Lesson 77
I am entitled to miracles.
1. You are entitled to miracles because of what you are. ²You will receive miracles because of what God is. ³And you will offer miracles because you are one with God. ⁴Again, how simple is salvation! ⁵It is merely a statement of your true Identity. ⁶It is this that we will celebrate today.
2. Your claim to miracles does not lie in your illusions about yourself. ²It does not depend on any magical powers you have ascribed to yourself, nor on any of the rituals you have devised. ³It is inherent in the truth of what you are. ⁴It is implicit in what God your Father is. ⁵It was ensured in your creation, and guaranteed by the laws of God.
3. Today we will claim the miracles which are your right, since they belong to you. ²You have been promised full release from the world you made. ³You have been assured that the Kingdom of God is within you, and can never be lost. ⁴We ask no more than what belongs to us in truth. ⁵Today, however, we will also make sure that we will not content ourselves with less.
4. Begin the longer practice periods by telling yourself quite confidently that you are entitled to miracles. ²Closing your eyes, remind yourself that you are asking only for what is rightfully yours. ³Remind yourself also that miracles are never taken from one and given to another, and that in asking for your rights, you are upholding the rights of everyone. ⁴Miracles do not obey the laws of this world. ⁵They merely follow from the laws of God.
5. After this brief introductory phase, wait quietly for the assurance that your request is granted. ²You have asked for the salvation of the world, and for your own. ³You have requested that you be given the means by which this is accomplished. ⁴You cannot fail to be assured in this. ⁵You are but asking that the Will of God be done.
6. In doing this, you do not really ask for anything. ²You state a fact that cannot be denied. ³The Holy Spirit cannot but assure you that your request is granted. ⁴The fact that you accepted must be so. ⁵There is no room for doubt and uncertainty today. ⁶We are asking a real question at last. ⁷The answer is a simple statement of a simple fact. ⁸You will receive the assurance that you seek.
7. Our shorter practice periods will be frequent, and will also be devoted to a reminder of a simple fact. ²Tell yourself often today:
³I am entitled to miracles.
⁴Ask for them whenever a situation arises in which they are called for. ⁵You will recognize these situations. ⁶And since you are not relying on yourself to find the miracle, you are fully entitled to receive it whenever you ask.
8. Remember, too, not to be satisfied with less than the perfect answer. ²Be quick to tell yourself, should you be tempted:
³I will not trade miracles for grievances. ⁴I want only what belongs to me. ⁵God has established miracles as my right.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-77/i-am-entitled-to-miracles/en/s/480
Lesson 76
I am under no laws but God’s.
1. We have observed before how many senseless things have seemed to you to be salvation. ²Each has imprisoned you with laws as senseless as itself. ³You are not bound by them. ⁴Yet to understand that this is so, you must first realize salvation lies not there. ⁵While you would seek for it in things that have no meaning, you bind yourself to laws that make no sense. ⁶Thus do you seek to prove salvation is where it is not.
2. Today we will be glad you cannot prove it. ²For if you could, you would forever seek salvation where it is not, and never find it. ³The idea for today tells you once again how simple is salvation. ⁴Look for it where it waits for you, and there it will be found. ⁵Look nowhere else, for it is nowhere else.
3. Think of the freedom in the recognition that you are not bound by all the strange and twisted laws you have set up to save you. ²You really think that you would starve unless you have stacks of green paper strips and piles of metal discs. ³You really think a small round pellet or some fluid pushed into your veins through a sharpened needle will ward off disease and death. ⁴You really think you are alone unless another body is with you.
4. It is insanity that thinks these things. ²You call them laws, and put them under different names in a long catalogue of rituals that have no use and serve no purpose. ³You think you must obey the “laws” of medicine, of economics and of health. ⁴Protect the body, and you will be saved.
5. These are not laws, but madness. ²The body is endangered by the mind that hurts itself. ³The body suffers just in order that the mind will fail to see it is the victim of itself. ⁴The body’s suffering is a mask the mind holds up to hide what really suffers. ⁵It would not understand it is its own enemy; that it attacks itself and wants to die. ⁶It is from this your “laws” would save the body. ⁷It is for this you think you are a body.
6. There are no laws except the laws of God. ²This needs repeating, over and over, until you realize it applies to everything that you have made in opposition to God’s Will. ³Your magic has no meaning. ⁴What it is meant to save does not exist. ⁵Only what it is meant to hide will save you.
7. The laws of God can never be replaced. ²We will devote today to rejoicing that this is so. ³It is no longer a truth that we would hide. ⁴We realize instead it is a truth that keeps us free forever. ⁵Magic imprisons, but the laws of God make free. ⁶The light has come because there are no laws but His.
8. We will begin the longer practice periods today with a short review of the different kinds of “laws” we have believed we must obey. ²These would include, for example, the “laws” of nutrition, of immunization, of medication, and of the body’s protection in innumerable ways. ³Think further; you believe in the “laws” of friendship, of “good” relationships and reciprocity. ⁴Perhaps you even think that there are laws which set forth what is God’s and what is yours. ⁵Many “religions” have been based on this. ⁶They would not save but damn in Heaven’s name. ⁷Yet they are no more strange than other “laws” you hold must be obeyed to make you safe.
9. There are no laws but God’s. ²Dismiss all foolish magical beliefs today, and hold your mind in silent readiness to hear the Voice that speaks the truth to you. ³You will be listening to One Who says there is no loss under the laws of God. ⁴Payment is neither given nor received. ⁵Exchange cannot be made; there are no substitutes; and nothing is replaced by something else. ⁶God’s laws forever give and never take.
10. Hear Him Who tells you this, and realize how foolish are the “laws” you thought upheld the world you thought you saw. ²Then listen further. ³He will tell you more. ⁴About the Love your Father has for you. ⁵About the endless joy He offers you. ⁶About His yearning for His only Son, created as His channel for creation; denied to Him by his belief in hell.
11. Let us today open God’s channels to Him, and let His Will extend through us to Him. ²Thus is creation endlessly increased. ³His Voice will speak of this to us, as well as of the joys of Heaven which His laws keep limitless forever. ⁴We will repeat today’s idea until we have listened and understood there are no laws but God’s. ⁵Then we will tell ourselves, as a dedication with which the practice period concludes:
⁶I am under no laws but God’s.
12. We will repeat this dedication as often as possible today; at least four or five times an hour, as well as in response to any temptation to experience ourselves as subject to other laws throughout the day. ²It is our statement of freedom from all danger and all tyranny. ³It is our acknowledgment that God is our Father, and that His Son is saved.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-76/i-am-under-no-laws-but-gods/en/s/479
Lesson 75
The light has come.
1. The light has come. ²You are healed and you can heal. ³The light has come. ⁴You are saved and you can save. ⁵You are at peace, and you bring peace with you wherever you go. ⁶Darkness and turmoil and death have disappeared. ⁷The light has come.
2. Today we celebrate the happy ending to your long dream of disaster. ²There are no dark dreams now. ³The light has come. ⁴Today the time of light begins for you and everyone. ⁵It is a new era, in which a new world is born. ⁶The old one has left no trace upon it in its passing. ⁷Today we see a different world, because the light has come.
