must be impossible: to be
something else?
LESSON 172 JUNE 21

(153) In my defenselessness my safety lies.
(154) I am among the ministers of God.
Commentary
Paragraph 4 of the review introduction:
This is the thought (4:1). The words refer to sentence 3 of the paragraph, the theme
thought for the review. As we review, we are to dwell on this thought first, every day, every
morning and evening, and often through the day. Each additional thought from the previous
lessons clarifies some aspect of this thought, or helps it be more meaningful, more personal and
true, and more descriptive of the holy Self we share and now prepare to know again (4:2). It
would be good, in our reviewing, to meditate on how this central thought relates to the other two
ideas. The focus is on the theme thought; the additional thoughts are meant to clarify it or expand
on it.
Notice the word prepare used again in sentence 2. The new phase of understanding (1:3)
that we are preparing for will have something to do with once again coming to know our true
Self. The first half of the Workbook has concentrated on undoing our old thought system; the
second half will move us on into reclaiming the knowledge of the Self we thought we had lost.
The holy Self we are is simply an extension of God. He is Love; so are we. We are what He is,
extended. That is what we are preparing to remember; more than simply to remember, to know.
That one word implies worlds. I can write the words, I can agree with them, but do I know what I
am saying? Knowing that I am an extension of Gods Love will change everything about my life,
banish all fear, and give me a sense of holy purpose unparalleled by anything I have ever before
experienced.
What is this Self, which I am, like? It is perfectly consistent in Its thoughts; knows Its
Creator, understands Itself, is perfect in Its knowledge and Its love, and never changes from Its
constant state of union with Its Father and Itself (4:5). This is a description of me and you as
God created us. This is what our practicing is preparing us to know again.
Isnt this a goal worth more effort and more time? (1:2). Try to imagine what it will be like
(not would be but will be) to be perfectly consistent in all your thoughts. Try to get a sense of
what it will be like to know God and yourself perfectly. Try to imagine living in a constant state
of union with the Father, and with your Self, without variation or change in that state of union.
Todays two review ideas help us to see the way to our goal, negatively and positively. If I am
Love, how can I be defensive? To be what I am in truth, I must lay down my defensiveness. And
if I am Love, what can I be but a minister of God? What can my purpose here be but to extend
His Love, to reach out and touch my brothers with the touch of Christ?
LESSON 173 JUNE 22

(155) I will step back and let Him lead the way.
(156) I walk with God in perfect holiness.
Commentary
The Self that is only Love, perfectly consistent in Its thoughts, is what waits to meet us at the
journeys ending (5:1). I often need to remind myself of what it is I am going for in this
spiritual walk. Sometimes it seems like such a long journeycountless situationsthrough time
that seems to have no end (T-24.VI.7:2). Keeping the goal in view, in the forefront of my mind,
is a necessity for me. This, with a capital T (at least in some editions of the Course), is
promised us (5:4). I am on a journey to find my Self, and at the end of the journey, it is
promised, I will find It. A Self in constant union with God. A Self at perfect peace within Itself.
This is worth going for.
The journey seems long, but every step brings me a little nearer (5:2). Each time I pause for a
minute to remember brings me nearer. Each time I open my heart in love to a brother brings me
nearer. Each morning or evening I take the time to practice, sitting in silence, listening, brings me
nearer. The path offered by the Course is not a flashy one. It is not, sometimes, a very exciting
one. But it works. It is so clear to me that this work must be done somehow; the twisted thoughts
of my ego must be undone and replaced with something else. The multitude of fears disguises
must be unmasked and replaced with love. Sometimes I wish it could happen overnight.
Sometimes I wonder why it seems to take so long and proceed so slowly. And then I catch my
own thoughts, turning me away, delaying me, and I know why. Occasionally I even feel gratitude
that God does not force anything on me against my will, because, when at last I end the journey,
there will be not one shred of uncertainty that it is my will, as well as His. And I return to the
steady work the Course sets forth, knowing thatfor me, at leastthis is the only way I have
found that works.
This reviewdone as we are asked to do it, of coursewill shorten time immeasurably
(5:3). So if I feel impatient, here is the means to shorten the time it takes. The means are being
given to me, handed to me on a silver platter, put before my eyes day after day. Will I take them?
Will I use the means given me to shorten time? I say so often that I want the journey to proceed
more quickly. Yet if, given the means to shorten the time, I do not use them, what does that say
about my wanting? My regularity in practice is the measure of my true desire.
If I practice with the goal in mind, if I remember why I am doing it, the benefit will be
maximal. If, however, I trudge through the practice as if it were some kind of duty being imposed
on me, a tedious chore, I will benefit less.
Today let me raise my heart from dust to life as I remember (5:4). Let me lift up my eyes and
recall the glorious goal, the completeness of my Self that awaits my remembering. Let the inner
hunger that never leaves me have its way and draw me onward.
Todays two review ideas dovetail nicely with the ideas in the paragraph from the review
introduction. I step back and let Him lead the way, willingly following His direction. And I am
encouraged on my journey in knowing that as I go, I walk with God in perfect holiness.
This course was sent to open up the path of light to us, and teach us, step by step,
how to return to the eternal Self we thought we lost.
(5:5)
Thank You, Father, for this course. Thank You for its step-by-step instructions. Thank You for
this time of review, for the times I can spend with You, quietly, listening, waiting, knowing that
every minute draws me nearer to my goal, every minute saves immeasurable time. Thank You for
opening up the path of light.
LESSON 174 JUNE 23

(157) Into His Presence would I enter now.
(158) Today I learn to give as I receive.
Commentary
In this paragraph, Jesus speaks in the first person: I take the journey with you (6:1). One
aspect of the Course that seems to get less attention than many others is the personal presence of
the author in our lives. No doubt many of us, feeling we have escaped from what we perceived
as restrictive Christian backgrounds, many of which emphasized a personal Savior and the
actual worship of Jesus as Gods only Son, find ourselves uncomfortable with the notion of
having Jesus by our side as we make this journey. It is too much like what we left behind.
In the Clarification of Terms section in the Manual for Teachers, we are reminded that some
bitter idols have been made of him who would be only brother to the world (C-5.5:7). One
relationship that may need healing is our relationship with him; we may carry with us many
shadow figures from the past that distort our perceptions of him. We are asked, here in the
Manual, to forgive him your illusions, and behold how dear a brother he would be to you (C5.5:8). Yet the Course takes this issue, as it does all such issues, gently. It is possible to read his
words and benefit from them without accepting him into your life. Yet he would help you yet a
little more if you will share your pains and joys with him (C-5.6:67). So if you find this idea of
relating with him a little unsettling or even distasteful, be at peace; its okay.
Jesus offers to share our doubts and fears in order to make himself accessible to us. We can
know he understands what we go through because he has been this way before. Even though he
has reached a place where uncertainty and pain have no meaning, he understands them when we
experience them. We dont have to feel that we are approaching some remote figure, high and
mighty, who will dismiss our uncertainty as irrelevant with a wave of his hand. He sees what we
see. He is aware of all the illusions that terrify us, and the reality they seem to have to us. But he
holds in his mind the way that led him out, and now will lead you out with him (6:5). He is like
an elder brother who has finished the journey, but has come back now to lead us home with him.
He knows that the Sonship is not complete until we have walked the same way he walked. He is
with us now, leading the way for us.
In my quiet time today, then, let me be aware of his presence. As I enter into Gods Presence,
let me be conscious of one who is at my side, perhaps holding my hand if I feel fearful. Let me be
willing to bring my uncertainty and pain to him, so that he can help me overcome them. As I
receive the grace from him enabling me to set aside my fears and doubts, let me learn to give as I
receive. Let me come forth from this time with him to share what I have received with those
around me. Let me act as Gods representative in the world, to forgive the sins of those around
me, ease their minds, and offer them the peace that has been given me.
LESSON 175 JUNE 24

(159) I give the miracles I have received.
(160) I am at home. Fear is the stranger here.
Commentary
You know, from the way Jesus talks in the first sentence, it sounds like this is something he
has experienced more than once! My resurrection comes again each time I lead a brother safely
to the place at which the journey ends and is forgot (7:1). Id certainly like to think that there
have been more than just him; it would be disheartening if he were the only one so far. I think,
today, that there have probably been far more than we realize who have reached the journeys end
with him. Sometimes we wonder why there seem to be so few in this world who seem to have
made it, but if I think about it, it seems to me that this world is the last place we are likely to
find such people! Im just glad that Jesus, at least, has decided to hang around and be a
saviorwith those he teaches (6:5). (Actually, the Course implies that there are others as well;
see Section 26 of the Manual, Can God Be Reached Directly? first two paragraphs.)
There is something uplifting about the idea that when I learn, in some circumstance, the way
out of misery and pain (7:2), that Jesus is renewed. Actually, of course, that is true of all of
us; every one of us is renewed when a brother learns the way out of pain. Everyone we touch with
a miracle enriches us when they receive it. When anyone shares an account of a miracle in their
life, everyone who hears is renewed; that is what makes the sharing so refreshing. My own walk
with God is strengthened every time I realize that something I have said helped someone. The
Course often says that those we help help us, that our brothers see in us more than we can see in
ourselves; that is how we learn to remember what we are.
Let me remember, today, that every time I turn my mind to the light within myself, and look
for Him, Christ is reborn. This is how the Second Coming happens (see W-pII.9.3:2, What Is the
Second Coming?). When we all have given our minds wholly to Christ, the Second Coming will
be complete. Each time I turn to the light within, I bring it nearer. Each time today that I
remember God is but Love, and therefore so am I, I hasten that day. Each time I choose to give
the miracles I have received, each time I remember that my Self, and not fear, is at home in me,
Christ is reborn in the world.
No one has been forgotten. I love Marianne Williamsons line, God hasnt lost your file. I
like to imagine the hustle and bustle in the heavenly office, with all sorts of entities working on
my behalf, all unknown to me. Planting little clues where Ill find them. Arranging for me to meet
the right people, stumble over the right books, and go through the experiences I need to go
through.
But all of this needs my cooperation. The last sentence is almost paradoxical, stating that Jesus
needs my help to lead me back to where the journey was begun. But it makes sense, for as the
Course says all along, the one essential is my willingness. He leads me, he doesnt force me. My
help consists in being willing to follow, stopping now and then to listen for directions. And in
doing the practice he gives me to do.
I notice that he is leading me backwards (!) to where the journey began, in order that I can
make another choice (7:5). All of his work with me is to take me back to that moment when I
made the wrong choice, so that I can make it differently. Nothing, then, is irrevocable. Even the
pivotal choice that began the nightmare can be undone, and will be undone, and has been undone.
He is leading us up the ladder that separation led us down (T-28.III.1:2). Each mistaken choice
that I allow him to undo today is another step back up the ladder to the memory of my original
state, to the memory of the fact that God is but Love, and therefore so am I.
We give the miracles we have received, and as we do, we remember we are at home, and it is
fear that is the stranger.
LESSON 176 JUNE 25

(161) Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.
Commentary
Our practicing somehow releases Christ to the world. Opening our minds to the Holy Spirit
makes us available as channels to those around us. The Holy Spirit, of course, is Him Who sees
your bitter need, and knows the answer God has given Him (8:1). One of the things that makes
the Course so unique, I think, is the way in which it both acknowledges our bitter need and yet
affirms that in reality we have no needs. It is as if He is saying to us, I know that the world of
pain and loss is only an illusion and nothing to be disturbed about, but I also know that, to you, it
is very, very real, and I am ready to work with you on that basis.
Quite clearly, we are being encouraged to develop a relationship with Jesus and the Holy
Spirit. We review together (8:2). We devote our time and effort to these review thoughts
together (8:3). We are not simply individuals practicing some kind of mind manipulation; we
are engaging in a relationship, a collaborative venture:
Healing does not come from anyone else. You must accept guidance from within.
The guidance must be what you want, or it will be meaningless to you. That is why
healing is a collaborative venture. I can tell you what to do, but you must collaborate
by believing that I know what you should do.
(T-8.IV.4:59)
So we are reviewing these thoughts with him. We are not just mulling them over by ourselves,
but listening to that guidance from within as we do so.
And together we will teach them to our brothers (8:4). Have you noticed how nearly every
time the Course talks about the process we are going through, it ends up with some aspect of
sharing or extension, some kind of giving what we have received to our brothers? The Course is
not a personal path of salvation. Indeed it teaches there is no such thing as individual salvation,
because individual is an illusion. We are not alone. We are not separate individuals who can be
individually saved. We are part of a whole, and when we begin to receive what the Holy Spirit
has to teach, we must share it, because sharing is what He is teaching. We teach by actions or
thoughts; in words or soundlessly; in any language or in no language; in any place or time or
manner (M-1.3:6).
We share precisely because the whole is not whole until everyone is included. As Jesus is
incomplete without us, we are incomplete without our brothers. We, like Jesus, may recognize the
wholeness in ourselves and in so doing, recognize it in our brothers. The wholeness is already
there, but unacknowledged and unrecognized: I am as God created me, as one of our thoughts
for review reminds us. Our ancient home is being kept unchanged by time, immaculate and
safe (8:8). We cannot lose it, but we have lost awareness of it, and that awareness is what we
share with each other.
As we begin to accept our own wholeness we become reminders to the world of the wholeness
that is also theirs, and that we share with them. There is no preaching quality, no spiritual elite
telling the rest of the world how it is. It is the happy communication that You are whole, as I
am. I am as God created me, and you are as God created you. We come to our brothers not as
superiors, but asking their blessing on us, acknowledging them as the holy Son of God, along
with us: Give me your blessing, holy Son of God.
Your holiness is the salvation of the world. It lets you teach the world that it is
one with you, not by preaching to it, not by telling it anything, but merely by your
quiet recognition that in your holiness are all things blessed along with you.
(W-pI.37.3:12)
LESSON 177 JUNE 26

(163) There is no death. The Son of God is free.
(164) Now are we one with Him Who is our Source.
Commentary
Four more days of this review; four more days of our gift to him. Of course, every moment
we connect with our right mind, every moment we taste the one holy instant, is a gift as well. This
paragraph has a wonderful flavor to it: our hearing his words; us giving them to the world; Christ
working through us to save the world; walking together to God with him; taking the hand of our
brother as we go. A wonderful connective energy, all part of a magnificent whole which is our
Self, sourced from God. The energy flows to us and through us, from us to our brothers and from
them to us, weaving us all together in the divine fabric. We are one with Him Who is our Source.
For this alone I need; that you will hear the words I speak, and give them to the world. You
are my voice, my eyes, my feet, my hands through which I save the world (9:23). This is the
real purpose of my existence and my experience here in the world. I may feel confusion, day to
day, about my purpose and the form it is taking. I may have my doubts about those with whom
my life is now interacting, wondering how in Heavens name they could ever be part of any
divine plan. I may wonder the same about myself. But Jesus speaks in these words from the
Course saying, in effect, My only need is you. I need your physical presence to reach through
you to the others who are lost in the illusion of bodies.
How can this be? How, in the mess I find myself in, can this happen? I dont know. But I
believe that the Holy Spirit knows. All I can do is to make myself available, to be willing for it to
happen. Let me remember that these thoughts of anxiety, doubt, lack of trust, and sadness are all
just forms of the belief in death, and let them go, placing them in His hands. Let me place myself
in His hands as well, remembering that I am one with Him Who is my Source; I am Love as God
is, I am the extension of His Being, as are we all. If I can believe this I am free.
Donna Cary has written a wonderful song, one of many based on her experience with the
Course. The chorus of it repeats over and over, Hes asking me to give myself to Him, Calling
me to give myself to Him. The song speaks of the fear that arises when we hear this call. Can I
say, today, He needs me. He wants my hands, my feet, my eyes and my voice. Father, I am
frightened, but here I am. Use me? Let me be the instrument of His peace. Or, in the words of a
Christian poet of the last century, Amy Carmichael:
Love
through
Make
me
Through
which,
As though it were not there.
me,
Love
like
Thy
unhindered,
of
clear
colors
God.
air,
pass
God is nothing but Love, and therefore, so am I. Let that Love flow through me, unhindered
by anything. Let me be clear and clean. Remind me, God, that I am free today; there is no death,
there is no opposite to Love, or to life. Let my life be an expression of that truth.
LESSON 178 JUNE 27

(165) Let not my mind deny the Thought of God.
(166) I am entrusted with the gifts of God.
Commentary
The practice of the Workbook is meant to induce not just new thoughts and new permutations
of thoughts, but an experience: a new experience for you, yet one as old as time and older still
(10:1). How can an experience be older than time? How but in being part of eternity? The holy
instant reaches to eternity, and to the Mind of God ( T-15.V.11:5). The holy instant is a
miniature of eternity (T-17.IV.11:4). These times spent in quiet with God are occasions when we
step out of time and into timelessness; what we experience here is older than time, incredibly
ancient and yet immediately present, always present.
We are experiencing our Self. Hallowed your name. Your glory undefiled forever (10:23).
These are words that sound to us (if our background is Christian, at any rate) as if they should be
spoken of God. Yet here they are spoken of you and of me. What is it like to experience such a
thing? What is it like to know yourself as one of whom these words can be spoken, one who is
entrusted with the gifts of God? I do not think words can convey it, although many have
attempted to do so. What is required is an experience; then, words become unnecessary and even
unwanted.
There is a kind of experience so different from anything the ego can offer that you will never
want to cover or hide it again (T-4.III.5:1). That is what we are seeking in these quiet times. Not
desperately or anxiously, not with concern or fear that it will not come to us, but peacefully,
quietly, trustingly. We cannot force it to happen, we can only let it happen. We do not seek to
add anything to ourselves, we simply seek to stop denying the Thought of God, which is the
whole truth about us.
In this moment we can experience our wholeness now complete, as God established it
(10:4). Once you have known your own wholeness, why would you ever again want to cover or
hide it? Only the lie that what you are is something you do not want to know could have ever
persuaded you to hide it. Outside the holy instant our Self is surrounded by a ring of fear; we shy
away from approaching the Self because we have been tricked into believing that what we will
find is fearful.
The time it seems to take to find the holy instant is not because it is mysterious and
inaccessible; the time is only the measure of our fear of our Self. It takes this time to gently still
our fears, until we are ready to find the Self that lies outside of time, older than time itself, whole
and complete as God created It. This Self is the Thought of God. Our unawareness of it is only
our denial of this Thought. Our experience of it is only the ending of our denial. The Self does not
change, nor come and go. It is.
In this Self we are completing His extension in [our] own (10:5). The creative extension of
God is made complete as we, in turn, extend ourselves. The Love that made us flows through us
to enliven others. We are practicing what we have always known; we knew it before the ancient
truth seemed to disappear into illusion, and we will know it again. In the holy instant we know it
now. And what we know is this: We are entrusted with the gifts of God. Our giving of them
completes His giving. We remind the world that it is free of all illusions every time we say: God
is but Love, and therefore so am I (10:78).
LESSON 179 JUNE 28

(167) There is one life, and that I share with God.
(168) Your grace is given me. I claim it now.
See Review V practice instruction.
Commentary
The paragraph is once again about specifics of Workbook practice. I dont mean to belabor
this point, but since I am simply following the content of this introduction, the emphasis is really
not mine but that of the Course itself.
The Workbook places a great emphasis on repetition of the ideas it presents. Repetition is one
of the primary techniques for mind training that it encourages. If we are doing it as directedand
I am the first to admit that I am still far short of doing sowe will be meditating on this theme
thought for a minimum of five minutes in the morning and evening, with up to half an hour each
time being even better. We will be recalling it every hour, and using the theme idea, God is but
Love, and therefore so am I, to frame the two additional thoughts we are reviewing for the day.
This is not a radical or strange idea. Repetition of spiritual thoughts is common in many
religions. I even ran into it in fundamentalist Christianity. A teacher at an evening class I once
attended at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, in 1959, taught his students what he called Bible
meditation. The general idea was to memorize verses from the Bible so as to have them handy in
ones mind, and to meditate on them all during the dayupon arising, as you walked from place
to place, whenever you sat waiting for anything, riding the bus or the train, and again at night just
before sleeping. He defined meditation as Sharing with the Lord His own Word, prayerfully, and
with personal application. This teacher claimed that such meditation had revolutionized his life.
It revolutionized my life as well. In time I memorized more than a thousand Bible verses. I
knew entire chapters by heart, word for word. Im sure that the practice is a good part of what
took me, eventually, beyond the confines of fundamentalism.
I still remember one of the first times that I set aside time right before sleeping to meditate. I
sat up for five or ten minutes, ruminating on the verses for that day, turning them into prayer,
communing with God over them, applying them to my life. Then I fell asleep with the words still
going through my mind.
The next morning, I woke up and lay in that half-awake state just before you open your eyes.
And there in my mind, like a mantra, the words were still being repeated. I believed then, and do
now, that they had been playing over and over like a tape loop in my mind all during the night. I
woke that morning with a joyful burst of faith, realizing that I was truly feeding my mind with
nourishing thoughts.
It is a wonderful thing to find the words of the Course springing into your mind spontaneously
during the day, or as you wake up. But that doesnt happen without a lot of repetition. Without
practice of these thoughts, the tape loops running in our minds are something very different,
because we have already trained our minds very well, but with the wrong thoughts. It takes a
conscious effort, repeated choices to remember the thoughts for the day and to repeat them, to
meditate on them, and to apply them to our lives. This is a course in mind training, and training
means training.
When we enter wholeheartedly into the training, there will be results. We will have
recognized the words we speak are true (11:5). So let us remember today, and often, that there
is one life, and that I share with God. Let us affirm to ourselves, constantly, every time we can,
Your grace is given me. I claim it now.
Dont be discouraged if you forget. I still forget often. But I remember more often than I used
to. If you have done nothing more before today than read over the lesson in the morning, then if
today you remember just one time during the day, or take a few minutes before sleeping, thank
God. Try to remember today just one more time than yesterday. If, yesterday, you forgot entirely,
then resolve today to remember at least once. Every time you remember is a great step forward.
The paragraph we will cover tomorrow reminds us that the words are only aids, and the
practice is just a means to produce an experience. Dont make a ritual out of the practice; the
experience is what counts.
LESSON 180 JUNE 29

(169) By grace I live. By grace I am released.
(170) There is no cruelty in God and none in me.
Commentary
Yesterday we thought again about the means of practice that we
are being taught, the frequent repetition of the thoughts for the day.
Todays paragraph reminds us that the words are only aids. Their
purpose is simply to recall the mind, as needed, to its purpose
(12:1). The purpose is in the experience, the communion with God
experienced during the holy instants we spend. We place faith in the
experience that comes from practice, not the means we use (12:2).
What is the minds purpose to which we are being recalled? It is
remembering Who we are, and sharing that with the world,
reminding others of their true Self, shared with us. The repetition of
words only brings us back to this memory of a Self that is in constant
union with Its Father and Itself, His natural extension. The goal of
our practice is to experience that state of right-mindedness, even if
only for a brief moment. We are remembering that what we are is
only Love, because that is all that God is. If that is so, there can be
no cruelty in God, nor any cruelty in us.
The experience of the Self is what brings conviction (12:3). The
words God is but Love, and therefore so am I or By grace I live
cannot bring conviction or certainty. The experience of it not only
can bring conviction, it does bring conviction. The goal of practice is
to go beyond the words to the experience, to their meaning, which
is far beyond their sound (12:4).
How does that happen? I cant tell you; no one can. But I can tell
you that it does happen. It wont happen without practice. Practice
does not make it happen, but it prepares the mind. It opens the door.
It washes the mind clean with crystal pure thoughts, and readies it for
the experience that is always there, always waiting. And in that

experience, we find our rest.
LESSON 181 JUNE 30

I trust my brothers, who are one with me.
Purpose: To go past the special block of focusing on the mistakes of others, and so
experience your own sinlessness. This experience will intensify your motivation and
strengthen your commitment.
The practice is a meditation aimed at experiencing the sinlessness in you. Close your eyes and
hold in mind nothing but your great desire to see your own sinlessness, to experience the pure
goodness that is your reality. Make this focus your only intent.
To do this, you will need to set aside your focus on the mistakes of others. This focus has been
disastrous. It has caused those mistakes to fill your vision and show you a sinful world. This
sinful world has then acted as a constant witness to the sinfulness in you. To see the sinlessness in
you, then, you will have to banish from your mind any thought of the errors of others. If, during
your meditation, your mind starts dwelling on someones wrongdoing, quickly repeat, It is not
this that I would look upon. I trust my brothers, who are one with me.
You will also need to set aside all concerns about past and future. Dont let your ego tell you
that the goal of seeing your sinlessness is just too different from your past goals and that this new
goal, by eclipsing your old goals, will threaten your happiness. Dont let it tell you that, even if
you should gain a glimpse of your holiness, you will inevitably lose your way again (4:3). Such
concerns about past and future are really just subtle defenses against present change (5:3).
Refuse to let your mind be drawn off into these defenses. Hold an absolutely single focus.
We enter in the time of practicing with one intent; to look upon the sinlessness within (5:7).
Hourly remembrance: One or two minutes as the hour strikes (reduce if circumstances
do not permit).
Do a short version of morning/evening meditation, aimed at experiencing the sinlessness in
you. Then thank God for His gifts in the previous hour and ask Him for His guidance in the
coming hour.
Response to temptation: Whenever you want to focus on someones mistakes.
Repeat, It is not this that I would look upon. I trust my brothers, who are one with me.
Realize that your focus on his mistakes is an obstruction blocking the vision of your own
sinlessness (7:3). Dispel this obstruction not for any long-range purpose, but simply to relieve the
misery that comes from focusing on sin.
Commentary
This lesson is not encouraging naive blindness to peoples flaws. It isnt saying that you
should unlock your house and car and leave your money lying in the street, trusting no one will
steal it. It is talking about looking beyond others errors and mistakes (their egos) to see their
sinlessness. It is speaking of being aware of a persons mistakes (and taking them into practical
account), while at the same time looking past them to their perfect innocence. Not seeing the
mistakes as sins to be condemned and punished. As my friend Lynne once said of a man who had
previously been abusive to her, I may love a rattlesnake, but that doesnt mean I sleep with it.
The block this lesson is helping us to lift (however briefly) is our focus on the sins of our
brothers and sisters. The lesson is telling us not to look for what is wrong in people, but what is
right. The point behind this is that by focusing on the sins of others, we block their true Self from
our sight, and thereby block the Self within us from our sight as well. If I cannot overlook the
mistakes of my brothers, I cannot overlook my own. Perception has a focus (2:1). We need to
change our focus. Remove your focus on your brothers sins, and you experience the peace that
comes from faith in sinlessness (2:5). Remember the aim of these twenty lessons: to remove a
block and thus experience something different; in this case, faith in sinlessness.
As the introduction said, we are not trying to do this for all time! (Not yet anyhow.) Not even
for all day; just for a brief period. Do you have someone you feel you cannot forgive? How about
trying to practice forgiving them, just for five minutes? Just for a brief period, be willing to let
go of your judgments about them, to forget the past and to forget the future, and to look for the
innocence in them, to see them as a holy child of God, deserving of His Love. How about trying,
even for five minutes, just to be willing for this kind of experience? Dont worry about the fact
that for the last month, or year, or however long, youve wanted to kill them; dont worry about
the fact that ten minutes from now you will be fantasizing about how they will get what is coming
to them. Maybe so. How could this matter? (5:1). The concerns we have about the past or the
future are but defenses against present change of focus in perception (5:3). If we can let
ourselves experience, even for a brief moment, what it feels like to see past their sins to
innocence, that experience will be enough to motivate us to go all the way.
I encourage us all to bear these instructions in mind, not just for todays lesson, but for all the
rest of the Workbook. When you sit down for a quiet time, put aside how you felt just before, and
dont worry about how you will feel afterwards. We do not seek for long-range goals (7:2). All
we are looking for is the experience of an instant of release, because that is all that is needed. At
any moment during the day we can stop and say, This instant is our willing one with His (9:8).
That instant is all we need.
Somehow, we seem to think that we can shift from total egoity to immediate spirituality. We
think that if we spend five minutes with God in the morning, the rest of the day ought to be totally
transformed, immediately. Our resistance is simply too great for that to happen; we have
overlearned the egos lessons, and unlearning them will take some effort. The ego tells us, It
isnt working, because we forgave our brother in those five minutes in the morning and spent
half the rest of the day dreaming up ways to make him, or her, suffer. But something is
happening; the ego is trying to make us guilty because it knows something is happening. Those
five minutes when we lay our judgment aside bring us an experience of inner peace that we have
never known before, and we know a good thing when we see it. Our motivation to forgive will
grow, and grow, and grow. The experience of surcease an instant from the misery the focus upon
sin will bring (7:3) will be such a relief that we will seek it again and again, until it grows to
encompass our entire mind, all the time. All it takes is the willingness to practice.
LESSON 182 JULY 1

I will be still an instant and go home.
Purpose: To go past your defensiveness and briefly go home with the Christ Child in you.
To have an experience of the eternal innocence in you. This experience will firm up your
willingness to follow the way the course sets forth (W-pI.In.181-200.1:4).
The exercise today is clearly a meditation. Begin by repeating the idea and then stilling your
mind. Lay aside all your sense of defensiveness, all your need to protect yourself against an alien
world that cares not about your needs. Throughout the meditation, whenever your thoughts
wander, respond by repeating the idea.
The more you still your mind, the more, perhaps, you get in touch with a call in you, an inner
pull to experience a sense of home that nothing in this world can provide. This pull is actually the
call of the Christ Child in you, an element of your true Self Who feels dragged down into this
worlds smoggy atmosphere by the weight of your sleeping mind, and Who desires to go home
so deeply, so unceasingly, His voice cries unto you to let Him rest a while (5:3).
Let this inner pull draw you to your real home, which lies deep within. As the Text says, You
do not remember how to look within for you do not believe your home is there (T-12.IV.5:4).
Let this Child take you there. Let Him carry you to your Fathers house, and then rest there with
Him in perfect stillness, silent and at peace, beyond all words, untouched by fear and doubt,
sublimely certain that you are at home (8:3).
not permit).
Do a brief version of the longer practice. Be still an instant and go home with the Christ Child.
You may also want to ask for guidance for the next hour and thank God for His gifts in the last
hour.
Commentary
Another lesson about the holy instant. Notice how the thread about instants, moments, and
intervals of stillness, quiet, and withdrawal from the world, begun in the introduction to this
series of lessons and in Lesson 181, carries through nearly every lesson up to Lesson 200, the end
of this series. It wasnt until my third or fourth time through these lessons that I realized they
were all instructions in consciously setting aside short periods every day and attempting to enter
the holy instant. The themes seem to differ, but all the difference lies in which block to our
awareness of loves presence is being considered. The aim is always the same: a short suspension
of that block, and the experience of a new awareness that comes when the block is momentarily
removed.
The block being considered today is simply the temptation to find satisfaction, or to feel at
home, in this world. We spend most of our lives in an attempt to adjust to the world, or to adjust
the world to ourselves. It seems quite natural to us to try to be comfortable here, and we expend a
great deal of effort trying to do so. This lesson appeals to us to set that effort aside, just for a brief
while, and to recognize the childlike voice within us that is crying to go homehome to Heaven.
We need to acknowledge that this world you seem to live in is not home to you (1:1). And,
recognizing this is so, to take time each day to allow this Child within us to rest a while (5:3)
and, for just a few instants of respite[to] return to breathe again the holy air that fills His
Fathers house (5:4).
This lesson is perhaps the most poetically beautiful lesson in the entire Workbook. Some of
you have heard, perhaps, the poignant reading of most of this lesson by Beverly Hutchinson on
the tape The Forgotten Song. It is hard for me to listen without tears, and I dont bother trying.
Tears are fine, but not enough; we need to hear the appeal and to act upon it: Rest with Him
frequently today (9:1). Go home with Him from time to time today (10:3). Be still an instant
and go home with Him, and be at peace a while (12:9).
The thought of this lesson has had a powerful effect in my life. Sometimes when I am feeling
my lowestdry, dull, and discouragedjust quietly closing my eyes and saying, I want to go
home is enough to break the spell and allow the peace of God into my mind.
Another passage, towards the end of the lesson, has had an equally powerful effect on me:
You have not lost your innocence. It is for this you yearn. This is your hearts
desire. This is the voice you hear, and this the call which cannot be denied. (12:14)
When I remember these words, I seem to be always surprised at the soothing effect they have.
I had not realized, until I repeated them, how deeply I was feeling that I had lost my innocence,
how much the source of my depression was a hidden belief in my own loss of innocence. I
suddenly realize that, yes, this is what I am yearning for; this is my hearts desire.
If you can, right now as you read this, stop, and be still and instant, and go home with me. It is
so easy to do. Why delay an instant longer?
LESSON 183 JULY 2

I call upon Gods Name and on my own.
Purpose: To go past the defense of valuing other gods, of valuing the idols of the world,
and so experience the true God. This will intensify your motivation and strengthen your
commitment.
This lesson is the introduction of what I call Name of God Meditation. This meditation can be
summarized in the following way:
Choose a name for God that you will use. You may want to ask within for this.
Close your eyes and repeat the idea for today just once.
After that, simply repeat Gods Name slowly again and still again (6:1). Do not, however,
repeat it as a mere word. Repeat it as a heartfelt invitation to God. Fully expect Him to hear.
And God will come, and answer it Himself (7:2). You are asking, then, for the experience
of God, and of your true Self, which is part of Him. Repeat the Name, then, with all the
desire you have to know God and yourself. Repeat it as the only wish [you] have (6:6).
Whenever your mind wanders and starts thinking about the idols of the world, repeat the
Name to dispel those thoughts. It will help if you repeat it with the awareness that the Name
is everything and the things you were thinking about are nothing.
not permit).
Do a short version of the morning/evening exercise. Close by asking for Gods guidance for
the coming hour and thanking Him for His gifts in the past hour.
Response to temptation: When tempted to cherish an idol, a valueless thing of this world.
Repeat Gods Name, realizing that this Name signifies everything you want, while the idol is
nothing.
Commentary
Gods Name, as the term is used in this lesson and the next, symbolizes His Identity and our
identity with Him. Gods name is not Jehovah, or Krishna, or Allah. Yet any of those symbols
could be used to represent Him. When this lesson urges us to repeat Gods Name, what, then,
do we say? The actual word we use does not matter; it is the concept of His Identity that is to be
foremost in our minds. We might say the word God over and over, or Father, or Divine
Mother, or whatever word best symbolizes for us the Identity of God.
The general practice outlined in this lesson is very similar to practices in Eastern religions of
repeating the Name of God over and over, and the intent is very much the same. In the Eastern
spiritual practices, this often takes the form of chanting. The Hare Krishna religion, for instance,
gains its name from the practice of repeatedly and seemingly endlessly chanting, Hare Krishna,
Hare Rama, which (I think) basically means Praise Krishna. Praise Rama, with Krishna and
Rama being names of God. A Christian group I once belonged to had a major emphasis on the
practice of repeating the words O Lord Jesus for extended periods of time, with exactly the
same kind of intent, and with often remarkable results. Although this kind of practice is not a
major emphasis of the Course, clearly it is one means offered by the Course for helping us find
the holy instant. The one difference I see here is that (in 5:4) the repetitions are meant to be silent
and done within your quiet mind, rather than aloud.
By focusing on Gods Identity, we loosen the hold that all lesser names have on our minds.
We counter the illusion of separation in recognizing the one Name that represents everything
there is: There is one Name for all there is, and all that there will be (8:5).
Many results are attributed in this lesson to repeating the Name of God: it reminds us of our
identity with Him (1:5); it invites the angels to surround us and keep us safe, recognizing the
holiness we share with God (2:2); it prompts the world to lay down all illusions (3:1); it causes all
idols to fall (4:1, 34); it calls upon our Self, the extension of God that we are (5:1); it
acknowledges God as sole Creator of reality (8:1).
We are encouraged, almost as an aside, to do this practice with someone else, sitting together
in silence and repeating Gods Name in our minds; this seems to have particular merit, for by it
we establish an altar which reaches to God Himself and to His Son (5:4). This is the only place
I am aware of in the Course in which meditation with another person is even mentioned, but it is a
very favorable mention, and indicates there is some added value in joining with others in
meditation.
The primary idea of the practice seems to be that the thought of God replaces every other idea
in our minds, and if other ideas enter, we can respond to them with Gods Name (8:35). Instead
of praying for any specific thing, or any specific persons (all of which have names that
distinguish them from everything else), we repeat the Name of God which includes them all. No
prayer but this is necessary, for it holds them all within it (10:2). As we repeat Gods Name we
can alter our mental state to experience the gift of grace (9:1); eventually we come to a place
where the universe consists of nothing but the Son of God, who calls upon His Father (11:4).
NAME OF GOD MEDITATION

We in the West, primarily through the influx of Eastern spiritualities, are slowly discovering
that meditation is an extremely powerful tool. If one wants to scale the heights of the Divine,
attempting this without meditation might be the mountain-climbing equivalent of forgetting your
gear, and your hiking boots as well. If this practice is so central to our journey home, what does A
Course in Miracles have to say about it?
I have argued for many years that one of the major goals of the Courses Workbook is to train
us in meditation. This training begins early on, in Lessons 41 and 44, after which meditation
instruction becomes a staple of Workbook practice. The technique taught in the 40s is something
I have written about several times. However, there is another method of meditation which is
distinctly different from that one. This one is not introduced until Lesson 183. This technique is
not only accorded great importance in that lesson (and in Lesson 184), but is a practice we are
apparently expected to continue in Part II of the Workbook (see W-pII.In.10:4 and WpII.222.2:1). It is a practice of entering into Gods Presence by repeating His Name over and
over, to the exclusion of all else.
This is a method I have tried to use over the years, and have received some benefit from. Yet it
never quite clicked into place for me until a few months ago when I took a personal retreat. One
of the goals I had for this retreat was to really get this methodboth in theory and in practice
in part because our group here in Sedona would soon be practicing Workbook Lesson 183. Oddly
enough, I just happened to take my retreat at a Catholic retreat center which, I discovered upon
arrival, is very focused on Centering Prayer, a contemporary form of Christian meditation which
is rooted in the medieval mystical text, The Cloud of Unknowingand which is very similar
(though not identical) to the method taught in Lesson 183. The focus at the retreat center on
Centering Prayer gave me a feeling of support and a renewed motivation. Then, while there, I did
a close study of Lesson 183, which really clarified its method in my mind, so that when I went to
practice it, it began to work much better than it had before. As a result, I enjoyed many wonderful
meditations with this method during my retreat, and since then it has become my preferred
technique.
The purpose of this essay is to clarify this technique to Course students so that they can make
use of it, or make better use of it if they are practicing it already. The rest of the essay is divided
into three parts: theory, technique, and instructions.
Theory
This method of meditation is grounded in a teaching which makes this meditation seem like
the most logical and natural thing one can do with ones mind.
Our attention is naturally drawn to those things we think can bring us happiness, or at least
protect us from pain. When our eyes look at a particular scene, dont they automatically gravitate
to perceived sources of pleasure? To put this differently, we give our attention to what we think
can answer our prayers. Attention, then, is an expression of desire, and desire is prayer. When we
place our attention on the things of this worldwhich is where we usually place itwe are in
essence praying to those things, hoping that they can fill our needs and make us safe. Yet can they
really answer our prayers? Can they bring us true happiness? According to the Course, the answer
is an emphatic no. Only God can bring us true joy. He is the only true Object of our desires. By
giving our attention to things of this world, we are making them into false gods, substitutes for
the only One Who can truly reward our attention. We are behaving like the ancient worshipper
who prayed to a lifeless piece of stone that could neither hear nor answer his prayers.
We also give our attention to what we think is real. We dont spend a lot of our time, for
instance, thinking about pink elephantstheyre not real. Instead, we spend it thinking about the
events and situations that face us in our day, precisely because we regard these as real. The
Course, however, teaches that the world is a dream; only God is real. Certainly you and I are also
real (Workbook Lesson 132 has us say, For I am real because the world is not), but our reality
is part of Gods. His reality encompasses ours, as well as the reality of all things.
This means that the characters we see walking around in the world have two aspects to them, a
real aspect and an unreal one. They have the outer face they show ustheir body and
personalitywhich, the Course tells us, is unreal. And then behind this outer face lies their
eternal spirit, the only thing truly real. And that spirit is part of God. Therefore, by placing our
attention on God, we are simultaneously placing it on the truth within others, even while we are
withdrawing our attention from the face they present the world.
In summary, we place our attention on what we think is real and will make us happy. The
things of the world (in their outer aspect, the aspect we are generally focused on) are unreal and
cannot make us happy. Only God is real (only because He encompasses all things real) and
only He can make us happy.
This has obvious implications for where to put our attention. It implies that the most honest
and appropriate thing we can do with our attention is to remove it from the outer realm and place
it on God. And that is the essence of this meditation technique. We can see this as having several
aspects. We transfer our attention from the outer to the inner, removing it from the sensory realm
and placing it on Gods Presence deep within. We transfer our attention from the many to the
One, withdrawing it from the numberless external bodies and placing it on the One Spirit. We
transfer our attention from the thousand nameless things of the world (nameless, because only
real things deserve names) to the one Name, which stands for all of reality. We remove our desire
from the little gods of the world, since they cannot answer our prayers, and we give it to the One
God, Who yearns to answer all our prayers with the priceless gift of Himself.
An important element of this technique is that it uses only one word. This is part of the
Workbooks focus in the latter half of its year, where it sets the goal of gradually going beyond
words. Ultimately, we will not need words at all for our practice. With a single motion of our
will, we will be instantly ushered into Gods Presence. Reducing our practice from many words
to just one is an important step towards this goal. Given that using only one word is central to this
technique, I would not recommend using multiple names for God within a single meditation.
Technique
1. Selecting a name
Select a name of God to use (since the Workbook does not dictate which name you use for
God). It can be any word that signifies God to you, but it should be a single wordpreferably a
short word of one or two syllables. It should have maximum personal meaning to you, maximum
ability to evoke your desire and love for God. You may want to ask within for guidance on what
word to choose.
2. Beginning the meditation

Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. The meditation consists in repeating the Name, slowly and
intentionally, over and over. You can repeat it constantly, or regularly every several seconds
(synchronized with your breath, if you like), or irregularly, whenever you feel moved to. The
Workbook is silent on these issues and generally considers such matters unimportant.
3. Focusing only on repeating the Name

Draw your attention in from everything else and put all your attention and desire on the Name:
Practice but this today; repeat Gods Name slowly again and still again. Become
oblivious to every name but His. Hear nothing else. Let all your thoughts become
anchored on This. No other word we use except at the beginning, when we say
todays idea but once. And then Gods Name becomes our only thought, our only
word, the only thing that occupies our minds, the only wish we have, the only sound
with any meaning, and the only Name of everything that we desire to see; of
everything that we would call our own. (W-pI.183.6:18).
4. Repeating the Name as a call for everything real and desirable

The meaning, the feeling, you place in this Name is important (as you can see in the above
quote). Some suggestions about that:
4a. Dont say Gods Name just as a word

Speak it directly to God, as a communication from you to Him. Expect Him to hear and
respond. Thus do we give an invitation which can never be refused. And God will come, and
answer it Himself (W-pI.183.7:1).
4b. Repeat the Name as a call, which calls out for a response from God
You are calling to God to come and reveal Himself to you in direct experience. Let this call
contain all your desire to experience Him.
You are calling to your true Identity, Which is part of God. You are asking to know Who
you really are.
You are calling to all things realincluding the reality of your brotherssince everything
real is a part of God.
You are calling for everything you truly want, since God is the only One you really want.
As the Course asks us to pray, Yet is Your Love the only thing I seek, or ever sought. For
there is nothing else that I could ever really want to find (W-pII.231.1:3).
In other words, with this one single word, you are calling for everything. You are calling for
everything that is real and everything you truly want. Dont try to consciously include all of the
above meanings in your mind. It is important to repeat the Name gently, without strain. However,
while you do, also say it with meaning. Make it the appeal of your heart. As The Cloud of
Unknowing (a medieval mystical text) put it, make this repetition into a dart of longing love.
5. Drawing your mind back from wandering

Whenever your thought wanders to something of the world, or to anything besides Gods
Name, respond by repeating the Name. This wandering will be a regular occurrence, so dont be
distressed by it. Expect it. Simply be ready to respond by repeating the Name and so dispelling
the extraneous thought. Do this as often as you need to. If you spend the whole time doing this
and nothing else, the time will have been well spent.
Sit silently, and let His Name become the all-encompassing idea that holds your
mind completely. Let all thoughts be still except this one. And to all other thoughts
respond with this, and see Gods Name replace the thousand little names you gave
your thoughts, not realizing that there is one Name for all there is, and all that there
will be. (W-pI.183.8:35)
In repeating the Name to dispel wandering thoughts, it helps if you remember that what you
were thinking about is essentially nothingit is unreal and unsatisfying, and that Gods Name
represents everythingall that is real and all that you really want. So, when you notice a
wandering thought, repeat Gods Name in the awareness that it represents everything and what
you were thinking about is nothing.
Induction Process
I have found the following instructions useful for beginning the meditation. They are a way of
turning the Name into a full and heartfelt call. Since they only take a few minutes, they are just
there to get you started on the right foot.
At the beginning of the meditation, repeat Gods Name two or three times, as a way of
addressing Him directly. Treat Him as a real Person. Expect Him to hear.
And now repeat Gods Name as an act of calling on Him, calling Him to come to you and
reveal Himself to you in direct experience.
And now repeat the Name as a way of calling on the awareness of your true Identity. By
calling on God you also call on your true Self, for They are one.
Now repeat the Name as a way of calling on all of reality, including the reality of your
brothers, for everything real is part of God.
And now repeat Gods Name as a prayer that asks for everything you truly want, a prayer that
contains all possible prayers. Say it as the prayer of your heart.
And now repeat His Name in love; as a dart of longing love.
Now let all of these meanings blend together into one, so that by speaking this one word you
are calling on everythingeverything real and everything you truly want. As you continue the
meditation, continue repeating His Name in this spirit.
And whenever your mind wanders to something besides His Name, repeat the Name gently as
a way of drawing your mind back to focus. Repeat it as an affirmation that Gods Name
represents everything, while the thing you were thinking about is really nothing.
LESSON 184 JULY 3

The Name of God is my inheritance.
Purpose: To go past the inheritance you gave yourselfthe little, separate things of the
world, each with its own nameand experience the inheritance that God gave you:
everything, all of Heaven. This experience will help make your weak commitment
strong; your scattered goals blend into one intent (W-pI.In.181-200.1:1).
The practice in this lesson is the same as yesterdaywhat I call Name of God Meditation
with perhaps a slightly modified emphasis:
Close your eyes and repeat todays idea one time.
After that, simply repeat Gods Name slowly again and still again (W-pI.183.6:1). As you
repeat this Name (remember you can use a name of your own choosing), realize that you
are calling upon the awareness of all of reality, including the true reality of all your
brothers. You are really asking for the inheritance God gave you as His Son. He has passed
on to you everything He has, which is everything there is. This is what you are asking for,
so ask with desire.
When your mind wanders to all the little names that denote the things of this world, use
Gods Name to dispel those names, remembering that everything that is real has only one
Name.
not permit).
Commentary
There is a lot we could think about in this lesson. The way names, which are symbols, are
based on separation and distancing of things. The way that perception is built up by these names
and distinctions. How all of this forces us to view wholeness as an enemy. The way that the
learning of the world consists primarily in learning all these names and ways of classifying
things.
All of this is in contrast to the reality that is represented by the Name of God. The Name of
God stands for wholeness, oneness, the one Identity Which all things share (10:2). Our
perception has taught us an illusion, based on thousands of names for discrete parts we see as
separate things; reality, however, is wholeness, undifferentiated, unseparated. The picture of parts
we have manufactured hides the reality of the wholeness from us.
So, then, are we to attempt to completely set aside our perception of parts with separate
names, and to live, somehow, seeing only the oneness? Is it somehow wrong for us to use the
names and symbols of the world, to act as though Marilyn is different from Bob? Are we to treat
a bluebird like our own baby? No. The lesson affirms the absolute truth, but it does not insist we
attempt to make this world fit into that picture.
First, it says quite clearly that learning all the little names and symbols of separation is a
phase of learning everyone who comes must go through (7:2). As some teachers of transpersonal
psychology (the branch of psychology that teaches that ultimate wholeness transcends individual
ego development) have said, you cannot transcend the ego until you have developed a healthy
ego. Ego development seems to be a necessary step in our overall growth. Children have to
become healthy, adult egos before they can successfully go beyond the ego. If an adult is still
wrestling with problems of personality development that, in normal growth, should have been
handled in childhood or adolescence, those problems probably need to be addressed, on their own
level, before the person seeks to transcend their ego entirely.
I am extrapolating on the lesson a good deal here, and expressing what have to be classed as
opinions, not necessarily something taught by the Course. But I do think this section comes pretty
close to implying this: everyone has to pass through the teaching of the world (7:1) stage before
they can begin to question its premises. We do not want to stop short at the teaching of the world
(7:4), but it does seem we have to pass through it. In its proper place, it serves but as a starting
point from which another kind of learning can begin (7:5).
Not only do we all need to pass through the worlds kind of learning as a starting point, but
after we have begun to go beyond all symbols of the world, there is still reason for us to
continue to use them: we have a teaching function (9:1). We still continue, for instance, to call
people by name, to treat them as individuals with individual needs, but we are not deceived
(9:3) by these apparent differences. The names and symbols of the world are necessary for
purposes of communication, but they become but means by which you can communicate in
ways the world can understand, but which you recognize is not the unity where true
communication can be found (9:5). We are using the symbols of the world to communicate the
fact of wholeness; we are using symbols to undo the symbols.
This is a tricky game. It is easy, remaining in the world and playing by the rules of separation,
so to speak, to forget the reality these symbols of separation are hiding. That is exactly why the
practice of holy instants is so important!
Thus what you need are intervals each day in which the learning of the world
becomes a transitory phase; a prison house from which you go into the sunlight and
forget the darkness. Here you understand the Word, the Name which God has given
you; the one Identity which all things share; the one acknowledgment of what is true.
And then step back to darkness, not because you think it real, but only to proclaim its
unreality in terms which still have meaning in the world that darkness rules.
(10:13)
Practicing with the Name of God enables us to let go of all foolish separationswhich kept
us blind (14:3). In our quiet times we remember the wholeness and forget the differences. We
may still see differences, but what we see has not changed the truth (13:3). All things still have
one Name. In our practicing we renew this awareness, and then we step back to darkness; we
return to the world of symbols and dreams in order to proclaim to it the reality we have
experienced in the holy instant:
Father, our Name is Yours. In It we are united with all living things, and You
Who are their one Creator.
(15:12)
THINK NOT YOU MADE THE WORLD?

There is a very puzzling statement in Workbook Lesson 184, so puzzling that I have been
asked about it several times:
Think not you made the world. Illusions, yes! But what is true in earth and
Heaven is beyond your naming. (W-pI.184.8:1-3)
The apparent problem with this passage is obvious: The Course tells us many times that we
made the world, yet here it says with great emphasis that we should not think we made the world.
Whats more, it suggests that there are true things in the world, the very world we have been
repeatedly told is an illusion!
How can we harmonize this passage with the rest of the Course? Its too easy just to ignore it,
to pass it off as Helen having a bad day, a glitch in taking down the Course, or that the Course is
just inconsistent. I think such a passage calls for a serious attempt to reconcile what is said with
the rest of the Course.
Our first impulse when facing this kind of issue is often to draw upon our overall
understanding of the Course. We ask ourselves: Based on the Courses overall thought system,
how can I explain this passage? Many readers, no doubt, have already asked themselves this
question in the course of reading this article.
I think there is a far better way. The answer to this kind of question almost always lies in
immediate context, in the material immediately before and after the puzzling passage. Read that
material very carefully, looking for words and ideas that also occur in your puzzling passage. So
lets do that with the passage we are looking at here. You might even want to go to Lesson 184
and read it from the start through paragraph 8, where our passage occurs.
If you read the lesson from the beginning, you notice a central topic which also occurs in our
passage: the topic of naming (naming being the last word of our passage). The beginning
paragraphs of the lesson talk about our process of giving names to everything around us. We are
told that assigning something a special name appears to carve it out of unity (1:4), making it
seem to be a separate entity (1:3) with its own special attributes (1:5). In the wake of this
naming project, we end up with a reality composed of distinct entities separated by the
unnamed space between them. The naming process is thus really a making process, whereby we
become (at least in part) the author of what we namewhich is why there is so much pride in
inventing a name that sticks. This discussion of naming concludes by saying, This is the way
reality is made by partial vision, purposefully set against the given truth (4:1).
Do you notice anything important about this sentence? Here we have another idea found in our
passage: the idea of us making our own reality. This lesson appears to be talking about a
somewhat different concept of making the world. Usually, the Course seems to be referring to us
making the world through an unconscious process of dreaming time and space into existence.
Here, the Course is talking about a process closer to the surface: using names to separate our
perceptual field into distinct and separate entities.
Lets now go on to the lines immediately following the passage we are trying to explain:
When you call upon a brother, it is to his body that you make appeal. His true
Identity is hidden from you by what you believe he really is. His body makes
response to what you call him, for his mind consents to take the name you give him
as his own. And thus his unity is twice denied, for you perceive him separate from
you, and he accepts this separate name as his.
(8:47)
To explain our puzzling passage, we need to answer a specific question: What are the illusions
we made and what are the true things we didnt make? The answer to this question is right there
in the lines just quoted. They contain a clear contrast between two things, one illusory and one
real. Can you spot these two things? The illusory thing is the body, which merely seems to be
what our brother is. The real thing is our brothers true Identity, who he really is, which (as we
know from elsewhere in the Course) is the Christ, a bodiless, boundless spiritual Self.
So, very simply, the illusions we made are bodies, the forms of this world, the visible aspect
of this world. Yet behind each illusion is a brother, who is an invisible, spiritual mind, and who
ultimately is the Christ Himself. This brother is real. He was not made by us but created by God.
He is not even really in this world. His true location is Heaven. He seems to be here, however,
trapped inside this body. That, I believe, is why our confusing passage speaks of what is true in
earth and Heaven. The true things in this earth are not really in the earth at all; they are part of
Heaven.
The confusion in our passage is really explained by now. But before pulling together what we
have discovered, I would like to uncover a little more, just to show how much meaning there is
here. Notice, in the lines quoted above, how the process of naming is carried further than before.
A whole process is sketched, which goes something like this: You have in front of you a human
body. You believe that this body is who your brother is. You express this belief by calling your
brother by the name the world has given him. This name does not designate his true Identity,
Which is one with all things and so could not have a special name. This name stands for a
particular separate entity moving through space and time. It stands for a physical body. Thus,
simply by calling him this name, you affirm that he is a separate body. Then, upon hearing your
call, he accepts this name as his own. His mind thinks, Yes, that is me. I am the body with that
particular name. As a result, his body responds to you, standing in for his actual identity and
playing its role. This is how his unity is twice denied. By calling him a unique name, you have
denied his true state of oneness with all reality. When he accepts this name as actually referring to
him, he too has denied his oneness.
Now we are in a position to understand our initially puzzling passage with complete clarity.
All we need to do is pull together all the things we have discovered through inspecting its
immediate context. Here again is the passage:
Think not you made the world. Illusions, yes! But what is true in earth and
Heaven is beyond your naming. (W-pI.184.8:1-3)
And here is what we have discovered that it means:
First, you made a world of separate bodies in order to hide the unified field of
minds which lay behind those bodies. Then, you named each body, further
cementing the idea that this separate bodyrather than the mind behind itwas the
true person. Through this double process (of making forms then naming the forms)
you made the world you see. But you think you made much more than this. Through
this process, you think you made your brother (one of those unified minds) into the
creature you see before you. You think you carved him out of unity; changed him
from a boundless, unified spirit into a separate physical creature, designated by a
special name. What an arrogant thought! For you only made the illusions of the
world. Your brother was not made by you and so cannot properly be named by you,
nor shaped and molded by your naming. He is far beyond all that. His reality may
seem to be encased in a body, may seem to be part of this world, but in truth he
abides in Heaven, where God placed him.
If we look carefully at the immediate context of any passage in the Course, we not only gain
clarity, we also gain a much fuller meaning than we saw before.
LESSON 185 JULY 4

I want the peace of God.
Purpose: To let go your attachment to the things of the world, so that you can unify your
intent behind the peace of God, realizing that His peace is the only thing you ever really
wanted.
Search your mind carefully for the dreamsthe things in this worldyou still cherish.
Locate them not by the words you use, but by your desire for them. Consider but what you
believe will comfort you, and bring you happiness (8:4). In other words, be honest in your
search. However, dont be dismayed by what your honesty uncovers. You may feel shame
over certain dreams and be tempted to conceal them. Instead, realize that all dreams are
one. Of every dream you thus uncover, ask this question: Is this what I would have, in
place of Heaven and the peace of God?
The goal is to reach a place where you can say with real sincerity, I want the peace of
God. To really mean this, you must also mean that you dont want the things of this world,
for the two are mutually exclusive. It also helps to realize that I want the peace of God
does not mean I have come to want His peace, but I have come to realize that His peace
is the only thing I ever wanted.
Remarks: The point today is to unify your intent. You have been weak at times,
uncertain in your purpose, and unsure of what you wanted, where to look for it, and
where to turn for help in the attempt (10:5). Today, try to have a single intent. Ask for
Gods peace and mean it. Make this request with deep sincerity (10:3). Make the
request for everyone, not just yourself, for this is what everyone wants. Realize that you
are uniting your intent with the call of every heart and with the Will of God Himself.
not permit).
Commentary
Kind of interesting that a lesson about the peace of God falls on the day that celebrates a
revolution (Independence Day in the USA). Our local Unity minister suggested that instead of
Independence Day we should celebrate Inner-dependence Day, which I thought was a nice
play on words and quite appropriate.
This lesson teaches two seemingly opposing things. First, it teaches us that we do not yet
really mean it when we say, I want the peace of God. For if we meant it, we would have it. No
one can mean these words and not be healed (2:1).
Many have said these words. But few indeed have meant them. You have but to look
upon the world you see around you to be sure how very few they are.
(2:68)
Indeed, all you need to do is watch the evening news. Or spend one day at your job.
Second, it teaches us that, in spite of our obvious dedication to things other than peace, at
heart we really do want the peace of God. All of us do. We want the peace of God. This is no
idle wish (7:23). You want the peace of God. And so do all who seem to seek for dreams
(10:12).
The task the Course sets before us is uncovering and fully accepting both of these facts. To
accept them fully, they must be accepted as true of everyone, not just of ourselves. Underneath all
the seeking for illusions, everyone wants peace. This is something that is universally true, a fact
that can be totally depended upon. It is true, as the line I quoted in the last paragraph asserts, even
of those who seem to be seeking for something else. They may not be aware that the peace of
God is what they really want, but it is true, nevertheless (10:4). Our job in interacting with others
is to remember this universal longing of every heart, and to join ourselves with it in the other
person, even when they are totally unaware of it themselves.
Yet before we can firmly believe that we, and everyone, want the peace of God above all else,
we have to face the fact that we have foolishly believed we wanted something else more than
peace. For if we wanted only peace, we would have only peace; that is how the power of our
minds works. So there must be something, or some things, that we have valued more than peace.
Our first job, then, is uncovering these competing desires, assessing them honestly, recognizing
that they are only idle wishes, and letting them go in favor of peace.
We want the most amazingly trivial things instead of peace. I watch a young child burst into
tears and throw a tantrum because he cannot have his favorite breakfast, and I think, The only
difference between him and me is that I have developed sophisticated ways of camouflaging my
tantrums. I share a house with Robert Perry and his family and another single man, and we often
have guests. I have found myself losing my peace over empty ice cube trays and vanishing rolls
of toilet paper. I have given away my peace in concern about who last emptied the garbage.
Perhaps, today, we can all stop ourselves when these little moments of separation occur and
ask ourselves, Is this what I would have, in place of Heaven and the peace of God? (8:8). Do I
really value a roll of toilet paper more than Gods peace?
Let me point out one more interesting observation of this lesson: you cannot have peace alone.
The mind which means that all it wants is peace must join with other minds, for that is how
peace is obtained (6:1). To have peace we have to be willing to let the other person into our
hearts. We have to recognize their desire for peace equally with our own.
The temptation is always to think, I want peace; the problem is with the other person.
Always remember, though: if you want peace, you will have it. No one else can take it from you.
If you cannot be at peace when the other person seems to want something besides peace, what
you are teaching that person is that your peace depends on their changing. This just reinforces the
same belief in the other person, and they continue to believe that their peace depends on them
changing you.
Our job is to see past the competing desires in that other person to the universal reality that
lies underneath. However we respond to them, if we are to teach peace, our actions must affirm to
that person that peace already lies within them, ready for them as soon as they are willing to
receive it. We join our own intent with what they seek above all things (10:4). By our faith in that
intent, however hidden it may appear, we draw it out of them; we give them the opportunity to
recognize it within themselves and align their mind with it:
It is this one intent we seek today, uniting our desires with the need of every heart,
the call of every mind, the hope that lies beyond despair, the love attack would hide,
the brotherhood that hate has sought to sever, but which still remains as God created
it.
(14:1)
LESSON 186 JULY 5

Salvation of the world depends on me.
Purpose: To go past both your self-made roles and your doubts about your worth and
adequacy, and hear and accept your assigned role in Gods plan for salvation. This will
unify your scattered energies behind a single goal.
Todays practice consists of listening to the Holy Spirit, asking for Him to tell you what your
role in His plan is (this is similar to Lesson 135). To really listen, you will need to set aside your
notions of your roles in life, realizing how shifting they are and how much they scatter your
energies. You will need to open your mind to the fact that you have an essential role in the Holy
Spirits plan for the salvation of the world. Dont let your ego tell you that such an idea is
arrogant, that you cannot possibly be worthy, that you are not strong enough, wise enough, or
holy enough. Banish this arrogant chatter from your mind. Let go of all words. Open your mind
and listen in genuine humility. Let the Voice for God reveal to you what He would have you do in
His plan. Trust that the role He has selected for you suits you perfectly, that you can do it,
because He knows you better than you know yourself. If the role you hear sounds beyond your
capabilities, ask yourself who is more likely to be right: your egos voice or Gods Voice?
If you hear nothing, keep repeating your question with genuine desire. And keep setting aside
the egos chatter as it intrudes. Know that you are at the very least drawing closer the day when
the answer will be yours.
End the practice period by trying to genuinely accept the function given you (10:1). If you
have received a sense of what it is, try to accept that as your role in life. If you havent received
anything, try to accept your role in advance.
not permit).
Suggestion: Thank God for His gifts to you in the hour gone by. Then let go of your notions of
your role in the coming hour, and ask Gods Voice what role He has selected for you in that hour.
Commentary
Our individual salvation and our happiness depends on our accepting what this lesson teaches:
the salvation of the world depends on us. Our function is to save the world, to bring the light and
joy and peace of God to every mind within our reachwhich is a far greater number than we
imagine.
The lesson is not simply saying that it would be a good idea for us to accept this thought. It is
saying that acceptance is imperative to our own personal freedom:
There is one way, and only one, to be released from the imprisonment your plan
to prove the false is true has brought to you. Accept the plan you did not make
instead. (5:12)
The Course is often so uncompromising: one way, and only one. If we want to experience
our own wholeness, if we want to find our Self, we must accept that salvation of the world
depends on us. Why? Because the nature of Who we are demands it. If I am an extension of God,
and if Love, which created me, is what I am, then how can I possibly accept that fact and not
accept that my function is to give myself to the world? Giving is what Love does!
To take our place among the saviors of the world is not arrogance, if we are as God created us.
It is merely accepting what has been given to us by our Creator: We did not establish [our
function]. It is not our idea (2:23). In fact it is arrogant not to acknowledge this as our function.
The self-image we make in arrogance pictures us as weak, ignorant, and helpless (6:34). It
seems humble, but it is mountainous arrogance masquerading as humility. This self-image
thumbs its nose at the Creator and says, I am what I make of myself, and not what You created
me to be.
The last week or so I have frequently been finding myself feeling at loose ends. I seem to drift
from one task to another, and to have a great deal of difficulty concentrating on anything. The
description in 10:4 seems to describe me exactly: The functions which the world esteems are so
uncertain that they change ten times an hour at their most secure. And as I read this lesson I
recognize that I have been trying to define my function for myself, instead of simply accepting
the one God gave me. I have been fighting my function. Yet when it is accepted, it is so
unambiguous that life simply straightens out, and all the confusion is gone: In lovely contrast,
certain as the suns return each morning to dispel the night, your truly given function stands out
clear and wholly unambiguous (11:1).
So then, let me today stop resisting my function. Let me stop listening to my self-made image,
which trembles as God speaks to me of my true function, sensing that the basis of its existence is
being cut away (7:12). Let me simply let go of my plans for myself and surrender to the plan I
did not make, trusting that everything I need to fulfill it has been given me; trusting that I am
worthy to be counted among the saviors of the world; trusting that all my needs are answered by
God, even though He does not see them, in whatever form is most useful at the moment (13:45).
Salvation of the world depends on you who can forgive. Such is your function here.
(14:56)
LESSON 187 JULY 6

I bless the world because I bless myself.
Purpose: To bless yourself by looking upon the purity in you, and then to bless the world
with that same purity. To give the world the lilies of forgiveness you find on the altar
within you, and then to find those lilies returned to you, thereby dispelling your belief
that giving is sacrifice.
This is another meditation aimed at experiencing the purity within you, like Lessons 181 and
182. The lesson speaks of this using the imagery of a holy altar within you, and you may want to
use this imagery in your meditation. Quiet your mind and go to find that holy altar in you. You
might imagine, as other lessons suggest, that you are traveling through thick fog, until it clears
and you reach the altar. Be unafraid to look upon it. There on the altar, you will see the lilies of
forgiveness your brother has given you and you have given him. There before the altar, you stand
united with all your brothers. With them, repeat the Name of God, for this altar is the place in you
that is perfectly devoted to your Father. How can you possibly fear Him when such purity abides
in you? This is your true nature, which is so pure and so blessed that looking on it will leave you
enraptured. You will forget about all earthly gifts, as the gift of your holiness becomes the only
thing you want.
Remarks: This is how you bless yourself, by looking on this holy altar. Now that you have
received blessing, you can give it. Now we are blessed, and now we bless the world
(11:1). So spend the day taking the lilies of forgiveness from your inner altar and giving
them to your brothers. The lesson expects that this will often take concrete form: giving
of your time, your abilities, and even your material means. If you fear that this is
sacrifice, you can afford to laugh at that thought, for whatever you give you receive.
Picture the outer gift you are giving as a lily of forgiveness, and realize that this lily will
then be laid on your altar, as further testament to your purity. From there, this lily will
manifest in your life in the form most helpful to you (5:7).
not permit).
Response to temptation: When tempted to believe you are making a sacrifice.
Repeat the idea and then take the blessing you have been given within, and give it to your
brother. All thought of sacrifice will vanish in the face of the receiving and giving of blessing.
Commentary
We find it easy to understand that in order to give a thing, you first must have it. Thats
obvious. We find it more difficult to believe that giving actually increases what you have.
The key to understanding this, says the lesson, lies in the fact that things but represent the
thoughts that make them (2:3). To understand how giving away what we have increases it, we
have to begin to recognize that things are not real; what is real are the thoughts behind them.
This is not necessarily saying that if I give $100 to a brother in need I will immediately receive
$200 in return from some other source. However, it is saying that when I give $100 away
knowing that money is just an idea, I will be increasing the thought that brought money to me in
the first place. Therefore, that will eventually result in more money, or more wealth and
abundance in some form. The form may be identical or it may not:
Perhaps the form in which the thought seems to appear is changed in giving. Yet it
must return to him who gives. Nor can the form it takes be less acceptable. It must be
more.
(2:58)
In other words, what is returned is always greater than what is given.
I have begun to learn this by giving away ideas directly, in my study group and in my writing.
I have indeed found it true that as I give away these ideas, they increase in me. I get at least as
much, if not more, benefit than anyone who is receiving from me. I am quite aware that I am
blessing the world because I am blessing myself; I am doing this for my own benefit.
It is harder when it comes to material things. It is not so easy to make the connection that
money is just an idea, or a tape is just an idea, a book is just an idea, a car is just an idea. I learn in
little ways. I give away newsletters that cost me money, believing that it will return to me
eventually. I give hours of my time to the study group, believing that the return will come. I still
feel that as basically giving it away. The return has only just begun.
I think when I learn this lesson fully it will be no big deal to give up the idea of ownership
entirely and to share everything I possess with anyone who needs it. But I am a long way from
that as yet.
The next paragraph is very important:
Ideas must first belong to you, before you give them. If you are to save the world,
you first accept salvation for yourself. But you will not believe that this is done until
you see the miracles it brings to everyone you look upon. Herein is the idea of giving
clarified and given meaning. Now you can perceive that by your giving is your store
increased.
(3:15)
To give salvation I must first accept it for myself. But to know I have it, I have to give it away.
That must mean that I have to start giving before I know I have it! The gift that giving brings is
knowing that I have the gift I give.
The lesson advises us to protect what we have by giving it away. It warns, Yet value not its
form (4:3). In other words, you may not get it back in the exact form you give it. If I give $100
cash, I may receive a gift in a different form: a tape player, computer software, a burst of physical
energy, or whatever. If I give away a particular book, I may not ever receive that particular form
again, and I have to learn not to value the form, but the thought behind the form. It is foolish to
value forms. No form endures (4:5). Remember:
What [the giver] seems to lose is always something he will value less than what will
surely be returned to him. (5:8)
Every gift I give is always a gift to myself. I never lose! I gain, and so does the recipient of my
gift, especially if he or she learns from me to give again. Who understands what giving means
must laugh at the idea of sacrifice (6:2). Laugh, because there is no such thing as sacrifice. What
I give is given to myself; I never lose, I always gain. How can that be called sacrifice!
The lesson clearly applies this to all forms of giving and all forms of sacrifice, including
pain and loss, sickness, grief, poverty, starvation, and death. When I give up a relationship in
the form I thought I wanted, according to this lesson I receive something I will value far more.
Perhaps I may learn to accept the gift of self-sufficiency, for instance.
Im sure the same will be true as I make other sacrifices. Mistakenly I fear the loss I will
feel with these things absent from my life. There will be no loss, no sacrifice. What I gain will far
exceed the apparent loss. And in reality I lose nothing except a false identification.
For instance, I think I get a certain satisfaction and comfort from eating a nice meal. The
pleasure of the taste; the pleasure of being full. I falsely identify these feelings with the object, the
food. But pleasure, satisfaction, and comfort are just the ideas behind the food. If I were to
dissociate food from those ideas, I would not be giving up those ideas; I would be affirming them.
I retain them, and they grow. There will be pleasure, satisfaction, and comfort in other forms,
more lasting and more generalized. I have gained the general form by giving up the specific
identification of those ideas with food.
In general, we will go through many iterations of apparent giving up, apparent sacrifice, until
we learn that the thing is not the idea, that no particular form can be identified with the idea
behind it. We will learn, eventually, to hold on to no form, but to always value not the form, but
the thought behind it.
Ultimately we go beyond the idea of many different thoughts to see only one Thoughtthe
innocent Son of God, the Christ. We see that Thought within ourselves, and what we have
looked upon we would extend, for we would see it everywhere (11:2). To ensure this holy sight
is ours, we offer it to everything we see (11:5).
LESSON 188 JULY 7