3. Our exercises for today will be happy ones, in which we offer thanks for the passing of the old and the beginning of the new. ²No shadows from the past remain to darken our sight and hide the world forgiveness offers us. ³Today we will accept the new world as what we want to see. ⁴We will be given what we desire. ⁵We will to see the light; the light has come.
4. Our longer practice periods will be devoted to looking at the world that our forgiveness shows us. ²This is what we want to see, and only this. ³Our single purpose makes our goal inevitable. ⁴Today the real world rises before us in gladness, to be seen at last. ⁵Sight is given us, now that the light has come.
5. We do not want to see the ego’s shadow on the world today. ²We see the light, and in it we see Heaven’s reflection lie across the world. ³Begin the longer practice periods by telling yourself the glad tidings of your release:
⁴The light has come. ⁵I have forgiven the world.
6. Dwell not upon the past today. ²Keep a completely open mind, washed of all past ideas and clean of every concept you have made. ³You have forgiven the world today. ⁴You can look upon it now as if you never saw it before. ⁵You do not know yet what it looks like. ⁶You merely wait to have it shown to you. ⁷While you wait, repeat several times, slowly and in complete patience:
⁸The light has come. ⁹I have forgiven the world.
7. Realize that your forgiveness entitles you to vision. ²Understand that the Holy Spirit never fails to give the gift of sight to the forgiving. ³Believe He will not fail you now. ⁴You have forgiven the world. ⁵He will be with you as you watch and wait. ⁶He will show you what true vision sees. ⁷It is His Will, and you have joined with Him. ⁸Wait patiently for Him. ⁹He will be there. ¹⁰The light has come. ¹¹You have forgiven the world.
8. Tell Him you know you cannot fail because you trust in Him. ²And tell yourself you wait in certainty to look upon the world He promised you. ³From this time forth you will see differently. ⁴Today the light has come. ⁵And you will see the world that has been promised you since time began, and in which is the end of time ensured.
9. The shorter practice periods, too, will be joyful reminders of your release. ²Remind yourself every quarter of an hour or so that today is a time for special celebration. ³Give thanks for mercy and the Love of God. ⁴Rejoice in the power of forgiveness to heal your sight completely. ⁵Be confident that on this day there is a new beginning. ⁶Without the darkness of the past upon your eyes, you cannot fail to see today. ⁷And what you see will be so welcome that you will gladly extend today forever.
10. Say, then:
²The light has come. ³I have forgiven the world.
⁴Should you be tempted, say to anyone who seems to pull you back into darkness:
⁵The light has come. ⁶I have forgiven you.
11. We dedicate this day to the serenity in which God would have you be. ²Keep it in your awareness of yourself and see it everywhere today, as we celebrate the beginning of your vision and the sight of the real world, which has come to replace the unforgiven world you thought was real.
Lesson 74
There is no will but God’s.
1. The idea for today can be regarded as the central thought toward which all our exercises are directed. ²God’s is the only Will. ³When you have recognized this, you have recognized that your will is His. ⁴The belief that conflict is possible has gone. ⁵Peace has replaced the strange idea that you are torn by conflicting goals. ⁶As an expression of the Will of God, you have no goal but His.
2. There is great peace in today’s idea, and the exercises for today are directed towards finding it. ²The idea itself is wholly true. ³Therefore it cannot give rise to illusions. ⁴Without illusions conflict is impossible. ⁵Let us try to recognize this today, and experience the peace this recognition brings.
3. Begin the longer practice periods by repeating these thoughts several times, slowly and with firm determination to understand what they mean, and to hold them in mind:
²There is no will but God’s. ³I cannot be in conflict.
⁴Then spend several minutes in adding some related thoughts, such as:
⁵I am at peace.
⁶Nothing can disturb me. ⁷My will is God’s.
⁸My will and God’s are one.
⁹God wills peace for His Son.
¹⁰During this introductory phase, be sure to deal quickly with any conflict thoughts that may cross your mind. ¹¹Tell yourself immediately:
¹²There is no will but God’s. ¹³These conflict thoughts are meaningless.
4. If there is one conflict area that seems particularly difficult to resolve, single it out for special consideration. ²Think about it briefly but very specifically, identify the particular person or persons and the situation or situations involved, and tell yourself:
³There is no will but God’s. ⁴I share it with Him.
⁵My conflicts about _________ cannot be real.
5. After you have cleared your mind in this way, close your eyes and try to experience the peace to which your reality entitles you. ²Sink into it and feel it closing around you. ³There may be some temptation to mistake these attempts for withdrawal, but the difference is easily detected. ⁴If you are succeeding, you will feel a deep sense of joy and an increased alertness, rather than a feeling of drowsiness and enervation.
6. Joy characterizes peace. ²By this experience will you recognize that you have reached it. ³If you feel yourself slipping off into withdrawal, quickly repeat the idea for today and try again. ⁴Do this as often as necessary. ⁵There is definite gain in refusing to allow retreat into withdrawal, even if you do not experience the peace you seek.
7. In the shorter periods, which should be undertaken at regular and predetermined intervals today, say to yourself:
²There is no will but God’s. ³I seek His peace today.
⁴Then try to find what you are seeking. ⁵A minute or two every half an hour, with eyes closed if possible, would be well spent on this today.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-74/there-is-no-will-but-gods/en/s/477
Lesson 73
I will there be light.
1. Today we are considering the will you share with God. ²This is not the same as the ego’s idle wishes, out of which darkness and nothingness arise. ³The will you share with God has all the power of creation in it. ⁴The ego’s idle wishes are unshared, and therefore have no power at all. ⁵Its wishes are not idle in the sense that they can make a world of illusions in which your belief can be very strong. ⁶But they are idle indeed in terms of creation. ⁷They make nothing that is real.
2. Idle wishes and grievances are partners or co-makers in picturing the world you see. ²The wishes of the ego gave rise to it, and the ego’s need for grievances, which are necessary to maintain it, peoples it with figures that seem to attack you and call for “righteous” judgment. ³These figures become the middlemen the ego employs to traffic in grievances. ⁴They stand between your awareness and your brothers’ reality. ⁵Beholding them, you do not know your brothers or your Self.
3. Your will is lost to you in this strange bartering, in which guilt is traded back and forth, and grievances increase with each exchange. ²Can such a world have been created by the Will the Son of God shares with his Father? ³Did God create disaster for His Son? ⁴Creation is the Will of Both together. ⁵Would God create a world that kills Himself?
4. Today we will try once more to reach the world that is in accordance with your will. ²The light is in it because it does not oppose the Will of God. ³It is not Heaven, but the light of Heaven shines on it. ⁴Darkness has vanished. ⁵The ego’s idle wishes have been withdrawn. ⁶Yet the light that shines upon this world reflects your will, and so it must be in you that we will look for it.
5. Your picture of the world can only mirror what is within. ²The source of neither light nor darkness can be found without. ³Grievances darken your mind, and you look out on a darkened world. ⁴Forgiveness lifts the darkness, reasserts your will, and lets you look upon a world of light. ⁵We have repeatedly emphasized that the barrier of grievances is easily passed, and cannot stand between you and your salvation. ⁶The reason is very simple. ⁷Do you really want to be in hell? ⁸Do you really want to weep and suffer and die?
6. Forget the ego’s arguments which seek to prove all this is really Heaven. ²You know it is not so. ³You cannot want this for yourself. ⁴There is a point beyond which illusions cannot go. ⁵Suffering is not happiness, and it is happiness you really want. ⁶Such is your will in truth. ⁷And so salvation is your will as well. ⁸You want to succeed in what we are trying to do today. ⁹We undertake it with your blessing and your glad accord.
7. We will succeed today if you remember that you want salvation for yourself. ²You want to accept God’s plan because you share in it. ³You have no will that can really oppose it, and you do not want to do so. ⁴Salvation is for you. ⁵Above all else, you want the freedom to remember Who you really are. ⁶Today it is the ego that stands powerless before your will. ⁷Your will is free, and nothing can prevail against it.
8. Therefore, we undertake the exercises for today in happy confidence, certain that we will find what it is your will to find, and remember what it is your will to remember. ²No idle wishes can detain us, nor deceive us with an illusion of strength. ³Today let your will be done, and end forever the insane belief that it is hell in place of Heaven that you choose.
9. We will begin our longer practice periods with the recognition that God’s plan for salvation, and only His, is wholly in accord with your will. ²It is not the purpose of an alien power, thrust upon you unwillingly. ³It is the one purpose here on which you and your Father are in perfect accord. ⁴You will succeed today, the time appointed for the release of the Son of God from hell and from all idle wishes. ⁵His will is now restored to his awareness. ⁶He is willing this very day to look upon the light in him and be saved.
10. After reminding yourself of this, and determining to keep your will clearly in mind, tell yourself with gentle firmness and quiet certainty:
²I will there be light. ³Let me behold the light that reflects God’s Will and mine.
⁴Then let your will assert itself, joined with the power of God and united with your Self. ⁵Put the rest of the practice period under Their guidance. ⁶Join with Them as They lead the way.
11. In the shorter practice periods, again make a declaration of what you really want. ²Say:
³I will there be light. ⁴Darkness is not my will.
⁵This should be repeated several times an hour. ⁶It is most important, however, to apply today’s idea in this form immediately you are tempted to hold a grievance of any kind. ⁷This will help you let your grievances go, instead of cherishing them and hiding them in darkness.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-73/i-will-there-be-light/en/s/476
Lesson 72
Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.
1. While we have recognized that the ego’s plan for salvation is the opposite of God’s, we have not yet emphasized that it is an active attack on His plan, and a deliberate attempt to destroy it. ²In the attack, God is assigned the attributes which are actually associated with the ego, while the ego appears to take on the attributes of God.
2. The ego’s fundamental wish is to replace God. ²In fact, the ego is the physical embodiment of that wish. ³For it is that wish that seems to surround the mind with a body, keeping it separate and alone, and unable to reach other minds except through the body that was made to imprison it. ⁴The limit on communication cannot be the best means to expand communication. ⁵Yet the ego would have you believe that it is.
3. Although the attempt to keep the limitations that a body would impose is obvious here, it is perhaps not so apparent why holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation. ²But let us consider the kinds of things you are apt to hold grievances for. ³Are they not always associated with something a body does? ⁴A person says something you do not like. ⁵He does something that displeases you. ⁶He “betrays” his hostile thoughts in his behavior.
4. You are not dealing here with what the person is. ²On the contrary, you are exclusively concerned with what he does in a body. ³You are doing more than failing to help in freeing him from the body’s limitations. ⁴You are actively trying to hold him to it by confusing it with him, and judging them as one. ⁵Herein is God attacked, for if His Son is only a body, so must He be as well. ⁶A creator wholly unlike his creation is inconceivable.
5. If God is a body, what must His plan for salvation be? ²What could it be but death? ³In trying to present Himself as the Author of life and not of death, He is a liar and a deceiver, full of false promises and offering illusions in place of truth. ⁴The body’s apparent reality makes this view of God quite convincing. ⁵In fact, if the body were real, it would be difficult indeed to escape this conclusion. ⁶And every grievance that you hold insists that the body is real. ⁷It overlooks entirely what your brother is. ⁸It reinforces your belief that he is a body, and condemns him for it. ⁹And it asserts that his salvation must be death, projecting this attack onto God, and holding Him responsible for it.
6. To this carefully prepared arena, where angry animals seek for prey and mercy cannot enter, the ego comes to save you. ²God made you a body. ³Very well. ⁴Let us accept this and be glad. ⁵As a body, do not let yourself be deprived of what the body offers. ⁶Take the little you can get. ⁷God gave you nothing. ⁸The body is your only savior. ⁹It is the death of God and your salvation.
7. This is the universal belief of the world you see. ²Some hate the body, and try to hurt and humiliate it. ³Others love the body, and try to glorify and exalt it. ⁴But while the body stands at the center of your concept of yourself, you are attacking God’s plan for salvation, and holding your grievances against Him and His creation, that you may not hear the Voice of truth and welcome It as Friend. ⁵Your chosen savior takes His place instead. ⁶It is your friend; He is your enemy.
8. We will try today to stop these senseless attacks on salvation. ²We will try to welcome it instead. ³Your upside-down perception has been ruinous to your peace of mind. ⁴You have seen yourself in a body and the truth outside you, locked away from your awareness by the body’s limitations. ⁵Now we are going to try to see this differently.
9. The light of truth is in us, where it was placed by God. ²It is the body that is outside us, and is not our concern. ³To be without a body is to be in our natural state. ⁴To recognize the light of truth in us is to recognize ourselves as we are. ⁵To see our Self as separate from the body is to end the attack on God’s plan for salvation, and to accept it instead. ⁶And wherever His plan is accepted, it is accomplished already.
10. Our goal in the longer practice periods today is to become aware that God’s plan for salvation has already been accomplished in us. ²To achieve this goal, we must replace attack with acceptance. ³As long as we attack it, we cannot understand what God’s plan for us is. ⁴We are therefore attacking what we do not recognize. ⁵Now we are going to try to lay judgment aside, and ask what God’s plan for us is:
⁶What is salvation, Father? ⁷I do not know. ⁸Tell me, that I may understand.
⁹Then we will wait in quiet for His answer. ¹⁰We have attacked God’s plan for salvation without waiting to hear what it is. ¹¹We have shouted our grievances so loudly that we have not listened to His Voice. ¹²We have used our grievances to close our eyes and stop our ears.
11. Now we would see and hear and learn. ²“What is salvation, Father?” ³Ask and you will be answered. ⁴Seek and you will find. ⁵We are no longer asking the ego what salvation is and where to find it. ⁶We are asking it of truth. ⁷Be certain, then, that the answer will be true because of Whom you ask.
12. Whenever you feel your confidence wane and your hope of success flicker and go out, repeat your question and your request, remembering that you are asking of the infinite Creator of infinity, Who created you like Himself:
²What is salvation, Father? ³I do not know. ⁴Tell me, that I may understand.
⁵He will answer. ⁶Be determined to hear.
13. One or perhaps two shorter practice periods an hour will be enough for today, since they will be somewhat longer than usual. ²These exercises should begin with this:
³Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation. ⁴Let me accept it instead. ⁵What is salvation, Father?