The peace of God is shining in me now.
Purpose: To go past thoughts of the outer world and so experience the peace of God
shining in you now. This brief taste of your goal will strengthen your resolve to reach it
completely.
This is a meditation in which you seek to contact the peace of God shining in you now. To
make sense of the discussion of thoughts in paragraphs 6-9, you might imagine that your thought
is a stream or current that stretches all the way from the world outside, which is where your
thoughts are focused now, to its source at the center of your being. At the outside of the stream,
your thoughts are tainted by the dream of worldly things outside yourself (6:6), full of strange
desires and disordered wishes (9:6). As the stream moves inward, however, your thoughts
become honest thoughts (6:6) that actually lead you back to peace (7:5). They seek the light
in you, the peace of God in you. Finally, at the inmost part of the stream, they become the
thoughts we share with God (9:2), thoughts that are at one with His peace.
Your task in this meditation is to follow this stream inward, to move your thoughtyour
attentionfrom the streams outermost place to its innermost place. Begin by withdrawing your
thoughts from their focus outside. As you withdraw them, they become washed clean, and they
will start to draw you inward, for they feel the call of God. Now let your thoughts fly to the
peace within (6:4). Trust that they know the way (6:5). Let them draw you along that stream
until you reach its source, and rest in God.
As your thought reaches the peace of God within, know that that peace will extend from your
heart around the world, blessing each living thing and returning to you with all the gifts you gave.
From you salvation radiates with gifts beyond all measure, given and returned (4:2).
not permit).
Repeat, The peace of God is shining in me now. Let all things shine upon me in that peace.
And let me bless them with the light in me. Then draw your attention inward and seek the peace
of God in you. Finish by thanking God for His gifts in the hour gone by and asking for His
guidance in the hour to come.
Response to temptation: When tempted to blame the world for what you thought it did to
you.
Realize that the world hasnt done anything to you; what you see is what you chose. So choose
that the world be pure and innocent, and lay your saving blessing on it (10:5) by repeating,
The peace of God is shining in me now. Let all things shine upon me in that peace. And let me
bless them with the light in me.
Commentary
I always seem to hear the emphasis in this sentence on the last word, now. It speaks to me of
the holy instant. It tells me that whatever storms seem to be raging in my mind, whatever chaotic
circumstances I find myself in, there is within me a constant beacon of peace, forever shining,
uninterrupted and uninterruptible. It calls me to stop for a moment, withdraw my attention from
all the turmoil that makes up my life in this world, and reconnect to that peace. Somewhere
within me, there is a place that is always at perfect peace, like the eye of a hurricane. And I can
find that place any time I choose to do so, truly desiring to find it.
The Course is consistent in its vision. Nothing separates us from the Love of God. Complete
salvation, perfect peace, pure joy, and full forgiveness are always available right now.
Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all (1:4). What we call enlightenment is
simply recognizing the presence of the light, which has never left us. It is realizing that the only
reason we cannot see the light is that we have our hands over our eyes. That is why we need do
nothing. We dont have to do, we simply undo. We stop blocking the light, which is always
there.
The particular block being addressed in this lesson (youll recall that this series of lessons was
billed as directly addressing certain specific blocks) is simply the tendency to see enlightenment
as a future thing. The opening words sound the keynote: Why wait for Heaven? (1:1). Why
wait to find it in the future, or believe it has been lost already, or was never there? (2:2). All that
we need do to discover its reality is to look for it within ourselves, where it has always been.
But the peace of God is not only within me, it is shining in me. The peace of God is shining
in you now, and from your heart extends around the world (3:1). I may feel as bottled up as
Custer at the Last Stand; I may feel as fertile as the Sahara. But from within my being,
nevertheless, the peace of God is being broadcast like a universal beacon to the entire world. My
right mind is extending itself in global beneficence to all creation, pausing to caress each living
thing (3:2) (what a beautiful image that brings to my mind!), and leaving an everlasting blessing
with whatever it touches. That is part of what I am bringing to my awareness; that is part of the
picture of my Self that I am learning to recognize each time I stop, become quiet, and look within.
When the Course tells me that I am among the saviors of the world, it isnt telling me about
something I have to achieve, it is telling me what I already am.
Within me there is, even now, and even in my darkest moments, a living flow of thoughts of
light. There is a heavenly current constantly surging through me to extend love and blessing to
the world, and to myself. That flow of thoughts is something I can, in the holy instant, become
aware of and tune in to.
Accept His Word for what you are (8:2); that is what this lesson is calling on us to do. We
read of the Christ, we read of the Buddha and his heart of compassion. The Buddha is you. And
that is Jesus message to us, that we are as he is. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself
also so to walk, even as he walked (1 Jn 2:6). We are the Christ; that is what we are; that is what
we need to accept. It seems too high, too far beyond our concept of ourselves. But in the holy
instant, in the quiet, when we withdraw from the world and let [our] thoughts fly to the peace
within (6:4), we can know ourselves in this way. We can sense the depth of love that wants to
express itself through us.
Oh, we may not do such a great job, just yet, at letting that love out. We may get in the way
more often than not. But the love that would embrace the world, heal its wounds, and dry its tears
is in us, and is us. We all know that is so, if we are willing to look at it. We can look upon the
whole world today and everyone within it, and we can say:
We will forgive them all, absolving all the world from what we thought it did to
us.Now we choose that it be innocent, devoid of sin and open to salvation. And we
lay our saving blessing on it, as we say:
The peace of God is shining in me now. Let all things shine upon me in that
peace, And let me bless them with the light in me.
(10:2, 47)
LESSON 189 JULY 8

I feel the Love of God within me now.
Purpose: To go past all your thoughts of self, world, and God and so experience the Love
of God within you now. This will go far towards enabling you to give your total
willingness to the Courses way.
This is an exercise in what I call Open Mind Meditation. Follow the instructions in
paragraph 7 (you may even want to use them as an induction process): Empty your mind of all
thoughts and try to let go of all your beliefs as well, including your highest spiritual beliefs. Even
ideas from the Course must not be allowed into your mind. Empty your mind of everything
(7:2). And then stand there, with your mental hands completely open, ready to receive Gods
Love. Trust that He knows the way to you (8:1), and that all you need do is remove the
obstacles and His love will blaze its pathway (9:4) into your mind. As always, whenever any
words or thoughts intrude, repeat the idea and then return to waiting empty-handed for Gods
Love.
not permit).
Commentary
By this point in the Workbook, any time we see the word now we should be seeing it as a
probable reference to the holy instant. The word feel also has significance, directing our
attention to the realm of experience, as opposed to conceptual understanding. Given these two
points we can realize that this lesson is about entering a holy instant in which we have an
experience of Gods Love within us.
There is a light in you the world can not perceive (1:1). The lesson begins by referring, as
did yesterdays lesson, to the light that is within us, inherent in our creation. It is not something
visible to the bodys sense organs (1:2), but quite visible to a different kind of sight. To see this
light and to feel the Love of God are synonymous (1:7). We are being directed to experience this
other kind of seeing.
We can see through darkened eyes of malice and of fear (3:2), or with a mind permeated
with the experience of Loves presence within the mind. What we see within determines how we
see the world. Based on our state of mind, we see either a world poised to attack us, or a world
that reaches out to bless us. Either picture of the world makes the other picture inconceivable to
us (3:5; 4:1).
If I am seeing a world of hatred rising from attack (3:5), the description of the world given
in paragraph 2 seems to be no more than wishful thinking. People encountering the teaching of
the Course for the first time often raise this objection. For instance, I once heard a man who had
listened to a lecture on forgiveness say, You people must be crazy! All you have to do is walk
down the street in New York and you cant possibly maintain that love is all there is. He was
seeing a world of hatred rising from attack; there was no room left in his mind to see anything
else.
If I am seeing the world of hatred, how can I possibly see a world of love? No logical
argument will ever change my mind. What is required is something that will change what my
mind is seeing within itself, because the world I see is nothing more than a reflection of that, the
outside picture of an inward condition (T-21.In.1:5). If I am seeing a world of attack it is

because within myself I am seeing an attacking mind. What they have felt in them they look
upon, and see its sure reflection everywhere (4:3). The holy instant can, and does, change that
self-perception. I feel the Love of God within me now. That experience will literally transform
the way I see the world. If you feel the Love of God within you, you will look out on a world of
mercy and of love (5:5).
This is why we are asked to lay aside all thoughts of what [we] are (7:1), to be still, and to
allow something else to enter our minds. We are being asked to set aside every conclusion we
have ever made about anything, to allowfor a moment at leastthat all of it may be
misinformed and misguided, and to come with wholly empty hands unto your God (7:5). In
asking us to forget even this course (7:5), the lesson is not saying that intellectual
comprehension of the Course is not useful, but it is saying that only something that transcends the
intellect can truly turn the tide of our wrong perception. Even our understanding of the Course is
bound to be distorted when it is based on a mind firmly rooted in fear and in the concept of self
we have built up. We may mistakenly use that imperfect understanding to dictate to God the way
He should come to us. So we are asked to set even this aside, and to allow God to come to us in
whatever way He wants to come.
To forget the Course is not a permanent principle, but a temporary expedient to be practiced in
our moments of stillness, designed to allow a new kind of experience. It is merely part of
removing the barriers to the experience of ourselves as Love, for even our ego-based
understanding of the Course can interfere with the experience of its true meaning. So we are
being told, when seeking the holy instant, to lay aside any assumption that we understand
anything at all. Let everything be open to change. If we are willing to do this, His Love will
blaze its pathway of itself (9:4).
We cannot force ourselves to see the world differently. But if we can, just for an instant, see
ourselves differently, and feel the Love of God within ourselves, the way we see the world will
change of itself, because the way we see the world is the way we see ourselves.
OPEN MIND MEDITATION

Meditation is a fundamental part of Workbook practice. Training in meditation begins early, in
Lesson 41. There, we learn the Workbooks standard down-and-inward technique. After that, it
becomes a genuine staple of daily practice. However, as the Workbook nears its second part,
meditation begins to change in form. Up until this point, we have used words as a focus in our
meditations. The words aid us in keeping our focus and help carry us toward our goal. Now,
however, we are asked to go beyond words, to practice nonverbally.
This is essentially a new method of meditationnew for the Workbook, at least. Indeed, it is
the Workbooks crowning method. It is taught in nearly all of the final sections of the Workbook:
Review VLessons 171-180 (see the introduction, paragraph 12)
Review VILessons 201-220 (see the introduction, paragraphs 4-6)
Part IILessons 221-360 (see the introduction, paragraphs 3-5)
Final LessonsLessons 361-365 (see the introduction, paragraph 1)
Why is it the crowning method? Because it takes us beyond words to direct experience.
Indeed, whenever the Workbook talks about going beyond all words (W-pI.rVI.In.4:1), it is
almost always talking about Open Mind Meditation. Actually, going beyond words is important
for the same reason that words themselves are important. The Course is all about entering a new
world of meaning. Words are so central to the Course (which is really just one long string of
them) because they point to that new world. They signify meaning, and so they serve as excellent
mediators. They introduce us to that world; they help us get in touch with it. Yet, like all
mediators, they get in the way of direct encounter. When the parties are ready to join, the
mediators job is over. And so, ultimately, we need to set words aside if we are to have the total,
unmediated experience of meaning.
We wait for the experience, and recognize that it is only here conviction lies. We use
the words, and try and try again to go beyond them to their meaning, which is far
beyond their sound. The sound grows dim and disappears, as we approach the
Source of meaning. It is Here that we find rest.
(W-pI.rV.In.12:3-6)
Open Mind Meditation is not just about being ushered into an ecstatic state that words cannot
describe; its about emptying our mind of words in order to reach that state. In this meditation,
then, we clear away all words and thoughts from our mind. We hold a nonverbal intent, a pure,
expectant waiting for the arrival of God. Our mind becomes like the cloudless sky, filled with
nothing but still anticipation (W-pI.157.4:3), waiting for the sun to peek over the horizon. The
nonverbal attitude we hold could be translated into the following poetic words:
The memory of God is shimmering across the wide horizons of our minds. A
moment more, and it will rise again. A moment more, and we who are Gods Sons
are safely home, where He would have us be.
(W-pII.In.9:5-7)
Unlike other Workbook meditations, we hold this attitude wordlessly; we do not repeat words
to maintain it (although, thankfully, we are allowed to use words to draw our mind back when it
wanders). As I have said, our mind is supposed to be empty of all words, even the words of the
Course. Few of us find this easy. Ironically, although we all like to talk about going beyond
words, when it actually comes to doing without them we tend to find it quite difficult. However,
if we can master this technique, we will also find it deeply rewarding. And we need to try to
master it. There is a reason why the final half of the Workbooks year is devoted to this method.
In the end, the Course is not about looking at a painting of Heaven, its about going there
yourself.
Summary of the technique

1. Repeat the idea for the day as an invitation to God to come to you
Have a sense of placing the practice period in His Hands.
2. In preparation for direct experience, empty your mind of all words, all thoughts, and
all that you think you know and understand
You may want to use the following lines as an induction into this state of emptiness:
I do not know what I am.
I do not know what my attributes are.
I do not know what God is.
I do not know what the world is.
I do not know what is true and what is false.
I do not know what will make me happy.
I will forget my body, its comfort and its needs,
I will forget the past and future, and come with wholly empty hands unto my God.
3. In the silence, hold your mind in a state like a vacuum

On the negative side, a vacuum is empty, yet on the positive side, this emptiness draws
fullness to itself, it desires to be filled. The essence of the technique is to wordlessly hold in
place both the negative and positive sides of the vacuum: In a mind that is empty of words,
thoughts, and ideas (negative), wait expectantly for a fullness to come from God (positive).
3a. Negative: Let your mind be empty of words, thoughts, and ideas
Empty of words. Dont repeat words. Being symbols, they stand in the way of direct,
unmediated knowing.
Empty of thoughts.
Empty of all you think you know and understand. Your knowledge stands in the way of
real knowledge.
3b. Positive: Wait for a fullness to come from God

Wait in silent expectancy for God (or truth, or peace, etc.). Hold your mind still, filled with
pure expectancy and anticipation. Wait for God as one would wait for the sunrise.
Open your mind to a completely different kind of knowing, a knowing beyond words.
Be sure to rest; do not strain. Open your mind to Him. Be still and rest (W-pI.128.6-7).
4. Whenever your mind wanders (which will happen regularly), use words again to draw
it back to silent, nonverbal waiting
You might repeat a single word, the idea for the day, or This thought I do not want. I choose
instead [the idea for the day].
5. Realize that the practice period is in the Holy Spirits hands

Be open to Him stepping in and helping your practice in some way, perhaps by giving you a
word or thought to focus on (which breaks the rules, but its okay if He breaks the rules), or just
giving you a peaceful, open mind. Or He may step in and give you guidance, or a vision, or some
other kind of experience. Because His activity may go outside the rules established in the
previous points, it is important to distinguish between His activity and your thoughts and
daydreams.
6. Conclude by repeating the idea for the day
LESSON 190 JULY 9

I choose the joy of God instead of pain.
Purpose: To realize that pain is deceptive illusion, and that joy is reality and truth. To go
past pain and experience the joy that lies beyond it. This will help your scattered goals
blend into one intent (W-pI.In.181-200.1:1).
This is a meditation in which you set aside all thought of attack and defense, all judgment and
all assault. These are simply attempts to hide your holiness. Lay down these thoughts of war and
sink into the stillness of Heavens peace. In this holy place, you will feel the joy of God arise in
you. Here, you will realize that pain, not joy, is the naive illusion. You will understand that joy is
reality, it is awakening, and it is truth.
not permit).
Response to temptation: (Suggestion) when tempted to think that the world causes your
pain.
Realize this is a judgment, and that this judgment is a sword you hold against your throat.
Then repeat the idea; choose the joy of God instead of pain.
Commentary
This is a tough lesson. It confronts us with another of those blocks weve been talking about:
the apparent reality of pain. As the lesson very clearly states, pain seems to bear witness to a
nightmare of abandonment by an Eternal Love (2:5). It witnesses to God the Fathers hatred of
His Son (1:7).
Anyone who has experienced serious pain knows what this is talking about. Anyone who has
had a loved one endure deep, constant pain knows the questions it raises in the mind. How could
God allow this to happen, if He is love? Even the milder forms of pain tell the same story, raise
the same questions.
I am not going to pretend that I have entirely succeeded in removing this block from my mind.
I find it hard to write about this lesson because I recognize that a very present part of me still sees
pain as real, rather than illusion. Yet, I do believe that what the lesson says is true. I choose to
believe it, and I want to believe it. So I do not see myself as being in conflict over this issue. I am
learning, more and more, to look my fears straight in the face, and to recognize that I still do
believe, in large measure, that pain is real. And if this lesson is true, this must mean that part of
me believes there is no God (3:34), that the impossible has happened, and Eternal Love has
abandoned me. If I have been reading the Text with any discernment, this is not news to me.
What then? Do I need to wallow in guilt because my mind has not yet been entirely renewed?
Of course not:
The time has come to laugh at such insane ideas. There is no need to think of them as
savage crimes, or secret sins with weighty consequence. (4:23)
If the way to remember the Love of God is to look without judgment on my denial of Him,
then seeing these insane ideas in my mind is a necessary part of the process, and an indication
of progress, not regression. And the cure is not guilt, but laughter!
Basically, we have two choices in regard to pain. Either it is caused by something outside of
us, which means ultimately that we are innocents suffering at the hands of an angry God (or that
there is no God and we are subject to blind fate), or it is caused by myself, my own thoughts. If
the former is true I have no hope of escape. If the latter is true, I can escape by changing my
thoughts. I prefer to believe the latter! Even if I am wrong, what have I got to lose?
The Courses position is crystal clear:
It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. Nothing external to your mind can
hurt or injure you in any way. No one but yourself affects you. (5:12, 4)
It takes some practice to learn to use these thoughts without any guilt. We are responsible, but
not guilty; the Course is very clear on that as well. It also takes practice, perhaps even more, to
use these thoughts when interacting with someone else who is in pain. May God forbid that we
should ever use this line of reasoning to make someone guilty for their pain! The Course is
equally clear that if we are unable as yet to fully accept this, if our level of fear is still too high to
rely solely upon the mind to relieve pain, a compromise approach is necessary. To attempt to
forgo medication, for instance, when to do so increases our fear, is counterproductive (see T2.IV.35 and T-2.V.2). Healing is the release from fear; what increases fear cannot be healing.
Let me, then, learn to increasingly apply this lesson in ways that my level of fear can tolerate.
Let me realize, for instance, that the person who cuts me off in traffic has not hurt me; only my
thoughts about it hurt me. Let me realize that the person who seems to reject my love has not
brought me any pain; only my thoughts about it cause me pain. Let me practice with physical pain
as well as I can; if I have a headache, upset stomach, or cold, let me realize that my thoughts are
the source, not anything outside of my mind. Let me realize that if I take medication I am
masking the symptom, not curing the problem, and let me give equal attention to the healing of
my mind. If I experience more severe or chronic pain, let me deny what it seems to witness to
(Gods anger or nonexistence), laugh at the idea that God is angry, and realize that the pain is
only showing me that my mind is mistaken in what I think I am (2:3). Let me not focus on
making the pain go away, but on healing the thinking that causes it. Using magic (physical
means) to alleviate the pain while I devote myself to retraining my mind simply makes sense, and
frees my mind to do what it needs to do.
And let me take frequent holy instants, to come without defense into the quiet place where
Heavens peace holds all things still at last (9:1). Let me feel the Love of God within me, and set
aside my unmerciful self-judgment (9:4), even if I can do so only momentarily. I can testify to
having experienced this, at least; I have seen pain disappear during the holy instant, both in
myself and in a friend who was in chronic pain. These holy instants can train us to experience
deeper and more lasting release from all pain, and liberate the joy that has been smothered by our
pain.
Pain is illusion; joy, reality. Pain is but sleep; joy is awakening. Pain is deception;
joy alone is truth. (10:46)
LESSON 191 JULY 10

I am the holy Son of God Himself.
Purpose: To go past your self-perception as weak, frail, and afraidwhich comes from
the denial of your Identityand remember that you are the holy Son of God Himself.
This will release you and will save the world from suffering.
There are no specific instructions for the longer practice periods, just a strong focus on the use
of these lines: I am the holy Son of God Himself [Himself, by the way, refers to God]. I
cannot suffer, cannot be in pain; I cannot suffer loss, nor fail to do all that salvation asks. By
saying and meaning these lines, you reverse your denial of your Identity. You accept the power
and glory that is your true nature. You typically see the world as your jailer, filled with enemies
massed against you. Yet this role is not inherent in the world. Rather, your denial of your Identity
turns the world into this in order to support your false identity. Your denial imprisons the world.
Thus, when you reverse that denial (through the words of todays practice), you set the world
free. By unveiling your glory as Gods Son, you release those in chains, those who see no mercy
in the world, those who suffer pain, and even those who die. This is your motivation to practice
todaytheir release and your release.
Beyond devoting some time to repeating these words, with as much certainty and sincerity as
possible, the rest of the practice period is up to youto your inspiration and your guidance from
the Holy Spirit. You cant go wrong with meditation, especially since nine of the last eleven
lessons have been devoted to it.
not permit).
Commentary
Once again the Course sounds its keynote: You are as God created you. Anything God creates
is like Himselfholy, sinless, guiltless, an endless spring of love, and immortal. To put a
different twist on a familiar saying, we are not human beings seeking a spiritual experience; we
are spiritual beings who think we are having a human experience. We did not suddenly spring
into existence at birth, and we do not pass out of existence when the body stops functioning. We
are aspects of an immortal being, existing entirely outside of time. I am the holy Son of God
Himself.
How we see ourselves determines how we see the world. It may not be obvious at first, but if
we see ourselves as other than the holy Son of God, we are giving to the world the role of jailer
to the Son of God (1:3). If we see ourselves as separate, isolated beings, we are inevitably cast in
the role of victim. We become a mote of dust in a hurricane, whirled about by the universe
without any consideration for our wellbeing (3:2).
The world then takes on an appearance that reflects this mistaken identity we have assumed.
The whole world witnesses to our frailty; all our experience here seems to testify that death is
certain, and loss inevitable (2:56). That is what projection does. The world becomes our jailer,
our victimizer. If we deny our Identity as the holy Son of God, as God created us, we make the
world into a place of chaos, evil, sin, and death. We then resent the world for it, although we have
laid this role on the world! As I look at the world today, let me ask myself, What have I done
that this should be my world? And let me answer myself, I have denied my Identity as Gods
Son. Thus, to accept my Identity is to forgive the world for what it did not do to me.
Rectify that single mistake, and we have changed the world we see. The world cannot truly be
as we see it, because Identity cannot truly be denied. Our imagined identity as not-the-Son-of-God
is no more than a silly game, with no real effects and no real consequences. If we can begin to
accept our Identity, all illusions that derive from this error disappear (4:16).
Again we are asked to practice recognizing our Identity in the holy instant. For a brief time,
we let todays idea find a place among [our] thoughts (5:1). In that holy instant we rise far
above the world (5:1) into a place of safety, where we recognize the impossibility of the worlds
victimizing us, because we see our own eternal, invulnerable nature. And from that place of
safety we return to the world and set it free (5:2). Notice the similarity of this description to the
earlier one in Lesson 184 (paragraph 10). In the holy instant we accept Atonement for ourselves,
we recognize our true Identity. And then we return to bring the message of this shared Identity to
all the world, that it may be free with us.
The realization of our Identity is enough to free us from every problem forever, and to free the
world with us. To cling to our little, individual identity is to perpetuate a devastating image of
yourself walking the world in terror, with the world twisting in agony because your fears have
laid the mark of death upon its heart (6:5). Do I really want to go on playing this silly, tragic
game? Do I want to continue to hold the world to task because it has not met my needs, but has
denied me what is my right? Or will I recognize today that I have done this, I have denied my
Self and blamed the world for it?
In the latter part of this lesson it speaks in glowing terms of the Son of God Who has come
in glory to redeem the lost (8:3). Who is this Son of God? It is not speaking of Jesus. It is
speaking of you and me. It appeals to us to realize that our glory is the light that saves the world,
and asks us not to withhold it (10:56). It asks us to see the suffering in the world (not to brush
over it, saying, Its only an illusion!), and to find it in our hearts to respond to it (10:78).
How can we release our brothers from suffering? By accepting our own release, by finding our
own Identity (11:15).
You are the holy Son of God Himself. Remember this, and all the world is free.
Remember this, and earth and Heaven are one.
(11:68)
LESSON 192 JULY 11

I have a function God would have me fill.
Purpose: To fulfill your function by forgiving your brother his sins and so experiencing
that you are what he is: the Son of God. This experience will firm up your willingness to
make your weak commitment strong (W-pI.In.181-200.1:1).
As with yesterday, there are no specific instructions for todays practice. Begin, as always, by
repeating the idea, and then spend the time doing practice that you have found helpful and that
you feel prompted from within to do. You may want to meditate, using either Down-and-Inward
Meditation, Name of God Meditation, or Open Mind Meditation. Or you may want to focus on
forgiving those people whom you are holding prisoner.
not permit).
Spend the first minute or so as you choose, perhaps in quiet meditation or focusing on
forgiveness. Close by asking for Gods guidance for the coming hour and thanking Him for His
gifts in the past hour.
Response to temptation: When a brother tempts you to be angry.
Realize you hold a sword above your head (9:4). You may even picture this in your
mind. Choose to avert the sword by repeating the idea, which means that your function
on earth is to forgive, to let go of anger. Realize that you owe this brother thanks, for he
has given you a blessed opportunity to choose right and free yourself.
Commentary
In Heaven we have a high and holy function: it is creation. The first paragraph describes it as
well as it can be put into words, although when it comes down to it we on earth cannot even truly
conceive of what it is (3:1). Creation is to complete God, to extend Love in His Name. What does
that mean? We cannot fully know until we are there again, experiencing its meaning directly.
On earth, therefore, we have a function in the world in its own terms (2:1), something we
can grasp and understand in the context in which we find ourselves. Forgiveness represents your
function here (2:3). Forgiveness is the closest it [creation] can come to earth (3:3). Creation is
formless; forgiveness is creation translated into form, a kindly dream so close to Heaven that,
when we fully enter into it, our eyes are already opening [to] behold the joyful sights (3:6) the
happy dreams are offering us.
Forgiveness as presented in the Course is far more than just letting go of specific grievances
we hold against those we feel have wronged us. It is a radical shift in our perception of the entire
world. The basic stance of the ego is to see the world as the cause of our unhappiness. There
seems to be ample reason for such a view. How can we ever be content when nothing lasts, when
pain and suffering seem to be everywhere, when things and persons dear to us are snatched away
by fate, and when, no matter what we do, death awaits us at the end? Forgiveness means that we
set aside such a view of the world, and allow the Holy Spirit to replace it all with a new
perception. It includes even a reassessment of our own bodies, in which we disidentify with them
and no longer see ourselves as bound to them. We come to see the body as a simple teaching aid,
to be laid by when learning is complete, but hardly changing him who learns at all (4:3). We
realize that we are, in reality, a mind without a body (5:1). Only forgiveness can relieve the
mind of thinking that the body is its home (5:5).
That is the goal to which the Course is leading us. Yet although forgiveness is far more than
letting go of specific grievances, it begins there. Through working with the specifics we learn the
principles, and gradually learn to generalize them and apply them to the entire world, including
our physical cages.
It may seem we are being asked to give up a lot. Indeed, we are being asked, eventually, to
give up the entire world, including our bodies; this entire life in which we think we live. Yet,
when it has been achieved, when our anger at the world is gone, we
will perceive that, for Christs vision and the gift of sight, no sacrifice was asked,
and only pain was lifted from a sick and tortured mind. Is this unwelcome? Is it to be
feared? (6:13)
If we can come to forgive the world, we will see it as the illusion it has always been, and let it
go gladly, aware that it was never more than a nightmare of pain and death. Paradoxically, if we
have not forgiven it, we end up worshipping what is not there (7:4). We value it precisely
because it punishes us, because in our insanity of guilt we secretly believe we deserve it.
Our anger at the world imprisons us. We become the jailer, vigilant to hold the world at fault,
and in so doing condemning ourselves to prison with the prisoners we are watching. Unless the
jailer forgives everyone he sees or thinks of or imagines (8:1), he has to live in the jail
keeping watch on the criminals. This is the very thing that holds us to this world; not its beauty,
not its potential, but our anger at it for not being what we think it should be. Our anger is holding
a sword above our own heads (9:4).
Therefore, the way out of prison is to release all the prisoners. We can learn this by
recognizing that every time we are tempted to be angry, which can be anything from intense fury
to a mild twinge of annoyance (see W-pI.21.2:5), we are being offered an opportunity to release
ourselves. We can be merciful instead of wrathful. We can forgive. We can even be grateful for
the opportunity (9:7). This is our only true function here (10:6). This is the lesson all of life is
teaching us. This is A Course in Miracles.
LESSON 193 JULY 12

All things are lessons God would have me learn.
Purpose: To learn the lesson that God would have you learn in every situation:
forgiveness. To overcome a thousand seeming obstacles to peace in just one day (10:1)
by applying forgiveness to every painful, worrisome situation.
Repeat the idea. Then search your mind for all the things you kept to solve by yourself, instead
of giving them to the Holy Spirit. With each one you uncover, turn it over to Him by repeating, I
will forgive, and this will disappear (or by saying to yourself, Forgive, and you will see this
differently). Realize that any pain in the situation that seems real comes from your own
unforgiveness, not from the situation itself, and that as you forgive, the pain will disappear. This
is how you learn the lessons contained in each situation.
Remarks: Give as much time to your morning and evening practice as you can, and then
give a little more (11:1). Do not let the time be less than meets your deepest need
(10:6), for you can free yourself from a thousand obstacles to peace today and go in haste
to your Fathers house. This is times true purpose.
not permit).
We begin a new form of hourly practice today. Search your mind for any happenings of the
previous hour that have any negative feeling attached to them. Apply the lesson to each one,
saying either I will forgive, and this will disappear or Forgive, and you will see this
differently. By doing this, you enter each new hour free of the old one. Thus will you remain
unbound, in peace eternal in the world of time (12:5).
Response to temptation: Whenever pain seems real, whenever you feel apprehension, care,
terror, or distress.
Remember that there is a way to look on everything that lets it be to you another step to Him,
and to salvation of the world (13:1). Then repeat, I will forgive, and this will disappear or
Forgive, and you will see this differently. These words give you power over all events that
seem to have been given power over you (6:3). They release all minds from bondage (6:2).
They are the key to Heavens gate.
Commentary
The central thought of this lesson sounds similar to things said in many spiritual teachings:
There is a lesson in everything, if we are open to see it and to learn. But the meaning here is quite
different. Many people believe that every event, even every adversity, carries some meaning for
us. What is the lesson in this for me? is the natural question when something seems to go
wrong. If we follow this line of thinking, we can spend a great deal of our time trying to figure
out the answer to that question, over and over, and we can become quite puzzled at times when
we cannot seem to find what the lesson is.
But this Workbook lesson is quite forthright in telling us, flat out, that the lesson is always the
same in content, no matter what the form. We do not need to waste our efforts trying to figure out
what the lesson is. There is only one lesson. It is always the same:
Each lesson has a central thought, the same in all of them. The form alone is
changed, with different circumstances and events; with different characters and
different themes, apparent but not real. They are the same in fundamental content. It
is this:
Forgive, and you will see this differently.
(3:37)
Lest we miss the point, it is stated again in slightly different words towards the end of the
lesson:
This is the lesson God would have you learn: There is a way to look on
everything that lets it be to you another step to Him, and to salvation of the world.
To all that speaks of terror, answer thus:
I will forgive, and this will disappear.
(13:13)
Forgiveness is the central theme of the Course. It entails, as we saw yesterday, a radical shift
in our perception, one that allows the light of Heaven to shine upon everything we see.
Forgiveness is the one lesson that everything, literally everything, is teaching us. Everything can
teach us this lesson because, in our madness, we have a grievance against the universe. What the
Course is teaching us is a different way of looking on everything, a way that allows us to see it
not as a threat, not as some kind of loss, not as an attack that deprives us of our happiness, but as
a step to God, and to the salvation of the world.
When the Course tells us, as it did in earlier lessons, that forgiveness offers everything we
want, that forgiveness is the key to happiness, we cannot at first understand. We are confused by
the message because we do not see unforgiveness as a major problem in our lives. The lesson
recognizes this:
Certain it is that all distress does not appear to be but unforgiveness. Yet that is
the content underneath the form. (4:12)
The consistent direction of the Courses instruction is towards helping us to recognize, in all
the wide variety of forms of distress in our lives, this same underlying content. Gradually, as we
study the Course and apply it to our daily lives, we begin to recognize the one, unique problem
that besets us, whatever form it may appear to take: unforgiveness. Forgiveness is the answer to
every problem, the hidden lesson in every distressing event of our lives.
I am not saying that you had a flat tire because you got angry at the grocery clerk, nor that you
suffer lack of success in your relationships because you havent forgiven your mother or father.
Although sometimes such things may be true, the lesson God is trying to teach us is more farreaching than that. What ultimately must be corrected is our unforgiveness of everything and
everyone in the world, everything that appears to be outside of our own minds. Our general
attitude towards the world is at issue here.
When I first read this lesson, I thought it was saying that whenever something went wrong in
my life I had to start searching my heart for what or whom I had not forgiven. Often that search
was just as frustrating as trying to figure out What is the lesson in this? I went through a period
in which, one by one, I dug up every imaginable grievance I had against anyone, and tried to let it
go. That can be a useful exercise, but it is only scratching the surface of what real forgiveness
means. Forgiveness is aimed at transforming my perception of everything I see.
What does the Course mean by unforgiveness, or misperception? Hear this very clear
definition, and let it sink into your awareness:
How can you tell when you are seeing wrong, or someone else is failing to
perceive the lesson he should learn? Does pain seem real in the perception? If it
does, be sure the lesson is not learned. And there remains an unforgiveness hiding in
the mind that sees the pain through eyes the mind directs. (7:14)
Does pain seem real in the perception? That is the sure indicator of unforgiveness, as the
Course understands it. Remember that difficult Workbook lesson about choosing the joy of God
instead of pain (Lesson 190)? Forgiveness is the answer. What is forgiven no longer hurts. In
response to the question How can you tell when you have really forgiven someone? someone
once said, You know you have forgiven someone when you feel comfortable in their presence.
That is saying the same thing; when you have forgiven, there is no more pain. Another way of
picturing it is that you are free to laugh with the person. Gods Will is that laughter should replace
all tears (9:45).
Forgiveness is what time was made for (10:4). This is where our attention is best focused. This
is what speeds us on the way to Heaven. In our quiet practice times, we can think about all
things we saved to settle by ourselves, and kept apart from healing (11:4). We do not know how
to look on them so that they disappear, but the Holy Spirit knows; give them to Him. We are even
advised to stop every hour, review the hour that has passed, and bring each little grievance to Him
for healing, so that it does not carry over into the hour that follows. Let no one hour cast its
shadow on the one that follows (12:4). This is the way we learn to remain unbound, in peace
eternal in the world of time (12:5).
LESSON 194 JULY 13

I place the future in the Hands of God.
Purpose: To accept todays idea, and so pass countless obstacles and set your foot on the
lawns before the gate of Heaven. This is the last of the Workbooks giant strides.
Today again there are no specific practice instructions for morning and evening. I would
suggest beginning by going through the various situations that are causing you concern (see WpI.47.4-5) and, with each one, repeating, I place the future in the Hands of God. Then, after
about ten minutes of this, spend the rest of your time in meditation, resting untroubled in Gods
Hands, sure that only good can come to you.
not permit).
Review the happenings of the previous hour that are still weighing on you, and with each one,
release the pain it appears to thrust on you by repeating, I place the future in the Hands of God.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel tempted to become upset.
Quickly react by repeating todays idea, realizing that this is an appeal to God to choose for
you to abandon temptation. And as you leave temptation behind, the world does as well.
Remarks: If you really see the value in todays idea, youll give consistent effort to
making it part of your thinking, both today and afterward. Do your utmost to make it a
rule of thought, a habit in your problem-solving repertoire (6:2), a key device in your
response-to-temptation toolkit.
Commentary
The block to remembering our Self that is dealt with in todays lesson is the fear of future
pain (7:6). Again, the holy instant is a major part of the remedy. All the references to in no one
instant (3:1; 3:2; 3:3) and the instant in which time escapes the bondage of illusions (5:2) are
indirect references to the holy instant, which is directly referred to in 5:3: Then is each instant
which was slave to time transformed into a holy instant.
The idea is a simple one: placing the future into Gods Hands. Yet it is referred to as another
giant stride toward quick salvation (1:1; the other giant strides were in lessons 61, 66, 94, and
135). This giant stride is said to take us all the way to the lawns that welcome us to Heavens
gate. It is the remedy for anxiety, pits of hell, depression, thoughts of sin, and guilt. How can this
simple idea be so powerful?
Think, for a moment, how your life and your mental attitude would change if you deeply and
fully knewnot just believed but knewthat your future was wholly in the Hands of a loving
God. Isnt it fairly easy to see how this would remove anxiety, fears of hell, depression,
temptation, and even guilt? Simple as it is, this is an extremely powerful idea, and a powerful one
to practice.
Once again we are not expected to suddenly shift from a state of near-constant anxiety (Ernest
Becker, in his book The Denial of Death,1 refers to mans so-called normal state as one in which
there is the rumble of panic underneath everything) to one of blissful trust in God. We are being
asked to practice having instants of such trust, free of panic. For a moment, just for a moment,
let the future go, and place it in Gods Hands (4:5). In so doing, we will understand that by
1
. Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death (New York: Free Press, 1997).
doing this we have given past and present to God as well. In that holy instant we will be free of
grief and misery, pain and loss. The light within us will be free to shine and bless the world.
In any particular instant, when we take that instant for itself, without past or future, we cannot
feel depression, experience pain, or perceive loss; nor can we experience sorrow, or even die
(3:13). Every such experience depends on our awareness of the past or future to sustain it and
give it the illusion of reality, but none of them exist in the present moment.
Take grief, for instance. Grief is so clearly based on the past that it hardly requires explanation
to say that if the past were momentarily put out of our minds, grief would vanish. The mind is
calling up memories of our loved one, and then insisting that the absence of that loved one now
demands emotional pain. Yet when the loved one was part of our life, there were thousands of
moments in which they were not physically present with us, and we were still happy; why, then,
cannot we be happy now? Grief is really nothing more than a cruel mental trick we are playing on
ourselves. The future enters into grief because we envision an endless string of moments that lack
the beloved. But those moments are not now; again, it is a mental trick. Grief does not exist when
we are wholly in the present moment, in the holy instant.
As we learn to give the future into Gods Hands, one instant after another, we are released.
And so each instant given unto God in passing, with the next one given Him already, is a time of
your release from sadness, pain and even death itself (3:4). Note the similarity to yesterdays
practice of applying forgiveness at the end of each hour to all that has passed in the hour, freeing
the hour that follows. This kind of thing, says the lesson, needs to become a thought that rules
your mind, a habit in your problem-solving repertoire, a way of quick reaction to temptation
(6:2). That is what all this practice is about: developing new habits of spirituality that break the
pattern of our deranged thinking, freeing us for a new experience. The more we experience, the
more we will want it, until eventually it takes over our minds entirely.
LESSON 195 JULY 14

Love is the way I walk in gratitude.
Purpose: To learn to think of gratitude in place of anger, malice and revenge (9:1). To
let true gratitude replace our ungrateful attitude (in which we feel pushed about by the
world) and our unloving gratitude (in which we thank God that were better off than
others).
Again we are given no specific instructions. We are only told that today is a day for learning
gratitude. This means replacing both our ungrateful attitude (see 9:3) and our unloving gratitude
with true, loving gratitude. Unloving gratitude means being thankful because we are better off
than others. This obviously involves comparisons, which are essentially competitive and therefore
unloving. Love makes no comparisons (4:2). Loving gratitude thanks God for blessings that He
has bestowed on everyone, not just on us. It also means being thankful for all our brothers, even
those who walk the way of hatred and the path of death (5:2).
Given this, you may want to spend the longer practice periods trying, in some way, to replace
your ungrateful attitude and your unloving gratitude with true gratitude. You may want to thank
God for the items on the list below. According to the lesson, we should be grateful:
to Him alone Who made all cause of sorrow disappear throughout the world (1:7)
to One Who offers you the certain means whereby all pain is healed (2:2)
to God our Father that in us all things will find their freedom (4:4)
for the sick, the weak, the needy and afraid, and those who mourn a seeming loss or feel
apparent pain, who suffer cold or hunger, or who walk the way of hatred and the path of
death (5:2)
that we are separate from no living thing, and therefore one with Him (6:1)
for our brothers (7:2) and for every living thing (6:3)
that everything has earned the right to love by being loving, even as your Self (8:6)
that We have been given everything (9:2)
that God has cared for us, and calls us Son (9:5)
You can also thank God for specific blessings you have received, but you must choose to view
these as windows onto the nonspecific blessings He bestows on everyone.
not permit).
Review the happenings of the previous hour that are still weighing on you, and let each one go
by repeating, Love is the way I walk in gratitude. Imagine yourself walking the pathway of
love, without a care in the world, filled with gratitude toward your Father for the gift of
everything.
Response to temptation: Whenever you feel mercilessly pushed about by the world.
Repeat the idea, replacing your exasperation with true gratitude, which is justified, since God
has given you everything.
Commentary
Gratitude is viewed in this lesson both from a dark side and a light side. The lesson first
considers how, so very often, when our thinking is aligned with our egos, our gratitude is really a
kind of attack on others. Then, it goes on to consider sincere gratitude, which can only occur
when joined with love (4:3).
The dark side of gratitude comes from an ego perspective. This is the gratitude that prays,
Thank God I am not as others; thank God I am better off. It is the kind of gratitude based firmly
on comparisons. It is the thankfulness we feel when we have a bigger house than others, a better
car, a more attractive spouse. It is a kind of thankfulness that depends on others who have less,
who suffer more than we do. It comes from a view that sees our brother as the rival for our peace
(3:1), and rejoices when he is in distress. This kind of gratitude is really nothing more than a
form of vengeance. And if we examine ourselves honestly we will find ourselves indulging in this
kind of false gratitude far more often than we realize.
True gratitude is something far different. We thank our Father for one thing alone; that we
are separate from no living thing, and therefore one with Him (6:1). We offer thanks to God our
Father that in us all things will find their freedom. It will never be that some are loosed while
others still are bound (4:45). This gratitude gives thanks for every living thing, for otherwise
we offer thanks for nothing (6:3).
Today I am joyful that the gifts I have received belong to everyone. I am grateful for every
living thing, every person I meet. I rejoice that everyone goes with me, that no one is excluded. I
am grateful that each of you who reads this is a part of me, that none of you can ever lose your
inheritance and so diminish me. I recognize that if anyone is diminished, I am diminished, and I
thank God that everything has earned the right to love by being loving, for all is part of my Self
(8:6).
Today, if I feel badgered by the world, or pushed about without any thought or care for me, I
will choose to replace such foolish thoughts with gratitude (9:14). God has cared for us, and
calls us Son. Can there be more than this? (9:56).
Another word for gratitude is appreciation. I offer you these thoughts about appreciation
from the Course:
Only one equal gift can be offered to the equal Sons of God, and that is full
appreciation.
(T-6.V(A).4:7)
Only honor is a fitting gift for those whom God Himself created worthy of honor,
and whom He honors. Give them the appreciation God accords them always, because
they are His beloved Sons in whom He is well pleased.
(T-7.VII.6:12)
There are no idolaters in the Kingdom, but there is great appreciation for
everything that God created, because of the calm knowledge that each one is part of
Him.
(T-10.III.6:1)
God knows His Son as wholly blameless as Himself, and He is approached through
the appreciation of His Son.
(T-11.IV.7:2)
Only appreciation is an appropriate response to your brother. Gratitude is due him
for both his loving thoughts and his appeals for help, for both are capable of bringing
love into your awareness if you perceive them truly.
(T-12.I.6:12)
In the holy instant we share our faith in Gods Son because we recognize, together,
that he is wholly worthy of it, and in our appreciation of his worth we cannot doubt
his holiness. And so we love him. (T-15.VI.2:56)
LESSON 196 JULY 15

It can be but myself I crucify.
Purpose: To realize the truth of todays idea and thereby take an important step forward,
so that you may go ahead from here quickly, taking each future step as it comes to you.
As usual with these final lessons of Part I, we are given no specific instructions. We are
simply told to take a major step forward in our awakening by practicing todays idea. To do this,
we must see the idea not as a statement that we are doomed to continually crucify ourselves, but
as a statement of liberation, which contains the light of resurrection (3:4) and salvations
song (9:1). Our belief in the opposite of todays ideathat we can crucify others yet remain free
ourselveshas unconsciously convinced us that God is our deadly enemy (5:5), Who has been
using the worlds injustices to punish us for our unkindness.
Todays idea is the antidote for that. We must devote our practicing, therefore, to doing our
utmost to realize the truth of this idea. This may involve applying it to specific examples in our
life, or perhaps letting related thoughts come (see Lesson 42), or some other practice. The idea
contains the most wonderful news, that we never actually crucify others, and therefore that God is
not out to punish us. Instead, there is a murderer within us, who tricks us into attacking others so
that it can crucify us from within. We must strive today to realize this. We must pray to enter into
an instant of profound inner discovery, in which we look upon the murderer within, and realize
that it, not God, is the source of all our pain. Only then can we truly, deeply view God as our
Friend, and call on Him to save us from the murderer within.
not permit).
Search your mind for the happenings of the previous hour in which you felt crucified by the
world, or in which you felt tempted to crucify others. In response to each one, repeat the idea.
Commentary
This is a restatement of one of the fundamental lessons of the Course, the first step of
forgiveness in another form: taking the problem back from outside ourselves, withdrawing the
projection, and seeing that I am doing this to myself.
The ego likes to misuse this idea to punish us, or to make us think we inevitably punish
ourselves. The ego makes us think we are inherently self-destructive. The truth is, we do selfdestructive things but we have a choice in the matter. We dont have to do that, and at the core it
is not our will to do so. We are not devils; we are the holy Son of God.
The block to awareness this lesson addresses is our belief that we have injured or crucified
the world. It is the belief that we have made ourselves into monsters who cannot be trusted, ready
to lash out without provocation to hurt and to kill.
The Course calls the acceptance of todays ideathat any way in which we crucify another is
actually crucifying ourselvesone step we take in leading us from bondage to the state of
perfect freedom (4:1). It urges us to take every step in its appointed sequence (4:2), that is, not
to skip steps. Todays idea is a step that is differentiating self from the body and the ego:
Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an egoYou will not believe
you are a body to be crucified.
(3:1, 3)
Because we believe we made ourselves into egos, we think we are guilty. Because we believe
in guilt, we made the body to suffer punishment. Recognizing that we are the ones inflicting
punishment upon ourselves is the first step in freeing ourselves from the whole mess. To
recognize that we are the ones inflicting punishment we have to step back from the ego and body,
and become aware of a greater part of ourselves. We thus realize that the Self is something other
than ego or body, something greater than both. This something greater also includes my brothers
and sisters. We are all part of that Self. The others I thought I injured are really parts of my
Self.
If I believe that I can attack another and be free myself (6:1), I am really reacting, says the
lesson, from a hidden fear of God; from the belief that God is other, an enemy who waits to
destroy me. My relationship to those around me always reflects the unconscious belief I have
about my relationship to God, to the ultimate Unity and Whole. The fear of God is real to
anyone who thinks this thought [that I can attack another and be free myself] is true (6:4). If I
can attack another and still be free, so can God. Therefore, God is to be feared.
Paragraph 7 seems crucial to me. It is saying that the thought I can attack others and still be
free has to be changed in form before I can even question the idea, at least to the point where I
stop being afraid of retaliation and start to become responsible, start to realize that it is but your
thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance depends on you (7:3). If I begin to realize that
I am not attacking others, but attacking myself, I can stop being afraid of retaliation from these
others I thought I was attacking. Before this thought changes, I am afraid of others; after it
changes, I realize my fear is coming from my own thoughts. If that is true, I have the potential for
changing those thoughts.
It seems to me from the lesson that the turning point, the point at which the fear begins to
abate, is found in 9:2: If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not
fear its vengeance and pursuit. Freedom from fear of vengeance from the world is the start of
freedom from fear of God, when Godcan be welcomed back within the holy mind He never
left (8:5).
I feared my own strength and freedom because I thought I was dangerous! I thought I was a
threat to the world; I thought that I had injured it. No wonder I dont want to be strong and free. If
I were, I might destroy the universe. I thought I might attack and damage things to the point
where the universe would turn in anger and wipe me from the face of the earth. In fact I have
secretly believed, all along, that this describes things exactly as they are, and that is why I have
been afraid, both of the world and of God.
The Course seems to be saying here that our unconscious fear of ourselves, hidden by our
projection of cause to outside factors, has to become conscious, at least for a brief, terrifying
moment. When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as
split (10:2). Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for your death,
intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can kill at last (11:1).
This seems like a terrible moment; why would we deliberately seek it? Yet in this instant is
the time as well in which salvation comes (11:2). Now, seeing the enemy within instead of
outside our mind, we no longer have reason to fear God. Recognition of our own terrible
responsibility makes us realize that it has not been God punishing us; it has been ourselves. We
stop projecting our own dreams of vengeance onto God. And you can call on Him to save you
from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son (11:4).
LESSON 197 JULY 16

It can be but my gratitude I earn.
Purpose: To realize the truth of todays idea, to realize that you dont need visible
gratitude from others, that your own gratitude for your gifts is sufficient.
Once again there are no specific instructions. The focus of the lesson is on being grateful for
the gifts that you give others, especially the gift of forgiveness. Often, says the lesson, you will
withdraw your gift of love and forgiveness unless it is received with external gratitude and
lavish thanks (1:3). When you are tempted to withdraw your love, you should realize that your
gratitude is all your gifts require (3:3). You have the right to be grateful, for your gifts are given
to you. Also, remind yourself that somewhere deep in your brothers mind, he is thanking you.
And realize that God Himself has received your gift and thankfully acknowledges it. So instead of
taking it back, be grateful to this brother of yours. Be grateful for what he is, for the fact that, as
part of your Self, he makes your Self complete.
How do you turn these ideas into a practice period? One possibility is to search your mind for
times when you felt that another didnt show enough gratitude to you. With each case, repeat the
idea, realizing that your own gratitude is all your gift requires, and that by snatching your gift
away, you snatch it away from yourself. Then replace your ingratitude with gratitude toward
yourself and toward your brother, for being part of your Self.
After spending time practicing gratitude in this way, you may want to spend the rest of the
practice period in meditation.
not permit).
Search your mind for the happenings of the previous hour that are still burdening your mind.
With each one, let it go by repeating the idea. Realize that you can give that situation the gift of
love right now, and that the only gratitude you need in return is your own.
Response to temptation: (Suggestion) whenever you feel incensed because another is not
sufficiently grateful to you.

Repeat the idea, realizing that your gifts were received by you, and that the only gratitude you
require is your own.
Commentary
This lesson identifies itself as the second step (1:1) in freeing our minds from the belief in
outside forces pitted against us. Yesterdays lesson was the first step (W-pI.196.4:12). It taught
us that our attacks are always directed at ourselves, and that the attacks we thought were coming
from outside of ourselves were really coming from our own minds. In other words, It is
impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts (W-pI.196.8:3). Todays lesson takes
the other side of the coin: gratitude. This is definitely a step beyond yesterdays lesson. We may
understand that our attack is coming from ourselves, and yet not realize that any gratitude we
receive is also coming from ourselves, and not from outside forces.
I remember attending a workshop of Ken Wapnicks with a friend, when Ken was talking
about how to respond to criticism and even outright attack from people who were close to us.
Kens advice was to remember that such attacks are just the other persons ego reacting to its
perception of our ego; Dont take it personally, Ken advised. The next day my friend went to
Ken with a personal issue. Hed begun to lead some groups in healing techniques, and he had
received many glowing compliments. He was worried that all the praise (or gratitude) would go
to his head. Kens advice to him was quite memorable, coming on the heels of the earlier advice
about criticism: Dont take it personally!
While some of us may have problems with receiving gratitude, we have a much greater
problem with not receiving it. Every Course student goes through the experience of expressing
love, kindness, and forgiveness to someone, only to have it rejected or thrown back in their face.
This lesson directly addresses the way we react to such a situation. What we are being asked to do
is to express that kindness and love, to give our gifts, without any attachment to the response of
the other person. All the gratitude we require, the lesson says, is our own gratitude for the
opportunity of giving and forgiving! (3:3). Gratitude does not come from outside us any more
than attack does.
If we fail to understand this, when someone fails to acknowledge our gifts, we will typically
react by taking them back. Well, I tried to forgive you and overlook your error, but if this is how
you are going to treat me in response, then to hell with you! And quite obviously, our attempts at
kindness have turned into attack! (see 1:23).
The lesson says it quite directly: It does not matter if another thinks your gifts unworthy
(4:1). In other words, in our giving, let us be completely unconcerned with the response of the
person we are giving to, and whether or not they express gratitude. Our giving to them is
sufficient gift to ourselves, and our own gratitude for the gift we have given is all that we need. If
we take back the gifts we give when they are not received with external gratitude and lavish
thanks (1:3), then we will always suspect that Gods gifts are equally undependable. If we take
back our gifts, we are taking them away from ourselves. I am the one who needs to be grateful for
the gift I have given, for I am the one who has received it! (3:5).
To help us understand why external gratitude isnt necessary, Jesus explains that there is a part
of the other persons mind that is grateful, even when that isnt expressed outwardly (4:2). The
other persons right mind is very grateful to you for the gift, and receives it with thanks. The
gift will be held, waiting until the person is consciously ready to receive it. As the Manual puts it:
No teacher of God should feel disappointed if he has offered healing and it does not
appear to have been received. It is not up to him to judge when his gift should be
accepted. Let him be certain it has been received, and trust that it will be accepted
when it is recognized as a blessing and not a curse.
(M-6.2:79)
The Manual goes on in a way that very clearly echoes the thought we have been discussing:
It is not the function of Gods teachers to evaluate the outcome of their gifts. It is
merely their function to give them.
(M-6.3:12)
This entire section of the Manual, and the one that follows, might be very interesting reading
in light of todays lesson.
If we fail to learn this second step, that gratitude as well as attack comes only from within
ourselves, we will forever be uncertain about the gifts of God (5:3).
LESSON 198 JULY 17

Only my condemnation injures me.
Purpose: To go past your argument with forgiveness and truly embrace it. If you
accomplish this, it will be cause for great celebration, in Heaven and on earth, for it will
mean that today your deliverance has come.
Although we have no specific instructions, we are told today to practice forgiveness (9:1;
10:4). The lesson assumes that we are familiar with forgiveness, but that we have been opposing
it, arguing with it (4:3), trying to find other ways to happiness. Instead, today, we are supposed to
take a major step forward in ending our argument with forgiveness and accepting it as our way
home. Now is the time for your deliverance (13:4). To take this step forward, we are given
extremely powerful lines as the focus of our practice: Only my condemnation injures me. Only
my own forgiveness sets me free. One way to use these lines would be to call to mind various
people in your life and then apply these lines to each one specifically: Only my condemnation of
[name] injures me. Only my own forgiveness of [name] sets me free. Or, you may want to search
your mind for situations in your life in which you are experiencing pain or stress. Identify the
person who seems to be the source of the stress and say, Only my condemnation of [name]
injures me. Only my own forgiveness of [name] sets me free.
After this forgiveness practice, you may want to use the remainder of your practice period for
meditation.
not permit).
Apply the lines we are given today (Only my condemnation injures me. Only my own
forgiveness sets me free) to the happenings of the previous hour that still have you wrapped in
their chains.
Response to temptation: (Suggestion) when tempted to succumb to any form of suffering
or injury.
Realize your pain really comes from a condemning thought and say, Only my condemnation
injures me. Only my own forgiveness sets me free. You may want to use the more specific form
of these lines that I suggested above.
Commentary
When I condemn another, I am offering injury to myself. How is that so?
When I condemn anyone, I am wishing injury on them, some form of punishment for their
wrong. At the very least, my condemnation states that the person is less worthy of love. I am
believing, therefore, that I can injure, even that I would be justified in offering injury or
withholding love. The principle I have established by this belief, however, can be turned against
me. I can be injured, too. If I measure my love to others according to my perception of them, I am
affirming that this is how love works. Therefore, I am asserting that God measures His love to me
based on my appearance or my current state of character development, for instance. Do I really
want that?
In reality, Injury is impossible (1:1). Neither God, nor my true Self as His creation, can be
injured in any way. Nor have they been. But illusion makes illusion (1:2), and the illusion of
condemnation makes the illusion of injury. We will continue, therefore, to experience injury until
we lay down condemnation as an undesirable tool, unwanted and unreal (1:4).
There is a principle that lies underneath the surface of this lesson that is really quite important
in understanding the Course. Injury is impossible; so is condemnation (2:5). What seems to be
its influence and its effects have not occurred at all (2:6). Thus, as the Course says in many
places, the separation never happened, there is no sin, there is no death, sickness is illusion, and
even our bodies and this world do not really exist. There is no world! (W-pI.132.6:2). We are
not really here where we think we are; we are asleep in Heaven, dreaming of exile. The apparent
problem has already been solved, and indeed, it never happened! This is the truth on the level of
what the Course calls knowledge or Heaven.
And yetwhat? For there is an and yet to the Courses teaching. It does not state the
ultimate truth and stop; it has something to say about the apparent illusion. It affirms with
meticulous care the unreality of the illusion, and yet it deals with it!
What seems to be its influence and its effects have not occurred at all. Yet must we
deal with them a while as if they had.
(2:67)
What are the influence and effects of condemnation? Every form of injury imaginable. The
apparent effects of our self-judgment include the making of the world and of bodies as well.
These are the things, then, that we must deal with as if they had really occurredfor a while.
Time itself is an illusion, yet the Course talks a good deal about saving time, and urges us to use
time wisely, particularly in the practice instructions that are part of these lessons. It knows time is
illusory, and yet it deals with it as if it were something real, using the very illusion to lead us out
of illusion; using time to bring us back to eternity.
We meet illusion with illusion; we meet the effects of condemnation with forgiveness. In
reality there is nothing to forgive because nothing happened. But to undo the illusion of what
happened and so become aware of the unchanging reality, we need the illusion of forgiveness.
The Course affirms that this world is illusion, and yet, for a time, it teaches us to deal with it
as if it were not an illusion; as if it had really occurred. The only way to thus deal with it is to
forgive it, to proclaim to it that there is no condemnation in Gods Son (10:1). Forgiveness is
the bridge that brings illusion to the truth, that provides the escape passage out of illusion entirely.
LESSON 199 JULY 18

I am not a body. I am free.
Purpose: To go past your identification with the body, to experience the freedom of
abiding in the boundlessness of God. To free your mind from bodily limits and give it to
the Holy Spirits use, that He may use your body to carry the message of freedom to
those who still think they are imprisoned in a body.
As is usual by now, we are left on our own to decide how to spend our longer practice periods.
Choose some form of practice that reflects todays goal. The goal is to realize that you are not a
mind imprisoned within a body, but rather that you are a mind within the Holy Spirit (6:6), a
mind that rests in God (2:3). Your mind, then, is inherently free, unlimited forever (2:1), and
your body is gone from your self-concept. The body, then, rather than the slave master, becomes
a worthy servant (6:6) of the Holy Spirits plan to extend forgiveness to every mind. It will then
return to mind whenever it is needed to communicate forgiveness.
I would suggest a meditation in which you try to feel your mind surrounded by the Holy
Spirit, resting in God, unbound by any limits whatsoever. Sink into the feeling that this is your
home, not the body, so that the body vanishes from your picture of yourself.
not permit).
Search your mind for the events of the past hour that are still compromising your peace.
Notice how each one has something to do with the bodyhow your body was treated by
anothers body, what your body said or did, how it feels, how well it is functioning, how it looks,
etc. Then free yourself of these bodily limits by repeating, I am not a body. I am free. I hear the
Voice that God has given me, and it is only This my mind obeys. This means that your mind does
not obey the body, it only obeys the Voice of freedom.
Response to temptation: (Suggestion) when tempted to engage in any thoughts which
reinforce a bodily identity.

Repeat, I am not a body. I am free. I hear the Voice that God has given me, and it is only
This [rather than the body] my mind obeys.
Overall comments: This is a hugely important idea. To make progress on this path, we are
told, we must accept this idea and even hold it very dear (3:1). We are encouraged to
use it in all of our practice periods, even beyond today, for it will boost the power of each
lesson we combine it with (5:3). Indeed, in a couple of days, we will be instructed to use
it precisely in this way for twenty straight days.
Commentary
To the ego, todays idea is quite insane (3:2). Yet it is one of the basic principles the Course
uses to free us from our bondage. The lesson attaches a great deal of importance to it, more than
to most ideas the Course presents. We are told to cherish it and practice it today and every
day (5:1). And evidently Jesus expects us to integrate the idea that I am not a body into every
practice period from now on! (5:2).
Lets face it: Before we encountered the Course, the body was something we took for granted.
If we knew anything, we thought, we knew we were a body. Our bodies held a very different
place in our lives from every other physical object. If someone stepped on a CD we owned, we
might say, Hey! Youre breaking my CD. But if they stepped on our toe (part of our body), we
would say, Hey! Youre stepping on me! It is part of our consciousness. I am where my body
is. We say, I am eating. I was asleep. I am in my car. I am sick. And all of those Is refer to
the body. Even if we have been Course students for ten or fifteen years, we are probably still
saying those same things, and still, out of habit, thinking of the body as our self.
The ego has expended millennia of effort at mentally programming into the mind the identity
of me and the body. It isnt something the mind will let go of easily; it is a habit of thought that
will take a great deal of counterprogramming to unlearn. That is why we are urged to make it a
part of daily practice. The body-as-self identity will not be broken by a few simple repetitions.
We all still believe in it. As Ken Wapnick has said, if you doubt that you still believe in the
identity of body and self, just try holding your breath for ten minutes.
What are we to do with our awareness that we hold this false belief about ourselves? The
lesson tells us, Be not concerned (3:2). Like a runner practicing to break the four-minute mile,
we need not be concerned that we havent done so yet. We just need to keep on practicing, doing
what needs to be done to achieve that goal. Our goal is to realize we are a mind[that] no
longer sees itself as in a body, firmly tied to it and sheltered by its presence (1:4). That is the
state of mind in which total freedom is found. When we have entered that state of mind, we will
be right-minded, and in the real world. Our only concern now is to move in that direction.
The holy instant offers us foretastes of that state of mind. The body recedes from awareness in
the holy instant, and what we are aware of is oneness, something so vast no body or collection of
bodies could ever contain it. As we experience this state more and more it will come to dominate
our consciousness. We still have a body, but we realize we are not bound to it. It becomes simply
[a] useful form for what the mind must do. It thus becomes a vehicle which helps
forgiveness be extended to the all-inclusive goal that it must reach, according to
Gods plan.
(4:45)
Ironically, the more we detach our mind from our body, the more perfect the body becomes.
It becomes perfect in the ability to serve an undivided goal (6:4). If perfecting the body is the
goal, we will never achieve it; the body will find wholeness only when our goal becomes unified
with the Holy Spirit in seeking to extend forgiveness to everyone and everything, which places
the body in its proper place. Trying to hold on to the body destroys it; letting it go brings it health.
The body is not the home of the mind; the Holy Spirit is (6:1). Our aim in practicing, in each
holy instant we take, is to free our mind from its connection to the body, and to give our mind to
the Holy Spirit for His purposes. Our energy then is not directed at acquiring food or clothing, or
housing, or physical well being, but at bringing forgiveness to the world. If we do this, the Holy
Spirit promises that He will take care of all the rest. As Jesus put it in the Bible: Seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Mt 6:33).
Or, as the Course puts it: Once you accept His plan as the one function that you would fulfill,
there will be nothing else the Holy Spirit will not arrange for you without your effort (T20.IV.8:4).
LESSON 200 JULY 19

There is no peace except the peace of God.
Purpose: To no longer seek peace from things of the world, but
only from God. To no longer wander off the path seeking

worldly satisfactions, but take the straight path to God.
Morning/evening quiet time: At least five minutes; ideally, thirty
or more.
Again we are not given specific instructions. The goal today is to
cement our determination to seek peace only from God, not from the
world. We find Gods peace through choosing a new perception of
the world, a perception in which all the world is seen by you as
blessed (5:3). The way to reach this new perception is forgiveness
(see paragraph 6). Rather than forcing things to go our way, we
forgive them for not going our way. That is how we find the peace of
God.
You may want to ask your internal Teacher what kind of practice
period will allow you to reach this goal. What form of practice will
help you no longer be lured off the path by the siren song of the
world but instead take the straight road to God?
Hourly remembrance: One or two minutes as the hour strikes
(reduce if circumstances do not permit).

Search your mind for the happenings of the previous hour in
which you didnt get what you wanted. Then let each one go by
repeating, There is no peace except the peace of God, and I am glad
and thankful it is so. Realize you dont want the thing you thought
they could give you. All you want is the peace of God.
Response to temptation: (Suggestion) when tempted to seek
peace from anything of this world.