⁶Then wait a minute or so in silence, preferably with your eyes closed, and listen for His answer.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-72/holding-grievances-is-an-attack-on-gods-plan-for/en/s/475
Lesson 71
Only God’s plan for salvation will work.
1. You may not realize that the ego has set up a plan for salvation in opposition to God’s. ²It is this plan in which you believe. ³Since it is the opposite of God’s, you also believe that to accept God’s plan in place of the ego’s is to be damned. ⁴This sounds preposterous, of course. ⁵Yet after we have considered just what the ego’s plan is, perhaps you will realize that, however preposterous it may be, you do believe in it.
2. The ego’s plan for salvation centers around holding grievances. ²It maintains that, if someone else spoke or acted differently, if some external circumstance or event were changed, you would be saved. ³Thus, the source of salvation is constantly perceived as outside yourself. ⁴Each grievance you hold is a declaration, and an assertion in which you believe, that says, “If this were different, I would be saved.” ⁵The change of mind necessary for salvation is thus demanded of everyone and everything except yourself.
3. The role assigned to your own mind in this plan, then, is simply to determine what, other than itself, must change if you are to be saved. ²According to this insane plan, any perceived source of salvation is acceptable provided that it will not work. ³This ensures that the fruitless search will continue, for the illusion persists that, although this hope has always failed, there is still grounds for hope in other places and in other things. ⁴Another person will yet serve better; another situation will yet offer success.
4. Such is the ego’s plan for your salvation. ²Surely you can see how it is in strict accord with the ego’s basic doctrine, “Seek but do not find.” ³For what could more surely guarantee that you will not find salvation than to channelize all your efforts in searching for it where it is not?
5. God’s plan for salvation works simply because, by following His direction, you seek for salvation where it is. ²But if you are to succeed, as God promises you will, you must be willing to seek there only. ³Otherwise, your purpose is divided and you will attempt to follow two plans for salvation that are diametrically opposed in all ways. ⁴The result can only bring confusion, misery and a deep sense of failure and despair.
6. How can you escape all this? ²Very simply. ³The idea for today is the answer. ⁴Only God’s plan for salvation will work. ⁵There can be no real conflict about this, because there is no possible alternative to God’s plan that will save you. ⁶His is the only plan that is certain in its outcome. ⁷His is the only plan that must succeed.
7. Let us practice recognizing this certainty today. ²And let us rejoice that there is an answer to what seems to be a conflict with no resolution possible. ³All things are possible to God. ⁴Salvation must be yours because of His plan, which cannot fail.
8. Begin the two longer practice periods for today by thinking about today’s idea, and realizing that it contains two parts, each making equal contribution to the whole. ²God’s plan for your salvation will work, and other plans will not. ³Do not allow yourself to become depressed or angry at the second part; it is inherent in the first. ⁴And in the first is your full release from all your own insane attempts and mad proposals to free yourself. ⁵They have led to depression and anger; but God’s plan will succeed. ⁶It will lead to release and joy.
9. Remembering this, let us devote the remainder of the extended practice periods to asking God to reveal His plan to us. ²Ask Him very specifically:
³What would You have me do?
⁴Where would You have me go?
⁵What would You have me say, and to whom?
⁶Give Him full charge of the rest of the practice period, and let Him tell you what needs to be done by you in His plan for your salvation. ⁷He will answer in proportion to your willingness to hear His Voice. ⁸Refuse not to hear. ⁹The very fact that you are doing the exercises proves that you have some willingness to listen. ¹⁰This is enough to establish your claim to God’s answer.
10. In the shorter practice periods, tell yourself often that God’s plan for salvation, and only His, will work. ²Be alert to all temptation to hold grievances today, and respond to them with this form of today’s idea:
³Holding grievances is the opposite of God’s plan for salvation. ⁴And only His plan will work.
⁵Try to remember today’s idea some six or seven times an hour. ⁶There could be no better way to spend a half minute or less than to remember the Source of your salvation, and to see It where It is.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-71/only-gods-plan-for-salvation-will-work/en/s/474
Lesson 70
My salvation comes from me.
1. All temptation is nothing more than some form of the basic temptation not to believe the idea for today. ²Salvation seems to come from anywhere except from you. ³So, too, does the source of guilt. ⁴You see neither guilt nor salvation as in your own mind and nowhere else. ⁵When you realize that all guilt is solely an invention of your mind, you also realize that guilt and salvation must be in the same place. ⁶In understanding this you are saved.
2. The seeming cost of accepting today’s idea is this: It means that nothing outside yourself can save you; nothing outside yourself can give you peace. ²But it also means that nothing outside yourself can hurt you, or disturb your peace or upset you in any way. ³Today’s idea places you in charge of the universe, where you belong because of what you are. ⁴This is not a role that can be partially accepted. ⁵And you must surely begin to see that accepting it is salvation.
3. It may not, however, be clear to you why the recognition that guilt is in your own mind entails the realization that salvation is there as well. ²God would not have put the remedy for the sickness where it cannot help. ³That is the way your mind has worked, but hardly His. ⁴He wants you to be healed, so He has kept the Source of healing where the need for healing lies.
4. You have tried to do just the opposite, making every attempt, however distorted and fantastic it might be, to separate healing from the sickness for which it was intended, and thus keep the sickness. ²Your purpose was to ensure that healing did not occur. ³God’s purpose was to ensure that it did.
5. Today we practice realizing that God’s Will and ours are really the same in this. ²God wants us to be healed, and we do not really want to be sick, because it makes us unhappy. ³Therefore, in accepting the idea for today, we are really in agreement with God. ⁴He does not want us to be sick. ⁵Neither do we. ⁶He wants us to be healed. ⁷So do we.
6. We are ready for two longer practice periods today, each of which should last some ten to fifteen minutes. ²We will, however, still let you decide when to undertake them. ³We will follow this practice for a number of lessons, and it would again be well to decide in advance when would be a good time to lay aside for each of them, and then adhering to your own decisions as closely as possible.
7. Begin these practice periods by repeating the idea for today, adding a statement signifying your recognition that salvation comes from nothing outside of you. ²You might put it this way:
³My salvation comes from me. ⁴It cannot come from anywhere else.
⁵Then devote a few minutes, with your eyes closed, to reviewing some of the external places where you have looked for salvation in the past;—in other people, in possessions, in various situations and events, and in self-concepts that you sought to make real. ⁶Recognize that it is not there, and tell yourself:
⁷My salvation cannot come from any of these things. ⁸My salvation comes from me and only from me.
8. Now we will try again to reach the light in you, which is where your salvation is. ²You cannot find it in the clouds that surround the light, and it is in them you have been looking for it. ³It is not there. ⁴It is past the clouds and in the light beyond. ⁵Remember that you will have to go through the clouds before you can reach the light. ⁶But remember also that you have never found anything in the cloud patterns you imagined that endured, or that you wanted.
9. Since all illusions of salvation have failed you, surely you do not want to remain in the clouds, looking vainly for idols there, when you could so easily walk on into the light of real salvation. ²Try to pass the clouds by whatever means appeals to you. ³If it helps you, think of me holding your hand and leading you. ⁴And I assure you this will be no idle fantasy.