Quickly repeat, There is no peace except the peace of God, and I
am glad and thankful it is so.
Commentary
The basic message of this lesson is that every means we use to try
to find peace through or from the world will fail; only the peace that
comes from God, a peace that we already have as part of our created
being, is real and eternal. (Some good sections to read in conjunction

with todays lesson are Section 11 in the Manual, How is peace
possible in this world? and the Text, Chapter 31, Section IV, The
Real Alternative.)
Everything in this world ends in death. This world is hell, because
no matter what course we follow, no matter how hard we strive, we
wind up losing everything in the end. What a depressing game it is,
when the only outcome is losing! This is the source of the agony of
bitter disappointments, bleak despair, and sense of icy hopelessness
and doubt (1:3). If we are playing the game of the world, seeking
for happiness where there is none (2:1), we can only be hurt. We
are asking for defeat (2:3).
We may not be fully conscious of this despair, yet it underlies
everything we do. Ernest Beckers book The Denial of Death1 is all
about the ways in which we anxiously and firmly push the awareness
of death out of our minds, burying it in the trivia of daily life,
struggling to find meaning in something to which we can attach
ourselves and somehow achieve immortality. Becker reaches the
same conclusion as the Course, in some respects: that we are all
insane, all bound up in denial and projection. The only difference
between us and those called insane is that our form of denial is a
little more successful than theirs. Yet in some ways the insane are
more honest than we are. They have admitted the emptiness of the
world and have chosen to create their own fantasy world in its place,
or have become suicidal in despair. The rest of us still stumble along
in naive hope that the world will yet bring us satisfaction.
The lesson asks us to give up the futile search for happiness
through our bodies and the world, and to relax into the peace of God.
If we can simply accept the fact that we will not find happiness or
peace anywhere else, we can save ourselves all this misery. If I look
at my own life, my most miserable moments have been those in
which someone or something on which I had pinned my hopes for
happiness failed me: a marriage, a church, a job, a noble purpose, a
hope of romance. The lesson is saying these are not isolated events.
They represent the whole. The search for peace apart from the peace
of God is hopeless, and the sooner we realize it, the sooner will we
find true happiness.
. Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death (New York: Free Press, 1997).
This world is not where you belong. You are a stranger here
(4:34). So give it up. Let it go. Stop expecting it to make you
happy; it never will. But it is given you to find the means whereby
the world no longer seems to be a prison house or jail for anyone
(4:5). There is a way out! You must change your mind about the
purpose of the world, if you would find escape (5:2).
The Text tells us the same things:
Until you see the healing of the Son as all you wish to
be accomplished by the world, by time and all
appearances, you will not know the Father nor yourself.
For you will use the world for what is not its purpose,
and will not escape its laws of violence and death. (T24.VI.4:34)
To change all this, and open up a road of hope and of
release in what appeared to be an endless circle of
despair, you need but to decide you do not know the
purpose of the world. You give it goals it does not have,
and thus do you decide what it is for. You try to see in it
a place of idols found outside yourself, with power to
make complete what is within by splitting what you are
between the two. You choose your dreams, for they are
what you wish, perceived as if it had been given you.
Your idols do what you would have them do, and have
the power you ascribe to them. And you pursue them
vainly in the dream, because you want their power as
your own.
(T-29.VII.8:16)
If we can decide that we do not know the purpose of the world,
we will be free to receive the purpose the Holy Spirit sees in it. Until
we give up our imagined purposes, His purpose will seem dim and
indecipherable. It is the letting go of what we think the world is for
that allows its only true purpose to dawn upon us. That purpose, in a
word, is forgiveness; or as the line in Chapter 24 puts it, the healing
of the Son (T-24.VII.4:3). Forgiveness is needed in hell, and this
world, therefore, must be hell (6:4). Forgiveness offers, to me and to
everyone the escapefrom evil dreams he imagines, yet believes
are true (6:5). All the world is good for, we might say, is for us to
learn to look on it another way, and find the peace of God (7:6).
If the world is such a terrible, depressing place, we might think
that logically, the way to find peace is to leave the world. To die. To
get out of this body. But that is not what the lesson says. Peace, we
are told, begins within the world perceived as different (8:2).
Notice: peace begins within the world. It begins with a new
perception of the world, not as a prison house, but as a classroom.
Beginning here, the road of peace will lead us on to the gate of
Heaven and the way beyond (8:2). But it must begin here.
In poignant images of a road carpeted with leaves of false
desires, we can see ourselves lifting our eyes away from the trees
of hopelessness to the gate of Heaven (10:3). It is the peace of God
we want, and nothing but the peace of God. In the holy instants we
enjoy in todays practicing, we recognize the peace we have sought,
and feel its soft embrace surround your heart and mind with comfort
and with love (10:6).
The closing lines, given us for practice, sum up the whole lesson.
Most of us, if confronted with the thought that there is no peace but
the peace of God, do not yet respond with gladness and thanks. The
message that there is no hope of answer in the world (T-31.IV.4:3)
seems a dour and bitter pill to swallow. Instead of joy, we feel sad,
and a bit resentful. We wistfully cling to our vain hopes that the idols
of this world will still, somehow, satisfy us. We want them to, so
very much. Only when we have learned to release them gladly and
thankfully will we be, finally, free of their hold upon us.
Let me, then, in todays practicing, seek to find that gladness and
thanks within myself. The Christ in me wants to come home (4:1).
There is a part of me that breathes a sigh of relief as I begin to realize
the world can never satisfy me, and whispers to me, At last! At last
you are beginning to let go of the source of your pain. Thank you!
Let me connect with that part of my mind that is native to Heaven,
and knows it does not belong here; it is the only part there is in
reality. The more I connect with it, the sooner will I know the peace
that is my natural inheritance.
Lesson 201 July 20

Central theme:
I am not a body. I am free. For I am still as God created me.
Review of:
(181) I trust my brothers, who are one with me.
See instructions in separate document.
Commentary
Today, let us remember, as often as we can, that there is no one who is not our brother. Let us
remember that we are all part of the one Self, and that our oneness with All-That-Is is a blessing
we can never lose.
Together, we are a whole. Apart, we are nothing.
There is only one of us.
Everyone is linked immutably to God and to each other. Everything that is, is a direct offshoot
of the Creator, equally worthy, equally holy, equally loveable.
My brothers and sisters are my joy and my delight. Let me see each one today as the blessing
that they are to me.
Lesson 202 July 21

Central theme:
Review of:
(182) I will be still an instant and go home.
Commentary
Right now, this very instant, and every instant of this day, I have the opportunity simply to be
still, to quiet my mind, and to go home to Heaven. Heaven is here. Heaven is now. There is no
other time and no other place.
This world of turmoil is not my home; my home is in peace. This world of sorrow is not my
home; my home is in joy. This world of hatred is not my home; my home is in love. This body is
not my home; my home is in God.
The Voice of God is calling me constantly to come home, and I can do so any time I choose
to. How thankful I am today for this inner calling! How grateful I am that, no matter where I go,
no matter what I do, this Voice is always with me, always calling me home.
When I hear this Voice, why would I choose to stay an instant more where I am not at home?
Every reason I might think to give dissolves into nothing when I become aware of the sweet and
gentle calling of His Voice. I will remember right now, and at every opportunity during this day.
I will be still an instant and go home.
Lesson 203 July 22

Central theme:
Review of:
(183) I call upon Gods Name and on my own.
Commentary
To call upon the Name of God is not simply to repeat a word, but to reach out from within
myself, affirming my connection to my Source. To call upon this Name means to remind myself
of my union with God. It is my own [name] as well as His (1:2). In a sense, it is similar to the
way soldiers in battle might cry out the name of their king, or the way a football crowd chants the
name of a favorite player. It is a means of identification, an affirmation of a solidarity and unity.
Yet it is more than any such thing that we might compare it with in this world, because Gods
Name is my name in a much deeper sense than mere emotional identification. I am the extension
of God. What He is, I am as well. I am created of the essence of Godhead. I am still as God
created me (1:5). I affirm this every time I call upon His Name.
To call upon Gods Name is to remind myself that the lesser name and the lesser self with
which I commonly identify is not who I am. I am not a body (1:3). In the midst of the daily
crunch of busy-ness, when I call on this Name, I am delivered from every thought of evil and
of sin (1:2). When I feel limited or confined, I can rediscover my freedom by calling on His
Name. I remember that I am not this body; I am free.
As I sit in quiet today, let me open to the experience of God. Let me become aware of the vast
Love without boundary or restriction. Let me sink into His limitless peace. Let me be transported
in His joy. And as I do, let me remember that all that I experience of God, I am. Let me call, too,
on my own name. In remembering God, let me remember, This is me.
Lesson 204 July 23

Central theme:
Review of:
(184) The Name of God is my inheritance.
Commentary
If I bear the Name of God, I am His Son. I have the heritage of Gods familyand what an
inheritance that is! I am not the offspring of random molecules of DNA. I am not the product of
survival of the fittest in a vicious battle for supremacy in life. I am not the product of my human
family, my upbringing, my education, my failures, or my culture. What I am I have inherited
from God Himself.
As the Son of God I am not slave to time (1:2). I am not limited to the short span of my
bodys life on earth. I do not require long years of development to attain my inheritance; it is
mine now. Nor am I the product of my past. I do not need to fear the future. I am free of all
limitations time might try to impose on me.
I am unbound by laws which rule the world of sick illusions (1:2). Laws of time, of space,
of economics, of health and nutrition, or any laws we think are immutable and inevitable here, do
not rule me. I am a child of God. I am spirit. I am free. I am forever and forever one with Him
(1:2).
Lesson 205 July 24

Central theme:
Review of:
(185) I want the peace of God.
Commentary
The introduction to Review VI says that each of these ideas alone would be sufficient for
salvation, if it were learned truly (W-pI.rVI.In.1:3). It adds, Each contains the whole
curriculum if understood, practiced, accepted, and applied to all the seeming happenings
throughout the day (W-pI.rVI.In.2:2). I find that easy to believe about todays lesson. If you are
into memorization (as I am), this lesson is an excellent one to add to your repertoire.
Its worth noticing the list of four verb forms that are identified as steps in making any of these
ideas into the whole curriculum:
Understood: No matter how strongly the Course advocates experience, and points out that a
universal theology is impossible (see C-In.2:5), you cannot get around the fact that it makes
understanding very important. How can we enter into the experience of an idea if we do not
understand it? Understanding is here presented as the fundamental step. Before we can really
utilize the idea I want the peace of God, we have to understand it. Implied in the idea (and
clearly presented in Lesson 185) is the fact that there is a very strong thought in my mind,
perhaps unacknowledged, that I do not want the peace of God, and this is demonstrated by the
fact that I do not experience it. That contrary thought, however, is a mistaken one, to be dismissed
whenever we become aware of it, and replaced with the truth: I do want the peace of God.
Practiced: That is what we are doing in these Workbook lessons. Practicing. Repeating
frequently. Spending some extended time allowing the thought to soak in and penetrate the
recesses of our minds.
Accepted: Notice that acceptance comes after practice. Our minds do not accept the idea at
the start, even after we understand the idea. When we begin to practice, we do not truly accept
that we want the peace of God. We think we want something else, something more, something
besides peace. It takes a good deal of practice to retrain our minds, until we begin to realize that
the peace of God is everything I want (1:2).
Applied: Having accepted the idea, we can now begin to apply it to each different seeming
happening during the day. When the car cuts us off in traffic: I want the peace of God. When
we find ourselves wistfully longing for a more fulfilling relationship: The peace of God is
everything I want. When we begin to feel driven to obtain some earthly goal at any cost: The
peace of God is my one goal (1:3). When we start to think we dont know what to do or where to
go: The peace of God is the aim of all my living here. And when we start to feel impelled to
fulfill some need of our bodies: I am not a body. The peace of God is everything I want. I am
free.
Thank You, Father, for todays reminder of Your peace. There is nothing else I need, and
nothing else I want. Oh, may todays lesson become the keynote of my life, so that I can say and
truly mean: The peace of God is my one goal.
Lesson 206 July 25

Central theme:
Review of:
(186) Salvation of the world depends on me.
Commentary
I am not a body; I am the Son of God. I am spirit, endowed with the gifts of God. I am not
what I appear to be, nor what I have thought I was for most of my life. I am a spiritual being
having a human experience, and my mission here (if I will accept it) is to give the gifts of God
wherever He asks me to give them. And that is to everyone.
The Course requires a radical revision of my self-concept. I have thought of myself as some
sort of poor, lost soul, wandering, alone, afraid. I have thought of myself as needy and lacking. I
have felt like an orphan; as though, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how many places I
visited, I never quite fit in. I have seen myself at the bottom trying to get up.
Now, this book comes along, a message from God to me, and tells me that the salvation of the
world depends on me. I am a key figure in the plan of the ages. Everything depends on me, and
that seems frightening. And yet, I have the gifts to give the world that will save it. I can give it my
love. I can give it my trust. I can give it my kindness and my mercy. I can give those around me
my understanding and my faith in them. Through my forgiveness I can release them from guilt.
This is such a startling idea of what I am that at first it seems ludicrous. I think at first that to
see myself this way would be the height of arrogance. And yetand yet, if this is how God
created me, if this is what He created me for, it is arrogant to refuse the task being given to me.
He is not asking me to set myself above anyone else. On the contrary, He is asking me to
demonstrate to everyone that they have the gifts of God as well, that they are all like me.
God is asking me, Are you ready yet to help Me save the world? (C-2.9:1) All Heaven waits
breathlessly to hear my decision. Will I say, Yes? Will I dare to say, with understanding,
meaning every word: Salvation of the world depends on me?
Lesson 207 July 26

Central theme:
Review of:
(187) I bless the world because I bless myself.
Commentary
All that I need is already within me. It is released for me when I release it to others, because in
reality, there are no others, there is only one. We get caught up in questions such as Do I
forgive myself first, and thus release myself to forgive others? Or do I forgive my brother, and
thus find forgiveness for myself? and Must I love myself before I can love others, or vice
versa? When we ask such questions we are trying to figure out a unified reality on the basis of
duality; we cant get a clear answer because the question is framed in the wrong terms.
To accept His boundless Love for me (1:3) and to accept that Love for others is the same
thing, because all of us are merely fragments of the one mind we all share. There is no such thing
as loving myself to the exclusion of loving others; that is not love at all. Nor is it love to love
someone else and sacrifice myself on their behalf.
I bless the world because I bless myself. This doesnt mean that meeting the demands of my
ego benefits everyone else. Many people, in the wake of what ACIM teachers Hugh and Gayle
Prather call separation psychology (in their book I Will Never Leave You),1 think that loving
yourself means such things as looking out for your own happiness at the expense of marriage
partners and children. This is not what the Course is teaching here. The pendulum has swung
from sacrificing yourself for the family or your partner (in the 1940s and 1950s) to sacrificing the
family and partner for yourself (in the 1980s and 1990s). Both are mistaken approaches based on
dualism.
I bless the world because I bless myself could be reversed, with equal truth, to read, I bless
myself because I bless the world. Giving and receiving are the same thing; this is one of the
major lessons of the Course, and, by its own admission, one of the hardest for us to learn.
Gods blessing shines upon me from within my heart, where He abides (1:2). The radiant
and all-embracing Love of God is within me. When I turn to it, it engulfs me and instantly spills
over to embrace everyone through me. Discovering that is what the Course is all about. I am still
as God created me. I am still that love. How can I know that I am love without expressing it?
Love, by its nature, extends to others and includes them in its heart. The marvelous discovery of
my own nature as love cannot be made without the extension of that love to my brother. To bless
myself and to bless the world is a single event. It is when I bless the world that I learn to love
myself; and likewise, when I truly love myself, I become a blessing to the world around me. I
need my brothers, not to give me what I do not have, but to be the recipients and sharers of What
I am.
1. Hugh and Gayle Prather, I Will Never Leave You (New York: Bantam, 1996).
Lesson 208 July 27

Central theme:
Review of:
(188) The peace of God is shining in me now.
Commentary
Over and over again, the Course urges us to be still. It is remarkable how much benefit can
be derived from simply pausing, even just for ten seconds, closing the eyes, and remembering the
peace of God that is within me. Just the word peace, repeated silently, can have a soothing,
healing effect on the mind. This is not something that will come to us without conscious
cooperation. Practice is necessary. I will be still (1:2, emphasis mine); it is an act of the will, a
choice, a decision. The frantic onflow of thoughts and concerns has to be interrupted, and the
mind turned towards that stillness (1:3) that is within my heart (1:4).
Most of our waking hours (and probably most of our sleeping hours as well, although we
arent aware of it) are spent in various concerns that, when stripped down to their basics, are
concerns about our bodies, in one way or another. The daily caretaking of bathing, grooming,
dressing, feeding, and resting our bodies goes on and on. The time we spend earning a living is
necessitated by the need for money to purchase food, clothing, and shelter, and to entertain
ourselves. But we are not bodies. We need frequent reminders of that fact. We need to pause and
say, Peace, be still to ourselves. It seems easier not to make the effort, to just let the current of
bodily concerns carry us onward from one moment to the next. Yet when we make the effort,
when we step out of the flow for a minute to simply be still and find the peace of God, everything
begins to go more smoothly. We find ourselves happier than we were before. As an old Christian
hymn put it, Things that once were wild alarms cannot now disturb my rest.
We have a wellspring of peace within our hearts. It waits for us to simply dip into it and drink
from its refreshing pool. It is there now, shining within us. Right now, and often today, I will be
still. I will draw on that inner wealth, which witnesses to God Himself (1:4).
Lesson 209 July 28

Central theme:
Review of:
(189) I feel the Love of God within me now.
Commentary
I was created by the Love of God (1:2). Creating and loving are the same (see T-7.I.3:3).
Love, by its nature, extends outward and creates more of Itself, creates like Itself. God created
you by extending Himself as you (T-7.I.5:2). Think you that you can judge the Self of God?
God has created It beyond judgment, out of His need to extend His Love (T-15.V.11:12). Our
Self was created out of the need of Love to extend Itself. We are the natural result of Loves
extension.
Therefore, we are that Love, extended. What I am is Love; Love is what I am. It is everything
I am. There is no part of me that is not Love. I am wholly Love. That in me which seems to be
something elsewhich may seem this morning to feel fearful, or depressed, or dull, or lifeless, or
angry, or spitefulis only illusion, a figment of my imagination. It is not real. It is not me. I am
only Love, and therefore I teach only Love.
I am Loves Son, by Loves own proclamation (1:4). I am made in the image and likeness of
Love. I cannot be anything other than loving, nor have I ever been anything other than loving.
When I have believed I was something else, I was only dreaming. I am not a body, obsessed with
self-preservation. I am free to love, and free to love freely. God will never cease to love His Son,
and His Son will never cease to love Him (T-10.V.10:6).
The Love of God within me sets me free (1:5). It is connecting with that Love within myself
that liberates me from my self-imposed bondage. It is accepting this Love as myself that frees me
from guilt. It is allowing that Love to flow through me that frees me from sorrow and fills me
with joy. Love is my liberator.
Let me accept today that the Love of God is in me. Let me feel Its presence. Let me be glad
that Love is what I am. All the little things that seem to trouble me, that seem to tell me I am less
than Love, or that anyone is less than Love, fade into nothing as I open my heart to Love.
Lesson 210 July 29

Central theme:
Review of:
(190) I choose the joy of God instead of pain.
Commentary
If we saw, clearly, that this was our choicejoy or painwould there be any difficulty in
making the choice?
Learning that this is the only choice is what takes so much time.
We are so confused about what brings us joy. We are quite convinced that our bodies can
bring us joy. We are certain that a good romantic relationship would bring us joy. (Is that an
oxymoron, a good romantic relationship?) We are very sure that giving up certain things in this
world would bring us a great deal of pain. It takes time, and sometimes the illusion of giving
up, to learn that we give up nothing. It takes great learning both to realize and to accept the fact
that the world has nothing to give (M-13.2:1).
Pain is my own idea (1:2). What a stunning statement! Pain is an idea I thought up
independently of God. In fact, pain is thinking independently of God. Pain is trying to find
happiness in this world. I have taught myself that the greatest pleasure of all is total autonomy,
complete independence, absolute self-sufficiency. I have chosen this, and in doing so, invented
pain. Now, I am unlearning what I taught myself. Now, I am learning to choose Gods Will
instead of what I made, joy instead of pain. I am teaching you to associate misery with the ego
and joy with the spirit (T-4.VI.5:6).
Let me realize today that in saying, I am not a body, I am choosing joy instead of pain. In
continuing to affirm, I am a body, I am choosing pain instead of joy.
Lesson 211 July 30

Central theme:
Review of:
(191) I am the holy Son of God Himself.
Commentary
To seek the glory of God in my Selfthat sounds a little pretentious. Yet the lesson says we
seek this glory in true humility (1:2). Naturally, the Course is speaking of the Self, and not my
self. This does not refer, however, to the self of which the world speaks (M-4.VII.2:2). When
someone says, The glory of God is in me, or I am the Son of God Himself, it makes a very
big difference what me is being spoken of. If it is the self that we believe exists separate from
the billions of other selves in this world, we are not speaking the truth. We are being pretentious.
If it refers to the Self that is shared by all those billions, the Self of which my little consciousness
is just one fragment, it is the truth that sets us free.
The glory of God does not reside in the little self, but it does reside in the Self. And beholding
that glory in the Son whom He created as my Self (1:2) does not lead to delusions of grandeur,
but to true grandeur, a grandeur that is instantly perceived as shared with all living things. There
can be no setting of myself above any others, for the glory in them is my own.
These final review lessons, before Part II of the Workbook, refer a lot to things like silence,
and beholding the glory of God. In these times of practice, let us seek to open ourselves to that
kind of experience, to a seeing that is not of the eyes, to an awareness of the reality of our Self,
Gods Son. Let my little thoughts be silent, and let me hear the Voice for God speaking within
me, speaking to my self of my Self, wooing me back into harmony with that vastness of Being to
which I belong, gathering together the seeming fragments of the Sonship into one harmonious
whole. I am, indeed, still as God created me. Not just a body, not bound by the body, not
characterized by the body, but free of all limits, safe and healed and whole (W-pI.97.7:2). I am
that which God created, the holy Son of God Himself.
Lesson 212 July 31

Central theme:
Review of:
(192) I have a function God would have me fill.
Commentary
What is the function God has for me? Lesson 192, which this lesson reviews, told me that
forgiveness represents your function here (W-pI.192:2:3). I need to be reminded of that. My
function is not some particular career or occupation. The content is what matters; the form will
shape itself to that content, based on the circumstances of my life. Forgiveness is the content. If I
am asking myself what my occupation should be, or what direction my life should take, let me
ask myself this question: How does forgiveness best take form in my life right now? Or better yet,
let me ask the Holy Spirit that question.
An occupation is what occupies most of my life. How, in form, can I occupy most of my life
with forgiveness? How can I best serve to look upon illusions and see them disappear? How can I
best serve to assist myself, and others, to let go of all guilt? How can I best reflect love in this
world?
I work as a writer (you may do something quite differentfill in as you please). But that
occupation is not my function; it is only one means of expressing my function, which is
forgivenessthe same function God has given to all of us. The form may change or disappear;
my function remains unchanged. A few years ago I was working as a computer consultant
because, at that time, I felt that was the best means I had of fulfilling my function. Then, the form
changed. But not the content.
Let me not seek any function in terms of form. Let me always seek the content. It is the
content of forgiveness, of reflecting love in this world and releasing from guilt, that will set me
free from illusions. No form can do that, since every form is itself part of the illusion. So all that I
seek, and all that I lay claim to as mine, is the function God gave me (the content) and not any
occupation, or job, or situation.
I am not a body (a form). I am free. I am formless, and I am therefore not tied to form of any
kind.
Lesson 213 August 1

Central theme:
Review of:
(193) All things are lessons God would have me learn.
Commentary
Every circumstance of life offers me the choice between a miracle and my own ego thoughts,
which will hurt me. Or as the Text puts it, The choice is miracles instead of murder (T23.IV.5:6). That is the lesson that all things have to teach me, today and every day. Which voice,
ego or Holy Spirit, will I listen to in this moment, and the next, and the next? Its always one or
the other, never neither, never both. You will not make decisions by yourself whatever you
decide. For they are made with idols or with God. And you ask help of anti-Christ or Christ, and
which you choose will join with you and tell you what to do (T-30.I.14:79).
In each situation I face today, this is what is going on. The ego offers its interpretation, and the
Holy Spirit offers His; I choose which to listen to. I can choose the miracle, or murder. My choice
determines my perception and my experience of the situation. Which will I choose today?
When the temptation to attack rises to make your mind darkened and murderous,
remember you can see the battle from above. Even in forms you do not recognize,
the signs you know. There is a stab of pain, a twinge of guilt, and above all, a loss of
peace. This you know well. When they occur leave not your place on high, but
quickly choose a miracle instead of murder.
(T-23.IV.6:15)
This choice is what sets me free. The Holy Spirit is always with me to help me make this
choice. In each instant I can choose to learn the lessons God wants me to learn, and forget what I
have been teaching myself. Let me not evaluate anything without His help.
If we could grasp just this one lesson, this habit of referring everything to the Holy Spirit,
rather than trying to figure it out by ourselves (which always means with the egos help),
everything else would simply fall into place. This alone is enough to set us free.
One thing the Holy Spirit sees differently from the ego is my body. The Holy Spirit does not
see the body as you do, because He knows the only reality of anything is the service it renders
God on behalf of the function He gives it (T-8.VII.3:6). When I choose to protect the body, to
make it the center of what I am doing, mistaking the body for myself, I am choosing murder. I am
not a body. I do not exist for my bodys sake; its purpose is to render service to God as I carry out
the function He has given me in the world, and that is all. If I listen to the Holy Spirit, I have to be
willing to see the body as meaningless in itself (W-pI.96.3:7), and useful only as a
communication device with which to reach my brothers. Let me remind myself that I am not a
body, as in each moment I seek to hear the Voice for God.
Lesson 214 August 2

Central theme:
Review of:
(194) I place the future in the Hands of God.
Commentary
Accepting that the past is gone is simply common sense, because by definition, what is past
is no longer here; it is gone. Only our mental attachment to things past, our insistence on
regurgitating past incidents and chewing them over again, can have any effect on the present. The
effects we feel are not of the past, but of our present thinking about the past.
Accepting that the future has not yet arrived is also common sense, because again by
definition, what is future is not here now. It cannot have any effect on the present moment. Only
our mental imagination of what the future might hold, and our thinking about what has not yet
occurred, can have present effect.
In both cases, the effects that we imagine come from past or future come, in fact, from our
present thinking. Therefore, only by changing our present thinking can those effects be altered.
When I am able to mentally let go of the past and the future, placing the future in Gods Hands, I
am freed from their apparent effects. I am at liberty, in the now, to open myself to accept what
God is giving me now.
The present circumstances in which I find myself may appear to be threatening. They may
have come about, in my perception, because of past events. They may appear to lead inevitably to
some unhappy future. Yet if I can open my mind to believe that what God gives can only be for
good (1:4), then that good will come to me. We cannot know all the factors involved in the
events of our lives and their effect on everyone around us. But God knows. We can safely and
confidently take our hands off, and place the future in Gods Hands. We can look upon things that
seem to bring evil and refuse the evil, accepting only what God gives as what truly belongs to us.
In everything, there is a gift of God, if we look carefully enough. To place our future in Gods
Hands we must let go ourselves, and stop trying to orchestrate the events of our lives. Doing so is
a constant lesson in trust. Trust is the key, an essential ingredient in placing the future into Gods
Hands.
In the Manual for Teachers, the fundamental stage in the process of development from
teacher of God to advanced teacher of God is the development of trust. The full flowering of
trust is not an overnight process. It goes through several stages, clearly set out in the Manual.
Most of those stages involve some discomfort, because until we have truly acquired trust, we
keep trying to second-guess God. The pain comes not from the learning, but from what we have
not yet learned. What we are learning will bring the removal of the pain, but pain along the way
seems almost unavoidable. Few teachers of God escape this distress entirely (M-4.I.5:3). Yet
when the lesson is learned, the peace will be like nothing we have ever known. We can only
imagine what total freedom from all anxiety feels like, and yet, if we have wholly placed our
future into Gods Hands, what else could be the certain result?
Each effort we make in this direction is beneficial. Each moment we place into His Hands will
lessen the burden of care we carry constantly for our lives. Gradually, we are learning to cast all
our cares on Him, trusting in His caring for us.
Lesson 215 August 3

Central theme:
Review of:
(195) Love is the way I walk in gratitude.
Commentary
Todays review adds a new note to the lesson. I walk in the way of love. As I walk, the Holy
Spirit walks with me (1:34), and shows me the way to go.
Walking in the way of love is not always simple. Often, the loving thing to do is not
obvious. If someone breaks into my home, and is arrested, do I press charges, or do I let them off
the hook? Which action is loving? Or, to make it much more simple: A friend, prone to misuse
of money, asks me for a loan. Do I give them the money, or refuse? Which is the way of love?
I do not know. Even if I think I know, I do not know. I cannot possibly know all the variables.
I cannot evaluate the ego motivation of another. How could I possibly do that when I cant even
evaluate my own ego motivations? I cannot judge when a person is open to a merciful action, or
when the most loving thing would be to let them face the consequences of their mistakes. But the
Holy Spirit does know all those things. He is my only Guide. My past experiences, no matter how
extensive, are never enough to grant me perfect judgment. The Holy Spirit, however, knows
every detail of every situation. He knows the ramifications of every possible outcome, and can
guide me in the loving action I should choose.
How do I discern His Voice? Again, there is no guaranteed way. Learning to discern His
Voice clearly is a lifelong process. All I need do is to refer the situation to Him, consciously give
it into His hands, and then act in whatever way seems best to me. Each day, and in each situation,
I renew my resolve to never make a decision by myself. Sometimes I will sense an inner nudge
in a certain direction, for no reason I can detect. Perhaps circumstances will occur that seem to
point me in a particular direction. Serendipitous coincidences may occur that seem to be signs,
directing me. Other times I will seemingly be left on my own. The Course promises us that if we
make a mistake, He will correct us, if we have given the situation to Him. We will make
mistakes, but we have His promise of correction.
One of the most important aspects of hearing His Voice, I have learned, is letting go of any
investment in a particular outcome. The only outcome I seek is the outcome of forgiveness, the
outcome of love, the outcome of peace of mind in all concerned. I cannot pick what external
circumstances are best suited to this kind of outcome; only the Holy Spirit knows. A rebellious
teenager threatens to leave home, or drop out of school. As a parent or friend I may believe that
the best thing is that she stay at home, or stay in school. I do not know. Perhaps the lessons she
needs to learn can only be found if she distances herself for a while from family and friends. So I
lay the situation in the hands of the Holy Spirit, and ask that I be guided to say and do whatever
best serves the way of love. Then, I keep my hands off. I trust that I am being guided, even if
things begin to move in a way I, in my shortsightedness, do not like. My primary responsibility is
simply not to interfere with Him.
Today, let me walk the way of love in gratitude, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide my every
word and action. Let me remind myself that I am here only to be truly helpful, to represent Him
Who sent me, knowing that I do not have to worry about what I will say or do, for He will direct
me (see T-2.V(A).18:26).
Lesson 216 August 4

Central theme:
Review of:
(196) It can be but myself I crucify.
Commentary
The heart of the little summary today is the first sentence: All that I do I do unto myself
(1:2). If we applied that one idea consistently, what a transformation there would be in our part of
the world!
My own little personal list (you can make your own):
How do I greet people on the telephone?
How do I respond to interruptions?
How do I regard people serving me in stores and restaurants?
How do I react to snippets of talk I hear on the evening news?
How do I treat poor or homeless people I encounter?
How do I think about the very rich?
How do I think about other drivers?
What do I say to others about my friends when they are not present?
All that I do I do unto myself. Is it any wonder I feel mistreated and misunderstood? All of
these little examples are expressions of the egos desire to crucify the Son of God. Each of
them betrays the way I am treating myself, when I listen to my ego. This explains that wonderful
saying in the Manual, The teacher of God is generous out of Self interest (M-4.VII.2:1).
Lesson 217 August 5

Central theme:
Review of:
(197) It can be but my gratitude I earn.
Commentary
The salvation described by the Course is unique in the way it combines total responsibility for
our own salvation with total dependence on God. My Self is what saves me, yet that Self is
discovered only by recognizing that what I am is not any result of my own action, but the gift of
God in creation.
There is a line in the Text that says, Give thanks to every part of you that you have taught
how to remember you (T-13.VII.17:8). The gratitude we feel as we begin to awaken to what we
are is due to the Self that we are discovering. I am the one who gives thanks; I am also the One to
Whom thanks are being given.
It is very hard to understand all of this until you begin to experience it. I vividly recall one
particular time in which it seemed to come to crystal clarity for me, for a few moments at least. I
became aware of a loving part of myself that was continually moving me and motivating me in
the direction of inner peace and Self-acceptance. It was something that had always been there,
more than a part of me, the reality of myself. I was simultaneously aware of another part of my
mind that had begun to open up to that love, and in that moment, I felt a deep and inexpressible
gratitude to myself for being willing to receive that love. I was aware both of being the giver of
the love and the receiver of it, and in that moment the little self I had always thought was me felt
swallowed up in this much larger, constantly moving, tide of love.
This peculiar gratitude to my Self can find expression in many little ways. Sometimes when I
have taken the time for a quiet meditation, one in which I feel strongly renewed, I find the
gratitude welling up, and I say, Thank you. And I am not sure whether I am thanking God or
myself. I am grateful to myself for having readied myself to receive this Course. I am thankful to
myself for reading it, and continuing to study it and to apply it. When a line from the Course pops
into my head at just the right moment, I can thank my Self for it.
The Course teaches that we all are already awake; the truth lives untarnished in our right mind.
And it is this right mind, this Self that is the only part of us that has reality in truth, which is
teaching us and calling us home. This right mind is the home of the Holy Spirit; He is part of us
as well as part of God. His Voice is the Voice for God, yet it is also the Voice of my Self. It is my
Self that brought the Course into the world. It is my Self that drew me to it. It is my Self that is
bringing me to awareness. Everything that nudges me in the right direction is a gift from my Self.
Let me be grateful to my Self today. Let me recognize that I am deserving of my own
gratitude. Instead of being annoyed with myself, impatient with myself, harsh on myself,
discouraged with myself, or untrusting of myself, let me offer myself my own gratitude. And let
me realize that my own gratitude is all I need and want. Let me understand that when I have
learned fully to be completely grateful to my Self for what I am, I will have completed the
journey, and will have learned, at the same time, to be fully appreciative and grateful to God for
the gift He has given me: my Self.
Lesson 218 August 6

Central theme:
Review of:
(198) Only my condemnation injures me.
Commentary
Condemnation does not injure the body. It reminds me of the old childhood chant, Sticks and
stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me. I am not a body; what I am cannot be
hurt by sticks and stones. Only my own condemnation, my acceptance of those names, can
hurt me.
Havent you called yourself names? I know I have. You idiot! You are so stupid, Watson!
These self-mocking name-callings still, after all these years, pop into my head and out of my own
mouth. They are only surface symptoms of a much deeper self-condemnation and mistrust of
myself that is at the root of all my problems. Marianne Williamson hits the target when she says,
The ego is my self-loathing.
And when I realize that every other form of outward-directed condemnationanger,
prejudice, hatred, resentment, common dislike, even simple discomfort with someoneare all,
every one, projections of my own self-attack, then I begin to realize just how deep and how farreaching this self-condemnation really is. This condemnation injures me. I hurl my spears of
attack out at the world, and every one returns to stab me in the back. It can be but myself I
crucify (W-pI.216.1:1).
As long as I keep this war against myself going, my eyes are sightless to see my own glory. I
cannot see the Christ in myself because of the dust storm of self-condemnation, whether it is
directed inward or projected outward on illusions of myself I think are outside of me. It is the
constant stream of judgment that blinds me.
Today, if I only choose to do so, I can see my own glory. All that I need is to accept
Atonement for myself. Tune out the Judgment Channel. Tune in the Forgiveness Channel. Let me
be quiet now, and sense the Love within: the Love of God for me, His child; my love for Him; my
Selfs own love for me, and mine for my Self. And often, today, let me stop and remind myself
that the only thing that can injure me is my own condemnation. And I am free to choose to let
that go, assisted by the Holy Spirit, my inner Self, and all the angels of Heaven.
Whenever I feel a rush of judgment within, wherever it is directed, let me bring my case to
Heavens Higher Court, and hear the Holy Spirit dismiss the case against me (see T-5.VI.4, 10).
Lesson 219 August 7

Central theme:
Review of:
(199) I am not a body. I am free.
Commentary
Well, we dont get much choice today. Weve got to take another look at the fact that we are
not bodies.
The belief that I am a body, I think, is what put us here in this world, wearing a body. I may
say I believe I am not a body, and that I understand what I am saying, but Im still wearing a
body. That shows that my words and the deep belief of my mind are not entirely in synch. The
reason the Course has had us repeating this idea for the last twenty days (it started with Lesson
199) is certainly not because we already believe it and dont need it; obviously, the Course is
recognizing that our belief that we are bodies is deeply imbedded in us, and the repetition is
necessary to begin counteracting that belief. Remember that in Lesson 199, it suggested we make
this idea a part of our practice every day. Our identification with our bodies is not an idea that will
be easily dislodged.
The juxtaposition of the words I am not a body with the words I am free is interesting. If I
had written the Course I would probably have said, I am not a body. I am a spirit, or something
like that. Why do you suppose Jesus put these two thoughts together?
The body is an enslaving thing. All of us are slaves to our bodies. Think how much time and
energy of our so-called life in this world is devoted to caring for the body. We feed it, we work to
house it and cloth it, we wash it, we devote entire rooms in our house to taking care of the needs
for elimination and cleansing, we buy all sorts of gadgets to groom it. Every week or so we clip
our nails. We make appointments for haircuts. Look at the cookbook section in a bookstore some
time to get a feel for the thought and care that goes into just the feeding aspect. Look at our
supermarkets, our clothing stores, shoe stores. Most stores in a mall have to do with caring for the
body. Look at the expense we devote to health care and hospitals.
What if I am not a body? What if this great focus of effort and attention is all misdirected?
What if we are majoring in minors? What if the center of gravity in our lives began to shift from
caring for the body to caring for the spirit? What would my life and your life be like if that
happened? What if I were as consistent in seeking holy instants as I am in feeding my face? What
if I began stopping several times a day to feed my spirit as regularly as I do to eat, or go to the
bathroom? We find it so easy to say to a friend, Care for a cup of coffee? What if it were just as
easy to say, Care to spend a few minutes in meditation with me?
Just thinking about this makes it evident how unbalanced our lives are and how centered on
our bodies. It makes me realize how far we have yet to go. And since change begins in the mind,
just reminding myself as often as I can remember to do so, I am not a body, is a good way to
begin the great shift. Perhaps something as simple as letting my meals be a reminder to say a
prayer can help, not because praying over food makes it any better, but because it helps me
remember that I need my spiritual nourishment as much, or more, than I need physical food. Each
time I become aware that I am taking time and effort to care for my body, let it remind me also to
care for my spirit.

Think, too, of the freedom that will come to us when we realize that our body is no big deal.
What I am is not something that wears out, grows old, and dies. What I am is not something that
is a brief candle, as Shakespeare called it, but an eternal star shining forever in the heavens. The
body is deserving of care because it is a useful tool for the situation in which we find ourselves,
but no more than that. Like a car it is good for the purpose it serves. But the body is not me any
more than my car is me (auto ads to the contrary). Think of all the anxiety and constant concern
that would be lifted from our shoulders if we can think of our bodies in this way. Changing our
mind in this respect is worth all the effort it will take.
Lesson 220 August 8

Central theme:
Review of:
(200) There is no peace except the peace of God.
Commentary
To see ourselves as bodies is to be in conflict. Peace can be found only in God. Searching for
peace in the realm of the physical is doomed to failure, because the body is an expression of
conflict.
The prayer in this review lesson is about not wandering from the way of peace (1:2). What
might that mean? Obviously, it refers to any unpeaceful state of mind, any thought of antagonism,
or anger, or attack, or hatred. The Course calls us to mental vigilance, watching our thoughts for
anything that opposes peace, and, as soon as such a thought is detected, bringing it to the presence
of the Holy Spirit for healing. We are told to think along these lines: This is not what I want. I
want the peace of God. So when we sense our thoughts moving into conflict mode, we respond.
Perhaps we pray, Let me not wander from the way of peace (1:2).
Wandering from the way of peace, however, includes more than overt attack. The ego can
disguise attack very subtly; indeed, the Course sees even our special love relationships, our false
forgiveness, and our egos attempts at empathy as veiled attacks. If there is no peace except
Gods peace, then to seek for peace in some other way is really a hidden attachment to attack. If
there is only one road to my destination, and I choose not to follow the road, I am choosing my
destinations opposite. It is really seeking peace through war, which is impossible. The ego, for
instance, often seeks for illusory peace through force, attempting to physically or mentally
overpower the situation. We cannot find peace by attempting to browbeat the world into
submission. On any such road, we are not moving toward peace; we are lost.
The way to Gods peace is through following the Holy Spirit, Him Who leads me home
(1:3). When we try to solve our problems on our own, we are not following the way to peace:
The ego always tries to preserve conflict. It is very ingenious in devising ways that seem to
diminish conflict, because it does not want you to find conflict so intolerable that
you will insist on giving it up.
(T-7.VIII.2:23)
Trying to use our own ingenuity to resolve conflict, then, is another way we wander from the
true road to peace.
When conflict seems to arise today, let me remember my lesson, that there is no peace except
the peace of God. Let me instantly seek peace, but not in my own way. Let me turn to the Holy
Spirit within and ask His direction.
When you feel the holiness of your relationship is threatened by anything, stop instantly
and offer the Holy Spirit your willingness, in spite of fear, to let Him exchange this
instant for the holy one you would rather have. He will never fail in this. (T18.V.6:12)
Lesson 221 August 9

Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still.
See complete instructions in 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 a quiet moment in meditation.
Frequent reminders: Repeat the idea often within each hour.
Response to temptation: Repeat the idea whenever upset, to restore peace.
Read the What Is section slowly and thoughtfully once during the day.
Practice comments: Use the beautiful prayer here as an introduction to your meditation.
With the prayer, you announce your intention to come to God in wordless silence,
waiting for His peace (1:1), waiting for His Voice to speak (1:3-5), waiting for the
revelation of His Being (2:6). I suggest praying it several times, to draw you into that
deep, silent waiting.
Commentary
As I emphasized in my comments on the introduction to Part II, a large part of our two longer
daily practice times is meant to be spent in wordless quiet. Receiving our healing, listening rather
than talking. Todays lesson is a great one for inducing that state of mind. We begin by directing
our minds to be peaceful, our thoughts to be still.
The opening prayer in the first paragraph speaks of coming in silence, and in the quiet of our
hearts, waiting and listening for Gods Voice. The words usedquiet, silence (twice), the
deep recesses of my mind, waiting, listening, coming to hear His Voiceall these words are
pointing us in the same direction, fostering the same attitude in us. An attitude of receptivity. A
passiveness, we the feminine to Gods masculine, the receiver to the Giver of Life. We still our
own thoughts, and allow Gods Thoughts to come to us. We call to Him, and await His answer.
Jesus is with us as we quietly wait. He voices his confidence that God is with us, and that we
will hear Him speak if we wait quietly with him. He asks us to accept his own confidence, telling
us that his confidence is our own confidence. Often, I have found it helpful to realize that Jesus
symbolizes the part of my own mind that is already awake. His confidence really is my
confidence, a confidence I have denied so that I see it as outside myself.
We wait with only one goal: to hear His Voice speaking to us of what we are, and revealing
Himself to us. In these times of quiet, this is what we are listening for: an awareness of the purity
and perfection of our own being as He created us, and an awareness of His Love, His tender care
for us, and His peace that He shares with us in these peaceful moments.
How can we hear a message without words? What we listen for is the song of love, eternally
sung, forever thrumming its harmony throughout the universe. It is a song we hear wisps of in the
eyes of our beloved, in the laughter of children, in the loyalty of a pet, in the expanse of a
peaceful lake or the stately flowing of a river, and in the wonder of a well-told fairy tale. It is the
song to which our hearts resonate, showing their true nature. It is our eternity calling us to dance.
It is the Father sharing His Love with His only Son.
Lesson 222 August 10

God is with me. I live and move in Him.

Practice comments: The prayer for this lesson states that we will be doing Name of God
Meditation. It speaks of a time when we come to God with no words in our minds except
His Name, using the repetition of that Name as a request to enter His Presence and rest
with Him in peace. This, of course, is a perfect encapsulation of Name of God
Meditation.
Commentary
Again we are brought to the Presence of God, without words, in quiet. Our only awareness is
of God, His Name upon our lips.
What does it mean to live and move in God? This is the message that the Apostle Paul
brought to the Athenians, speaking of the unknown God, and saying that in Him we live and
move and have our being (Acts 17:1628). The lesson speaks of the omnipresence of Godthat
God is everywhere and everywhen. In beautiful imagery, the lesson turns our thoughts to the
all-pervading Presence, never apart from us, closerthan breathing, and nearer than hands and
feet, as Tennyson wrote.
This is imagery and not (in my opinion) literal. If the world is illusion, as the Course has so
often said, God is not literally the water which renews and cleanses me (1:2). This is speaking
of our spiritual reality, where we really are. God is the reality of all things in which we look to the
world for sustenance, the true Source of our life. We think we live in the world, but we live in
God. We think our body contains our life, but He is our life. We think we breathe air, but we
breathe Him. God is our true food and our true drink, our true home. We do not live and move in
the world; we live and move in God.
Reading this lesson aloud is an excellent exercise. Or turning the first part into a prayer: You
are the Source of my lifeYou are my home. Use these words at the start of your practice
period to set your mind into a consciousness of being immersed in and filled with God, kept in
His loving care. Then, be still, and let yourself sink into that Presence, to rest with Him in peace a
while.

God is my life. I have no life but His.

Practice comments: In praying this particular prayer, I find it helpful to convert it to first
person singular: My Father, let me see the face of Christ instead of my mistakes, etc.
Commentary
Our only mistake is thinking that we have some sort of life apart from God. We do not. God is
Life. He is Being. He is Existence. He created all that there is, and there is nothing apart from
Him. Nothing can be apart from Him and live (W-pI.156.2:9). I do not exist apart from Him
(1:2).
Most of my time here on earth I have spent thinking of myself as someone or something apart
from God. Most of my spiritual seeking has been a striving to get back to God, as if He were
unimaginably distant from me. He is not distant. He is not Something separate from my Self. I
have no life but His. There is a blessing often used in Unity churches which ends with the words
Wherever I am, God is. Yes. My life is Gods Life. My thoughts are Gods Thoughts. There is
nowhere to go. There is nothing to do to find Him; He is here. He is with me. He is my life. If I
live, I am participating in God.
There is a blessed relief that washes over us when we realize our unity with God. All the bitter
struggle, all the fruitless longing, all the aching sense of being on the outside looking inall of it
ends. A thought of pure joy fills our minds. At times it bubbles over into laughter, a certain
compassionate amusement at the ludicrous idea we have tormented ourselves with, that we could
ever, in any remote or tiny way, be separated from Him. Can the sunbeam be separate from the
sun? Can an idea be separate from the mind that thinks it?
And so we turn again to the quiet place within, where all this is already known. We ask to
see the face of Christ instead of our mistakes (2:1). We affirm that we no longer want
to be lost in forgetfulness. We state clearly that we want to leave our loneliness and find
ourselves, as we have always been, at home. And in the quiet, God speaks to us, and tells
us we are His Son.

God is my Father, and He loves His Son.

Commentary
These lessons are helping us remember who we are: Gods Son. Who we are is an Identity that
is far beyond anything we can imagine, so loftythat Heaven looks to It to give it light (1:1).
In Lesson 221 we were silently waiting for God to speak to us of what we are (W-pII.221.2:6).
In Lesson 222, we learned that what we are exists in an environment of God. In Lesson 223, we
recognized that we are not separate, but exist entirely in union with God. And now, we remember
our true Identity: His Son. Our Identity is illusions end. It is the truth (1:67).
The truth of what we are is the end of all illusions. Or, the flip side, a mistake about what we
are is the source of all illusions. We have forgotten it, but in these times of quiet with God, we
ask Him to remind us, to reveal that Identity to us. We are lofty, sinless, glorious and great,
wholly beneficent and free from guilt (1:1). Reading these words, notice how our conscious
minds instantly question it, instantly recoil from the audacity of saying such things. It only shows
how thoroughly we have deceived ourselves, how well we have learned our own lies. Yet
something within, on hearing these words, begins to sing. Something within recognizes the
melody of Heaven and starts humming along with it. Listen to that humming. Tune in to it. It is
your Self, responding to Gods Call. Say it! God is my Father, and He loves His Son.

God is my Father, and His Son loves Him.

Practice suggestions: Here are some suggestions for praying this lessons lovely prayer:
blazing in my mind: Just imagine Gods Love for you blazing in your mind.
and keeping it [my mind] within its [Gods Loves] kindly light: Imagine your mind kept, held,
embraced within the kindly light of Gods Love.
inviolate: Held in this kindly light, your mind would be totally inviolatefree from violation,
injury, and desecration, its sanctity untouched.
beloved: Is there a better feeling in the world than to feel truly, totally beloved?
with fear behind: Imagine feeling so loved that you felt like literally all fear was behind you.
and only peace ahead: Imagine feeling so loved that all you could see ahead of you was peace.
How still the way Your loving Son is led along to You! This final sentence speaks of how we will
journey home when we love God (when we are His loving Son) and so receive His Love
for us. We will be led home in stillness, with all fear behind us and only peace ahead. Try to
imagine thisjourneying through life with your heart full of love for God and your mind
shining with His Love for you, walking toward Him in pure stillness and peace. This is the
end result of loving Goda life at peace because it is infused with the full awareness of
His Love for you.
Commentary
Love is reciprocal. We receive Gods Love for us by returning it to Him; there is no other way
to receive it, for giving and receiving are the same (1:1). This exact phrase occurs six times in
the Course, and there are many others very much like it. We may think we understand what it
means, but the Course assures us that no concept it teaches is more difficult for us to truly learn.
The way to know Gods Love blazing in our minds is to return It to Him. If in our times of
quiet yesterday we focused on feeling His Love of us, let us today focus on our awareness of our
love for Him. Donna Cary has a beautiful song I was listening to on tape just a day or two ago,
which says, Ill be forever in love with You. I wish I could send you all this song; it expresses
so beautifully what I feel this lesson is saying. Ill dance in the light of Your Love, forever in
love with You.
What would it be like to have the Love of God mine in full awareness, blazing in my mind
and keeping it within its kindly light (1:2)? Is this not what, in our heart of hearts, we all want?
Let us cultivate this sense of love in our hearts today. Let simply this be our focus. Nothing
complex, nothing even conceptual, just letting our hearts sing with love for God, basking in His
Love for us. As the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament put it, I am my Beloveds, and He is
mine (Song 6:3). To know God as the Beloved is one of the highest of spiritual expressions.
Have you ever sat in stillness with one you deeply love, simply gazing into his or her eyes,
without words? That stillness of love is what this lesson is leading us to, a silent communion of
love given and received, acknowledged and returned, flowing in an endless current that energizes
and transforms our minds and hearts.

My home awaits me. I will hasten there.

Practice comments: In the prayer, notice the image of God as parent waiting for us to
return home. Like a mother at dinnertime, His Voice is calling us home. Like a parent
who hasnt seen us for a long time, His Arms are open, waiting to embrace us in joyous
welcome. As you pray the prayer, you may want to visualize all this. It is true that God
has no arms and no audible voice, but such earthly symbols can help carry our minds
toward that which cannot be symbolized.
Commentary
Home. What an evocative word that is! Im going home. Sometimes just thinking about
going home, even in an abstract sense, can cause deep emotions to rise up in ushappy ones, I
hope, although for some an unhappy home life has tainted the word. Even then, when our real
home was unhappy, most of us are still filled with a deep longing for home as it ought to be. Our
real home is in God. Our longings for home find their roots in our longing for this spiritual home
in God.
How can I go home? There are songs that convey the common idea that we go home to
Heaven when we die: spirituals such as Goin Home. But the Course here is extremely clear. It
speaks of departing this world, and says, It is not death which makes this possible, but it is a
change of mind about the purpose of the world (1:2).
As long as we think that the purpose of the world lies within itself, that somehow happiness,
freedom, and contentment are to be found here, in the world, we will never leave it. Not even
when we die. The chains that bind us to the world are mental, not physical. Our valuing of the
world is what holds us to it. If I value the world as I see it now (1:3), it will hold on to me even
when my body crumbles. But if I no longer see anything in this world as I behold it (1:4) that I
want to keep or search for, I am free.
There is a world of meaningliterally!in those phrases as I see it now and as I behold
it. In the egos perception this world is a place of punishment and imprisonment, and
simultaneously a place where I come to seek for what seems to be lacking in myself. As long as
I somehow value that punishment and imprisonment, perhaps not for myself but almost always
for others upon whom I have projected my guilt, I will be bound to the world, and I will not go
home. As long as I think there is a lack in myself and continue to search for it outside myself,
valuing the world for what I think it can give to me, I will always be bound to the world, and I
will not go home.
My home awaits me. Our home is not under construction. It is ready and waiting, the red
carpet rolled out, everything is ready, and Gods Arms are open and we hear His Voice (2:2).
Home is available right now, if I only choose it. Let me be willing to look at what keeps me from
choosing it, because those are the hindrances that keep me from finding it. Do I still wistfully
long for my prince to come (or my princess)? Do I still have things I want to do before I am ready
to go? Do I still find secret pleasure when the wicked (in my sight) suffer? If this world could
vanish an hour from now, what would I regret? Would I be ready to leave? If a shimmering
curtain were to appear in the doorway and a Voice proclaim, Pass this portal and you will be in
Heaven, would I go through? Why not?
This is not a fantasy. The Voice is calling us, and Heaven is here and now. We can pass the
portal any time we choose to. If we are not experiencing Heaven, we must be choosing not to do
so, and finding out what holds us back is the work we are assigned to in this classroom. This is
what the world is forto teach us to let it go.
What need have I to linger in a place of vain desires and of shattered dreams, when Heaven
can so easily be mine? (2:3).

This is my holy instant of release.

Practice suggestion: To expand on the prayer, you may want to use the following
visualization.
You see yourself walking through mist toward a giant pair of feet, the feet of truth.
Visualize these feet however you like. Maybe they are made of stone. Maybe they are luminous
and semitransparent.
You are carrying a bundle in your hands which you are planning to lay at these feet as an act of
tribute to the truth.
It would be traditional to assume that this bundle is your sins, and that you will be laying them
before the truth in an act of giving them up for the sake of truth.
Yet the bundle is not your sins; it is your belief in your sinfulness, your belief that you are defined
by your separate will that does not will with God.
Visualize the bundle however you want, but let its appearance and weight reflect the fact that this
is your belief that you are sinful, your belief that you possess a wayward, destructive will
that has corrupted your innocence.
You reach the feet of truth. See yourself kneel before the feet and humbly lay before them this
bundle. Let it be a genuine act of tribute to the truth.
Laying this belief before the feet of truth is your act of giving it up, in tribute to the truth and in
acknowledgment of the falsity of this belief.
As you look at the bundle there on the ground, it is shined away in light, and is gone.
Your belief in your sinfulness has been removed forever from your mind.
Feel yourself freed of the heavy burden of feeling like a selfish sinner.
Feel the release as you are lifted into a holy instant.
Feel your right mind restored to you, as if, after a long bout of insanity, you are finally sane again.
You look down at yourself and see that you are clad in robes of holiness; your purity has
remained untouched.
You arise, free now to come home, to walk through the door of your Fathers house.
Commentary
Todays lesson is another reminder that these practice times are meant to be holy instants for
us. Not every one will be a dramatic experience of wordless bliss, of course. Remember that
simply being willing to turn your mind to God can be considered a holy instant, whether or not
you consciously experience anything special. The seminal holy instant, from which the Course
sprang, was simply a time when Bill Thetford said, There must be another way, and Helen
replied that she would help him find it. The mental shift into alignment with Gods purpose is
what really counts. If we faithfully practice, the direct experience of truth spoken of in the
Workbook will come, not by our efforts, but by Gods grace, when we are ready to receive it.
Consider the effect it has on our mind to focus on todays idea, This is my holy instant of
release, and then to sit in quiet stillness, open and receptive to whatever is given to us. We
should enter each such time expectantly, waiting to hear what Gods Voice will speak.
I am already free; now, today. My thought of separation had no effect on my reality, so the
imprisonment I have imagined never happened. Nothing that I thought apart from You exists
(1:3). How wonderful to know that the thoughts I believed were apart from God dont exist! How
healing it is to give them up, lay them down at the feet of truth, and to have them removed
forever from my mind (1:5). This is the healing process of the Course: to take each thought that
seems to express a will separate from Gods, and bring it into this Presence to be removed from
my mind, with Gods own assurance that it has affected nothing. I am still His Son.
This is how my mind is restored to me. This is how my awareness of my Identity is returned to
my awareness.

God has condemned me not. No more do I.

Practice comments: While repeating todays idea, realize it is a subtle reference to the
story of the woman caught in adultery. As the crowd is about to stone her for her sin,
Jesus utters the famous line, Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. The crowd,
of course, leaves one by one, and then Jesus says (to paraphrase), They have condemned
you not. No more do I. In other words, since literally no one condemns her, she is truly
forgiven. Now, in this lesson, you are the woman caught in adultery. You unconsciously
see yourself ringed about by Gods vengeance, in the form of all those hands poised to
chuck rocks at you. You see the death penalty staring at youthe payment for your sins.
Yet that is all your own projection. God has condemned you not. And now you, your
fiercest critic, decide to stop condemning yourself. No one condemns you, and so you are
truly free. While repeating the idea today, you might want to think of all this, maybe even
picturing yourself as the woman caught in adultery. Try to feel the sense of unexpected
liberation that she must have felt.
In the commentary paragraph, try to sincerely ask yourself the series of questions that make up
the bulk of that paragraph. Such questions can be powerful tools of mind change.
With the prayer, notice how it builds to a statement of intention in the last two sentences.
There, you state your intention to let go of your mistaken idea that you are sinful and then stand
ready to receive from God the awareness of Who you really are. Try to really mean these closing
sentences. And realize that I stand ready means I wait in silent expectancy. This prayer, then,
is meant to introduce your period of Open Mind Meditation.
Commentary
It takes great courage to let go of our self-condemnation. We are so afraid that if we stop
condemning ourselves we will go berserk, the evil in us will be unchecked and will break out in
some terrible disaster. But what if there is no evil in us? What if God is right? Is it so very likely
that He is wrong and we are right? What God knows, the lesson says, makes sin in us impossible.
Shall I deny His knowledge? (1:2).
The lesson is asking us, quite simply, to take His Word for what I am (1:4). Who knows
what something or someone is better than its Creator? And what does God know about me? My
Father knows my holiness (1:1). Every time I read such statements I watch my mind struggle to
oppose the idea, cringing in a pseudo-humility that cries out, Oh, no, I cant accept that about
myself. If I dare to ask myself, Why not? my mind immediately comes up with a whole list of
reasons: my flaws, my lack of total dedication to the truth, my addiction to this or that pleasure of
the world. Yet every one of those things, brought into the light of the Holy Spirit, can be seen as
nothing more than a misdirected prayer, a cry for help, a veiled longing for God and for Home.
I was mistaken in myself (2:1). That is all that has happened. I forgot my Source, and what I
must be, coming from that Source. My Source is God, and not my dark illusions. My mistake
about myself is not a sin to be judged but a mistake to be corrected; it needs not con_dem_nation,
but the healing of love. My mistakes about myself are dreams (2:4), that is all, and I can let
these dreams go. I am not the dream; I am the dreamer, still holy, still a part of God.
Today, as I still my mind in Gods Presence, I open myself to receive His Word concerning
what I am. I brush aside the dreams, I rec_ognize them for what they are, and let them go. I open
my heart to Love.

Love, Which created me, is what I am.

Practice comments: When you repeat todays idea, you may want to repeat it in the spirit
suggested by the first paragraph. Realize this idea represents the end of all your seeking.
All along youve been seeking to answer a single, paramount question, Who am I? And
here, in this idea, youve found that answer. Try to repeat it in that spirit.
Commentary
Many of these lessons in Part II of the Workbook may seem to be expressing a state of mind
that is beyond where I am as I read them. In reality, they express my true state of mind, the state
of my right mind. It is this state of mind we can reach in the holy instant. Right-mindedness is not
some future state I am trying to reach. There is an aspect of my mind that already knows these
things and already believes them. It is this part of my mind that is leading me home. Now need I
seek no more (1:2) is the truth right now. It is the part of my mind that doubts this, that denies it,
which is unreal.
Love is what I am; It is my Identity. Let me look honestly at what I believe I am instead,
because it is in discovering what Love is not that I will come to know Love.
Love is not learned. Its meaning lies within itself. And learning ends when you have
recognized all it is not. That is the interference; that is what needs to be undone.
(T-18.IX.12:14)
Love waited for me, so still (1:4). Love is still because that is what forgiveness does; it is
still, and quietly does nothing (W-pII.1.4:1). My own Love waits to forgive me all I think I
have done, all that I have believed I was other than Love. I actually sought to lose my Identity
(1:5), but God has kept that Identity safe for me, within me, as me. In the midst of all the
thoughts of sin my foolish mind made up (2:1), my Father kept my Identity untouched and
sinless. Let me turn to that Identity now. Let me give thanks, and express my gratitude to God
that It has never been lost, even when I was sure It was. I cannot be anything other than what God
created me to be. Love, Which created me, is what I am.
In my heart, in my mind, in the still and tranquil core of my being, lies everything I have ever
been seeking for. Let me now remember.

Now will I seek and find the peace of God.

Commentary
In peace I was created. And in peace do I remain (1:12). Jesus, in his Course, never tires of
reminding us that we remain as God created us. He repeats it often because we so obviously do
not believe it. We may believe that God created us in peace. How, indeed, could we believe
otherwise? Would a God of Love have created us in pain and agony, in turmoil and confusion, in
conflict and strife? So the first sentence isnt really a problem to us; we can accept that God
created us in peace.
The problem arises, in our minds, with the second sentence: In peace do I remain. Quite
simply we dont believe it. In fact, we are firmly convinced that we know otherwise. Perhaps this
morning I am distraught by something that happened yesterday, or worried about what may
happen today, or next week. I can look back on a lifetime that, in my experience, has had very
little, if any, peace. Some days it seems as though life is conspiring against me to rob me of
peace. It seems as though, in most of my busy days, I rarely have a moment of peace. So how can
I accept this statement: In peace do I remain?
It seems incredible to us, unbelievable, when the Course insists that since God created me in
peace, I must still be in peace. Gods creation of me took place, the lesson says, apart from time,
and still remains beyond all change (2:2). It tells me, It is not given me to change my Self
(1:3). My experience of life in this world tells me otherwise.
The question is, which one will I believe? Gods Voice, or my experience? One of them must
be false. And it is earth-shattering, mind-blowing, even to consider that my entire experience of
this world has been a lie, a mistake, and a hallucination. Yet what is the alternative? Shall I
believe, instead, that God is a liar? Shall I believe that His creation was flawed, and capable of
corruption? Shall I believe that what He willed for me was overcome by my own independent
will? Yet this is what I must be believing if I insist that I am not at peace, in this very moment.
If God is not a liar and His creation is not flawed, then what must be true is that my own mind
has deceived me and has manufactured an entire lifetime of false experience. If I am willing to
listen, this is not as far-fetched as it sounds at first. In fact, if I simply watch my mind, I can catch
it in the act of doing that very thing. I can watch and observe how I see what I expect to see. I can
notice how different people perceive the same events quite differently. I can remember times
when I was quite sure I understood things clearly, only to have the whole situation turned on its
head by some new fact that I had been unaware of. I need only watch the sun rise, move across
the sky, and set, to realize that my perception is faulty. It is not the sun that moves; it is me, as the
earth turns. When night comes and the sun is gone in my perception, the sun shines on; it is my
world that has turned its face from the light.
What if my apparent lack of peace does not mean what I think it means? What if the peace of
God has never left me, but shines on, while I have turned my face from it? In the holy instant I
can find that this is the truth. Simply by turning my mind away from its mad belief in unrest, I can
discover the peace of God shining in me now.

Father, I will but to remember You.

Commentary
This lesson is talking about our will. When the Course uses the word will in this way, it is
talking about a fundamental, unchanging part of us, the permanently fixed goal of our Self. It
isnt talking about our wishes and our whims, but our will. Jesus speaks to us directly in the
second paragraph and says, This is your will, my brother (2:1). It is a will we share with Him,
and also with God our Father.
What is our will? To remember God; to know His Love. And that is all. Not many of us, as we
began reading this Course, would have answered the question What do you want out of life?
with the words To remember God and know His Love. A lot of us probably dont feel those
words fit us even now. The lesson recognizes that: Perhaps I think I seek for something else
(1:2).
What is the something else you are seeking? It might be wealth, or fame. It might be some
form of worldly security. It might be romance. It might be hot sex. Or a good time. Or a quiet
family life, in the tradition of the American dream. Weve called it by many names. We think
these things are what we are seeking for. Yet no matter what we may think, these things are not
what we truly will for ourselves. They are all forms, forms that we believe will give us
something. It isnt the form we are really seeking, it is the content, it is what we believe these
things offer to us.
And what is that? Inner peace. Satisfaction. A sense of completion and wholeness. A sense of
worth. An inner knowing that we are essentially good; lovable and loving. A feeling of belonging,
of being valuable. Ultimately these things come only from remembering God and knowing His
Love. They are something inside of us, not something outside of us. Only when we remember the
truth about ourselves, only when we remember our connectedness to Love Itself, will we find
what we are seeking. And we will find that we are what we have been seeking, and always have
been.
To remember Him is Heaven. This we seek. And only this is what it will be given us to find
(2:35). Remembering God is the only thing I am really looking for. Let me then, today, spend
time, morning and evening, reminding myself of this fact: Father, I will but to remember You.
Let me stop briefly every hour to recall it to my mind. And each time I find myself thinking that I
want something else, let me gently correct myself: Remembering God is all I want.

Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.

Practice suggestion: The prayer for todays lesson is one of my favorites in the
Workbook. I have benefited from a practice that you may want to try today: Attempt to
have the kind of day the prayer describes by focusing on each part of the prayer at the
time of day which that part speaks of. Here is how it might look:
From the moment of waking to 9 am, make this line your frequent reminder: Be in my mind,
my Father, when I wake, and shine on me throughout the day today.
From 9 am to 5 pm, make this line your frequent reminder: Let every minute be a time in
which I dwell with You.
On the hour throughout the day, repeat: And let me not forget my hourly thanksgiving that
You have remained with me, and always will be there to hear my call to You and answer
me.
From 5 pm to 9 pm, make this line your frequent reminder: As evening comes, let all my
thoughts be still of You and of Your Love.
As you begin evening quiet time and while you drop off to sleep, repeat, And let me sleep
sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son.
Commentary
When I wake, God is in my mind; His Presence is with me and in my awareness. His Love,
and the joy and peace of knowing God are with me; they take precedence over any other
thoughts. Physical discomfort and concerns about scheduling the day arise, but none of these
displace the peace of God; it is my bedrock, my foundation, and my first concern. It is a constant
awareness, like the background hum of an air conditioner, always there, often unnoticed, but
ready to be noticed any time I turn my attention to it.
Let every minute be a time in which I dwell with You (1:2). Here is my desire! To dwell
with God every minute of the day. It reminds me of John 15 in the New Testament: Abide in me,
and I in you (John 15:4). Or the Old Testament expression of the same idea: The eternal God is
a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Deut. 33:27, nasb). Let me remember
today, each hour, to say, Thank You for being with me today. Thank You for always being with
me.
As evening comes, let all my thoughts be still of You and of Your Love. And let me sleep
sure of my safety, certain of Your care, and happily aware I am Your Son. (1:45)
Sure of my safety. Thus, free of all fear. For the most part, our lives are run by fears of various
kinds; the ego is driven by fear. Peace is the absence of fear. And since fear is only the absence of
love, peace and love are interdependent. When I am loving, I am peaceful. When I am peaceful, I
am loving. Where I am sure of my safety, knowing the Presence of God in every moment, I am at
peace and love flows through me.

This is as every day should be (2:1). This is the goal for life in this world: to live every day
with God in my mind. To wake in His Presence, to walk in His shining Love, and to sleep in His
care and protection. To so live that His Presence becomes my foreground and all else, the hum
and bustle of the world, becomes background.
What is a day like for someone who has learned what the Course is teaching? Simply this: To
constantly practice the end of fear. To walk with faith in Him Who is my Father, trusting all
things to Him, letting Him reveal all things to me, and in everything to be undismayed because I
am His Son (2:15).

I give my life to God to guide today.

Practice suggestion: I find that it helps to make the idea more specific by saying, I give
this situation to God to guide today.
Commentary
One thing I find very interesting about the Course is that it is not persnickety about its
theology. There are places in the Course that make it quite clear that God does not hear the
specific words of our prayers (although He does hear the prayers of our heart, of which words are
only symbols, see M-21.1-2), and that, knowing only the truth, He does not know the details of
our errors (He simply knows we are asleep [T-6.V.1:5-8]; the content of our nightmares, being
false, is unknown to Him because He knows only truth). Technically, then, if we wanted to be
theologically correct, prayer ought to be addressed to the Holy Spirit or to Jesus, who are
specifically spoken of as intermediaries between truth and illusion, or as bridges between us and
God. Yet, here in the second half of the Workbook, we have 140 lessons, each of which contains
a prayer addressed to Father.
In todays lesson, the Father is asked to guide us. Yet elsewhere, being Guide is defined as the
function of the Holy Spirit. So I get the feeling that Jesus (the author) isnt particularly concerned
with strict theological correctness. I think he is a good example for all of us to follow. Would he
be teaching us to pray to the Father if it were some sort of substandard spiritual practice?
If we gleaned nothing more from the Course than the practice of daily giving our lives over to
Gods guidance, we would be quickly taken home. We can ask Him to replace our thoughts with
His own, and to direct all our acts during the day, all we do and think and say. To act or think on
our own is, literally, a waste of time. His wisdom is infinite, His Love and tenderness are beyond
comprehension. Could we ask for a more reliable Guide?
The first step in following Gods guidance is a stepping back, releasing our tight hold on our
lives and deliberately placing them under His control. The guidance will come. Sometimes,
perhaps rarely, we will hear an inner Voice. In my personal experience this is very rare. Other
times, things will happen around us that make our way plain. Or an inner conviction will build for
no apparent reason. We will just happen to notice something someone says, or a song on the
radio, or a line in a book. If we are listening for it, we will hear it.
Another key is giving our day to Him with no reserve at all (2:2); that is, holding nothing
back. Sometimes we are so fixated on what we think we want or need that we are not willing to
hear any guidance to the contrary. And if we arent willing to hear it, we wont. Were like a
broken shopping cart that always wants to steer left or right; we just dont respond well to
guidance. We have to be willing to let go of all our preferences, all our investment in the
outcome, and become completely malleable, completely open to whatever direction He wants to
give to us. An old Christian hymn says:
Have Thine own way, Lord,

Have Thine own way.
Thou are the potter,
I am the clay.
Mold me and make me,
After Thy will,
While I am waiting,
Yielded and still.
That is what stepping back means. That is how we give our lives to God to guide. He guides.
We follow, without questioning (1:7).

Father, today I am Your Son again.

Practice suggestion: I see todays lesson as a kind of holy escapism, in which we

anticipate that glorious day when we at last awaken to Heaven. So, as you repeat todays
idea, imagine that this is the day when you awaken from time and space once and for all
and open your eyes in Heaven again. You may want to try repeating it once in this spirit
now and see how it feels.
Commentary
This lesson is about anticipating Heaven.
Today we will anticipate the time when dreams of sin and guilt are gone, and we have
reached the holy peace we never left (1:1).
That is what we do each day as we draw near to God in these times of quiet and stillness. We
are giving ourselves a foretaste of Heaven. Just in this moment, just for now, imagine that all your
dreams of sin and guilt are gone. Imagine that all fear has endedall fear! Imagine that every
thought of conflict is past. Imagine that there is nothing and can be nothing ever again that will
disturb your perfect rest.
What you are imagining is realthe true state of things.
Nothing has ever happened to disturb the peace of God the Father and the Son (1:4).
The dreams of sin and guilt, the dream of fear, the dream of conflict, the dream of any
disturbance at all is just that. Nothing more than a dream. Let it go, let it float away, meaningless
and without significance. Just a bubble in the stream.
Merely a tiny instant has elapsed between eternity and timelessness. So brief the interval
there was no lapse in continuity, nor break in thoughts which are forever unified as
one. Nothing has ever happened to disturb the peace of God the Father and the Son.
This we accept as wholly true today.
(1:25)
In these moments of remembrance, these holy instants we set aside each day, we are
anticipating the time when our bad dreams are wholly absent. No, I am not there yet, nor are you,
not in our experiencealthough in reality, as the lesson states so clearly, we never left. There has
never been a lapse in continuity, and not one note in Heavens song was missed. We, however,
are still living most of the time in the dream. But we can experience moments of anticipation,
direct experiences of the truth. It is that we seek right now. A moment of anticipation. A sense in
the core of our beings, something we identify with the word peace, something that words
cannot capture.
These are practice times in which we deliberately stretch ourselves above the level of our
normal, mundane experience. We choose to accept as wholly true the fact that the peace of
God, Father and Son, has never been disturbed. Just for the moment, just for now, we allow
ourselves to experience believing that. We dont worry that in fifteen minutes we may not believe
it. We dont worry about what will happen to our lives if we believe it. We dont consider all the
evidence to the contrary our senses have brought us in the past. We just let all that go, and breathe
deeply of the rarified atmosphere of Heaven. This is my Home. This is what I really am. This is
what is really true. This is all that I want.
If thoughts of sin, or of guilt, or of fear do arise in our minds, we gently dismiss them. This is
not what I want to experience right now. Right now, I want the peace of God. Right now, I have
the peace of God.
Jesus, our elder brother, joins us and leads us in prayer, praying with us:
We thank you, Father, that we cannot lose the memory of You and of Your Love. We
recognize our safety, and give thanks for all the gifts You have bestowed on us, for
all the loving help we have received, for Your eternal patience, and the Word which
You have given us that we are saved.
(2:12)

God in His mercy wills that I be saved.