10. For the short and frequent practice periods today, remind yourself that your salvation comes from you, and nothing but your own thoughts can hamper your progress. ²You are free from all external interference. ³You are in charge of your salvation. ⁴You are in charge of the salvation of the world. ⁵Say, then:
⁶My salvation comes from me. ⁷Nothing outside of me can hold me back. ⁸Within me is the world’s salvation and my own.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-70/my-salvation-comes-from-me/en/s/473
Lesson 69
My grievances hide the light of the world in me.
1. No one can look upon what your grievances conceal. ²Because your grievances are hiding the light of the world in you, everyone stands in darkness, and you beside him. ³But as the veil of your grievances is lifted, you are released with him. ⁴Share your salvation now with him who stood beside you when you were in hell. ⁵He is your brother in the light of the world that saves you both.
2. Today let us make another real attempt to reach the light in you. ²Before we undertake this in our more extended practice period, let us devote several minutes to thinking about what we are trying to do. ³We are literally attempting to get in touch with the salvation of the world. ⁴We are trying to see past the veil of darkness that keeps it concealed. ⁵We are trying to let the veil be lifted, and to see the tears of God’s Son disappear in the sunlight.
3. Let us begin our longer practice period today with the full realization that this is so, and with real determination to reach what is dearer to us than all else. ²Salvation is our only need. ³There is no other purpose here, and no other function to fulfill. ⁴Learning salvation is our only goal. ⁵Let us end the ancient search today by finding the light in us, and holding it up for everyone who searches with us to look upon and rejoice.
4. Very quietly now, with your eyes closed, try to let go of all the content that generally occupies your consciousness. ²Think of your mind as a vast circle, surrounded by a layer of heavy, dark clouds. ³You can see only the clouds because you seem to be standing outside the circle and quite apart from it.
5. From where you stand, you can see no reason to believe there is a brilliant light hidden by the clouds. ²The clouds seem to be the only reality. ³They seem to be all there is to see. ⁴Therefore, you do not attempt to go through them and past them, which is the only way in which you would be really convinced of their lack of substance. ⁵We will make this attempt today.
6. After you have thought about the importance of what you are trying to do for yourself and the world, try to settle down in perfect stillness, remembering only how much you want to reach the light in you today,—now! ²Determine to go past the clouds. ³Reach out and touch them in your mind. ⁴Brush them aside with your hand; feel them resting on your cheeks and forehead and eyelids as you go through them. ⁵Go on; clouds cannot stop you.
7. If you are doing the exercises properly, you will begin to feel a sense of being lifted up and carried ahead. ²Your little effort and small determination call on the power of the universe to help you, and God Himself will raise you from darkness into light. ³You are in accord with His Will. ⁴You cannot fail because your will is His.
8. Have confidence in your Father today, and be certain that He has heard you and answered you. ²You may not recognize His answer yet, but you can indeed be sure that it is given you and you will yet receive it. ³Try, as you attempt to go through the clouds to the light, to hold this confidence in your mind. ⁴Try to remember that you are at last joining your will to God’s. ⁵Try to keep the thought clearly in mind that what you undertake with God must succeed. ⁶Then let the power of God work in you and through you, that His Will and yours be done.
9. In the shorter practice periods, which you will want to do as often as possible in view of the importance of today’s idea to you and your happiness, remind yourself that your grievances are hiding the light of the world from your awareness. ²Remind yourself also that you are not searching for it alone, and that you do know where to look for it. ³Say, then:
⁴My grievances hide the light of the world in me. ⁵I cannot see what I have hidden. ⁶Yet I want to let it be revealed to me, for my salvation and the salvation of the world.
⁷Also, be sure to tell yourself:
⁸If I hold this grievance the light of the world will be hidden from me,
if you are tempted to hold anything against anyone today.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-69/my-grievances-hide-the-light-of-the-world-in-me/en/s/472
Lesson 68
Love holds no grievances.
1. You who were created by love like itself can hold no grievances and know your Self. ²To hold a grievance is to forget who you are. ³To hold a grievance is to see yourself as a body. ⁴To hold a grievance is to let the ego rule your mind and to condemn the body to death. ⁵Perhaps you do not yet fully realize just what holding grievances does to your mind. ⁶It seems to split you off from your Source and make you unlike Him. ⁷It makes you believe that He is like what you think you have become, for no one can conceive of his Creator as unlike himself.
2. Shut off from your Self, which remains aware of Its likeness to Its Creator, your Self seems to sleep, while the part of your mind that weaves illusions in its sleep appears to be awake. ²Can all this arise from holding grievances? ³Oh, yes! ⁴For he who holds grievances denies he was created by love, and his Creator has become fearful to him in his dream of hate. ⁵Who can dream of hatred and not fear God?
3. It is as sure that those who hold grievances will redefine God in their own image, as it is certain that God created them like Himself, and defined them as part of Him. ²It is as sure that those who hold grievances will suffer guilt, as it is certain that those who forgive will find peace. ³It is as sure that those who hold grievances will forget who they are, as it is certain that those who forgive will remember.
4. Would you not be willing to relinquish your grievances if you believed all this were so? ²Perhaps you do not think you can let your grievances go. ³That, however, is simply a matter of motivation. ⁴Today we will try to find out how you would feel without them. ⁵If you succeed even by ever so little, there will never be a problem in motivation ever again.
5. Begin today’s extended practice period by searching your mind for those against whom you hold what you regard as major grievances. ²Some of these will be quite easy to find. ³Then think of the seemingly minor grievances you hold against those you like and even think you love. ⁴It will quickly become apparent that there is no one against whom you do not cherish grievances of some sort. ⁵This has left you alone in all the universe in your perception of yourself.
6. Determine now to see all these people as friends. ²Say to them all, thinking of each one in turn as you do so:
³I would see you as my friend, that I may remember you are part of me and come to know myself.
⁴Spend the remainder of the practice period trying to think of yourself as completely at peace with everyone and everything, safe in a world that protects you and loves you, and that you love in return. ⁵Try to feel safety surrounding you, hovering over you and holding you up. ⁶Try to believe, however briefly, that nothing can harm you in any way. ⁷At the end of the practice period tell yourself:
⁸Love holds no grievances. ⁹When I let all my grievances go I will know I am perfectly safe.
7. The short practice periods should include a quick application of today’s idea in this form, whenever any thought of grievance arises against anyone, physically present or not:
²Love holds no grievances. ³Let me not betray my Self.
⁴In addition, repeat the idea several times an hour in this form:
⁵Love holds no grievances. ⁶I would wake to my Self by laying all my grievances aside and wakening in Him.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-68/love-holds-no-grievances/en/s/471
Lesson 67
Love created me like itself.
1. Today’s idea is a complete and accurate statement of what you are. ²This is why you are the light of the world. ³This is why God appointed you as the world’s savior. ⁴This is why the Son of God looks to you for his salvation. ⁵He is saved by what you are. ⁶We will make every effort today to reach this truth about you, and to realize fully, if only for a moment, that it is the truth.
2. In the longer practice period, we will think about your reality and its wholly unchanged and unchangeable nature. ²We will begin by repeating this truth about you, and then spend a few minutes adding some relevant thoughts, such as:
³Holiness created me holy.
⁴Kindness created me kind.
⁵Helpfulness created me helpful.