Practice comments: Notice the response to temptation instructions. Whenever something

seems to hurt you, assure yourself with certainty, God wills that I be saved from this,
and you can watch it disappear. Of course, the physical situation itself may not change,
but what will disappear is the power it has over your emotions.
Commentary
If we look at our own thoughts honestly we will be able to see many ways in which we believe
the direct opposite of todays lesson. We think, God in His anger wills that I be punished.
Somewhere in each of us is a pathetic voice telling us that we must deserve whatever we get in
the way of pain, or that what joy we have may be taken from us because we are undeserving of it.
To those who begin to list their complaints about the world and how it mistreats them, the
Course has very abrupt advice: Give up these foolish thoughts! (M-15.3:1). It is in my power to
reverse these things. All I need to do is to assure myself, God wills that I be saved from this
(1:1). God does not will my pain, my sadness, or my loneliness. By changing the way I think of
all this, I can change the world.
We think our hurt and sadness is caused by the events of the world; the Course is teaching us
that it is the other way around. Our belief in Gods anger is what brings us suffering; our belief in
His mercy and Love can transform our lives. What needs changing is not out there in the world,
but here, in my own mind. Let me today remember, Father, that I am safe forever in [Your]
Arms (1:3). Let the thought that You will my happiness fill my mind today. If You are Love, if
You love me, what else could You want for me?

I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.

Commentary
If the secret of salvation is that I am doing this to myself (T-27.VIII.10:1), the reason that
is salvation, or good news, is that it means there are no inimical external forces imposing
themselves on me. Its just my own mind screwing up. And if that is true, there is hope. Because
nobody is running my mind but me! Therefore, I can turn things around. My mind is my
kingdom, and I am king of my mind. I rule it; nobody and nothing else does.
Yes, its true that at times, it does not seem I am its king at all (1:2). At times! For most of
us it seems more like most of the time. My kingdom seems to run me, and not the other way
around, telling me what to think, and what to do and feel (1:3). A Course in Miracles is a
course for kings; it trains us how to rule our minds. Weve been letting the kingdom run wild
instead of ruling it. Weve made the problem, projected the image of the problem, and then weve
blamed the image for being the problem. As the Text says, weve reversed cause and effect. We
are the cause, we made the effect, and now we think the effect is causing us (see T-28.II.8:8). So
we need a course in mind training that teaches us we are the rulers of our minds.
The mind is a tool, given to serve us (1:45). It does nothing except what we want it to do.
The problem is that we have not been watching what weve asked the mind to do. Weve asked
for separation, weve asked for guilt, and being guilty, weve asked for death, and the mind has
delivered as asked. Weve given it over to the wild insanity of the ego, and the result is the egos
world we live in. So we need to see that, stop doing it, and give the minds service to the Holy
Spirit instead.
That raises a question for me. If I am supposed to rule my mind, how is giving it to the Holy
Spirit doing that? To give the mind to the service of the Holy Spirit is said, here, to be the way I
thus direct my mind (1:7). The answer is actually quite simple. There are only two alternatives:
ego or Holy Spirit, fear or love, separation or union. The Holy Spirit is not a foreign power ruling
over me, He is the Voice of my own Self, as well as the Voice for God. He is the Voice of both
Father and Son because Father and Son are one, with one Will. The call to rule my mind is not a
call to total self-reliant independence, the king as me-all-by-myself. That is the ego version of
ruling the mind. The call to rule my mind is a call to total dependence, to total Self reliance;
reliance upon the Self that is shared by us all.
I have the choice between the illusion of independence, in which my mind is actually enslaved
by its effects, and real freedom, in which my mind is given to its divinely intended purpose,
serving the Will of God. Who can deny that our experience of being independent minds is
actually an experience of slavery, with our kingdom telling us what to think and do and say?
Let us today realize there is an alternative, and gladly give our minds to God. Let us enter with
willing hearts into the process of retraining our minds to think with God.

Now would I be as God created me.

Commentary
These lessons in Part II all seem to be about realizing Who or What I really am. As the
introduction to the Workbook says:
The workbook is divided into two main sections, the first dealing with the undoing of
the way you see now, and the second with the acquisition of true perception.
(W-In.3:1)
So the emphasis in this entire last section of the Workbook, the last 145 lessons, is on true
perception. The assumption is that the reader has at least become aware of the ego thought system
in his life, although by no means is it supposed that the ego is entirely undone. If that were the
case, additional lessons would not be needed.
What we are doing in these last lessons is putting the positive side of the Course into practice,
and attempting to bring it into application. Now I would be as God created me. The goal is not
just to understand the idea and file it away under Facts: human nature, true, but to be the Son of
God, by bringing that truth to my awareness throughout the day, and living accordingly.
I will arise in glory (1:2). Each day can begin in glory. Radiance, bright outshining. Glory,
according to my dictionary, means majestic beauty and splendor; resplendence. It is not a word
we easily associate with ourselves. Today I can make a conscious effort to be aware of my glory.
I am a radiant being. The light of love and joy shines out from me to bless the world. Let me sit a
moment in silence, just picturing that, being aware of my own shining.
As I go through the day, let me
allow the light in me to shine upon the world throughout the day. I bring the world the
tidings of salvation which I hear as God my Father speaks to me. (1:23)
This has more to do with being than with doing. It has more to do with radiating than with
speaking. We teach peace by being peaceful, not so much by talking about it. If I am joyful,
restful, loving, and accepting of those around me, my attitude will speak louder than my words.
So in this day, as I work and visit with friends, let me be radiant. I am as God created me, so I
am radiant; I dont need to do anything to become radiant. All that is needed is to notice what my
thoughts would do to dim that radiance, and to choose otherwise.
In a certain sense this supersedes the earlier lesson where I ask the Holy Spirit where to go,
what to do, and what to say. Now the emphasis is on what I am. It really doesnt matter so much
where I go, what I do, or what I say, as long as I am acting as the being whom God created rather
than my independent self.
I come to see the world that Christ would have me see (1:4), and I see it as my Fathers
Call to me (1:4). Seen through the eyes of Christ the world can become a constant call to be who
I am, to shine, to radiate His Love, to be His Answer to the world.

On my decision all salvation rests.

Practice suggestion: I suggest making this line more specific from time to time today.
Pick someone you are with, or someone with whom you feel irritated, or someone who
needs you, and insert that persons name: On my decision [names] salvation rests.
Commentary
In Lesson 236 I saw that I alone rule my mind. God has created me free to choose to listen to
His Voice, or not to listen. Salvation thus rests entirely on my decision. The message of todays
lesson is that if this is true, God must have a great deal of trust in me. As humankind is typically
pictured, it is weak, vacillating, or downright rebellious. Sinners at the core, and totally
untrustworthy. But if God placed [His] Sons salvation in my hands, and let it rest on my
decision (1:3), that dark picture cannot be the truth. If I were such an untrustworthy being, if
humankind were so unreliable, God would never have put such enormous trust in us. Therefore,
I must be worthy (1:1). I must be beloved of You indeed. And I must be steadfast in holiness
as well (1:45). In sum: If God trusts me, I must be worthy of that trust.
It isnt just my own salvation that rests on my decision; all salvation rests on it, because the
Sonship is one. If one part remains separate and alone, the Sonship is incomplete. Yet God gave
[His] Son to me in certainty that He is safe (1:5). If God is certain that the Son is safe in my
hands, He must know something about me that I have forgotten. He knows me as I am (1:2), and
not as I have come to believe I am. The trust He displays is amazing, because the Son is not
simply His creation, the Son is still part of Him (1:5). God has entrusted part of His very Being
to my care, in confidence of what my decision will be: to freely, willingly choose to join with and
enter into His Love and His Will. He knows that in the end I will not choose otherwise and cannot
choose otherwise, for He formed me as an extension of His own Love.
Let me, then, today, reflect often on how much God loves me, how much He loves His Son,
and how Gods Love for His Son is demonstrated by entrusting all salvation to my decision. Let
me rest assured that the outcome is as inevitable as God. Let me take confidence in Gods
confidence in me.

The glory of my Father is my own.

Practice suggestions: As you repeat todays idea, be aware that glory means divine
radiance. Thus, according to this idea, whatever holy light radiates from God is your
light as well. Try to imagine this as you repeat the idea. I have found it helpful to add the
following lines (based on paragraphs 1 and 2): I claim this glory, setting all false
humility aside. I see it in my brothers and realize this glory unites us with each other and
unites all of us with God.
Commentary
Let not the truth about ourselves today be hidden by a false humility (1:1).
One thing I am aware of as I have not been before while doing the Workbook is that when it
uses the words we, us, and ourselves, it is not referring to just us students of the Course.
The we includes Jesus. After all, it is Jesus who is speaking throughout the book. This is no
ordinary, generic we that any author might use. Jesus is identifying himself with us, and us with
him, each time a third-person pronoun is used.
The truth about ourselves is the truth about you, me, and Jesus. In recognizing that, I get a
sense of his joining with me that Ive never quite had before. And I see in his use of the terms a
purpose, to focus my attention on the sameness of himself, myself, and my brothers.
When I see traces of sin and guilt in those with whom He shares His glory (1:3), I am seeing
them in myself. That is a false humility! When I see my brother as guilty or sinful it is because I
am putting myself in that same class, and thus hiding the truth about myself. Guilt can take a
seemingly saintly form: We are all just poor students of the Course, weak and frail and
constantly failing. And that guilt, that false humility, obscures your glory and my own.
It is true that we are all just students, that we are on the lower rung of the ladder and just
beginning to be aware of all we really are. It is false spirituality to pretend to what we do not
experience. But it is false humility to constantly emphasize our weakness by judging or focusing
on failures. We all have egos, but we also all share the same glorious Sonship. We need to spend
time, from time to time, giving thanks for the light that shines forever in usWe are one, united
in this light and one with You, at peace with all creation and ourselves (2:1, 3).
What I dwell on in my brothers is what I am seeing and dwelling on in myself. How I view my
brothers only reflects my view of myself.
Perception seems to teach you what you see. Yet it but witnesses to what you taught. It is
the outward picture of a wish; an image that you wanted to be true. (T-24.VII.8:8
10).
How can you manifest the Christ in you except to look on holiness and see Him there? (T25.I.2:1). In other words, you manifest the Christ in you only by looking on your brother and
seeing the Christ in him.

Perception tells you you are manifest in what you see. (T-25.I.2:2)
Perception is a choice of what you want yourself to be; the world you want to live in,
and the state in which you think your mind will be content and satisfied.It reveals
yourself to you as you would have you be. (T-25.I.3:1, 3)
If I would not hide the truth of my own glory, I cannot hide that of my brother. What is the
same can have no different function (T-23.IV.3:4). If I deny the truth in my brother, I am
denying it to myself. I am denying it in him because I am denying it about myself. When I
mentally separate myself from someone, and make him or her less than myself by judging, I am
seeing only what my mind is doing to myself. I am hiding my own glory, and therefore judging
another, projecting the guilt outside. My judgment of another can then become a mirror to show
me that I have forgotten who I really am. It can remind me, cause me to remember, and cause me
to choose again, to remember my status as Son of God, at peace with all creation and [myself]
(2:3).

Fear is not justified in any form.

Practice suggestion: Try to be vigilant all day for any instance of fear, including worry,
anxiety, or nervousness. When you notice an instance, repeat the line in this specific way:
Fear is not justified in this form, because fear is not justified in any form.
Commentary
Fear is deception (1:1). When we are afraid, we have been deceived by some lie, because
given what we are (Sons of God, a part of Love Itself) (1:78), nothing can ever harm us or cause
us loss of any kind. Therefore, when fear arises, we must have seen ourselves as we could never
be (1:2). The reality of what we are is never in danger: Nothing real can be threatened (TIn.2:2). All the things in the world that appear to threaten us are simply impossible, because we
cannot be threatened. Not one thing in this world is true (1:3). Nothing unreal exists (TIn.2:3).
All the threats of the world, whatever their forms, witness only to one thing: our illusions
about ourselves (1:45). We are seeing ourselves as something vulnerable; a body, a fragile ego, a
physical life form that can be snuffed out in an instant. That is not what we are, and when we
fear, that is what we are thinking we are. In order for us to come to believe that we are something
elsethe eternal Son of God, forever secure in Gods Love, beyond the reach of deathwe must
be willing to learn the unreality of all that the world seems to witness to. Eventually we must
come to see that to attempt to hold on to the reality of this world is to hold on to death.
If we insist on making the world real, todays statement, Fear is not justified, will never
seem true to us. Everything in this world is vulnerable, changeable, and will ultimately pass away.
If we try to hold on to it, fear is inevitable because the end of what we are holding on to is also
inevitable. The only way to be truly free from fear is to cease to value anything but the eternal.
This does not mean that we cannot enjoy what is temporary, that we cannot, for instance,
pause to appreciate the beauty of a sunset which passes in minutes. But we come to understand
that it is not the sunset we value, but the beauty it mirrors for a moment. It is not the touch of a
body we value, a body which withers and is gone, but the eternal love it catches and expresses in
the moment. Not the form, but the content. Not the symbol, but its meaning. Not the overtones,
the harmonics, or the echo, but the eternal song of love (S-1.I.3:4).
Let me practice, then, today, by repeating, Fear is not justified in any form. And when fears
arise, let me remember they are foolish (2:1). Let me recall there is no real reason for them. Let
my very fears remind me that the truth of what I value never passes away.

This holy instant is salvation come.
See complete instructions in a separate document. A short summary:

Practice suggestion: The following visualization may help you more fully experience the
meaning of todays lesson:
Imagine a city or town, a place where there are large amounts of people, just before sunrise.
The sun begins to peek over the horizon, but this is not the usual sun.
This is the sunrise of salvation. Now hear these lines:
The day has come when sorrows pass away and pain is gone (1:4).
Imagine that, wherever the rays of this sun touch, sorrows pass away.
Imagine them touching a hospital, and all pain within it is gone.
The glory of salvation dawns today upon a world set free (1:5).
What is dawning is not mere physical light. It is salvation.
Because of this dawning, the world will be set free today.
This is the time of hope for countless millions (1:6).
Imagine countless millions waking up to this sunrise.
Not as they normally do, numb with despair and dreading what the day may bring, but filled with
hope.
Watch fear disappear from every face as hearts rise up and claim the light as theirs (WpI.168.4:3).
They will be united now (1:7).
Picture people all over joining with one another. See them joining hands.
See them feeling at one.
See countless millions greeting this sunrise as one family.
Now realize that this sun is not just salvation. It is something far more specific.
It is your forgiveness of the world.
Your forgiveness has this kind of power. It has the power to set the world free.
It has the power, once unleashed, to give the world this kind of dawn.
So choose someone you have not forgiven and say to him or her,
This holy instant is salvation come, because I have forgiven you, [name].
Keep repeating it, realizing that each repetition invites this glorious dawn to illumine the world.
Commentary
When the lesson says that today is a time of special celebration (1:2), I rather suspect it is
using the word special in the same way it uses it in one place in the Text, where Jesus says,
All my brothers are special (T-1.V.3:6). Today is special because, in the holy instant, salvation
has already come. And yet, You can claim the holy instant any time and anywhere you want it
(T-15.IV.4:4). Whenever you claim the holy instant, it is a special time! A day of joy!
This is just like telling a child that they can have Christmas every day if they want it. And
indeed the Course tells us exactly that, in the section titled The Time of Rebirth, written at
Christmas. It tells us that Christmas is the time of Christ, and the time of Christ is the holy instant
(see T-15.X.2:1); then it tells us, It is in your power to make the time of Christ be now (T15.X.4:1).
And so, why not today? Why not every day? Why not now? Any time I want to, I can make it
a time when sorrows pass away and pain is gone (1:4). The practice of the holy instant offers
me this. Within my mind I can, at any instant, open a window onto the real world, and breathe its
fragrant atmosphere. I can experience a united world, drawn together by my forgiveness.
I do not yet find that I experience bliss the moment I close my eyes and say, This holy instant
is salvation come. The reality I have experienced, from time to time, is always here; I am certain
of that. Yet my awareness of it remains spotty. (Very spotty!) But once you have tasted it, and in
that instant known that what you are experiencing is eternal, you can never fully doubt its eternal
presence. There are still many barriers blocking my awareness of it. I am still holding on to quite
a few of those barriers. My grievances are still, most of the time, hiding the light of the world
from me. But it is there. My forgiveness can release it (1:72:1).
Every time I pause to remember, every time I attempt to claim the holy instant, another barrier
falls, another drop of willingness is added to my reservoir. What better way could I possibly
spend my time? As Lesson 127 said: There is no better use for time than this (see paragraphs 7
and 8).
One aside: Notice that in 1:8, Jesus speaks of our forgiving him. Let me examine myself
today, to see if there is something I still hold against him; something in him I mistrust; some way
in which I still fear him, or blame him, or resent him. Even if I respect him as my teacher, it is
very easy to feel resentful of ones teachers.

This day is Gods. It is my gift to Him.

Commentary
I will not lead my life alone today (1:1).
In a day that seems rushed and over full with things to do, it is a relief to remember that I need
not lead my life alone. I can burden myself with a thousand little decisions, or I can relax into His
hands. I may list what needs to be done, but I can let go of all attachment to doing any of them. In
each moment, I can trust that I will know what to do next, and that my choice will be perfect.
What is important, however, is not the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but His companionship. I
will not be alone today, although I may have no other human presence with me. I can consciously
be with God, and God with me. Instead of talking out loud to myself, why not talk out loud to
Jesus? He is a much wiser companion than my limited mind.
I do not understand the world, and so to try to lead my life alone must be but foolishness
(1:2).
There is such resistance in me, in us all, to realizing that we do not and cannot understand the
world. I understand nothing. My awareness of what is going on is about one five-billionth of just
our physical planet and its people. I know nothing of other planets and galaxies, and I am nearly
totally unaware of the numberless realms beyond the physicalspirit beings, angels, ascended
Masters, whatever there may be. I dont know that the clerk in the laundry may need a smile, or
whatever else is going on in minds apparently separated from me. How can I even think of
rationally deciding what to do, where to go, what to say, all on my own?
Some event occurs, such as an appointment being juggled around from one time to another
and finally settling on the time I least wanted (by my preferences). If I think I understand what is
going on, if I think my preference is all that matters, I could be upset. If I realize I dont
understand the world, I let go, I accept, I trust. And I show up at my friends door minutes after
she has heard the news about a friends sudden death, present to comfort her when she needs it.
And, not coincidentally, prepared by an afternoon of discussing death with another friend, when I
had no idea why I agreed to take time for that discussion when I had other things I thought
important to do. How foolish not to let Him lead me!
So today, again, I resign as my own teacher and settle a bit more deeply into the awareness
that I do not know, I do not understand, and knowing that is wisdom. I release this day into Gods
hands; It is my gift to Him. This is a really good deal! I let go of my day, and He makes it full
of miracles! Thats what He wants it for. It takes great effort, at first, to let go of wanting to
understand. But when I do, nothing but joy follows.
But there is One Who knows all that is best for me. And He is glad to make no
choices for me but the ones that lead to God. I give this day to Him, for I would not
delay my coming home, and it is He Who knows the way to God. (1:35)
Best for me doesnt necessarily mean that I will get done all I think I have to do, or that
everything will work out perfectly (in my eyes) in form. Often it does mean that, but sometimes
not. Best for me means the things that lead to God. It means coming home and making
progress on the way to God. Because that is all that life in this world is for. The healing of
Gods Son is all the world is for (T-24.VI.4:1), and nothing else. If I give my day to God, to the
Holy Spirit, I will end the day closer to God, nearer home; that is my goal every day of my life.
Nothing else. All other events are stage props for this one unfolding drama.
No matter what else may happen, if I spend this day more conscious of Jesus companionship,
a little more often at peace, a little more joyful in every minute or a few more minutes spent
joyfully, it is a success.
And so we give today to You. We come with wholly open minds. We do not ask
for anything that we may think we want. Give us what You would have received by
us. You know all our desires and our wants. And You will give us everything we need
in helping us to find the way to You.
(2:16)
Wholly open minds. No preconceptions about what should take place. Wholly means
totally, completely open. As for what we expect to come, anything can fail to happen and we are
not distraught. As for what we do not expect, anything can come, and we are not dismayed. I
recognize that my mind does not want to be wholly open. For instance, I think if I did not finish
writing my article before lunch I might be upset. If I have that thought, let me see it is only my
thought. Not a fact. What other things am I attached to today? Jesus, I want to be wholly open.
And it isnt easy.
How can I let go of my wants and needs? By remembering that You know all our desires and
our wants. He knows what I think I need, and I do not need to ask Him for those things. He
knows. And if the day does not bring what I think I want, it is not because He did not know, or
that He lost my case file, or that He is punishing me for some imaginary guilt. It is because what I
thought I wanted was not best for me. The Holy Spirit is not inconsiderate nor forgetful. He will
give us everything we need in helping us to find the way to God. Let me let down the defenses
of my planning mind, and follow this advice: Let no defenses but your present trust direct the
future, and this life becomes a meaningful encounter with the truth that only your defenses would
conceal (W-pI.135.19:2).

Today I will judge nothing that occurs.

Practice suggestion: Think of some situation that has been upsetting you, and repeat the
following lines:
I do not know what this means,
Because meaning is supplied by context,
And I do not see the whole context for this.
The whole context for this is the wholetotality, infinity.
Yet I see only bits of my perception.
I do not know what this means.
Commentary
If attempting to practice todays lesson does nothing else, it will show me just how constantly
my mind is judging. The eventual goal, of course, is to truly relinquish all judgment, and to allow
the Holy Spirit to judge everything for us. Letting go of judgment is a key to transcending the
ego: The ego cannot survive without judgment, and is laid aside accordingly (T-4.II.10:3).
I will be honest with myself today (1:1). The Course teaches us that letting go of judgment
is simply learning to be honest with ourselves. This lesson is paralleled in the Manual:
It is necessary for the teacher of God to realize, not that he should not judge, but
that he cannot. In giving up judgment, he is merely giving up what he did not have.
He gives up an illusion; or better, he has an illusion of giving up. He has actually
merely become more honest. Recognizing that judgment was always impossible for
him, he no longer attempts it.
(M-10.2:15)
So giving up judgment is simply being honest about the fact that I cannot judge. To judge
accurately I would have to know many things that must remain beyond my present grasp (1:2).
I would have to know the whole (1:3) just from what my limited perception is telling me. And I
cant do that. So any judgment I make has to be an illusion, no more valid than a wild guess.
Stilljust watch yourself doing it! Our minds automatically categorize every person we see.
We evaluate their clothes, their grooming, their sexual attractiveness, the appropriateness of their
behavior, the way they walk, and on and on. We get up, see the sunshine, and say, What a nice
day! or we see rain and say, What miserable weather! We read a book and tell a friend what a
great book it is. We take a bite of food and instantly judge it. The ego mind seems to do little
else but judge. Just watch yourself.
That isnt going to stop overnight, if ever. What we can do, however, is to become aware of
these judgments constantly going on and realize that they are without any real meaning. We can
tell the ego, Thank you for sharing, and choose to realize that we dont really know what
anything means or how to react to it, despite what the ego is telling us. We can turn instead to our
inner guidance. We can leave creation free to be itself (2:1) without our constant interference.
We can bring our judgments to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to heal our minds. And, perhaps most
important of all, we can simply desire that judgment be undone. In the end, that desire is all it
takes:
Vision would not be necessary had judgment not been made. Desire now its whole
undoing, and it is done for you. (T-20.VIII.1:56)
Undoing is not your task, but it is up to you to welcome it or not. (T-21.II.8:5)
Dont worry about how your judgments can be undone. Dont try to undo them yourself. Just
desire that they be undone; just welcome the undoing. That is all, and the Holy Spirit will do it for
you.
Lesson 244 September 1

I am in danger nowhere in the world.

Practice suggestion: Whenever you think of it, especially when you are feeling afraid,
repeat the lesson in this more specific form: I am in danger nowhere in the world,
including in this situation.
Commentary
Who I have believed myself to be is in danger everywhere in the world. We are assaulted
constantly with signals of danger. Smoking can kill me; even residual smoke is deadly. Our water
is unsafe, I need a purifier. Preservatives and coloring in foods cause cancer. Stay well away from
your microwave while using it. Dont sit too close to your TV or computer screen (and watch out
for carpal tunnel syndrome). Beware of computer viruses; even more, beware of HIV viruses.
Dont feed bears when camping. Dont use your telephone in a lightning storm. Dont drink and
drive, and watch out for those who do.
In order to even begin to accept todays idea, I have to realize that I am not who I have
believed myself to be. This little identity of Allen Watson, wrapped in a very fragile body, is not
the one who is in danger nowhere in the world: Your Son is safe wherever he may be (1:1). It is
the Son Who is safe; the Son Who is beloved of God, held in the safety of Your Fatherly
embrace (1:3). In my quiet times today I will recall that this is Who I really am, and, at least in
these moments, I will let go of my sense of danger, relax my defensiveness, and enjoy the
awareness of the Fathers Love and protection (1:2). I will realize that Who I really am cannot
suffer, be endangered, or experience unhappiness (1:3).
Let me attempt to feel my safety today. What would I feel like if I truly knew, to the depths of
my being, that I can never suffer, or be in danger, or experience unhappiness? What effect would
that have on the tension in my shoulders, the knot in my stomach, or the rapid beating of my
heart? Let me thoughtfully consider this. Let me try to imagine the peace I would feel. Let me
experience the softening in every part of my body, and more importantly, the melting of the
hardness of my mind. I would feel, I think, like the very young child who, when Mommy or
Daddy says, Everything will be all right now, really believes it. The shuddering stops, the little
body relaxes, and the child falls asleep in Mommys arms.
And there we are in truth, in the safety of Your Fatherly embrace (2:1; 1:3). In God we
are secure (2:3). Yes.

Your peace is with me, Father. I am safe.

Commentary
Gods peace is always with me, and I am always safe. It isnt a sometime thing. Gods peace is
with me now and always. Unrest is always something I am superimposing on the underlying
peace, which never leaves me. Unrest is a false perception; peace is reality. If I am willing to
stop, to say, Peace! Be still! to the storm in my mind, Gods peace is always there, waiting to
be discovered.
I am surrounded by Gods peace (1:1). It goes with me wherever I go (1:2). I bring it with me,
and I can shed its light on everyone I meet (1:3). I can be, as St. Francis prayed, an instrument
of His peace, bringing it to the desolate and lonely and afraid (1:4). Oh, I want that to be what I
am today! I want to be willing to pray, Send them to me, my Father (1:6). Let me hear the
lesson of the Holy Spirit, To have peace, teach peace to learn it (T-6.V(B)). As I bring peace to
those bereft of hope and happiness (1:5) I will find it in myself (2:23). I will recognize my
Self. I will hear the Voice for God. I will recognize Your Love.
Today, if I do not feel Your peace within me, let me bring it to someone else who needs it. In
so doing, I will recognize its presence in myself.

To love my Father is to love His Son.

Practice suggestion: I suggest applying this idea specifically to people in your life
throughout the day. Say, To love my Father is to love His Son, [name]. You might
want to add, Let me not think that I can attack the Son and still know the Father.
Commentary
We cant love God without loving what He created. The Apostle John, in his epistles, said
very much the same thing as todays lesson:
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this
commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. (1
John 4:2021)
The Son of God in the Course refers not simply to Jesus, nor just to all our brothers and
sisters; it also includes ourselves. The measure of the quality of relationship we have with God is
the relationships we have with those around us, and with ourselves. Our love for our brothers and
sisters reflects the love we have for God. Let me not think that I can find the way to God, if I
have hatred in my heart (1:1). If in some way I am wishing harm to my brother, I cannot know
God, nor can I even know my Self (1:2). And if I am, in my mind, diminishing myself, I who am
Gods own Son, I will be unable to truly know Gods Love for me, or mine for Him (1:3).
The ego is a thought of attack; it believes it has attacked God and succeeded. And yet it sees
that battle reflected in everyone around us, and projects its fear and its attack onto everything,
often in subtle disguises, some even bearing the name of love.
Let me be open to discovering the little bits of hatred that still lie in my heartespecially
those directed at myself. There are far more than I would like to believe. The Text teaches me that
uncovering the hatred within myself is crucial (T-13.III.1:1). It tells me, You must realize that
your hatred is in your mind and not outside it before you can get rid of it (T-12.III.7:10). The
scraps of hatred I clutch to me must be seen for what they are, and chosen against. With a
deliberate act of will I need to say, I choose to love Your Son (2:4). The choice for love is the
choice for God and the choice for my Self.

Without forgiveness I will still be blind.

Practice suggestion: Choose someone in your life whom you have been judging or
failing to appreciate, and say to this person:
Without forgiving you, [name], I will still be blind.
Brother, come and let me look on you with my now open eyes.
Your loveliness reflects my own.
Your sinlessness is mine.
You stand forgiven, and I stand with you.
Commentary
All unforgiveness is, in reality, of myself. Today I am seeing a more subtle form of
unforgiveness. Perhaps I am willing to admit that my unloving or unjoyful feeling in the present
is due to my own wanting and choosing in the past. If I am truly looking at my ego without
judgment, though, I will be able to admit that I am feeling loveless or joyless now because I am
choosing those feelings now, in the present. If I cannot do that, I am still listening to the voice of
guilt.
For a brief instant, sin and Atonement must lie on the altar together. The guilt must be brought
to the present to be healed.
If I avoid seeing my identification with ego in the present, if I avoid seeing my guilt in the
present, then I am blinding myself. Avoiding seeing the ego in the present means, very simply
due to the perfect power of my mindthat I never see it in the present. I stumble through life
blind to my ego in the present moment. I am always caught off guard. Again and again the ego
trips me up, and I stumble and fall, saying stupidly, Oh! That must have been my ego!
In order to say yes to God, I must recognize that I am, right now, saying no. Yes must
mean not no (T-21.VII.12:4). It isnt so much that I need to say yes as I need to notice Im
saying no. When I notice that fact, I will stop. And when my no stops, the peace that was
always there becomes conscious. To say no to the no, to deny the denial, is the way we say
yes. But I cant say no to the no until I admit Im saying no in the first place!
One piece of unerring evidence that I have not owned my guilt is that I will still be projecting
it. I will still be making excuses for myself, talking about my weakness, feeling that Ill never
make it. Or Ill be caught up in wanting others to admit their own responsibility for the situation
in the relationship. If someone tries to get me to see my responsibility for things, Ill feel
attacked, even if it is done in true love. I will be saying things like I didnt realize what I was
doing, or I wasnt aware of attacking you at the time. I will still feel that, while I may have
acted from my ego, so did youand youd damn well better admit it.
I was not aware or I didnt realize what I was doing is not an excuse! If I was not aware,
there is only one reasonI was choosing to be not aware. I have formed a habit of refusing to see
my guilt in the present, and so, in each present moment, I live in unawareness of my ego
thoughts.
The terror of looking at the ego now is so great that the instant I begin to become aware I want
to project my ego into the past, to push it away and deny that I am now identified with it. But
healing occurs only in the present. The horror of the ego, the desire to separate myself and to
murder my brother must be seen now in order to be healed. When I can allow that, the healing is
instant. Brought into the present, guilt encounters the Holy Spirit and Atonement, for that is the
only place Atonement lives, and that is all that lives in the present. The guilt is here and then
gone, flashing out of existence. Guilt cannot exist in the presence of Atonement, any more than
darkness can exist in the light.
If I am seeing anything but total innocence in my brothers, I am hiding guilt in myself. There
is no guilt but my own. And when I see that, there is no guilt at all.

Whatever suffers is not part of me.

Practice suggestion: As a response to temptation, notice something that is upsetting you,

and repeat the idea, specifying the emotion you are feeling: Whatever worries [or
grieves, or is afraid, or is angry, etc.] is not part of me.
Commentary
The title of this lesson is interesting to me because I have just finished writing an article about
our mistaken identity, and the need the Course speaks of for us to separate from our egos. (No,
the Course does not always put a negative spin on the world separation; see, for instance, T22.II.6:1.) The lesson affirms that whatever suffers is not really a part of me at all. This must be
true if I am the Son of God, and the Son of God cannot suffer (W-pII.244.1:3). What I really
am cannot suffer; therefore, whatever suffers is not part of me.
Now, be honest. If we think for only a moment about the suffering, of various kinds, that we
have experienced in our lives, one thing is pretty certain: We were quite sure we were suffering.
Not some thing that isnt even part of ourselves, but us. To take a mild example, when I get the
flu, I feel miserable. It isnt somebody else being miserable; it isnt anything I can even conceive
of separating from (although I certainly have wished that I could!). That is how it seems. Is this
proof that the Course is wrong? Or is it evidence of how completely we are still identified with
our egos and our bodies?
The lesson is asking us to begin to learn to disengage ourselves from our egos and our bodies.
I have disowned the truth. Now let me be as faithful in disowning falsity (1:12).
Then follows a series of statements in which we deliberately distinguish our Self from that
which experiences various things the Course sees as illusion: suffering, grief, pain, and death. The
statement about death is particularly strong: What dies was never living in reality, and did but
mock the truth about myself (1:6).
It is especially difficult to practice this kind of lesson when we are in the frying pan. Yet if
we are willing, it can be curiously comforting. For instance, if I am going through grief, and I am
able to say, What grieves is not myself (1:4) it can be helpful. Notice: this is not denial in the
negative sense. I am not saying, I do not really feel grief. I am saying, What grieves (and
there is the acknowledgement of the grief) is not myself. I am not denying the grief; I am
denying that grief is me. I am recognizing that the thing that is feeling grief is not really who I
am; it is a false image of myself, an illusion of myself I have identified with, but it is not truly
myself. When grief feels as if it would swallow me whole, and engulf me so that I disappear into
it, the realization that what grieves is not myself can be reassuring. And certainly in facing
physical death, to know that what dies is not myself can be comforting.
This disowning of falsity, disowning self-concepts and deceits and lies about the holy Son of
God (1:7), prepares us to welcome back our true Self. As I realize that none of these dark things
affects Who I really am, my ancient love for [God] returns (2:1). That love is blocked and
suppressed when I believe that what suffers is me; I blame God for my suffering, consciously or
unconsciously, and cannot find it in myself to truly love Him. Down below the level of
consciousness, every little bit of suffering, grief, and pain we experience in this world is laid at
Gods feet, and we point an accusing finger in His direction. We think He wanted this for us.
When we begin to disengage ourselves from our bodies and egos, when we begin to realize that
our Self is not suffering, we can remember Gods Love, and love Him in return. I am as You
created me (2:2); nothing has been damaged. Nothing has been lost. God has never been angry.
And we can reunite our love with Gods, and understand that they are one (2:4).

Forgiveness ends all suffering and loss.

Practice suggestion: Again I would recommend applying the idea specifically. Pick a
person in your life and say, My forgiveness of [name] ends all suffering and loss.
Commentary
Unforgiveness is painful. There is a tightening, a hardening, an armoring of the heart. It hurts
to shut someone out of my heart. Forgiveness ends that suffering, that pain, that loss, that
aloneness.
To believe that forgiveness ends all suffering and loss is not that easy. It still seems that some
of my pain is not related to unforgiveness; yet it is, all of it:
Certain it is that all distress does not appear to be but unforgiveness. Yet that is
the content underneath the form. (W-pI.193.4:12)
If I do not suffer and have no loss, if I forgive in the sense the Course speaks of so that I see
that there was no sin, that I was not hurt, and that I lost nothing, then anger makes no sense
(1:1). If there is no anger, there is no attack. If forgiveness were accepted by the minds of all of
usforgiveness received as well as giventhere would be no more suffering, no more loss.
The world becomes a place of joy, abundance, charity and endless giving. (1:5)
This is how I will see the world when I look with the eyes of Christ. Jesus, even when he was
being crucified, saw the world in this way, and his heart held nothing but charity and endless
giving for those who condemned him and drove in the nails.
To see the real world does not mean that suddenly everyone around us becomes transformed
into angelic beings. Jesus saw the real world and he was crucified. But he did not suffer, nor did
he lose! He was no longer identified with his body; he knew that the body could not die because it
was never alive, so he was not losing his life. Likewise for us, attaining the real world through
forgiveness does not mean that all our life becomes a flower-strewn pathway to glory. There may
be resistance. There may be those who attempt to harm us. Our bodies may still become sick.
Loved ones will still die, cars will still be stolen, houses will still burn down, jobs will still be
lost. The healed mind will not see loss, nor experience suffering, knowing that nothing real can
be threatened (T-In.2:2).
I do believe that as more and more minds embrace forgiveness, the physical reflection of those
minds will transform as well, becoming more peaceful, more loving, more abundant, more full of
kindness and charity. The transformation of the physical reflection, however, is a side-benefit, not
the goal. It is our minds that we return to God.
When our minds have reached this height of true perception, Heaven is very near. The world
will quickly be transformed into the light that it reflects (1:6).
Let me, then, return my mind to God today. Let me release myself from the vise of bitterness,
and ease my mind of its fear of violence and death. Let me rest myself in God today. Let me
forgive all things that seem to wish me harm, and in so doing, free myself from suffering. May I
be free of suffering today. May I be at peace.

Let me not see myself as limited.

Practice suggestion: You may want to try this active exercise before you enter
meditation. Choose someone in your life, and apply the following lines to that person:
Let me behold the Son of God in [name].
Let me witness his glory.
Let me see his holy light and not my darkness.
Let me see his strength and not his frailty.
Let me see his sovereignty and not attack it with lacks that I perceive.
Let me behold his gentleness and not the illusion of harmfulness I laid on him.
For by seeing him as limitless, I will see myself as limitless.
Commentary
There is really nothing to see but myself. If I see those around me as limited, I am seeing
myself that way, for as I see him so I see myself (2:3). The lesson is not talking so much about
the kind of limitlessness that is touted in self-help seminars (I can do anything I set my mind
toI can achieve all my goals) as it is talking about the limitations we place on holiness,
goodness, and love when we view others and ourselves. Do I see my brothers and sisters today as
the Son of God in glory? Or do I see them with strength diminished and reduced to frailty
(1:2)? Do I see the holy light (1:2) shining in all those around me, or is it obscured by the
darkness I have projected onto them? Do I behold the sovereignty of Gods Son, or do I continue
to attack that majesty by perceiving lacks where there are none?
If I am honest with myself, I will be aware of how consistently I perceive lack in everyone, or
almost everyone, I meet. Nobody quite lives up to my high standards. My mind is constantly
comparing myself to others as well, and perceiving lacks in me. The perception of lack is one: as
I see myself I see others; as I see others I see myself. Does the problem perhaps lie in the
perceiver, and not in what is being perceived?
Yet I can choose a different perception; I can choose to see with the vision of Christ. I can
choose to see light, to see love, to see gentleness. Let this be my choice today, Father. When I
become aware that I am perceiving your Son as less than You created him to be (in others or
myself), let me recognize those thoughts as illusions born of fear, and bring them to Your Love. I
choose today to watch my mind for these scraps of fear, and to ask Your Spirit to step around
them to reveal what they have been hiding from my sight (see T-4.III.7:45).
Today I would see truly, that this day I may at last identify with him.
(2:4)

I am in need of nothing but the truth.

Practice suggestions: The first paragraph of this lesson is one of my favorites in the
entire Course. I have memorized it and enjoy repeating it to myself from time to time.
You may want to do the same (if memorizing it would be too much, you can write it out
on a card and carry it with you).
For response to temptation, I suggest identifying the unmet need that is behind your upset and
saying, I think I need [specify the need], but I am in need of nothing but the truth.
Commentary
Any one of us could, if asked, sit down right now and write a fairly long list of things we think
we need. Even if we restrict ourselves to things we dont presently have, the list would be fairly
extensive. For instance, I need more memory on my computer (what computer owner doesnt?); I
need new pajamas; I need some dental work; I need a new bookcase; I need a new mattress and
box spring; I need a new pair of jeans; I need a better guitar.
At various times in my life, Ive believed that I needed to be married, or needed to be
divorced. I needed a better job. I needed a brand new car, one that would not break down all the
time. I needed to move. I sought for many things, and found despair (1:1). I got most of what I
was looking for (never got quite all the money I wanted), but none of it made me happy. And I
know, with all the lists I can make of things I now need, none of them will make me happy,
either.
Happiness is a choice I make. Nothing more, nothing less.
I think the reason why the Course appeals to me so much is that I can relate to things like this
lesson so well. Oh, I still make the mistake of thinking something I need will bring happiness,
but when I find myself thinking that way, at least now I know Im just kidding myself. I can
honestly say, when I pause to reflect, Now do I seek but one, for in that one is all I need, and
only what I need (1:2). I wander from that single direction sometimes, I get suckered into going
after something else, but I keep on coming back to this one, central need, which is really the only
need I have: the truth. The truth about myself, about God, about the universe. That which is real
and everlasting.
Some of the things I sought before I needed not, and did not even want (1:3). I usually found
that out after I had them. I recall one night, several years ago, when I was sitting home, alone,
watching TV. I got the munchies, so I got up to get something. I looked at the ice cream in the
fridge and thought, No, thats not what I want. I looked at fruit, at crackers and cheese, at
popcorn, and with each one found myself saying, No, thats not what I want. Finally, literally
scratching my head, I stood in the middle of the kitchen and said aloud, What is it I really
want? And it hit me like a ton of bricks. What I really wanted was God. I was feeling some kind
of emptiness inside, and my little mind was translating that into physical craving of some sort,
trying to find a way to fill the emptiness by means of my body. I actually laughed out loud! I
suddenly realized that all my needs and wants were substitutes for that one thing I really
needed, which was something I always had, only waiting for me to choose to recognize it.
How can we ever be at peace when all our lives are filled with an endless list of cravings? Can
we not begin to see that the craving itself is a form of unhappiness? That each thing I think I need
that I do not have is a burden, a nagging pain in the back of my mind, keeping me from peace?
What I really want is the peace. What I really want is to be at peace within myself, content with
Who I am. I want fulfillment. I want completion. And these things are instantly available,
whenever I choose them. They are granted or withheld not by anything external, but only by my
own choice.
And now at last I find myself at peace.
And for that peace, our Father, we give thanks. What we denied ourselves You
have restored, and only that is what we really want. (1:92:2)

The Son of God is my Identity.

Commentary
We dont know Who we are.
My Self is so much greater and higher than I can even imagine. The first paragraph extols
the holiness, the purity, the love, and the strength of my Self. I am reminded of something I heard
in an est weekend many years ago. It spoke of becoming aware of the self I present to the
world, my mask (the Course calls it the face of innocence [T-31.V.2:6]); then, discovering
the self I am afraid that I am (the ego); and finally, discovering who I really am, which is
magnificent (the Son of God).1 Think about that, my soul; let yourself hear it with acceptance: I
am magnificent.
I am aware today that, no matter how high my thoughts go, I have only scratched the surface
of What and Who I really am. My Self is holy beyond all the thoughts of holiness of which I
now conceive (1:1). Let me sit and dream thoughts of holiness, let me stretch my mind to its
limits to understand what holiness is; the reality of my holiness is beyond all the thoughts I can
conceive of. The Course says that if we could realize how holy our brothers and sisters are, we
could scarce refrain from kneeling at [their] feet (W-pI.161.9:3). Yet we will take their hand
instead, because we are their equals. They are all the same; all beautiful and equal in their
holiness (T-13.VIII.6:1).
To realize that I am the holy Son of God entails the parallel realization that you are the same.
You are so beautiful, my friends; so ineffably holy! You are the expression of God, the outshining
of His Being, the glory of His creation. How can I do anything but love you?
My Self, and yours, has a shimmering and perfect purity that is far more brilliant than any
light that I have ever looked upon (1:2). Have you ever seen that in another being? Have you
ever seen it in yourself? Ah, that is what we all are seeking! It is what we are praying for: Reveal
It now to me who am Your Son (2:2). Imagine seeing and knowing such perfect purity in your
Self. Imagine it, and ask to have it revealed, for such you are.
And the love of this Self! It is limitless, with an intensity that holds all things within it, in the
calm of quiet certainty (1:3). Oh, to know that this love is my Self! Oh, to know that this is what
I am, forever and forever! Can I, dare I, believe this about myself? My love, holding the whole
1
. For a detailed and very inspiring discussion of the several layers of our false selfconcept, see Shrouded Vaults of the Mind, by Robert Perry. For a less detailed but still
illuminating discussion, see Roberts book Path of Light: Stepping into Peace with A
Course in Miracles. Both books are published by Circle Publishing.
world, floating like a bubble in the ocean of my love. My love, without limits of any kind. My
love, the very Love of God Itself. Let me dwell on it, let me consider it, let me give expression to
it now, sending my love to the whole world, to every being who longs for it. How intense it is,
this love! How perfect, how unquestioning, how overpowering!
The strength of my Self comes not from burning impulses which move the world, but from
the boundless Love of God Himself (1:4). What I am is this Love, Gods own Love. It is not a
burning thing, a violence, an anger; it is a quiet, calm, certain Love. It knows the reality of what
It beholds. It has perfect faith in every child of God, because of what they are. It uplifts, it
encourages, it believes in all that it beholds. Vast is Its mercy; infinite Its understanding. Softly It
embraces, gently It comforts, Its power coming from the calm sureness of the inevitability of
Love Itself.
How far beyond this world my Self must be, and yet how near to me and close to
God!
(1:5)
Father, You know that this is Who I am, for You created me to be It. I long to know this
reality of my Self. I feel so much less than this, so unloving at times. Reveal my Self to me. Show
me that this is Who I am. Help me to know my Self as Love. To know my Self as Love is
Heaven; to know my Self as Love is peace.

My Self is ruler of the universe.

Practice suggestion: Pick an event where you felt powerless. Then say the following
lines to yourself:
What happened is what I desired, on some level.
Even in this world, it is I who rule my destiny.
For in Heaven, my Self is ruler of the universe.
Commentary
Todays lesson is perhaps the most outrageous in the egos eyes. There is an odd paradox
about the ego. Wanting to be ruler of the universe, it views the actual assertion of that function to
be the height of blasphemy. Asserting that I am the ruler of the universe actually cuts the legs out
from under the ego, and destroys everything it stands on. The whole idea of projection, or of
finding blame for what is wrong outside myself, is done away with.
Nothing comes to me that I have not asked for. It is impossible (1:1). That seems a harsh
truth. Lest we try to water it down, the lesson immediately adds, Even in this world, it is I who
rule my destiny (1:2). Our fear of this truth is that it seems to make us incredibly guilty. The
Course is always asking that we take one hundred percent responsibility with zero percent guilt.
What happens is what I desire. What does not occur is what I do not want to happen.
(1:34)
There is just no way to squirm out of what the Course is saying here. The ego tells us that it
makes us very guilty if we do this. In reality, it gives us complete power over our lives. Consider
what the alternative is to these statements: Things can happen no matter what I want. What does
not happen is not under my control. This belief system, which we all live by, leaves us
powerless, hopeless victims of things beyond our control. It is the belief system of guilt, the
attempt to avoid the reality of our Self, which is all-powerful. It is the voice of the ego trying to
place the blame elsewhere, anywhere but within our own minds.
My Self is ruler of the universe. This way lies freedom. This must I accept (1:5). Please
note that this does not speak of our individual self, the illusion of ourselves we all have made. It
speaks of the Self with a capital S, the Self we share with all creation. It is our collective
Mind we speak of, the Mind of all of us. It is the individual responsibility of each one of us to
choose differently, to reverse the trend within the Mind of the Sonship. In this view there is no
one but Me, the one Son of God. Each of us is responsible for the whole. Each of us is the whole,
for the whole is in every part.
We must accept the truth of todays lesson; it is the only way out of hell. Anything less is the
denial of our divinity, the assertion of the reality of separation. Only in accepting this truth can
we be led past this world to [our] creations (1:6).
In the closing prayer, spoken to God, we say, You are the Self Whom You created Son,
creating like Yourself and one with You (2:1). God Himself is our Self. We are His extension,
more of Him, like Him, one with Him. My true Self is simply my will in perfect union with
Gods, assenting to Gods own extension in me and through me (2:2). If God is my Self, and God
is ruler of the universe, so am I.
What does this mean in a practical sense? It means that I have to begin to accept that I am
responsible for everything I see, choosing my feelings, asking for what happens to me (see T21.II.2:35). It means that I see, in every moment, it is up to me to choose to either suffer, or to
be happy. It means that I begin to deny the power of all things outside of me to affect me. It
means I accept my role as ruler of my own mind, first of all. I begin to acknowledge the power of
my wanting, and to know that what is strong enough to make a world can let it go (see T21.II.24).

Let every voice but Gods be still in me.

Practice comments: The prayer for this lesson is simply beautiful. It is one of those
prayers which, as in Lesson 221, announces an intention to come in mental silence before
God, asking to experience only the truth. I suggest praying it many times as a way of
entering into that state of quiet meditation.
Notice the response to temptation instructions in paragraph 2. Throughout the day, whenever
you notice an ego thought, quietly step back and look at it. Then let it go by declaring, Let every
voice but Gods be still in me. You dont want the effects of this thought, and so you choose to
let it go. With thoughts like this out of the way, you can then enter into silence, where God speaks
to you and tells you what you really want.
Commentary
Silence. Inner silence as well as outer silence is something most of us are not used to. When I
lived in New Jersey, one of the things I used to notice when I visited a rural area was the silence,
particularly in the morning around dawn. I was not aware of how continual the noise was where I
lived until it was absent. Trucks passing on a nearby highway, dogs barking, televisions playing,
boom boxes, sirens. Even the constant hum of air conditioning or refrigerators. I was used to
having a TV or radio or stereo playing most of the time.
Even more difficult to tune out is the constant inner chatter of the mind.
The Course is constantly engaging us in the practice of silence. In deepest silence I would
come to You (1:2). Mental silence is an acquired habit; it takes a great deal of practice, at least
in my experience. Even when I meditate my inclination is to use some words; perhaps to repeat a
thought from a lesson; or to invent some kind of mental instruction for myself, such as Breathing
in love, breathing out forgiveness. My mind wants to engage in a running commentary on my
silent meditation. Lately, however, I have found myself beginning with a simple instruction to
myself, such as Now let me be silent, or Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still. And
then just sitting for fifteen minutes or so, attempting to be completely still and silent.
In silence, the lesson says, we can hear Gods Voice and receive His Word. If I seldom seem
to receive anything concrete, the odds are that it is because my attempts at silence are not yet
terribly successful. But I am practicing.
The lesson contains some specific instructions that seem to me to apply to the question What
do I do with the thoughts that arise while I am meditating? The instructions are quite simple:
step back and look at them, and thenlet them go (2:2). In mentally stepping back from my
thoughts, I am holding my awareness still in the silence. I am watching the thoughts rather than
engaging with them. This practice of disengaging ourselves from our egos is a key practice. The
thoughts arise. Rather than identifying with them and playing with them, I step back. Rather than
fighting against them and resisting them, I simply step back. I recognize that I
do not want what they would bring with them. And so [I] do not choose to keep
them.
(2:34)
They are silent now (2:5). When you simply disengage from the thoughts, not condemning
them or approving them, simply noting them as of no consequence, as something unwanted at the
moment, they really do begin to fall silent. I discover that I am really in charge of my own mind
(who else would be?). As the thoughts fall away, in the stillness, hallowed by His Love, God
speaks to us and tells us of our will, as we have chosen to remember Him (2:6).
One final note. As we begin to learn this practice of silence, it starts to spill over into our lives
during the day. We discover that we are able, in the throes of some disturbing situation, to step
back from the reactive thoughts of our minds, note the reactions, and simply choose, with His
help, to let them go. The place of silence we have found in our special times of quiet comes with
us into our day. This quiet center, in which you do nothing, will remain with you, giving you rest
in the midst of every busy doing on which you are sent (T-18.VII.8:3).

This day I choose to spend in perfect peace.

Practice comments: Today is the first of three days of peace in Part II (the other two are
273 and 286). All are attempts to have a day of undisturbed peace, and all highlight the
importance of our ability to have such a day. So really give today to finding (1:6) the
peace God wills for you. Use your repetition of paragraphs 1 and 2 as a device for
dedicating the day to this purpose. Practice frequently, in the faith that this peace really is
there, and that your practice can lay hold of it for you.
Commentary
Peace does not seem to be purely a matter of choice: It does not seem to me that I can choose
to have but peace today (1:1). Our egos would have us believe that peace can be taken from us,
or given to us, by things outside our minds. It is not so.
If I am Gods Son, and therefore like Himself, I have the power of decision, the power to
simply choose peace (1:23). God says it is so; let me have faith in Him, and let me act upon that
faith. Let me give it a try! Let me choose to spend this day in perfect peace. The more I determine
to give today to finding what my Father wills for me, which is the peace of Heaven, and
accepting it as mine (1:6), the more I will experience that peace. I will probably also find a lot
of things that pop up trying to disturb that peace. But I can respond to these things simply by
saying, I would choose peace instead of this, or This cannot take away the peace my Father
has given me. As I do this, the peace I choose and experience will bear witness to the truth of
what He says (1:4).
Remember, your mental state isnt perfect, nor is it expected to be perfect. You are in training;
this is a course in mind training. When I practice guitar chords, especially new ones, at first
placing my fingers in the right position takes a lot of concentration and effort. I am forced to
break the rhythm of the song, slowing down so I can place my fingers just so. I dont expect to
get it right every time. Getting it wrong and correcting myself is part of the training. Eventually,
with time, my fingers start forming a habit pattern; they go more and more frequently into the
right configuration to strike the chord without any buzzing or dead notes. The training period is a
time of doing it wrong, doing it deliberately with conscious concentration, until it becomes a
habit I no longer have to think about. That is what we are doing in these lessons: practicing the
habit of peace.
Our aim today is to spend the day with God (2:1). We, His Son, have not forgotten Him, and
our practice is witness to that fact. The peace of God is in our minds, where He put it. We can
find it, we can choose to spend our day there, in peace, with Him. We can do this; God assures us
we can. So let us practice. Let us begin. Let us accept His peace as our own, and give it to all our
Fathers Sons, along with ourselves (1:6).

God is the only goal I have today.

Commentary
The title of the lesson talks about our goal. The first two sentences speak of the means to the
goal:
The way to God is through forgiveness here. There is no other way.
(1:12)
We are speaking of means and end. Just the other day I read the Text section on Consistency
of Means and End (T-20.VII), which reasons how, if we accept the goal, we must accept the
means for getting there.
The means is forgiveness, and the Course continually insists that forgiveness is not difficult
and cannot be difficult, because all it asks is that we recognize that what has never been has not
occurred, and only the truth is true. How can it be difficult to be what you already are? If we
experience forgiveness as difficult, there can only be one reason: we do not want the means
because we still do not want the goal.
In other words, any difficulty stems not from something inherent in forgiveness, but from my
unwillingness. It points me right back to recognizing what I am choosing, back to recognizing
that I always have exactly what I want. Forgiveness seems difficult because I want it to seem
difficult, and I want the means to appear difficult so I can project my unwillingness out onto the
means God provided, blaming that means instead of recognizing myself as the cause of the
problem.
There is no other way (1:2). If the problem is sin and the whole idea of sin, the only solution
must be forgiveness. If sin had not been cherished by the mind, what need would there have
been to find the way to where you are? (1:3). We are trying to find our way to God and were
already there! There would have been no need for such foolishness if we had not cherished sin.
We (in listening to our ego thoughts) wanted to find a reason for separation, and sin, guilt, and
fear provided the reason. We made it all up, and we must be the ones to let it go.
If we simply woke up, the dream of sin would be over. But we are too terrified to wake up,
and the dream of sin and guilt has seemingly become self-sustaining. There seems to be no way
out. Here we can but dream (1:7). Butand this is a big butwe can dream we have
forgiven him in whom all sin remains impossible, and it is this we choose to dream today (1:8).
So I spend my days, noticing the dream of sin and forgiving it, over and over, more and more,
until there is nothing left to forgive. At that point, my fear of God will be gone, and I will awake.
As I notice fear or guilt in myself today, or judging thoughts about those around me, let me
look at those thoughts and recognize how insignificant they are, how meaningless. Let me be
undisturbed by it all, and know my peace is inviolate. Let me understand that none of it matters,
and I am still at rest in God. It is not this I want; I have no goal except to hear Gods Voice.

Let me remember what my purpose is.

Practice suggestion: As you begin your day, I suggest spending a moment going through
the day you normally have, trying to see how you are usually serving contradictory goals.
See yourself reaching after the goals of the world, and then at other times reaching after
the goal of God. Try to get in touch with how divided this makes you feel, how it makes
you unsure of who you are, and how it makes you feel that you will never reach either set
of goalsthe earthly or the heavenlysimply because you are giving each set only half
of your energy.
Then spend another moment imagining what your day would be like if you only pursued the
goal of God today, if you unified your thoughts and actions behind that single goal, and therefore
achieved only what God would have you do today. Ask yourself how that day would feel. And
then dedicate today to being that day.
Commentary
The purpose this lesson is alluding to is forgiveness (2:1). Over and over, the Course tells us
that forgiveness is our function, our purpose, our reason for being here. And it is our only
function:
I am the light of the world. That is my only function. That is why I am here. (WpI.61.5:35)
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
(W-pI.62.Heading)
What if, today, I remembered that forgiveness is my only purpose? What if I realized that,
whatever else happens, if I forgive everything and everyone I see today, I have fulfilled my
function? What if I realized that all the things I think are important are nothing compared to this
purpose? When I am behind that slow driver while trying to get someplace on time, forgiving is
my purpose, not getting there on time. In any situation of conflict, forgiveness is my goal, not
winning. When the person from whom I am seeking signs of love fails to respond, forgiveness is
my goal, not getting the response I seek. And so on. What kind of difference would it make if I
really made forgiveness my primary goal, my only goal?
If I forget the goal, I will always end up being conflicted, trying to serve contradictory goals
(1:12). The inevitable result of conflicting goals is deep distress and great depression (1:3).
Sound familiar? As we begin the spiritual path we are almost always conflicted, because we have
adopted a new, higher goal without really letting go of the older ones. Were trying to serve two
masters, which reminds me of the time I had a job where I was taking orders from two bosses!
What a time of distress and depression that was! The only way to peace of mind in our lives is to
firmly settle on a single purpose or goal (2:3), and to continually put that above everything else.
We need to unify our thoughts and actions meaningfully, by recognizing that Gods Will for us
is forgiveness, and seeking to do only that (1:4; 2:2).

Let me remember that my goal is God.

Commentary
Have you noticed we are into a series of let me remember days? Starting with yesterdays
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 hourlyis 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 conscious_ness, 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 dont have to dig for it. God is in your mem_ory (T10.II.2:4). All that we need to do is overlook or give up our pointless little goals 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 Gods grace to shine in
unawareness (1:3). Gods 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.
(1:45)
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 therenot 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 Ill wear that hat today as I work; it will be a good
reminder.

Let me remember that there is no sin.

Commentary
The concept of sin includes the idea that what I have done or thought or said has in some way
irretrievably altered what I am. We think of sin not as a smudge of dirt on a clean surface, but as
some kind of dry rot that has settled into the fabric of our being.
When Jesus says there is no sin, he is saying that our ideas are wrong. Nothing we have done
has altered what we are in any way. The surface is uncorrupted and can be simply wiped clean.
We are created with an amazing psychic layer of Scotchgard protectant. Underneath the layers of
grime, we are still the holy Son of God.
If we think of sin as we normally do, the goal of God seems unattainable (1:1). If we see it as
Jesus does, we can understand that the goal is already attained; it is not something to attain, it is
something to celebrate.
When we see sin in another as dry rot, we feel justified in our attacks (1:3). When we see it as
surface smudges, our love responds with a desire to wipe the surface of our brothers mind to
reveal the beauty hiding in the dirt.
We are all aware of some self-destructive habit patterns. All of them come from the sense that
we deserve punishment and suffering because we are guilty (1:4). We are unworthy of health,
happiness, and uninterrupted joy. We think the evil is in us rather than on us.
When we fully accept the truth of our own innocence, we have opened the way to complete
abundance and health. The universe is set up to support us, good is continually flowing our way,
but we constantly block it off because, unconsciously, we dont think we deserve it. All this
comes from the belief in sin.
Sin makes us afraid of love (2:2). To be afraid of love is insane, but then, sin is insanity (WpII.4.1:1). If God is the Source of everything that is, then all there is must be Love; there can be
no opposite, no fear, no sin (2:35). To remember that there is no sin is to accept our own perfect
innocence, and the perfect innocence of all that is. And all the evidence we perceive that seems to
prove otherwise is an illusion made up by our own minds.

Let me remember God created me.

Practice suggestion: Think of something you wish you hadnt done, or wish you had
done better. Try to get in touch with how doing that thing seemed to make you into
something undesirable. Perhaps it seemed to make you stupid, or selfish, or inconsiderate,
or petty. Then repeat these lines:
In my eyes, that action made me ___________.
Let me remember God created me.
I cannot make me [the attribute you used in first line], because God created me [choose an
attribute that contrasts with the one you assigned yourself].
Commentary
In the Courses reasoning there is an intimate, unbreakable connection between
acknowledging our true Source (I am as God created me) and knowing our true Identity. Once
we acknowledge God and only God as our Source, all questions about our identity disappear,
because we are whatever God created us to be. Now is our Source remembered, and Therein we
find our true Identity at last (2:1). If our goal is to remember who we truly are, the only way to
that goal involves accepting God as our Author. All our false self-concepts derive from the idea
that, somehow, we made ourselves, or at least have played a prominent role in shaping ourselves.
In our insanity, we thought we made ourselves (1:1). Perhaps we grudgingly acknowledge
God as the original creator, and yet we all believe that, since that time, we have been the primary
factor in shaping our own lives and destiny. We must believe that, if we believe in sin. Would
God create sin? Yet if He did not, and sin existswho made it? So whether or not we
consciously admit it, we do believe that we made ourselves, if we believe we are anything other
than totally innocent and perfect. In sum, we think that God created us; we screwed things up.
And yet, the Course would argue, we have not left our Source. God is all there is, and
everything that is, is in Him. We are still part of Him. Therefore we cannot be what we think we
are. We cannot separate ourselves from Him as we think we have. Separation not only never
happened; it cannot happen.
If we simply remember God created us, we will simultaneously remember our Identity (1:4
5). Just as the nature of a sunbeam is defined by the nature of the sun, so we are defined by our
Source. This is what Christs vision shows us as we look upon our brothers and ourselves. We are
sinless and holy because our Source can know no sin (2:2). We are, therefore, like each other,
and alike to Him (2:3).
Let me remember, today, that God created me. My Source defines what I am. I am not defined
by my past, by my upbringing, by my unkind words or deeds. Nor are my brothers defined by
theirs. We are, all of us, defined by God. And what we are is His perfect Son.

God is my refuge and security.

Practice suggestion: Search your mind for things in this world that you believe make you
safe. Then, with each one, affirm that God is your safety. You may want to use the
following form:
I think that my bank account [or job, or spouse, or family, etc.] makes me safe.
I see myself living within the walls of its protection.
But I live within God, not in this world.
In Him I find refuge; in Him I am safe.
Commentary
If you have read over the preceding page in the Workbook on What Is the Body? you will
have noticed that the last paragraph of that section talks about how we will identify with what
[we] think will make [us] safe (W-pII.5.5:1). The thought is echoed in the start of this lesson: I
will identify with what I think is refuge and security (1:1). If we have a home which makes us
feel safe and secure, for example, we will identify with that home. The thing which makes us feel
safe becomes part of our identity. If the connection is strong enough, it will actually become our
identity in our minds. We begin to see our citadel (1:2) of safety as an essential part of
ourselves. I will behold myself where I perceive my strength (1:2).
This is what we have done with our own bodies. We mistakenly see our bodies as that which
makes us safe (safe from love, actuallysee W_pII.5.1:13). The body becomes the thing that
protects us from God, or from the conflict between love and fear within our minds: you interpret
the body as yourself in an attempt to escape from the conflict you have induced (T_3.IV.6:3).
Seeing the body as what makes me safe, I identify with it and perceive my self as existing
within it. I also perceive my individ_ual ego identity in the same way. It protects me from losing
myself in the unity love encourages. I therefore encourage my sense of danger and even
engage in murderous attack (1:3) because these things seem to protect my individuality from
the inroads of other selves. The same dynamic is reflected in the world in people and even
nations who vio_lently attack others, claiming they are only seeking to preserve their own peace.
The stance is obviously self-contradictory. How can we find security in danger or peace in
murderous attack (1:3)?
Our true security is in God. I live in God (1:4), and not in my body nor my ego self.
In Him I find my refuge and my strength. In Him is my Identity. (1:56)
To know this as true, we have to release our hold on the thoughts that identify us with our
bodies and our egos, and we have to begin to give up attack as a way of life and self-preservation.
Attack does not preserve the Self; it preserves the ego, the false self. It preserves fear, chaos, and
conflict. The only way, therefore, to truly find peace and to find Who I really am is to put an
end to our protection of the false self, and to remember that our true everlasting peace is found
only in God (1:7- 8).
May I, Father, come home to You today. May I, in entering into Your Presence in this holy
instant, feel that sense of peace and security that is mine in truth, in my Identity in You. May I be
able to sigh, Ah! Home! and feel the release of tension it brings to be here, in You. May I find
my Self, and let go of all false identification with lesser things. Be my refuge, today, Father. The
eternal God [is thy] refuge, and underneath [are] the everlasting arms (Dt 33:27). May I allow
myself to fall back into Your arms today. When the day presses on me, be my refuge, my fortress
and my high tower. Let me escape to You in the holy instant, and know the safety of Your Love.

Let me perceive no differences today.

Practice suggestion: Throughout the day, when you have a spare moment, pick someone
and silently say to him or her:
You are not that one form. You are the Mind behind all forms.
Your name is not [name], for you are not separate. Your name is Father, for you are part of
Him.
You are not a stranger to your Father. You are His beloved Son.
You are not a stranger to me. You are my ancient friend.
Commentary
In order to move toward perceiving no differences, I must begin to let go of identification with
the body, both in identifying myself with a body, and in identifying my brothers and sisters as
bodies. The body, says the reading for the week, is a fence (W-pII.5.1:1). It establishes
difference; it fairly screams, I am different. Why is it that every body has different fingerprints,
different retinal prints, different DNA patterns? How can it be that in all the billions of bodies, no
fingerprint is ever duplicated? Our bodies are saying, I am different. I am unique. I am
completely unlike all of you.
Love sings softly, We are the same. We are one. We share one life, and that with God. It is
the one Son that we would look upon today (1:12). The thousand forms (1:4) are different; the
life we share is one. We need not denigrate the body to do this. The body can become a means to
heal the separation of our minds. We use the body to express our unity. We touch, we embrace,
we care for one another, we assist one another. We use the illusion to transcend the illusion.
In each body that comes before us, we see the one Son. Let me not see him as a stranger to
his Father, nor as stranger to myself (1:7). Each one I see today is part of me, and I of him, and
together we are part of God our Source (1:8). Seeing this is what seeing no differences means. Of
course, I will still see male and female, tall and short, fat and thin, poor and rich, black and white
and brown and yellow and red. But I choose to look beyond these differences today, and to see
the sameness, the one Son in whom we are the same, not different.
Separation means differences, and differences breed judgment and attack. The vision of our
sameness and our unity brings peace, and nowhere else can peace be sought and found (2:3).
We choose not to let our sight stop at the differences, but to go beyond them to the oneness. We
look and we say, This is my brother (sister) whom I love, part of me, loved by God and part of
God with me. Together we are the holy Son of God.

My holy vision sees all things as pure.

Practice suggestion: Look randomly about you for a minute or two. In relation to
whatever your eyes alight on, say, My holy vision sees this _________ as pure, that I
may pass it by in innocence.
Then close your eyes and think of various people you know. In relation to each one, say, My
holy vision sees [name] as pure, that we may walk together to our Fathers house.
Commentary
This lesson is about seeing all things as God created them: without sin, innocent, and pure. His
Mind created all that is, His Spirit entered into it, and His Love gave life to it (1:1). To see things
in this way, at first, has to be a conscious choice, because we have trained our minds to see
otherwise. We have learned to judge. We will categorize, evaluate on a scale of one to ten, and
attempt to determine whether this is something or someone we want to draw closer to us or to
push away. Weve trained our minds to do so since birth, and probably in many previous
lifetimes. Thus, there has to be a conscious choice to say, No. I choose to see this as pure. We
downgrade our reflexive evaluations and choose instead to accept the Holy Spirits judgment.
Eventuallya long eventuallyour minds will become retrained. The choice to see purity
will become more and more automatic. The judgmental thoughts will probably always be there,
slowly receding into the background, until we leave this world completely, but the choice to see
purity will become less and less a conscious choice, and more and more a habit of thought.
Frequent and persistent repetition will speed the process.

I am surrounded by the Love of God.

Practice suggestion: This is one of my favorite prayers. I recommend praying it over and
over. Give each line your full awareness. Make it a personal communication from you to
God. To aid this process, you might want to insert the specific comments Ive indicated
in brackets below:
Father, You stand before me [in that ______]
and behind [in that ______],
beside me [in that ______ on my right and that ______ on my left],
in the place I see myself [on this chair, couch, floor, street, etc.],
and everywhere I go [such as ______, where I am going later].
You are in all the things I look upon [like this ______ and that ______, which I am seeing
right now],
the sounds I hear [like this ______ and this ______, which I am hearing right now],
and every hand that reaches for my own [such as the hand of ______, who journeys with
me].
In You time disappears [because every moment, being filled with You, is the same],
and place becomes a meaningless belief [because every place, being filled with You, is the
same].
For what surrounds Your Son, [insert your name],
and keeps him safe is Love Itself [not time, not place].
There is no Source but This, and nothing is [including ______, that difficult person in my
life]
that does not share Its Holiness;
that stands beyond Your one creation,
or without the Love which holds all things within Itself.
Father, Your Son is like Yourself [and Your Son is all of us].
We come to You in Your Own Name today [we are not trespassers; we come at your
invitation],
to be at peace within Your everlasting Love.
Commentary
The bulk of todays lesson is a beautiful prayer, and my suggestion to us all is that we take the
time not only to read it, but to read it aloud, with all the expression of which we are capable.
Jesus says:
My brothers, join with me in this today. This is salvations prayer.
(2:12)
Will you do that? Perhaps we might pause at noon, each in our time zone, and as we do,
realize that others are joining us in that very moment to pray this same prayer, together. And
Jesus joins with us all, every time we repeat it. Let all the world be blessed with peace through
us (W-pII.360.Heading).
(If you cant pause at noon, pause on another hour. Someone, somewhere, will be joining with
you.)
Imagine the effect on yourself if, at least once an hour, and more often if possible, you simply
pause for a moment and silently repeat to yourself, with conviction, I am surrounded by the
Love of God.
Love is your safety, says the What Is the Body? section (W-pII.5.5:4). The purpose of
these ten lessons is to focus our attention on love, which is invisible, rather than on the body,
which is visible. A passage in the Text I happen to be reading today goes right along:
When you made visible what is not true, what is true became invisible to you.It is
invisible to you because you are looking at something else. (T-12.VIII.3:1, 3)
What is not seen is not therefore gone. Love is still in my mind because God placed it there.
Love is still in everything, all around me, and I will see it if I will but stop looking at something
else. Jesus says that if we look at love enough, what is not there will become invisible to us. That
process is the shift the Course is talking about. As we learn to stop wanting to see something
other than love, we will stop seeing anything but love. That outcome is inevitable because love is
all there is.
We want to see separation, we want to see bodies, because we think somehow that keeps us
safe. It preserves our individuality. Our real safety, however, lies in love. Our real safety lies in
realizing that we are part of that ocean of love, never ending. Body, ego, and individual
consciousness are not what need to be preserved and adhered to. Rather, we need to adhere to
Universal Consciousness and to playing our part as a synapse in that Universal Mind, with no
purpose that ends in this little cell of self, but only a purpose that serves the whole.
The way to experience love is to give it. For if love is sharing, how can you find it except
through itself? (T-12.VIII.1:5). Let me today open my heart to love the world. Let me know that
this is my function. As I open to let love out, love will flood in. It always flows both ways. And
what I am loving is myself, not a separate thing or things. I am not simply a cell; I only exist in
relationship to the universe. The whole is in every part. Everything is related to everything else,
and only the whole has meaning. I am surrounded by the Love of God.