⁶Perfection created me perfect.
⁷Any attribute which is in accord with God as He defines Himself is appropriate for use. ⁸We are trying today to undo your definition of God and replace it with His Own. ⁹We are also trying to emphasize that you are part of His definition of Himself.
3. After you have gone over several such related thoughts, try to let all thoughts drop away for a brief preparatory interval, and then try to reach past all your images and preconceptions about yourself to the truth in you. ²If love created you like itself, this Self must be in you. ³And somewhere in your mind It is there for you to find.
4. You may find it necessary to repeat the idea for today from time to time to replace distracting thoughts. ²You may also find that this is not sufficient, and that you need to continue adding other thoughts related to the truth about yourself. ³Yet perhaps you will succeed in going past that, and through the interval of thoughtlessness to the awareness of a blazing light in which you recognize yourself as love created you. ⁴Be confident that you will do much today to bring that awareness nearer, whether you feel you have succeeded or not.
5. It will be particularly helpful today to practice the idea for the day as often as you can. ²You need to hear the truth about yourself as frequently as possible, because your mind is so preoccupied with false self-images. ³Four or five times an hour, and perhaps even more, it would be most beneficial to remind yourself that love created you like itself. ⁴Hear the truth about yourself in this.
6. Try to realize in the shorter practice periods that this is not your tiny, solitary voice that tells you this. ²This is the Voice for God, reminding you of your Father and of your Self. ³This is the Voice of truth, replacing everything that the ego tells you about yourself with the simple truth about the Son of God. ⁴You were created by love like itself.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-67/love-created-me-like-itself/en/s/470
Lesson 66
My happiness and my function are one.
1. You have surely noticed an emphasis throughout our recent lessons on the connection between fulfilling your function and achieving happiness. ²This is because you do not really see the connection. ³Yet there is more than just a connection between them; they are the same. ⁴Their forms are different, but their content is completely one.
2. The ego does constant battle with the Holy Spirit on the fundamental question of what your function is. ²So does it do constant battle with the Holy Spirit about what your happiness is. ³It is not a two-way battle. ⁴The ego attacks and the Holy Spirit does not respond. ⁵He knows what your function is. ⁶He knows that it is your happiness.
3. Today we will try to go past this wholly meaningless battle and arrive at the truth about your function. ²We will not engage in senseless arguments about what it is. ³We will not become hopelessly involved in defining happiness and determining the means for achieving it. ⁴We will not indulge the ego by listening to its attacks on truth. ⁵We will merely be glad that we can find out what truth is.
4. Our longer practice period today has as its purpose your acceptance of the fact that not only is there a very real connection between the function God gave you and your happiness, but that they are actually identical. ²God gives you only happiness. ³Therefore, the function He gave you must be happiness, even if it appears to be different. ⁴Today’s exercises are an attempt to go beyond these differences in appearance, and recognize a common content where it exists in truth.
5. Begin the ten-to-fifteen-minute practice period by reviewing these thoughts:
²God gives me only happiness.
³He has given my function to me.
⁴Therefore my function must be happiness.
⁵Try to see the logic in this sequence, even if you do not yet accept the conclusion. ⁶It is only if the first two thoughts are wrong that the conclusion could be false. ⁷Let us, then, think about the premises for a while, as we are practicing.
6. The first premise is that God gives you only happiness. ²This could be false, of course, but in order to be false it is necessary to define God as something He is not. ³Love cannot give evil, and what is not happiness is evil. ⁴God cannot give what He does not have, and He cannot have what He is not. ⁵Unless God gives you only happiness, He must be evil. ⁶And it is this definition of Him you are believing if you do not accept the first premise.
7. The second premise is that God has given you your function. ²We have seen that there are only two parts of your mind. ³One is ruled by the ego, and is made up of illusions. ⁴The other is the home of the Holy Spirit, where truth abides. ⁵There are no other guides but these to choose between, and no other outcomes possible as a result of your choice but the fear that the ego always engenders, and the love that the Holy Spirit always offers to replace it.
8. Thus, it must be that your function is established by God through His Voice, or is made by the ego which you have made to replace Him. ²Which is true? ³Unless God gave your function to you, it must be the gift of the ego. ⁴Does the ego really have gifts to give, being itself an illusion and offering only the illusion of gifts?
9. Think about this during the longer practice period today. ²Think also about the many forms the illusion of your function has taken in your mind, and the many ways in which you tried to find salvation under the ego’s guidance. ³Did you find it? ⁴Were you happy? ⁵Did they bring you peace? ⁶We need great honesty today. ⁷Remember the outcomes fairly, and consider also whether it was ever reasonable to expect happiness from anything the ego ever proposed. ⁸Yet the ego is the only alternative to the Holy Spirit’s Voice.
10. You will listen to madness or hear the truth. ²Try to make this choice as you think about the premises on which our conclusion rests. ³We can share in this conclusion, but in no other. ⁴For God Himself shares it with us. ⁵Today’s idea is another giant stride in the perception of the same as the same, and the different as different. ⁶On one side stand all illusions. ⁷All truth stands on the other. ⁸Let us try today to realize that only the truth is true.
11. In the shorter practice periods, which would be most helpful today if undertaken twice an hour, this form of the application is suggested:
²My happiness and function are one, because God has given me both.
³It will not take more than a minute, and probably less, to repeat these words slowly and think about them a little while as you say them.
(https://acim.org/acim/en/s/469#1:1-11:3 | W-66.1:1–11:3)
Lesson 65
My only function is the one God gave me.
1. The idea for today reaffirms your commitment to salvation. ²It also reminds you that you have no function other than that. ³Both these thoughts are obviously necessary for a total commitment. ⁴Salvation cannot be the only purpose you hold while you still cherish others. ⁵The 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.
2. This is the only way in which you can take your rightful place among the saviors of the world. ²This is the only way in which you can say and mean, “My only function is the one God gave me.” ³This is the only way in which you can find peace of mind.
3. Today, and for a number of days to follow, set aside ten to fifteen minutes for a more sustained practice period, in which you try to understand and accept what the idea for the day really means. ²Today’s idea offers you escape from all your perceived difficulties. ³It places the key to the door of peace, which you have closed upon yourself, in your own hands. ⁴It gives you the answer to all the searching you have done since time began.
4. Try, if possible, to undertake the daily extended practice periods at approximately the same time each day. ²Try, also, to determine this time in advance, and then adhere to it as closely as possible. ³The purpose of this is to arrange your day so that you have set apart the time for God, as well as for all the trivial purposes and goals you will pursue. ⁴This is part of the long-range disciplinary training your mind needs, so that the Holy Spirit can use it consistently for the purpose He shares with you.
5. For the longer practice period, begin by reviewing the idea for the day. ²Then close your eyes, repeat the idea to yourself once again, and watch your mind carefully to catch whatever thoughts cross it. ³At first, make no attempt to concentrate only on thoughts related to the idea for the day. ⁴Rather, try to uncover each thought that arises to interfere with it. ⁵Note each one as it comes to you, with as little involvement or concern as possible, dismissing each one by telling yourself:
⁶This thought reflects a goal that is preventing me from accepting my only function.