Creations gentleness is all I see.

Commentary
This lesson so clearly states how the world comes to be, apparently, attacking us:
I have indeed misunderstood the world, because I laid my sins on it and saw them
looking back at me. How fierce they seemed! And how deceived was I to think that
what I feared was in the world, instead of in my mind alone.
(1:13)
I feel guilt over some aspect of myself. I project that guilt outward; I lay my sins on the world
and then see them looking back at me. Projection makes perception (T-21.In.1:1). There is
more than one place where the Course says quite clearly that we never see anyones sins but our
own (for instance, T-31.III.1:5). The world I see is the outward reflection of an inward condition
(see T-21.In.1:5). The Song of Prayer says:
It is impossible to forgive another, for it is only your own sins you see in him. You want to
see them there, and not in you. That is why the forgiveness of another is an
illusion.Only in someone else can you forgive yourself, for you have called him
guilty of your sins, and in him must your innocence now be found. Who but the
sinful need to be forgiven? And do not ever think you can see sin in anyone except
yourself. (S-2.I.4:24, 68)
Do not ever think you can see sin in anyone except yourself. Wow! What a powerful
statement. It is only your own sins you see in him. A lot of people, including myself, have some
trouble with this concept. I really think our egos fight this, and use every possible way of refusing
to accept it.
A common reaction to statements like this in the Course is, No way! I never beat my wife. I
never murdered or raped or betrayed the way he did. Where I think we go off the track is in
looking at particular actions and saying, They do that. I dont, and thinking weve proved that
the sin we see isnt our own.
The action is not the sin. The guilt is. The principle is much broader than specific actions. The
principle of attack is this: It is the judgment of one mind by another as unworthy of love and
deserving of punishment (T-13.In.1:2). The persons action that we are judging isnt relevant;
we are seeing another person as unworthy of love and deserving of punishment because we see
ourselves that way first. We feel our own unworthiness, dislike the feeling, and project it onto
others. We find particular actions to associate the unworthiness with that we dont perceive as
being in ourselves (although sometimes they are in us, just suppressed or buried); thats exactly
how we try to get rid of the guilt!
Projection and dissociation go on within our own psyche as well as externally. When I
condemn myself for, say, overeating, and think I feel guilty because I overate, I am doing the
same thing as when I condemn a brother for lying or whatever. I am putting the guilt outside of
myself in one case; in the other case, I am putting the guilt onto a shadow part of myself which I
then disown. I dont know why I do that; I know better.
When I feel guilty, I am actually disowning a part of my own mind. There is some part of me
that feels a need to overeat, or to be angry at my mother, or to sabotage my career, or to abuse my
body with some drug. I do these things because I am guilty and think I need punishment. The
original guilt comes not from any of these petty things, but from my deep belief that I have really
succeeded in separating myself from God. I have actually succeeded at making myself other than
a creation of God. I am my own creator. And since God is good, I must be evil. Deep down we
think the evil is in us, that we are the evil. We cant stand that idea, and so we push away some
part of our mind and our behavior and lay the guilt at its feet.
It is exactly the same mechanism at work when I see sin in a brother. But from the egos
perspective seeing guilt in someone else is much more attractive and does a better job of
concealing the guilt it wants us to keep; it puts the guilt completely away from myself. In reality,
my brother is a part of my mind just as much as the shadow self is a part of my mind. The whole
world is in my mind; my mind is all there is.
How deceived was I to think that what I feared was in the world, instead of in my mind
alone.
(1:3)
He [one who identifies with the ego] always perceives this world as outside himself, for
this is crucial to his adjustment. He does not realize that he makes this world, for
there is no world outside of him. (T-12.III.6:67)
Take off the covers and look at what you are afraid of.
(T-12.II.5:2)
We need to look at what we are afraid of until we realize that all of it is in our own mind.
When at last we recognize the truth of that, we will be in a place where we can do something
about it. Until then, we are helpless victims.
We see sin in others because we think we have a need to see sin in others, to avoid seeing it in
ourselves. We believe in the principle that some people are unworthy of love and deserving of
punishment. Deep down we know that we are one of the condemned, but the ego tells us that if
we can see the guilt out there in others, see them as worse than ourselves, we may escape
judgment. So we project the guilt.
What this Workbook lesson is saying is that if we lift the blot of our own guilt off the world,
we will see its celestial gentleness (1:4). If I can remember that my thoughts and Gods
thoughts are the same, I will see no sin in the world, because I am not seeing it in myself.
The world around us, therefore, offers us countless opportunities to forgive ourselves. Only
in someone else can you forgive yourself, for you have called him guilty of your sins, and in him
must your innocence now be found (S-2.I.4:6). When someone appears in our life as a sinner, we
have a chance to forgive ourselves in him. We have a chance to let go, a bit more deeply, of the
fixed perception that what this person did makes him guilty of sin. We have a chance to look past
his harmful actions to see the underlying innocence. We lay aside our conditioned judgment and
allow the Holy Spirit to show us something different.
It seems as if we are working with forgiving another person. In reality we are always forgiving
ourselves. When we find the innocence in that other person, suddenly we know our own
innocence more deeply. When we see what they did as a call for love, we can more easily see our
own misbehavior as likewise a call for love. We discover a common innocence, a radical
innocence. It is absolute innocence, totally unchanged since the instant God created us.

My holy Self abides in you, Gods Son.

Practice suggestion: I have found it helpful to make todays idea more specific. Think of
someone in your life and say, My holy Self abides in you, [name].
Commentary
These are not words I speak to Jesus, or to the Christ as some abstract being. These are words
I speak to the person who is sitting next to me, to my boss, to my family members, to whomever
is in front of me or in my mind. My holy Self abides in you, Gods Son.
If my mind is enlightened, everyone is my savior. Everyone points the way to God (2:23).
Jesus is saying here, Wake up! You cant miss the way home. The world is filled with people,
and every one is pointing the way to God. Every one reflects His Son. Your Self is in every one of
them. Just let your eyes be opened and I will give you the sight to see it.
Gods Will is your salvation. Would He not have given you the means to find it? If He
wills you to have it, He must have made it possible and easy to obtain it. Your
brothers are everywhere. You do not have to seek far for salvation. Every minute and
every second gives you a chance to save yourself. (T-9.VII.1:16)
Nothing shows quite so vividly how skewed our perception is than our reaction to this lesson.
Perhaps right now you are thinking, Yeah, sure. They certainly dont seem like saviors and
bearers of Gods holy Voice to me! If we are honest, most of us will admit that we perceive our
brothers as the stumbling blocks and barriers on the way to God, if not outright antagonists. Let
us, then, consider the possibility that the reason we see them that way has nothing to do with
them, or with the truth. Let us consider that perhaps we have laid our sins on them, and see them
looking back at us (W-pII.265.1:1). Let us begin to realize that our perception is truly upside
down, and needs to be turned right side up.
May I open my eyes today. May I remind myself with each person I encounter, or think about,
She (or he) is my savior, my counselor in sight, the bearer of Gods Voice to me. Let me ask,
God, give me the sight to acknowledge my Self in this person. Let me acknowledge that seeing
anything but this, which God says is their reality, is my own sickness of mind, my own twisted
perception, and let me bring those perceptions to the Holy Spirit for healing.

My heart is beating in the peace of God.

Commentary
This is a short Workbook lesson, but very powerful. It is one of those very positive lessons
that say wonderful things about us. If most of you are like meand I am certain you all are to
some degreeoften when you read a lesson like this, there is a kind of mental filtering going on.
The lesson says, Now is my mind healed (1:4), and you instantly edit it. Well, partly. My
mind will be healed some day. My mind is in the process of being healed. We dilute the
meaning. When it says, Peace fills my heart, and floods my body with the purpose of
forgiveness (1:3), we are tempted to deny that it is so and to think, Peace is not flooding my
heart. The ego is constantly trying to negate the truth about ourselves.
What the Course is saying about us often does not fit the picture of ourselves we have in our
mind. The very low opinion of ourselves that we constantly maintain is one of our major
problems. When we do a Workbook meditation, we need to practice letting go of that poor selfimage for a while. The Course is constantly saying that we actively block from our awareness a
true picture of who and what we really are. The Workbook meditations are part of our training in
letting go of our self-made picture, and accepting Gods picture instead. Somewhere within each
of us there is a dim flicker of recognition that this paragraph is about us, and not about some
impossibly distant saint. It is that little spark, as the Course calls it, that the Holy Spirit wants to
fan into a flame.
That is the whole point of the Course. We are underestimating ourselves, undervaluing
ourselves. I am a messenger of God (1:6). I really am. I may feel like something much less than
that, but I am always that messenger. I always have all I need to save the world.
As you read this lesson today, attempt not to edit the lesson in your mind. When it says, Now
is my mind healed, just let that be true for you right now. Dont worry about how you were all
day yesterday. Dont worry about how your mind will be after the meditation is over. Just for that
moment, let it be so. Agree with the way the vision of Christ sees you, and say in response, Yes,
now is my mind healed.
Read slowly, to give yourself time to absorb each phrase. We need time, mostly to spot the
negative responses that the ego mind will be throwing up and to, quite simply, ignore them. Dont
fight or argue with the ego. Just decide, for these few minutes, not to listen. Just decide, for these
few minutes, to listen to the Voice for God.

Let all things be exactly as they are.

Practice suggestion: When I repeat this idea, I often add an extra word: Let all things
be exactly as they really are (or, making it more specific, Let this thing be exactly as it
really is). The word really emphasizes that accepting things as they are does not mean
resigning ourselves to the what is seen by our eyes. Rather, the world we see is itself
our refusal to accept what is, our attempt to be Gods critic (1:1), our projection of
separation onto Heavens unity (1:3). Accepting things as they really are means refusing
to accept the world our eyes see, refusing to accept it as real, and accepting instead only
the pristine reality of Heaven as what is. This is how we let all things be exactly as
they are, and this is how we find our peace.
Commentary
Seen in the light of forgiveness, this lesson teaches us that to criticize what is is to judge and
condemn God. To let all things be exactly as they are is a form of forgiveness. To insist that
things be different is to judge and to be unforgiving. As Paul Ferrini wisely says in his little book
From Ego To Self,1 Only when I resist what is here do I desire what is not.
We are all filled with wishes for how things should be. We are all discontent with things as
they are. Is anybody really perfectly content with everything in their life?
Yet this is what this lesson counsels. It could seem to be cruel counsel, both towards myself
and towards the world around me. If we are in unpleasant conditionssick, trapped in a
destructive relationship, dying of an illness, financially strapped, miserably unhappyhow can
we say in any honesty, Let all things be exactly as they are? It seems a horrible thing to affirm.
If we see horrible conditions around us, in family, friends, or the world, with people in some
condition like the above, how can we say, Let it be?
Our reluctance to say these words under such circumstances testifies to our firm belief that the
conditions we see are real. If we believe the suffering is real, of course we do not wish that it
continue! We cannot say it if what it means to us is Let my mother be dying in pain, or Let my
husband continue to drink and beat me. Of course not!
The lesson is really a call to recognize that the conditions of suffering we see are not real.
Only reality is free of pain (2:2). It is a call to recognize that nothing real can be threatened
[and] nothing unreal exists (T-In.2:23). We cannot say let it all be until we first recognize
that all means only what is real, only what is of God. The rest is illusion.
To say, Let all things be exactly as they are is an affirmation of faith that what appears to be
1
1. Paul Ferrini, From Ego to Self (Greenfield, Mass.: Heartways Press, 1990).
pain and suffering is not really there. It is a response to Gods call, drawing us up out of the world
of conditions and into unconditional truth. It is a phrase that applies not to the world we see with
physical eyes, but to the world we can see only with the eyes of Christ. It is an affirmation that we
want to see the solid reality behind all the illusion of pain.
It does not mean that we turn our eyes on a brother in suffering and pain, see that, and
callously say, Let that be exactly as it is. That is the old Christian mistake of Its Gods will.
It is not Gods will that we suffer and die. To think so is to see the error, make it real, and then
blame it on God.
This lesson is about not seeing the error at all.
Do not see error. Do not make it real. Select the loving and forgive the sin.
2.I.3:35)
(S-
To say, Let all things be exactly as they are is an affirmation that conditions do not need to
change for love to be real. Only the love is real, no matter what the conditions appear to be; that is
what this is proclaiming.
The error, the pain and suffering we see, does not come from God. It is not, therefore, real. It
is only a projection of our collective minds. It is there because we have allowed ourselves to wish
conditions would be different. Ending the wish for different conditions is the start of dispelling
the illusion. Resigning as creator of the universe is what is called for. We think we can change
this, fix that, patch this up, and the world will be a better place. It is our interference with reality
that has made it what it is! It is our interference that must stop.
While we are in the world of illusion, we must function there sanely. If I cut my finger, I dont
let it bleed untended because I know the body is not real. No, I put a Band-Aid on it. Yet as I do
that, let me recognize that what I am doing is magic. Im just patching the illusion, and it isnt
really important. It just makes for a more comfortable illusion. Making the illusion more
comfortable is fine, but in the end it is completely irrelevant.
The same therefore applies to extreme conditions. Suppose I am dying of cancer. Of course I
treat it. How I treat it does not really matter. I may use medical therapy. I may try to heal myself
through diet. I may do affirmations and mental conditioning. All of it is magic, all of it is
patching the illusion. In the final evaluation, it does not matter if my body lives or dies. Let all
things be exactly as they are in this circumstance means, What happens to my body is not what
counts. Giving and receiving love counts. I dont need to be free of cancer to be happy; what
happens to my body does not affect who I really am.
If, when ill, I live with a continual insistence that the condition of my body must change in
order for me to be happy, I am merely perpetuating the error that made me sick in the first place.
Let it be does not mean I cease all effort to change conditions, but it does mean I give up all
investment in the outcome. It means that, however the conditions evolve and manifest, I rest
assured that they cannot affect the ultimate good of all living things.
I do not perceive my own best interests, says Lesson 24. Saying let it be is the natural
outcome of realizing our ignorance. Operating from our extremely limited viewpoint, we can still
attempt to change conditions, but as we do so, we recognize that there is a lot we dont
understand, a lot we havent taken into consideration because, from the perspective of a separated
mind, we simply cannot see it. So we do what we see to do, but we are not attached to the
outcome, recognizing that whatever our efforts, the results are in Gods Hands, and Gods Hands
are good Hands.
Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane is an example of this attitude: He said, Let this
cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou [wilt] (Mt 26:39). From his perspective
as a human individual, Jesus did not want to be nailed to a cross. From his trust in God, he could
still say, Let it be unto me as You will.
It is necessary for the teacher of God to realize, not that he should not judge, but that he
cannot.
(M_10.2:1)
To say let it be is to realize this, and to affirm that Gods judgment is perfect. We are not to
judge anything that happens. Today I will judge nothing that occurs (W-pII.243.Heading). That
means we dont judge anything bad, and neither do we judge it good. We dont judge at all. What
is, is. Period. Let it be.

My sight goes forth to look upon Christs face.

Practice suggestion: You may want to apply this idea specifically to people in your life.
Say, My sight goes forth to look upon Christs face in [name]. You might then imagine
a giant luminous face of Christ looming behind the body of this person as a symbol of
what true perception will show you.
Commentary
Todays lesson is about forgiveness; about choosing in advance to see innocence in others.
Lets recall a few things that earlier lessons have taught us about forgiveness.
Lesson 126: Giving forgiveness is how I receive it.
How is this lesson on giving is receiving related to forgiveness? It discusses how, in the
worlds understanding of forgiveness, there is no room for us to receive anything from
forgiveness. When you forgive a sin, there is no gain to you directly (W-pI.126.3:1). If I
believe in the reality of someones sin but forgive it, it is just an act of charity to someone
unworthy of it. I am giving him a gift he does not deserve. It could easily appear that I in fact am
losing something, not gaining anything. There is no release for me in doing something like this.
Only when I have truly received forgiveness for myself can I give it; and only in giving it do I
recognize I have received it. I dont even know what it is! How could I recognize it? So in order
to know what forgiveness is, and to know that I have it, I have to give it away. I have to see it
out there to recognize it in here. When I do I will also begin to understand that there is no
difference between out there and in here.
The idea that giving is receiving, that the giver and receiver are the same (W-pI.126.8:1), is
a necessary preparation for releasing our minds from every bar to what forgiveness really is.
Judgment is based on separation and differences: the sin is in someone else and not in me. He is
bad, I am better. Forgiveness is based on unity and sameness: there is no other to be done to or
to do it to me. We are both innocent. There never was any sin. We are all part of the same Heart
of Love.
Lesson 134: True forgiveness forgives illusions, not real sins.
Here we learn that the major obstacle to learning true forgiveness is the belief that we must
forgive something real. We believe that sin really exists, that injury has really been done. It is
impossible to forgive a sin that we believe is real. It is impossible to think of sin as true and not
believe forgiveness is a lie (W-pI.134.4:2). Guilt cannot be forgiven (W-pI.134.5:3).
This is really a major obstacle. I can testify that it is possible for something you once thought
of as sin to be seen as no more than a mistake, a call for love. Ive experienced that. I didnt make
the shift myself. We cant do it ourselves. But we do need to be willing to have the shift occur. I
know there are many things that, consciously or unconsciously, I still judge and condemn as sin,
as evil. Every time I encounter judgment in my mind, I need do nothing but recognize that it is
there and believe that there is another way to perceive it. I affirm I am willing to see it differently.
I ask for help in understanding forgiveness through this experience. And I wait.
I allow myself to look at the anger, the fear, the resentment I may be feeling. I dont hide it;
that just perpetuates the wrong-mindedness. I am willing to see my own feelings differently as
well. I recognize that perhaps I am judging myself for feeling them. So, as I did with the external
judgment, I do with the internal: I affirm I am willing to see it differently and ask for help. And I
wait.
What happens then is of God. A shift occurs in my mind. It may occur first in regard to the
other, the sinner; it may occur first in regard to myself. Since the other and myself are one and
the same it doesnt matter how it is experienced, or in what order. In the shift, I come to see
something I am judging, in the other or in myself, as a call for love. I come to see that regardless
of the appearance it takes, innocence lay behind the act. I may see that I was angry because I
wanted to be close to the other person and they pushed me away; I wanted joining, oneness.
There is nothing to be guilty of there. I thought I saw attack and attacked back. Now I see there
was no attack; we both want the same thing, so I let go of my attack and respond with love. Or I
may see how the other person was fearful, felt threatened by me somehow (and I know I am not a
threat), and so flipped out. My return attack was just the same mistake. I see there was no sin in
what happened, and the whole thing can simply be dropped from my mind.
Todays lesson: We see innocence when we choose to see it.
My sight goes forth to look upon Christs face. Today I choose to see a world forgiven
(1:5). Seeing the face of Christ is a symbolic way of saying we see innocence, we see a world
forgiven.
In this lesson we see that forgiveness is a choice. When we decide that what we want to see is
innocence, we will see innocence. The Holy Spirit will give us the gift of that sight. What I look
on belongs to me (1:5). If I see mistakes out there, they are my mistakes. If I see innocence, it
too is my own. If I can see innocenceand I will if I choose to, I will if I ask toit is the proof
of my own innocence. Only the innocent can perceive innocence. Only those who perceive
innocence in others know their own innocence. The guilty will always perceive guilt. Perceiving
innocence in others is the means God has given us to discover our own innocence. We cant find
it if we look directly. Its like trying to see your own face; you must have a mirror. The world is
my mirror; it shows me the state of my own mind. The image in the glass is only an image, only
an illusion, but in this world it is a necessary illusion, and will be until there is a knowing that
exists without perception.

I will not use the bodys eyes today.

Commentary
Of course this does not mean I will walk around with a blindfold on, crashing into things. I
will not, however, let my sight stop at the physical. I wont use the information of the eyes, I
wont depend on that.
Christs visionhas the power to translate all that the bodys eyes behold into the sight
of a forgiven world.
(1:1)
Theres that word translate again. What I want to see, today, my Teacher, is a forgiven
world. I want to see the truth behind all appearances. My function, the function of every Son of
God, is that of a translator. We are here to heal the world by seeing it differently, and thus we also
heal ourselves.
One of the chief components of that different vision is lack of judgment. No condemnation. No
making wrong. No demand for outward changes. Seeing that everyone and everything is worthy
of love, exactly as they are. No comparisons or evaluations, no making of differences, but seeing
everything as part of one whole.
To forgive is to overlook. Look, then, beyond error and do not let your perception rest upon
it, for you will believe what your perception holds. Accept as true only what your
brother is, if you would know yourself. Perceive what he is not, and you cannot
know what you are, because you see him falsely. (T-9.IV.1:25)
You do not understand how to overlook errors, or you would not make them.
9.IV.2:2)
(T-
We are told to overlook error. Then we are told we dont know how to do it. Instead, we are to
turn to the Holy Spirit. It seems to me a fundamental lesson of the Course is Dont trust your
perceptions. Dont use the bodys eyes. Dont think that seeing begins and ends with physical
sight and our own mental interpretations.
What we do as we go through the world is something like this: We perceive something. Our
mind may interpret it, almost certainly will, and nearly always with some evaluation, some
judgment. At that point, what we need to do is recognize that judgment is impossible for us, and
just let it go. We abandon our perception. We dont think of it as dangerous, or fearful, or sinful;
we just recognize that it is meaningless (see M-16.10:8). That giving up of our own perceptions is
the crucial step. And for this sacrifice is Heaven restored to his awareness (M-16.10:10).
We step back and take what appears to be a very inferior position. We say, I do not
understand what this means. This is the very first lesson in the Workbook, Nothing I
seemeans anything (W-pI.1.Heading).

And then we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit. I am willing to see things differently. Thats
it. If you get this far, you will become hooked, because God will answer that prayer. You will see
things differently. Maybe not at once, not in that instant, but it happens. How? I dont know!
Understanding the how of the Atonement is not our job, not our function, but His.

Christs is the vision I will use today.

Commentary
Once again the Workbook faces us with the fact that we choose what we want to see, and see
it. It tells us this process is going on continuously, constantly: Each day, each hour, every
instant, I am choosing what I want to look upon, the sounds I want to hear, the witnesses to what I
want to be the truth for me (1:1). The latter part of that sentence is significant because it gives us
the reason for our choice: we choose to see what we want to be the truth for ourselves. For
instance, if I am constantly seeing people who are victims, it is because there is a part of me that
wants to be a victim. I may think that I do not want to be a victim, but if the alternative is to be
responsible for everything that happens to meit sounds pretty good! Every time I see a victim, I
am secretly wanting to be able to blame someone else for my faults.
The main point of this lesson is not our negative choices, however. The point is that there is a
choice. There is an alternative. If I listen to the ego my choice will be to see sin, guilt, fear, and
death. If I listen to the Holy Spirit, however, I will want something different to be the truth about
myself, and therefore I will want to see something else in the worldand I will see it. Seeing it in
the world is how I will know it is the truth about myself. Instead of wanting to see witnesses to
sin, I will want to see witnesses to the truth, and what I look for I will find.
As my perception merges more and more with Christs vision, I will approach the point where
perception will entirely disappear (1:3). The changed perception will show me what the Course
calls the real world; the disappearance of perception refers to the end of the world and our
awakening to Heaven.
How do I want to see myself? If I want to see myself as love, let me seek today to see love in
my brothers and sisters. If I want to see myself as innocent, let me look for innocence in others. If
I want to see myself as without guilt, let me seek to see others without guilt. Today, let me
remember:
When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him you will see
yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think
of yourself.
(T-8.III.4:14)
Each one you see in light brings your light closer to your awareness.
Teach no one that he is what you would not want to be. (T-7.VII.3:8)
(T-13.VI.10:3)

How can illusions satisfy Gods Son?

Practice comments: Notice the response to temptation instructions in paragraph 2. They

ask us to watch our minds today for any instance in which we hear some earthly thing
call to us to stay and linger in a dream (2:2). Instead of answering this call, we turn
aside and ask ourselves (2:2), How can illusions satisfy Gods Son? I recommend
trying this practice now. Think of an earthly thing that is calling to you. See your mind
going toward it, but then turn aside and ask yourself, How can illusions satisfy me, when
I am Gods Son?
Commentary
The Course, like some TV commercials, is telling us to accept no substitutes. We want the
real thing (Classic version, of course). The irony of it is that most of the time we allow ourselves
to be satisfied with illusions: illusions of love (special love relationships), illusions of safety
(financial security), illusions of meaning (fame, worldly rewards and recognition). We allow
ourselves to be content with dreams, and sometimes even dreams within the dream, such as drugs
and fantasies.
We do need lessons like these. We need to ask ourselves, Can illusions bring me happiness?
(1:4). We know the answer if we are willing to ask the question. A Christian writer and
missionary, Jim Elliot, once wrote, He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he
cannot lose. Another missionary, Amy Carmichael, wrote, It is the life that has no time for
trifling that tells. When the glitter of the world attracts us, when a special relationship seems to
promise us meaning and fulfillment here, in the world, let me remind myself: I will accept no
less than what You have given me (1:6).
We may find temporary pleasure and satisfaction in some of our illusions. Ultimately,
however, nothing can satisfy us but the memory of God (1:5). Nothing can bring complete
contentment except the knowledge that I am surrounded by Your Love, forever still, forever
gentle and forever safe (1:7). Today, will I pursue yet another illusion? Or will I use my time
wisely, and choose Heaven and the peace of God?

The stillness of the peace of God is mine.

Practice comments: Todays lesson again provides instructions for response to

temptation. Whenever you give way to a disturbance today, tell your mind with certainty,
The stillness of the peace of God is mine. You then might add some related thoughts
based on this lessons teaching, such as Nothing can intrude upon the peace God gave
His Son, or Nothing can rob me of what He would have me keep.
Commentary
I love the way the Course makes room for all of us, whatever our level of attainment. Some of
us, it says, may be ready for a day of undisturbed tranquility (1:1). And for some of us, this
may not yet be feasible (1:2). If we have done the Workbook lessons from the beginning, we
have already done 272 lessons. Yet a day of undisturbed tranquility may not yet be feasible.
Feasible means possible or doable. There is no sense of putdown in this, no tone of saying,
Some of you havent been doing your work. It simply says it isnt possible for youyet. Even
the yet has meaning, because it clearly states that it will be possible for us eventually.
The author of the Course has total confidence in every one of us. Not just those of us doing the
Course, but every one of us. One day, it will be possible for me, for you, and for everyone to
spend a day in undisturbed tranquility. Isnt that wonderful to think about, if you arent at that
place yet?
Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a
deep, abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset?
All this forgiveness offers you, and more.
(W-pI.122.1:62:1)
The lesson suggests to us that if we are not yet ready to spend a day in perfect peace, we can
still be content and even more than satisfied (1:2). The way to peace is also a way of peace.
There is no need to be upset because we cannot yet be perfectly peaceful! To lose what peace we
have because we are not perfectly at peace is not a productive state of mind to be in. We can be at
peace about not being at peace. That is where we begin. We are content and satisfied to learn how
a day of undisturbed tranquility is possible.
We need to be happy learners, happy to be learning how to be peaceful, even while we are not
yet peaceful. And how do we learn that?
If we give way to a disturbance, let us learn how to dismiss it and return to peace. We need
but tell our minds, with certainty, The stillness of the peace of God is mine, and
nothing can intrude upon the peace that God Himself has given to His Son. (1:34)
In other words, we simply instruct our minds that peace has been given us by God. When
disturbance arises, we dismiss it. This is the practice of mental vigilance so often taught in the
Text. We do not allow the disturbance to remain undisturbed; we recognize it as something we do
not want, and instruct our minds to return to peace.
It says we do this with certainty. This is not a striving, trying to shout down the ego. It is
gentle but firm, calm and not anxious. We are telling our minds, Peace, be still. There is no
stressed-out way to peace. The words The stillness of the peace of God is mine come from a
place within us that is always at peace. In speaking them to ourselves with quiet certainty, we
have already connected with that place of peace within us.
And so the peace You gave Your Son is with me still, in quietness and in my own eternal
love for You.
(2:4)
Lesson 274 OCTober 1

Today belongs to Love. Let me not fear.

Practice suggestion: Pick someone whom you expect to deal with today, but whom
youd rather avoid. Say to him or her:
I let you be as God created you.
I give you the honor due your sinlessness.
I love you like a brother and like a friend.
Commentary
Give this day to Him, and there will be no fear today, because the day is given unto Love.
(2:2)
Fear is what happens when we shut off our awareness to Love. It is nothing but the illusory
absence of Loveillusory because Love is never absent. Nothing but Love exists. Like the
physical sun, Love is always shining. We say sometimes that the sun isnt out today. In fact, of
course, the sun is out, but there is interference, clouds, something in between which is blocking
our awareness of the sun. We then experience darkness, which is no more than the absence of
light. Darkness is nothing in itself. When the interference is removed, light is there, just as it
always was.
So too, when we remove the interference to our awareness of Love, Love is there and fear is
gone. If we give this day to Love, there will be no fear.
It is easy to see how we can understand any form of fear as no more than a call for Love. Fear
is a symptom of your own deep sense of loss (T-12.I.9:1). Fear is how we feel when Love
appears to be absent; therefore, it is simply an automatic cry for Loves presence. It is a call for
Love, and nothing more. Fear can take many formsanger, worry, sadness, jealousy, sickness, or
an addictive desire for a thing or for a personbut all of these are just forms of fear. When I am
aware of them in myself, let me bring them to the Holy Spirit so that He can reinterpret them (see
T-12.I.8:89), so that I can understand that all forms of fear are nothing but an unconscious call
for Love (see T-12.I.8:13), and therefore they are nothing to be guilty about.
When I was a child I believed that all sickness was caused by germs. I had a pretty clear
understanding that some kind of invader bugs got into my body and messed things up; I could
understand that. Even if metaphysically this is not a true picture, nor even wholly true
scientifi_cally, it was what I believed to be the truth. That was what real sickness was for me.
One day I was riding in the back seat of the car on a long drive, reading a comic book. I
started to feel sick. I guess I had never experienced motion sickness before, so I must have been
quite young. I thought I was getting sick, and told my parents to stop the car because I was
going to be sick. I went into a service station restroom. As I walked in I felt less sick. I used the
toilet, and after a few minutes, I felt fine. I was utterly baffled; what had happened to the
sickness?
When I returned to the car and told my parents, they said, Oh! You must have been feeling
carsick. They explained to me that sometimes motion can make you feel sick, but that it isnt the
same as having the flu. I remember clearly saying something like, You mean Im not really sick?
I just feel sick? They more or less agreed with my interpretation. They told me it had to do with
the mind being confused because my eyes were looking at something motionless while the rest of
my body felt motion. In effect, they told me the sickness was caused by false perception in my
mind!
In my young mind, something clicked. I wanted to read that comic book! Even though my
parents advised against it, I went back to reading it. I started to feel sick again. But I now knew
the truth that I wasnt really sick! This was a false sickness. There was no real reason (i.e., germs)
to be sick. My mind was doing it to me, so my mind could undo it. So, despite the nausea and
pain in my stomach, I went on reading. Im not really sick, I told myself. And the nausea went
away, and I never had motion sickness again in my life, except one time on an ocean liner in a
very heavy storm, after all eleven hundred people on the ship had thrown up except for me and
another dozen or soI guess the evidence was just too overwhelming.
Just as that day I convinced myself that my sickness was not reala very clear lesson in my
life of the power of the mindthe Holy Spirit wants to convince us that our fears are not real.
Just as I realized that day that nothing was truly wrong with my body, He wants us to know that
when we are feeling fear, nothing is really wrong with our minds. Despite what we perceive in
the world, the Holy Spirit wants us to know that the fear is being manufactured by our own
minds; it is not real, because Love is never absent and therefore there is no real reason for fear.
You may feel fear in one of its many formsHe never asks us to deny that, instead He asks us to
look at it and recognize it very clearlybut He does ask us to realize that what we are feeling is
false. It has no cause. It is just something manufactured by a mind that has blinded itself to the
truth. We dont even need to cure our fear, because the sickness isnt real!
We will either love our brothers or fear them; those are the only two emotions in this world,
according to the Course (see T-12.I.9:5). To give the day to Love means, then, that we will not
react with fear to our brothers. We will let all things be as You created them (1:1), and
therefore we will honor our brothers in their sinlessness. We will give each of them, as the Son of
God, the love of brother to his brother and his Friend (1:1).
The path of the Course lies here, in learning to let go of our fears and to respond to one
another with love instead, honoring what we all are in truth, instead of fearing what our brothers
or sisters appear to be. This is how we are redeemed (1:2); this is how light replaces all the
darkness in the world (1:3).
Today belongs to Love. Let me not fear.

Gods healing Voice protects all things today.

Commentary
Jesus tells us in this lesson that we need to join him in hearing the Voice for God (1:3). For
the Voice for God tells us of things we cannot understand alone, nor learn apart (1:4). Notice
that the joining Jesus urges on us here is not primarily with one another, with other people,
although that is certainly implied; it is joining with him that is called for.
If the problem is a belief in the reality of separation, that problem cannot be healed alone and
apart. Being alone and apart is the problem! Any healing, any salvation, any enlightenment that
the Voice for God brings to us will be something that is shared.
I can join with Jesus in hearing the Voice for God; that is something I can do now, in the
privacy of my home, with no other people around. What I hearwhich is always some form of
the message Gods Son is innocentis something that applies to Jesus as well as to me, and to
me as well as to Jesus. I share it with him. Peace, safety, and protection come in letting go of any
mental defenses I have against Jesus and allowing his presence to be with me. I own and
acknowledge that Jesus and I share a common goal and common interests. I see that he has no
attack in his heart toward me, and I have none toward him. It is in this [joining] that all things
are protected (1:5).
As I move out into the world, to meet with other people, I can extend what I have found in
Jesus presence to everyone I meet. What he and I have heard together is shared, not only
between the two of us, but also with the Son of God in everyone. I hear the Fathers healing
Voice, and it protects all things, so that I need be anxious over nothing (2:2). All beings share
this common interest and common goal. We are all in the world for this one purpose. Any
perception of competition or attack on my part, or on the part of another, is merely a mistake in
perception, and is not anything to be afraid of.
The safety that I bring is given me (2:4). I bring safety from my companionship with Jesus
to the world, and as I give it, it is given to me. Everyone I meet is safe with me today, I can say.
And I am safe with everyone I meet. Each encounter is holy because I am holy. When the
purpose of the day is thus set as it begins, I can be sure of full direction. We will be given very
specific directions for our activity here within this world, even if the world is only an illusion:
For Your Voice will tell me what to do and where to go; to whom to speak and what to say to
him, what thoughts to think, what words to give the world (2:3).
It is a healing Voice I hear, a healing that consists in sharing, in joining, in having no separate
interests. The joining is the healing. The healing of Gods Son is what the world is for (T24.VI.4:1), and the healing of Gods Son in myself and everyone I meet is what this day is for.
Nothing else. Let today be a day when I especially listen for the Voice. Let me seek and hear
and learn and understand (1:2).
Alan Watts wrote a book called The Wisdom of Insecurity.1 As I remember, it speaks about
how seeking security is unwise because security for the ego and the body simply is not possible.
If you are constantly seeking security you will drive yourself nuts. It is much better and wiser to
accept the fact of insecurity and to simply go with the flow of the universe.
When this lesson speaks of how listening to the Voice protects all things, it is really saying the
same thing. We recognize that we dont know the answers, we cant figure everything out. We
dont know what to do and where to go; to whom to speak and what to say to him, what thoughts
to think, what words to give the world, but He does. Instead of constantly trying to acquire the
answers for ourselves, we stay in relationship with the Answer Himself, the One who does know.
Instead of having millions of our own in the bank, we trust that what we need will be given as we
need it, and dont worry about it. We leave the running of the universe in Gods Hands.
Our safety and protection is not something that resides in us, alone and apart. It comes only
from listening to the Voice moment to moment. We dont know the road to heaven, but we walk
with One who does.
1. Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity (New York: Vintage, 1968).

The Word of God is given me to speak.

Practice suggestion: The following is a visualization inspired by this lesson.

Imagine that you have traveled to the Middle East, far out into the desert.
You have come all this way to visit an ancient temple, which contains a holy relic.
See yourself standing before it. Perhaps it is one of those temples carved from the rock of a cliff.
You walk through the entrance and into a massive room, with lofty ceilings and shafts of sunlight
shining through high apertures.
You walk down the central aisle and reach a flight of stairs on the other side of this room.
As you walk up the stairs you are filled with anticipation for what you are about to see, the
artifact you have journeyed all this way to look upon.
At the top of the stairs is a corridor. You walk down this and reach a heavy, ancient curtain, on
the other side of which is the inner sanctum of this temple, the holy of holies.
You pause, thinking about what lies on the other side of the curtain, in this room.
For in this room is the very stone tablet on which God wrote His Word in the time of Moses.
What artifact could be holier?
You walk through the curtain and there, in the middle of a room filled with candles, is the stone
tablet.
Hardly breathing, you walk up to it and read the words carved into it so long ago by the Hand of
God.
It says, My Son, known as... and here, to your astonishment, you see your own name, is pure
and holy as Myself.
Your eyes are rooted. You can scarce believe what you read. What can it mean that this was
Gods Word to humanity, that this was Gods message for the ages?
While you are looking at the tablet and seeing its wordsMy Son, known as [name], is pure and
holy as Myselftry to take it in. Try to let the magnitude of this truth sink all the way in.
Let it wash over you like a wave of realization.
Now look around and see that the perimeter of the room is lined with other stone tablets.
As you walk over to these you see that they have the same line carved on them, only with a
different name on each one. Each one has the name of someone you know.
Spend a minute or two now, going around the room, looking at each tablet and seeing there the
name of a different person in your life: My Son, known as [name], is pure and holy as
Myself.
After you have spent time looking at each tablet, and have had one last sacred look at the one in
the middle with your name on it, you are ready to leave the room.
Being here and seeing what youve seen has been a holy experience, one that will leave you
forever changed.
You realize now, as you stand before the curtain, ready to exit, that your life has changed. Your
job now is to bring this message to the world, not just by talking about the truth youve
discovered, but mainly by conveying this stupendous truth with the way you behave
towards people.
Say, The Word of God is given me to speak, with my lips, my hands, my eyes, my deeds, my life,
my love.
Commentary
The phrase the Word of God in A Course in Miracles is defined here as My Son is pure and
holy as Myself (1:2). In another place it is said to be I am as God created me (W-pI.110.11:4
6). We were created by this Word; as in the Bible, He spoke, and it was so. God said, Let there
be light, and there was light (Gn 1:3). Even so, God spoke, My Son is pure and holy as
Myself, and the Son, pure and holy as God, came into being. Gods Thought of us was His
creative act of Fatherhood; it stands unaltered and unalterable. I cannot make my Self other than
God created me.
Let us accept His Fatherhood, and all is given us.
(1:5)
Hearing His Word is accepting His Fatherhood, accepting that we were created in His Love
and can be no other than what He created us to be. It is to accept the Atonement (see M-22.1:6),
the unassailable fact that Ithat is, my true Self and not my ego image of myselfam as pure
and as holy as God Himself.
And it is this that I would speak to all my brothers, who are given me to cherish as my own.
(2:2)
What I want to communicate to my brothers and sisters is that they all share this innocence
with me. My grievances, my judgments, or my criticisms communicate guilt. My forgiveness
communicates their innocence. Father, show me how to communicate the Atonement today; show
me how, in word and deed, to speak the Word of God: You are as pure and holy as God.
This clearly relates to the lead-in page on the Christ:
Christ is Gods Son as He created him. He is the Self we share.
(W-pII.6.1:12)
This is the only part of you that has reality in truth. The rest is dreams.
(W-pII.6.3:23)

Let me not bind Your Son with laws I made.

Commentary
When the Course uses the term Son in this context, with me addressing God concerning His
Son, the term usually refers to the whole Sonship, which includes all of my sisters and brothers as
well as myself. Your Son, in other words, can be anybody on whom my mind focuses. So when
I pray, Let me not bind Your Son, I am referring to my boss, my spouse, my friends, my
family, or whomever I might encounter today. Its a good prayer to repeat often as we interact
with people today.
In our local study group the other night, one woman shared an insight she had. She said that
she had realized that whenever she placed a limit on anyone else within her mind, if that person
already was accepting such a limit within their own mind, she was reinforcing it. And as well, she
was placing the same limit on herself. We can see this dynamic very strikingly in a situation
involving parents or teachers and young children. It manifests quite vividly. The child will often
manifest the limits that the adult sees in them, whether those limits are real or not. The fact that
we do not see it so plainly with adults, however, does not mean that it is not happening all the
time. When we limit someone in our minds, we can be literally binding them with laws that we
made up.
Your Son is free, my Father (1:1). And each person we encounter today is that Son, equally
free. We have all read stories of how the refusal of a parent, partner, or friend to accept the
normal limits on someone else has enabled them to transcend those limitsstories of
impossible healings, and so on. These are but elementary demonstrations of the power of
todays idea. The limits the Course has in mind are not so much physical ones, or even
intellectual ones, but limits such as guilt and sin. When we believe a person is beyond help or
beyond hope, we bind them with laws we have made. We imagine an order of difficulty in
miracles and impose it on those around us. There is no order of difficulty in miracles
(T_1.I.1:1) is the first principle of miracles.
He [whoever he or she may be] is not changed by what is changeable.
(1:4)
He is still the perfect Son of God, as God created him. He has not been marred or scarred by
anything in this world because everything in this world is changeable. The Son of God has not
been changed by anything that has happened to his body, which is changeable. A feather cannot
scratch a diamond, not even a pile of feathers, not even an ostrich plume. We are being asked to
remember this about all our brothers; they have not been changed by what appears to be their sins
or mistakes. Nor are they slaves to any laws of time (1:5); this covers our persistent belief that a
healing may take a very long time, for instance. They are subject only to one law: the law of love
(1:6).
Our brothers are not bound by anything except their own beliefs (2:2). And what they really
are is far beyond [their] faith in slavery or freedom (2:3). Their bound appearance is a flimsy
thing, barely covering the solid reality of holiness and love that lies beneath it. They cannot be
bound unless Gods truth can lie, and God can will that He deceive Himself (2:5). What kind of
God would that be?
What if, today, I looked upon everyone around me from this frame of reference? What
miracles might happen? What chains might fall away? What blind person might see again? What
long-standing wound of the heart might be healed? Exactly that is our function here as workers of
miracles.

If I am bound, my Father is not free.

Commentary
The Course often sets forth a set of what, for us, seem to be rather confusing
interrelationships. It says that how I treat my brother is a reflection of how I treat myself. It says
how I treat myself is a reflection of how I treat God. It says how I treat my brother is a reflection
of how I treat God. For all three you could substitute the phrase how I see for how I treat.
This set of connections seems confusing to us only because we persist in conceiving of our
Self, our brother, and God as separate beings. We are not separate. It is not simply that how I see
myself reflects how I see God; it is how I see God, because I am part of God, an extension of
Him, an extrusion of His nature. God is all that is. There is no other.
Therefore:
If I accept that I am prisoner within a body, in a world in which all things that seem to
live appear to die, then is my Father prisoner with me. And this do I believe.
(1:12)
The Course is constantly telling me that I believe things I dont think I believe. It says I
believe I have crucified Gods Son (T-13.II.5:1). And here it tells me that I believe God is a
prisoner.
I certainly dont go around saying that God is a prisoner. The idea that God is a prisoner seems
shocking to me; my mental concept of God is that He is omnipotent. How can I believe
something without being aware I believe it? Actually it is quite easy; I do it all the time. And
sometimes Ive even caught myself doing it.
For instance, sometimes I have noticed that when another person approaches me in a very
open and loving way, my first reaction is not welcome but suspicion. I think that behind the
appearance of love there is probably some ulterior motive, something that I need to be on guard
against. What does this person want from me? might be my thought. Or perhaps I suspect them
of trying to manipulate me in some way. What that kind of response is indicating is that I believe
love itself is suspect. I dont trust love. I dont trust my own, I dont trust the love of others, and
above all, I dont trust Gods Love.
Another way I see that same suspicion of love in myself is when I feel loving feelings for
another person. I suspect my own motives, particularly if the person is an attractive female. Again,
there is the underlying belief, a belief I have not consciously admitted to myself, that love cannot
be trusted.
What this lesson is saying is that when I accept myself as a prisoner, I am betraying a hidden
belief that God is a prisoner, too. This is so because the facts of reality are that God and I are one,
part of the same Being, or rather, I am part of His Being. Since reality is one, what I believe about
any part I am believing about the whole, whether or not I realize it.
If I am bound in any way, I do not know my Father nor my Self. And I am lost to all
reality. (1:34)
We could easily use this line to condemn ourselves and get into a guilt trip. There isnt one of
us who doesnt see himself or herself as bound in some way. We all feel we are limited by the
laws of the worldlaws of nutrition, laws of finance, laws of health, laws of marriage. We all
believe that we will die. We all believe that certain of our weaknesses are real and cant be
overcome; if we did not believe that we would have already overcome them! We all believe that
we are limited by time and space; for instance, that if a friend moves a thousand miles away we
can no longer relate to them as closely as we have before. So am I then lost to reality? Is my
situation hopeless?
No, it isnt hopeless. All we need to do is recognize these beliefs in ourselves and admit that
we do hold them. We need to see that every belief in our own limits is a belief that God is limited;
every belief that I am imprisoned or trapped in some way is a belief that God is imprisoned and
trapped. Notice what we are doing. Acknowledge we are doing it. And simply tell God, for
instance, Im seeing You as limited and blocked, and You are not limited and blocked. Help me
to see that. And that is all.
Father, I ask for nothing but the truth. I have had many foolish thoughts about myself
and my creation, and have brought a dream of fear into my mind. Today, I would not
dream. I choose the way to You instead of madness and instead of fear. For truth is
safe, and only love is sure.
(2:15)
That is all. Acknowledge that you have had foolish thoughts (not sinful thoughts), and ask
for the truth. Thats all.

Creations freedom promises my own.

Commentary
Because creation is free, I am free. Because no one is bound, I am not bound. Now is
freedom his already (1:4). It is here and now. Freedom is not future.
As I recognize the freedom that belongs to everyone, I find my own. In giving, I receive. In
loving, I am loved. In healing, I am healed. In recognizing the existence of absolute perfection I
experience my participation in that perfection, and I am most aware of it when I am recognizing
Christ in my brothers.
Yesterdays lesson was the inverse of this: If I am bound, my Father is not free. When we
accept the apparent prison we are in we are saying God is imprisoned. If I see no way out, then
God must be stymied too. Here again it becomes plain that:
As I see my brother, so I see myself.
As I see myself, so I see God.
The simplicity of this lesson is staggering. Everything keeps coming back to this.
Why do some people fear God? Why does the concept, the very word, scare them away? It is
because they see God in their own image; we always do. If I see myself as threatening, I see God
that way. If I see myself as weak and ineffective, I see God that way. I am running from my own
idols, not from the truth.
Only in dreams is there a time when he appears to be in prison, and awaits a future
freedom, if it be at all.
(1:2)
We can understand how we can be perfectly free, safe at home in bed, and in our sleep, dream
of imprisonment. That exactly describes our experience in this world. We are already free, but
dreaming we are imprisoned. Salvation, to the Course, is simply becoming aware that we are
dreaming, and that the freedom we think we lack is already ours. We become aware of it through
recognizing it in others.
What are we seemingly imprisoned by? Of what do our chains consist? Are they not chains of
guilt? The Holy Spirit knows that all salvation is escape from guilt (T-14.III.13:4). To see my
brother as free is to see him without guilt; in other words, forgiveness. That is how escape from
guilt happens: when I realize that creation itself is free from guilt, that everyone is guiltless, I
recognize that I must be included. It works this way because what I perceive as the world is a
projection of my own self-judgment: The world you see is but a judgment on yourself (T20.III.5:2). In lifting judgment and guilt from the world I am lifting it from myself because what I
see is only a reflection of how I see myself.
Creations freedom promises my own.

What limits can I lay upon Gods Son?

Practice suggestion: Think of someone in your life, and apply these lines to that person:
Being a Thought of God, [name] has not left his Fathers Mind.
Being a Thought of God, [name] is not limited at all.
Being a Thought of God, [name] is forever pure.
Being Gods Son, what limits can I lay upon him?
Commentary
The Course is calling on me to not deny to anyonemy brothers or myselfthe limitless
freedom in which God created us. I find in myself what seems like a natural tendency to compare
myself to others, and to find myself, in some way, superior to them. I am more intelligent. My
opinions are more correct. Or my relationships are superior. Or I am more ethical, more
compassionate, more understanding, more honest with myself. I have greater integrity. All of
these are ways in which I have, at times, felt superior to others. Others have other standards of
comparison. But in general, I think, we all have this tendency to feel somehow superior to most
of the rest of the human race.
This is what the Course calls specialness. It is a way of seeing others with limits that, we
believe, do not exist for ourselves. The Courses call to see our brothers as equally free as
ourselves contradicts this pattern of thinking we have taught ourselves. The lesson says, I can
invent imprisonment for him [he whom God created free], but only in illusions, not in truth
(1:2). We are all equal Thoughts of God; none of us has left the Fathers Mind; none of us is
limited at allexcept in illusions.
As students of A Course in Miracles we are called to give honor (2:1) to the Son of God
wherever we meet Him. We are called to recognize the Christ in every one who is sent to meet us.
Let me recognize today that the limits I see are my own illusions; they are, in fact, my own belief
in my own limits, dressed up, disguised, perhaps, in another form, and projected onto my brother.
I find my own freedom by honoring it in others. Let me remind myself today, This is the holy
Son of God, my brother, a part of my Self. Only in so doing will I find my Self, and recognize
the Christ as God created Him.
At one point the Course makes a very strong statement. It says that if I really recognized who
my brother or sister is, I could scarce refrain from kneeling at his feet (W-pI.161.9:3). Yet, it
goes on to say that I will take his hand instead, because in the kind of sight that sees my brother
or sister in this way, I am equally glorious. We are the Christ. Who we are is magnificent, so far
beyond our normal conception of ourselves that on seeing it our inclination would be to worship,
except that in that same instant we recognize that same magnificence in ourselves. May God
grant us all such vision!
Lesson 281 October 8

I can be hurt by nothing but my thoughts.
Practice suggestion: Think of something that seems to be hurting you, and say:
This outer thing cannot hurt me.
Only my thoughts about it hurt me.
Let me see it through Gods Thoughts, for they can only bring me happiness.
Commentary
If I am perfect I cannot be hurt; it would make me less than perfect. Our reasoning tells us our
life would be perfect if it were free from pain, but we are not free from pain, and therefore we
must not be perfect. The Courses reason works in the opposite direction: we are perfect; pain
would mean imperfection; therefore the pain must be some kind of illusion. When I think that I
am hurt in any way, it is because I have forgotten who I am, and that I am as You created me
(1:2). In other words, we only think we are hurt. If we remembered who we really are, we could
not be hurt.
Another way of thinking about this is to say that my true Self cannot be hurt; only my illusory
self can be hurt, and that, only by my own thoughts. Granted, we make some pretty darn good
illusions! But that is all they are: illusions.
Pain comes when we put our own thoughts in place of the Thought of God (1:4). The cause is
always in my thinking and nowhere else; nothing outside my mind can hurt me. When I feel
attacked, it is always me attacking me. Not even the unloving thoughts of my brothers can hurt
me if my mind is thinking Gods Thoughts with Him. Early in the Text we are told:
In reality you are perfectly unaffected by all expressions of lack of love. These
can be from yourself and others, from yourself to others, or from others to you.
Peace is an attribute in you. You cannot find it outside.
(T-2.I.5:69)
What I am in truth is far beyond all pain (2:2). The Holy Spirit is our Teacher to help us
remember that this is who we are. As Lesson 248 tells us:
Whatever suffers is not part of me. What grieves is not myself. What is in pain is
but illusion in my mind. (W-pII.248.1:35)
Not only is pain an illusion; the illusion of pain is experienced by an illusion of myself. It is
my thoughts, specifically my thoughts about myself, that cause this illusion. When I think I am
what God created not, I experience pain.
Let the words I will not hurt myself today be much in my mind today, my Father.

I will not be afraid of love today.
Practice suggestion: Lesson 282 says, in essence, that our true Name is love, as is Gods.
We have given ourselves the name of fear, but this is simply a mistakewe have not
become fear. We are still love.
First, sign your name as you usually do, on the line below (or grab an extra piece of paper for
this), and date it:
Signed, _____________________________
(Dated: _____________)
Look at your signature, and try to get in touch with your sense of whose name that is. What
concept of that person are you holding as you sign the signature? Is it not a separate person? A
person with a particular history? And a special station or place in the world? With special
attributes?
Isnt this self trying to make its way through a perilous world? Isnt that why you sign your
name to things? To protect yourself from something? Or to procure some needed thing for this
endangered self? If, for instance, you sign a legal document, are you not often afraid of what it
may bring into your life, even while you are hoping it will protect you in other ways? In short,
isnt the identity signified by your name filled with fear? What else would a separate self trying to
make its way through a perilous world be filled with?
Therefore, sign your name again, and this time sign it simply as Fear.
Signed, _____________________________
(Dated: _____________)
Once you sign it, try to see this signature and the first one as the same. Look back and forth
between the first and second signatures and try to let them blend into one. Try to realize that
when you sign your name in everyday life, you are signing Fear. You are saying, This self
who is separate, vulnerable, and beset by the dangers of a perilous world. Regardless of the
specific words you write, the content of what you are writing is fear.
Now sign your name one more time. This time sign it as Love.
Signed, ____________________________
(Dated: ______________)
As you sign it, try to really mean it. Dont think of it as a given name like Joy, which
doesnt mean much. Think of it as a statement that you really are love. Love is your nature. You
are not a being who can love, who can love at times and hate at other times, whose love is partial,
selective, and intermittent. You are love. Love is your nature. You are a segment of Love Itself.
In your true nature, you are incapable of any anger, any hatred, even any neutrality. Being love,
all you can do is love.

Realize that this is not an aspiration of what you want to be. This is who you are now, beneath
all appearances. You are love, a segment of Gods Love, merely dreaming that you are a separate
being filled with fear. You are love masquerading as something else.
Look at this final signature and try to identify with it. Think to yourself, Thats me.
Thats who I am. Does that make you see yourself differently? What feelings does it
evoke?
Commentary
Here is another of the dozens of statements which the Course says, if accepted without
reservation, can constitute the entirety of salvation. If I could realize but this today, salvation
would be reached for all the world (1:1). A few of the others that fall into this category are I am
as God created me (W-pI.94.1), Ideas leave not their source (W-pI.167.3:611), There is no
world (W-pI.132.6:23), Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists (T-In.2:23),
and Forgive the world, and you will understand that everything that God created cannot have an
end, and nothing He did not create is real (M-20.5:710).
How often do I realize that I am afraid of love? We are afraid of love far more frequently than
we realize. Ken Wapnick has used a variation of this thought as a suggested mental response
whenever we notice our egos acting up: I must be afraid of love again. There is a sense in
which we could say that the ego is the fear of love. It is a mental stance that rejects Love as our
Source, that rejects Love as our Self, and that refuses to recognize Love in everyone and
everything around us. When we look at it in this way, it begins to be more understandable that if
we could simply realize this one thingnot to be afraid of lovethe salvation of the world
would be accomplished.
Fear of love is insane on the face of it. Of all the things we might be reasonably afraid of, love
is not one of them. A famous old-time Christian evangelist, Charles Grandison Finney (famous in
the 1800s), once wrote that Love is the eternal will to all goodness. To be afraid of that which
eternally wills only our good is truly insane. So to accept todays idea is the decision not to be
insane (1:2).
Fear of love is a fear of our own Self, which is Love. Therefore, to realize todays idea is to
accept myself as God Himself, my Father and my Source, created me (1:2). We are indeed afraid
to recognize ourselves as Love; it seems a very dangerous thing to do, to our egos.
Fear of love is to fall asleep and dream of death, because in rejecting love we are rejecting that
which guards us, protects us, and brings us joy. In fearing love we are imagining ourselves to be
something other than loving, or in other words, evil and sinful. In such a picture of ourselves we
imagine we deserve death. To forget what we are and to believe we are something else, the mind
must fall asleep. Therefore, to realize todays idea is a determination not to be asleep in dreams of
death (1:3).
To will not to be afraid of love is a choice to recognize my Self because my Self is Love.
No matter what names we may have called ourselves in our madness, names cannot change
what we are in truth (2:13). To choose not to fear love is to remember this. What we have done
in calling ourselves unloving is not a sin:
The name of fear is simply a mistake. Let me not be afraid of truth today.
(2:45)

My true Identity abides in You.
Commentary
Abides means lives or dwells, but it also means remains unchanged. I think that is the
sense it has in this lesson: My true Identity remains unchanged in You. (At least that is how Im
hearing it today.) I made an image of myself (1:1). I made a false picture of what I am, an idol,
and I have imagined that this image is what I am: it is this I call the Son of God (1:1). This is
the Courses understanding of what has, traditionally, been called the Fall. In traditional JudeoChristian understanding, man was created innocent and sinless, but he fell into sin, and thus
corrupted his nature forever (original sin). In the Courses understanding, all that really
happened is that we imagined we had changed; we made a false picture of ourselves and thought,
This is me. But what we really are never changed at all! Our true Identity remains unchanged,
despite our making of idols. Creation is still, now, as it always was, because Gods creation
cannot be changed (1:2).
There is a vast difference between having actually corrupted our nature and only thinking that
we did. In the old view, we had a real problem, resolvable only by the supernatural intervention
of God. Real sin had been done, and had to be met with real punishment. Sin against an infinite
God required a payment equally infinite, and so Gods infinite Son had to die in our place, and
then a new nature had to be created by God and somehow injected into humanity (being born
again). Those who did not receive this new life were doomed to hell.
In the view presented by the Course, no real sin has been done, and the original perfection of
Gods creation remains unchanged. All that is necessary is for us to recognize our mistaken selfidentification and to change our minds about it. When we let go of the idols or false images (Let
me not worship idols [1:3]), the nature of Christ within us is uncovered and revealed as
untouched by our insanity.
I am still the one my Father loves; that has not changed (1:4). My holiness still remains the
light of Heaven and the Love of God (1:5). How could what God created as the light of Heaven
be destroyed and become darkness? (1:67). If God created everything that is, how could I
possibly be something else? (1:8). There is nothing else for me to be.
Each time today I find myself judging something about myself, disliking myself, berating
myself, or feeling guilty about what and who I am, let me remind myself that none of what I am
seeing is my true Identity. My true Identity remains in God and part of Him. The seeming other
identity is an idol; let me not worship it, bow down to it and attribute some great power to it or
fear it. This is not who I am. Let me be still an instant and go home.
As I recognize this true Identity, I must realize that by the nature of what It is, It must be
shared with all creation. Everything is part of me, and I of it, all coming from the same Source
(2:1). When I recognize everything as part of this shared Identity, other aspects of my one Self, I
will naturally offer blessing to all things, uniting lovingly with all the world (2:2).

I can elect to change all thoughts that hurt.
Practice suggestion: When you repeat todays lesson, you may want to make it more
specific: I can elect to change this thought about __________.
Commentary
This is one of the very good capsule statements of the practical teaching of the Course. What
is seen as outside must be seen, first, as originating inside, in my thoughts. Then this lesson
applies. If the origin of the problem is my thoughts, I can affect the problem. I can change all
thoughts that hurt. Nothing outside me can affect me. The cause of problems, and therefore the
solution to them, is entirely within my mind and entirely within my control.
Loss is not loss when properly perceived (1:1). Wham! Zap! That really hits a lot of buttons.
Perhaps recently there was something I wanted to do, or someplace I wanted to go, and I could
not do it. I could perceive that as a loss, and be upset. Yet, properly perceived, that loss can be
seen as not a loss at all. The perception of an event, any event, as a loss is purely within my mind;
the hurt comes not from the external event but from my thoughts about it, and I can elect to
change all thoughts that hurt.
But we have a mental scale of lesser and greater losses, and as we go up our scale this gets
harder and harder to accept. Not getting to a meeting or a concert is one thing. But a few years
ago I lost my computer hard disk, totally. I lost several years of personal journals and a mailing
list with hundreds of names on it, no backups, no way to retrieve them. Gone. It took me a long
time to work through to not seeing that as a loss. But the principle is the same. The perception of
loss was purely in my mind, and all perception of loss and pain is always there and nowhere else.
And it is always possible for me to change those thoughts if I really want to.
Up the scale still further: What about when someone we love dies, especially unexpectedly,
tragically, from sickness or violence or accident? How is it possible to apply Loss is not loss
when properly perceived to such an event? It is evident the lesson means for us to do just that,
because it continues:
Pain is impossible. There is no grief with any cause at all. And suffering of any
kind is nothing but a dream.
(1:24)
The lesson is saying that, properly perceived, even death is not a cause for grief. All of it is
just a more extreme form of the same case; the cause for our hurt, our pain, and our grief is not
external to us. It is in the way we are thinking about things. And we can change the way we think
about them and eliminate the pain. The major issue of life is not in the externals; it is in our
thinking.
You would not go up to someone who had just lost a loved one and say, bluntly, There is no
cause for grief here. It very likely would be perceived as cruel and cold, as if you were saying,
Hes no loss. Look at the bright side; now you wont have to put up with his/her faults any more,
and you can find another who will make you really happy. People who try to tell a grieving
person, There is no cause for grief are often choosing to be spiritually correct at the expense
of kindness.
I think, however, that the lesson is asking us to say something like thatthat there is no cause
for griefto ourselves, even in cases of what seems like extreme loss. It is suggesting, in the
lines that follow, a process we can follow to change our thoughts even in such seemingly
impossible cases [see the essay after this commentary for more on the process]. It is not an instant
process, and it may take considerable time to turn the tide of our thoughts. But it is possible, it is
within our power to change all thoughts that hurt. Our aim should be, eventually, to see that grief
and pain must be impossible (2:1). Why? Because our Father would not give us anything that
hurts us, and there is no other Source. He gives only the joyous, so only the joyous is the truth
(2:2).

My holiness shines bright and clear today.
Practice suggestion: In the spirit of the teaching in this lessons opening paragraph, try
repeating the following:
I normally wake expecting painful things to come to me.
They seem to fit me because I think I am unholy.
Today I wake expecting only happy things.
They are what really fit me, because I am holy.
Commentary
Today I ask only for joyful things to come my way. I will ask for only joyous things the
instant I accept my holiness (1:3). The only reason I experience pain and grief and suffering and
loss is because somewhere in my mind I think I deserve it. In some way I think suffering is good
for me. I judge myself unholy, in conflict with God and His love, and so I need to be taught a
lesson. I need to be rehabilitated. I think suffering and hardship will teach me a lesson. So I send
forth an invitation to those kind of thoughts, and by golly they come!
When I accept my holiness, what would be the use of pain to me? (1:4). The idea that
suffering is necessary is poppycock. We think we learn through our trials. And we do. But what
we are learning is not how to become holy; we are learning that we are holy. Once we get ahold
of that fact, we dont need suffering any more. Once we get rid of the idea that we are sinful and
guilty, that somehow we need to be whipped into line, we understand that we deserve joy because
we are already holy.
We think that if we were to become totally happy too quickly wed miss something. We are
absolutely convinced that our past actions prove that we dont deserve happiness and are not
ready for it. We think some critical element is missing from our personality that only suffering
and pain can teach us. Nothing is missing. Nothing is lacking. If the pain, grief, and loss all ended
this instant, you would be just fine; youd be perfect, in fact, because you already are!
Its as if we have a transmitter in our heads. We have a picture of ourselves as guilty and
incomplete. We think suffering is needed to correct that condition. So we broadcast an invitation
to pain, suffering, grief, and loss: Come to me! Help me out. I need to suffer some more.
Because our mind has all the creative power of God, we succeed in our attempt. We make all the
suffering happen, at least in appearance.
When we learn to see ourselves as innocent and complete, the perfect creation of the Father,
we have no further reason to broadcast such thoughts. Instead we sing, Send joy only! Send
happy things of God. Today I am accepting only the joyous; no suffering allowed. I am the ruler
of the universe (Lesson 253). My mind has complete power to create the experience of life I
want. Today, I choose to create joy.

The hush of Heaven holds my heart today.
Practice suggestion: The prayer for this lesson is without doubt one of the most beautiful
prayers in the Course. I call it the I Need Do Nothing Prayer. It induces a wonderful
state of rest and peace. I recommend taking a chunk of time todayfifteen to thirty
minutesand praying this prayer over and over again, slowly and meaningfully, sinking
more deeply into it each time. Dont close your eyes and zone out after the first time;
youll be grateful for the experience if you stay with it. To aid in this process, Ive broken
the prayer into three parts and have put some extra lines after each line of the prayer, to
draw out its meaning.
A Day of Doing Nothing

1. Father, how still today!
Let me imagine a day of perfect stillness,
in which everything is resting, everything is at peace, glowing with a soft radiance.
2. How quietly do all things fall in place!
Normally, life seems to be a chaotic jumble of conflicting elements.
But today, all things have quietly fallen into their proper place.
As I look out on the world, everything is exactly where it belongs.
3. This is the day
that has been chosen as the time

in which I come to understand the lesson
that there is no need that I do anything.
This is the day You have appointed for me to finally realize, I need do nothing.
Rest from Doing

4. In You is every choice already made.
This is why I need do nothing.
In You all those hard choices that face me have already been made.
Let me feel myself resting in You, no more difficult decisions to make.
5. In You has every conflict been resolved.

I feel constantly surrounded by conflict,
trying to resolve one while hoping that the others will not spring out of control.
But in You, all my conflicts are forever behind me.
6. In You is everything I hope to find already given me.
I am always seeking, striving to find the happiness and safety that I lack.
But in You, I can rest from seeking, for I have found. In You I have everything.
The Peace that Is Mine

7. Your peace is mine.
You are totally free from choice, conflict, and seeking.
Your peace must be limitless, unfathomable!
Yet because I am in You, Your peace is mine.
8. My heart is quiet, and my mind at rest.
In Your peace, with no need to do anything, I am totally at rest, completely filled.
9. Your Love is Heaven, and Your Love is mine.
What could be more heavenly than being loved by You?
And I am loved by You; You love me with all that You are.
I need only accept Your Love, and Heaven is mine.
Commentary
How quietly do all things fall in place! (1:2). I love that line! That is what realization is like;
things just quietly fall into place, and there is nothing to do.
This is the day that has been chosen as the time in which I come to understand the lesson that
there is no need that I do anything (1:3).
Several years ago in a study group, we read a section that described the state of knowledge.
Someone asked if it is possible for an individual to attain this, or do we all have to do it together?
Is everybody waiting for me? Am I waiting for everybody else? The leader (Ill call him Ted)
began to discuss Jesus and how we are all in this together.
Then Jesus isnt in this state of knowledge yet either, is he? said the questioner.
I injected myself into the discussion: Yes, he is. Jesus has passed from perception to
knowledge. And so have you.
We are at home in God, dreaming of exile (T-10.I.2:1). We are all already in Heaven.
(Actually we never left.) The story is already over! Were at the end, looking back and
remembering. Were living a rerun, someone said. The fact that Jesus has already done it is
the guarantee that we all will do it, we all will experience what he has experienced because we
are really all one mind, Ted said.
This is the reason that I need do nothing. We all continue to make the error that we have to
accomplish something. We think that there is this great mountain to climb, the mountain of
enlightenment or perfection. We may believe Jesus has climbed it, along with others like Buddha,
but we think were still at the bottom looking up. We are intimidated by how hard it is going to
be, awed by all the work that has to be done, discouraged by the thought of how far we have to go
to get there.
These thoughts are simply the way the ego tries to handle the situation when you finally get a
glimpse of the promised land, of the realm of knowledge that God intends for you to live in.
The ego can accept the idea that return is necessary because it can so easily make
the idea seem difficult. Yet the Holy Spirit tells you that even return is unnecessary,
because what never happened cannot be difficult. However, you can make the idea of
return both necessary and difficult. Yet it is surely clear that the perfect need
nothing, and you cannot experience perfection as a difficult accomplishment,
because that is what you are.
(T-6.II.11:14)
The ego tries to convince you that what you have seen is something you lack instead of
something you already have. In You is everything I hope to find already given me (1:6). You
are what you have been looking for.
The Christ-nature is not something you have to develop. You dont have to slave over the ego
trying to change it into a Christ! That simply isnt possible. If you think you have to become the
Christ, you have put yourself in a situation where You cant get there from here. And that is
exactly where the ego wants you to be.
The Christ-nature is Who you really are! You just dont remember. It is already inside you. It
is you. You think you are something else, but you arent. That is the illusion the ego has cast. You
think the ego is you! You think that all this awful stuff, all this miserable little worm nature, this
weakling, this sniveling coward, is what you are. That is not you. The ego is not you. The ego is
not anything, and not anywhere; it is just a thought you have about yourself, a thought that is
wholly false. Christ is the only part of you that has reality in truth (W-pII.6.3:2).
When you feel as if you have to struggle, when you feel as if you have to make all kinds of
difficult choices, then you are seeing yourself as an ego, at the bottom of the mountain looking
up. When you see yourself as the Christ, there is nothing to do.
Our only problem is thinking we have a problem. The thought that I dont have it yet is the
problem. We need to be enlightened from thinking we need to be enlightened. All that has to
change is that thought, and the thought changes nothing, does nothing, because we are always
already enlightened, always already happy, always already perfect. God created us that way and
we cant change it; all we can do is forget it and pretend we are something else.
In todays moment of quiet we can taste the flavor of that stillness in which there is nothing to
do and nowhere to go. The stillness of today will give us hope that we have found the way, and
travelled far along it to a wholly certain goal (2:1). We can taste the reality of the end, even in
the midst of our traveling; we can know the goal is wholly certain, and even inevitable.
Today we will not doubt the end which God Himself has promised us. We trust in
Him, and in our Self, Who still is one with Him. (2:23)

You are my goal, my Father. Only you.
Commentary
This lesson comes from a very high place. It is something that would be spoken by a person
ready to live in the real world, a prayer from the heart of Christ within me. It is the heartfelt
thoughts of Christ, expressed in words; it is the mindset that I seek to listen to all the time. And so
it is true of me; I can speak these words with honesty, even though I know that often I listen to the
ego, which has every other goal but God.
If I feel today that I cannot say with simple honesty, You are my goal, my Father. Only
You, then let me look with honesty, and without fear, on what other goals I still cherish. Let me
ask myself, What could be a substitute for happiness? What gift could I prefer before the peace
of God? (1:23). Any such other goal is obviously a foolish one. Any goal that distracts me from
the peace of God is unworthy of me.
If I have another goal, if I cannot say Only You, then I am desiring to go someplace other
than Heaven; I am looking for a substitute for happiness; I am seeking something which I think is
preferable to the peace of God; I am looking to find and keep something which I think is better
than my own Identity; I am choosing to live with fear rather than with love.
It really is that simple.
In the Course, Jesus assures me that it is not shameful to recognize these things about
myself. Recognizing my false goals is the beginning of wisdom. All that is needful is for
me to recognize what I am doing, what other goals I am choosing, and the power of those
things will simply fall away. Pretending to love only God while secretly holding on to
other goals is a sure guarantee of failure and unhappiness. Honest recognition of those
other goals, and of my responsibility in choosing them, is the sure way of release.