6. After a while, interfering thoughts will become harder to find. ²Try, however, to continue a minute or so longer, attempting to catch a few of the idle thoughts that escaped your attention before, but do not strain or make undue effort in doing this. ³Then tell yourself:
⁴On this clean slate let my true function be written for me.
⁵You need not use these exact words, but try to get the sense of being willing to have your illusions of purpose be replaced by truth.
7. Finally, repeat the idea for today once more, and devote the rest of the practice period to trying to focus on its importance to you, the relief its acceptance will bring you by resolving your conflicts once and for all, and the extent to which you really want salvation in spite of your own foolish ideas to the contrary.
8. In the shorter practice periods, which should be undertaken at least once an hour, use this form in applying today’s idea:
²My only function is the one God gave me. ³I want no other and I have no other.
⁴Sometimes close your eyes as you practice this, and sometimes keep them open and look about you. ⁵It is what you see now that will be totally changed when you accept today’s idea completely.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-65/my-only-function-is-the-one-god-gave-me/en/s/468
Lesson 64
Let me not forget my function.
1. Today’s idea is merely another way of saying “Let me not wander into temptation.” ²The purpose of the world you see is to obscure your function of forgiveness, and provide you with a justification for forgetting it. ³It is the temptation to abandon God and His Son by taking on a physical appearance. ⁴It is this the body’s eyes look upon.
2. Nothing the body’s eyes seem to see can be anything but a form of temptation, since this was the purpose of the body itself. ²Yet we have learned that the Holy Spirit has another use for all the illusions you have made, and therefore He sees another purpose in them. ³To the Holy Spirit, the world is a place where you learn to forgive yourself what you think of as your sins. ⁴In this perception, the physical appearance of temptation becomes the spiritual recognition of salvation.
3. To review our last few lessons, your function here is to be the light of the world, a function given you by God. ²It is only the arrogance of the ego that leads you to question this, and only the fear of the ego that induces you to regard yourself as unworthy of the task assigned to you by God Himself. ³The world’s salvation awaits your forgiveness, because through it does the Son of God escape from all illusions, and thus from all temptation. ⁴The Son of God is you.
4. Only by fulfilling the function given you by God will you be happy. ²That is because your function is to be happy by using the means by which happiness becomes inevitable. ³There is no other way. ⁴Therefore, every time you choose whether or not to fulfill your function, you are really choosing whether or not to be happy.
5. Let us remember this today. ²Let us remind ourselves of it in the morning and again at night, and all through the day as well. ³Prepare yourself in advance for all the decisions you will make today by remembering they are all really very simple. ⁴Each one will lead to happiness or unhappiness. ⁵Can such a simple decision really be difficult to make? ⁶Let not the form of the decision deceive you. ⁷Complexity of form does not imply complexity of content. ⁸It is impossible that any decision on earth can have a content different from just this one simple choice. ⁹That is the only choice the Holy Spirit sees. ¹⁰Therefore it is the only choice there is.
6. Today, then, let us practice with these thoughts:
²Let me not forget my function.
³Let me not try to substitute mine for God’s.
⁴Let me forgive and be happy.
⁵At least once devote ten or fifteen minutes today to reflecting on this with closed eyes. ⁶Related thoughts will come to help you, if you remember the crucial importance of your function to you and to the world.
7. In the frequent applications of today’s idea throughout the day, devote several minutes to reviewing these thoughts, and then thinking about them and about nothing else. ²This will be difficult, at first particularly, since you are not proficient in the mind discipline that it requires. ³You may need to repeat “Let me not forget my function” quite often to help you concentrate.
8. Two forms of shorter practice periods are required. ²At times, do the exercises with your eyes closed, trying to concentrate on the thoughts you are using. ³At other times, keep your eyes open after reviewing the thoughts, and then look slowly and unselectively around you, telling yourself:
⁴This is the world it is my function to save.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-64/let-me-not-forget-my-function/en/s/467
Lesson 63
The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness.
1. How holy are you who have the power to bring peace to every mind! ²How blessed are you who can learn to recognize the means for letting this be done through you! ³What purpose could you have that would bring you greater happiness?
2. You are indeed the light of the world with such a function. ²The Son of God looks to you for his redemption. ³It is yours to give him, for it belongs to you. ⁴Accept no trivial purpose or meaningless desire in its place, or you will forget your function and leave the Son of God in hell. ⁵This is no idle request that is being asked of you. ⁶You are being asked to accept salvation that it may be yours to give.
3. Recognizing the importance of this function, we will be happy to remember it very often today. ²We will begin the day by acknowledging it, and close the day with the thought of it in our awareness. ³And throughout the day we will repeat this as often as we can:
⁴The light of the world brings peace to every mind through my forgiveness. ⁵I am the means God has appointed for the salvation of the world.
4. If you close your eyes, you will probably find it easier to let the related thoughts come to you in the minute or two that you should devote to considering this. ²Do not, however, wait for such an opportunity. ³No chance should be lost for reinforcing today’s idea. ⁴Remember that God’s Son looks to you for his salvation. ⁵And Who but your Self must be His Son?
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-63/the-light-of-the-world-brings-peace-to-every-mind/en/s/466
Lesson 62
Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
1. It is your forgiveness that will bring the world of darkness to the light. ²It is your forgiveness that lets you recognize the light in which you see. ³Forgiveness is the demonstration that you are the light of the world. ⁴Through your forgiveness does the truth about yourself return to your memory. ⁵Therefore, in your forgiveness lies your salvation.
2. Illusions about yourself and the world are one. ²That is why all forgiveness is a gift to yourself. ³Your goal is to find out who you are, having denied your Identity by attacking creation and its Creator. ⁴Now you are learning how to remember the truth. ⁵For this attack must be replaced by forgiveness, so that thoughts of life may replace thoughts of death.
3. Remember that in every attack you call upon your own weakness, while each time you forgive you call upon the strength of Christ in you. ²Do you not then begin to understand what forgiveness will do for you? ³It will remove all sense of weakness, strain and fatigue from your mind. ⁴It will take away all fear and guilt and pain. ⁵It will restore the invulnerability and power God gave His Son to your awareness.
4. Let us be glad to begin and end this day by practicing today’s idea, and to use it as frequently as possible throughout the day. ²It will help to make the day as happy for you as God wants you to be. ³And it will help those around you, as well as those who seem to be far away in space and time, to share this happiness with you.
5. As often as you can, closing your eyes if possible, say to yourself today:
²Forgiveness is my function as the light of the world.
³I would fulfill my function that I may be happy.
⁴Then devote a minute or two to considering your function and the happiness and release it will bring you. ⁵Let related thoughts come freely, for your heart will recognize these words, and in your mind is the awareness they are true. ⁶Should your attention wander, repeat the idea and add:
⁷I would remember this because I want to be happy.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-62/forgiveness-is-my-function-as-the-light-of-the/en/s/465
Lesson 61
I am the light of the world.
1. Who is the light of the world except God’s Son? ²This, then, is merely a statement of the truth about yourself. ³It is the opposite of a statement of pride, of arrogance, or of self-deception. ⁴It does not describe the self-concept you have made. ⁵It does not refer to any of the characteristics with which you have endowed your idols. ⁶It refers to you as you were created by God. ⁷It simply states the truth.