Let me forget my brothers past today.
Practice suggestion: For a longer version of todays idea, try thinking of a particular
person you are carrying a grievance toward, and then repeating the following:
Let me forget my brother [names] past today.
Because if I see that his sins are in the past, I will see that mine are, too.
Because if I believe that he bears Gods Name, I will believe that I do, too.
Because if I see that he is Gods creation, I will see that I am, too.
Commentary
I cannot come to You without my brother (1:2). The decision for God is the decision to
share. What we recognize, in recognizing our Identity, is an Identity that is shared with all living
things. Because my salvation lies in awaking to this shared Identity, it is impossible to come to
God alone. The problem is separation; therefore the solution is unity.
[My brothers] sins are in the past along with mine, and I am saved because the past is gone
(1:5). If the past is gone for me, it is gone for everyone. If I hold on to the past in regard to my
brother, therefore, and hold grievances against him in any way, I am denying my own salvation.
Let me not cherish [the past] within my heart, or I will lose the way to walk to You (1:6).
The lesson teaches that to know my Source, I first must recognize what You created one with
me (1:3). In other words, to fully appreciate my own origins in God, to know my own holiness
and perfection, I need to see that that awful person and everyone else was created by God in
just the same way. I cannot come to You without my brother (1:2).
We all have certain people we just cant see as being in Heaven. Lets say one of mine is
named George. I cant see George as being worthy of Heaven. Maybe, for me, if George were
there it wouldnt be Heaven. Do you know the kind of person I mean?
Well, I cannot come to You without my brother does not mean that I cant get to Heaven
until George does. It means that I cant get to Heaven until I see George as already there. It is still
something in my control; Im not made dependent on the other persons seeing. In my mind
George must be seen as the same as myself. In my mind, I must see his holiness, I must forget his
past. When I can forget his past, I can forget my own.
If I hold the past against my brother I am holding it against myself. We cannot see ourselves
as any higher than we see our brother. I cant be any holier than he is. Yet I cannot be any less
holy than Jesus.
The bottom line is, I cant see myself as having any gift of God that I am not willing for
everyone to have.
When I honor my brother as my savior, I am recognizing Who he really is, and thereby I
recognize my own Identity, shared with him. My brothers and sisters are my saviors, not in the
sense that they provide me with something I do not have or do something for me I cannot do, but
in the sense that by forgiving them, by forgetting their past, I remind myself of the truth about
myself which I share with them. They show me my own judgment on myself, and give me
opportunities to let it go. When I see my brother, I am seeing myself, and my gentleness and
kindness toward them, in forgiveness, is the way I can give these gifts to myself.
In the closing paragraph, Jesus speaks to us. It is important to recognize him as the speaker:
Forgive me, then, today. And you will know you have forgiven me if you behold
your brother in the light of holiness. He cannot be less holy than can I, and you can
not be holier than he.
(2:13)
I have said that how I see my brother is how I see myself. In this paragraph, Jesus makes it
plain that how I see my brother is also a reflection of how I see him, and how I see God. And thus
my forgiveness of a brother is identical to forgiving Jesus, and to forgiving God.
You can not be holier than he [your brother] (2:3). The limit I mentally place on my brother,
by how I perceive him, is a limit I am placing on myself. If I hold him to the past, then I am held
to the past. If I see him as incapable of understanding, incapable of learning, incapable of
perfection, then I am seeing myself that way. No one is beyond redemption. If I see a brother as if
I believe he will never find God in this lifetime, I am placing that limit on myself. And in every
case, the limit is false. There is no order of difficulty in miracles (T-1.I.1:1).

The past is over. It can touch me not.
Commentary
We are learning in the Course that mind is the cause of the world we see. Say I find myself
angry at someone. Instead of assuming, as I have done all my life, that what I have seen is real, I
recognize that it is an illusion of some kind. I dont try to figure it out, I just give it to the Holy
Spirit. I recognize that my angry thoughts are not caused by what I see, but rather, my thoughts of
anger caused my perception of what I see.
My thoughts are prior to any sight and sound. Many people see this in what to me is a partial
way. They see that our present feelings are not caused by what is presently happening, but they
assume that there must be something in the past that caused these feelings. Can you recall
another time you felt like this? is their key question. The idea is that you can remember some
past event that aroused this feeling, and by realizing that the feeling is an unresolved feeling from
the earlier event, you can detach the feeling from the present one. Im not really angry at you; I
am angry because you represent my mother to me. That sort of thing. The Course does talk
about this kind of shadow figure from the past, but it points out that such shadow figures are
not real, and have no hold over you unless you bring them with you (T-13.IV.6:2). (Sections IV
through VI in Chapter 13 all deal with releasing the past.) In other words, our present distress or
anger is not caused by the past, but by a present decision to bring its pain into the present. A
decision being made in the present can be undone in the present.
The past can touch me not. Past events are not the cause of my feelings, either. The mistake
in that kind of connecting of present emotions to past events, which certainly can be useful to a
limited degree, is that it still makes the false connection of some event or person as the cause of
my feeling, with my feeling as the effect. The key the Course gives is that the past is over. If I
am seeing the past I am seeing but what is not there (1:2). The one true thought that can be had
about the past, says the Course, is that it is not here (W-pI.8.2:1). It does not (any longer) exist.
All that exists is a thought in my mind which I call a memory, and that memory is imperfect,
slanted to my perceptions and with no awareness of the inner reality of other people who were
also present. All I remember is what I saw, what I heard, what I thought, what I felt. So my
picture of the past is totally inadequate and cannot be the basis for any kind of rational judgment.
When I do recognize that my present feeling is caused by viewing present events through the
filter of a memory of the past, that is good because it can serve to help me detach my feelings
from the things happening in the now. But I need to go one step further. I need to see that my
feelings are not caused by the past, either. The past has no power over me. The past doesnt exist.
The past I remember is my own thoughts about the past.
If my feelings are not caused by the present and not caused by the past, then what are they
caused by? Certainly not by the future, which has not happened yet. Then what?
I am affected only by my thoughts (W-pII.338.Heading). Only by my thoughts. That is the
bottom line. The Course says that eventually we must learn that there is nothing outside of our
mind to affect us; thought is all there is. Everything else is the effect of thought, not the cause of
anything (T-26.VII.4:9; T-10.In.1:1).
There is nothing outside you. That is what you must ultimately learn.
18.VI.1:12)
(T-
Why do we have thoughts that cause bad feelings? It all goes back to the original thought of
separation. We think we have stolen our being from God, we think we succeeded in creating a
separate self, and we think that God must be angry. We believe in the wrath of God. In less
theological terms, we are guilty because we see ourselves existing in a world that demands
selfishness for survival. We are guilty because (we think that) we are separate and it is our own
fault.
We have this profound sense of guilt, so profound it terrifies us. We cannot even bear to look
at it. We are afraid of oblivion, afraid of death, more afraid of hell. Fear transmutes into many
forms: anger, depression, jealousy, apathy. We open our eyes and immediately we are looking for
a scapegoat, something we can blame as the cause of these terrible feelings. Inevitably we find a
culprit. You! You are the one who has stolen away my peace! We made the world to serve this
purpose.
The Holy Spirit comes into our lives to employ the means you made for exile to restore your
mind to where it truly is at home (W-pII.7.3:3). We look on each event as a possible scapegoat
for our awful feelings. The Holy Spirit looks on each event as a possible means of showing us
love. We learn to see everything as either love or a call for love. To the ego, everything witnesses
to separation and guilt. To the Spirit, everything witnesses to the reality of love.
To perceive the world forgiveness offers we must be willing to let the past go, to see that it
cannot touch us now. The forgiven world can only be seen now. We have to choose to stop
looking at a past that is not there (2:1).

My present happiness is all I see.
Commentary
Unless I look upon what is not there, my present happiness is all I see (1:1). That is the real
key: not looking at what isnt here. So often we are looking at the past, or as I was doing as I lay
in bed this morning, the future. Neither past nor future is here. By definition they are not now.
What Jesus is saying here is that if we can stop for a moment looking at past or future, what
we will see is present happiness. As one guru says, You are always already happy.
What does this have to do with the leading lesson on the Holy Spirit? What I perceive
without Gods Own Correction [the Holy Spirit] for the sight I made is frightening and painful to
behold (1:4). The future is frightening; the past is painful. I need the corrective spectacles of the
Holy Spirit to see the truth.
The world I see is painful because the ego made it to support itself. If I just go on looking at it
through the eyes the ego made, I am going to see witnesses to evil, sin, danger, and guilt. I need
to see it a different way.
Im not being asked to blind myself, to bury my head in the sand and pretend the world is not
there. Im being asked to willingly put on corrective lenses and see the world differently, as a
witness to love, joy, and peace. First of all, in this lesson, I am being asked to look within and
notice that without reference to the past or the future, I am naturally happy. I am being asked to
stop looking at what isnt there. Seeing what is there in a different way is the next stage, and there
will be little effort to it because I will start from a place of happiness.
If I am already happy, nothing in the present can change that because I dont approach it from
a sense of lack. I dont approach it at all, I am already in it.
This is a great technique for meditation: as thoughts arise, if they concern the past in any way,
just let them float by. If they concern the future in any way, just let them float by. If you can do
that, what you will discover, always, is your present happiness. You dont have to manufacture it
because it always exists.

This is a day of stillness and of peace.
Commentary
I write my comments on this lesson at the end of the day (so that it is awaiting you in your
morning e-mail).1 My day today seemed to be anything but a day of stillness and peace, more like
a day of staggering pace. I was rushing about meeting my bodys needs, stocking up on groceries
Id let run down to nothing, buying some vitamins, razor blades, and so on. In the back of my
mind was a booklet waiting its finishing touches (and already behind schedule), a flyer for an
upcoming workshop, phone calls to make, a stack of correspondence-school papers to read and
respond to. I had lunch at 3:45 pm and supper at 8:15. My details are different from yours, but
Im sure lots of your days are similar in tone, if not in content.
We all have the demands of time and circumstance upon us. How do we find inner peace in
the midst of it? This lesson speaks of Christs vision, which looks through me today (1:1).
His sight shows me all things forgiven and at peace, and offers this same vision to the world
(1:2). The peace being spoken of here is the peace that comes from a different perspective, an
inner peace. Elsewhere the Course acknowledges that when we live in this world we are involved
in busy doing (T-18.VII.8:3). It isnt that the busy doing ceases. Its that our mind can be at
peace even in the midst of busy doing, a quiet center from which we operate (same reference).
I was not doing so well at maintaining that quiet center today, or rather, at remembering it was
there and making use of it; I was operating more on the surface of my mind. As a result, I felt a
little frantic. This lesson calls me back to home base. The vision Christ offers me is one of
loveliness and holiness (1:45). It is the sight of a forgiven world, whose forgiveness includes my
own. It is the peace of knowing that, although I may forget the toilet paper or fail to write the
needed letter, my Self is unchanged, God is my Father, and I share the holiness of God Himself.
In my hyper-activity today there was a certain sense that, somehow, my salvation depended on
remembering everything I had to buy or finishing all the tasks I hoped to accomplish. What a
relief to know I was wrong! Even in my study of the Course, sometimes, an anxiety creeps in,
thinking I have to understand everything perfectly in order to find my way home. Instead, as I
read this lesson, I can relax:
I do not know the way to You. But You are wholly certain. Father, guide Your
Son along the quiet path that leads to You. Let my forgiveness be complete, and let
the memory of You return to me. (2:36)
1
. I have left this sentence almost exactly as it first appeared when the lesson
commentaries were first mailed out by electronic mail on the Internet, in order to
preserve the original feel of immediacy in the whole paragraph.

A happy outcome to all things is sure.
Practice suggestion: As I often do, I suggest that you make todays idea more specific in
your practicing of it. Think of a situation that is weighing on you or worrying you. Then
say, A happy outcome to this situation is sure. Realize there is no time limit on when
that happy ending might come, yet also realize that it is up to us when this [outcome] is
reached (1:3).
Commentary
Gods promises make no exceptions. And He guarantees that only joy can be the
final outcome found for everything. Yet it is up to us when this is reached; how long
we let an alien will appear to be opposing His.
(1:13)
It is up to us when this is reached. We keep coming back to that: When we experience the
outcome of joy in all things is up to us. My experience of anything less than total joy is due to my
own choice to let an alien will appear to be opposing His. It seems to me as if my own will is at
times opposing Gods. It seems as if I dont want to let go of the little creature comforts, the
physical, mental, and emotional indulgences I continually grant myself in the illusion that I need
them.
The law of perception states, You see what you believe is there, and you believe it there
because you want it there (T-25.III.1:3). If I see in myself a will that differs from Gods, I see it
because I believe it is there. I believe my will is different from Gods will. And I believe that
because I want to believe that. If I am alike to God in every way, God and I have only one Will,
and the alien will I perceive has no meaning. That is the exact truth! The alien will has no
meaning! It does not exist. That is why I want to see my will as opposed to Gods, and why I
do. The apparent conflict in my life is just the egos vain attempts to hold on to its identity, which
is wholly illusory.
The truth of the matter is that what I seemy resistance to the will of God, which is my
perfect happinessdoes not exist. I am projecting that from my mind. What I see is an illusion of
myself. It is not real, and therefore carries no taint of guilt.
And while we think this will is real, we will not find the end He has appointed as
the outcome of all problems we perceive, all trials we see, and every situation that
we meet. (1:4)
All of us go around most of the time consciously or unconsciously disturbed by the
undercurrent of resistance to God we believe exists within our selves. We think it is real. We read
A Course in Miracles and determine to be more loving, more forgiving, and then we encounter a
deep resistance to the entire idea, a seemingly immovable wall that will not allow us to change.
We have an addiction we cant break. We find one relationship in which forgiveness seems
impossible despite all of our efforts. We determine that today I will judge nothing that occurs
(W-pII.243.Heading) and then, minutes later, flare up in anger over some small unfairness. And
we feel despair, we feel we cannot do it. Somehow we are incorrigible. Some part of us is beyond
redemption. Some part of our will is implacably opposed to God.
As long as we believe that this part of us which seems opposed to God is real, Jesus is saying,
we wont find the real world. We wont find our escape. We wont find the happy outcome to all
things.
We have to come to the point where we are simultaneously fully aware of that stubborn knot
within us, and aware that it is not real. We have to get to the place where we see it, own it, and
take responsibility for it, and yet do so entirely without guilt. To look on the egos darkness
without guilt is possible only if, as we look, we have abandoned all belief in its reality. That is
what the Holy Spirit will enable us to do. Through His enabling, we will come to see that the ego
is an illusion of ourselves projected from our minds, nothing more than an illusion, and therefore
nothing to be upset about. Yes, I see the knot of resistance in me, but what I see is not really
there. I am seeing it, but it isnt real. It doesnt change anything about reality. I am the beloved
Son of God, even if I cant see that now.
We want the ego knot to change. We want it to go away. And while we believe in its reality, it
wont. The ego is incorrigible. Self-forgiveness involves accepting that about ourselves. The ego
will always be the ego, thats the bad news. But the ego is not who we are, and thats the good
news.
When we catch ourselves listening to the ego, believing in the reality of an alien will, we can
come to the point of learning not to take it seriously. Its as if we say, I was dreaming again.
Now, I choose to be awake. And if we find we are not ready yet for full wakefulness, if the
appearance of resistance in ourselves still seems real, we can say, Yes, I see that, Im not awake
yet, and it still seems real, but at least I am aware that I am dreaming. The ego is of no
consequence. Its no big deal, as Ken Wapnick says. Even if we seem to be caught in the
dream, we dont have to accept guilt about it.
Yet is the ending certain. For Gods Will is done in earth and Heaven. We will
seek and we will find according to His Will, which guarantees that our will is done.
(1:57)
All the raging of the ego, all the apparent struggle: its all a dream. The ending is certain, and
is totally unaffected by the egos madness. There is no will opposing Gods, and therefore, His
Will and ours will be done. My will and Gods are in fact the same, which guarantees the
outcome. The craziness of the ego dream has no effects, just as a dream has no effect on the
physical world. The craziness of the ego is just a play of images in the mind, and nothing more
than that. In the end there will be nothing but joy.
We thank You, Father, for Your guarantee of only happy outcomes in the end.
Help us not interfere, and so delay the happy endings You have promised us for
every problem that we can perceive; for every trial we think we still must meet.
(2:12)
Help us not interfere. That is our prayer. Resisting the ego, being guilty about it in
ourselves, striving to change it, or demeaning ourselves because of it, are all forms of
interference. They all make the mistake of believing the ego is real, believing there really is an
alien will in us that opposes God. To not interfere is to recognize that the ego is just a dream
about ourselves, and that nothing need be done about it. The most potent force against the ego
is the simple thought: It doesnt matter. It doesnt mean anything. Just bring it to the Holy
Spirit and let Him handle it. Just say, Look, Im dreaming again. And let it go.

All fear is past and only love is here.
Practice suggestion: The following exercise is based on this lessons teaching that your
fear is caused by your past mistakes. Their presence in your memory tells you that
punishment is on the way, that you better be afraid because youve got it coming to you.
But these past mistakes are gone. If you could open your eyes and see the present, you
would see that only love is really here.
Now for the exercise. Look ahead into your day and identify anything you are afraid of, any
event thats causing you worry or anxiety, or that you would simply like to avoid. Try to identify
several such fears. With each one you find, say:
This fear is past
because my past mistakes are gone.
And only love is here,
Because God is here.
Commentary
I think of fear as related to the future, yet here it says all fear is past. This means more, I
think, than that my experiences of fear are all over. Understood that way it is almost wishful
thinking. What it seems to actually mean is that fear itself is in the past. Fear comes from the past,
it exists in the past only. When the past is real to me, with all my past mistakes oppressing it
(1:3), then I have fear (and only then). What I fear is that the past determines the future. If my
past is filled with mistakes and things of guilt, and I consider it to be real, this generates my
present fear of the future.
The source of fear is making the past real in the present.
The Course teaches us that the past that you remember never was (T-14.IX.1:10). At first it
seems difficult to say to myself, The things I think happened in the past did not ever happen;
they are not real. Perhaps it is easier to say, The past never existed in the way I think it did.
That seems more conceivable, more acceptable. To say that is only a step toward the truth, but I
think it can be a helpful step. We begin by admitting that our memories of the past are, to say the
least, distorted.
Each one peoples his world with figures from his individual past, and it is
because of this that private worlds do differ. Yet the figures that he sees were never
real, for they are made up only of his reactions to his brothers, and do not include
their reactions to him.
(T-13.V.2:12)
More than that, the past we imagine we know is filled with reasons for guilt and attack. We
remember wrongs done to us, and wrongs we have done. That perception must shift. If we accept
the judgment of the Holy Spirit, the perception of guilt must go. Forgiveness is a kind of selective
remembering. We can begin to see the past and everything in it as either the expression of love or
a call for help.
This is a kind of intermediate position. In a way we are still believing that the past is (or was)
real, but we are deciding to see it differently. The ultimate truth is that time itself does not exist,
the world does not exist, bodies do not exist. They are nothing but the play of thoughts in our
mind.
A physical analogy helps me. Does an ocean wave exist? Is a wave real? In one sense, yes; in
another, no. There is no such thing as a wave apart from the ocean. What we call a wave is no
more than the play of physical energy on water. The water, the ocean, is (in this physical plan)
what is real; the wave is here one moment, gone the next; in this moment comprised of one set of
water molecules, in the next comprised of a wholly different set of molecules. A wave does not
exist in itself, independent of all else.
The entire physical universe is nothing more than a wave in Eternal Mind. Mind is all that is
real.
In this sense, then, nothing of the past is real. All of the past of a wave no longer exists. The
past wave is totally and completely gone. Where it passed now lies placid and calm, unaffected
by the wave. Waves do not change the ocean.
Some may be able to see it this way, to understand at least in concept that the past simply does
not exist. Some of us may need the simpler form, It never happened the way I think it did. Guilt
was never real. The simpler form will eventually lead to the fuller form, so it simply doesnt
matter.
When I experience fear, then, one thing to look for is the belief in the past that is behind it,
perhaps hidden, but surely there. Only the past makes me fearful of the future. That is why young
children are so often lacking in fear: they have no memory of past disasters to give rise to the
fear. When I feel fear, let me remember that it depends on my perception of the past, and affirm:
What I remember never happened as I think it did. There is nothing to fear.
When I deliberately choose to exclude the past from my consideration of the present, in the
present love is obvious, and its effects apparent (1:4). The constant burden of the past, dredging
up remembered horrors, totally blocks this awareness of loves presence from my perception. All
our learning is nothing but an accumulation of ideas about the past. Therefore all of it is nothing.
We begin to unlearn, to deliberately forget what we think the past has taught us, and in that we
find true perception and eventually true knowledge.
The world that we see, when we see without the fear carried over from the past, is the real
world. This is the world we are asking to see today in this lesson. Underneath all the sounds of
fear, the world is singing hymns of gratitude (2:2). The perception of the Holy Spirit is able to
penetrate through the veneer of fear we have placed over reality. When we share His perception,
we realize the past is gone, and we see and hear what is here now, when love is obvious. Let
me, then, join in the prayer: I would see only this world before my eyes today (2:4).

My body is a wholly neutral thing.
Practice suggestion: Think of a number of features of your body that you either like or
dislike. With each one, say:
I see this [name the bodily feature] as [good, bad].
It is neither good nor bad.
It is a wholly neutral thing.
Commentary
This statement sums up the Courses attitude towards the body. It is neither good nor bad
(2:2); it is neutral. It derives its value or its harm from the use to which we put it, the purpose that
it serves.
There is a view of the body that sees it as inherently good, always deserving that we respect its
wishes. If I am sexually aroused by someone I should indulge that urge. If I am hungry I should
eat; if I am tired I should sleep. All repression of physical desires is wrong. This view is
incorrectly identifying the body with my self. It deifies the body and makes it not only good, it
makes it God.
There is another view that sees the body as inherently evil. Therefore I must master and
repress all my bodily urges. This approach denies that the body is in any way an expression of my
self. It makes a devil of the body. It produces endless guilt over every physical desire.
The body, says the Course, is not good and not bad. It is neutral. Not sinful, nor sinless. Its
only usefulness is in awakening from the dream, or in communicating salvation. Such an
approach does not make the mistake of identifying myself with my body. It does not make me
wrong for having urges, nor does it make me wrong for ignoring some of those urges. It neither
exalts nor condemns the body. It accepts the body as a tool, useful for the purpose of truth and
nothing else. It sees no purpose in purely bodily ends.
The lesson states, I am a Son of God (1:1). And I am not another thing, mortal and
corruptible (1:23). God did not create the mortal and corruptible body, and a Son of God has no
use for what must die (1:4). Yet if the body is seen as a neutral thing it does not see death (1:5).
Why? Because thoughts of fear are not invested there, nor is a mockery of love bestowed upon
it (1:5). We (apparently) experience death when we see the body as evil (thoughts of fear) or
as good (a mockery of love). Holding the body as neutral protects it while it has a use (1:6).
In other words, to the mind that is healed, the body is immortal until its work is done. It lasts as
long as it is needed for the minds purposes of healing in this world, and then it is simply laid
aside because it no longer has a purpose (1:7). This is not death but simply the end of the body.
As The Song of Prayer puts it, We call it death, but it is liberty (S-3.II.3:1).
When a mind that is healed no longer needs the body, the body is simply laid aside. It is not
sick nor old nor hurt. It is but functionless, unneeded and cast off (1:89). There have been a few
who have experienced this kind of bodily end that is not death. Robert tells me of reading of a
Tibetan monk who, one day, announced to his followers that his work in the body was almost
finished and that he would be leaving the body in a few months. He named the exact date. And on
that day, he sat in meditation in full lotus, and simply left. He was not sick nor old nor hurt. His
body was simply unneeded any more.
How can we attain to such a high state, and such a gentle death (if it can even be called
death)? The lesson indicates that our path lies in the direction of gradually coming to see our
bodies as of service for a while and fit to serve, to keep its usefulness while it can serve, and
then to be replaced for greater good (1:10). It is neither a burden nor an end in itself. It is simply
a tool. We use it, in this dream, to help Your plan that we awaken from all dreams we made
(2:3), and for nothing more than that. Seeing the body as neutral is what protects it while it has a
use in this plan. As we align our minds with Gods plan, we value the body for its usefulness in
fulfilling the plan, and not for itself. We neither exalt it nor abuse it. We do not strive either to
keep the body or to leave it. We simply use it to fulfill our function.

The Holy Spirit looks through me today.
Commentary
My eyes are Christs. Christ asks that He may use my eyes today (1:1). And in the prayer at
the end, Christs eyes are mine. Help me to use the eyes of Christ today (2:2). Two ways of
saying the same thing: to ask that Christ look through my eyes, or to ask that I see through His
eyes, is to ask that His vision, His eyes, replace my own limited vision.
Christ asks for my eyes to offer peace of mind to me, and take away all terror and all pain
(1:2). He is not asking me for sacrifice, but asking so that He can give a gift to me. He offers to
take my perception from me because my perception shows me terror and pain; He offers to
replace it with His own vision, showing me peace, joy, and love.
As we give our lives to God we begin to experience that rather than living we are being
lived. The Holy Spirit is looking through our eyes. He is speaking through our lips. He is
thinking with our minds. It is an experience of being taken up and carried through life by a
limitless energy of love that is far greater than we can contain because it includes everything.
Sometimes I seem so far from that, and yet I know that it is as near to me as breathing. Nearer.
This morning I ask, Father, for grace to surrender to that flow of love, to surrender to the Holy
Spirit, now, in this moment, and over and over through the day, that I may share His vision of the
world.
In a way this lesson is the entire Course: to let the Holy Spirit look through me, to bathe the
world with eyes of love. To walk through the day with no purpose in its outward things, yet to
live with a hidden agenda, a secret mission: I will be love in this situation. That is all it is about,
and nothing else matters, nothing else is real. I am the light of the world. I am here to allow the
Holy Spirits Love to bless all things which I may look upon, that His forgiving Love may rest on
me (2:2). That is what my life is about, that is all it is about. I am here only to be what I am, to
be my Self, which is Love.

The Holy Spirit speaks through me today.
Practice suggestion: You may want to think of the people you expect to interact with
today, and with each one ask the Holy Spirit the following questions:
What would You say through me to [name]?
How would You have me tell [name] that he/she is pure and holy as God Himself?
Quiet your mind. Try to clear it of any preconceptions. Listen deeply. Repeat your questions if
nothing comes at first. You may want to have pen and paper in hand, and write down anything
that comes to mind.
Commentary
When I allow the Holy Spirit to look through me (yesterdays lesson), sharing His perception,
then He also speaks through me.
Not that I become Gods gift to the world in the egoic sense, the oracle who has the answer for
all mankind. No, not that. But He does speak through me. He speaks the word of welcome, of
acknowledgment, of appreciation, and of gratitude. Through me, the Holy Spirit communicates to
my sisters and brothers, You are safe. You are whole. You are loved.
Having damned the world, now I would set it free. Having plastered everyone with guilt,
layering it on with a heavy hand, now I would lift that guilt from everyone. Why grant this escape
to all and sundry? Because I want it for myself, and this is the only way to get it. If my brother
dies guilty, I die with him. What a tremendous privilege I have, to lift the guilt from those around
me, to let them know they are free!
Through me (and you) the Holy Spirit persuades the world to seek and find the path to God. I
am His representative on earth, an ambassador for the Kingdom of God. To those who have not
learned as yet to listen to His Voice on their own, I represent Him, speaking His words,
portraying His attitude and His Love to every person I encounter. That is my function. That is my
only purpose. That is my life.
I would be savior to the world I made. For having damned it I would set it free.
(1:34)
Am I willing to become savior to my world? Some of the time I find myself wanting to escape
it, to just let it fall into ruins and be done with it. The Course is clear on this point: I cannot fly off
to Heaven myself and leave the world behind. I cannot reach heaven without my brothers.
The weary feeling toward the world, the sense that I am so bone-tired of all of this mess,
hides my own judgment on myself. Deeply guilty of my own continued separation from the
Father, I want to lay the blame on the world. I want to be able to feel, It is this tiresome place
that keeps me from my peace. Peace is here; peace is now. Peace, and Heaven itself, are in me,
with me wherever I go. I do not need to fly off, and nothing needs to change.
The Holy Spirit needs my voice today (1:1). We live in a conspiracy of silence. There are
many, far more than we know, who have caught sight of Heaven. We are among them. Yet we
fear to speak because we fear people will mock us, people will think we are crazy.
How often have we hungered, craved with a deep yearning, for someone who would dare to
say, in the midst of fear, suffering, loss, and terror, I am at peace. The peace of God is very real
to me. Today, be the one to answer anothers yearning. We teachwhat we would learn (2:1).

Forgiveness is the only gift I give.
Practice suggestion: The opening lines of this lesson are pure gold. I find them very
powerful if used as a kind of practice. Here is how I have done that. Pick a particular
person in your life, especially someone important to you, and apply the following to
him/her:
Forgiveness is the only gift I give,
(Think of seeing past that persons flawed body and personality and seeing the pure Son of
God in him/her.)
Because it is the only gift I want.
(Think about the guilt you feel in this relationship, about how much you want to feel forgiven
for all your mistakes in the relationship.)
And everything I give I give myself.
(Feel your gift of forgiveness returning to you. Let yourself feel absolved from all your own
mistakes in the relationship. See past your own flaws to the pure Son of God in you.)
I highly recommend doing this practice every hour today. It will bring wonderful benefits.
Commentary
What do I want to have? Whatever it is, to give it is the way to have it. And the more I grow,
the more I realize that Forgivenessis the only gift I want (1:1).
What can I possibly want more than absolute freedom from the burden of self-judgment?
What can I possibly want besides this? To be free of self-condemnation is to acknowledge my
perfection and completion as God created me. It is to recognize that nothing I have ever done,
ever thought, or ever said has ever diminished, even in the slightest, my value and loveliness in
Gods sight.
If this is what I want, let me give it today, because everything I give I give to myself (1:2).
Let me extend this recognition to everyone I meet today, that nothing they have ever done, ever
thought, or ever said has ever diminished, even in the slightest, their worth and value in my sight.
Every step in my salvation is already set (2:1). Nothing has been overlooked. There is no need
to be restless or anxious, concerned about whether I will make it or when I will make it. I will.
That is all I need to know. It is accomplished already, and I can travel this illusory journey in
peace knowing that in reality it is already over.

I love You, Father, and I love Your Son.
Commentary
My gratitude permits my love to be accepted without fear (1:1). It is speaking here of my
love for the Father and His Son. As the Course often points out, in my wrong mind I am afraid of
my own love for God and His Son, because it seems that if I give in to it, I will lose myself in the
infinity of God. I will lose my little self in Him, but not my true Identity. It is the false identity I
am afraid of losing, and clinging to it, attempting to preserve ego identification, makes me
terrified of my own love of God.
Gratitude is what permits my love to be accepted without fear. Gratitude is simply the
acceptance of and thankfulness for Gods gifts: I accept instead what God establishes as mine
(1:5). When I let go of what I think I madethe ego identityand accept instead Gods gift of
my true Self, with thanks, suddenly my love for God and for His Son is no longer terrifying. All
that makes it seem frightening are my vain attempts to make real what never was real and to hold
on to my separateness.
Deep in my heart, I love You, Father. I let go, even if only for an instant, of what I have been
trying to protect. I liberate my love, freeing it to flow unhindered. I allow myself to feel its depth.
So often it seems to me that I do not love You; now, it is refreshing and cleansing to simply allow
that love free course, to acknowledge its presence within me. I have the gift of my secure Identity
in You; there is no need to protect a nonexistent something else.
Deep in my heart, Father, I also love Your Son, the Christ Who is my true Self, and the shared
Self of every living thing. I accept the Son as my Self, and I accept my sisters and brothers as
parts, with me, of that one Self. Your Son is Your gift to me, and is me. So often it seems to me
that I do not love some aspects of the Son, some of those who seem to differ from me, or who
seem antagonistic to me. Now, in this moment, I acknowledge them all with gratitude as parts of
my Self. I am no longer, for this instant at least, protecting this little fenced-off aspect I have
known as me. I embrace them all with love.
I am so glad You describe the journey as going through fear to meet my Love (1:5).
Because there is fear. I feel frightened to let go of me. Who will I be? What will be left? How
wonderful to know that what I fear to lose is not lost at all; it is expanded and uplifted into
something far greater than I have ever believed possible. When I have gone through fear, what I
meet is my Love. This, truly, is no sacrifice!
I am grateful forescape from everything that would obscure my love for God my Father
and His holy Son (2:4).

Eternal holiness abides in me.
Practice suggestion: This is another favorite prayer of mine. I recommend praying it very
slowly and intentionally, making it a genuine communication from you to God. Expect
Him to hear you. Let the prayer draw you into a state of rest and quiet, in which you relax
in the happy awareness that nothing you can do can change your original holiness. Let it
draw you into a deep meditation, which will be far richer for having been introduced by
this lovely prayer.
Commentary
This is the sort of lesson that always brings awareness of my split mind to me. One part is
sighing, blissfully, Ah! How wonderful to know that Gods creation rests intact in me. The
other part is looking around and over my shoulder while saying, You talkin to me?
Sometimes, Father, I can accept the idea that there is holiness in me. I want to accept it more
often, and more deeply. I want to know that holiness is all that I am. I can relate to the first line,
that my holiness is far beyond my own ability to understand or know (1:1). At least the
beyond my ability part. Yet there is some part of me that knows the holiness is there; perhaps
unknown, perhaps not yet understood, but stillthere.
When I am aware of my union with God; when I allow that realization to leak through into my
consciousness; then, together with Him, I know that it is so, that holiness abides in me.
The Course belabors this point, repeating it so frequently that I have to realize that there is
enormous resistance in me to getting it:
My holinessis not mine to be destroyed by sin. It is not mine to suffer from
attack. Illusions can obscure it, but can not put out its radiance, nor dim its light.
(2:14)
I can alter my behavior, I can hallucinate and believe I have changed my essential nature, but I
cannot in reality change what I am, I cannot change what God created as me. My attack on myself
didnt work, and never will. I remain as God created me: the holy Son of God Himself. Anything
which seems to say otherwise is an illusion, a fabrication of my mind, desperately striving to hold
on to its ego identification. Guilt is such a fabrication. No one who is holy could be guilty;
therefore, if I am guilty I must not be holy. This is how the ego mind tries to prove its reality to
me.
This day, I affirm that my holiness is not of me (2:1). Im not responsible for creating it, nor
can anything I do, think, or say affect it. God wills that I know it and so it will be known. I lay my
cynicism aside. I allow the thought to lodge in my mind:
Eternal holiness abides in me.

Only an instant does this world endure.
Practice suggestion: As an additional exercise, think of some inner pattern of yours

which you wish was gone, or some outer difficulty which you would like to see vanish.
Imagine the thing you choose appearing as a cloud in the sky. Note how the cloud looks,
what its shape, size, and color are. Then repeat:
Only an instant does this _______ endure.
Let me see beyond that tiny instant to eternity.
Then imagine the cloud vanishing.
Commentary
What a great lesson with which to end a series of ten days in which we have been thinking on
the section What Is the Real World? The thought here is the flip side of the holy instant. This
world is nothing but the unholy instant. Only two instants exist, and we are in one or the other all
the time.
The idea for today could be taken negatively, with a focus on the transi_tory nature of life, a
brief candle, as Shakespeare called it, where our joys are gone before they are possessed (1:1).
On the other hand, the brevity of this worlds existence can be a very encouraging thought! Yet
this is also the idea that lets no false perception keep us in its hold, nor represent more than a
passing cloud upon a sky eternally serene (1:2).
The hallucination that is this world is nothing more than a passing cloud that is crossing the
serenity of our right mind. Our false perceptions will endure no more than an instant, and then
they will be gone. Like a child on a long automobile trip, soon can seem to us to be forever, but
our Father knows the end is certain. The clouds of false perception will dissipate, the sun will
come out again, having been hidden only for an instant. Our minds will recognize their own
serenity once more.
It is this serenity we seek, unclouded, obvious and sure, today. (1:3)
Let me, then, seek that serenity. Let me seek it now, and every time today I can remember to
do so. Let me open myself to that holy instant, and remember that beyond the clouds that seem to
darken my mind, the sun shines uninterrupted. Let me be glad and grateful that the world
endures but for an instant (2:4). Let me go beyond that tiny instant to eternity (2:5). Let me do
so now. Let me reach to that other state of mind often today.
LESSON 301 OCTOBER 28

And God Himself shall wipe away all tears.
See complete instructions. A short summary:
Practice suggestion: To make this lesson more personally meaningful, I have used it in a
more specific form. First, pick someone whom you are judging. Then repeat:
And God Himself shall wipe away all tears
By giving me His world,
Which I will see when I cease to judge [name].
Commentary
The title of this lesson is a quote from the Book of Revelation in the Bible, verses 7:17 and
21:4. Weve all shed tears in our lives, some more than others. Back in the days when I believed
in hell I used to wonder how God could wipe away my tears when people I knew and loved were
in eternal torment. I used to wonder how God could be happy if most of His creatures got
snatched by the devil. I guess wondering about that is part of why I dont believe in that stuff any
more.
But how can God wipe away all our tears? When we look around with our normal (i.e.,
distorted by the ego) perception, it seems impossible not to shed at least some tears over the
suffering and unfairness of life and death. The Courses answer is that we will not be looking
around with that kind of perception at all; we will be looking with a new kind of vision.
Unless I judge I cannot weep (1:1). How will He wipe away our tears? By removing all
judgment from our minds.
We look on the world and we judge it. We judge it to be unfair, unjust, and unfriendly. We
judge some to be victimizers and others the victims. Most of all, we judge it all to be real. If sin
and suffering are real in the final analysis, then tears are inevitable. But we have learned the
world we saw was false (2:4). Not real, but false. It is an illusion I have projected; it exists only
in my mind. I cannot blame my suffering on it because the only one who has attacked myself is
me. The only one who has been unjust is me. I am seeing in the world a reflection of what I
believe I have done in relation to God and my brothers, and nothing more than that. When I learn
to forgive the world, and to accept Atonement for myself, I will no longer see the world this way.
Jesus is speaking, it seems to me, from a high place, and he is including me in that place. Im
not aware of having learned the unreality of the world yet; the world still seems pretty real to me,
and I still weep. The Course assures us that a part of our mindthe only part that has reality in
truthis already awake, and already wholly knows that the world we see is false. Jesus
symbolizes that part of our minds that is awake.
This, however, I do know, based on the promises of the Course: I will see the world this way.
There will come a time when
I cannot weep. Nor can I suffer pain, or feel I am abandoned and unneeded in the
world. (1:12)
I can see it that way at any time I choose, in the holy instant, and I am learning to allow my
perception to be transformed in accord with that vision, more and more each day.
If it seems hypocritical to repeat the prayer in todays lesson, saying, We have learned the
world we saw was false (2:4), reconsider that opinion. You may say, But I dont believe it, I
havent really learned that; how can I say it? Of course you dont believe it! That is exactly why
you are doing the lesson. If you believed it you wouldnt need the lesson. Just for an instant,
suspend your disbelief. Let yourself imagine how it would feel to know that all the ugliness of the
world simply isnt real, that it was nothing but a bad dream, an ugly acid trip, and that nothing
really happened, nothing really was lost, and nobody was really hurt. Only the projected images
died; the reality of life was totally unaffected by the dream. Let yourself slip, just for a moment,
into that state of mind. Those little instants will be enough to take you all the way home.

Where darkness was I look upon the light.
Commentary
This is the change that a shift in perception brings. Where we saw darkness we now see light.
What appeared as attack becomes a call for love. Insanity in a brother becomes an opportunity to
bless. Stones we stumbled over become stepping stones. All things become lessons God would
have us learn. The light is always there, but we saw darkness. Now we see that darkness is our
own imagining, and light is there for us to look upon (1:5).
Perhaps today I can find one thing that seems dark and remember to say, Where I see
darkness, I choose to see the light. Perhaps I can remember to look for love instead of
condemnation and judgment. Perhaps I can look on something that seems like a curse and learn to
count it as a blessing. Let me begin in small increments, and in lessons close to home. It may be
beyond me now to look on global disasters and see light in them, but I can begin with things
closer to home: my disturbed plans, the intrusive friend, the withdrawing spouse. Let me forgive
Your holy world today, that I may look upon its holiness and understand it but reflects my own
(1:7).
We are not alone as we travel this road.
Our Love awaits us as we go to Him, and walks beside us showing us the way.
He fails in nothing. He is the end we seek, and He the means by which we go to
Him.
(2:13)
Our Love, to me, means the Christ. To me, and perhaps to others of you, He is symbolized
by Jesus. Perhaps you think of Him as your higher Self. He is both the means and the end of our
journey. He waits at the end, calling us toward Him, and yet He also walks alongside of us,
instructing us, guiding us, and empowering us as we travel. Let us be grateful today for His help,
and aware of it as we go through the day.

The holy Christ is born in me today.
Commentary
This is what it is all about: the birth of Christ in me. As I become still this morning, Heavens
Son is being born in me. The evil self I made is passing away, and Christ is being born. What I
have believed I am is not the truth; Christ is what I really am in truth (2:4). He is my Self as
You created me (2:6). Let me feel the wonder of it. Let me hear the rustle of angelic wings,
watching with joy as I become aware of what is happening in me.
Why does it seem so hard for us to connect with the truth of all this? As you try to sense the
reality of this Christ Self as yourself, notice the thoughts that arise in opposition to it. Thoughts of
guilt and unworthiness. Mocking thoughts. Thoughts of feeling foolish. Thoughts of futility.
These thoughts comprise the ego; they are thoughts that form the evil self (2:2) you made for
yourself. They mean nothing. Let them go, dancing in the wind, and allow the awareness of your
true grandeur as Gods creation take their place. This noble, wondrous Self you sometimes sense,
and perhaps sense now; this Self of endless love; this universal beneficence, gentleness, and
kindnessthis is you.
Safe in Your Arms let me receive Your Son (2:8). As our minds turn to the light in us and
look for Christ, he is reborn in us (see W-pI.rV.In.7:3). What we are doing in each and every
moment that we allow the Holy Spirit to overshadow our minds is bringing Christ into this world,
giving birth to the holy Son of God in our midst. We are like Mary, saying, Be it done to me
according to your will.

Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.
Commentary
My world is, of course, the world I made to support my ego; the illusory world of attack and
separation. The sight of Christ, or the vision of Christ as it is mostly called in the Text, is a
faculty that is native to all of us, part of our created Being. Christs vision shows us reality and
oneness, not the fragmented chaos we usually see with our eyes. This sight is always available to
us, but the world we made can obscure [our] holy sight (1:1). So todays thought is a prayer, or
a resolution, not to allow that to happen, not to let what our eyes show us prevent our seeing what
the vision of Christ can show us all the time and any timenamely, the real world.
Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected
outward. (1:34)
The same thought is repeated throughout the Course:
Perception can make whatever picture the mind desires to see. Remember this.
(M-19.5:23)
The world you see is what you gave it, nothing more than that.It is the witness to
your state of mind, the outside picture of an inward condition.
(T-21.In.1:2, 5)
The world, then, is only showing us our own minds. Nothing more nor less than our own
projections obscure the sight of Christ. Christ is the only reality, the creation of God, and without
our superimposed projections this reality is all we would see. But we cannot use our perception to
see it; instead, we must use the vision of Christ, a wholly separate faculty or sense (1:2). We need
to let the sight of the world fade from our minds; this is why closing our eyes can be helpful at
first, when what our eyes show us seems so solid and real.
What we see is determined by what we want to see. Therefore, we are given these words to
say: I would [i.e., I will to] bless the world by looking on it through the eyes of Christ (1:5).
Our perception can become true perception, which sees the world as a reflection of the truth
instead of being a mirror of our projections, if truth is what we want to see. When you want only
love you will see nothing else (T-12.VII.8:1).
Today I want to tune in to my natural, God-given desire to bless the world. I want to draw
upon that will to bless, which is always in me, and use it to transform my perception of the world
around me. I want to see the world as a mirror reflecting the fact that all my sins have been
forgiven me (1:6). I will see that when I see all the world as forgiven. Let me forgive, and thus
receive salvation for the world (2:2). This is a gift given me by God that I can offer to His holy
Son, of which every person I meet or even think of today is a part. As I forgive those around me,
which is my mission today, they will be helped to once again find the memory of God, and of the
Christ as their own Self (2:3).
LESSON 305 NOVEMBER 1

There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.
Commentary
I find myself a little resistant to the lesson today. I judge it; it isnt inspiring enough, or it
doesnt tell me anything new. It asserts this wonderful peace, a peace so deep and quiet,
undisturbable and wholly changeless, that the world contains no counterpart (1:1). Im not
experiencing that this morning. Im not fraught with anxiety or anything, but I have only a limited
peace; it doesnt feel changeless; I think I could be disturbed. So I feel a bit frustrated. I know
that aloneness, for instance, is there, gnawing away at the peace. It seems that it would not take
much to upset the boat, and my peace would disappear. I think this is something most of us feel at
times while reading the Course.
I recall one morning when I was doing a lesson, perhaps this very lesson, and all it took to
destroy my seeming peace was to have someone walk through the room I was intwice!
The lesson says that Gods peace is a gift, come to us to save us from our judgment on
ourselves (2:3). It offers a prayer: Help us today[to] judge it not (2:2). How do we judge the
peace of God?
I judge peace as inappropriate due to my circumstances. The peace of God is here, now, and
part of my mind believes that, but I refuse to let myself accept it and feel it because my mind
judges that peace would be inappropriate because of some external circumstance. I cant be
peaceful until this changes, until that changes, or until this happens. It is an assertion of a belief
that something other than the will of God exists, something which has power to take away my
peace. God gives the peace; something else, something apparently more powerful, removes it.
There is no other will, nothing more powerful than God, but my refusal of peace is asserting a
belief that there is.
(T-25.III.1:3)
The Course teaches that in reality I do not have peace because I dont want peace. The first
obstacle to peace is my desire to get rid of it (T-19.IV(A))! That is the only reason. Since nothing
really exists that can take away the peace of God, my insistence that there is such a thing is a
delusion chosen to excuse my refusal of Gods gift. It isnt my fault! I can cry. This person,
this circumstance, did it to me. I want Your peace but they took it away. I am projecting my
refusal of peace onto something else.
There is another way I judge Gods peace. I judge it as weak and vulnerable, easily disturbed.
Why would I want to get rid of peace? Why would I refuse Gods gift? In T-19.IV(A).2, the
Text asks the same question:
Why would you want peace homeless? What do you think that it must dispossess
to dwell with you? What seems to be the cost you are so unwilling to pay? (T19.IV(A).2:13)
There is something, Jesus is saying, that I think I will lose if I accept peace. What is it?
It is the ability to justify attack against my brothers; the reasonableness of finding guilt in
them (see T-19.IV(B).1:12:3). I want to be able to place the blame somewhere else. If I simply
accepted peace I would have to give up, forever, the idea that anyone else can be blamed for my
unhappiness. I would have to give up all attack, and behind that is the fact that in order to give up
attack, I need to give up guilt, I need to give up feeling separate and alone, I need to give up
separation. I need to give up the belief in my own incompletion, which is the foundation of my
belief in my separate identity.
The peace of God has come to save us from our judgment on ourselves (2:3). I judge myself
as sinful, as unworthy, as incomplete. That judgment is behind my need to hold on to attack as a
defense mechanism, my need to have someone or something else to blame for the inadequacy I
see in myself.
If I accept the peace of God as unconditional peace it feels to me as if I am giving up all hope
of ever having things, and other people, the way I want them. It feels as if I am saying, It is okay
if you dont love me and leave me alone. It is okay if you take my money. It is okay if you ignore
me or mistreat me. None of this disturbs my peace. Unconditional means it does not matter what
the conditions are. And I dont want that! I want the conditions the way I want them!
Unconditional peace! The very idea scares the living daylights out of my ego. Everyone is
seeking peace; of course they are. But we want to achieve peace by adjusting the conditions
according to our own idea of what will bring peace. Jesus is offering to give us peace regardless
of the conditions. Forget the conditions, he is saying. I can give you peace in any
circumstance. We dont want unconditional peace; we want peace our own way. Peace? we
ask. What about the conditions? We dont want to hear that they dont matter.
The truth of the matter is that our world reflects our mind. We see an unpeaceful world
because our minds are not at peace. We think the world is the cause, and our peaceor lack of
itis the effect. Jesus is saying that our mind is the cause, and the world is the effect. He
approaches us on the level of cause, not effect. He isnt going to change the conditions to give us
peace; he is going to give us peace, and that will change the conditions. The peace of God must
come first. We have to get to the point of saying, The peace of God is all I want. We have to
give up all other goals, goals related to conditions. Accept the peace, and the world projected
from our mind will change accordinglybut that is not the goal. That is not the healing we seek;
it is only the effect of the healing in our minds.
Father, help me today to accept the gift of peace, and not to judge it. Let me see behind my
refusal of peace my judgment on myself as unworthy of it, and my desire to attack something
outside myself and place the blame on it. In the eternal sanity of the Holy Spirit in my mind, I do
want peace. Enable me today to identify with that part of my mind. Let me see the insanity of
holding on to grievances against anyone or anything. Speak to me of my wholeness. Let me
understand that what I see that contradicts peace is not real and does not matter. It is only my selfjudgment (which is not real) projected on the world (which is not real). Heal my mind, my Father.
Peace to my mind. Let all my thoughts be still (W-pII.221.Heading). I am home. I am loved. I
am safe.

The gift of Christ is all I seek today.
Practice suggestion: Try to read the first paragraph of this lesson as if it were a diary
entry of your own, as if it were a series of your own spontaneous thoughts. See if that
doesnt change your experience of this paragraph.
For an additional exercise, think of a series of situations in your life right now. With each one,
note the main thing(s) you are currently seeking in that situation. Then say to yourself:
The gift of Christ is all I seek in this situation.
The goal of [specify the goal you are currently seeking] is either secondary or irrelevant.
Commentary
Often these closing lessons of the Workbook tell me that I can enter the real world today.
Today I can forget the world I made. Today I can go past all fear, and be restored to
love and holiness and peace.
(1:23)
And it is true. If the world so like to Heaven (1:1) is truly real, then it exists now, and can be
entered at any instant I am willing to do so.
Yet these lessons, to me and to many others, seem to be speaking from a vantage point that is
beyond our current reach. Most of the time, I dont feel that I am on the verge of reaching the end
of the journey; do you? I may think that I would like to go past all fear, but that hasnt been my
general experience to date. Only, perhaps, in a few holy instants. So the lessons, perhaps, seem a
little above my head. But really, they arent.
The lesson for today itself implies a less than exalted state; it says that the gift of Christ is all I
seek today. If I am seeking it, I dont possess it yet in full awareness. Strongly, then, the lesson
reminds me that today I can forget the world; today I can go past all fear and be restored to love.
It reminds me that, in the core of my being, this is what I want. Aware I am not there, I need to be
reminded that the goal I seek is truly possible and not simply an idle dream.
More than that, though. One of the means for our salvation the Course propounds is the holy
instant. The holy instant is, in simple terms, a brief interval in which I allow my mind to enter the
real world, to reach to another state of mind (see T-27.IV.2:14) which is, in fact, my natural
condition as God created me. I may still have too much fear to let go entirely, but I can come for
a few minutes at least and, just for now, forget the world and go past my fear to experience a taste
of Heavens peace, a glimpse of Heavens light. I can do this repeatedly during the day. Today,
then, I really can forget the world and go past fear, even if just for a second or two.
I may not be able to sustain that state of mind. Yet I can taste it. I can bring back the vision of
what I see there. The Course says that only in rare cases can this state be maintained; even Jesus,
early in the Course, says that listening only to the Voice for God was the last lesson he learned,
and that only with effort and great willingness (T-5.II.3:911). We need not despair at this, and
should not. The brief instants are all we need to guarantee that eventually, when we are fully
prepared, we will make that final decision and choose at last not to draw back from Love. That
end is sure. For now we can be content with the fact that we are healing, we are learning, we are
nurturing our attraction to God, and that eventually it will carry us all the way home.

Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.
Practice suggestion: This exercise requires writing, so if you would like to do it, please
get out paper and pen. Choose a situation in which you are feeling some degree of
unloving feelings toward someone.
1. Put a #1 towards the upper left of your paper, as if starting a list. Label #1 My will to
attack. Under this heading, list all the unloving things you feel an impulse to do in this
situation. Be as honest and as uncensored as you can be.
2. After finishing that, put a #2 on the page, and label it My will to love. Under that
heading, list all the loving things you want to do (either mentally or physically), the loving
impulses that are somewhere inside you, perhaps obscured by your attacking impulses.
3. Then put a #3 below this, and label it My feelings of conflict. Under this list the feelings
of conflict that are engendered by having both sets of impulses in you. Look back and forth
between #1 and #2 and try to get a sense of how you feel about being so divided inside,
about both love and attack contending within you.
4. Then put a #4 on the paper and label it My separation from God. Here, list the sense of
conflict with or distance from God that arises in you from the inner conflict between #1
and #2.
5. Then write a #5 and label it My feelings of peace. Here, imagine that #2 is your only
will, the only thing you truly want. #1 is not what you really want, because once you get it
you dont feel genuinely happy. You discover that you dont want it as much as you
thought. While imagining that #2 represents your one true will, feel the lack of inner
conflict, the wholeness, and the peace with yourself implied in that idea. Note what
feelings arise in you and write these under #5.
Commentary
There is no other will for me to have (1:2) except the Will of God. No other will exists. The
idea that there could be somethingthe devil, myself, even a part of myselfthat is opposed to
God is the root idea of separation. Trying to make another will (1:3) is futile; nothing exists
outside of God, the Ground of all being. Trying to make a will other than Gods is the source of
pain (1:3); pain is the false witness to the attempt.
If no will but Gods exists, then conflicting wishes cannot be my will. The apparent
experience of mental conflict I feel, the mental war between the Jekyll and Hyde within myself,
must be an illusion and cannot be what I want. I must learn to accept that the desires in me that
seem to be in conflict with my true Self are not real, and do not contain any truth about me. They
do not mean I am depraved or hopeless. They mean nothing at all.
I have no alternative.
If I would have what only You can give, I must accept Your Will for me, and enter
into peace where conflict is impossible, Your Son is one with You in being and in
will, and nothing contradicts the holy truth that I remain as You created me.
(1:5)
In simple terms, God created me; I did not. What I am is not the result of my independent
choice. I am as God created me. I have no choice in the matter. Total peace is impossible until I
accept this as the truth, and let myself fall back into what is so, putting an end to my fight with
reality. Let me end the war; let me surrender to my Self.

This instant is the only time there is.
Commentary
The Courses way of looking at time goes counter to our normal way of thinking. Time is an
illusion. It does not really flow from the past, through the present, to the future. All there is, is
now. Past and future do not exist in reality, but only in our minds. One of the keys to reaching
past time to timelessness (1:2) is in learning to experience now as the only time there is. This is
one way of describing what the Course refers to as the holy instant. (The teaching underlying
this short lesson can be found in reading The Two Uses of Time [T-15.I]. Read especially
paragraphs 8 and 9 in regard to practicing the holy instant.)
The only interval in which I can be saved from time is now (1:4). Think about it. What other
time have you ever experienced except now? You cant be saved from time yesterday, and you
never experience tomorrow. Right now is the only time you can have this experience of being
saved from time; this experience of forgiveness. Forgiveness lets the past go and focuses on the
present blessing. So right now, this instant, you can enter the holy instant. It can be any instant,
and it can be this very instant if you will receive it. Just for this instant, forget the past. Respond
to only now. Forget even five seconds ago, what somebody said, what you were feeling. Just be
in the moment.
The Course advises us to practice this. I think it means practice in two senses of the word:
first, that the holy instant is to be applied, or put into use. Second, the holy instant is to be
rehearsed. We are even told to practice the mechanics of the holy instant (T-15.II.5:4). The
author seems quite aware that we wont get it right the first time, or perhaps not for a long time.
So he advises us to practice the mechanics of it, to go through the motions, as it were, until one
day our experience will catch up. In other words, rehearse it. The best instructions for rehearsing
it are in Section I of Chapter 15, the ninth paragraph.
Taking a short time each morning and evening, at least, to think of this moment as all there is
of time is a marvelous exercise. It produces a deep sense of peace when I let myself recognize
that nothing can reach me here from the past; that I am absolved of any guilt I may feel about the
past, along with my brothers and sisters. And nothing can reach me from the future, either. I can
simply be in this instant, free of guilt, and free of fear. There is no past. There is no future. There
is only now, and in this instant love is ever-present, here and now.
Thanks for this instant, Father. It is now I am redeemed. This instant is the time
You have appointed for Your Sons release, and for salvation of the world in him.
(2:13)

I will not fear to look within today.
Practice suggestion: The following exercise may help you apply the essence of todays
lesson.
First, get in touch with the part of you that feels youre more or less always right, that youre
always justified, always doing your best, that the problem always lies in external forces putting
too much pressure on you.
Then go the next level down. Try to get in touch with how much you mistrust your own will,
how you wish it would naturally and consistently reach for the highest, the most loving, but how
instead it often drags you down into the mud.
Now try to get in touch with how defiled you believe this wayward will of yours has made
you. It has defined you in your eyes as a petty, self-centered, superficial, and ultimately selfdestructive person. A medieval mystic spoke of the foul, stinking lump of self. Try to get in
touch with that kind of self-loathing within you.
Then realize that all of the above is the voice of your ego, telling you who you are when it
doesnt even know. Accept that Gods Voice tells you otherwise. He tells you that you are His
holy Son, forever and forever. Place your trust in His Voice, recognizing that He knows who you
are even if you dont. Let His view of you sink in. Let it draw you down to that deep place in your
mind where Gods holiness dwells, and where His holiness is yours.
Spend the rest of the time in quiet meditation, abiding in that place of holiness, where you can
look on yourself with love, not with fear.
Commentary
I find that often I am very suspicious of my own motives. I am so aware that in the past I have
done a masterful job of hiding my own thoughts and feelings from myself that even when I am
not knowingly aware of anything being off, when my motives on the surface seem pure, I find
myself wondering what lurks underneath the rock, and hesitating to look.
For example, I have, in the past, distanced myself from a close friend while convinced the
whole time that she was distancing herself from me. It took three hours of intense argumentI
cant call it anything better than thatbefore I finally got in touch with my own fear and anger
that was causing me to push her away. I denied vehemently that I was doing so; I claimed that I
had been longing for more closeness and that she was not responding.
When you are conversant with the egos deceptions it seems hard to trust yourself. It always
seems to me as if there might be something sneaky going on in my mind that somehow I have
been hiding with denial and dissociation.
So, how can I not fear to look within? What ugly, grungy thing will I uncover this time, if I
do?
I fear to look within because I think I made another will that is not true, and made it real
(1:5). If I do look within, often the first things I will see are these ugly, grungy things another
will that is not true. I will see them, but the good news is that they are not true. I did not succeed
in making this other will real. All I succeeded in making were illusions. The ugliness is a smoke
screen, a mask, a facade the ego has erected over the eternal innocence of my mind. If I will look
at those thoughts with the Holy Spirit, I will find that they are not as terrible as I have feared. He
will translate them into truth for me; He will help me see in them the call for love, the
unconscious affirmation of the love which lies buried beneath them, the distorted reflection of the
innocence I have never lost.
For instance, in the case I mentioned above, I was pushing my friend away, distancing myself
from her. Why? Because I was afraid of losing her love. Because I felt terrified that she did not
find me worthy of her time and company, and I was not going to give her the chance to prove my
fears correct. I would withdraw before she could push me out. I would punish her for her
(imagined) betrayal by taking myself away from her. I was mistaken, both in my own selfevaluation and in my assessment of her evaluation of me. And the Course was demonstrated to
me so very clearly that night. She got angry at me. She got furious, and once got up to walk out of
the restaurant, saying she would never want anything to do with me again because I was so
massively in denial that she couldnt deal with it.
It wasnt until a miracle happened that the impasse was resolved. Suddenly my perception of
her shifted. I saw her anger as what it actually wasa call for love. She was furious with me
because I was withholding my love, and she was in pain over the thought of losing it. Her anger
was no longer attack in my perception; it was a cry for help. It was her love for me, mistakenly
trying to find what it wanted through anger and attack. And as I forgave her, I saw the same
dynamic in myself. In that moment, I was no longer afraid to look within. I saw the twisted
motives that had been running me. I saw my fear. I saw my icy distancing. And behind it all I
discovered my love and my innocence, waiting to meet hers.
We need never fear to look within. All that is there is my will as God created it, and as it is
(1:4). What I made, all those ugly ego thoughts, had no effects at all. There is no reason to fear
them; they are meaningless. I can look at them, with the Holy Spirit beside me, and laugh; I can
say, How foolish! These thoughts do not mean anything. Beneath that is the frightened mind, in
pain over what it thinks it has done. And past that, far deeper, is the holiness of God, the memory
of God. This beneficent mind, this kind and gentle mind, so spacious and open and magnanimous,
so all-encompassingthis is my true Identity. This is Who I am.

In fearlessness and love I spend today.
Practice suggestion: Todays prayer is another of my absolute favorites. We all have a

longing for a day that is not of this world, a day spent in quiet communion with God. This
prayer captures and kindles that desire. It can be the springboard for a different kind of
day. I recommend praying it repeatedly today. You may want to sit down every hour and
go through it yet again. To pray these Workbook prayers, I find it helpful to lay out each
sentence or phrase on a separate line, as I have done below. And then I will read a line,
fix it in my mind, close my eyes, and say it to God with as much sincerity as I can, and
then open my eyes and repeat this procedure with the next line.
This day, my Father, would I spend with You,
As You have chosen all my days should be.
And what I will experience is not of time at all.
The joy that comes to me is not of days nor hours,
for it comes from Heaven to Your Son.
This day will be Your sweet reminder to remember You,
Your gracious calling to Your holy Son,
the sign Your grace has come to me,
and that it is Your Will I be set free today.
Commentary
All my days are meant to be spent with You, Father, in fearlessness and love (1:1). All of
them. I seldom spend my day this way, but today, Father, I would do so. I open my heart to give
this day to You. Let it be so, as You will. Let me know the joy that comes from Heaven, not from
time (1:23). Let the interfering voice in my mind be still, and let me hear Heavens music (2:2).
I ask not for ecstatic visions that transport me out of this world forever, but I do ask that today be
something new, something higher, a foretaste of what is in store for me at the end of time.
Let this day be Your sweet reminder to remember You (1:4). Gift me with Your grace,
Father. Let me experience something that will serve as a continuing reminder to turn my mind to
You again and again.
Let this day be Your gracious calling to Your holy Son (1:4). Open my ears, and teach me to
listen. Let me hear Your calling today. Let me feel the drawing power of Your eternal Love.
Let this day be the sign Your grace has come to me, and that it is Your Will I be set free
today (1:4). May there be a fresh and poignant awareness of Your working in my life, Your
touch upon me. May I see signs that my freedom is Your Will. May I find renewed confidence in
the certainty of the outcome that awaits me in Your plan.
Today let a song of thankfulness rise up within me. Increase my awareness that I am joining
an eternal song, sung by every part of Your creation. Let me, as the psalmist said, Sing unto the
Lord a new song. Let me recognize the rejoicing that is life itself, given by God, as all the world
joins with us in the song.
There is no room in us for fear today, for we have welcomed love into our hearts.
(2:4)

I judge all things as I would have them be.
Practice suggestion: Choose a person you are currently judging, and repeat the following
lines:
I will accept Your judgment of [name].
I cannot understand [name] apart from his oneness with totality.
I do not know [name] and I cannot judge.
And so I let Your love decide who [name] is.
Commentary
The basic lesson of the Course about judgment is that we cant really do it. We simply dont
have the equipment. We dont know enough; as this lesson says, our judgment cannot see
totality and therefore judges falsely (1:4). What our judgment does, then, is to make things into
what we want them to be, rather than what they really are. Unfortunately, it does so based upon
the agony of all the judgments we have made against ourselves (1:6). We project our selfcondemnation onto the world, and what we see, as it said back in Lesson 304, is my state of
mind, reflected outward (W-pII.304.1:4).
Instead of attempting to judge anything, we are asked to take judgment and make a gift of it
to Him Who has a different use for it (1:5). In other words, we let the Holy Spirit judge for us.
He always judges according to the truth, the reality of Gods creation. We let Your Love decide
what he whom You created as Your Son must be (2:3). He gives us Gods Judgment of His
Son (1:6).
Another way of looking at it is that we allow the Holy Spirit to tell us what we truly want: to
see the perfection of Gods creation everywhere and in everyone. And then, because that is what
we want to see, we judge all things as [we] would have them be, but now we judge differently
because we want something different. Given to the ego, our minds always want to find fault
because we are trying to deny and project what we think are our own faults; given to the Holy
Spirit, our minds always find love or a call for love.
Today, then, Father, I would see Your Son as You created him. I would judge him truly. I
would suspend my warped judgment and accept Yours in every way. Today I want to see the
truth in everyone. Teach me to relinquish judgment on my own, and to accept the eternal
judgment You have made: You are still My holy Son, forever innocent, forever loving and
forever loved, as limitless as your Creator, and completely changeless and forever pure (WpII.10.5:1).

I see all things as I would have them be.
Commentary
This lesson is the second in a pair. The previous lesson told us that we judge all things as we
would have them be. This lesson continues: Perception follows judgment (1:1). Judgment is, in
this context, nearly synonymous with interpretation. We first want a certain thing to be true; we
therefore judge or interpret what is around us according to that desire; and having judged
(interpreted), we perceive what we wanted. For sight can merely serve to offer us what we
would have (1:3). The Courses presentation of perception and how it works is consistent and
insistent:
Perception has no other law than this.
(T-25.III.1:34)
If we want to see the real world, we will see it. If we join with the Holy Spirit in His goal, we
cannot fail to look upon what Christ would have him see, and share Christs Love for what he
looks upon (1:6). The key is in what we want.
Its hard to admit that what we are seeing we must have wanted to see, at some level of our
minds. The ego has a sick mind, quite literally; the unrecognized ego thoughts and wishes
manifest in the world even though we are not conscious of them. But the world is our minds
mirror; what we see is what we have chosen to see. The world does not change because we are
afraid to look within our minds and see the thoughts that caused it. If we will look, He will heal.
I recall someone standing during an ACIM workshop, when Ken Wapnick was sharing along
these lines, and telling how, during the television reports on a California earthquake, he became
aware that there was a part of his mind that was disappointed that the death toll was so low.
Something in him wanted it to be more dramatic, wanted to see more death. I remember once
realizing quite clearly that I wanted someone deadsomeone quite close to me. It was a shock,
but when I let myself be aware of it I was also aware that the thought was not new!
We need to be willing to find the cause of the world we see within our own minds, so that
we can change our minds about the world. With changed thoughts, we will see a changed
world.
If we will, we can look upon a liberated world, set free from all the judgments I have made
(2:1). Today we can choose to see the world differentlyif we want to. There is no guilt in
choosing not to see it differently, but think of how unhappy your perception of the world has
made you up till now and ask yourself if you dont want to see it differently. Seeing the real
world is your will. It is up to you, and to me, to choose to see it today.
Father, this is Your Will for me today, and therefore it must be my goal as well.
(2:2)

Now let a new perception come to me.
Practice suggestion: I find that this lesson is more effective if you make it specific:
Now let a new perception of this person (or situation, or event) come to me.
Commentary
The vision of Christ beholds all things as sinless (1:1). This is a new perception that comes
to me. I dont go after it; I receive it. I open to it, and it is given to me: This vision is Your gift
(1:3). To see all things as sinless is not something that I must strive to do; it is a gift, given to me
by God. When I perceive sin, what I can learn to do is to ask for a different perception: Now let
a new perception come to me. I can want this new perception, and wanting is all that is required.
The rest is given. Love will come wherever it is asked (1:2).
ChristWho is my true Self, eternal, changelessalready sees no sin in anything He looks
upon (1:5). This is not a vision that my Self has to achieve; it is mine already, in Christ. All I
need to do is to allow that new perception to come to me. As I do, as I look out upon the world
and see it as forgiven, I will waken from the dream of sin and look within upon my sinlessness
(1:6). There is the message of the Course in a nutshell: See your own innocence by seeing the
worlds innocence. Find your forgiveness through forgiving others.
Like vision, which has always been a part of my Christ Self, so too sinlessness: it has been
kept by God, completely undefiled upon the altar to Your holy Son, the Self with which I would
identify (1:6). That is all we are doing: identifying with the Christ, with something that already
is. Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all (W-pI.188.1:4). There is nothing to
achieve, nowhere to go; we are already there, and all that is required is the recognition of what is
already so, the identification with what has existed forever. We let the new perception come to us,
that is all.
So, my brothers and sisters,
Let us today behold each other in the sight of Christ. How beautiful we are!
(2:12)

I seek a future different from the past.
Practice suggestion: Think of a past mistake, especially a major one such as long-term
lovelessness in a relationship. Then repeat the following lines to God, trying to mean
them as much as you can:
I leave this past mistake behind.
I leave the future in Your Hands.
I trust Your present promises to guide my future in their holy light.
Try to feel the freedom from past and future contained in these words. Let your sense of care
drop away.
Commentary
In the egos perception, the future is only the result of the past; it is little more than the past
itself extended beyond the present. To the ego, the past determines the future. In the perception of
the Holy Spirit, The future now is recognized as but extension of the present (1:2). What we
choose to perceive and to believe in the now determines what the future will be like; the future is
not determined by the past. Past mistakes can cast no shadows on it, so that fear has lost its idols
and its images, and being formless, it has no effects (1:3).
By letting go of the past and realizing that it cannot touch me now, I bring into being a future
different from the past. My present choice for salvation, my present willingness to accept the
Atonement for myself, deprives the past of all its fear. The idols and images (1:3) of fear are
things such as all the guilt of the past and all the false perceptions of the past. They are no longer
available to fear when I have released the past into Gods Hands and have accepted forgiveness
for myself. I am beginning from this present moment with a clean slate. Without the forms of past
idols and images, fear can have no effects.
Based on the guilt of the past my future was certain death. But with the past released from
sin, and life now my present goal, death has no claim on me (1:4). My physical body will still
die most likely (barring some rare miracle of being caught up into heaven in a whirlwind, like
Elijah in the Bible, II Kings 2), although the body does not truly die because it never lives; but
since I am not my body, I will not die, and I will not fear death. All the needed means are
happily provided (1:4). When my mind is straightened out and my goal is life, everything I need
to reach my goal is provided by the Holy Spirit. When the present has been freed from all guilt
and all fear, that present will simply extend its security and peace into a quiet future filled with
joy (1:5).
The key is in allowing my mind to be freed from guilt and fear right now. I can practice doing
this in the holy instant. I can take a moment and allow the peace and security this lesson speaks of
to flood my mind. I can bring my guilt and hurt and pain and anger to the Holy Spirit and allow
Him to heal my mind. As I do this more and more the peace will extend itself outward into my
day. Perhaps the most common testimony of people who have been studying the Course for some
time is, I am much more peaceful than I ever was before. It works. And as that peace grows in
the present, as more and more of our present moments are spent in that peace of mind, the future
will more and more be filled with joy.
Let me, then, choose to use the present to be free (2:1). How many of my present moments
are spent grieving or sorrowing about the past, lamenting things lost? How many present
moments are spent in fear of something future? Let me choose to use the present differently. Let
me choose, every time I am aware of the present, to use that moment for peace and for nothing
else. To do so is the way out of hell. Leave the future in Gods Hands. Leave past mistakes
behind (2:2). Let me lay my life in Gods Hands, sure that You will keep Your present promises,
and guide the future in their holy light (2:2).

All gifts my brothers give belong to me.
Commentary
In Lesson 97 we are told that if we practice with the lessons idea (I am spirit) and thus
bring reality a little closer to our minds, the Holy Spirit will take the minutes we give to Him in
those holy instants and carry them around this aching world (W-pI.97.5:1). It says, He will not
overlook one open mind that will accept the healing gifts they [the minutes you give] bring, and
He will lay them [the gifts] everywhere He knows they will be welcome (W-pI.97.5:2). He talks
about how each gift to Him [will] be multiplied a thousandfold and tens of thousands more (WpI.97.6:1). Now, one thousand times ten thousand is ten million. So He will multiply our gifts at
least ten million times, except it says tens of thousands, plural tens, so that means as much as
ninety million times. Perhaps the numbers are simply symbolic of an extremely large number,
but Im sure Jesus means, quite literally, that an unimaginably large number of minds will be
affected by our choice. Every mind that is open to receive will receive our gift; millions of minds.
Now in this lesson we see the opposite side of the coin. For all those millions who are open,
and who, like us, give the gift of their mind to God for a moment, we, in turn, receive their gifts.
Thus, every moment, thousands of my brothers and sisters find the way to God for a moment and
give a gift, which I receive because all minds are joined, as the first paragraph tells us. A smile
between brothers or a word of gratitude or mercy, anywhere in the world, offers a gift to my
mind. I can receive the certainty of anyone who finds the way to God.
All minds are joined. Every moment, a thousand gifts arrive at the portal of my mind, given by
other minds. If I am open, I can receive every one of them! In a study group where this concept
was discussed, a student remarked, That sounds like a full-time job! Indeed. Sounds like my
kind of job, too.
Ever wonder where some of those blessed thoughts come from? Ever wonder why suddenly,
in the midst of a rather blah day, something comes into your mind and gladdens your heart? We
usually think, if we think of it at all, that it must be the Holy Spirit. But it could equally well have
been your sister whose mind found the way to God at just that moment and smiled at someone,
and in so doing sent her gift to you. The Holy Spirit was just the postman. Someone you never
knew, halfway around the world, just gave you a blessing!
This cosmic exchange of gifts within the greatest Internet in the universe is going on all the
time. Everyone is wired in; you just have to read your mail.
So let us lift our hearts in gratitude and thanks to every Son of God. Let us this morning
and this evening spend some time in thanks to our brothers, who are one with us, for all
their multitude of gifts, most of which have gone unacknowledged for most of our lives.
Let me say to all of you who read this: Thank you for remembering, my sister or my
brother! Thank you for loving instead of fearing. Thank you for being aware, for being alive.
Thank you for smiling, for letting joy through. Thank you for showing mercy. Thank you for
forgiving. Thank you for joining with another. Let my meditation today be on all the ways I am
constantly being blessed by my brothers and sisters, and on the reality that I gain from each and
every one.
I thank You, Father, for the many gifts that come to me today and every day from
every Son of God.
(2:1)

All gifts I give my brothers are my own.
Practice suggestion: You may want to try the following visualization. It will probably
work better if someone reads it to you, or if you read it onto a tape and play the tape back
to guide you through it.
Begin by repeating this line from the Urtext: Help me to perform whatever miracles you
want of me today.
Then ask the Holy Spirit to whom he wants you to give a miracle today. For this exercise,
well focus on just one person.
Once you have a person in mind, then ask the Holy Spirit what form this miracle should take.
It might be sitting down and forgiving this person. It might be a kind word or some outer
gesture. Ask Him, What form should this miracle take?
Now visualize actually giving this miracle to this person, at whatever time of day you expect
this to occur. See the scene unfold in your mind.
Now, in your minds eye, look off in the distance a bit. There you see a temple-like structure.
Its two magnificent doors are open wide, and on either side of the massive doorway an
angel is standing. You see people from all directions walking towards this building,
carrying treasures into it. These treasures are the gifts that these people have been given by
others. One person has been given the precious gift of forgiveness and is carrying that into
the building. Another has been healed by a miracle worker, and is carrying in this gift of
healing. Another has received unconditional love from a friend and is carrying that in.
As you look, you begin to see specific people that you have given to, carrying into the
building the treasures you have given them. See one person after another that you have
given gifts to, walking inside to deposit their gifts. You see recent people youve given to,
and those you gave to a long time ago. You see people you gave some particular thing to,
and people you gave to continually over years. Note each person specifically.
Seeing these people, you realize that this is your treasure house. Even though you experience
yourself as being outside the building, everything on the inside belongs to you. Its all
yours. And after seeing so many people carrying inside the gifts you have given them, you
begin to get a sense of just how many treasures you have stored up.
The person you are giving to today is beside you. This person looks at you and says, Come
with me. See this person take you by the hand and walk you towards your treasure house.
He or she is your escort into the building. You see the treasure house looming closer. You
see the doors open wide in welcome. As you approach, the angels greet you and say,
Welcome. Your house has been waiting for you. Enter in where you are truly welcome
and at home, among the gifts that God has given you.
Walk in through the doors and see the dazzling splendor that awaits you. Feel the holiness
that pervades the place. Feel the peace and the sense of home. As you look at the treasures,
feel a sense of ownership. Feel the abundance that comes from all these treasures being
yours. This is your new home, the home in which your mind will live from now on. Sit
down in this home and spend some time just soaking in the holiness, peace, and
abundance.
Commentary
This lesson is obviously a companion to yesterdays, All gifts my brothers give belong to
me. We receive all the gifts our brothers give, and we also receive all the gifts we give. Of
course the reverse is true as well: Everything any brother or sister gives, they also receive, and
they receive all the gifts we give as well. Everyone receives everything. It must be so because we
are all one.
Each one allows a past mistake to go, and leave no shadow on the holy mind my Father
loves (1:2). The gifts we are speaking of are gifts of forgiveness in which we let a past mistake
go, instead of holding on in unforgiving grievance about it. When I give such a gift, I am blessed
because the shadows of that past mistake are removed from my mind. The shadows no longer
obscure the truth about my brother; my forgiveness shows me Christ in him.
Therefore, we not only receive a gift every time one is given by someone elsea smile, a
word of mercy, an act of lovebut also, we receive a gift each time anyone else receives a gift!
His grace is given me in every gift a brother has received throughout all time, and past all time
as well (1:3). When Jesus looked at the woman caught in adultery and said, Neither do I
condemn you, go and sin no more, and she received his gift of forgiveness, I received a gift as
well as she.
Our treasure house is full, says the lesson (1:4). Angels watch its open doors that not one gift
is lost, and only more are added (1:4). The fact that we may not be aware of these gifts makes no
difference; they cant be lost. Every loving thought is treasured up and kept for us; not one is lost.
The treasure of love just keeps growing, just as God keeps eternally expanding and extending.
You know, if we could really get a grasp on these thoughts our lives would be transformed.
We are being showered, deluged, with gifts of love in every moment. We have the rich
inheritance of all the love for all of time, and past all time as well (1:3), to draw upon. Our
perspective is so horribly constrained by our self-inflicted isolation! We have no idea how rich
we are.
But I can come now, today, this moment, into my treasure house. I can come to where my
treasures are, and enter in where I am truly welcome and at home, among the gifts that God has
given me (1:5). I can remember all the gifts I have and guarantee them to myself by giving them
away, as Lesson 159 instructs us:
There is no miracle you cannot give, for all are given you. Receive them now by
opening the storehouse of your mind where they are laid, and giving them away.
(W-159.2:45)
The treasure house is in my mind; the gifts are all there. I can recognize I have them by giving
them away. Its like keeping the circulation going. And since all the gifts I give my brothers are
my own, giving them is how I know I have them, and how I keep them. Thats another way to
understand the lesson theme: The only gifts I have are the ones I give away. So let me today give
love to my brothers, give joy to my brothers. Let me offer peace of mind to everyone. As I do, the
gifts will be mine.
If we feel uncertain how to go about claiming and recognizing all these treasures, this deluge
of blessing, we can join in the prayer that closes this lesson, phrased to recognize the fact that we
do not, as yet, recognize all these gifts, and asking for instruction in doing so:
Father, I would accept Your gifts today. I do not recognize them. Yet I trust that
You Who gave them will provide the means by which I can behold them, see their
worth, and cherish only them as what I want.
(2:13)

I follow in the way appointed me.
Commentary
I have a special place to fill; a role for me alone (1:1).
There is a place for me in the plan of Atonement. There is something that is meant specially
for me to do, and until I find and fulfill my part, salvation waits (1:2). My particular twist on
the insanity of separation needs to be healed before healing is complete.
I do believe we each have a particular part to play in the drama of salvation. We each have a
special function to fulfill, and part of following the Holy Spirit is learning to discover what that
role is. It may not be anything grand or large in the public eye. It may be the healing of one
particular relationship. It might be, as it was with Helen Schucman, bringing some message from
God into this world. It might be raising children and bringing them up from the perspective of a
healed mind. It might be tending bar and listening to the patrons with forgiveness. But we do
have a function, and we need to find and fill it.
Whatever it is, it will be some aspect of healing, some aspect of alleviating guilt, some way of
recognizing the Christ in those around us. It will be a function which, in some way, gives and
brings grace into the world, for all functions within the plan of God fall into this general category.
Healing is our function here.
When I find my function I will find my happiness, for happiness is my function. This is what I
choose today. Today, Father, I pray:
Ill go where You would have me go; Ill do what You would have me do. Ill be forever in
love with You.1
All my sorrows end in Your embrace.
(2:5)
1.
If you have not heard the wonderful tape album (or CD) by Donna Marie Carey, Real Love, which contains a song
with the words I have just quoted, all songs based on ACIM, I highly recommend it. Available from Interfaith
Fellowship, 1-800-275-4809.

In me salvations means and end are one.
Practice suggestion: In repeating todays idea, I have found it helpful to reword it

slightly: I am the means of salvation and I am the end.
Commentary
In other words, putting it very simply, the goal of salvation is what I already am, and the
vehicle for bringing about salvation is also what I am. I am what salvation is, and I am the way to
get there.
Salvation is the recognition of oneness; how, then, could there be any single part that stands
alone, or that is more or less important than the rest? (1:23). The means of salvation is not in
some other part of creation, upon which I am dependent. The wholeness is what it is all about;
therefore the means of getting there and the there we are getting to must be all the same thing,
and therefore must be within me.
I am the means by which Gods Son is saved, because salvations purpose is to find the
sinlessness that God has placed in me (1:4).
The sinlessness is already there, in me, placed there by God. So since the purpose of salvation
is finding that sinlessness, I must be the means by which salvation happens. I carry the Answer
within myself.
I absolutely love these next few sentences. To me, if I can allow my disbelief to be suspended
just for a moment, just long enough to feel the import of these words, I will get what they are
saying:
I was created as the thing I seek. I am the goal the world is searching for. I am Gods
Son, His one eternal Love. I am salvations means and end as well. (1:58)
I am the thing I seek because I have been It since I was created. I am seeking only for my Self,
and where can my Self be but in me? This is a search that is guaranteed to succeed because I
already am what I am seeking for. The only reason there appears to be a journey of seeking is
because I have forgotten what I already am. There is really nowhere to go.
Try repeating to yourself, several times, I am the goal the world is searching for. Just try it
and see how it feels. Notice the thoughts that come up in denial of what you are saying, and take a
good look at them. Notice what it is you are believing about yourself that keeps you from saying
these words and meaning them with all your heart, and without reservation.
We think we have a disease of sin that we are seeking to cure. A disease of guilt and of
separation. But the seeking is part of the disease! In fact, there is no disease, and only the seeking
makes it seem as if there is. If we can, for a moment, stop presupposing that we are separate, we
will simply realize that we are not. Truth will dawn upon us of itself. Relax; youre okay. We
have no need but to accept the Atonement, to accept our oneness with God, to realize that
enlightenment is only a recognition, and not a change at all. We dont need to change; we need to
accept what we have always been.
Let me today, my Father, take the role You offer me in Your request that I accept
Atonement for myself. For thus does what is thereby reconciled in me become as
surely reconciled to You. (2:12)

I came for the salvation of the world.
Commentary
The Course is quite clear that our purpose here, every one of us, is the salvation of the world.
This is quite different from the purpose for which the ego came to the world, which was to find a
place where God could not enter; to hide from God, so to speak, and eventually, to die. But the
Holy Spirit has a different purpose for everything the ego made for its nefarious purposes. Our
purpose here is to bring the world back to light by allowing ourselves to be transformed,
becoming Gods extensions in the dream to awaken all our brothers along with ourselves.
To say, I am here to save the world, which is just a slight paraphrase of the lesson title,
sounds very arrogant to us. But here is a thought from which all arrogance has been removed
(1:1). It is not arrogant because it is the truth; this is what God created us for, and the function He
has assigned to us. To say otherwise is arrogance because it opposes the truth and tries to make
for ourselves a role we do not have.
When our arrogance is removed, truth will come immediately (1:3) to fill up the empty spot
left by it. Our self-appointed roles are blocking and interfering with the function given to us by
God. The reason thinking that we are here to save the world is not arrogant is that what one
gains is given unto all (1:6). So accepting our function as saviors means that we accept it for all;
our brothers become our saviors just as we become theirs. If the Will of God is total (2:1), then
the goal of God must be total; it must be the salvation of the entire world (2:3), not just of me and
you and our sister Sue.
To bring the world home to oneness is Gods Will, and therefore it is the Will my Self has
shared with Him (2:4). It is my will as well. We are here for the healing of all minds. Our will is
that everyone awaken to love, and that is our only purpose in being here.
I came for the salvation of the world. Repeating this to myself, reminding myself of this, is
an interesting exercise. Another way of saying it is, I am here only to be truly helpful (T2.V(A).18:2). Let me remind myself of this today. I am not here to make a name for myself, to
make money, or to achieve the temporal and temporary things I think of as my goals. I am here to
help. I am here to heal. I am here to bless. I am here to save the world.

My Father gives all power unto me.
Practice suggestion: Take a few moments and reflect on the following three questions,
one at a time, using the questions beneath each one to guide your reflection. You may
even want to write down your reflections.
Can His Will do all things in me?
If not, doesnt that mean that I am not His creation?
If I am not His creation, where did I come from? Did I spring out of nowhere?
Can His Will reach through me to all the world?
If not, doesnt that mean there are some places He cannot go?
Does that make sense?
Is there any limit on His Will?
Could Gods Will possibly be limited? Just one more limited will among many?
Reflecting on these questions has prepared you to fully accept todays idea. Now repeat that
idea in a special way: Imagine that you are the risen Jesus speaking those words. As Allen points
out in his commentary today, todays idea is an allusion to Jesus statement in the final scene of
Matthew. There, Jesus appears to his disciples to send them out to teach all nations, and
declares to them, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth (Mt 28:18). So, as you
repeat todays idea, imagine that you are the risen Christ. Feel the exaltation. Feel the power you
possess to illumine the entire world.
Commentary
Those of us who have not studied the Bible, or the Gospels in particular, may not recognize
these words as a paraphrase of words spoken by Jesus shortly after the resurrection: All power is
given unto me (Mt 28:18). I find it significant that the Course puts these words into our mouths.
It is an indication of the equal plane on which the Course places us, with Jesus. He was not
anything we are not; all of us, along with him, are equal sons of God. Hes just a little further
along in time (or perhaps out of time), but with the same raw material. We are all the Son of God,
together, as God created us.
This lesson expands on the idea of the limitlessness of the Son of God that is mentioned in
What Is the Last Judgment? There, God says, You are still My holy Sonas limitless as your
Creator (W-pII.10.5:1). Here we are told we (as the Son of God) are limitless (1:1); without
limit on any of our attributes, whether strength, peace, joy, or whatever. Limitless strength,
limitless peace, limitless joy. To be honest, I cant even conceive of what joy without limits is
like, and yet this lesson says it is mine. I know joy. I know a great deal of joy. Sometimes, I am
so joyful I can scarcely contain it. But joy with no limit at all? What must that be like?
I think we all put mental limits on our strength, our peace, and our joy. And our happiness, for
that matter. Havent you ever had the feeling that it is somehow dangerous to get too happy?
(What a strange juxtaposition of words is that phrase, too happy!) Watch out! we think. We
dont want to become bliss ninnies. Yet the characteristic of the Son of God is limitless joy.
How will we ever come to know that as our own while we place limits on our joy? Our egos act
like governors on the inner engine of happiness and joy; we can get just so happy, and then the
power seems to cut out. We need to cut loose from the governor.
Do I really believe that what I will with my Creator must be done (1:3)? Do I believe that
my holy will cannot be denied (1:4)? There are those who catch a glimpse of this, and they are
those who seem to accomplish so much in their lives, refusing to believe that what they envision
cannot come to pass. Instead they realize it must come to pass.
Of course, we are not speaking here in earthly terms alone. This isnt the message of mastery
of will, of the dominance of our environment by sheer force of will. This speaks of our holy
will, joined with Gods Will, which is expressed in the extension of His Being. Here, we have
unlimited power. In this, Your Will can do all things in me, and then extend to all the world as
well through me (2:1). Each of us can be an unlimited force for good and for God in this world if
we transcend our beliefs in limitations. The power of love, for instance, is without limit, because
there is nothing real to oppose it.
Let me examine my thoughts today, my Father, for the beliefs in limits that hold back Your
power working in me and through me. Let me recognize them as false, and open myself to Your
great power, working through me, to extend into all the world.

Father, my freedom is in You alone.
Commentary
This lesson, like many in this last part of the Workbook, is written from the perspective of a
person who is entering the last stages of the journey home. Here is the song of one whose
uncertainty has ended, whose decision for the Kingdom of God is strong and clear. In the words
of Development of Trust in the Manual for Teachers:
The teacher of God is now at the point in his progress at which he sees in it his
whole way out. Give up what you do not want, and keep what you do. How simple
is the obvious! And how easy to do!
(M-4(A).6:58)
These are the words of someone who has realized that the peace of God is all that he wants.
I did not understand what made me free, nor what my freedom was (1:1). Our freedom is in
God alone. At the start we believed the opposite. Being free seems to mean being independent.
How could freedom be found in acceptance of Gods Will? Isnt that enslavement? Only as we
realize that our will is Gods Will, that our will and His are one and the same, can we realize that
to do the Will of God is perfect freedom because it is what we truly want, and what we were
created for. Father, it is my will that I return (1:9).
Not knowing what freedom was we have looked for it where it could not be found: in the
exercise of our independent will in this world. Until we hear the Voice for God directing us, and
respond, we cannot find freedom. Now I would guide myself no more (1:3). Our freedom is
found in accepting a new Guide. It is found in resigning as our own teacher (see T-12.V.8:3) and
accepting another Teacher. It is found in letting go of our independent goals and accepting the
one goal we all share together.
Freedom is the liberty to be all that I am. Freedom is the liberty to express my nature without
any hindrance. My nature is love; my nature is the holiness of God Himself. My only freedom is
in being that which I am because God created me. To attempt to be something else is to enslave
myself, to constrict my soul into a shape not its own. Freedom is to teach and offer only love,
because that is what I am.
Let me, then, today, gladly surrender my opinions about what I am, and accept what God tells
me I am. Let me readily relinquish the false and illusory freedom I have thought to pursue, and
accept the only freedom that is real, in glad capitulation to my own nature. There is no surrender
but to my Self. There is no sacrifice but of illusion. When I have reached the point of being
willing to hear only the Voice for God, I will be able to say:
The way to You is opening and clear to me at last. (1:7)

I can give up but what was never real.
Practice suggestion:
Spend a moment imagining that you give your life, whole and complete, to God today,
holding nothing back.
As you imagine this, ask yourself what you fear you will have to give up, either outer or
inner.
With each thing, ask yourself, Is this truly real?
Then repeat the idea.
Commentary
I cannot give up anything real: As You created me, I can give up nothing You gave me
(2:3). The whole idea of sacrifice is alien to God and to the thought system of the Course. Oh, we
are asked to give up things! The Course even asks us to give up the entire worldbut not to
sacrifice (T-30.V.9:5). The whole point of this lesson is quite simple. It is that nothing that I can
give up was ever real in the first place. I sacrifice illusions; nothing more (1:1).
I remember once in a relationship in which I wanted marriage, and the lady in question did
not, that I felt as if I were losing and sacrificing something by letting go of my dream. Then I
realized that I was only giving up something I never had in the first place. It brought home with
vivid force the familiar wall plaque saying that runs something like this: If you love
something, let it go. If it returns to you then it was truly yours, and if it does not, it was never
yours at all. In that circumstance I was able to give up the illusion, and in so doing, retain the
reality of a profoundly loving relationship that was not meant to end in marriage, a relationship
that lasted for years and brought me more true satisfaction than any marriage relationship I ever
saw among my friends.
The illusions we hold on to are hiding the true gifts of God. The idea that we can find our
happiness in a romantic relationship, for instance, is one of the egos substitutes for the reality of
our relationship with God and with all living things. A close, loving relationship is a wonderful
thing, but it can be an obstacle to our peace if we make an idol of it, expecting it to give us
everything, or insisting that we know the form it must take to please us.
And as illusions go I find the gifts illusions tried to hide, awaiting me in shining welcome,
and in readiness to give Gods ancient messages to me (1:2). We not only lose nothing in giving
up illusions; we actually gain the reality of what the illusions were substituting for. This is a winwin situation!
The fear of sacrifice and loss is one of the greatest obstacles to our spiritual progress. And as
long as we think we are losing something real, we will drag our feet.
If this [relinquishment] is interpreted as giving up the desirable, it will engender

enormous conflict. Few teachers of God escape this distress entirely.
(M4.I(A).5:23)
The idea of sacrifice makes it impossible for us to make sensible judgments about what we do
and do not want. That is why it is so important for us to refer all our decisions to the Holy Spirit.
And when we do, often it will seem to us as if we are being asked to sacrifice something we
value. What we do not realize is that the Holy Spirit is only teaching us that we do not really want
what we think we want; He is only clarifying the intentions of our own right mind, which already
knows there is no value in what we have been holding on to.
And every dream serves only to conceal the Self Which is Gods only Son (1:4). The gift
behind every dream is the memory of Who I really am. Attachment to the egos gifts only
serves to diminish my awareness of that Self. I am asking, not for too much, but for far too little.
These gifts are not worthy of my Self. What God did not give has no reality (2:4). And so, today,
let us give up every thought that anticipates any kind of loss, and recognize that, as Gods Sons,
we cannot lose.
What loss can I anticipate except the loss of fear, and the return of love into my
mind? (2:5)

I gladly make the sacrifice of fear.
Practice suggestion: Think of some resentment you are holding about someone. Because
you find it hard to let go of this resentment, there must be some perceived payoff in it.
Perhaps you think it buys you a sense of righteousness or a sense of entitlement, but if
you didnt see some sort of payoff in it, youd easily and quickly let it go. Now realize
that the real result of this resentment is fear. That is its real payoff. As you consider
letting your resentment go, repeat these lines:
I gladly make the sacrifice of fear.
I freely let Your Love come streaming in.
Commentary
Yesterdays lesson ended with the thought What loss can I anticipate except the loss of fear?
and todays lesson picks up on that idea. So Im going to lose, but all I will lose is fear? I can live
with that! Losing fear is no sacrifice. I will lose my fear with pleasure.
It may seem as if I am being asked to give up some pleasant and valuable things. All I am
really being asked to give up is all suffering, all sense of loss and sadness, all anxiety and doubt
(1:1). Attachment to things in this world, things that are fragile and that will not last, always
brings with it suffering, loss, and anxiety. I may not realize it but the egos secret attraction to all
such things is not the pleasure they bring me, but the pain. When I recognize that ego motivation,
surely I will wisely and sanely let my attachment go.
And when I let go, Gods Love comes streaming in to [my] awareness (1:1). Do I want that
today? Gods Love streaming in to my awareness? Do I perhaps, this morning, long for such an
experience? Then let me gladly sacrifice my fear. Let me simply give it up. Let me recognize that
in clinging to anything besides the goal of God I am clinging to fear, and let it go. Yes, my
Father: today I am willing to make this sacrifice. Today I am willing to stop being afraid of
Love.
I feel as though I need to remind myself that in letting go of these things I am not letting go of
anything real. I am not really letting go at all. I am having an illusion of giving something up, but
I never had anything real in the first place. All I am doing is letting go of self-deceptions and of
images [I] worshipped falsely (2:1). This is just a debt we owe to truth (2:1). It is just being
honest! And as I acquiesce to truth, truth returns to me in wholeness and in joy (2:1). The
deception has ended and Love returns to my awareness. The fullness of the gift that is eternally
mineloveresurfaces in my memory. It makes a kind of natural sense that when I pay my debt
to truth, truth returns to me.
When fear has goneonly love remains (2:4). I gladly make the sacrifice of fear.

I merely follow, for I would not lead.
Commentary
Learning to follow my inner guidance is a big part of doing the Course. That guidance is the
Voice for God, the Holy Spirit. It is part of me and part of God. In the end all is one, but while I
think of myself as separate I will experience that Voice as a separate voice, calling me back
home: Your loving Voice will always call me back, and guide my feet aright (1:5).
Father, I need to learn that I am not on my own, and that Something or Someone has planned
the way I am to go, the role to take, and every step in my appointed path (1:2). As Lesson 321
reminded me: I have neither made nor understood the way to find my freedom (W-pII.321.1:4).
In fact, You have set the way, and the Holy Spirit is simply the Voice that speaks for You. So,
then, let me follow One Who knows the way (2:1). What a relief it is to have this One to trust!
When walking through a dark jungle with twisted and confusing pathways, what a comfort to
know I have a Guide Who knows every detail of the path. Because of Him, I cannot lose the
way (1:3).
Today let me remember that every step of my journey has been set by You. As I look back
with You, I know that this is true: nothing I have ever done has ever been anything but for my
own good; it has all worked together perfectly to get me exactly where I am now. Even my
wanderings were perfectly designed to teach me the falsity of the illusions I was following. What
I thought were detours away from You were really lessons bringing me closer to home, and I am
grateful for them all. Let me now look to the future with the confidence imparted by that
knowledge: I cannot lose the way. Every person, every event, and every circumstance of my life
today can be, if seen with vision, a step towards home, a means of finding my way back to You.
If I wander today, Father, bring me back. I thank You for the blessed relief of knowing that I
do not have to figure it all out. Its been figured out for me. I can let the day unroll in whatever
way it does, trusting that it is all perfectly planned by You to bring the memory of You most
rapidly to my mind.
I would not lead. I dont want to be known as a leader of others. I dont know the way for
myself; how can I know for anyone else? Some of my brothers may follow me; in fact You will
bring them to me for that purpose. But all I am doing is following Your Voice; if anyone follows
me in this path they are not following me, but You. Let me always remind them of that and never
make anyone dependent upon me.
We cannot stray except an instant from His loving Hand (2:2). To Jesus, six billion years is
a tiny tick of time (T-26.V.3:5) that is nothing in comparison to eternity, so small that not one
note in Heavens song was missed (T-26.V.5:4). To us it seems we stray much longer than an
instant. A mathematical example that comes to mind is this: When we divide one number by
another, we are, in a sense, comparing them. One hundred divided by ten is ten; that means that
compared to ten, one hundred is ten times bigger. The interesting thing about the number zero is
that any number, compared to it mathematically, is infinite. If you imagine being able to divide a
line into points with zero width, there are an infinite number of such points in the line, whether it
is an inch long or a mile long.
The tiny tick of time is like zero. Eternity is infinite, and compared to it, all of time is
literally nothing. There is no comparison. The time we spend in wandering, which seems so long
to us, is nothing more than an instant, an infinitesimal piece of nothing, a fragment of a dream.
Weve all experienced dreams that seemed to last for hours or days, yet happened in a few
seconds of real time. And that is all this time is:
Time is a trick, a sleight of hand, a vast illusion in which figures come and go as
if by magic. Yet there is a plan behind appearances that does not change. The script
is written.
(W-pI.158.4:13)
There is a plan behind the appearances, and that is what I can rely upon today. Following the
Holy Spirit, I know that the ending is sure. He guarantees a safe returning home (2:4). I may
feel really messed up and confused, but I just cant really blow it! Ive got a perfect Guide, and
He is going to stick with me until I reach the end and fall once again into my Fathers Arms.
I merely follow, for I would not lead.

All things I think I see reflect ideas.
Practice suggestion: I find it helpful to make this idea more specific. Think of a situation
you are seeing that is causing you discomfort. Then say:
This thing I think I see reflects ideas.
I am seeing only the projection of my judgmental thoughts.
Father, let me see the reflection of Your Thoughts.
Commentary
This lesson is probably the best single summary of the Courses theory of perception:
What I see reflects a process in my mind, which starts with my idea of what I
want. From there, the mind makes up an image of the thing the mind desires, judges
valuable, and therefore seeks to find. These images are then projected outward,
looked upon, esteemed as real and guarded as ones own. (1:13)
Everything I see is a projection. By this analysis of perception, we see absolutely nothing real
with our physical eyes. All of it reflects a process in my mind and nothing more than that. What
we see are all projected images. As an early lesson in the Workbook says, I have given
everything I seeall the meaning that it has for me (W-pI.2.Heading).
As we choose what we want to see, the world arises in our sight. If we choose judgment we
see a world condemned; if we choose forgiveness we see a gentle world (1:56). This is why
the Course focuses entirely on healing the mind and not on changing the world. To change the
world is not necessary; it will change with our thoughts. As Ken Wapnick points out, trying to fix
things in the world is like trying to fix things in a movie by doing things to the screen. The only
way you can change the movie is to change what is in the projector (or to fix the projector). The
mind is the projector of the world.
When we accept forgiving thoughts in our minds, the world becomes a kindly home where
[we] can rest a while before [we journey] on (1:6). It becomes a place where we can help [our]
brothers walk ahead with [us], and find the way to Heaven and to God (1:6). That is what we do
in this world when we have had our minds healed: help others do the same.
What we want is the ideas of God reflected in the world, rather than our own ideas. Apart
from Gods ideas, our ideas only make up dreams (2:1).
Today I do not want dreams; I want reality reflected in my world. It all starts from my idea of
what I want. Therefore, Father, I ask help in wanting only the truth, only peace, and only what is
loving. I want union, not separation. I want healing, not conflict. I want peace, not war. Help me
to recognize it whenever I think I want anything else, or anything besides the truth; to recognize
it, bring it into Your light for healing, and let it go.

I am forever an Effect of God.
Practice suggestion: Todays prayer is another favorite of mine. Do yourself a favor and
spend some time with it today.
Commentary
Any effect is made what it is by its cause. The cause determines what the effect is. If I strike a
billiard ball with my cue stick, the ball has no say in where it goes. The effect of the balls motion
is entirely determined by the stroke of the cue (plus other causative things like the state of the
table surface, etc.). So if I am an Effect of God I dont really have any say in determining what
I am; that is determined by my Cause, God. This is why it must be true that as You created me I
have remained (1:3). I cannot change what I am; God forever and forever [is] my Cause (1:2).
Does this seem to preclude free will? Yes, it does, insofar as actually determining what my nature
is. And thank God it does! Otherwise, we would have irretrievably damaged ourselves and made
sin and hell into realities. Free will, as the Course says in its introduction, does not grant us the
right to establish the curriculum (T-In.1:4), that is, to decide what we must learn; it only grants
us the freedom to choose when we learn it. And what we are learning is what we are, as God
created us. That cannot change.
Gods Will is to have a Son so like his Cause that Cause and Its Effect are indistinguishable
(1:5). What an amazing statement! Indistinguishable from God! Wow! That borders on heresy or
incredible hubris, doesnt it? And yet that is what the Course is telling us about ourselves; that
what we are is the same stuff of which God is made. If God is Love, so is His Son. God is but
Love, and therefore, so am I (Lessons 171 to 180).

I need but call and You will answer me.
Practice suggestion: Todays lesson urges us to test out Gods promises; specifically, the
promise that He will answer our calls. This is an invitation we should not refuse. Think of
some question or request for which you really need a response. Put your question or
request to God, with all the desire you can muster, and expect a response. Try to open
your mind about what the response ought to be. Realize that it may come now, and it may
need to work its way past some obstacles in you before it comes. It may even show up
initially in a form which does not look like a response to your question, but which makes
way for a more direct response later on.
Commentary
This reminds me of a Bible verse in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah (33:3): Call unto
me, and I will answer thee.
The basic thought of the lesson seems to be: Here are Gods promises; try them, and prove to
yourself that He means what He says. It tells us we can learn fromexperience that this is
true (1:3). It suggests that we take Gods promises and test them out (2:1).
I know that my confidence in the Course has increased over the years and continues to
increase as I continue to test out its promises. It gives us pretty explicit instructions for Workbook
practice, and promises that it will change the way we think about everyone and everything in the
world. It promises peace of mind. It promises release from guilt. And what I am finding is that as
I make a sincere effort to do what it tells me to do, I experience what it says I will experience. In
short: it works.
We can sit around judging the propositions of the Course until we are blue in the face,
discussing whether or not the Course will work as it says, and we will learn nothing. But if we try
it, if we test it out, if we practice what it says to practice, we will inevitably find out that it does
work, and our conviction of its truth will grow unshakable.

I choose the second place to gain the first.
Practice suggestion: Ask for guidance about some situation facing you today. Listen
with a quiet, receptive, open mind. You may find that what you hear feels different from
your will, from what you want in this situation. If so, try to consider that perhaps what
you heard is your will. Consider that this is your true will, which you have lost touch
with, coming to you in a particular form.
Commentary
The lesson is saying that when we consider choosing to join our will to Gods Will (1:5), it
seems like some kind of loss, a submission to something outside of ourselves. It seems like taking
second place. It seems subservient, or submissive. And in our mistaken identity as egos, we feel
that the only way to have autonomy is to make ourselves independent from God and from the rest
of His creation.
We are seeing things upside down (1:1). All that we find by asserting our independence is
sickness, suffering and loss and death (1:3). We are like a branch trying to become independent
of the vine. If we are cut off from the vine, we die. Our identity is not lost by joining with the
vine; it is found, because we are not something separate. We are part of God and part of His
creation, and only in joining with that willingly can we discover our true Identity. Our will is
His (1:6).
We choose to submit to Gods Will (which seems like taking second place) because, in
joining with Him, we arrive in first place: one with the Will of the Creator of all things.

I have already chosen what You will.
Commentary
It is difficult for us to realize that we have already chosen Gods Will. Not only is choosing
His Will the only way to find our true autonomy (yesterdays lesson), we have already made that
choice. We may think we have wandered away from Gods Will, defied it, and broken its laws
(1:1), but we have not. We cannot. Because we are the Will of God, extended and extending
(1:2).
When did we make this choice that we seem so unaware of? In the very instant of our creation
(1:5). God created us by extending His Will; when we came into being we were the extension of
His Will. Our choice was already made, and made for all eternity (1:6). We cannot change that.
We can make up an illusion in which we appear to have a separate will from Gods, but we
cannot make it real. Illusion is all we can make if what we make contradicts Gods Will.
This fact is our safety. It is our salvation as well, for it means that we have not done what we
thought we did; we have not defied Gods Will, we have only imagined it, only dreamed about it.
The oneness of God and His creation is unbroken, and it is this we can celebrate today.

I will not hurt myself again today.
Practice suggestion: Think of your judgments toward another person. Realize that these
judgments hurt you. Then say:
I will not hurt myself again today.
I will not teach myself that I am a sinner.
Let my forgiveness teach me that I am Gods Son.
Commentary
Whenever I think I am less than what God created, I hurt myself. And only myself. I do no
real damage, but I have the entirely realistic illusion of pain, sacrifice, and suffering. All my
physical and emotional senses confirm its reality; only the vision of Christ sees past the illusion.
There is a strong passage in the Text that tells how important it is not to depend on what our
eyes and ears tell us, to know that it is only the projection of our own thoughts:
The secret of salvation is but this: That you are doing this unto yourself. No
matter what the form of the attack, this still is true. Whoever takes the role of enemy
and of attacker, still is this the truth. Whatever seems to be the cause of any pain and
suffering you feel, this is still trueLet them be as hateful and as vicious as they
may, they could have no effect on you unless you failed to recognize it is your
dream. (T-27.VIII.10:16)
The evil dream results from a false picture of myself as something less than the Self which
God created. I still believe myself to be capable of sin and capable of suffering. Because I believe
that of myself, I believe it of others, and I project my belief onto them. I project my sin and my
guilt onto them. Every time I see sin or weakness in a brother, it is only a reflection of my own
thoughts about myself. It is your dream that you are seeing. You are not seeing something real,
but a masterful, near-perfect illusion, projected from your incredibly powerful mind. It is the
projected image of your own thoughts about yourself that is hurting you.
If I think I am weak, if I think my life is in a mess, I am not seeing my true Identity. None of
this is really happening. I am living a bad dream, a dream about myself. From a metaphysical
standpoint, nothing happening in my life really matters at all. It is just a bad dream. (It does
matter as a reflection of my state of mind, however.)
We are being saved from what we thought we were (2:3), and the way toward that
deliverance is to understand that life is but a dream, as the old round says. The way of
deliverance is to forgive. To understand when I think I see something worthy of my judgment and
condemnation that somehow, in some twisted way, all I am seeing is my own thoughts projected
outward. And to choose, in that moment, to think differently. To see the situation which I thought
justified my anger turned into a situation that justifies my love. Here is a poor, confused brother,
just like me, who has lost track of his true Identity with God. I am seeing him as guilty only
because I am projecting my own guilt. I choose not to add to his illusion by broadcasting guilt
onto him. I choose instead to direct my love to him that he may begin to awaken, as I have
begun. And I know, in so doing, that I am giving that love to myself, I am contributing to my
own awakening.
More to the point for me personally are these lines:
Why should we attack our minds, and give them images of pain? Why should we
teach them they are powerless? (1:23)
What am I teaching my mind by the thoughts I am thinking? What am I teaching my mind by
feeling guilty? Im a man under reconstruction, Im not finished yet. If I didnt need rehabilitation
I wouldnt be here! Let me observe my thoughts today and see how they attack me if I choose to
listen to the ego, and how they build me up when I listen to the Holy Spirit.

There is no conflict, for my will is Yours.
Commentary
In a study group recently, I said that our fundamental problem is that we really believe that we
are terrible people. We dont trust our own love. A fellow was expressing his concern that the
material of the Course could be used to justify just about any behavior. I could go rob a liquor
store because the world is just illusion and nobody would really be hurt except in the illusion.
Nothing I do affects my relationship to God negatively.
The direct answer to that question is that you only do such things in the world when you
believe the world is real. If you truly believed that the world is an illusion, you could not be doing
such things and would have no desire to do them.
The fear that he would do terrible things if he believed no one would really be hurt belied a
belief that he could not be trusted with the truth. The Course is saying that we dont believe that
what we truly want is good. The truth is, we can trust ourselves. Even if we are still confused and
bemused by illusion, we are not going to make terrible mistakes. It is safe to let go of the
constraints of guilt because we truly are extensions of God. We think we need the guilt to restrain
the monster within us; A Course in Miracles is saying guilt serves no useful function (see T14.III.1:4), and in fact keeps us locked into the illusion of our sinfulness. That illusion about
ourselves is the fundamental error. And it goes on to say that thinking the self has usurped the
throne of God is nothing to be guilty about:
Seek not to appraise the worth of Gods Son whom He created holy, for to do so
is to evaluate his Father and judge against Him. And you will feel guilty for this
imagined crime, which no one in this world or Heaven could possibly commit. The
Holy Spirit teaches only that the sin of self-replacement on the throne of God is
not a source of guilt.
(T-14.III.15:13)
It is just a trivial mistake (W-pI.138.11:5). Love has not left Itself. I share Gods nature as
Love. I could not leave Him, nor He me (1:5).
It is foolish (1:1) to believe that I could in reality oppose the Will of God, and corrupt
myself. Any apparent corruption or conflict between me and God must be an illusion, evidence of
nothing except that I am asleep and dreaming of the impossible (1:78).
To know reality is not to see the ego (W-pII.12.4:1). Yet paradoxically we must see the ego
first in order to overlook it. It operates in a hidden fashion, secretly, stealthily. It hides behind all
kinds of cover. We must unmask it, see it for what it is, and then overlook it, ignore it. As long as
we dont know what our imagined enemy is we will be run by fear. We have to get to the place
where we can see clearly, Oh! Its just the ego, its just me thinking Im separate. Then we can
let it go.
When you have at last looked at the egos foundation without shrinking, you will
have also looked upon ours.
(T-11.In.4:2)
Let us look at our ego, then, without shrinking, without being afraid of it, able to see that it is
just a trivial mistake.

Fear binds the world. Forgiveness sets it free.
Practice suggestion: Choose a situation in which you are experiencing fear. Then say:
My fears about [person, situation, or event] bind [people involved].
My forgiveness of [people doing the screwing up] will set [people involved] free,
And will set me free, too.
Commentary
Fear and unforgiveness are very closely related. Our fear, in the Courses understanding, is
rooted in our guilt. Our primal fear is of punishment for what we believe we have done wrong.
Our belief in our sin produces guilt, and that guilt produces fear. The fear binds us. It is a
restrictive emotion. Forgiveness, which undoes guilt, thus sets us free.
The belief in sin is the egos foundational illusion. All that the ego makes is illusion (1:1), and
not reality. Truth, by its mere presence, evaporates the illusions of the ego (1:25). If there is an
illusion of a wall in front of us, knowing the truth (in this case, there is no wall) enables us to
walk through the wall. There is no need to attack the wall to tear it down; we just shine it away
with the truth.
The truth about us is that we are guiltless. Forgiveness does not attack sin and guilt. It doesnt
have to. It just shines them away. Forgiveness invites truth to enter the mind and take its rightful
place within the mind (1:6).
Without forgiveness is the mind in chains, believing in its own futility (1:7). When I am
entrenched in my own guilt my mind seems impotent, unable to accomplish anything at all. I
cannot believe in my own power because I am believing in my own weakness. The power of God,
given to me in creation, seems non-existent. I seem to be frail, blown about by circumstances
beyond my control. But when I am forgiven, I once again realize the power of my own mind. By
owning my guilt and taking responsibility for it (realizing that I made the illusion of guilt and
sin), I reawaken to the inherent power of my mind to choose, and I realize that I can choose again.
And choose differently, if I wish.
When I exercise forgiveness, the realization of my minds freedom and power comes even
more quickly. When I realize that the picture of sin I am seeing in my brother is of my own
making, and that I can choose to see him differentlythat this is entirely within my power, and
not at all dependent on anything outside of meI am reclaiming my inheritance as Gods Son.
By my forgiveness I release the world from guilt. I have the power to forgive sins! I have the
power to free the world from its chains, and that power is the power of forgiveness.

Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here.
Practice suggestion: Pick a situation in which you are experiencing conflict. Say:
I perceive conflict in this situation.
This is my dream of conflict.
Forgiveness ends the dream of conflict here.
Commentary
This is a magnificent lesson! It states unmistakably, in very certain terms, that we cannot
dodge correcting our mistaken thoughts of conflict. Each one must be faced squarely and
forgiveness applied. Our thoughts of conflict must be resolved (1:1). They will not simply go
away. We cannot bury our heads in the sand. Consider the list of defensive tactics that our egos
persuade us to use. Conflict is (1:2):
Evaded: We sidestep the issue. When we sense a loss of peace, we watch TV or go shopping.
When we become aware of a wall between us and a brother or sister, we walk away, or make
ourselves very busy. We avoid facing the conflict in our minds.
Set aside: We shelve the issue for later consideration, a later that never seems to come.
Denied: We pretend it isnt there. Me, angry? No, Im fine; no problem.
Disguised: We blame our upset on a bad mood, hormones, a headache, or a bad day at the
office. We paint over our inner rage with pink paint, as Marianne Williamson so colorfully puts
it (pun intended). We smile and choke down the anger or pain. Whatever we are feeling, it cannot
be a thought of murder.
Seen somewhere else: Its not my problem! Its all her fault. I wouldnt be feeling these
awful feelings if he wasnt being so damned selfish.
Called by another name: We deny that what we are feeling is attack or hatred; perhaps we call
it righteous indignation or setting my boundaries or standing for the truth.
If the conflict in our minds is to be resolved, it cannot be hidden by deceit of any kind (1:2).
That is the summation of all these tactics. We are trying to hide the fact that thoughts of hatred,
rage, or murder have actually entered our minds. This ingrained habit of hiding our egos, pushing
them into the closet when company comes, has to end if the conflict is to be escaped.
This doesnt mean that, instead of hiding our egos, we should flaunt them and indulge them.
The purpose is not to express the ego but to expel it. But we cannot do that if we continue to hide
it, and sometimes the process of ripping the mask off the ego will mean that, for a short time at
least, we will give vent to the ego instead of covering it up. Sometimes the rage must be
expressed before we realize how deep-seated it really is. Yet this is only a transitional phase;
there is a healing that we seek.
By contrast with the cover-up, our intent should be:
To see the ego conflict exactly as it is: In other words, to recognize hatred, attack, selfisolation, grandiosity, anger, and the desire to kill for exactly what they are. To stop playing
innocent.
Where it is thought to be: This means getting in touch with the situation as your ego sees it.
Admitting, for instance, that you really believe your spouse is sadistic, or that you actually do see
yourself as unlovable.
In the reality which has been given it: Here we recognize just exactly what we think the
situation is, as egos. We understand that we see ourselves as alone in the universe, clawing our
way through life and barely surviving. We admit that the conflict seems really real to us. If we
are not perfectly peaceful and constantly joyful, there is a reason, and the reason is always some
aspect of ego we are clinging to, but simultaneously denying. We have to see the reality we have
given to it.
With the purpose that the mind accorded it: This one takes real discernment. The conflicts we
experience exist for a purpose, a purpose given to them by our minds. The purpose is always to
support our own egos, always some form of ego autonomy, some illusion of independent,
separate existence. Whatever the conflict, we give it its reality, and we do so for some hidden,
insane reason of the ego. Here is where we uncover our fear of love, our fear of joining, our
addiction to separation. Here is where we discover our hidden belief in guilt and the desire to
punish ourselves.
Only when we are willing to go through this kind of ruthless self-examination, taking total
responsibility for our own thoughts, will the defenses of the ego be lifted, and the truth be free to
shine away the ego. The truth is forgiveness (1:4 and 2:1); it is forgiveness that shines away all
conflict and all doubt. When I have uncovered my own ego in this way, forgiving others is the
most natural and the easiest thing in the world, because I have admitted that my ego is selfgenerated, and the other person had nothing to do with it. I have been acting for insane reasons
which I no longer accept nor want. But if this is true of me, it must be true of everyone. The
conflict has been unreal, illusion fighting illusion, fear reacting to fear. And with that realization,
my own guilt melts, and the way of return to God is open.

Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives.
Commentary
I seek but the eternal (2:1). This lesson is about deciding not to waste any more time going
after the supposed gifts of the ego. I will not wait another day to find the treasures that my
Father offers me (1:1). The primary use we are making of our free will is to delay our
acceptance of our divine inheritance. We are holding on like crazy to our illusion of
independence, and denying ourselves the only thing that will ever content us (2:2), like a
homeless person stupidly clinging to his rags while being offered brand new clothing.
Let me keep in mind today that nothing in this world is of lasting value. Illusions are all vain,
and dreams are gone even while they are woven out of thoughts that rest on false perceptions
(1:2). This reminds me of the verse in Ecclesiastes that says all our seeking is like trying to hold
on to the wind. The illusions of the ego are so evanescent; they can never satisfy a Son of God.
Only that which is eternal can satisfy me. A Christian hero of mine, Jim Elliot, once said, He is
no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Let me remember that what I truly want is God and His peace in my heart. When I think I
want something else, Holy Spirit, please help me to translate that desire into what it truly is, a
symbol of my longing for the Father and for Home. Gods Voice is offering peace; let that be my
only aim, and let everything else fall by the wayside.
The gifts forgiveness gives: What has all this got to do with forgiveness? Simply this: Every
goal other than peace generates unforgiveness, putting me in competition with someone or
something for that thing, whatever it is. Peace comes through forgiveness. If peace is my only
goal, I will not judge my brothers because a mind in judgment is not a mind at peace. Only a
mind free of lesser goals, free of desire for ephemeral things, can see his brothers as sinless.
Every encounter today offers me a chance at Heaven. There does not need to be any great
crisis. All the world is my classroom, and every instant is a moment of choice. Today, let me
choose peace.
LESSON 335 DECEMBER 1

I choose to see my brothers sinlessness.
Practice suggestion: The practice I will suggest now is a very powerful one, which I
have used many times. I recommend using it with a number of people who come to mind.
The idea behind it is that we see sinfulness in another because that will make us see
sinfulness in ourselves, and that, crazily enough, is what we are after, what our ego
wants. Just let one person after another come to mind, and apply the following lines to
each one:
I chose to see [names] sinfulness
Because I wanted to see my own.
I choose to see [names] sinlessness
Because I want to see my own.
Commentary
This continues the thought from yesterdays lesson about decision and choice. Yesterday we
read about choosing to follow Gods Voice, and beholding our brother as sinless. Today we read:
Forgiveness is a choice. I never see my brother as he is, for this is far beyond
perception. What I see in him is merely what I wish to see, because it stands for what
I want to be the truth.
(1:13)
In other words, what we see results from choices we have made about what we want to see.
The Text speaks about the decision for guiltlessness (T-14.III). It says (see the fourth paragraph
in that section) that we need to make the choice to see innocence and not to see guilt. If we make
that decision, that is what we will see.
It is startling to be told that we never see our brothers as they are (1:2). Seeing, or perception
(which is a dualistic form of knowing, requiring a seer separate from what is being seen), simply
cannot apprehend the reality of what we are. What we are seeing is always a symbol, an imperfect
representation. No wonder it is so easy for perception to be misperception.
Misperception in terms of guilt and innocence happens like this: I see guilt in myself. I want to
get rid of it, so I project it onto a brother. I see him as guilty because I want to, I have chosen to. I
think this will get rid of my guilt.
Correction of perception happens in reverse: I realize that I am not at peace and therefore I
must have decided wrongly. I decide to see my brother as innocent. When I have truly made that
choice, I will see his innocence. That is a law: You see what you believe is there, and you
believe it there because you want it there (T-25.III.1:3). When you want only love, love is all
you will see (T-12.VII.8:1).
What we are seeing is always what we choose to see because we want to see it. It is to this
alone that I respond, however much I seem to be impelled by outside happenings (1:4). The
Course is obviously aware that the way it describes perception is definitely not how it seems to
us. We are utterly convinced that we are seeing what we are seeing because thats the way it is.
We believe it is the happenings outside of us that are forcing this perception upon us. When we
see someone as guilty, it isnt because we are choosing to see them that waythey are guilty!
We think we are just seeing what is the truth. The Course hears our objections and replies, No
matter how much it seems that way to you, I am telling you, you are wrong; you are responding
only to what you want to see, not what is really there.
Forgiveness is a choice (1:1). We can see our brother as guilty, or as innocent, and the
choice is one hundred percent up to us; it has nothing to do with what he did or did not do.
My willingness to see my brother as innocent is the harbinger of my willingness to see myself
as innocent (1:67). When I am ready to choose to see my brother as innocent, it shows that I
have begun to let go of the guilt in my mind that caused me to desire to see him as guilty.
Seeing one another as innocent, seeing one another as sinless, restores the memory of God to
us (2:1). There is a formula that runs through the Course: First, we see the face of Christ in one
another; then we remember God. In him I find my Self, and in Your Son I find the memory of
You as well (2:3). So if I want to remember God, what can I do? Make a choice to see my
brother as innocent instead of guilty. We find our way to God through our brothers.

Forgiveness lets me know that minds are joined.
Commentary
In the Text, the Course speaks of the idea that minds are joined as something that is
experienced in a holy relationship, where two people have joined together in common purpose,
what is called in one place a common state of mind (T-22.III.9:7). In a healthy holy
relationship, the members of that relationship regularly practice forgiveness with one another.
The result is stated as follows:
This is the function of your holy relationship. For what one thinks, the other will
experience with him. What can this mean except your mind and your brothers are
one? Look not with fear upon this happy fact, and think not that it lays a heavy
burden on you. For when you have accepted it with gladness, you will realize that
your relationship is a reflection of the union of the Creator and His Son. (
T22.VI.14:15)
The idea that forgiveness is somehow connected to the experience of linked minds is not
intuitively obvious. Yet a little reflection seems to make it clearer for me. If I am unforgiving
toward someone, there is certainly a barrier between our minds. I am mentally rejecting that other
person and have no desire whatever to find myself mentally linked to them. My judgment is a
strong no to that persons thoughts. When I forgive, my mind opens to them. Forgiveness lets
me know that minds are joined (my emphasis). It opens the way for me to realize that this is true.
Our perceptions tell us, in a myriad of ways, that we are separate beings. Forgiveness
opens the way to an experience that takes us beyond perception and shows us the
underlying unity that perception cannot see. Forgiveness opens the hidden altar to the
truth (1:4). Within our minds we find the dwelling place of God Himself (1:6).
Forgiveness wipes away my dreams of separation and of sin (2:1). In the experience of
union with another human being, we begin to remember our union with God and all
creation

My sinlessness protects me from all harm.
Practice suggestion: Think of your day yesterday, and in relation to each thing you did,
ask yourself, Was there an element of If I do this thing right, Ill redeem myself?
Then, with each yes you get, ask yourself, What was I trying to redeem myself for?
Then focus on simply accepting the awareness from God that you are sinless, that you need do
nothing to be redeemed, because God has already done all things that need be done (1:5).
Commentary
This is a lesson about simply accepting the Atonement and nothing more. It states that there
are really only two steps to the full knowledge of complete happiness (1:46):
1. Realize that I need do nothing of myself.
2. Accept what God has already done.
All of the turmoil and discomfort we experience as we begin a spiritual path comes from
thinking that we lack something (which is not seeing step 2) and therefore we have to do
something to get it (which is not seeing step 1).
We feel unhappy, and therefore we think we lack happiness and set out to seek it.
Unhappiness is not a condition of lack. It is a condition of denial. We are actively negating
happiness, which is our natural state. We are blocking out the awareness of loves presence. We
are covering over the joy of our created nature, of simply being, with a filthy patina of
unfulfillment. We think the solution is to do something; actually the solution is to stop doing
something, to put an end to the activity that is obscuring our happiness.
That is one of the values of meditation. When we deliberately bring a stop to our mental
activity we often suddenly feel happy. That is because we are always happy, but we are
constantly generating unhappiness by our thoughts. Stop the thoughts and the happiness shines
through. Clear away the clouds and the sun is always there.
We have taught ourselves that we are this constant mental activity. Letting go of that activity
is an extreme threat to the ego. If we let it go nothing is left, or so we fear; so the ego tells us. The
ego lies!
All we need to do is to stop doing. What we are, without any activity at all, is enough to
support perfect, constant happiness.

I am affected only by my thoughts.
Commentary
This is a key Course concept, repeated many times in different words:
I am responsible for what I see. I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide upon
the goal I would achieve. (T-21.II.2:34)
(W-pI.5.Heading)
It is impossible the Son of God be merely driven by events outside of him. It is

impossible that happenings that come to him were not his choice. His power of
decision is the determiner of every situation in which he seems to find himself by
chance or accident.
(T-21.II.3:13)
Nothing beyond yourself can make you fearful or loving, because nothing is
beyond you.
(T-10.In.1:1)
It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. Nothing external to your mind can
hurt or injure you in any way. There is no cause beyond yourself that can reach down
and bring oppression. No one but yourself affects you. There is nothing in the world
that has the power to make you ill or sad, or weak or frail. But it is you who have the
power to dominate all things you see by merely recognizing what you are. (W190.5:16)
The Course says that accepting this is foundational to our release from our suffering. As long
as we think something outside of us is affecting us and causing our pain, we will not look within
for the thoughts that are truly at the root of the pain. We will believe ourselves to be innocent
victims of forces beyond our control. There are no forces beyond our control; that is the whole
point.
It needs but this to let salvation come to all the world. For in this single thought is
everyone released at last from fear.
(1:12)
The realization that there is nothing outside me threatening me in any way is sure to release us
from fear. At first it may seem to induce guiltbecause if no one else is doing it to me, I must be
doing it, and that seems to be a horrendously difficult admission to make. In fact, however, the
realization that I am affected only by my own thoughts brings an expansive freedom from fear.
Now has he learned that no one frightens him, and nothing can endanger him. He has
no enemies, and he is safe from all external things. (1:34)
Let me remind myself of this today. Nothing can endanger me. I have no enemies, and nothing
external can threaten me. I do not need to live in anxiety and defensiveness; I am safe.
Yet what about the fact that my own thoughts can hurt me? Isnt that something to be afraid
of? It seems especially frightening that I can be affected by thoughts I have but of which I am not
conscious. The eerie message of psychology that I am driven by subconscious motives that never
surface in my conscious mind has always been frightening, and the Course is very much in line
with those psychological theories. It is constantly telling us that we do believe certain things we
are not aware of believing, and that we are driven by a subterranean guilt about separation so
deeply buried that we perhaps will never, in this world, become aware of it. How can we be free
from fear when these hidden enemies lurk beneath the surface of our minds, ready to explode like
land mines when we unsuspectingly step on them?
His thoughts can frighten him, but since these thoughts belong to him alone, he has
the power to change them and exchange each fear thought for a happy thought of
love. He crucified himself. Yet God has planned that His beloved Son will be
redeemed.
(1:57)
The good news is that since our thoughts are our thoughts, we can change them. Even the
subconscious ones. That is what the Course is all about. Yes, we have crucified ourselves, but
God has planned a way out for us. He has planned that we be redeemed: that is, liberated or
released from our self-imposed prison. It is a way of changing our minds, and nothing more than
that is needed.
All other plans will fail.
(2:2)
They will fail because they are based on an untruth, namely, that the problem is something
external, something other than my thoughts. I can try to solve my problems with more money,
with medicines or drugs, or by surrounding myself by people who seem to supply what I seem to
lack. Being external solutions they will all fail, because the real problem is my own thoughts. No
matter how ingenious they are, my plans will fail, because I am solving the wrong problems.
And I will have thoughts that will frighten me, until I learn that You have given me
the only Thought that leads me to salvation. Mine alone will fail, and lead me
nowhere. But the Thought You gave me promises to lead me home, because it holds
Your promise to Your Son.
(2:35)
Even though I know the truth of this lesson, I will still have frightening thoughts, thoughts that
seem to hurt me. That is not anything to be concerned about. When such thoughts surface I can
learn to shrug and tell myself, So I still have an ego. What else is new? I can bring thoughts that
frighten into the presence of the Thought given by God, the Holy Spirit. He is the Thought that
leads me to salvation, the Thought of forgiveness and love. He is a Thought full of promise and
certainty, a Thought that tells me I am Gods beloved Son, with nothing to fear (as we saw in
yesterdays lesson, My sinlessness protects me from all harm).
Let me today be willing to recognize my fear thoughts when they arise, rather than denying I
have them, so that with the help of the Holy Spirit I can change them and exchange them for a
happy thought of love.

I will receive whatever I request.
Practice suggestion: To get the real thrust of todays idea, you might want to try the
following exercise. First, think of three things: a plan you have for today, something you
want today, and a thought you have been thinking today. Then repeat the following lines
to God:
I plan to do _________, yet I would do nothing by myself, but hear Your Voice in everything I
do.
Today I want __________, but I request only what You offer me.
Today I might think _________, but I accept only Thoughts You share with me.
Commentary
This can be an upsetting idea! It means that whatever I have received, I requested. We dont
like to hear that, and it can seem harsh. Youve got cancer? You asked for it. Used that way it is
harsh, a weapon for separation instead of a tool for union. How could anyone desire sickness and
pain? The thought seems absurd.
No one desires pain. But he can think that pain is pleasure. No one would avoid
his happiness. But he can think that joy is painful, threatening and dangerous.
Everyone will receive what he requests. But he can be confused indeed about the
things he wants; the state he would attain. (1:16)
Of course nobody wants pain; nobody consciously refuses happiness. If that is so, and
everyone receives what he requests, then how is it that pain and unhappiness arise? We might
think of it as a syllogism, which seems to make sense:
Nobody wants pain.
Nobody, therefore, would request pain.
Everyone receives what he requests or wants.
Therefore, we cannot receive pain.
That seems logical, doesnt it? If the first three are true, the fourth must be true. So how come
I hurt? We must be missing something; our logic must be flawed. The flaw lies between the first
two premises. Nobody wants pain, but nevertheless, we do request it; that is why we receive it.
The lesson explains that I can be confused about what I want; that I can think pain is pleasure,
or that joy is threatening. The latter is perhaps a little easier to understand since it is a common
experience. Havent you ever had the thought This is too good to last? Or perhaps youve found
yourself very happy in a relationship and suddenly getting afraid of it because some part of you is
nearly certain that if you keep your guard down youre going to get smacked good. I had a friend
who somehow entered a very high and totally joyful state of mind and was there for nearly three
weeks until she started thinking, This is wonderful. I love everybody, I have no fear of anything,
but if I live like this in the world Im going to get crucified. Maybe Im not enlightened; maybe
Im just insane. So she lost the joy, and it never came back in quite the same way.
We really do think that too much joy is threatening and dangerous. We value our suspicions.
We cherish our defenses. Were afraid of simply opening up to joy. So, quite unconsciously most
of the time, we request unhappiness. We choose not to be peaceful.
The confusion of pain and joy is much more deeply buried, but the Course teaches that pain
validates our separateness and justifies our barriers against one another. We choose it to
strengthen our ego identity. It is perhaps difficult to believe that all of our pain and unhappiness is
chosen, but the Course is insistent on this point.
What can he then request that he would want when he receives it? He has asked for
what will frighten him, and bring him suffering. (1:78)
We actually do ask for things that frighten us and bring us suffering. Much of the Text is
dedicated to bringing this to conscious awareness; making us aware of what we are choosing so
that we can realize how insane it is and make another choice.
Let us resolve today to ask for what we really want, and only this, that we may spend
this day in fearlessness, without confusing pain with joy, or fear with love. (1:9)
We can change our minds. We can begin, consciously, to choose the joy of God instead of
pain. When a moment of pain arises we can accept the fact that we are choosing it, and choose
again. We can say, This is not what I want; I choose the joy of God. We can choose peace
instead of upset. One thought I repeat so often that it is practically a mantra is Oops! Im doing it
to myself again. It is remarkable what a change this fundamental realization can make in ones
life.
Read now the short prayer that closes this lesson, and start your day with these thoughts. If
youve already started the day, start it over right now. Stop a moment and adopt this mindset.
Setting the tone of your mind right now will carry over into the day and bring changes you cant
begin to foresee now.
Father, this is Your day. It is a day in which I would do nothing by myself, but
hear Your Voice in everything I do; requesting only what You offer me, accepting
only Thoughts You share with me.
(2:12)

I can be free of suffering today.
Commentary
The Workbook lessons from 221 on are meant to be used as brief introductions to holy
instants of direct experience of the truth. As the introduction to Part II of the Workbook says:
Now we attempt to let the exercise be merely a beginning. For we wait in quiet
expectation for our God and Father.
(W-pII.In.2:12)
We say some simple words of welcome, and expect our Father to reveal Himself, as
He has promised. (W-pII.In.3:3)
We say the words of invitation that His Voice suggests, and then we wait for Him to
come to us.
(W-pII.In.4:6)
The words of invitation seem to refer to the prayers in each lesson. The idea is that we read
the lesson over and perhaps think on it a minute or two. Then, we repeat the prayer that invites
God to join us. More and more, as I have worked with these lessons, I have found increasing
benefit from really focusing on these prayers, and making them very personal. Then we wait,
quietly, until we are aware of Gods presence with us. That is the whole purpose of the exercises.
I can be free of suffering today.
So let me remind myself of this. Freedom from suffering is my choice. I have the option,
today, to be free. As I listen to Gods Voice directing me to find Christs vision through
forgiveness, I will be free forever from all suffering (1:4). Let me think on that a moment, pray
the prayer given here, and then sit quietly and wait, listening, opening my mind to that vision.
I do not live in that vision yet, or only sporadically. To me it seems I have some way to go. So
I wait. I make my mind empty, available to Him, and ask Him to fill me with this vision and to
enlarge it in my mind.
I was born into this world but to achieve this day, and what it holds in joy and
freedom for Your holy Son and for the world he made.
(1:6)
Achieving Christs vision fully is all that I am here for; I was born for this. Perhaps today! I
open myself to it, I loose my mind from all lesser thoughts and offer it to You. In this holy instant
I can find that release. Perhaps it wont last more than a few minutes, a few seconds. Perhaps it
will lodge in my mind and stay with me all through the day. Salvation is already accomplished,
and I can tap into that awareness right now. Even if I forget in ten minutes, even if I lose the
awareness, the memory will remain and will sustain me, transforming my day from what it would
have been had I not spent these moments with You. So I give myself to this time, this
remembering.
We all will remember. God will gather us all to Himself, and together we shall all awake in
Heaven in the Heart of Love (2:56). Take heart, my soul! The outcome is as inevitable as God.
The way may seem long at times, but the ending is sure, and no anxiety need touch my heart. I
am content in this moment simply to be with You. There is nothing more that I need. There is no
room for anything but joy and thanks today (2:3), and only these will I welcome into my holy
mind.