2. To the ego, today’s idea is the epitome of self-glorification. ²But the ego does not understand humility, mistaking it for self-debasement. ³Humility consists of accepting your role in salvation and in taking no other. ⁴It is not humility to insist you cannot be the light of the world if that is the function God assigned to you. ⁵It is only arrogance that would assert this function cannot be for you, and arrogance is always of the ego.
3. True humility requires that you accept today’s idea because it is God’s Voice which tells you it is true. ²This is a beginning step in accepting your real function on earth. ³It is a giant stride toward taking your rightful place in salvation. ⁴It is a positive assertion of your right to be saved, and an acknowledgment of the power that is given you to save others.
4. You will want to think about this idea as often as possible today. ²It is the perfect answer to all illusions, and therefore to all temptation. ³It brings all the images you have made about yourself to the truth, and helps you depart in peace, unburdened and certain of your purpose.
5. As many practice periods as possible should be undertaken today, although each one need not exceed a minute or two. ²They should begin with telling yourself:
³I am the light of the world. ⁴That is my only function. ⁵That is why I am here.
⁶Then think about these statements for a short while, preferably with your eyes closed if the situation permits. ⁷Let a few related thoughts come to you, and repeat the idea to yourself if your mind wanders away from the central thought.
6. Be sure both to begin and end the day with a practice period. ²Thus you will awaken with an acknowledgment of the truth about yourself, reinforce it throughout the day, and turn to sleep as you reaffirm your function and your only purpose here. ³These two practice periods may be longer than the rest, if you find them helpful and want to extend them.
7. Today’s idea goes far beyond the ego’s petty views of what you are and what your purpose is. ²As a bringer of salvation, this is obviously necessary. ³This is the first of a number of giant steps we will take in the next few weeks. ⁴Try today to begin to build a firm foundation for these advances. ⁵You are the light of the world. ⁶God has built His plan for the salvation of His Son on you.
https://acim.org/acim/lesson-61/i-am-the-light-of-the-world/en/s/464
Lesson 60
These ideas are for today’s review:
1. (46) **God is the Love in which I forgive.**
²God does not forgive because He has never condemned. ³The blameless cannot blame, and those who have accepted their innocence see nothing to forgive. ⁴Yet forgiveness is the means by which I will recognize my innocence. ⁵It is the reflection of God’s Love on earth. ⁶It will bring me near enough to Heaven that the Love of God can reach down to me and raise me up to Him.
2. (47) **God is the strength in which I trust.**
²It is not my own strength through which I forgive. ³It is through the strength of God in me, which I am remembering as I forgive. ⁴As I begin to see, I recognize His reflection on earth. ⁵I forgive all things because I feel the stirring of His strength in me. ⁶And I begin to remember the Love I chose to forget, but which has not forgotten me.
3. (48) **There is nothing to fear.**
²How safe the world will look to me when I can see it! ³It will not look anything like what I imagine I see now. ⁴Everyone and everything I see will lean toward me to bless me. ⁵I will recognize in everyone my dearest Friend. ⁶What could there be to fear in a world that I have forgiven, and that has forgiven me?
4. (49) **God’s Voice speaks to me all through the day.**
²There is not a moment in which God’s Voice ceases to call on my forgiveness to save me. ³There is not a moment in which His Voice fails to direct my thoughts, guide my actions and lead my feet. ⁴I am walking steadily on toward truth. ⁵There is nowhere else I can go, because God’s Voice is the only Voice and the only Guide that has been given to His Son.
5. (50) **I am sustained by the Love of God.**
²As I listen to God’s Voice, I am sustained by His Love. ³As I open my eyes, His Love lights up the world for me to see. ⁴As I forgive, His Love reminds me that His Son is sinless. ⁵And as I look upon the world with the vision He has given me, I remember that I am His Son.
Lesson 59
The following ideas are for review today:
1. (41) **God goes with me wherever I go.**
²How can I be alone when God always goes with me? ³How can I be doubtful and unsure of myself when perfect certainty abides in Him? ⁴How can I be disturbed by anything when He rests in me in absolute peace? ⁵How can I suffer when love and joy surround me through Him? ⁶Let me not cherish illusions about myself. ⁷I am perfect because God goes with me wherever I go.
2. (42) **God is my strength.** ²**Vision is His gift.**
³Let me not look to my own eyes to see today. ⁴Let me be willing to exchange my pitiful illusion of seeing for the vision that is given by God. ⁵Christ’s vision is His gift, and He has given it to me. ⁶Let me call upon this gift today, so that this day may help me to understand eternity.
3. (43) **God is my Source.** ²**I cannot see apart from Him.**
³I can see what God wants me to see. ⁴I cannot see anything else. ⁵Beyond His Will lie only illusions. ⁶It is these I choose when I think I can see apart from Him. ⁷It is these I choose when I try to see through the body’s eyes. ⁸Yet the vision of Christ has been given me to replace them. ⁹It is through this vision that I choose to see.
4. (44) **God is the light in which I see.**
²I cannot see in darkness. ³God is the only light. ⁴Therefore, if I am to see, it must be through Him. ⁵I have tried to define what seeing is, and I have been wrong. ⁶Now it is given me to understand that God is the light in which I see. ⁷Let me welcome vision and the happy world it will show me.
5. (45) **God is the Mind with which I think.**
²I have no thoughts I do not share with God. ³I have no thoughts apart from Him, because I have no mind apart from His. ⁴As part of His Mind, my thoughts are His and His Thoughts are mine.
Lesson 58
These ideas are for review today:
1. (36) **My holiness envelops everything I see.**
²From my holiness does the perception of the real world come. ³Having forgiven, I no longer see myself as guilty. ⁴I can accept the innocence that is the truth about me. ⁵Seen through understanding eyes, the holiness of the world is all I see, for I can picture only the thoughts I hold about myself.
2. (37) **My holiness blesses the world.**
²The perception of my holiness does not bless me alone. ³Everyone and everything I see in its light shares in the joy it brings to me. ⁴There is nothing that is apart from this joy, because there is nothing that does not share my holiness. ⁵As I recognize my holiness, so does the holiness of the world shine forth for everyone to see.
3. (38) **There is nothing my holiness cannot do.**
²My holiness is unlimited in its power to heal, because it is unlimited in its power to save. ³What is there to be saved from except illusions? ⁴And what are all illusions except false ideas about myself? ⁵My holiness undoes them all by asserting the truth about me. ⁶In the presence of my holiness, which I share with God Himself, all idols vanish.
4. (39) **My holiness is my salvation.**
²Since my holiness saves me from all guilt, recognizing my holiness is recognizing my salvation. ³It is also recognizing the salvation of the world. ⁴Once I have accepted my holiness, nothing can make me afraid. ⁵And because I am unafraid, everyone must share in my understanding, which is the gift of God to me and to the world.
5. (40) **I am blessed as a Son of God.**
²Herein lies my claim to all good and only good. ³I am blessed as a Son of God. ⁴All good things are mine, because God intended them for me. ⁵I cannot suffer any loss or deprivation or pain because of Who I am. ⁶My Father supports me, protects me, and directs me in all things. ⁷His care for me is infinite, and is with me forever. ⁸I am eternally blessed as His Son.