I can attack but my own sinlessness,
And it is only that which keeps me safe.
Practice suggestion: This is yet another favorite prayer of mine. Ive laid it out on
separate lines to aid in praying it, and added some extra thoughts to each line.
1. Father, Your Son is holy.
And Your Son is me.
You are my Father, Who loves me more than any earthly father could imagine.
Your Love created me holy, and that is how I remain, no matter what I think of myself.
2. I am he on whom You smile
Your Smile is everything to me.
It is my sun, my Source of life, in which I abide.
What could be more joyous than feeling Your Smile shining on me?
in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still
Let me know the love of Your Smile, the tenderness of it.
Let me feel how dear is Your Love, how deep, how still.
the universe smiles back on You, and shares Your Holiness.
Your Holiness lies in Your loving Smile.
In smiling back on you, we share Your Holiness.
3. How pure, how safe, how holy, then, are we,
How pure are we. How safe are we. How holy are we.
Let me feel this purity, rest in this safety, shine in this holiness.
abiding in Your Smile,
Basking in Your Smile.
Living in Your Smile like flowers live in the sunlight and turn their faces toward its warmth.
with all Your Love bestowed upon us,
All of Your Love. How could that be?
Let me know the joy of feeling all of Your Love bestowed on me.
living one with You,
With no distance between Us, no space for hate or discord to arise.
Living inside the warmth of Your Smile.
in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete;
The experience of brotherhood I long for is there, in Your Smile.
The perfect Father I long for is there, in Your Smile.
in sinlessness so perfect that the Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son,
Only the perfectly sinless could be the Son of the Lord of Sinlessness.
And in my perfect sinlessness, I am Your Son.
a universe of Thought completing Him.
I and my brothers are a universe of thought.
So pure, so sinless, so vast, that we actually complete You.
What more hallowed honor could there be?
Commentary
Whenever I attack anyone I attack myself. When I see sin in another, my own sinlessness is
being attacked, and only that keeps me safe. God says I am sinless; who am I to disagree? And
why would I do that?
I am he on whom You smile in love and tenderness so dear and deep and still the
universe smiles back on You, and shares Your holiness. (1:2)
How foolish, then, to attack at all, when any attack is an attack on what I am! How foolish to
so attack the wonder of what I am in a vain quest for some other, lesser identity! Why would I
jeopardize my experience of Gods deep tenderness?
abiding in Your Smile
(1:3)
What a wonderful thought! Sometimes I have met a person whose smile was so radiant I felt
as if I could sunbathe in it. Imagine basking in Gods Smile! What a warmth of love beams from
such a smile! Let me spend a little time now just luxuriating in its compassionate glow.
We live one with Him, in brotherhood and Fatherhood complete (1:3). The oneness we
enjoy is not just with the Father, but with all our brothers as well. This is the state we are meant to
abide in forever. It is the state we are in forever, if we are only willing to enjoy it and set aside
every thought of attack. The Lord of Sinlessness conceives us as His Son, a universe of Thought
completing Him (1:3). As such we can be only sinlessness itself. My attack threatens nothing but
my awareness of this perfect sinlessness.
Let us not, then, attack our sinlessness, for it contains the Word of God to us. And
in its kind reflection we are saved. (2:12)

I let forgiveness rest upon all things,
For thus forgiveness will be given me.
Practice suggestion: The following is a visualization based on todays lesson. It is long,

so it may help if someone reads it to you, or if you read it onto tape and play it back for
yourself.
Close your eyes.
Think of your current life as if its taking place inside of hell.
Think of various problem areas in your life and see actual flames popping up in those places.
Maybe you have a problematic relationship right now. See flames dancing there.
Maybe you are having financial difficulties. See flames coming out of your wallet or purse.
Maybe you feel alone and isolated. You might imagine a ring of flames around you,
separating you from others.
Just think of various problem areas and see flames dancing in each of those areas.
Then, a little distance away, you see a massive, glorious door, the gate of Heaven.
Imagine it however you like.
Maybe its made of gold. Perhaps there are diamonds in it. Perhaps it is shining with an
otherworldly light.
You walk toward it, and as you come nearer, you see it has a large keyhole, like you might
see in a castle door.
A ray of bright light is streaming out of the keyhole, a hint of the glory that lies on the other
side.
You find in your hand a large, old-fashioned key.
Look at the key, feel it in your hand.
As you look, you see that on it is engraved in beautiful writing the word Forgiveness.
Then you turn the key over, and on the other side it says, of [name].
The name is someone you deeply need to forgive, but you have been putting it off.
See whose name is there.
Realize that you have been refusing to use this key for a long time.
If going through the gate means using this key, you are not sure its worth it.
Maybe the flames are preferable.
How long have you been loitering there, in front of the gate, wondering if you should enter in
and be at home?
You finally decide to forgive this person.
Say to yourself, I let forgiveness rest upon [name],
Do your best to mean these lines.
I let forgiveness rest upon [name],

One more time: I let forgiveness rest upon [name],
Find that you have placed the key in the keyhole
And are already turning it.
You are forgiving this person at last.
The key turns all the way and you pull the door open; it takes virtually no effort.
As it swings open you find yourself face to face with a blazing light.
The light of Heaven.
The light of God.
The light of your true Self.
You are transfixed by this light,
Caught up in the ecstasy of it.
All questions are answered; all longings are satisfied.
You are home at last.
Say to God, I forget all things except Your changeless Love.
I forget all things except that You are here. (based on The Gifts of God, p. 126)
Spend a few moments basking in this light,
And then open your eyes when you are ready.
Commentary
As the fourth sentence says, The key is in my hand (1:4). Forgiveness is the key. As I
forgive, I receive forgivenessnot from God as a reward for my good deed (God has no need to
forgive, never having condemned), butfrom myself. Forgiveness really means no more than
that I let creation be as You would have it be and as it is (1:7). In my ego mind, I am the only
one who has overlaid an illusion of sin onto the world around me. When I look with
condemnation on the world, I am not seeing reality as it is. There is nothing to condemn, and that
fact is my own salvation. If the sin I think I see in the world is really there, then I am damned
with the world. Only when I let creation be as God would have it beinnocentcan I be free of
condemnation.
This is Gods plan to save me from the hell I made (1:1). I made the hell; God gives me
forgiveness as the way out. The hell I made is not real, thank God. In this Course I have come
right up to the door to the end of dreams (1:4). I hold forgiveness, the key, in my hand. I stand
before the gate of Heaven, wondering if I should enter in and be at home (1:5). In every instant
today when I face the choice between judgment and forgiveness, between murder and a miracle, I
am standing at that gate, holding the key in my hand, wondering if I should go in.
Let me not wait again today. Let me forgive all things, and let creation be as You
would have it be and as it is. Let me remember that I am Your Son, and opening the
door at last, forget illusions in the blazing light of truth, as memory of You returns to
me.
(1:68)
Forgiveness is the key; the choice to open the door is mine. To open it I must be willing to
forget all illusions. I must be willing to let go of my investment in seeing my own sins in my
brother and to release him.
Brother, forgive me now. I come to you to take you home with me. And as we go,
the world goes with us on our way to God.(2:13)
Let me think of these lines with every person I meet today. Forgive me now. I come to take
you home with me. Oh, let that be the way I greet everyone in my mind! Let us all go home
together!

I am not asked to make a sacrifice
To find the mercy and the peace of God.
Commentary
The whole idea of loss or sacrifice is foreign to the Course. It tells us, Sacrifice is a notion
totally unknown to God (T-3.I.4:1). As the first line of the lesson points out, how could ending
suffering be a loss? How can happiness be gained by sacrificing? Its ridiculous when you look at
it, and yet for centuries many religions have believed that in order to find Gods mercy you have
to give up something, usually something really valuable. You have to suffer to attain Heaven.
You have to pay for your mistakes.
Heaven, or salvation, must be only gain. How could it be a loss and still be Heaven? Let me
affirm to my Father:
You only give. You never take away. And You created me to be like You, so sacrifice
becomes impossible for me as well as You. I, too, must give.
(1:36)
Someone just today was telling me how they got trapped in a mental loop of feeling as though
God had given them a dirty deal by creating them capable of experiencing this dream of
suffering; it was as if God was putting us through all this for selfish reasons, or at least allowing
us to go through this for selfish reasons, for what He can get out of it. But God only gives; He
does not take away. Let me not think otherwise.
And what God gives is given forever:
As I was created I remain. Your Son can make no sacrifice, for he must be complete,
having the function of completing You.
(1:89)
I cant lose what I am; I cant sacrifice something of value and become incomplete, because
that would be contrary to my function of completing God. For God to be complete (which of
course He must be, being God), I must be complete, for He created me to complete Himself!
Therefore, I cannot sacrifice; I must remain complete.
We are beset with the notion that somehow we have to earn the mercy and the peace of God.
Especially when Ive been off on some ego detour, I always feel as if I have to go through
something to find my way back. I need to have a proper period of remorse and feeling guilty. At
least I have to sleep it off! It just doesnt seem right to snap instantly from ego madness to a state
of peace and joy without paying some kind of penalty first. Yet:
The mercy and the peace of God are free. Salvation has no cost. It is a gift that
must be freely given and received. And it is this that we would learn today. (2:14)
Because they have no cost, mercy and peace are immediately available in every instant. I need
only to be willing to freely give them and receive them.
In this instant, right now, let me give mercy to myself. Let me see my childish heart in pain
over what it thinks it has done, and let me spread mercy across it like a warm blanket. Let me
embrace myself with love and affirm my own innocence again. Have I forgotten who I am?
Thats okay. Have I been angry at a brother? I still merit mercy and peace. Have I betrayed a
friend? God still counts me as His own. No sacrifice is asked; no penance; no decent period of
mourning. I can simply, trustingly open my mind to my Friend and find welcome. I can come
home to God. What am I waiting for? Let me come to Him now.

Today I learn the law of love; that what
I give my brother is my gift to me.
Commentary
What if we realized that only what we give away to others will be left to us in the end? What if
we recognized that everything we try to hold onto for ourselves alone will be lost? How would
that change the way we live?
The lesson is referring to our gifts of love and forgiveness more than to anything physical,
although the physical often symbolizes that love. Yet he whom I forgive will give me gifts
beyond the worth of anything on earth (1:6). The Course teaches us that everything is an idea,
and ideas, when given away, only increase; we lose nothing in the giving. On the other hand,
when we try to save our affection for ourselves alone, we wind up empty-handed: And as I
looked upon the treasure that I thought I had, I found an empty place where nothing ever was or is
or will be (1:3). Only what is shared is real because only oneness is reality, and separateness is
illusory. We cant have something for ourselves alone because we are not alone.
How do we arise and return to God (1:9)? Through forgiving our brothers (1:68). Each one
we welcome fills my store with Heavens treasures, which alone are real (1:7). There was a
short poem I learned back in my fundamentalist Christian days that seems applicable here:
Only
one
life,
Only whats done for Christ will last.
twill
soon
be
past;
Only the love is real; only the love is eternal.

How near we are to one another, as we go to God. How near is He to us. How
close the ending of the dream of sin, and the redemption of the Son of God.
(2:13)
I dont think that as yet we have any idea how inextricably we are all linked to one another, or
how near we really are to one another. Each time you choose to listen to Gods Voice instead of
your ego, in however little a way, you help me on my way to God. Each time I open my eyes to
Christs vision, you see a little better. You and I and all of us are really one. I am not alone in
experiencing the effects of my thoughts, says Lesson 19. If, through my willingness to see
another as whole today, I help her or him on the way to God by reminding them of who they
really are, I have literally helped myself equally, because our minds are joined. How many
opportunities await each of us today! How eager I should be to spread forgiveness over all the
world!

I offer only miracles today,
For I would have them be returned to me.
Commentary
The basic thought is similar to yesterdays: what I give is returned to me. Realizing this is so,
let me decide as this day starts, and as every day starts, to offer only what I want. Miracles. To
give a miracle means to see past the illusions of my brothers, and to see them as they really are, as
Gods creations. It means not to accept and support the image my brother has of himself as a
limited ego, a tiny fragment of mind trapped in a body. Instead, I see him as an unlimited being of
spirit, magnificent in glory. In Chapter 8 of the Text we are told:
But when you look upon a brother as a physical entity, his power and glory are lost
to you and so are yours.Do not see him this way for your own salvation, which
must bring him his. Do not allow him to belittle himself in your mind, but give him
freedom from his belief in littleness, and thus escape from yours. (T-8.VII.5:3, 5
6)
That is giving a miracle. Refusing to see my brother in the limited way he sees himself; seeing
the Christ in him, for him. The miracle thus blesses both me and my brother, for as my mind is
healed of illusions, it reflects on him as well and brings light to his mind. I give him the
opportunity to see himself as God sees him.
The law of love is universal. Even here, it takes a form which can be recognized and
seen to work.
(1:23)
The law of love was stated yesterday: that what I give my brother is my gift to me. The
form this law takes here is something I can recognize. It isnt merely abstract; it takes form, it
becomes concrete. When I offer miracles to those around me, they return to me, not in exactly the
form in which I offered them, but in just the form I need to meet my needs as I perceive them
(1:4). In Heaven there are no needs (1:5); here on earth, I do perceive needs, and the law of love
adapts to my perception (1:6).
I can offer a miracle with a profound act of forgiveness, or I can offer a miracle with a smile to
a passerby that tells him, You are loveable. I offer a miracle with every gesture of kindness,
every token of courtesy, every expression of respect, and every act of caring. Whatever the form,
if the content of the message is You are loveable. You are worthy. You are innocent, I have
offered the miracle, and it will return to me.
Let me choose, Father, to enter into my day determined to offer nothing but miracles to those
around me. May I say, from the depth of my heart:
Peace to all seeking hearts today. The light has come to offer miracles to bless the
tired world.
(2:12)
And before I step out into the bustle of today, let me pause for a few minutes and spend them
simply offering peace to every seeking heart that comes to mind. No such effort is ever wasted,
and I will receive as much as I am willing to give.

Today the peace of God envelops me,
And I forget all things except His Love.
Practice suggestion: This is one of the most beautiful prayers in the Workbook. It speaks
of a day in which I am so caught up in the experience of Gods Love that I forget
everything else. The things of time fade away and the laws of time no longer bind me.
This prayer is very similar to the prayers for Lesson 232 (Be in my mind, my Father,
through the day) and Lesson 310 (In fearlessness and love I spend today). All three
speak of spending our day with God rather than with all our earthly tasks and happenings.
I highly recommend taking some time this morning and praying this prayer over and
over. Let it usher you into the joyous day of which it speaks. Fix a line in your mind,
close your eyes, and say that line to God, as sincerely as you can. Then open your eyes
and do the same with the next line. You may want to write the prayer down on a card so
you can use it each hour. You may even want to memorize it. The beauty of
memorization is that it enables you to use the prayer anytime, anywhere, and do so
without opening your eyes to read each line, thus allowing you to absorb yourself in the
prayer more fully.
Commentary
Before I begin to comment on the lesson, let me share a few thoughts in preparation.
Many of the lessons in the latter part of the Workbook, particularly this one, are coming to us
from a state of right-mindedness. That state is the goal of the Courses curriculum. Therefore, for
most of us, probably all of us, it represents a state of mind we do not normally live in. I know
there is a part of me that resonates in perfect harmony with this lesson, but there is also another
part that stands off cynically and says to me, Forget all things except His Love? Hah! More
likely you will remember everything except His Love. How long will this high-falutin attitude
last after you walk out the door? And if this is so, why bother with the lesson at all?
Why bother? Because there is a part of my mind that sings in harmony with the lesson, and it
is the only part that is real. Each time I seek to align myself with thoughts like these, and to let
the significance of them wash over me and draw me with them, something happens. Even if after
reading and quietly meditating on them I feel as though nothing has happened, something has
happened. And if, even for an instant, I can harmonize my mind with them so that, just for that
instant, I mean the words as I say them, I may have saved as much as a thousand years in my
spiritual development. Truly, truly, it is worth the effort. We are worth the effort.
So as we read this lesson now, let us simply attempt to suspend our disbelief for just an
instant, and let these words be true for us. Let us believe that what we say represents our true Self,
for it does. Let us be in the spirit of these words.
It all seems so simple sometimes. All there is to do is to be happy. Sometimes I feel as if I

could simply be there right now, with no more effort or struggle. All the strain and struggle
comes from resistance, not from any effort to be enlightened or holy. Simply forget all things
except His Love. Simply remember nothing but the peace of God.
When those thoughts come to me, I notice, still, a fear of loss. It feels as if I am giving up
something valuable when I give up struggle. Yet all I am giving up is pain.
What if I simply started being happy all the time? What if I let go of all insistence that
anything be different?
Father, I wake today with miracles correcting my perception of all things. And so
begins the day I share with You as I will share eternity, for time has stepped aside
today.
(1:12)
I can share this day with God just as I will share eternity with Him. There is nothing to do,
nothing to achieve. Salvation asks nothing of me that I cannot give right now.
I do not seek the things of time, and so I will not look upon them. What I seek today
transcends all laws of time and things perceived in time. I would forget all things
except Your Love. (1:35)
In all my seeking, Father, what I seek is really Your Love. The things of time will never
satisfy me; in this moment I gladly forget them all. I come to You, needing only Your Smile to
fill my heart to overflowing.
I would abide in You, and know no laws except Your law of love. And I would find
the peace which You created for Your Son, forgetting all the foolish toys I made as I
behold Your glory and my own. (1:67)
Only my belief that I am not worthy of Your Love keeps me from enjoying it in every
moment. Your Love is not lacking. I let myself relax in It and lean back on It. I am sustained by
Your Love. There is nothing else. In Your Love, I behold not only Your glory, but my own glory
as well, for Love is what I am.
And when the evening comes today, we will remember nothing but the peace of
God. For we will learn today what peace is ours, when we forget all things except
Gods Love.
(2:12)
What is there to prevent me from having a day like this? Nothing. I open my heart to Love.
The Love of God rolls over me like a mighty ocean, and I am carried in Its current, surrounded by
It, afloat in It.

Anger must come from judgment. Judgment is
The weapon I would use against myself,
To keep the miracle away from me.
Practice suggestion: Today the ideas for the day go from two lines to three lines, which
means they have tripled in length since just seven lessons ago. I confess that I find it
harder to repeat these longer ideas throughout the day. If youre the same, here are some
suggestions that might make it easier:
Write the idea down on a notecard and pull the card out for practice periods.
Find a part of the idea that speaks the most to you, and focus on repeating that part.
Spend time in the morning memorizing the idea so fully that it just rolls off your tongue the
rest of the day.
Reword the idea in a way that captures the gist of it but is shorter and speaks to you
personally.
On that last point, dont be afraid to reword the idea, as long as you stay reasonably faithful to
the meaning. The Course reminds us of this more than once, saying, You need not use these
exact words (W-pI.65.6:5) and It is not the particular words you use that matter (WpI.rI.In.6:4).
Commentary
From the sublime heights of yesterdays lesson (I would forget all things except Your
Love), we return to the level of our split mind, in which we attack ourselves, keeping away the
miracle with judgment and attack. The previous lesson was miracle-mindedness; here we see why
we do not always experience that state of mind: We actively keep it away from ourselves with
judgment and attack. The process of the Course involves learning complete honesty with
ourselves. We learn to recognize and admit the duplicity of our own minds:
Father, I want what goes against my will, and do not want what is my will to
have.
(1:1)
My will is my right-mindedness, forgetting everything except Gods Love. And yet we seem
to want something else, and to actively resist having the Love of God flooding our minds.
I love the next couple of lines:
Straighten my mind, my Father. It is sick. (1:23)
I love those lines because of their stark simplicity, and because of the contrast they offer to the
frothy denial of our inner darkness that is prevalent in so many circles. The Course does not pull
any punches. It does not whitewash our problems. There are times when no other assessment fits:
Our minds are sick! It is sick to want what goes against my true will, and to actively resist my
own well-being. Self-destruction is always pathological. When we look honestly at the fact that
we are literally pushing away our own peace of mind, by active choices we make, it ought to be
repugnant. When we see what we have been doing, our saner self will say, This is sick!
And so we ask the Father to straighten my mind. That always reminds me of a science
fiction book by Zenna Henderson that I read as a young man, called The People: No Different
Flesh.1 In it there were certain persons who could telepathically enter into another persons mind
and sort their thoughts, soothing their inner turmoil and pain. The idea appealed to me so much
that I used to pray, Sort me, Father, when I felt my thoughts in chaos and confusion. And it
seemed to work! I was pleasantly surprised to see this similar phrase here, validating my early
experience. Straighten my mind.
We enable the straightening of our minds by giving all our judgment to the Holy Spirit and
asking Him to judge for us (1:5). He sees what we see, and yet He knows the truth (1:6). He is
looking at the same evidence I am looking at, but He knows the pain is not real; the evidence
means something entirely different to Him. To me, the evidence of my eyes seems to prove that
separation, pain, loss, and death are real. When I bring all this to Him and ask Him to straighten
my mind, He will show me that what I see does not mean what I think it means; He will use what
I thought proved my guilt to reveal my innocence.
He gives the miracles my dreams would hide from my awareness. (1:8)
Listen today. Be very still, and hear the gentle Voice for God assuring you that
He has judged you as the Son He loves. (2:12)
. This is the title of one of the two original collections of stories about the People. All of Hendersons wonderful
stories have been recently republished in a single volume, titled Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna
Henderson (Framingham, Mass.: Nesfa Press, 1995).

I have no cause for anger or for fear,
For You surround me. And in every need
That I perceive, Your grace suffices me.
Commentary
You surround me. Close your eyes and be quiet, and think of the Love or Presence of God
as a golden light. Imagine that light shining on the front of you. Feel its warmth, its golden glow,
like the radiance of the sun on a bright, summer day.
Now, become aware of that same light behind you. The Love of God is shining on you, front
and back. Let yourself feel the safety of it.
The Presence of God is also on your right, and on your left. It is all around you, above you and
below you. You are surrounded by this golden light, immersed in it. You are surrounded by
perfect safety (1:5), perfect benevolence. Allow yourself to feel what that is like.
In this Love there is no cause for anger or for fear. There is no cause for anything except the
perfect peace and joy you share with God.
Gods grace suffices us in everything that He would have us do. And only that we
choose to be our will as well as His.
(2:12)
Whenever you can today, stop for a moment or two and visualize yourself surrounded by the
Love of God.

Today I let Christs vision look upon
All things for me and judge them not, but give
Each one a miracle of love instead.
Practice suggestion:
Think of a person you know.
Once you have chosen someone, imagine your mind stepping back and withdrawing all
judgment of this person, all evaluation of any kind.
Then imagine Christ looking through you at this person. As He looks, He does not judge,
He simply loves. He does not strain this person through your filters of suspicion. His only
concern is to give him or her a miracle. Try to let Christ actually look through you, so that
its more than just your imagination.
Commentary
The law of love, mentioned in the second sentence, has been referred to in lessons 344, 345,
and 346. We are likely to forget how Lesson 344 defines it: Today I learn the law of love; that
what I give my brother is my gift to me. The law of love is the law that giving and receiving are
the same, that generosity and loving extension is a practical way of life because what I give, I
receive. Understanding what the law of love is, the words of this lesson make perfect sense:
So [by not judging, but giving a miracle of love instead] would I liberate all
things I see, and give to them the freedom that I seek. For thus do I obey the law of
love, and give what I would find and make my own.
(1:12)
Do I want others to refrain from judging me, forgive my mistakes, and offer me miracles of
love? Let me give what I seek; let me give what I want to find for myself.
Each time I accept a gift of God, I have added to my repertoire of miracles I can give (1:45).
Each time I give that miracle to another, I have solidified my learning that the miracle belongs to
me (1:6). And thus I remember God.
Let me not judge today, but offer miracles of love instead. Let me give what I want to receive.

Miracles mirror Gods eternal Love.
To offer them is to remember Him,
And through His memory to save the world.
Commentary
To offer a miracle is to remember God, and through offering miracles we literally save the
world. We reincorporate the Son of God as God created him (1:2). The theme of miracles has run
through these last ten lessons, and the page of teaching that preceded them.
A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all. It merely
looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false. It undoes error,
but does not attempt to go beyond perception, nor exceed the function of
forgiveness.
(W-pII.13.1:14)
In other words, a miracle and forgiveness are alike; both simply remind the mind that what it
sees is false. To offer a miracle is to look beyond the illusions and to see the truth. It is a refusal
to share the littleness in which others see themselves. I offer a miracle when I refuse to believe
that my brother is identified with and limited to his body and his ego. I refuse to believe that
anyone is defined by their behavior, and offer everyone the opportunity to see themselves as more
than they think they are, more loveable and more loving than they think they are. That is a
miracle, and that also is forgiveness.
What we forgive becomes a part of us, as we perceive ourselves. The Son of God
incorporates all things within himself as You created him. (1:12)
That is an amazing statement! When we forgive something or someone, it or she becomes a
part of us. It is almost as if by forgiving things and people, we are regathering the fragmented
parts of the Sonship back into our Self. We are acknowledging that they are not separate, as they
appear to be, but actually part of our being. Each miracle we offer helps reconstitute the Son of
God.
In reality of course, the Son is eternally one; there is no need to reconstitute what is already
whole. What we are is not affected by our thoughts. The reality of our being remains inviolate
(1:4). But what we look upon, what we perceive, is the direct result of our thoughts (1:5).
Therefore, my Father, I would turn to You. Only Your memory will set me free.
(1:67)
Today, Father, heal my thoughts. Straighten my mind (W-pII.347.1:2). I want the memory
of God to return to my mind, and only my forgiveness teaches me to let Your memory return to
me, and give it to the world in thankfulness (1:8). To have the memory of God return, I must
forgive. I must offer miracles to everyone and everything.
As I remember God (through my forgiveness), His Son will be restored to us in the reality of
Love (2:2). There is the thought again that forgiveness restores the Son, rejoining the
separated fragments by an acknowledgment of love and unity.
May we watch today for opportunities to offer miracles.

My sinless brother is my guide to peace.
My sinful brother is my guide to pain.
And which I choose to see I will behold.
Practice suggestion: Here is a longer, more specific form of todays idea. Choose someone to
focus on and then repeat:
My sinless brother [name] is my guide to peace,
He shows me that I am sinless,
that my Comforter and Friend walks beside me,
that I walk home along a way that is secure and clear.
My sinful brother [name] is my guide to pain.
He proclaims that I am a sinner,
that I am alone and friendless,
that I wander in danger in a fearful world.
Which I choose to see determines my whole journey.
Father, choose for me which I will see.
Commentary
I once read an article by Jon Mundy in On Course magazine about Bill Thetford (the man who
transcribed the Course from Helens Schucmans shorthand notes). Bill once said that the entire
Course could be summed up in a single sentence: Are you willing to see your brother sinless? Jon
relates the following story:
Judy Skutch Whitson tells an interesting story about Bill. There was one occasion
on which Judy experienced a monumental ego attack which was focused on her
friend, Dr. Gerry Jampolsky. In an effort to find some peace of mind she called Bill
Thetford and proceeded to describe for him all of what she perceived to be Gerrys
faults. Bill listened till Judy ran out of breath and then he said quietly, You know,
Judy, the Course can be summed up in just eight words. Are you willing to see your
brother sinless?
No! Judy screamed. Well, dear, he replied, when you are, you will feel
much better. And he hung up.
The perception of my brother as sinful is a choice I am making. It is not based on fact. It is not
caused by something in my brother; it is purely my chosen perception. Choosing to see my
brother as sinful will always lead to inner pain. And truly, when we are willing to see our brother,
or sister, as sinless, we really will feel much better. The power of the question Bill asked (and
which the Course asks us all) lies in the fact that it reveals the often hidden fact that we are
choosing this perception, and that we are not willing to let it go. Until we are, there is nothing the
Holy Spirit can do for us. He will not oppose our will. Love does not oppose. We can stay in the
pain of unforgiveness as long as we wish.
But when we are willing, when we have recognized that we are choosing how to see our
brother, when we have realized that we do not like how we feel when we are choosing to see his
sin, and we are willing, at least, to change that perception, then we can pray:
Choose, then, for me, my Father, through Your Voice. For He alone gives judgment
in Your Name. (1:67)

Judgment and love are opposites. From one
Come all the sorrows of the world. But from
The other comes the peace of God Himself.
Commentary
In the introduction to the Text, Jesus says, The opposite of love is fear, but what is allencompassing can have no opposite (T-In.1:8). Here, he says that loves opposite is judgment. If
you relax your mind and let your thinking go loosely associative, it is fairly easy to see that
judgment and fear are the same thing. If I judge something as bad, dangerous, or evil, I will fear
it. If I fear something I will judge it as bad. In The Two Emotions (T-13.V), it is clear that both
love and fear are a way of seeing, and that different worlds arise from their different sights
(T-13.V.10:2). The same thought is expressed here about judgment and love. And in the
surrounding sections of Chapter 13 it is very clear that in giving up the past, we are being asked
to give up judgment. The same network of thoughts is there that is found here.
I think in this lesson, the Holy Spirit is viewing two attitudes or two activities rather than two
emotions. It is the attitude I have towards others that is in focus, and how I extend myself towards
them. Do I love, or do I judge? Rather than how the other person impacts on me, which is the
focus in the Two Emotions section, the focus here is on how I impact on the other person. The
difference is in the direction of the flow of energy; here, the flow being considered is from me to
the other person.
All the sorrows of the world come from judgment; no wonder the Course asks us to relinquish
it. To love is not to judge; to judge is not to love. Loving brings us peace; judging only sorrow.
How to find peace? Give love.
Forgiveness looks on sinlessness alone, and judges not. Through this I come to
You.
(1:12)
Forgiveness means not judging; how can you judge and forgive at the same time? Forgiveness
sees only sinlessness, because only sinlessness is what we are (see W-pII.14.1:6). And through
such forgiveness we approach God.
Judgment will bind my eyes and make me blind. Yet love, reflected in forgiveness
here, reminds me You have given me a way to find Your peace again.
(1:34)
The Course makes a point, several times, of what is implied here by the phrase love, reflected
in forgiveness here. Love in purity is impossible in this world. No love in this world is
withoutambivalence (T-4.III.4:6). The closest reflection of love in this world is forgiveness.
So the contrast here is really between judgment and forgiveness. By choosing to forgive my
brothers rather than to judge them, I find my own peace again, the peace of God.
Peace is lost to us through judgment; it blindfolds us to the truth. Love, which is perfect only
in Heaven, is still reflected perfectly here in forgiveness. There is a way to find our way out of
blindness, and the way is forgiveness. It is affirming the unreality of our perception of sin in
anyone and everyone.
I am redeemed when I elect to follow in this way. You have not left me comfortless. I
have within both the memory of You, and One Who leads me to it. (1:57)
We were lost, sold into slavery by our own hand. But God did not abandon us. He gave us
two things. Its interesting to notice the distinction here. He gave us 1) the memory of God in our
minds, and 2) the Holy Spirit Who leads us to discover that memory. Many times Ive heard
people say that the Holy Spirit is the memory of God within us; that isnt how it appears here.
The memory of God is something that is truly my own, part of me; my own right mind
remembers God. The Holy Spirit is the Guide Who leads me back to rediscover the hidden
treasure within my Self.
Father, I would hear Your Voice and find Your peace today. For I would love my
own Identity, and find in It the memory of You.
(1:89)
The memory of God lies in my own Identity. In remembering my Self I remember God. Let
His Voice lead me to that remembrance as I sit, quietly, with Him today. I have very powerful
help. And where that help leads me is to the point of loving my own Identity. I cannot love what I
am unless I lovein the form of forgivenesseveryone else. That is so because what I am is
identical to what everyone is; we are all the Son of God, the Christ. If I judge others I am judging
myself, because I am what they are.

My eyes, my tongue, my hands, my feet today
Have but one purpose; to be given Christ
To use to bless the world with miracles.
Practice suggestion: I enjoy going through the body parts listed in the lesson one at a
time, and then adding on some other things at the end:
I give my eyes to Christ today, to use to bless the world with miracles.
I give my tongue to Christ today, to use to bless the world with miracles.
I give my hands to Christ today, to use to bless the world with miracles.
I give my feet to Christ today, to use to bless the world with miracles.
I give my time to Christ today, to use to bless the world with miracles.
I give my money to Christ today, to use to bless the world with miracles.
I give my car to Christ today, to use to bless the world with miracles.
Commentary
These last ten lessons (not counting the final one) represent the state of mind to which the
Course seeks to bring us. In this lesson we see the final outworking of the Courses thoughts
about the body. Not that the body becomes ignored, despised, or neglected, but rather that its
every part be used to bless the world with miracles. The body is not attacked or belittled; rather, it
is given a new purpose, shared with Christ.
Father, I give all that is mine today to Christ, to use in any way that best will
serve the purpose that I share with Him. Nothing is mine alone, for He and I have
joined in purpose.(1:12)
In Heaven our function is creation, something that apparently we cant quite fully understand
until our mind awakens to Heaven, but here our function is the pure reflection of creation: the
giving of miracles, the extension of forgiveness. We might say our function here is recognizing
creation, since to forgive is to acknowledge our brother as God created him, and not as we have
made him through the projection of our own guilt.
Let me, then, with all the determination I can muster, this day join myself with Christs
purpose. Let me give my hands, my eyes, my tongue, my feet to Him. Why not silently pray and,
very specifically, do exactly that? Father, I give my hands to Christ today to be used only for the
purpose I share with Him: to bless the world with miracles. Then repeating the same thing for
other parts of my body. Remember this thought through the day and renew your gift to Christ,
calling your mind back to its true purpose every time you can remember.
Thus has learning come almost to its appointed end. A while I work with Him to
serve His purpose. Then I lose myself in my Identity, and recognize that Christ is but
my Self. (1:35)
When we have reached the point where we truly have given everything we have to Him to be
used for His purpose, we have almost completed the curriculum. All that is left is to stay a little
while longer, serving His purpose, sharing the light with minds that still are clouded. This is
almost descriptive of an avatar, an enlightened master who is on earth only to serve those not so
far along.
When that time of service is over, I will lose myself in my Identity, and recognize that Christ
is but my Self. The ego self will dissolve and disappear; the individual will cease as a separate
thingwhich it never was in realityand expand into the One Self of Christ. Nothing will be
lost in this process except our separateness.
My heart, do not despair if this seems far beyond you now. It is much nearer than you dare
believe. You are much more than you think you are. Simply, in gladness, give yourself to this
purpose. The Holy Spirit will provide the means. Be willing simply to move in this direction, and
do not judge how near or far you are, how easy or how difficult you think the way. Simply be
willing for it to be. Be not anxious or restless if it seems to elude you; restlessness is only a
delaying tactic. Rest, my heart. Trust. Angels watch with you, awaiting the birth of the Christ in
you. Have no fear. Rejoice!

We stand together, Christ and I, in peace
And certainty of purpose. And in Him
Is His Creator, as He is in me.
Practice suggestion: I have found it helpful to make this lesson more specific: In this
situation, we stand together, Christ and I. I have also found it helpful to reword it: I
take my stand with Christ today, united with Him in purpose. And God is in both of us.
Commentary
This lesson expresses the awareness of my identity with Christ. The Creator is in Christ and
also in me; God is in me as He is in Christ. Identical. I have no self except the Christ in me
(1:2). This awareness of identity is where the Course is leading us. All our study of the Text, our
practice of the Workbook, and our application of forgiveness in all our relationships is bringing
us to this final awareness: I have no self except the Christ in me. And what am I except the
Christ in me? (1:7).
As we arrive at these final lessons, we may feel as though somewhere along the line the
Course has passed us by. Somewhere we missed the boat, or more likely, got off the boat and
stayed behind. I know that I have often felt that way; I also know that, if I continue to practice
what the Course has taught me, that will not always be true. One day the realization that I have no
self except the Christ in me will resonate in my mind without any resistance or doubt.
I believe deeply that these words Ive just quoted are true, yet I am aware there is a part of my
mind that, as yet, does not believe them. My experience has not caught up to my understanding.
My mind still believes that I am not identical to the Christ, and so my experience follows my
belief, and I experience myself, or at the very least parts of myself, that seem to be other than this
perfect Self, Who is wholly like His Father.
Does this mean the Course has failed, or that I have failed the Course? No, I dont think so. In
the epilogue, which follows Lesson 365, Jesus speaks of how the Holy Spirit will be our Guide
through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real (W-Ep.4:1). So he expects that
everyone, having finished the Workbook, will still experience difficulties, and, sometimes, still
mistakenly think that pain is real. He says there, Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has
the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him (WEp.1:5). Even after all this, we will still experience troubles. This course is a beginning, not an
end (W-Ep.1:1). The Text and Workbook are meant not to bring us to the end of our journey, but
to train us in the proper way to travel, to develop proper habits of spiritual practice. They
introduce us to our Teacher and instill the habit of listening to Him. That is all, and that is
enough.
And yet these latter lessons put words in our mouths and have us speak as if we have already
arrived. Think of them as foretastes of what your mind will be like when you have finished your
journey. Immerse your mind in them and let them soak in, transforming you as they do. Whatever
you may feel like today, whatever you may think about yourself, these words are still the truth.
Who we are is beyond the reach of time and free of every law but Gods (1:1). We have no
purpose but Christs purpose (1:3). We are one with God, just as Jesus was and is (1:5). And all
our learning is designed to help us unlearn everything that tells us anything different.

There is no end to all the peace and joy,
And all the miracles that I will give,
When I accept Gods Word. Why not today?
Commentary
Gods Word, to me, is speaking here of what Jesus, in the Course, is telling me about my
own Identity. It is the truth about what I am.
It is You I choose, and my Identity along with You. Your Son would be Himself, and
know You as his Father and Creator, and his Love.
(1:78)
A Christian lecturer who inspired me years ago, Major Ian Thomas, used to say that mans
purpose, my purpose as an individual, is to be the human vehicle of the divine content. That is
what I am here for. Christ wants to be Himself in me, in the form of me. I have no other reason
for being here, although the ego thinks I am here to forget God.
The Course teaches that the ego made the world and the body as an attack against God. It
wants to use the world to forget God. The Holy Spirit wants to use it as a vehicle to remember
God. There is no real purpose to anything except one of those two.
I am here, today as always, to reflect Gods Love. I am here to see innocence. I am here to
look on everyone as brother, and perceive all things as kindly and as good. (W-pII.14.3:4). I am
here to bless my brothers and to ask them to share my peace and joy.
Why not today? Why should I wait? These are the questions the lesson asks.
I am sure my treasure waits for me, and I need but reach out my hand to find it. Even
now my fingers touch it. It is very close. I need not wait an instant more to be at
peace forever.
(1:36)
There is no answer to why we wait, because there are no reasons to wait. Nor has there ever
been a reason. All there is to do in response is to let the constriction in our hearts unknot, to quell
the resistance to the flow of love, and to open our hearts fully to every living thing. To let
ourselves be love; to let love be us. To desist from the belief that we are anything else but love.
The resistance that feels so great, like a stone wall, is nothing more than a cloud, unable to
stop a feather. Only my belief in its impenetrability makes it a barrier, like an elephant staked to a
tiny peg in the ground, believing it cannot move because it has been trained to think it is chained
to a tree. We think we are without love; we believe we are unloving. We think the ego stands like
a granite battlement between us and God, keeping Him out.
The ego is a cloud. It could not stop a ping-pong ball. It is totally without strength to resist the
Love of God, and it cannot and will not resist. Gods Love stands at the end of time, having
already won. Oh, my heart! Open to that Love today! Receive it; give it. Receive it by giving it,
and give it by receiving it. See it everywhere for it is everywhere, in everyone.

Sickness is but another name for sin.
Healing is but another name for God.
The miracle is thus a call to Him.
Practice suggestion: I have found it helpful to reword the final line. Instead of The
miracle is thus a call to Him, I say, To heal is thus to speak His Name.
Commentary
It seems to me the Course is always equating things you dont expect to be equated, like it
does here: Sickness is another name for sin; healing is another name for God. And toward the end
of the lesson, To call Your Name is but to call his own (1:6), that is, the Sons own name, or
my own name. The Course suggests that when we find God we will have found our Self, and
when we find our Self, we will have found God; we and God share the same Name. It seems to be
constantly saying that things we believe are quite different are in reality the same. Its advice for a
new year is Make this year different by making it all the same (T-15.XI.10:11). The Course is
constantly boiling everything down to just one problem, the separation, and one solution, the
Atonement. And it tells us that complexity is of the ego; therefore, simplicity is of God.
How are sickness and sin the same thing? First, dispense with what this does not mean: that
being sick is a sin. Anyone who has gone through the entire Workbook and studied the Text
cannot possibly hold that mistaken understanding; that is most definitely not the meaning here.
There is no such thing as sin; we only imagine there is. This lesson is most emphatically not
saying that if you are sick it is because you are a sinful person, or that being sick makes you a
sinner. Being sick is nothing to be guilty about! If you are sick, and anyone even suggests to you
that you must be doing something wrong because spiritual people dont get sick, stop listening
to that person. The thoughts of our minds do indeed cause sickness. All sickness is mental
illness (P-2.IV.8:1), according to the Psychotherapy supplement. But mistaken thoughts are not
sin; they are simply mistaken.
When the lesson says that sickness is another name for sin, it means that the sickness of the
body is a reflection or manifestation of the minds belief in the reality of sin. Sickness, says the
Course, can be a kind of self-punishment, in which we attack ourselves because of our guilt,
hoping thereby to avert the punishment of God we are expecting. Sickness is anger taken out
upon the body, so that it will suffer pain (T-28.VI.5:1).
I believe that when the Course uses the word sickness it is usually referring to the thought of
sickness and not to the physical symptoms. (Sickness is of the mind, and has nothing to do with
the body [M-5.II.3:2].) A crippled limb, for instance, can be used by the ego to further thoughts
of inadequacy, guilt, and separation, or it can be used by the Holy Spirit to break a persons
identification with the body and to turn them to God. It is the thought, and only the thought,
which is important.
Sickness is a defense against the truth (W-pI.136.Heading). We have to remember that in

the thought system of the Course everything, including sickness, is a choice we have made, and
that choices must have some purpose behind them. The important thing is not the physical
symptom. The important thing is the choice, and the purpose behind it.
When we choose to be sick, at some level we are choosing to identify ourselves as a body
rather than a spirit or mind. The truth we are defending against is that we are a spirit or mind.
We are defending against the realization that we are one with God and with everyone else, in
God. The strange, haunting thought that [we] might be something beyond this little pile of dust
[is] silenced and stilled (W-pI.136.8:4) when we are sick. Sickness makes the body seem very
real, the only real thing. It seeks to let the illusion of the bodily identity take the place of the truth
of our mind, our spiritual identity.
How is that like sin? According to the Workbook, sin is the means by which the mindseeks
to let illusions take the place of truth (W-pII.4.1:2). That is exactly what sickness does! When I
see sin in myself or in a brother, it proves the sinner is evil, and therefore separate from God.
When I see sickness in myself or in another, it proves the body is real and therefore separate
from God.
Sin and sickness are the same in that both are means that the mind uses to try to prove that the
separation is real. They are not the same in form, but they are identical in purpose. They are both
the egos attempt to prove that I am what I am not. It is the thought of separation which the
Course aims to heal, not the physical symptom of sickness, and not the specific behavior of a
person. The Course is concerned with the cause and not the effect.
I do believe that if the mind is healedif the person is healed on the level of thought (which is
the level of cause)it will often result in changes in the form of the persons life. Behavior will
often change when thoughts change; physical health will often improve when thoughts change.
The change on the level of the body, however, is never the concern of the Course. The body is
insignificant (M-5.II.3:12), which means it is without meaning. If the body is insignificant, it
means that the body signifies nothing. If our thoughts align with Gods Thought, the body will
serve the purpose of the Holy Spirit whatever its form. Even if the body dies. The Course is
concerned only with healing the mind because the body does not matter.
Healing is but another name for God. To heal the mind, therefore, means to recognize the
identity of my mind and Gods mind. To be healed is to recognize that I share Gods nature.
When the Course talks of healing, it is not talking about getting over the flu! It is talking about
letting go of my identification with this body that appears to be suffering chills and fever,
recognizing that the body is not my Self, but that I am the eternal Son of God. It is speaking, as
always, of a change of mind. When the identity of myself and my body is broken, I will know that
what happens to the body does not affect who I really am; therefore, what happens to the body
does not matter to me. It may get well and it may not; if I am no longer identified with it, I dont
care which it is.
Sin and sickness are the same thing in the sense that both are manifestations of our belief in
separation and our resulting (but mistaken) guilt. They are both healed through the miracle of
forgiveness. Healing is a return to wholeness, a return to our true Self, and since our Self is one
with God, all healing is a return to God. To offer a miracle of forgiveness or healing is thus a
call to Him.
Another way of putting this is that all healing leads to God in the end, even if we are not
thinking of or believing in God as we experience it. If it is healing, it is of God. The
Psychotherapy supplement says, The patient need not think of truth as God in order to make
progress in salvation (P-1.5:1). If there is healing, and if there is forgiveness instead of
condemnation, God is there, even if He is not named or acknowledged. Everyone who learns to
forgive will remember God.
It does not matter where he is, what seems to be his problem, nor what he believes he
has become.
(1:2)
God answers when we call, even when we dont realize we are calling Him. He answers even
when we think we do not deserve an answer. I believe there are hundreds of times we have called
on God, and He has answered, and we never made the connection. We failed to recognize Him
even as we received His help. Our very pain and fear, the Course says, is a call for help. Do you
imagine that if the Holy Spirit recognizes all calls for help as what they are, that He does not
answer every one of them?
He is Your Son, and You will answer him. (1:3)
He answers us with His Name, which is a shorthand way of saying His Being or His Nature.
We are answered by what God is, because what He is is what we as His Son are. God is without
sin, and so are we; without sin we cannot be sick, because sickness comes from belief in sin.
When I realize my total innocence I cannot suffer pain (1:5). Gods Name is what speaks to me
of that innocence and tells me it must be so. How could Gods offspring be unholy?
Let me learn, then, to call on God (whether I use that word or not). Let me open my heart to
innocence, gentleness, and mercy. Let me make healing my aim, for myself and for others. In
every encounter today let me remember: I am here to heal; I am here to offer miracles; I am here
to release from guilt.

Truth answers every call we make to God,
Responding first with miracles, and then
Returning unto us to be itself.
Commentary
An idea is conveyed here, one that is a running theme through the Course, that we find our
way to God through others; we see Christ first in our brothers, and then in ourselves (1:2). When
we call to God, truth always responds. The first response is miracles, which we offer to others
through our forgiveness. Then, truth returns to us to be itself.
Your holy Son is pointed out to me, first in my brother; then in me. (1:2)
This is the way of A Course in Miracles. As I look upon Your Son today, that is, as I see the
Christ in those around me, I hear Your Voice instructing me to find the way to You, as You
appointed that the way shall be (1:4). We hear the Voice that directs us to God as we look on
Christ in others. Another way of stating this theme is that we see the face of Christ, and then
remember God.
The two stages of the answer are 1) miracles, and 2) the apprehension of truth as itself.
Miracles, in the form of forgiveness offered to my brothers, are only a symbol of the truth.
Forgiveness is only truths reflection (1:1). In the miracle I see the Son of God, first in my
brother and then in myself.
As miracles accumulate and our mind is trained, truth itself begins to dawn, which is the
realization of our Identity with God. That isnt our worry, says the Course. We dont need to
work to make that happen. Concentrate on the first step, and the second will come of itself. It is
Gods gift to us.
Many spiritual paths, I think, make a mistake in focusing on God-realization directly. The
effort may eventually work because the purpose is right, but it takes a long time, and enormous
effort (see T-18.VII.4:911). The effort to do what is not doable, to make happen what has
already happened, to find what we have never lost, can become a struggle of endless frustration, a
perfect vehicle for the continuation of the ego. This kind of spiritual seeking results in the type of
person who is too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use. Here we find the Pharisee who
passes by the injured traveler because he does not want to be tainted. The religious bigot. The
self-righteous fundamentalist. His prayers are so important that he ignores his family and its
needs.
The Course is saying that the path to heaven is through forgiveness here (W-pII.256.1:1).
Dont get lost in the search for an abstract experience of union with God. Rather, practice
forgiveness. Pay attention to the practical. Concentrate on union with your brother, and union
with God will be given you. Work with the material given you, the relationships that are at hand.
Dont try to run away in some spiritual retreat; it will fail. You will be attempting to grasp at
something you are not capable of grasping now. You cant skip over this process. The way to
God is through your brother; he is your savior. There is no other way.
The path of the Course is anything but narcissistic or solitary. It teaches us clearly that we
cannot find God alone, or in ourselves alone; and we cannot find God anywhere unless we find
Him everywhere. He is approached through the appreciation of His Son (T-11.IV.7:2). By
learning to see those around us as the Son of God, as Gods perfect creation, we learn that we are
part of that creation as well. This leads us to the memory of God Himself. The way to God lies
through the person next to us:
Behold his sinlessness, and be you healed. (1:5)

No call to God can be unheard nor left
Unanswered. And of this I can be sure;
His answer is the one I really want.
Practice suggestion: I have had difficulty relating to the wording of todays lesson, so I
have used this rewording:
God loves me so much that He always hears
And always answers
And gives me the answer I really want.
Commentary
The ego is constantly working to convince us that we want many different things, things that
often compete with one another. We have listened to our egos for so long that we are quite
confused about what we want. An early Workbook lesson tells us, I do not perceive my own best
interests (W-pI.24.Heading).
Since I am so confused about what I really want, it is far better to leave that choice in the
hands of the Voice for God.
You Who remember what I really am alone remember what I really want.
(1:1)
I need to remind myself of this fairly oftenusually any time I get caught up in thinking that I
want something very much. I want that new computer. I want a loving, intimate, and
committed sexual relationship. I want a better job. I need to remind myself, Wait a minute,
Allen. Remember! You dont clearly remember who you really are, so how can you know what
you really want?
Part of the learning the Course is taking us through is learning to listen to the Holy Spirit. And
part of that lesson is realizing that He speaks for us, and not just for God. I may think that what I
want conflicts with what He seems to be wanting for me, and I need to realize that what He wants
for me is what I really want, even if my ego is telling me differently.
Your Voice, my Father, then is mine as well, and all I want is what You offer me, in
just the form You choose that it be mine. (1:4)
So often I am inclined to think that I want what God wants to give, but then I dictate the form
in which that must come to me. I hear that Gods Will for me is perfect happiness, and then I
decide the form that happiness must take. I need to take it a step further, as this lesson does: I
want what God wants, and whether I can see it or not at the moment, I want it in just the form He
chooses to give it, and not the form I think it must take.
I am reminded of many times, as a parent, when I tried to convince one of my sons that he
didnt really want what he thought he wanted. Perhaps he was saying, I want the red gumball!
And I would say, No, Ben, the red one isnt sweet; its hot cinnamon and you wont like it. And
he would say, I want the red one!! We do exactly the same sort of thing with God, far more
often than we care to admit.
Let me remember all I do not know, and let my voice be still, remembering. (1:5)
Let me realize, when I think I know what I want, that I dont really know. And let me simply
shut up and stop throwing a tantrum; let me be quiet, and listen to my Fathers Voice. He speaks
for me as well as for God; He knows what I really want, and wisdom is taking His advice. He
loves us; He cares for us; He has promised always to be with us. Let me trust Him even when I
dont understand, knowing that (Oh! It seems awful sometimes to say these words; so belittling!)
Father knows best.
Let me not forget myself is nothing, but my Self is all.
(1:7)
The little, individual ego I is nothing; Who I really am is everything. The Holy Spirit always
speaks from the perspective of that larger Self. He does not seek to benefit and coddle the little
I. He is always working with us to bring us to full awareness of Self. At times what He gives
may go contrary to the little I, while leading us on to full realization of the Self. That is why our
picture of what we want is so often distorted, and what He wants for us seems at times to be
something we do not want. We are confused about who we are. He is not. So let us trust His
wisdom, be still, and know that He is God.

Gods answer is some form of peace. All pain
Is healed; all misery replaced with joy.
All prison doors are opened. And all sin
Is understood as merely a mistake.
Commentary
Today I want to share some thoughts just on the first line of this lesson. Yesterday we were
reminded that no call to God can be unheard nor left unanswered and that His answer is the
one I really want (W-pII.358.Heading). Today we are told that when God answers, the answer
is some form of peace. So the answer that I want is peace. Every call to God is answered with
some form of peace, and that is what I really want, despite what I may think to the contrary.
I think that when we begin to grasp that what we really want is peacein every situation
things start to fall into proper perspective. Say it looks like I may lose my job, or a relationship
that I believe I need. Say it looks as if I dont have enough money. I find myself, more or less,
praying for that job, or that relationship, or that money. Or perhaps Im not up to prayer so I just
obsess about the situation. Im thinking this is what I want.
If, when that happens, I can begin to recognize that what I really want is some form of peace,
Ive made a giant step. It isnt the job I want; its the form of peace I think it brings. It isnt the
relationship I really want; its the peace I think lies in it. It isnt the money I need; it is the peace
of mind I think it buys me.
The prayer of the heart does not really ask for concrete things. It always requests
some kind of experience, the specific things asked for being the bringers of the
desired experience in the opinion of the asker.
(M-21.2:45)
When I begin to realize that I am not really asking for things but for the experience of peace I
think they bring me, I can start to ask for peace directly, bypassing my (perhaps) mistaken
opinion that a certain thing will bring me that experience. I can open my mind to the possibility
that God will bring me the peace of mind I seek through another avenue than the one I see.
Once I can begin to let go of my insistence that the answer must come in a certain form, I will
much more quickly be aware of Gods answer. I may find I can experience the peace of God
completely independent of form. I may find that the peace comes to me in a form I could never
have anticipated. I will lose my anxiety over whether or not the form I first envisioned as what I
needed ever comes to me at all. If peace of mind comes, I am satisfied because this is all I really
ever want.
To tie this in with the rest of the lesson, just briefly, Help us forgive, for we would be at
peace (1:9). Peace is impossible if my mind is blinded by unforgiveness. Peace is incompatible
with anger. A lack of peace is always some kind of unforgiveness, although often it is difficult to
see how that could be. When I ask for peace I am asking to be taught to forgive, whether I
recognize it or not. If I make peace my goal above all else, I will learn forgiveness.

Peace be to me, the holy Son of God.
Peace to my brother, who is one with me.
Let all the world be blessed with peace through us.
Commentary
This is for all practical purposes the last regular lesson of the Workbook. The last five days
of the year will be spent on a single lesson, which gives us an idea of how every day can be spent
by a Course graduate, if we can use that term. This final lesson, then, sums up and concludes
the practice of the Workbook.
Peace be to me; peace be to my brother; peace be to all the world through us. That is one way
of summarizing what the Course is all about: finding peace within ourselves, sharing that peace
with another, and together sharing it with all the world. Finding it within ourselves is the basis.
Sharing it with another confirms it within us, and the relationship gives us a microcosm in which
to learn to extend that peace. Having learned to share together, we then extend the peace to all the
world.
Father, it is Your peace that I would give, receiving it of you.
(1:1)
The peace we receive and give is Gods peace. It is the peace that comes of knowing we are
Gods creation: In holiness were we created, and in holiness do we remain (1:5). I am Your
Son, forever just as You created me, for the Great Rays remain forever still and undisturbed
within me (1:2). Nothing God placed in me in creation has been lost. God, eternally at peace,
extended Himself to create me, and His peace extended into me and included me in its stillness.
That stillness always exists. There is a place in you, and in me, that is at perfect peace always. We
can find that peace at any instant we choose to do so. To find it all we need do is to be still, to
stop our interference. The peace is always there.
I would reach to them [the Great Rays] in silence and in certainty, for nowhere else
can certainty be found. Peace be to me, and peace to all the world. (1:34)
This morning, close your eyes for a timefor as long as it takes. Let the thoughts that have
been occupying your mind just float away, detached. Do not push them away; do not hold on to
them. Just let them go, and try to become aware of that place within yourself that is always at
peace. Do not strive to find it; let it find you. Simply be still. Simply make yourself receptive to
the peace and it will appear, because it is always there. Sit in silence. If a noise comes to your
attention, dont let your mind stick to it. You have no other purpose than to be still. You have
no other goal right now but to say, Peace be to me.
And when you touch that peace, or when it touches you, however briefly, let yourself add,
and peace to all the world. Gently wish that peace for all your brothers and sisters. That is all
we are here for. That is all that really needs to be done. It will be enough.
Your Son is like to You in perfect sinlessness. And with this thought we gladly say
Amen. (1:67)
The thought of perfect sinlessness brings the Course to its conclusion; that is its goal.
But the content of the course never changes. Its central theme is always, Gods Son
is guiltless, and in his innocence is his salvation. (M-1.3:45)
When I have accepted my own perfect sinlessness, and have extended that thought to include
the entire world, salvation is accomplished. To do so is to perfectly forgive all things. Sinlessness
and peace go together. Only the sinless can be at peace; only the peaceful are sinless. The
message of the Course is one of radical innocence. All are innocent, and no one must be
condemned for others to be free.

This holy instant would I give to You.
Be You in charge. For I would follow You,
Certain that Your direction gives me peace.
See instructions.
Commentary
I will be doing commentary on the Final Lessons and Epilogue sections intermingled
with the daily commentary for the next five days, since the actual lesson is the same for all five
days.
So we come to the final lessons of the year. Today and for the next four days we have the
same lesson, which gives us the very simple directions by which we are to live the rest of our
lives. The intent of the Workbook is to aid us in forming the very habit portrayed by this lesson:
to give each instant to the Holy Spirit, asking Him to be in charge, committing ourselves to
follow His direction in everything, knowing that He always leads us towards peace.
The introduction to this simple lesson (Final Lessons) is one that we would do well to read
each day for these five days. Each day as we read this over, along with the lesson, we follow the
reading with a time of quiet in which we seek a holy instant of communion with our Father and
His Voice.
We are not seeking for words:
Our final lessons will be left as free of words as possible. We use them but at the
beginning of our practicing, and only to remind us that we seek to go beyond them.
Let us turn to Him Who leads the way and makes our footsteps sure.
(WpII.fl.1:13).1
What we are seeking is that communion with Him. We open ourselves to the experience of
peace. We give our lives to Him, asking to be directed in all our thoughts to serve the function of
salvation (W-pII.fl.3:1). We are here to remember God through forgiving our brothers, through
sharing His reality with everyone.
We are as free of words as possible in these times of practice, and yet if I need a word to help
me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give (W-pII.361-365.1:12). He
will give whatever I need. Sometimes there will be words; sometimes, thoughts. And sometimes,
nothing but stillness and a tranquil, open mind (W-pII.361-365.1:3). We present ourselves to
Him and wait for Him to give whatever we need. We do not tell Him what we need; we leave that
to Him.
Each day we can begin like this. And during the day, often, whenever we can, we stop and
once again renew the set of our minds, our determination to make no decision by ourselves,
without Him. These lessons have been, as the Workbooks epilogue says, a beginning, not an
end (W-Ep.1:1). They have trained us in a practice that is meant to continue for the rest of our
lives until our entire life has become a holy instant.
Whenever you can today, remember these words and repeat them: This holy instant would I
give to You. He will never fail to hear you.
. The reference translates as Workbook, Part II, Final Lessons (introduction), paragraph 1, sentences 1 to 3.

See instructions.
Commentary
The Workbook leads us to this point: to Him we give our lives henceforth (W-pII.fl.1:4). If
the idea of giving our lives to God seems unappealing, consider the alternative: For we would
not return again to the belief in sin that made the world seem ugly and unsafe, attacking and
destroying, dangerous in all its ways, and treacherous beyond the hope of trust and the escape
from pain (W-pII.fl.1:5).
The idea that we want something other than God is what made all this mess. There is nothing
other than God. The belief in sin referred to is nothing more than our belief that we succeeded
in making something separate from Him. We dont really want this, although we have believed
we did. This belief is the source of all our pain, so let us return our lives to the Source of all joy
instead. Let us give our lives to be directed by His Voice, the Holy Spirit.
Let us give this holy instant and every instant into His hands.
His is the only way to find the peace that God has given us. It is His way that
everyone must travel in the end, because it is this ending God Himself appointed.
(W-pII.fl.2:12)
Dont let those words the only way scare you off. This isnt saying A Course in Miracles is
the only way to God; it is saying that the route of forgiveness, the truth that we are all innocent
before God, is the only way, whatever the form it may take. God created us all to be His
expression, and His Will will be done in the end. As it says in the Text introduction, we dont
have any choice about the content of the curriculum, just about when we learn it.
In the dream of time it seems to be far off. And yet, in truth, it is already here;
already serving us as gracious guidance in the way to go. (W-pII.fl.2:34)
Robert wrote an article for our newsletter on the topic How Long Until We Are Out of
Here? or in other words, How long until we reach the end of the journey? The Course is full of
the paradox stated baldly in this sentence: The truth is already here, and yetin timeit seems to
be far off. Both are true, each in its proper context. A dream that lasts only a few seconds can
seem, within the dream, to last for years. Isnt it possible that a dream that lasts only for a tiny
tick of time (T-26.V.3:5) can seem to last billions of years? Within the dream of time, our
journey home seems to be taking a very long time. In reality it is already over, and the power of
its ending is present now, guiding us through the dream.
So what should we do? How, then, should we live? Should we proclaim, Its all over! and
just kick back and relax? No; to us the dream is still real. Therefore:
Let us together follow in the way that truth points out to us. And let us be the leaders
of our many brothers who are seeking for the way, but find it not. (W-pII.fl.2:56)
In his article, Robert reaches the conclusion that how long is an irrelevant question, and that
we should be equally content whether we go home tomorrow or in 10,000 AD. Our function in
the meantime is to be the light of the world as long as we are in it. We are to lead home all our
brothers who are still lost, still floundering. We are to forgive the world; to bring the message of
guiltlessness to everyone; to extend the peace and love we have found to all the world.
This is what we do when we say, For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives
me peace. What direction? The direction of forgiveness, the direction of forgiving the world.
That is the direction which gives me peace. Working out our forgiveness of the world becomes
the content of our days. It is when we have accepted this as the one function that we want to
fulfill that the Holy Spirit will arrange everything for us, providing everything we need as we go.

See instructions.
Commentary
Once again we repeat this holy instant lesson. It seems as if the author is telling us, Having
received all the thoughts we have given you, there is really nothing left for you to do except to put
your life into the hands of the Holy Spirit. Helen Schucman, who wrote the first parts of the
preface to the Course some time after completing the Course itself (the final section of the
preface, What It Says, was taken down from the same inner dictation as the rest of the books),
said there:
The Course makes no claim to finality, nor are the Workbook lessons intended to
bring the students learning to completion. At the end, the reader is left in the hands
of his or her own Internal Teacher, Who will direct all subsequent learning as He
sees fit. (preface, pp. ix-x)
That is exactly what these final five days are reinforcing, leaving us in the hands of the Holy
Spirit for our further instruction.
The Workbook is a primer, one that is intended to ready us for the ongoing instruction of the
Holy Spirit. It serves as a kind of crutch while we are too weak to stand on our own. I sometimes
like to think of the Workbook as training wheels on our spiritual bicycle. The training wheels are
there to keep the child who is learning to ride from falling over. Once he learns to keep his
balance, the wheels become unnecessary, while the rider continues to learn to ride his bike better
and better, perhaps learning to do wheelies, ride with no hands, or even do off-road dirt bike
maneuvers. The learning isnt over when we are done with the Workbook; there is much yet to
learn.
The training of the Course is a mind training. The Workbook offers mental training wheels,
the structure of daily thoughts and suggested practice exercises. Its purpose is to initiate us into
the Courses form of spiritual practice, which consists of mentally engaging with God, morning,
evening, and moment to moment throughout the day. Its words give us something to grasp while
we try to form this new habit. In the beginning it is very structured, and the structure gets fairly
demanding. Over time it eases off, in the assumption that we have begun to form the habits it is
attempting to impart. Here, in the final lessons, the structure is about to fall completely away; the
training wheels are being removed. We are left in the hands of the Holy Spirit alone, with no
book to guide us.
Some, perhaps, may be motivated enough to apply themselves diligently throughout the entire
first year they do the Workbook, following its instructions (or trying to) every day. If indeed one
were to do this, a single year would be enough to form the habits of spiritually engaging with
God. For most of us, however, once is not enough.
I have to confess at this writing, this next year (1997) will be, I think, my ninth pass through
the Workbook. My first took me most of three years. Since then Ive done it once a year except
for one year I decided I wanted to do something different for a while. Im a slow learner; as this
year ends, I still havent formed the daily habits the Workbook is trying to teach us. Im doing
much better each year, but it is still a rare day I remember to practice my lesson every hour, much
less recall it briefly five or six times in between the hoursand that is what the practice
instructions consist of once we are several months into the book. So I am doing it again, not just
so that I can share daily comments with you folks, but because I still have much to learn myself.
Yet even though I dont feel I can take this lesson as fully as it is meant, letting go of the
Workbook to go on in my private instruction with the Holy Spirit, I can still take it for each time
of practice and remembrance through the day. This holy instant would I give to You. Every
instant can be a holy one. Lets try to remember, today, as often as we can. Each time we do, lets
give the instant to Him to be made holy. Or rather, lets give it to Him for His purposes in
recognition that it is holy.
As the introduction to this lesson stressed:
Unto us the aim is given to forgive the world. It is the goal that God has given us.
(W-pII.fl.3:23)
That is the purpose the Holy Spirit has, and each instant given to Him is used for that purpose:
forgiving the world. It is our function to remember Him on earth (W-pII.fl.4:1). We remember
Him by forgiving: For all that we forgive we will not fail to recognize as part of God Himself
(W-pII.fl.3:5). Our brothers are our saviors; through our forgiveness of them, we remember God.

See instructions.
Commentary
Im going to suggest that for the last two days of this year you read through the epilogue
following the last lesson, as well as the lesson. I will share a few comments based on the epilogue
over the next two days (all of the Course quotes that follow are from the epilogue unless
otherwise indicated); however, your practice should still be of the final lesson.
The epilogue echoes two of the themes of this final lesson: following the Holy Spirit as our
Teacher and Friend on the path, and the certainty of our reaching the end of the path successfully.
Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone.
(1:23)
You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before
(2:12)
it risesIndeed, your pathway is more certain still.
Today I will discuss the theme of following, and tomorrow, the certainty of arriving home.
The epilogue makes it clear that even when we complete the Workbook and have achieved the
purpose it sets for us, having developed a daily habit of giving our lives over to the direction of
the Holy Spirit, we have only begun our journey, and there is more to go. The path ahead may yet
be long. There will yet be difficulties along the way. Why else would Jesus emphasize the
certainty of the ending unless we believed we still have reason to doubt?
We are told this course is a beginning, not an end (1:1). We can expect troubles (1:5) and
problems (1:7). We will still be going through lessons, although not the specific ones of the
Workbook (3:1). Efforts will still be required (3:3). We will experience difficulty and will
still have times in which we think that pain is real (4:1). We are still on the way to Heaven, but
not there yet (5:4). We need guidance (5:5), so there must be obstacles or a path that at times
seems unclear. We are still on the road towards home (5:7). We will continue in His way (6:2).
Jesus says he will never leave us without comfort, so comfort will still be needed (6:8).
I am pointing out all the indications that a major portion of our journey is still ahead, because
we are so easily inclined to think otherwise; we get impatient and want the journey to be over.
The positive themes of this epilogue are designed to counteract the discouragement that may
come over us when we realize that there is a long way yet to go.
First, we have a Friend Who goes with us. A Friend! Has my experience with the Workbook
taught me that? The Holy Spirit is my Friend. (Perhaps, for some of us, that Friend has
personalized as Jesus.) Has my interaction with Him been enough that He has earned my trust,
by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self (4:4)? There are such
wonderful promises given to us here of His helpfulness. We cannot call on Him in vain. He has
the answers for everything we might ask, and He wont withhold them. All we need to do is ask.
He speaks to us of what we really want and really need (2:4).
He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind,
and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain
Word. (3:3)
We do not need to worry about the length or complexity of our journey. We have a Guide. The
Workbook is not the journey; it is a training camp that prepares us for it, introduces us to our
Guide, and teaches us to trust Him. By doing the Workbook we have learned how reliable and
knowledgeable He is; now, we are ready to set out on the journey itself, walking with Him in
confidence that He knows how to bring us home.

See instructions.
Commentary
The last lesson of the year! But certainly not, I hope, our last holy instant. I find myself, as the
New Year approaches, thinking of this lesson in terms of This holy year would I give to You.
Ah, I really feel that resonating within, finding a common tone echoing from a deep, perpetual
longing.
The epilogue, as I was saying yesterday, talks about how our journey continues after the
formal study of the Workbook with a continuing walk with the Holy Spirit as Guide through what
may yet be a very long journey. The second point that the epilogue makes strongly is that the end
of the journey is certain:
You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before
it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is
more certain still. (2:12)
We can walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should
proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end (4:6). I think that
often my feelings of How much longer is this going to take? really translate into suppressed
fears of Am I ever going to arrive home? We convert the length of time into a witness to the
idea that well never make it. If I really knew that my pathway is as certain as the sun, and more, I
could travel light and journey lightly (T-13.VII.13:4) no matter how long it takes.
I think the attitude the Course encourages in us is:
1. To hold on to this certainty that arriving home is guaranteed,
2. While at the same time being completely unconcerned with how long it may take.
The Text tells us that how long is only a matter of time, and time is just an illusion. It asks us
not to be restless, and points out that being restless on a journey to peace is rather inconsistent.
The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say Amen.
(5:12)
Let me say Amen as well. Yes, so be it, and so it is. Why is the end so sure? We have the
Holy Spirit with us. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will
claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach (5:4). He is
the guarantee. His presence makes the ending sure. And He is certain because He knows the end
depends on us, and nothing is more certain than a Son of God.
We go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us.
(5:7)
Ah, what a beautiful picture! I could have called my booklet The Journey Home by that title:
Homeward to an Open Door. Thank You, God, for the open door.
Gods angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure;
that I will never leave you comfortless. (6:78)
What more do we need? The Holy Spirit is in us. Angels hover near and all about. Gods Love
surrounds us, and Jesus promises: I will never leave you comfortless.
Can you get a sense of that as this year comes to a close? Can you close your eyes for a
moment and feel Them all around you? Can you realize the holiness of this moment, the birth of
Christ in you now moving out into the world to transform it with light? They are here, and They
are watching, and as Jesus often says in the Course, They give you thanks for your willingness to
open to the light. Let us, then, as the year ends, give Them thanks for giving this light to us.

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LESSON 1 JANUARY 1

Remarks: It is essential to specifically exclude nothing. Do not, however, try to include

Remarks: Being indiscriminate in selecting subjects is a direct reflection of the lessons

Response to temptation: Optional.

to see the meaningless as outside you, and the meaningful within

Response to temptation: Optional.

they are meaningless

When your peace is threatened or disturbed in any way, say to yourself:

Response to temptation: Optionalwhen anything disturbs you.

Response to temptation: Optionalwhenever you are upset.

Response to temptation: Whenever you are aware of an upsetting thought.

What I see is a form of vengeance.

Frequent reminders: At least once an hour.

Frequent reminders: As often as possible (suggestion: several times per hour).

Frequent reminders: As often as you can.

Response to temptation: The instant any situation disturbs you.

Frequent reminders: Frequency is important today.

Frequent reminders: As often as you can.

Response to temptation: Whenever you have an adverse reaction to someone.

Frequent reminders: Frequent.

Frequent reminders: At least three or four per hour.

Response to temptation: Whenever you have fear thoughts.

Frequent reminders: You have a choice of three forms:

Response to temptation: Whenever you get distressed about an event or situation.

Frequent reminders: As many as possible.

Frequent reminders: Often.

Response to temptation: When any disturbance arises.

Response to temptation: When anything disturbs your peace of mind.

Frequent reminders: Very frequently.

Frequent reminders: Often.

Response to temptation: Whenever you feel confronted by a problem or challenge.

I am upset because I see what is not there.

My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.

I have no neutral thoughts.

2.V(A).18:23). By allowing my mind to be changed, I will bring healing to everyone I meet

I am determined to see things differently.

My attack thoughts are attacking my invulnerability.

I am not the victim of the world I see.

My holiness envelops everything I see.

God goes with me wherever I go.

God is the strength in which I trust.

Purpose: To remind yourself to constantly choose your happiness by choosing to fulfill

Frequent reminders: Four or five per hour, maybe more.

Frequent reminders: Several (at least three) per hour.

Frequent reminders: As often as possible (suggestion: several times an hour).

Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to hold a grievance.

Frequent reminders: Several per hour.

Frequent reminders: Every fifteen minutes.

Frequent reminders: Four to five per hour (at least).

Frequent reminders: Frequent.

Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to hold a grievance.

Frequent reminders/response to temptation: Whenever you meet or think of or

Response to temptation: Whenever you see a problem.

Frequent reminders: As frequently as possible.

Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to be upset.

Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to be upset.

Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to be upset.

Response to temptation: Whenever you are tempted to be upset.